■ _ Great Britai RIVERS OF THE SOUTH AND WEST COASTS ■ ■ ■ "<>.nir Country— Malmsmead — Watersmcet — Lyndale — Lynton and Lynmouth. Dartmoor Streams: The Teign : Wallabrook— Chagford Fingle Bridge— Chudleigh — The Bovey — Newton Abbot— Teignmouth. The Dart: Hohie Chase — Buckfast Abbey— Dartingtnn Hall Teinrs— The Lower Reaches— Dartmouth. The Taw. The Taw: Oxenham and its Legend— Barnstaple— Lundy. The Torridge: The Okement— Great Torrington— Bideford — Hubbastone. The Av Erme, and yealm. The Plym: Dewer- stone — The Meavy and Plymouth Leat — Plympton St. .Mary and Plympton Earl — The Three Towns . 25 RIVERS OF CORNWALL.— By iin-u n. strong. The Minor Streams of Cornwall — The Tajiar : VVoolley Barrows — Morwellham and Weir Head — Morwell Rocks — Harew 1 Calstock -Cotehele — Pentillie— Confluence with the Tavy Saltash — The Hamoaze. The lamn : A Change of Name — St. Neot— Lostwithiel Fowey. The Fal : Fenton Fal — Tregony — Truro — Tregothnan— Falmouth 54 r I'HE PARRET AND THE LOWER AVON.— By huge n: strong. The P arret : Its Source — Muchelney Abbey — The Tone and Taunton — Athelney Island and Alfred the Great— Sedgemoor — Bridgwater — Burnham. The Lower Avon: Escourt Park — Malmesbury— Chippenham — Melksham- Bradford-on- Avon— Bath The Frome Beau Nash— Bridges at Bath— The Abbey Church -Bristol— St. Mary Redcliffe and i lb itterton — The Cathedi'al- " The Chasm " — Clifton Suspension Bridge — The Lower Reaches — Avonmouth . . 67 THE SEVERN. — By the REV. PROFESSOR BONNET, D.Sc.., F.R.S. CHAPTER I. — From the Source to Tbwkeseury.— Birthplai f the Severn — Plinlimmon— Blaenhafren — Llanidloes Caersws — Newtown— Montgomery — Welshpool— Powys Castle— The Breidden Hills— Thr Vyrnwj Distant Views- Shrewsbury — Haughmond Hill — 'lln- Caradoc Hills Atcham Wroxeter -Condover The Wrekin — Benthall and Wenlock Edges- Buildwas Abbey -Coalbrook Dale— Ironbridgi — Broseley and Benthall Coalport— Bridgnorth— Quatford -Forest of Wyre- Bewdley— Stourport — Worcester — The Teme — Ludlow — Tewkesbury . . .82 CHAPTER II.— The Upper or Warwickshire Avon.— The Watershed of Central England— Naseby Rugby -The Swift — Lutterworth and Wiclif— Stoneleigh Abbej and Kenilworth Castle— Guy's Cliff The Leam — Warwick and its t 'astir — Stratford-on-Avon and its Shakespeare Associations — Evesham — Pershore — Tewkesbury . . . 107 CHAPTER III. — From Tewkesbury to the Sea. Deerhurst — Gloucester — The "Bore" May Hill— Minsterworth — Westbury-on-Severn — Newnham — Berkeley Castle — Lydney — Sharpness- -The Severn Tunnel — The Estuarj A Vanished River . . . . . . . . . . . . . .119 THE WYE.— By /:. II. SABEL. "Thr Notorious Hill of Plinlimmon" — The Stronghold of Owen Glendower — • Llangurig — Rhayader Gwy— Llyn- Gwyn— The Elan, the Ithon, and the Yrfon — Llandrindod -Builth — Aberedw and the Last Prince of Wales — Hay— Clifford Castle and the Fair Rosamond— Hereford— The Lug— "The Wonder" Ross and John Kyrli — Goodrich Castli — Coldwell Keeks Symond's Vat Monmouth — Thr Monnow, thr Dore, and thr Honddu — Words- worth's Great Ode— Tintern Abbey- -Thr Wyndclvff — Chepstow -Thr Lower Reaches. .... 121 THE ("Slv- -By /:_ IF. SABEL. The Black Mountains Trecn lie The Gaer -!'. Thi Brecknock Beacons- Crickhowell Abergavenny- Usk ■■ Caerleon and the Arthurian Legend Christclvurch Ni »•] . . ..... 149 1C97816 CONTENTS. RIVERS OF SOUTH WALES.— By charles ebwarbes. Brecknock Beacons— The Tapf : Taff Fuwr and Taff Fcchan — Cardiff Reservoirs — Merthyr— The Dowlais Steel and Iron Works — The Rhondda — Pontypridd — Castell Coch — Llandaff and its Cathedral — Cardiff and its Castle. The Neath : Ystradfellte— The Mellte and' its Affluents— The Cwm Porth— Waterfalls and Cascades— The Sychnant— Pont Neath Vaughan Neath and its Ahhey — The Dulas and the Clydach. Swansea and its Docks — Morriston Castli — Swansea Castli — The Mumbles and Swansea Bay. The Tawe : Craig-y-Nos — Lly-Fan Fawr. The Towy: Ystradffin — Llandovery — Llandilo — Dynevor Castle — Carmarthen and Richard Steele — Carmarthen Bar. The Taff: Milford Haven— < farew ( lastle— Pembroke Castle— Monkton Priory-New Milford and Old Milford— Haverfordwest. The Teifi: Strata Florida Ahhey— Newcastle Emlyn — Cenarth— Cardigan. The Ystwith : The Upper Waters— Aberystwith . 1-59 RIVERS OF NORTH WALES.— By aaron watson. CHAPTER I.— The Dovey. the Dysynni, the Mawddach. —Glories of a Wet Autumn in North Wales. The Dovey: Source of the Stream— Dinas Mowddwy— Mallwyd— Machynlleth. The Dysynni : Tal-y-Llyn— The "Bird Rock"— Towyn. The Mawddach: The Estuary— The Wnion— Torrent Walk— Dolgelley— Precipice Walk— Tin- Estuary— Barmouth— Harlech Castle— Portmadoc— Glaslyn— Tremadoc and Shelley— The Traeth Bach . . . R>3 CHAPTER IE.— The Seiont, the Ogwen, the Conway. — The Seiont : Llanheris Pass— Lakes Peris and Padarn — Dol- badarn Castli' and Ceunant Mawr — Carnarvon and its Castle. The Ogwen : Llyn Ogwen and Llyn Idwal — Bethesda — Penrhyn Castle. The Lltjgwy: Capel Curig — Moel Siabod — Pont-y-Cyfing— Swallow Falls — The Miners' Bridge — Bettws-y-Coed. The Lledr : Dolwyddelen— Pont-y-Pant. The Machno and its Fall. The Conway : Fairy Glen— Llanrwst — Gwydir Castle — Llanbedr — Trefriw — Conway Marsh — Conway Castle and Town — Deganwy — Llandudno . 205 CHAPTER III.— The Clwyd and the Dee.— The Ci.wyd: Rhyl— Rhuddlan Castle— The Elwy-A Welsh Gretna Green— St. Asaph— Denbigh— Ruthin. The Dee : Bala Laki — Corwen— Yale of Llangollen and Valle Crucis Abbey— Dinas Bran— The Ceiriog — Chirk Castl, and Wynnstay— The Alyn— Eaton Hall— Chester— Flint .... 223 THE MERSEY.— By ir. s. CAMERON. A Modern River— Derivations— The Tame, the Govt, and the Etherow— Stockport— Northenden— The Irwell and its Feeders— Manchester and Salford— The Ship Canal — Bridges over the Irwell — Ordsall — Eceles— Barton — Warburton — Irlam — Warrington — Latchford— Runcorn and Widnes — The Weaver— Eastham Locks— Liverpool and its Growth —Its Docks and Quays— Birkenhead and its Shipbuilding Yards— New Brighton— Perch Rock Lighthouse. . 242 RIVERS OF LANCASHIRE AND LAKELAND.— By wiluam SENIOR. A Birthplace of Rivers— The Ribule: Ribblehead— Horton-in-Ribblesdale— Survival of Old Traditions— Hellifield— The Hodder- Stonyhurst and its College — The Calder — Burnley— Towneley Hall— Preston— Its Development as a Port. The Wyre : Poulton-le-Fylde. The Luxe : Kirkby Lonsdale— The Greta and the Wenning— Hornby Castle— Lancaster — Morecambe Bay — The Journey from Lancaster to DIverston in Coaching Days— Shifting Sands. The Kent : Kentmere —Kendal. The Gilpin and the Winster. The Rothay and the Bkathay. Grasmere and Wordsworth — Rydal Water — Ambleside — Windermere. Troutbeck. Esthwaite Water. The Leven : Newby Bridge— The Estuary. The Crake : Coniston Water— Coniston Hall— Brantwood and Mr. Ruskin. The Duddon . Wordsworth's Sonnets. The Esk and the Iut: Wastwater. The Liza: Ennerdale Water. The Ehen : Egremont Castle. The Derwent: The Yale of St. John's — The Greta and Keswick — The Yiew from Castlerigg top— Derwentwater . . ... 271 RIVERS OF THE SOLWAY FIRTH.— By FRANCIS watt. The Firth— A Swift Tide. The Eden: The Eamont— Eden Hall— Armathwaite— John Skelton— Wetheral and Corby Castle- -The < ialdew and the Petteril— Greystoke Castle -Carlisle, its Romance and Historv— Semi 1 'net um — " Kinmont Willie" and the"bauld Buccleuch "—Executions of Jacobites— The Carlisle of To-day— The Sark— Gretna Green. The Lidiiel— Hermitage Water and Castle. The Esk: The Tarras— Gilnockie Tower— Carlenrig and Johnnie Armstrong— Young Lochinvar— Kirtle Water and its Tragic Story. The Annan: The Land of the Braces— Thomas Carlyle. The Xrru : Dumfries— Burns's Crave— Robert Bruce arid the Red Ciunyn— Drumlanrig and Caerlaverock ( iastles— The < 'aim and its Associations— The New Abbey Pow and Sweetheart Abbey. The Dee : Douglas Tongneland — Threave Castle. The Cree : Newton Stewart— The " Cruives of Cree." The Bladenoch : The "Wigtown Martyrs . 301 RIVERS OF AYRSHIRE— b v john geddie Poetic Associations— Headstreams of the Ayrshire Rivers—- The Land of Bums"— The Ayr and the Doon— Sorn— Catrine— ISallor-hmyle— Mossgiel— Mauchline— Barskimming— Coilsfleld House and the Fail Water— The Covl— Auchencruive— Craigie— Ayr— The Doon .... ...-..'... 32S THE CLYDE. — By JOHN GEDDIE. Clydesdale and > its Waters— "The Hill of Fire "— Douglasdale— " Castle Dangerous "— Bonnington I.inn-Corra Linn and Wallace s Tower —Lanark— The Mouse Water -Stonebvros Linn— The Nethan and " TilHetudlem "— " The Orchard "' Scotland Hamilton and its Palace- Cadzow Castle and its Associations— Bothwell Brig and Castle— Blantyre— islang Rutherglen— Glasgow -The City and its History— The Quays, Docks. and Shipbuilding Yards— The Work 01 the < lyde Navigation Trust— Govan and Particle— The White Cart- Dumbarton Rock and Castle-The Leven Valley —Ben and Loch Lomond— Greenock— Gourock- The Firth at Eventide . ' 34-) LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS AND MAPS. Cadeh Idkis, from tiii; Dolgelley Road . . , Frontispiece. THE SOUTHERN CHALK STREAMS:— Distant View of Canterbury — Rivers of Kent and Sussex (Map) — Arundel Castle— Sandwich : The Old Bridge pages and Barbican — General View of Winchester— St. Catherine's Hill— Winchester Cathedral— Southampton Docks— The Royal Pier, Southampton — Southampton from the Water — Romsey Abbey— Christchurch Abbey - Kivers of Hauls and Dorset [Map) — A New Forest Stream— The Avon at Amesbury — Salisbury Cathedral — The Frome at Frampton Court— Dorchester from the Frorne— Poole Harbour — Wimborne Minster . 1 — 24 RIVERS OF DEVON:— Bideford Bridge— Rivers of Devon (Map) — The Wear Water — Exeter -Exmouth, from the Beacon— Watersmeef — Lynmouth and Lynton "Clam" Bridge over the Wallabrook — Fingle Bridge — Teignmouth — New Bridge Buckfastleigh— Staverton — The Island, Totnes— Totnes — Dittisham— Mouth of the Dart— Barnstaple, from the South Walk — The Torridge near Torrington— The Plym from Cadaford Bridge— In Bickleigh Vale Plympton Earl— The Hoe, Plymouth .......... 2.3—5:; RIVERS OF CORNWALL:— Danescombe— Rivers of Cornwall (Map) — New Bridge— Tavistock New Bridgi — -Harwell Rocks— Cargreen — The Hamoaze, from Saltash — The Fal from Tolverne— Falmouth Harboui ■ — Ealinuiith, frum Flushing . 54 — 66 THE P ARRET AND THE LOWER AVON:— The Isle of Athelney — The Parret and the Lower Avon (Map) — Taunton Church— Halmesbury Abbey — The Avon near Tetbury — Bradford-on-Avon Church, from the North-East — The Avon at Bath — View from North Parade Bridge, Bath -View from the old City Bridge, Bath— Bristol, from the Site of the old Drawbridge across the Harbour — Clifton Suspension Bridge ....... (iT — (Si THE SEVERN :— CHAPTER I. — From the Source to Tewkesbury. — Source of the Severn. Plinlimmon — The Severn, from the Source to Tewkesbury (Map) — Valley of the Severn, from Plinlimmon — The First House on the Severn, Blaenhafren — Moel-y-Golfa and Breidden, from Welshpool — The Vyrnwy Embankment, before the flooding of the' Valley — A Quiet Nook on tin- Vyrnwy — The Boat-house Ferry, between Welsh ami English Bridges — Shrewsbury Castli — Quarry Walk, Shrewsbury —English Bridge, Shrewsbury — Buildwas Abbey — The Severn from 1 tent hall Edg( — Ironbridge — The Severn in Wyre Forest Near Shrawley — OM Houses at Bewdlej Worcester Cathedral, from the Severn— Ludlow— The Severn at Tewkesbury ..... 82 — 10G CHAPTER II. — The Upper or Warwickshire Avon.— The Avon near Rugby— The Warwickshire Avon (Mn/i) — Warwick Castle — The Avon from Warwick Castle -Stratford-on-Avon Church— Shakespeare's House— The Avon at Stratford— Evesham The Avon at Tewkesbury ........ In; — lis; CHAPTER III. — From Tewkesbi i;v to the Sea. -Distant View of Tewkesbury — The Severn, from Tewkesbury to the Se i Map) — Gloucester — The Severn Bridge, Sharpness ....... 119 — 1'23 THE TPTE .— A Bend of the Wye -Views in the I. iwer Elan Valley— The Wye and the Usk (Map)— Pont-Hyll-Fan, in the Elan Valley — The Shaky Bridge, Llandrindod — The Wye Bridge and Hereford Cathedral — Goodrich Castli Ross Church — Symond's Vat and the Ferry — Monmouth— The Monnow Bridge and Gate-house, Monmouth — Tintern Abbey, from the Wye — The Nave, Tintern Abbey — Gateway at Chepstow— Chepstow Castle- -View from the Wyndcliff- Old Monastery on the Wye ....... . 124—148 THE USK :— Near the Source of the Usk. Talsarn-side — The Usk at Brecknock— Bit of the Roman Wall at < 'a. rleon— Usk - Caerleon — Newport : The Bridge and Castle . ......... 149 — lob viii LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS AND MAPS. RIVERS OF SOUTH WALES:— The Bn i !■ ins, from the Taff— Llandaff Cathedral: The West Front : The Nave and Choir ; The West and North Doors— Rivers of South Wales [Map)— The Bishop's Gateway, Llandaff— Cardiff Castle— St. >l ,i Street, Cardiff— The Drawing Room, Cardiff Castli — In the Vale of Neath— Neath Abbey— Outskirts of Neath— North Dock, Swansea — Morriston — The Mumbles— Carew Castle— Carmarthen Quay— Pembroke Castle and Monkton Priory— The Royal Dockyard, Pembroke Dock — Haverfordwest — Milford Haven— The Teifi at Kilgerran — Aberystwith . . ......... 159 — 192 RIVERS OF NORTH WALES:— CHAPTER I. — The Dovey, the Dysynni, the Mawddach. — Dolgelley — Rivers of North Wales (.1A«//) — Torrent Walk. Dolgelley — The Lower Bridge, Torrent Walk — Between Dolgelley and Barmouth — Barmouth Bridge and Cader Idris— Snowdon, from Crib-Goch— The Estuary, Barmouth . ...... 193—204 CHAPTER 11. — The Seioxt, the Ogwex, the Conway. — Pass of Llanberis— Carnarvon Castle — The Swallow Falls — Miners' Bridge, Bettws-y-Coed — Mod Siabod, from the Llugwy — Pont-y-Pair — On the Lledr — Another View in the Lledr Valley — Fairy Glen, Betfws-y-Coed — On the Conway — The Conway, from Conway Castle — i mwaj Castle — The Bridge, from Conway Castle ......... 205 — 222 CHAPTER III.— Tin: Clwyd axd the Dee.— View from Rhuddlan Castle— Riuddlan Castle— St. Asaph— Denbigh — Bala Lake— Valle Crucis Abbey — Llangollen — Eaton Hall — The Roodee, Chester — The Dee at Chester, from the Walls— Chester Cathedral, from the South- West— Swing Bridge over the Dee near Hawarden — The Sands of Dee ............ . 223—241 THE MERSEY:— The Mersey at Stockport — The Mersey (.l/ij/>)— Northenden — On the Irwell — Pendleton, from the Crescent — Manchester, from the Grammar School, showing the Cathedral, the Exchange, the Town Hall, etc — Victoria and Blackfriars Bridges — Steamer passing through Trafford Road Swing Bridge — The Oldand the Swing Aqueducts. Barton— The Invcll at Ordsall, with Worrall's Works — Runcorn Bridge — The Look- at Kastham — St. George's Landing-Stage, Liverpool — Swing Bridge over the Entrance to Stanley Dock, Liverpool — Liverpool, from Birkenhead— St. George's HaU and Lime Street, Liverpool — The Perch Rock Lighthouse . . . 242—270 RIVERS OF LANCASHIRE AND LAKELAND:— Stainforth Bridge — Towneley Hall. Burnley — Rivers of Lancashire and Lakeland (Map) — Preston, from the West — Lancaster — Windermere — Rydal Water — Grasmere — Newby Bridge — Another Bit of the Leven — The Liza flowing into Ennerdale Water — The Liza at Gillerthwaite — Coniston Water — Ennerdale — The Greta between Threlkeld and Keswick — The Denvent, with Keswick in the Distance? — The Derwent at Crosthwaite — Derwentwater and Skiddaw — Derwentwater bom ScafeU — The Cocker flowing from Crummoek Lake — The Cocker at Kirkgate ...... ...... 271—300 RIVERS OF THE SOLWAY FIRTH:— The Annan, near Annan Town — The Eden, the Petteril, and the Caldew (Map) — Eden Hall — The Weir at Armathwaite — Wetheral Bridge — View from Brackenbank looking towards Cotehill — Cotehill Island — View from the Long Walk, Corby Castle — Rock Stairway to the Boathouse. Corby Castle — Greystoke Castle — Carlisle, looking East— Carlisle, looking West— Rivers (lowing South into Solway Firth (Hap) — The Esk, near Gilnockie— High Street, Dumfries — Lincluden Abbey— Drumlanrig Castle — Caerlaverock Castle — The Dee at Douglas Tongueland — The Oree at Newton Stewart . ...... 301—327 RIVERS OF AYRSHIRE:— The Ayr above Muirkirk — Sorn— Rivers of Ayrshire (Map)— Ballochmyle — The Ayr at Barskimming— Auchencruive— The Twa Brigs of Ayr— The Dam at Ayr— The Doon : The New and the Auld Brig— Ayrmouth 32S— 341 THE CLYDE .— (in. of the Sources cf the Clyde— The Clyde [Map)— Douglas Castle -Bennington Linn— Corra Linn— Roman Bridge near Lanark — Stonebyres Linn — Bothwell Castle — Glasgow University — The Broomielaw Landing- The Clyde at Glasgow— Partick — Paisley — Dumbarton Rock — Loch Lomond — Greenock — Gourock . 342 — 369 Rivers of Great Britain. Photo: U. W. Wilson J, Co., Aberdeen. DISTANT VIEW OF CANTERBURY, {p. 'A). THE SOUTHERN CHALK STREAMS. General Characteristics— The Canterbury Stouh and its Branches: Ashford and Jack Cade Horton and Tyminge— Canter- bury— Fordwich and Izaak Walton— Isle of Thanet -Minster. The Lesser Stock: "Bourne Ground"— Sandwich The Brede. The Rother: Bodiara- Csle of Oxney— Winchelsea— Seaford. The Cuckmere : Alfriston and Lullington. The Ouse: St. Leonard's Forest— Fletehing— Maresfield— Lewes. Tin- Adlr: Bramher— Shoreham. The Akin : Amberley— Arundel— Littlehampton. Hampshire Rivers The Arle: The Meon District -Wickham and the Bishop- Builder— Titchfield. The Etchen: A Curious Example of Instinct— Alresford Pond— Chcriton— Tichborne— The Winnal Reaches -Winchester and izaak Walton— St. Cross— St. Catherine's Hill— Southampton. The Test Romsey and its Abbey. The Beaulieu: Beaulieu Abbey. The Lymingtos and the Medina The Hampshire Avon and the Stour: Christchurch— Salisbury— Wimbome. The Frome : Dorchester— Mr. Hardy's Country— Poole Harbour. ^IE long- and strong backbone of the North Downs extends, roughly speaking, from Kent, by way of Dorking- and Guildford, to the source of the Avon, north of Salisbury Plain; and the South Downs run parallel, more or less, through Sussex and Hants to the Dorset heights. From these green hills spring the streams which will be briefly traced from source to sea in this chapter. They are not rivers of first account in their aid to commerce; even the pair which combine in the formation of Southampton Water have never been reckoned in the nomencla- ture of dock or port. To the angler, however, some of these chalk streams are exceedingly precious — as they indeed ought to be, when a rental varying from fifty to a hundred pounds per mile per annum is gladly paid (and taken) for the 94 RIVERS OF GREAT BRITAIN. [The Canterbury Stour. right of fishing with rod and line. Such choice preserves are stocked with trout of aristocratic quality, trout which can only be reared in streams issuing from the chalk; their water, when unpolluted by contact with towns, is crystal clear; and the beds of gravel and fine sand favour the growth of typical vegetation, which in its turn favours typical water insects and other food suitable for the highest class of non-migratory salmonidas. Wholly different from such noisy, turbulent, masterful rivers as those which distinguish North Britain, these chalk streams enter into the very spirit of that sweet pastoral scenery which suggests repose, j}eace, and plenty. They maintain for the most part an even course, tranquilly flowing without fret or violence through level land, and pursuing their tireless journey seawards, unobstructed by the rugged rocks, obstinate boulders, and uneven beds which provoke your mountain- or moorland-born waters into thunderous roar, angry swirl, and headlong rapidity. For foam-flecked pools, and mighty leaps in romantic gorges, the South-country chalk stream offers forget-me-nots by the margin, and beds of flowers blossoming from its harmless depths. It is with rivers of this class we have now to deal, presenting such features as may be noticed within the limits which have been assigned to the present chapter. Beginning, as the sun in its progress would have us do, from the east, we introduce the reader to the fair county of Kent. There are at least half-a-dozen Stours, great and small, in England ; and though the stream with which we start is entirely Kentish (and might, therefore, take the name of the county), it is commonly distinguished by the name of the Canterbury Stour. There are others of its namesakes — one of which we shall meet with towards the end of our journey —of greater watershed, but there is no more interesting member of the family. As a rule, a river, with its tributaries, as seen on the map, offers the appearance of the root of a tree, with its branches gracefully following in a common direction towards the parent stream, on the principle that, as the main river ever has marching orders towards the ocean, all its feeders, in the same spirit, loyally join in a forward move- m e n t . Our Stour, however, is _ a notable exception. It assumes a re- spectable magni- tude at Ashford, but near that town, and al- most at right RIVERS OF KENT AND SUSSEX. The Canterbury Stock.] ASHFORD AND LYMINGE. 3 angles to the subsequent direction of the main stream, two distinct brandies join issue. The main stream from Ashford to the Isle of Thanet runs almost due north-east; branch number one, that comes from the hills in the direction of Maidstone, travels to Ashford almost due south-west, and the other branch that rises north of Hvthe Hows in a diametrically opposite course. These little rivers are of equal length, and flow, in their unpretending fashion, through purely rural country". The first-named of these branches rises near Lenham, which takes its name from a feeder of the great river of the northern watershed of the county. Visitors to the seat of the Bering family at Surrenden, where there have been Dcrings since the time of the Conqueror, and to Little Chart Church, will be, at the latter place, not far from what is regarded as the real source of the river Stour, but this brook must not be confounded with the Beult at Smarden, which belongs to the Medway. Our stream flows the other way, passing Cale Hill. Hothfield, and Godinton. Hereabouts — if there is anything in tradition — is the country of troublesome Jack Cade, who must have known a good deal about the river, for the story is that he was born at Ashford, and that the squire who had the honour of taking him into custody lived on the estate known in these days as Ripley Court Farm. The southern branch takes its rise near Postling, on the famous Stone Street, or Roman road, which from Westenhanger is a straight northerly highway to Canter- bury. The farmhouse at Horton was a priory founded in the time of Henry II. Naturally, in this part of England, where Augustine landed, the countryside is rich in the earliest ecclesiastical reminiscences. At Lyminge, for example, hard by, was one of the Benedictine nunneries, and the church where the daughter of Ethelbert was buried is often visited by admirers of Roman and Anglo-Saxon masonry, for it is believed that the Saxon church was built on the site of a basilicon. There are many parish churches in Kent which are of exceptional interest, but that at Lyminge is generally accepted as the first of them. The entire course of the Stour is about forty-five miles, and its valley from Ashford to Canterbury is one of the loveliest features of a lovely county. Overlooking it is Eastwell Park, which for many years was the countrv-house of the Duke of Edinburgh. The valley of the Stour, seen from one of its higher knolls as on a chart, is not always so open as it is in this neighbourhood, though its narrowing means but the concentration of charming scenery, with wooded heights on the one side and open downs on the other. For a considerable distance the Stour follows the railway line, and at Wye, where there is one of the most lovely miniature racecourses in the kingdom, it is crossed by a bridge of five arches. Thenceforth, it is a notable trout stream, gradually widening until it forms the distinctive feature of the well-known meadows, with the square-towered cathedral always a prominent object of the landscape. Canterbury has been so often described, for it is frequently the scene of great RIVERS OF GREAT BRITAIN. [The Canterbury Stovr. ceremonials (as witness the impressive burial of Archbishop Benson in 1896, and the enthronisation of his distinguished successor in 1897), that a few sentences only are required as we muse by the riverside. But it is impossible to visit Canterbury without recalling its stirring and suggestive associations, and the distinction it had in times when other parts of the country were obscure. It was too near the water to escape the ravages of the sea-kings, who liked to land at Sheppey and Tbanet, .■'. II h •■ , I ARUNDEL CASTLE (p. 11). and it was more than once devastated by the Danes. In 1<»11 it was taken by storm amidst scenes of death and desolation during which the cathedral and monas- tery were burnt, the inhabitants slaughtered in masses, and women and children carried away into captivity. There is no need to re-tell the story of that different kind of landing - , glorified bv the arrival of St. Augustine and his missionaries. This also honoured the Isle of Thanet, which the Saxon chronicle mentions as the place of disembarkation of Hengist and Horsa on their heathen mission to Vortigern. The Stour in its terminal portion has probably become much cabined and confined since that period, when it must have been a broad estuary. About two miles below Canterbury is the village of Fordwich, on the opposite The Canterbury Stour.] FORI* UK II AND SAL' It. bank of the Stour. As the tide in old days reached thither, it ranked as a Cinque Port, According to Izaak Walton, the old name of Fordwich was "Fordidge," and as such he immortalised it in the " Compleat Angler" as the home of the Fordidge tnmt, about which there was some mystery, until in the present century it was proved to be one of the migratory salmonidaj. An occasional specimen is now ■ . sAxmvn ii : the old bridge and barbican (p. 7). found. This fish does now and then run into some of our south-east rivers, and no doubt at the time when the Thames was a salmon river and the waters were un- polluted, it was common in the Stour, which throughout is an excellent trout stream. Below Canterbury, where the water becomes brackish and the conditions prosaic, the trout giyes place to the ordinary coarse fish of our streams. Grove Ferry is one of the favourite holiday resorts of the citizens. At Sarr, a few miles from Fordwich, the ferry which now plies at Grove Ferry was formerly the means of 6 L'TVERS OF GREAT I HUT A IX. [Tht. Lessee Stock. communication with the Isle of Thanet. This historic island is formed by the Stour separating right and left, the arm to the north finding- the sea a little east of the Reculvers ; while the branch flowing in the opposite direction marks the boundary of the promontory which includes the watering - places of Ramsgate, Broadstairs. Margate, and Birchington, and has for the extreme tip of its snout the lonely North Foreland. This divergence, which, on a smaller scale, corresponds with the curious right-angled course of the brooks at the source, used to have a name of its own : it was called the Wantsum, with a well-known ford at St. Nicholas-at-Wade ; and no doubt this channel was once an arm of the sea. The lesser Stour, of which some- thin"- will presently be said, falls into the navigable portion of the parent river below Sarr. The lower branch runs through marshes by Minster, which is a deservedlv popular village to tourists exploring Kent who are specially on the lookout for interesting relics of the past. King Egbert, one of the Christian kings of Kent, founded a nunnery here by way of atonement for the murder of a couple of princely cousins, and he agreed to endow it with as much laud as a hind would cover in one course. The Danes had their will of the place. The restored church in its present form has a Norman nave, with Early English transepts and choir. Minster is a favourite ramble for seaside visitors to Ramsgate; it is well situated, and its high ground affords views of distant Canterbury, the ruins of Richborough Castle, the coast country about Deal, and a proper expanse of marsh. The Stour, when nearly opposite the point of coast where it eventually falls into the Straits of Dover, takes a turn to the east, calling, as it were, at the ancient town of Sandwich, and then proceeds due north to Pegwell Bay. Rising somewhere near the source of the lower arm of Stour major, the Lesser Stoub is another charming Kentish trout stream. It flows through what may be designated bourne ground, as the names of many of its villages tcstifv. The source is near Bishopsbourne Church, where the judicious Hooker, a native of the place, performed the duties of parish priest. There are also Patrixbourne, Bekes- bourne, Nailbourne, and Littlebourne. The last named is well known to tourists, for the village has a traditional association with the monks of St. Augustine; here are an Early English church with monuments, and the park at Lee Priory where Sir Egerton Brydges worked his press ; and within a quarter of an hour's walk is an old church formerly belonging to some of the Canterbury priors. On the banks of the stream at Bekesbourne are the remains of a palace of Archbishop Cranmer ; and when the Parliamentarians, according to their custom, laid it under contribution, in their ransacking they discovered the Primate's will behind an old oak wains- coting. Wickham Breaux is another of the Lesser Stour villages, and all around are the fruit orchards and occasional hopfields which give a distinctive and agreeable character to the entire watershed. The Lesser Stour for a while runs parallel with its companion, which it joins at Stourmouth, to assist in outlining the [sle of Thanet, and mingling therefore with the current which goes the round of Sandwich to Pegwell Bay. It seems almost incredible that Sandwich was once a The Rothek.] s.WDWfi'H AM) UODIAM. great port, but if a quiet hour be spent in what is left of it, the town will be found to repay careful inspection. The Barbican, as the old gateway tower is called, and the bridge indicate the haven in which refugees from France and the Low- Countries found a safe home. From Hythe to the ancient and always interesting town of Rye, stretches the Royal -Military Canal; the first stream to claim attention is the Brede, though it is scarcely entitled to river rank. It takes its rise a few miles from Battle, and its course is held to have been the old channel of the Rother, near Winchelsea. The ''Groaning Bridge" is on the Brede, and it was on this spot that the Oxenbridge ogre of ancient legend was said to have 071 I st. Catherine's hill {p. 17). been disposed of once for all by being divided across the middle with a wooden saw. But the principal river in the live and Winchelsea district, so full of suggestion in its evidences of past prosperity and present decay, is the RoTHER, known as the Eastern, to distinguish it from another of the same name in the western part of the county. At Bodiam is a famous f..ss. fed by the river, encircling the excellently preserved castle, with its round tower, great gateway approached by a causeway, spacious central court, outer portcullis, and portions of hall, chapel, and kitchen. RIVERS OF GREAT BRITAIN. [The Rother. This is held by antiquaries to be one of the best of the feudal fortresses in Sussex. In monkish days the stream -was no doubt one of great value. Xear the source, at Gravel Hill, is Robertsbridge, or Rotherbridge, where a Cistercian abbey, secluded almost from the world by the river, was visited by Edward II. and Edward III. There are still fragments of the abbey on a farm which occupies at least a portion of the site. The Rother is a river of many tributaries, one of them acting partly as the boundary of Sussex and Kent. Its scenery is somewhat commonplace, but it is navigable for a considerable portion of its course, which has I'hoto : Frith tt - Co., Rugate. WINCHESTER CATHEDRAL [p. l(i). much altered since the old chronicles were inscribed. Two of its branches enclose the Isle of Oxney, a flat so easily flooded that the villagers within its bounds often find the use of a boat a necessity. The railway crosses the Rother by a stone bridge, then comes Rye Harbour, and at a distance of two miles, set upon a hill so that it cannot be hid, is the old-world borough of Winchelsea, which the sea has left high and dry, though it had been the abode of great kings, and the witness of battles by sea and land. At Hastings the Downs supply sufficient rivulet-power to maintain glen, waterfall, and dripping well, for sea-side visitors. following the coast-line to Seaford, the quiet and unpretending watering jjlace which was once a Cinque Port, and which returned The OrtKMERE.] "THE CATHEDRAL OF THE SOUTH DOWNS." members to Parliament until it was disfranchised by the Reform Act, a short walk over the Downs brings the tourist to the pretty broken country of East and West Dean. The stream crossed by Exceat Bridge is the CuCKMERE, of which it need only Photo: F. Southvi/qilo/i SOUTHAMPTON DOCKS (p. 19). be said that it has ceased to be a feature of importance to shipping people. It is worth while, nevertheless, to follow it up from the reaches where barges still find resting-place. At Alfriston British, Roman, and Saxon coins have been found; there is a rare sixteenth-century inn, supposed to have been built as a house of call for Canterbury pilgrims, a market cross, a church on the plan of a Greek cross, sometimes designated "the cathedral of the South Downs, 1 ' a parish register datino- from 1512 — possibly the oldest in England — and a half-timbered rectory of still earlier date. There is some doubt as to which is now the smallest church in 95 10 RIVERS OF GREAT BRITAIN. [The Sussex Ouse. Great Britain, but the claim has been made for Lullington, which is on the slope of Cuckmere vale. In rambling by this little river the tourist will make acquaintance with the South Downs free and unadulterated. The Cuckmere flows into the sea about two miles from Seaford, having escaped through the opening which takes the name of Birling Gap. Within an area of four square miles, and almost in touch with St. Leonard's Forest, three important Sussex streams take their rise — the Ouse, Adur, and Arun. This was the centre of the ancient iron industry of Sussex, and the position would not have been possible without water supply for the hammer ponds. The Ouse is crossed by the London and Brighton Railway a little north-west of Lindfield. The river afterwards winds round the well-wooded seat of the Earl of Sheffield ; and at Fletching Common, hard by, the baronial army spent the night before fighting the battle of Lewes. Gibbon the historian was buried in the church, which is noted also for an ancient rood screen and the mausoleum of the Neville family. Mares- field, where the furnaces and forges of the old Sussex iron-masters clustered thick, retains vast expanses of the cinder and slag they created centuries ago. It is beautified by the trees of Ashdown Forest, and sends a tributary to the Ouse ; another tributary presently arrives from Buxtcd, where the first cast cannon ever seen in Europe was made in 1543. The Ouse is the river of the pleasant county town of Lewes. This rare old town, on its chalk hill, with downs surrounding it, and with the Ouse, on whose right bank it is spread, adding to its attractions, ranks in interest with Chester and Durham. The great battle which was fought on May 14th, r264, is the event of which the local historians are most proud. As we have seen, it was at Fletching Common that De Montfort encamped his soldiers, and thence he sent a couple of bishops the day before the battle on a fruitless errand to the king, who was quartered at the priory. The most sanguinary slaughter appears to have taken place south of the town, where the Ouse was crossed by a bridge; and the river with its marshy Hats assisted in the destruction, for many knights were discovered after the battle stuck in the swamp, " sitting on their horses, in complete armour, and with drawn swords in their lifeless hands." The Ouse cannot be said to be picturesque ; at Lewes it has long lost the sparkle which characterised it in the forest outskirts; but from any elevated point of Lewes Castle, notably the western keep, the easy stream may be seen as it is about to disappear between the hills. The disestablished locks between Cuckfield and Lewes indicate a brisk bygone barge traffic. Early in the present century the river was navigable for barges of forty tons burden for ten miles without interruption, and thence beyond Lindfield in the Hayward's Heath country. In early times it was probably a broad estuary ex- tending to Lewes itself, and at some time found an outlet to the sea at Seaford, three miles to the east. This, however, is very ancient history, for the river was brought back to its present channel in the sixteenth century. TheAmn.] BRAMBER AND ARUNDEL. 11 Shoreham, the humble and dull attendant upon Brighton, has an advantage over the great watering-place — which is streamless — in being situated on a river. It is not a beautiful place, but it has something of a harbour, in which you may find port in a storm, and it has a bridge across the Adur. This river comes down from openings in the hills, having passed through pretty country, with such villages as Bramber (where there was once a broad estuary in which vessels anchored) and Steyning. The source of the Adur on the borders of St. Leonard's Forest has been previously mentioned; but there are at least two other rills that have an equal claim. From Ilenlield the river runs south, through pasture land, and, as we have seen, winds past Bramber, supposed to be the l'ortus Adurni of the Romans. There is very little of the castle left, and that is almost hidden by trees. At New Shoreham the Adur turns eastward, and runs for a while parallel witli the seashore. These Sussex rivers which are projected from the neighbourhood of St. Leonard's Forest can scarcely be considered as akin to the pure, bright chalk stream which was described at the commencement of this chapter; and the most important of the trio, the Arun, does not in this respect differ from its fellows. Something more than passing glimpses of it are obtained from the carriage windows by the railway traveller as lie speeds through the imposing scenery around Arundel. It is navigable for an unusual distance, and whatever beauty it possesses it owes to its surroundings. < >f late years the river has become the Mecca of members of the London angling clubs, who charter special trains and invade the districts l>v hundreds on Sundays. The first stopping-place of any account from this point of view is Pulborough, the site of an old Roman settlement, with traces of camp and buildings, which will not, however, be found on Arun-side, but at Hardham and elsewhere. Amberley was rescued from oblivion, and from the desertion enforced upon it by neighbouring marshes, l>v the railway ; and the scenery between it and Arundel has always been prized and worked at by artists. Swanbourne Mill as a picture is probably familiar to many who have never entered the county. The splendidly kept castle at Arundel has not been dwarfed by the cathedral- like Roman Catholic church built by the Duke of Norfolk, and dedicated to St. Philip Xeri. Even now it looks like the splendid stronghold that it was, and the most venerable in the land that it is, on its commanding terminal of swelling down, with the stream from the Weald narrowing between the hills through its beautiful valley, to the characteristic marsh flats beyond. The river hence to the sea docs not call for admiration or comment, save that there is a remnant of a prior)- at Tortington, a point of view from which Arundel with its castle-crowned heights looks its best. Littlehampton, four miles from Arundel, is better known as a port of departure for steamships than as a watering-place competing with the pleasure resorts in more favoured situations on the coast. Hampshire is a well-watered county, and classic ground for that new school of 12 RIVERS OF GREAT BRITAIN. [The Arle. anglers who are classified as "dry-fly" men. The masters thereof graduated on the Itchen and the Test, most famous of all South-country chalk streams, and honourably mentioned in angling literature. To know that a man is a successful fisher upon either is tantamount to a certificate of the highest skill. The Hampshire rivers, other than these celebrated feeders of the Southampton water, are few, and modest in character. There is, it is true, a small trout stream at Fareham, a busy little seaport which owes its standing to its proximity to Portsmouth Harbour, and its attractions as a district abounding in country seats to the rampart of Portsdown Photo: PerU THE ROYAL PIER SOUTHAMPTON [p. 19). i. & FenimoTe, Lewisham. SOUTHAMPTON FROM THE WATER. Hill, affording at once protection from the north and opportunity for overlooking the Solent and the Isle of Wight. Less than three miles west, across the peninsula that sustains Gosport, is a considerable stream, little known outside the county, but an ever-present delight to the villages through which it lightly flows to the eastern shore of Southampton water. This is the Arle, or Titchfield river. In its course of some score of miles the Arle takes its share in a diversity of scenery of a soothing rather than romantic character. Rising in the South Downs, it begins by mingling with village and hamlet life in a sequestered valley ; then it proceeds through an open forest country, and becomes navigable at Titchfield. The source of the stream is but a few miles west of Petersfield, but it begins with a sweep to the north' and a loop round a southerly point, passing so much in the Mcon district that it is often marked on the maps by that name, which was probably its only one in the past. Meonware was a Pictish province when there The Itchen."] WILLIAM OF WYKKHAM. 13 was a king of the South Saxons, and Saint Wilfrid preached Christianity to the British heathen. Indeed a portion of Corhampton Church, across the stream, is ascribed to that prelate. Wickham, most beautifully situated on the Arle, is celebrated as the birthplace of William of Wykeham, the great bishop-builder. Warton the poet lived his last days at Wickham, and died there in the first year of the century. References to William of Wykeham continually occur in county Hants: thus rhoto: .1. Seeley, Kid '. ROMSEY AJillEY (jl. \'.< in the district under consideration there are a Wykeham chancel at Meonstoke, a Wykeham foundation of five chantries near the coast at Southwick, and a reputed Wykeham aisle in the church at Titchfield. The remains of Funtley Abbey are naturally not far from the stream. They are close to Titchfield, and mark the site of a Priory founded by Bishop de Rupibus in the reign of Henry III. The house which Sir Thomas Wriothesley built upon the place acquired in the usual way at the Dissolution was "right statelie" when Leland described it; and this was the Titchfield House where poor Charles Stuart found * temporary refuge between the flight from Hampton Court and the grim lodging of Carisbrooke. The ITCHEN, as next in order on our westward progress, must receive first consideration, though it is the smaller of the streams which pay tribute to the Solent at Calshot Castle. The Itchen and the Test have many things in common: they both rise out of the chalk downs which stretch from the Stour in Kent, through Hants, to the confines of Wilts; they both give Southampton importance; 14 RITFR8 OF GREAT BRITAIN. [The Itchen. they are both salmon rivers, but to so unimportant a degree that they have never yet been considered worthy of governance by a Board of Conservators; and they have the distinction of being the only salmon rivers in England that may be fished without a rod licence. But these rivers are so distinct in one characteristic that they may be quoted as evidence of almost miraculous instinct. The salmon of the Test hold no communion with those of the Itchen ; no fisherman acquainted with Photo: Poulton a Son, Let. CHMSTCHUKCH ABBEY (p. 2'2). the rivers would be likely to mistake the one for the other; yet, while the Itchen fish, on return from the salt water, unerringly turn to the right, and pass tiie Docks on their way to Woodmill, the salmon of the Test swim straight ahead, and pause not till they reach their own river beyond the furthest of the western suburbs of Southampton. When a river issues from a lake it is the custom to regard the latter as the headwaters. In this sense Alresford Pond may be set down as the source of the Itchen. Locally, a brook at Ropley Dean, about eleven miles from Winchester as the crow Hies, has been nominated for the distinction, but there are other rivulets from the high land between Alresford and Alton which might be brought into competition. The Bishops of Winchester formerly had a summer palace at Bishop's Sutton, and it is somewhat of a coincidence that in our own times Archbishop Longley was one of its vicars. There are stores of pike and mammoth trout ia Alresford Pond, and no doubt they had ancestors there when Richard I. was The Itchen-.] Tin: valley of Tin: itchen; 15 king. Even now, in its reduced size, this beautiful sheet of clear watei covers sixty acres. The tributaries are inconsiderable; but it is a land of innumerable watercourses, and of carriers, kepi in action for the flooding of the pastures. Hence the meads are found in a perpetual freshness of " living green," and the verdant pastures in the late spring are magnificent with their marsh-marigolds and cuckoo flowers marking the lines of the meadow trenches, while the hedges and coppices are a dream of May blossom. Noble country houses are set hack on the slopes, real old-fashioned farm- houses and thatched cottages arc embowered in every variety of foliage, and the background is fre 411 e nt 1 y rilled in by gently rang- ing upland clothed with the softest herbage. Bere a village witli its mill, and there a ham- let with its homely old church, mark the stages of the crystal clear river, every loot of which is the treasured preserve of some wealthy angler. There are golden trout upon the gravel, and in the deeps, while' the shallows, many of which have been fords from time immemorial, are open to the eye of the wayfarer who quietly pauses on the rustic bridges to watch the spotted denizens as they cruise and poise. At Cheriton the Royalists received a crushing blow on the .March day when Lords Ilopton and Forth led their army of 1.0,000 men against an equal force of Waller's Roundheads. The engagemenl was fatal to the Royal cause, and it save Winchester and its fort to the Parliamentarians. Of Tichborne this genera- tion heard somewhat in the 'seventies, and the notorious trials brought for many years an increase of visitors, who would interrupt the discourse upon Sir Roger de Tychborne, and the Tychborne Dole founded by the Lady Mabell (whose monument is in the church on the hill), with questions about the Claimant and the lost Sir Roger. Martyr's Worthy, King's Worthy, and Abbot's Worthy are within sound ol the sonorous Cathedral bells: and after these villages are the loved Winnal reaches RIVERS n. The Isle of Wight, garden of England though it has been called, is poverty- stricken in the matter of running water, and it is not rich in woods. The principal river is the Medina, which, flowing from the foot of St. Catherine's Down to the Solent at East Cowes, divides the island into two hundreds. The pretty village of Wootton is situated on Fishbourne creek, also called Wootton river. There are two Yars — the Yar which rises at Freshwater, and is tidal almost throughout to Yarmouth Harbour; and the eastern Yar, at the back of Niton. The famous salmon of Christchurch, so much in request in the spring, when the end of the close time brings out the nets in the long open "run" between the town and the bay, come up from the English Channel on their annual quest of the spawning grounds of the Avon and the Stour. These rivers unite almost under the shadow of the splendidly situated church and the priory ruins. The church was restored by the architect who performed a similar office for Iiomsey; and it is under the tower at the west end of the nave that the singular Shelley memorial is erected. The Avon has the finest watershed in the South of England, and its feeders water much of Hampshire and a large portion of Wilts. Its tributaries are numerous; even one of the two branches of its headwaters is formed by the junction of minor streams at Pewsey. It has a winding way from Upavon, becomes a goodly stream at beautiful Amesbury, where it traverses the pleasure grounds of the Abbey, and crosses direct south by Salisbury Plain to Old Sarum. The Wiley and Nadder are the largest tributaries, the former entering the Avon near the seat of the Earl of Pembroke at Wilton. The valleys of main stream and tributaries alike are a succession of fine landscapes, made distinctive by the downs of varying height, rising on either side, clothed at intervals with grand woods, and protecting sequestered villages and hamlets nestling at their feet. The environs of Salisbury are intersected in all directions by the abundant water of Avon or its feeders, and the clear murmuring runnels are heard in its streets. The lofty tapering spire of the glorious cathedral is the landmark of Avon- side for many a mile around, but the river equally forces itself upon the notice of the stranger. There is no cathedral in England better set for a landmark than this, and of none can it be more literally said that distance lends enchantment. It is on the watermead level, and probably owes its position to the river. Old Sarum, perched upon its conical hill, had its fortified castle and many an in- trenchment for defence, had its Norman cathedral and the pomp and power of a proud ecclesiastical settlement ; but it was exposed to the wind and weather, and the Sarumitcs looked with longing eye at the fat vale below and its con- junction of clear streams. Wherefore, under Richard Le Poer, its seventh bishop, there was migration thither; the present cathedral was commenced, the site, Tun Stovr. ] SALTsnrny oatuedum. 23 according to one legend, being determined by the fall of an arrow shot as a token from the Old Sarum ramparts; and the new town soon gathered around it. At first the cathedral had no spin'; that crowning glory of the structure was added nearly a hundred years later, and about the time when the work of demolition at Old Sarum had been concluded. The stone used in the new cathedral was brought from the Hindon quarries a few miles distant, and l'UOLE HARBOUR (p. 24). Purbeck supplied the marble pillars. The besi view of the cathedral, and of the straight-streeted and richly-befoliage,d city, is from the northeastern suburb; and so gracefully is the building proportioned that it is hard to realise that the point of the spire is 4'"•' - ; wor ds, " the fairest of English enmities," one need not hesitate ^i2>l ? i t ( J give the first place to its streams. They who know only its coasts, though they know them well, may walk delicately, for of much that is most characteristic of its loveliness they are altogether ignorant. But anyone who has tracked a typical Devon river from its fount high up on the wild and lonely moorland to the estuary where it mingles its waters with the inflowing tide, following it as it brawls down the peaty hillsides, and winds its way through glen and gorge until it gains the rich lowlands where it rolls placidly towards its latter end, may boast that his is the knowledge of intimacy. Commercially, the Devonshire streams are of little account, for Nature has chosen to touch them to finer issues. Yet, for all their manifold fascinations, they have had but scant attention from the poets, who, instead of singing their graces in dignified verse, have left them, as Mr. .1. A. Blaikie has said, to be "noisily adver- tised in guide-books." At first sight the omission seems curious enough, for the long 97 ™A.^g£ w 26 MVERS OF GREAT BRITAIN. [The Mooes. roll of Devonshire "worthies" is only less illustrious for its poets than for its heroes. Perchance the explanation of what almost looks like a conspiracy of silence is that the streams, full of allure- ment as they may be, are not rich in associations of the poetic sort. Of legend they have their share, but for the most part it is legend uncouth and gi'otes- que, such as may not easily be shaped into verse. Their appeal, in truth, is more to the painter than to the poet. For him they have provided innumerable "bits" of the most seductive description ; and neither against him nor against the angler — the artist among sportsmen — for whom also bountiful provision has been made, can neglect of opportunity be charged. It is in the ro} T al "forests" of Exmoor and Dartmoor that nearly all the chief rivers of Devon take their rise. Of these moorland tracts, the one extending into the extreme north of the county from Somersetshire, the other forming, so to speak, its backbone, Dartmoor is con- siderably the larger ; and in High Willhayse and in the better known Yes Tor, its highest points, it touches an altitude of just over 2,000 feet, overtopping Dunkery Beacon, the monarch of Exmoor, by some 370 feet. Between the two moors there is a general resemblance, less, however, of contour than of tone, for while Exmoor swells into great billowy tops, the Dartmoor plateau breaks up into rugged "tors"— crags of granite that have shaken off their scanty raiment and now rise bare and gaunt above the general level. Both, as many a huntsman knows to his cost, are beset with treacherous bogs, out of which trickle streams innumerable, some, like the Wear Water, the chief headstream of the East Lyn, soon to lose their identity, others to bear to the end of their course names which the English emigrant has delighted to reproduce in the distant lands that he has colonised. Not strange is it that with loneliness such as theirs, Exmoor and Dartmoor alike should be the haunt of the mischiefdoving pixies, who carry off children and lead benighted wayfarers into quagmires; of the spectral wishdiounds, THE 1UVEKS OP DEVON'. The < ittek.] OTTERY ST. MARY. ■27 whose cry is fearsome as the wailing voice which John Ridd heard " at grey of night"; and of the rest of the uncanny brood who once had all the West Country for their domain. Exmoor, too, is almost the last sanctuary, south of the Tweed, of the wild red-deer; and hither in due season come true sportsmen from far and near to have their pulses stirred by such glorious runs as Kingsley has described. Of the streams that have their springs elsewhere than in the moors, the Axe, which belongs more to Dorset and Somerset than to Devon, may, like the Sid, l>e passed over with hare mention. But the Utter must not he dismissed so brusquely, for though it cannot vie with its moorland sisters in beauty of aspect, it has other claims to consideration. Rising in the hills that divide Devon from South Somerset, it presently passes Honiton, still famous for its lace, and a few miles further on flows by the knoll which is crowned by the massive towers of the tine church of Ottery St. Mary, the Clavering St. Mary of " Pendennis." It was here, in 1772, that Samuel Taylor Coleridge, most gifted scion of a gifted stock, was born. His father, vicar of the parish and headmaster of the Free Grammar School, and withal one of the most amiable and ingenuous of pedants, whose favourite method of edifying ns rustic con- gregation was to quote from the Old Testament in the original Hebrew, as "the immediate language of the Holy Ghost,'' died when Samuel Taylor was in his ninth year ; and the pen- sive child, who yet was not a child, was soon afterwards entered at Christ's Hospital. A frequent resort of his was a cave beside the Otter, known as " The Pixies' Parlour,'' where his initials may still be seen. Nor is this his only association with the stream. " 1 for- get," he writes, " whether it was in my fifth or sixth year ... in conse- quence of some quarrel between me and my brother, in the first week in October I ran away from fear of THE WEAR WATEE. 2S HI MRS OF GREAT BRITAIN. [The Exe. EXETEK {p. 31). being whipped, and passed the whole night, a night of rain and storm, on the bleak side of a hill on the Otter, and was there found at day-break, without the power of using my limbs, about six yards from the naked bank of the river." The experience may well have left its mark upon his sensitive nature, but it is clear that he carried with him from his native place a store of agreeable recol- lections of the stream, of whose "marge with willows grey" and "bedded sand" he afterwards wrote in affectionate strains. Leaving the Otter to pursue its pleasant, but not exciting, course to the English Channel, we pass at a bound from the sunny south to one of the weirdest parts of Exmoor, where the most important of the streams that rise in the northern "forest" have their birth. The chief of them, and, indeed, the longest of all the Devonshire rivers, the Exe, which has a course five-and-fifty miles long, oozes out of a dismal swamp known us The Chains, in .Somerset county, some two or three miles north-west of Simonsbath; and within a space of not more than two miles square Tin Exe.] DUNKERY BEACON. 29 are the sources of three other streams — the Barle, which merges with the Exe near Exbridge; the West Lvn, which flows northwards to the finest spot on the Devon coast ; and the Bray, a tributary of the Taw. Looking around, one sees in every direction a waste of undulations rolling away to the horizon like a deeply-furrowed sea. Far away eastwards rises Dunkery, his mighty top now, as often, obscured by clouds which the western winds are slowly driving before them ; on the other hand stretches the North Molton Ridge, culminating in Span Head, which comes within about fifty feet of the stature of Dunkery himself. The infant Exe and the Barle are both brown, peaty streams, and their valleys, separated from each other by one of the Exmoor ridges, and following the same general south-easterly trend, have much in common, though that of the Barle is the less regular and more picturesque of the two. It is when they have each sped in the merriest-hearted fashion somewhere about a score of miles that they meet, forming a current which, as it rushes tumultuously beneath the arches that give to Exbridge its name, must be a full fifty yards wide. Now the Exe hecomes a Devonshire stream, with a predominantly southerly course; but as it approaches Oakford Bridge it bends to the west, then curving round to the east >V* Wt^P >» ,; ,- , i'/i.fri ; //. T. Cousins, ExnwxUh. EXMOUTH, lliiiM THE BEACON {p. o4). 30 RIVERS OF GREAT BRITAIN. [The Ex*. to meet the Batherm, fresh from its contact with Bampton, an old market town celebrated all over the West Country for its fairs and markets, whereat are sold the shaggy little Exmoor ponies and the bold and nimble Porlock sheep. The main stream still shows no disposition to play the laggard, but by this time it has left the moorland well behind, and, as we follow it among luxuriantly timbered hills, it presently brings us to Tiverton, agreeably placed on its sloping left bank. Here it takes toll of the Loman, which has been in no haste to complete its course of ten miles, or thereabouts, from the Somerset border. Of Twy-ford-town — for so the place was called in former days, in allusion to its fords across the Exe and the Loman at the points where now the streams are spanned by bridges — the most salient feature from the banks of the larger water is the Perpendicular tower of the Church of St. Peter. The body of the church was virtually reconstructed in the 'sixties, with the fortunate exception of its most interesting feature, the Greenaway Chapel, founded nearly four hundred years ago by the merchant Avhose name it shares with the quaint almshouses in Gold Street. What remains of the ancient castle, which stood hard by the church, has been converted into a modern dwelling and a farmhouse. The old Grammar School, too, on Loman Green, is now divided up into private houses, a more commodious structure, in the Tudor style, having been reared a mile or so out of the town to take its place. Who will begrudge good old Peter Blundell the immortality which this famous school has conferred upon his honest-sounding name? A native of Tiverton, he began life as an errand-boy. With his carefully- hoarded earnings, as Prince tells the story in his " Worthies," he bought a piece of kersey, and got a friendly carrier to take it to London and there sell it to advantage. So he gradually extended his operations, until he was able to go to town himself, Avith as much stock-in-trade as a horse could carry. In London he continued to thrive, and in due course was able to fulfil the ambition of his life by establishing himself in the town of Ins birth as a manufacturer of kerseys; and here he remained until his death, at the ripe age of eighty. " Though I am not myself a scholar," the good old man would say with proud humility, "I will be the means of making more scholars than any scholar in England." And the school founded under his will in 1604 has not failed to justify his boast. The roll of "Blundell's boys" includes a brace of bishops and an archbishop, the present occupant of the throne of Canterbury, who, before his translation to London, ruled with abundant vigour the diocese to which Tiverton belongs. Yet, without disrespect to spiritual dignities, one may be pardoned for remembering with deeper interest that it was here that "girt Jan Ridd " had his meagre schooling, and fought his great fight with Robin Snell. John, by the way, who left Blundell's at the age of twelve, must have been considerably less stupid than he appeared to his contem- poraries, for when long afterwards he came to describe the combat he was able to say that ho replied to bis antagonist " with all the weight and cadence of penthe- mimeral caesura"; and although he modest!}' protests that he could "never make The Exe.] THE " KING OF THE GIPSIES." 31 head or tail" of the expression, it is clear from his epithets that he knew perfectly well what he was writing about. But we have paused at the town of the fords too long, and must gird up our loins to follow the Exe southwards to the county town, through scenery which, if on the whole less picturesque than that above Tiverton, is pleasing as one of the most fertile of Devonshire vales cannot but be. Four miles lower down we find ourselves at Bickleigh Bridge, one of the prettiest spots in this part of the Exe valley. Close by is Bickleigh Court, long a seat of the Devonshire Carews, and still belonging to members of the family, though sunk to the uses of a farmhouse. Bickleigh is of some note as the birthplace, towards the end of the seventeenth century, of Bampfylde Moore Carew, "King of the Beggars.'' Son of the rector of the parish, lie was sent to Blunaell's School, whence he ran away to avoid punishment for some trifling escapade, and threw in his lot with a tribe of gipsies. Next he emigrated to New- foundland, but after a time came back, and soon signalised himself by eloping from Xewcastle-on-Tyne with an apothecary's daughter, whom, however, he was afterwards good enough to marry. Having rejoined the gipsies, he became their king, and ruled over them until he was transported to Maryland as an incorrigible vagrant. Before long he contrived to escape, and lived for a while with a band of Red Indians. When he returned to civilisation it was in the guise of a Quaker, a part winch he successfully played until he grew weary of it, and once more came back to his native land and his nomadic life. Some say that he was afterwards' prevailed upon to adopt more settled habits, but of his closing years little is known, The hill to the right, a little below Bickleigh Bridge, is known a.s Cadbury Castle, a Roman encampment, and from its summit may be seen, away to the south- east, athwart the river, Dolbury Hill, which, according to the legend, shares with Cadbury a treasure of gold, guarded by a fiery dragon, who spends his nights Hying from one hoard to the other. Now the Exe, flowing with a dignity befitting its maturity, receives the tribute of the Culm, which comes from the Blackdown Hills, on the Somerset border, passing Culmstock and Cullompton, and Killerton Bark, a finely placed and magnificently wooded demesne of one of the most honourable of Devonshire houses, the Aclands. Over against the point of junction is Pynes, the seat of another family of high repute, the Northcotes, now Earls of Iddesleigh, looking down on the one side upon the valley of the Exe, and on the other upon that of the Greedy, a western affluent after which the town of Crediton is named. As it approaches the ever-faithful city, lying like Tiverton on the left bank, the Exe is bordered by a green strath, with swelling hills on either hand. No sooner is the suburb of St. David passed than there conies into view the eminence which formed the limits of the ancient Exeter, its summit crowned with trees that half conceal the meagre remains of the Norman castle, while from its southern slope rise the mighty towers of the Cathedral. Pointing out that, although surrounded by hills higher than itself, Exeter is seated on a height far above river or railway, Freeman remarks that we have here " what we find so 32 EIVERS OF GREAT BRTTATN. [The Exe. commonly in Gaul, so rarely in Britain, the Celtic hill-fort, which has grown into the Roman city, which has lived on through the Teutonic conquest, and which still, after all changes, keeps to its place as the undoubted head of its own district. In Wessex such a history is unique. In all Southern England London is the only Photo: /'-'. /'. PercivaH, Ilfracombe. WATERSMEET (j). 35). parallel, and that hut an impei'fect one." And he goes on to say that the name teaches the same lesson of continuity that is taught by the site. It has been changed in form hut not in meaning. Caerwisc, "the fortress on the water," as it was in the beginning of things, " has been Latinised into Isca, it has been Teutonised into Lxanceaster, and cut short into modern Exeter; but the city by the Exe lias through all conquests, through all changes of language, proclaimed itself by its name as the city on the Exe." The Exe.] THE EVER-FAITHFUL CITY. 33 The Castle of Rougemont is represented by not much move than an ivy-clad gate- way tower of Norman date, and portions of the walls, which on one side have been levelled, and the timbered slopes converted into a pretty little recreation ground, known as Northernhay, where, among the statues of men whom Devonshire delights to honour, is one of the first Karl of Iddesleigh, gentlest of protagonists. Of the cathedral little can be said in this place except that it admirably exemplifies the development of the Decorated style, which here readies its culmination in the 1 . D. Per LYNMUUTU AND LYNTON (p. 06). venerable west front, its lower stage enriched with figures of kings and apostles and saints. The massive transeptal towers that distinguish Exeter from all other English cathedrals, and, indeed, from all other English churches, with the single exception of that of Ottery St. Mary, built in imitation of this, are much earlier than the rest of the fabric, for they were reared early in the twelfth century bv Bishop Warelwast, nephew of the Conqueror, and wvw left standing when, towards the end of the thirteenth century, the reconstruction of the rest of the fabric was begun. Disproportionately large they may he, in relation both to their own height and to the body of the church ; hut, if they cannot be said to contribute to the harmony of the design, it must be allowed that in themselves they are exceeding^ impressive. The transformation of the cathedral, begun bv Bishop Bronescombe, was continued by his successor, Peter Quivil, whose plans appear to have been pretty faithfully followed by those who came after him. Not until the year 1369 was the nave 98 34 EI VERS OF GREAT BRITAIN. [The Exe. finished, under Grandisson, the bishop who re-built the church of Otteiy St. Mary in its present form ; and even then it was left to Bishop Brantyngham to add the rich west front. What most strikes one about the interior, which was restored with no lack of vigour by Sir Gilbert Scott, is the prolonged stretch of graceful vaulting, extending through all the fourteen bays of nave and choir, with, of course, no central tower to break the line. There is much beautiful earvinsr, both ancient and modern, in the church, but the bishop's throne, attributed to Bishop Stapledon (1807-26), is perhaps of rather diffuse design, although the crafts- manship merits all the admiration that has been lavished upon it. Around the Close, and in a few of the older streets, some interesting specimens of domestic architecture are to be seen; but, the cathedral and its adjuncts apart, Exeter is less rich than might be expected in memorials of the distant past. Of its public buildings, the only one which may not he ignored is the Guildhall, a stone structure dating from the end of the sixteenth century, with a balustraded facade resting on substantial piers, and projecting over the pavement. The ancient bridge over the Exe, connecting the city with St. Thomas, its western suburb, Avas destroyed in 1770, and replaced by the present one. Hundreds of years have come and gone since the cliffs of Exeter were lapped by salt water. Towards the end of the thirteenth century Isabella de Redvers, Countess of Devon, was pleased to cut off the city from the sea by forming the weir which lias given name to the village of Countess Weir, and it was not till the reign of Henry VIII. that, by means of a canal to Topsham, communication was re-established. Early in the present century this waterway was widened, and now Exeter is accessible to vessels of about 400 tons. It is at Topsham, four miles below the city, that the river, augmented by the waters of the Clyst, expands into an estuary. From this point to the embouchure its course lies through delightful scenery. On the right bank are the woods of Powderham Castle, the ancestral seat of the Earls of Devon, stretching from the water's brink to the summit of the high ground behind ; away to the west, Haldon's long ridge rises as a sky-line, dividing the valley of the Exe from that of the Teign ; and finally comes Starcross. On the left bank, about midway between Topsham and Exmoutli, is Lympstone, a pretty, straggling fishing village. To Exmouth, lying over against Starcross, belongs the distinction of being the oldest of the numerous tribe of Devonshire watering-places. A port of some consequence in very early days, it presently fell into an obscurity from which it was only rescued in the last century through the agency of one of the judges of assize, who, sojourning here for the good of Ins health while on circuit, was so advantaged by its genial breezes that he spread abroad its praises, and so gave it another start in life. Its attractions may be less insistent than those of other places that were mere fishing villages long after it had become a popular resort, but it has a pleasant beach and a very respectable promenade, and with still more reason is it proud of the views to be had from The Beacon. TheLyn.] THE DOONE COUNTRY. 35 The Lyn, .sometimes called the East Lyn, to distinguish it from the West Lyn, is one of the shortest as it is one of the most wilful of the Devonshire streams, its length not exceeding a dozen miles, while in a direct line its outlet is only half that distance from its source. Rising on Exmoor, a little to the north of Black Barrow Down, its upper valley is bleak and bare, and in this part of its career there is little to differentiate it from other moorland waters that hurriedly leave the dreary solitudes in which they have their birth. Above Oareford it dashes and splashes along over boulders and rocky ledges, the hills that rise from either bank being hare of aught but ling and brake and heather, save that the lower slopes bear here and there a group of wind-swept scrub-oaks; it is only lower down that the ravine assumes the combination of wildness and luxuriance in which Lyn is excelled by none of its sister streams. How can we pass Oareford without recalling that we are in the country of John Ridd and the Doones? It was in the parish of Oare that the giant yeoman was born and bred; it was in the little Perpendicular church of St. Mary that he married the lovely but elusive Lorna Doone; it was from its altar that he sallied forth to pursue the man whom he believed to have slain his bride, his only weapon the limb of a gnarled oak which he tore from its socket as he passed beneath it. Many there be who come into these parts to spy out the land, and to such it is a pleasant surprise to find that there are still Ridds of the Doones engaged upon the soil at Oare. Less palatable is the discovery that Mr. Blackmore lias thought lit to mix a good deal of imagination with his word-pictures. The Badgworthy "slide," in particular, which the hero was wont to climb in order to get speech of the captive maiden, has been the occasion of grievous disappoint- ment. It is at Mahnsmead that the Badgworthy Water — the dividing line between Devon and Somerset — falls into the Lyn, and "makes a real river of it"; the '•shdc," a mile or so up the " Badgery " valley, as they call it hereabouts, is simply a succession of minute cascades formed by shelving rocks over which a little tributary stream glides down out of the Doone Valley. The novelist has not scrupled to take ample liberties with such of his characters as are not purely ima<>'inary, as well as with his scenes ; but, unless tradition is a very lying jade, the Doone Valley really sheltered a gang of robbers, said to have been disbanded soldiers who had fought in the Great Rebellion. One may still see traces of what are believed to have been their dwellings, though one writer profanely identifies them with pig-sties; and it is credibly stated that the destruction of the miscreants by the country-folk was provoked by the cruel murder of a child, as described in the romance. Nor may one doubt that the mighty John was an actual personage, though it were vain to seek for his history in biographical dictionaries. As to Lorna, what if Mr. Blackmore has invented her? Is that to be counted to him for unrighteousness? From Mahnsmead, with its primitive bridge of two arches, to Watersmeet, where the Brendon Water plunges down a charming glen on the left to lose itself in the larger stream, the Lyn ravine is a very kaleidoscope of beauty and grandeur. 36 FIVERS OF GREAT BRITAIN. [The Lyn. Watersmeet, "an exquisite combination of wood and stream, the one almost hiding the water, the other leaping down over rock}- ledges in a series of tiny cascades," must tax the painter's pencil, and is certainly no theme for a ptrosaic pen; and of Lyndale the same despairing confession must be made. Every turn in this lovely glen reveals some new bounty, until, with Lynton lying in the cup of a hill on the Dawlish. "• I LAM HUIDUE OVKK THE WALLABKOOK. left, one reaches Lynmouth, where, just before the river plunges into the sea, it receives the waters of the West Lyn as they merrily tumble out of Glen Lyn. Southey, whose description of these and other features of the place has been quoted to the point of weariness, was one of the first to "discover" Lynmoutii; and in these days it has no reason to complain that its unrivalled attractions are not appreciated. For some years it has had its little mountain railway, to spare those whose chief need is exercise the fatigue of walking up the hill to Lynton; and now the lines have been laid which bring it into touch with the South Western and Great Western systems at Barnstaple. Let us hope that it will not presently have to complain of defacement at the hands of the lodging-house builder, The Teion.] '7/. i.y.i//:///: POOL. 37 and of desecration inflicted upon it by hordes of day-trippers, with their beer- bottles and greasy sandwich-papers! Dartmoor is a much more prolific "mother of rivers" than Exmoor. In one of the loneliest and dreariest regions of the southern "forest," no great way from its l-in.in : Fnih & Co., Reigate. I IN'. I K BRIDGE (/' 38). northern extremity, is the quagmire known as Cranmere Pool, and from this and the sloughs that surround it ooze all the more important of the Devonshire streams except the Exe and the Torridge. Out of Cranmere Pool itself — a prison, according to local legend, of lost spirits, whose anguished cries are often borne on the wings of the wind — the West Okement drains, to flow northwards to the Torridge; and at distances varying from half a mile to a couple of miles, the Teign, the Dart, the Taw, and the Taw have their birth. The Okement will lie noticed presently, when we have to do with the Torridge; of the other rivers, the Teign rises in two headstreams, the North and the South Teign, near Sittaford Tor. As is the way of these moorland waters, they are soon reinforced by tributary rills, among them the Wallabrook, which flows by Scorhill Down to join the North Teign. Scorhill Down has in its stone circle one of the most remarkable of those mysterious relics 38 RIVERS OF GREAT BRITAIN. [The Teign. of an immemorial jiast in which Dartmoor abounds. At one time all such remains were regarded, like those at Stonehenge, as Druidical monuments, but this theory of their origin is no longer in fashion, and antiquaries now prefer to say nothing more specific than that they usually have a sepulchral significance, and betoken that regions now abandoned to the curlew and the buzzard once had a considerable population. Near Scorhill the Wallabrook is bestridden by a "clam" bridge, which, interpreted, means a bridge of a single slab of unhewn stone resting on the ground, as distinguished from a "clapper" bridge, consisting of one or more such slabs pillared on others, with no aid from mortar. The North and the South Teign merge at Leigh Bridge, close by Holy Street and its picturesque mill, which has furnished a theme for the pencil of many an artist besides Creswick. Then the Teign flows under the old bridge at Chagford, a village overhung on one side by two rocky hills. The fine air of the place and its convenient situation for the exploration of Dartmoor bring to it many visitors in the summer ; but it is certainly no place for a winter sojourn. The story goes — and racy of the soil it is — that if a Chagford man is asked in summer where he lives, he replies, as saucily as you ])leasa, " Chaggyford, and what d'ye think, then'.-'" But if the question is put to him in winter, he sadly answers, "Chaggy- ford, good Lord ! " At Chagford the valley broadens out, but soon it again contracts, and, sensibly quickening its speed, Teign plunges headlong into what is perhaps the very finest of all the gorges in Devonshire. Near the entrance is a "logan" stone, a huge boulder of granite about a dozen feet long, so finely poised that it may with a very moderate exercise of force be made to rock, though it is less accommodating than when Polwhele, a century ago, succeeded in moving it with one hand. The finest view of the gorge is that to be got from Fingle Bridge, a couple of miles lower down, where, looking back, one sees how the stream has wound its way amid the interfolded hills, of which the steep slopes are clad with coppice of tender green. Here, on the left, is Prestonbury, and on the right the loftier Cranbrook, each crowned with its pre- historic "castle." Of the narrow, ivy-mantled bridge, simple and massive, an illus- tration is given (p. 57) showing the Avedge-shaped piers which serve to break the fury of the torrent in time of spate. But we must hurry on past Clifford Mill and its bridge to Dunsford Bridge, another spot of singular beauty. On the right Heltor, on the left Blackstone, exalt their towering heads, both crowned with large " rock basins," in which the rude fancy of our forefathers saw missiles that King Arthur and the Great Adversary hurled at each other athwart the intervening valley. So, passing more and more within the margin of cultivation, we come to Chudleigh, with its Rock, yielding a blue limestone, known to the builder as Chudleigh marble, and its lovely, richly- wooded <^len, down which a little tributary dances gaily into the Teign. Not a great way beyond, our river is swollen by the waters of a more important affluent, The Teign.] NEWTON ABBOT. 39 the Bovey, which, from its source on Dartmoor, has followed a course not dissimilar from that of the Teign, lilting along through a rich and often spacious valley, past North Bovey, Manaton, Lustleigh, with its "Cleave," and Bovey Tracy. At Newton Abbot, pleasantly placed a little to the south of the Teign, in a vale watered by Photo: G. Denney i Co., reij TEIQNMOUTH (p. 40). the Lemon, we may have tine views of the valleys of the Teign and the Bovey by ascending the hills up which this neat little town has straggled. Its most memorable association is with the glorious Revolution, and there still stands in front of a Perpendicular tower, which is all that is left of the old Chapel of St. Leonard, the block of granite from which the Prince of Orange's proclamation was read. Now swerving sharply to the east, the Teign develops into an estuary, and 40 RIVERS OF GREAT BIUTAJX. [The Teign. with a background of hills on either hand, those on the left rising into the broad downs of Haldon, hastens to discharge itself into the sea, flowing beneath what claims to be the longest wooden bridge in England, which connects Teignmouth on the north with Shaldon on the south. Teignmouth is an ancient fishing-village 5E* M-wri R. A; i i : > - NEW EEIPGE. which has grown into a watering-place. If the story that it suffered at the hands of Danish pirates in the eighth century is an error due to confusion between Teign- mouth and Tynemouth, it was indubitably ravaged by the French at the end of the seventeenth century. In these days its chief feature is the Den, a sandbank due to the shifting bar that obstructs the mouth of the river, but now converted into an esplanade, whence, looking inland, one sees the twin peaks of Hevtor and other outlying hills of Dartmoor, while to the south, along the shore-line, appears the bold promontory known as The Ness, and on the north stand out the quaint pinnacles of red rock which the patient waves have carved into shapes that have won for them the designation of the "Parson and the Clerk." The Dart may be said to attain to self-consciousness at Dartmeet, where in a deep and lovely valley the rapid East and "West Dart mingle their foaming waters. The Dart.] ii!-:.ir>sTIiEAMS OF THE DART. 41 The two streams rise at no great distance from each other, in the neighbourhood, as we have seen, of Cranmere Pool; and they are never far apart, but the western water follows a somewhat less consistently south- east course, past Wistman's Wood — a grim assem- blage of stunted, storm- beaten oaks, springing up amidst hlocks of granite -and Crockern Tor and Two Bridges; while the eastern stream, from its source at Dart Head, speeds by Post Bridge and Bella- ford, crossed at both places 1) v "clam" bridges. Hurrying impetuously along over a shallow rocky bed, with a monotonous clatter which is locally known as its "cry," Dart washes the base of Benjay Tor, and rushing beneath New Bridge — a not unpictur- esque structure, despite its unpromising name — enters a richly timbered glade. Presently, as its valley deepens, it makes a wide circuit to wander past the glorious demesne of Holne Chase. Beyond the woods which stretch away for miles to the north-east, Buckland Beacon rears his giant form ; on the other side of the stream is the little village of Holne, birth- place of Charles Kingsley, whose father was rector here. A mile above Buekfastleigh, on the right hank, are the ruins of Buckfast Abbey, consisting of little more than an ivy-clad tower and a spacious ham. Originating in the tenth century, this house was re-founded in the reign of Henry II., and grew to be the P9 lirCKIASTI.FII.il. or so 42 RIVERS OF GREAT BRIT A IX. [T111: Dart. richest Cistercian abbey in all Devon. From the Dissolution till the beginning of the present century the site remained desolate. Then a mansion in the Gothic style was built upon it. and this is now occupied by a community of Benedictine monks from Burgundy, who have in part re-built the monastery on the old foundations. Beyond smoky Buckfastleigh and its spire, the Dart flows among lush meadows and around wooded hills, past Dean Prior, with its memories of Herriek, and Staverton, whore it is crossed by a strongly buttressed bridge. Now it again makes STAYERTOX a bend eastwards to enclose the fine grounds of Dartington Hall. The house, partly in ruins, is commandingly placed high above the densely wooded right bank; and the oldest part of the structure, the Great Hall, dates from the reign of Richard II. , whose badge, a white hart chained, appears on one of the doorways. Soon Totnes comes into view, climbing the steep right bank and spreading itself over the summit, its most salient features the ruined ivy-draped shell of the Norman castle on the cresl of the hill, and the ruddy pinnacled tower of the church. Totnes has not scrupled to claim to be the oldest town in England, and, quite half way up the acclivity, far above the highest water-mark of the Dart, they show the stone on which Brute set foot at the end of his voyage from ruined Troy. Few places can better afford to dispense with fabulous pretensions, for the evidences of its antiquity declare themselves on every hand. Its name is allowed to lie Anglo-Saxon, and it is thought to he not improbable that its castle mound - first a British stronghold. A considerable part of the ancient wall is left The Daut.] TOTNES AND ITS ANTIQUITY. 43 standing, and the East Gate .still divides High Street from Fore Street. Very (piaint and charming are many of the old houses in the High Street, with their gables and piazzas; and the venerable Guildhall preserves its oaken stalls for the members of the Corporation, with a canopied centre for the Mayor. Below the town is the grace- ful three-arched bridge which connects it with Bridgetown Pomeroy, on the left bank; and from this one may descend by steps to the tiny island in mid-stream, some years ago laid totnes. out as a public garden. It is the ten miles or so of river between Totnes and Dartmouth that have earned for the Hart the title of ''the English Rhine." The absurdity of likening the inconsiderable Dart, with its placid current and its hacking of gently-sloping *>*^- 44 RIVERS OF GREAT BRTTATN. [The Dart. hills, to the broad and rushing Rhine, flanked by lofty, castle-crowned steeps, has before been exposed, but the nickname is still current, and while it remains so the protest must continue. Yet how manifold and bewitching are the graces of the stream in these lower reaches, where it curves and doubles until from some points of view it appears to be resolved into a series of lakes, embosomed among hills of softest contour, their braes either smooth and verdant as a lawn or rich with foliage ! Not long after leaving Totnes one sees, on the right, Sharpham House, surrounded by lawns and parterres and by magnificent woods, which border the stream for at least a mile. Sandridge House, on the opposite bank, is notable as the birthplace of John Davis, the Elizabethan navi- gator, who discovered the Straits which are known among men by his name ; and presently we shall pass the well wooded grounds of Greenway, where was born Sir Humphrey Gilbert, another of the heroes of great Eliza's ''spacious days," who established the New- foundland fisheries. Between these two points comes Dittisham, with its grey church tower, its famous plum orchards, and its bell, which is rung when one wants to be ferried over to Greenway Quay. Soon the Dart begins to widen out, and, threading our way among yachts and skiffs, we come within sight of the Britannia training-ship, and find ourselves betwixt Dartmouth on the right, and Kingswear on the left. Dartmouth, rising from the bank in terraces, wears an aspect hardly less ancient than that of Totnes. It was incorporated in the fourteenth century, but for The Taw] DARTMOUTH AND KINaSWEAR. 45 hundreds of years before that was of note as a harbour. William the Conqueror is said to have sailed herefrom <>n his expedition for the relief of Mans; a century later the English fleet, or a part of it. gathered here for the third Crusade; and did not Chaucer think that probably bis shipman "was of Dertemuthe"? The castle, close to the water's edge, at the mouth of the harbour, is something more than the picturesque remnant of an ancient fortress, for the wall and t'oss which surround it enclose also a casemated battery of heavy uuns. On the crest of the hill behind are the ruins of Gallant's Bower Fort. Nearly opposite is Kingswear Castle, which claims an even more remote origin; and crowning the hill at whose base it lies are some remains of Fort Ridley, which, like Gallant's Bower, was wrested from the Parliamentarians by Prince Maurice, both strongholds, however, being afterwards stormed by Fairfax. The harbour, though a tine, broad sheet of water, is almost landlocked, and the entrance to it is through a strait channel known as " The Jaw- bones," which in more primitive days than these was protected by a strong chain stretching from one bank to the other. Of the two remaining streams that rise in the morasses around Cranmere Pool, the Taw runs a course which, though not long, is remarkable for the grandeur and the richness of its scenery. Did space permit, one would be glad to follow it from its peaty spring under Great Knecset Tor, through the grand defile known MOUTH 01 T1IK DART. as Tavy Cleave, on between Peter Taw and Mary Taw to Tavistock, with its statue of Drake, who was born hard by, and its associations with the author of the 46 RIVERS OF GREAT BRITAIN. [TheTa^. "Pastorals"; thence past Buckland Abbey, ricli in memories of Sir Francis and of the Cistercian monks from whom the neighbouring village of Buckland Monachorum gets its distinctive appellation, and so to Taw's confluence with the Tamar. Pleasant also would it be to trace its principal tributary, the Walkham, down it< romantic valley, nor less so to track the Lid from its source, a few miles above Lidford, through its magnificent gorge, and onwards to its union with Tamar. But the sands are fast running out. and we must pass on to sketch very rapidlv the career of the Taw as it flows first north-eastwards, then north-westwards, to meet the Torridge in Barnstaple Bay. In the first part of its course the Taw, which the Exe exceeds in length by only live miles, is as frisky and headstrong as the rest of the moorland streams, but as soon as it has got well within the line of civilisation it sobers down, and thereafter demeans itself sedately enough. The first place of interest which it passes is South Tawton, where is Oxenham, now a farmhouse, but formerly the seat of a family of this name who lived here from the lime of Henry III. until early in the present century. Of these Oxenhams it is an ancient tradition that a white-breasted bird is seen when the time has come for one of them to be gathered to his fathers. The last appearance of the portent was in 1S73, when Mr. G. N. Oxenham, then the head of the house, lav dying at 17, Earl's Terrace, Kensington. His daughter and a friend, the latter of whom knew nothing of the legend, were sitting in the room underneath the chamber of death when, to quote from Murray's "Handbook," their attention "was suddenly roused by a shouting outside the house, and on looking out they saw a large Avhite bird perched on a thorn tree outside the window, where it remained for several minutes, although some workmen on the opposite side of the road were throwing their hats at it in the vain effort to drive it away." An interesting occurrence, certainly ; but if we are to see in it more than a coincidence, what is to be said of the puffin, the only one of its tribe ever recorded to have visited London, which, having found its way so far inland, flew into the rooms of the President of the British Ornithologists' Union? Must we believe that the adventurous bird was moved to call there in older that its feat might be duly recorded in the Proceedings of the Institution? It is below Nymet Rowland that Taw changes its course. Thenceforward it placidly flows amid rich meadows agreeably diversified with woodland. At Eggesford it is overlooked by the Earl of Portsmouth's seat, peeping out from the trees which climb the left bank. At Chulmleigh it gathers up the Little Dart; and beyond South Molton Load Station the Mole, which gives name to North Molton and South Molton, brings in its tribute from the border of Exmoor. Having laved the foot of Coddon Hill, from whose rounded top one may have far views of the valley in both direc- tions, the Taw flows by the cosy little village of Bishop's Tawton on the right; along the other bank stretches Tawstock Park, the demesne of the BourchierAVreys, set about with line old oaks. Then with a sudden bend it comes within sight of Barnstaple Bridge, and beyond the South Walk, on the right bank, bordering a TheTorhuge] BARNSTAPLE AND ITS BAY. 47 pretty little park, appear the graceful tower of Holy Trinity Church — an unusually effective piece of modern Perpendicular work — and the ugly warped spire of the mother church. The "metropolis of North Devon,'' as this comely and lusty little town proudly styles itself, is a very ancient place, which had a castle and a priory at least as far hack as the time of the Conqueror; hut these have long since vanished, and save for a row of cloistered almshouses dating from 1627, and its bridge of sixteen arches, built in the thirteenth century, it is indebted for its savour of antiquity mainly to the venerable usages that have survived the changes and chances of the centuries. Like Bideford, long its rival among North Devon towns, it fitted out ships for the fleet which gave so good an account of the Spanish Armada. During the Civil War it declared for the popular cause, but was captured by the king's forces in 1643; and although it soon succeeded in flinging off the royal yoke, it was re-captured, and remained in the king's hands until nearly the close of the war. Just below the hideous bridge which carries the South Western line across the Taw is the Quay, on the right bank, and beyond it, lined by an avenue of ancient elms, is the North Walk, now unhappily cut up for the purposes of the new railway from Lynton. The stream, by this time of considerable breadth, widens out yet more during the five or six remaining miles of its course; but its channel is tortuous and shifting, and only by small vessels is it navigable. A few more bends, and Instow and Appledore are reached, and Torridge is sighted as it comes up from the south to blend its waters with those of the sister stream. Then far away over the curling foam of Barnstaple Bar we get a full view of Lundy, its cliffs at this distance looking suave enough, though in truth they are not less jagged than when the Spanish galleon fleeing from Annas Leigh's Vengeance was impaled upon their granite spines; while on the left Hartland Point boldly plants its foot in the Atlantic, and on the right Baggy Point marks the northern limit of Barnstaple Bay. It is at no great distance from Hartland Point that the Tokridge, most circuitous of Devonshire rivers, rises. First flowing in a south-easterly direction past Newton St. Petrock and Shebbear and Sheepwash, it presently makes a bend and follows an almost precisely opposite course north-westwards. In about the middle of the loop which it forms in preparing to stultify itself, it is augmented by the Okement, which has come almost due north from Cranmere Pool, brawling down a valley which, near Okehampton and elsewhere, is finely wooded. Past Yew Bridge and Dolton and Beaford, Torridge continues its sinuous course; and as it approaches Great Torrington, set on a hill some 300 feet above its right bank, its valley presents the combination of smooth haugh and precipitous rock shown in our view (page -19). Torrington has a history, and little besides, Even the church, enclosed in a notably pretty God's acre, graced with avenues of beeches and chestnuts, has no special interest save that it contains the carved oak pulpit in which the great John Howe preached before his ejectment in 1662; for it had to lie rebuilt alter the Civil War, having been blown up by the accidental explosion 48 B I VERS OF GREAT BUTT A IN. [The Tohhidge. of a large quantity of gunpowder while it was being used as a magazine and prison. Two hundred Royalists were confined in the building at the time, and these, with their guards, all perished. Winding round Torrington Common, gay in due season '.. ! ■_. ' -■ i - ■■-■ " -- • K~ A*- ■ ^0%; • - i'/iu(o; I j Bros., Barnstaple. BARNSTAPLE, FROM THE SOt'TH TYALK ( p. 47). with gorse and bracken, our river glides on past Wear Clifford — an idyllically beautiful spot incongruously associated with a melancholy tragedy — to the " little white town" described by Charles Kingsley in the opening paragraph of his one great story. White it hardly is in these days, but this is the only qualification that strict accuracy requires. The famous bridge of four-and-twenty arches dates from about the same period as that at Barnstaple, which it considerably exceeds in length. The town itself lays claim to a much higher antiquity, for it traces its origin to a cousin of the Conqueror, founder of the illustrious line which came to full flower in the Richard Grenville who, as he lay a-dying, after having matched the Revenge against the whole Spanish fleet of three-and-fifty sail, was able proudly to say, in a spirit not unlike that of a later naval hero, that he was leaving behind him " an everlasting fame of a valiant and true soldier, that hath done his duty as he was bound to do." He it was who revived the fortunes of Bideford after a period of The Touridge.] BIDEFORD AND ITS ^rE^^>KrFS. 49 decline, and so increased its prosperity by attract- ing to it trade from the settlements in the New World that it was able to send seven ships to join the fleet that gathered in Plymouth Harbour to fight the Spaniard. With memories such as these, the town may surely abate its eagerness to have accepted as Armada trophies the old guns which have been un- earthed from its dustheap. Pleasant the course of tin stream continues to be, past " the charmed rock of Hubbastone," where sleeps an old Norse pirate with his crown of gold, till, witli Instow on the right and Appledor left, Torriclge meets her sister Taw, and tl two with one accord turn westward and re towards "the everlasting thunder of the Ion Atlantic swell." Of the streams that have their fountains on Dartmoor, the longer ones rise, as we have seen, in the northern division of the " forest " ; the shorter ones, the Avon, the Ernie, the Yealm, and the Plym, come to being in the southern division, at no great distance from each other, and amid surr not unlike those of Cranmere Pool flow into the Channel on the western side of Dolt Head. Neither of them is without charms of its own ; but the Plym is easily chief among them, and with a rapid sketch of its course from Plym Head, some three miles south of Princetown, to the Sound, the present chapter must end. Flowing by rugged, flat-topped Sheepstor on the right, and Trowles worthy 100 nil: TORRIDOE NE.U! TOIUUNGTON [/>■ 50 RIVERS OF GREAT BRITAIN. [Thi: Pltm. Tor on the left, Plym presently reaches Cadaford Bridge, where it plunges into a rocky ravine, the precipitous hillside on the left crowned by the church of Shaugh Prior, while from the hill on the right, smothered with oak coppice, projects a huge crag of ivy-clad granite, the Dewerstone, celebrated for its views. At Shaugh Bridge IX niCKLEIGH VALE. the stream is swollen by the Meavy, which, not far from its source on the moorland, is tapped to supply Plymouth beat — a work for which the Plymouth folk are indebted to Sir Francis Drake. Afterwards the Meavy runs by the grey granite church of Sheepstor, where, under the shadow of a noble beech, is the massive 1 1 11 lib of Sir James Brooke, of Sarawak fame. Richly-wooded Bickleigh Aale is one of the beauty spots of the Plym ; another lovely scene is that at Plym Bridge, where, close to the mossy bridge, is the ruined aix-h of a tiny chantry, built by the monks of Plympton Priory that travellers might here pray to Heaven for protection before adventuring into the wilds beyond. Of the Priory, founded in the twelfth century to replace a Saxon college of secular canons, nothing remains lint the refectory and a kitchen and a moss-grown orchard, which may be seen close to the lichened church of Plympton St. Mary, if we care to wander a little eastwards from the river. Not far off is the other Plympton, with its scanty The Plym.] PLYMPTON AND PLYMOUTH. 51 fragments of a castle of the de Redvers, Earls of Devon. More memorable is Plympton Earl from its association with Sir Joshua Reynolds, who was born here, and sat at his father's feet in the quaint cloistered Grammar School, where, too, three other painters of note were educated — Sir Joshua's pupil and biographer, Northcote, the luckless Haydon, and the fortune-favoured Eastlake. Reynolds was not without honour in his own country, at any rate during his life. The Corpora- tion of Plympton once chose him mayor, and he declared to George III. that the election was an honour which gave him more pleasure than any other which had ever come to him — "except," he added as an afterthought, "that conferred on me by your Majesty." A portrait of himself, which he painted for his native town, was long treasured in the ancient Guildhall, but the virtue of the Cor- poration was not permanently proof against temptation, and at last the picture was sold, for £150. This happened a good many years ago. Below Plym Bridge the river begins to expand into the estuary, known in the upper part as the Laira ami in the lower as the Catwater, the division between the two sections being marked by the Laira Bridge, live hundred feet long. Of "Laira" various derivations have been suggested, the most ingenious, and perhaps, therefore, the least likely, being that since "leary" in the vernacular means "empty," the name may be taken as pointing to the large expanses of mud and sedge left hare by the tide— larger in the days before the stream was embanked than they are now. Saltram, a seat of the Earls of Morley, the first of whom both built the bridge and constructed the embankment, is on the left shore, embosomed in woods. Below the bridge the estuary curves round northwards, and, sweeping by Sutton Bool, its waters lose themselves in one of the noblest havens in the world, studded with craft of all shapes and sizes, from the grim battleship and the swift liner to the ruddy-sailed trawler. To get a coup . 55). precedence of those of Plymouth and Devonport. Saltash has gradually, through many generations, built itself up a steep, rocky acclivity until the habitations extend to the summit of the hill at Longstone, from which favoured eminence the prospect is very fine. Here may Ave see the broadened river where the ebbing tide swirls by the Mount Edgcumbe training-ship, that is swinging round on its tidal pivot just above Brunei's great bridge; thence, flowing beneath the wondrous iron link of the two westernmost counties witli which the engineer spanned the river, here half a mile across the Tamar, now joined by the Lynher from the West, loses its identity in the all-embracing Hamoaze, with its wood-fringed shores; the river passing un- remarked into Plymouth Harbour, from the Harbour to the Sound, and from the Sound to the Channel —forgotten now in the great affairs of navies, and the thrilling stories of the seas on which Drake and Hvwkius, Raleigh and Grenville, sailed to <;o RIVERS OF QBE AT BRITAIN. [The Fowey. fight the Spaniard. From haunts of peace, the Tamar, itself a pleasant stream, has flowed through scenes of rare beauty to these so warlike surroundings, where its current eddies about the decaying hulks on whose decks the old sea-dogs died, Avhere its waters wash arsenal, dock, and victualling yard, and where it oft bears on its broad bosom a mighty fleet of men-of-war. At the foot of Brown Willy, Cornwall's highest hill, in the parish of St. Brewardj there is an aqueous locality in which the water-finder might exercise his CARGREEX (p. 5S). art of divination with the utmost confidence, if, indeed, he did not find his occupa- tion gone by reason of the abundance of the surface water. This is Fo}--Fenton, and here the Fowey rises. As, to this day, Fowey becomes "Foy" in the naming of the boats that boast the prettiest harbour in the county for their port, one may easily discover a close association in the nomenclature of the sites and scenes at the beginning and the end of this very charming stream. In its course, curiously enough, the river changes its name. Where it flows southward through the moorlands between St. Xeot and St. Cleer, it is called the Dranes (or Dreynes) river: and fishermen from the "model borough" of Liskeard, who love to flog its pleasanl waters for the toothsome trout that they harbour, would be prepared to The Fowey.] ST. NEOT; LANBYDROGK HOUSE. 61 contend, in the face of the maps and in the presence of geographers, that it is the Dranes river, and no other. In Hood-time a strong stream that gives the road- surveyor endless trouble, the Fowey, leaping along its bouldered way, here and there lightening its journey by falling in picturesque cascades, scattering its showers of iridescent spray over the thick foliage that everywhere clothes its banks, runs almost level with the main road to St. Neot — a village noted for its window-pictured legend of St. Neot and the miraculous supply of fish, in the parish church — where it receives a goodly stream of that name, [ncreasing the beauty and interest of its course with THK HAMOAZE FROM SALTASH (/'. •">!)) every mile it travels, the river by-and-by glides into the far-stretching woodland of Glynn, the seat of Lord Vivian, and then becomes one of the principal contributors to the scenic charms of the railway-side from Devonport to Par, which .Miss Braddon describes as the most delightful of all journeys by rail. After leaving its moorland haunts, and in order to reach Glynn, the Fowey took a westerly turn, but, Bodmin once skirted, the river runs directly southward again, under Resprin Bridge and past Lanhydrock House, the Cornish home of that Lord Robartes who was the leader of the Parliamentarian forces in these parts. The ancient mansion, of the Tudor period, passed through many crises, and, together with modern additions, was practically destroyed by lire in 1881, and rebuilt in 1883 4. The next object of interest seen from the river is the ruin of Restormel Castle, 62 RIVERS OF GREAT BRITAIN. [The Starm on the summit of a bold headland a mile from Lostwithiel. The building of the castle is ascribed to the Cardenhams, who flourished hereabouts in the reign of the first Edward ; and it was once the residence of the Earls of Cornwall. At Lostwithiel — the Uzella of Ptolemy — the Fowey is crossed by an ancient and narrow bridge of eight pointed arches, erected in the fourteenth century. The bridge is very strongly buttressed, and over each buttress is an angular niche. A silver oar, which is among the insignia of the Corporation, bears the inscription: " Custodia aquce de Fowey." The celebrated Colonel Silas Titus, author of "Killing noe Murder," Member of Parliament for the borough 1(363-79, was the donor of the oar. Lostwithiel, where the river meets the tide, at once becoming navigable for small vessels, boasts great antiquity, and in 1604 was the headquarters of the Parliamentarian forces in Cornwall. Here, below Lostwithiel's ancient bridge, let us take boat and taste of the ineffable enjoyment which laureates of the Fowey have attributed to a sail or a row down the romantic stream to the mouth of the harbour, where the sailors sing their chanties as they work the merchantmen out between the old towers whence chains were stretched across the harbour in the stirring days when the Spaniard sailed the main. Sing hey, sing ho, for indeed life is worth living when the soft zephyrs blow, and we glide by the prettily placed church of St. Winnow, and catch the musical chiming of its melodious peal of bells. "Youth on the prow, and Pleasure at the helm," our delight knows no surcease, but rather grows as, something less than three miles below the old Parliamentary borough, the banks open out, and we behold that daydream of scenic beauty, the sunlit reaches of the river winding away toward the sea. One branch of this estuary, by-the-by, flows to St. Veep, which has an interesting church. The Lerrin and St. Cadoc creeks yet further enrich a river which Nature has endowed with charms so abundant. Bodinnoc Ferry is a name to conjure with in yachting circles, since there is not one Ion- among the many of the pleasure-boats that make for the "little Dart- mouth" of the Far West in the height of summer but contains some line compli- ment to the rare beauty of the view, landward and seaward, from this familiar tacking point. No wonder that Fowey Harbour shares with its Devonshhe rival the generous tribute of sportsmen, who have lavished upon each of these picturesque ports effusive praise that has its point in the proud title of the " Yachtsman's Para- disc" Long ere these pleasure-seeking days was the discover}' of Fowey's possession of a safe and commodious harbour made : " The shippes of Fowey sayling by Rhie and Winchelsey, about Edward the III ra tyme, would vayle no bonnet beying required, whereupon Rhie and Winchelsey men and they fought, when Fowie men had victorie, and thereupon bare their arms mixt with the arms of Rhie and Winchelsey, and then rose the name of the Gallants of Fowey." But Leland knew that they deserved the title long years before, as "the glorie of Fowey rose by the wanes in King Edward I. and III. and Henry V.'s day, partly by feats of warre, partly by piracie, and so waxing rich fell all to merchandize." The Fal.] THE "GALLANTS" OF FOWET. 63 Fowey took so naturally and keenly to the practice of piracy that the "gallants" had a little affair at sea with the French on their own account and against the King's treaty and commandment, in the reign of the fourth Edward, who appears not to have been well pleased, since he took the head of if their number, imprisoned the captains, and sent men of Dartmouth down to seize their ships and remove the chain then drawn across the mouth of the haven. But the "gallants" were nothing daunted, and in the time of Charles II. their successors beat off eighty Dutch ships of war that, greatly daring, had chased a fleet of merchantmen into Fowey Harbour. St. Finbarrus, first Bishop of Cork, is said to have been buried in the church, -which is dedicated to him, and is a handsome structure. Place House, the seat of the Treffry family, besides being a noble mansion, gloriously dight with very fine specimens of Cornish granite and porphyry, is of great historic interest. It was Elizabeth, wife of Thomas Treffry — an ancient statue of whom stands in the grounds — who. in the absence of her husband, headed his men and beat off the French in an assault on Place House in July, 1457. Along its course of but twenty miles, four of which are tidal, the Fat, divides the county into two nearly equal parts. Fenton Fal, in Tregoss Moor, is the birthplace of the stream; and from the moorland it receives the tributary waters of many peaty rivulets before gaining entrance to the romantic vale of Treviscoe, which gives us a foretaste of that feast of the beautiful which the Fal affords in its lower reaches. Compared with Avhat goes before and follows after, the course of the stream by Grampound (the Yoluba of Ptolemy), through ('reed valley, where it leaves Tregony on its left bank, and on to Kuan, is somewhat lacking in interest, and the river itself is of no great strength. Ere tin-streaming and the sandbanks had done their mischief, you might have reached Tregony on the top of the tide; nowadays the ebb and flow affect the river no farther than Kuan. Vet this has sufficed to gain for the Fal a glorious name. Perhaps the finest compliment ever paid to the river fell from royal lips. When the Queen, accompanied by the Prince Consort, made the trip down the Fal from Truro in 1846, she was visibly impressed with the beauty and splendour of the scenery, and particularly charmed with the view about Tregothnan. Her Majesty was reminded by it of the Rhine, but thought it almost liner where winding between woods of stunted oaks, and full of numberless creeks. At Truro, the two little rivers, Keuwyn and Allen, flow through the city into a creek of the Fal, known as Truro river; the first-named separates St. Mary's from St. Paul's, while the second divides the parish of St. Marv from that of St. John. The little Kenwvn is "personally conducted*' through the streets of the cathedral town by the Corporation, in open conduits, and forms a not unpleasant feature of the tiny city in Western Barbary whose inhabitants were once said to have a g ! conceit of themselves: "The people of this town dress and live so elegantly that the pride of Truro is be< te a by-word in the county." The most modern of our 64 RIVERS OF GREAT BRITAIN. [The Fal. English cathedrals is a monument to the pious zeal, marvellous industry, and unquenchable enthusiasm of Dr. Benson, the first Bishop of Truro, afterwards Archbishop of Canterbury. The Prince of Wales laid the foundation stone in 1880, and its consecration took place seven years later. The style is Early English of the thirteenth century, and at present the cathedral but partially realises the ambitious design of the Photo: F. Argall, Truro. THE FAL FROM TOLVERNE [p. 65S) architect, who planned a very imposing edifice, which, in the event of its ultimate completion, must inevitably challenge comparison with the most notable of modern achievements in the Gothic. Already it possesses several splendid windows and manv beautiful specimens of modern sculpture. The prettiest parts of our river lie between King Harry's Passage and Roseland. Below Tregothnan, where the Fal unites with the Truro river and St. Clement's creek, both shores are beautifully clothed with wood, and the tine expanse of The Fal.] FALMOUTH HARBOUR. fi5 water at high tide lends a nobility and magnificence to the scene which affords ample occasion for the high-flown descriptions and lavish praise bestowed upon the Fal. On the right are the grounds of Trelissick ; and a picturesque glimpse of the stream may be caught near the estuary called Malpas Road, by the ferry at Tolverne. After dividing Mylor from St. -last, the river loses its identity in forming Carrick Road, and shortly expands into the splendid haven of Falmouth Harbour. The inner part, between Trefusis Point, Pendennis, and the town, is called King's Road. Carrick Road, where the river enters, forms *aA _ - - «e ' -ia- **?■ „>>%* «9| Photo : Frith < I '".. R FALMOVTH HAIllim-R. the middle of the harbour, and midway between the entrance — which is from Pendennis Point to St. Anthony's Head — there lies the inously-named Black Rock, around which the Mayor of Truro sailed in .lane, L709, when he sough! to exercise jurisdiction over the port and harbour of Falmouth. But the citizens of the port themselves had had a powerful friend at Court, in the person of King Charles II., who had given Falmouth a charter overriding the ancienl claims of Truro, by which the Mayor of the latter town had levied dues on all goods laden or unladen in any part of the Fal, from Truro to the Black Rock ■ and a trial at law in the same year finally established home rule in Falmouth Harbour. Though to-day its prosperity is scarcely commensurate with its natural advantages, the harbour still remains al si unrivalled. First port of call for homeward-bound vessels, with a depth of water and safe anchorage that many 102 66 RIVERS OF GREAT BRITAIN. [The Fal. another harbour might envy, and sheltered from all the winds that blow save those from the south-south-east, it is so capacious that the whole British fleet could ride at anchor in its waters. Falmouth as a town owes its existence to these striking features of its harbour. Beholding them, it struck the shrewd sons of the House of Killigrew, Lords of Arwenack (there is an Arwenack Street to this day), who flourished in the time of James I., that there was no earthly reason why vessels should go seven miles to Truro, or two miles to Penryn, for a port wdien an infinitely 1 letter one might be created at the very mouth of the harbour. Vested interests, as represented by the communities of Truro, Penryn, and Helston, offered stout opposition. But the silver-tongued Lords of Arwenack prevailed in the argument before King James, and it was in it long ere Falmouth was the first port in Cornwall. Its great era of prosperity exemplifies the adage that it's an ill wind that blows nobody good, for, during our wars with the French, Falmouth became a m ail packet station, and flourished exceedingly on " Government service." It was the boast of proud Falmouthians that a hundred vessels could ride in the creeks of Falmouth Harboui and vet that no two should be in sight of each other. How this might he may lie understood in part when it is explained that, besides many smaller arms, there are five principal creeks. Of these branches not the least is that which was probably the earliest used, to Penryn ; there is a second to Restronguet and Perranarworthal ; a third, also of ancient use, to Truro and Tresillian Bridge; a fourth running up to St. Mawes and Gerrans ; and the fifth and greatest, to King Harry's Reach, toward Tregony which is the main stream of our Fal. Hugh W. Strong. . FALMOUTH, FKOM FLUSHING. llll ISLE OF AT1IEI.NLV (/>. 68). m^> THE PARRET AND THE LOWER AVON. The Paiiret: Its Source Muchelney Abbey — The Tom' and Taunton — Athelney [sland ami Alfred the Great— Sedge- moor — Bridgwater Burnham. The Lowek Avon: Escourt Park— Malmesbury Chippenham Melksham Bradford on-Avon— Bath — The Frome— Beau Nash— Bridges at Bath- The Abbey Church— Bristol- St. .Alary Redcliffe and Chatterton — The Cathedral "The Chasm" Clifton Suspension Bridge— The Lower Reaches Wonmouth. even, placid course of fclie Parret one sententious writer lias said, "There- is nothing remarkable in it. the country being flat." A spark of imagination and the merest glim- mering of historic interest would have snared us tins dull commonplace. Surely the stream which saw the dawn of intellect in England, which witnessed the very beginnings of our modern civilisation, which watered the sell-same mead where walked the first royal patron of learning that the country boasted, is notable, even if it does not attain to higher rank among our English rivers. The Parret — Pedred of the Saxon Chronicle — is not of native Somerset birth, since it has its uprising a mile over the southern boundary, at Cheddington Copse, in the Dorsetshire parish of South Perrott. Flowing in a south-easterly direction, by Crewkerne and the Dorsetshire border, its basin occupies that portion of the Bridgwater Level lying between the MendipS and the Quantock Hills. At Crew- kerne we have wide glimpses of its broad green valley, the busy little market town itself rising in the midst of the natural amphitheatre formed by the distant, unpretentious hills, lying low, like shadows on the horizon. The line cruciform 68 RIVERS OF GREAT BRITAIN. [The Parret church of St. Bartholomew, whose only real rival among Somersetshire churches is that at Ilminster, in precisely the same style of architecture, occupies a pleasant situation westward of the river. The ruins of Muchelney Abbey rise above the marshy banks of the river in the hamlet bearing the same name, which the ancient chronicler would have us accept as a facile corruption of "Muckle Eye," or Great Island. Of Athelstan's Abbey there are but scant remains, though these are most suo-oestive of a structure of imposing size and great archi- tectural interest and beauty. By the interesting little toAvn of Langport the dividing hills are broken, and the Parrot receives the waters of the Isle from the left, and of the Yeo (so com- mon a river name, with its obvious derivation), or Ivel, from the Swollen by these tributaries, the Barret's lazy waters now creep on under a bridge which unites the banks that marked the limits of the dominions of the Belgic and Danmonian tribes. Hereabouts we do indeed appear t<> be at the very beginnings of English history, for but a little below the confluence, at Aller, the Danish king, Guthrum, is said to have received the rite of baptism in the river, his conqueror, Alfred the Great, magnanimously standing sponsor to the fallen foe; whilst eight centuries later a fiercer warrior, tilled with zeal for what he conceived to be his righteous cause — Fairfax, to wit — routed the Rovalist forces, giving no quarter, as he bad asked none. Before we take up the other thread of the historical tale, there is the Tone to be reckoned with. Born in a bog on the Brendon Hills, this most important of the affluents of the Parret is seen at its greatest in the picturesque vale of Taunton Dean. Imparting its name to the handsome town of Taunton, it passes at least one splendid specimen of ecclesiastical architecture in St. Mary's Church, which rears its lofty tower in the midst of a delightful neighbourhood, of which Taunton is the attractive capital. Below the hill-top village of Boroughbridge the Tone joins forces with the Parret, and in the slack water at their confluence rises that little plot of ground made for ever sacred in English eyes by reason of its being the remote retreat of Alfred the Great when he sought to escape the slings and arrows of outrageous Fortune. Hurrying thither from his fierce enemies, the Danes — and, if the fable is in the least to be trusted, from the equally-to-be-feared anger of the neatherd's wife — be found a peaceful haven, where he might heal him of his THE PARRET AND THE LOWER AVON. The Parret.] ATHELNEY ISLAND. 69 wounds, recruit his resources, and lay his plans for the meditated rally. And so, by bold forays from this natural stronghold, he regained the confidence of his adherents, won over the waverers, and paved the way for his eventual triumph over the pagan foe and the complete recovery of his power. eiu >- ! flil^iill! *''■."•;■■•■ I . . •.■•> TAl N lux I HI 111 II (^o. G8). To the honour of St. Saviour and St. Peter, his patron saints, the pious hero of Athelney raised a monastery on the island, where, in their holy orisons, the monks chanted the praises of the God who had so confused the heathen by the shores of the river that staved its course and stagnated where the reeds and rushes caught the water-sprite, heavy with sleep, in their toils. Barely two acres in William of Malmesbury's day, yet covered by "a forest of alders of vast extent" !), the historic spot is now known as Athelney Farm, a stone pillar telling its great 70 RIVERS OF GREAT BRITAIN. [The Pahret. story in this concise inscription: ''King Alfred the Great, in the year of our Lord 879, having been defeated by the Danes, fled for refuge to the Forest of Athelney, where he lay concealed from his enemies for the space of a whole year. He soon after regained possession of his throne; and, in grateful remembrance of the pro- tection he had received under the favour of Heaven, he erected a monastery on the spot and endowed it with all the lands contained in the Isle of Athelney. To r 5 ,- n " rhoto: Wittiam Hanks, Malmesbury. M.VI.MES11VIIY ABBEY 721. perpetuate the memory of so remarkable an incident in the history of the illustrious prince, this edifice was founded by John Slade, Esq., of Maunsell, the proprietor of Athelney, and lord of the manor of North Petherton, a.d. 1801." History in its heroic elements still clings to Parret's banks, for, as the river flows on near Weston-Zoyland, washing the parish on the south and south-west, Sedgemoor, the Duke of Monmouth's fatal field, comes into view, and one looks upon the scene of what in Macaulay's words was "the last fight deserving the name of a battle that has been fought on English ground." Emerging from the marsh of Sedgemoor, the Parret now takes upon itself the new office of patron and benefactor of populous, busy Bridgwater, two miles to the south-west of " Sowy- land.*' It is the river which at ebb and flood tide deposits that peculiar sediment of clay and sand that goes to make "the Bath brick," of which product Bridgwater lias the monopoly. But why "Bath"? Well, presumably, because the best market for the brick was originally found in Beau Nash's town, with the result that it eventually became the principal centre of trading in the commodity. From half a mile above to half a mile below the three-arched bridge which Walter do Briwere The Lower Avon-.] BRIDGWATER AND ITS HAY. 71 — the first of that ilk — commenced, and Sir Thomas Trivet completed, in the reign of Edward I., the brickworks stretch, giving employment to a large number of hands, and forming a source of considerable revenue. The current which nearly overwhelmed General Fairfax in Bridgwater's stilling days of Ki4o is said to advance with such rapidity and boldness on the Parrel as to rise no less than two fathoms on one wave. But, judging from the statement of another authority, this must he hut a moderate estimate of the dimensions to which the bore occasionally attains, since it is asserted that the upright wave- phenomenon of the Parret has repeatedly reached nine feet in height! This much, however, is positively ascertained — that spring-tides in the Bristol Channel rise a full •'ill feet at the mouth of the Parret. King John gave Bridgwater its charter in 1200, hut the Briwere family, one of whom began the building of the great bridge over the Parret, were the real founders of the town and the actual authors of its commercial prosperity. The most striking landmark in the birthplace of Admiral Blake, the great Republican commander, whose glorious achievement it was to defeat the "invincible" Van Tromp, is the tall tower and fine spire of the parish church of St. Mary, 17 1 feet in height, and, therefore, one of the loftiest in England. A splendid altar-piece, said to have been taken from a Spanish privateer, is one of the features of the church. Six miles from the sea at Bridgwater, the Parret, as if loth to lose its indi- viduality, lingers in the rich valley, doubling the distance by its circuitous course to the Bristol Channel. At Burnham, just before the Severn Sea claims them, its waters are still further swollen by those of the Brue, a considerable stream, which, like the Parret, has a wealth of historical association, and is of some commercial significance. To the wharves at Highbridge, above Burnham, vessels of many tons burthen are borne by the tide ; here also are the gates and sluice- locks of tin.' Glastonbury canal navigation. Then the united streams fall into that part of the Bristol Channel which is known as Bridgwater Bay. A few miles to the north the Axe indolently pours into Uphill Bay the waters which it has brought from the ilanks of the Mendips, where it runs a subterranean course some two miles long before issuing forth in a copious Mood from Wookey Hole — a cavern famous for the prehistoric treasures which it has yielded to the explorer — to flow through a picturesque glen, and presently to drain the level plains of West Somerset. Watering three counties, to the scenic interest and beauty of each of which it lends an infinitude of charms, the Lower Avon is not to he measured for its importance by its length (seventy-five miles), since there are far longer streams that one would willingly exchange for half the romantic valleys ami the rich countl*} of this river, which has its source in a piece of ornamental water at Escourt Park, in the neighbourhood of Great Thurston, where the boundaries of Wiltshire and Gloucestershire almost meet. Distinction is immediate!} given to the stream. Just below the village it enters 72 RIVERS OF GREAT BRITAIN. [The Loweh Avon. the grounds of Pinckney House, and after it lias passed Eastongrey and a dozen little thorpes, the river claims proud association with historic Malmesbury — the British Caer Bladon, and the Amdo-Saxon Ino-elburne — which it enters on the west. This ancient town stands on the ridge of a narrow hill, sloping down steeply on its southern and northern sides, and is nearly surrounded by two streams which, uniting at its southern extremity, form the Avon. On the highest point of the ridge are J7iu(o; J. 'lclbury. THE AVON" NEAH TETBURT. seen the ruins of the famous Malmesbury Abbev, which once covered fortv-five acres of pound. Leland, writing in the time of Henry VIII., described it as a "right magnificent thing." The present remains are small; but the south porch is one of the finest specimens of Norman work in the country. A portion of the structure is still used as a church. Another notable feature of the town in which \\ illiam of Malmesbury, the historian, was educated, is a quaint fifteenth-century market-cross, to which also Leland gave none but honest praise when he styled it "a righte faire piece of vvorke." Malmesbury — which, by the way, was the birthplace of "Leviathan" Ilobbes — has been built on the peninsula between the Tetbury stream, flowing down from the Gloucestershire town, and the first beginnings of the Avon, which here accepts its earliest tributary. Bending southward at Somerford, another branch is caught up, this subsidiary stream hailing from the neighbourhood of Wootton Bassett. By this time the Avon The Lower Avon 1 CHIPPENHAM. 73 lias become no mean river, and in its course by Dauntsey and Seagry to woody Christian Malford it forms a very prominent feature in the fine landscape that may be viewed from the high hill to the eastward, on the summit of which stood Bradenstoke Priory, now converted to the use we will no! say ignoble — of a com- fortable farmhouse. Fast gathering its supplementary forces, the A.von after passing Kellaways and before reaching Chippenham welcomes the waters of the Marian. HltADF01tD-ON-AVOK CHt'RCH, FEOM THE NOKTH EAST ( p. 74). Cliippenham, pleasant in itself, but made still more interesting by reason of its surroundings in the fertile valley, is well nigh compassed about by the Avon. which here is a clear stream and of sweet savour. Later in its history it may deserve the description of a dork and deep river, except where shallows interfere. In its lower reaches it will be largely affected in colour 1>v storms, Wiltshire Hoods tinging' it with the whitish hue of the chalk hills, and the Somersetshire rains with the red of the ochre beds. But here it is a placid, pleasant stream, which makes a hold sweep round the environs of the town, driving its mill-wheels and lending that dignity and interest which a river peculiarly affords Hitherto the Avon's gliding way has lain by the low-lying dairy lands of North Wiltshire, through peaceful pastoral scenes, its hanks clothed with the brightest flowers of the field, and here and there shaded with willows and elms. But now, beyond Chippenham, it embarks upon the chequered and romantic phase 103 RIVERS OF GREAT BRITAIN. [The Lower Avon. of its career. The country becomes more hilly directly we near the clothing district of Wiltshire. For a short space the Avon renders the useful service of a boundary, effectually dividing Wilts and Somerset. The scenery of Chippenham Vale, through which the river flows on to Melksham, Trowbridge, and Bradford — a trio of interesting towns, each watered by the same stream — is extremely beautiful. Melksham, a town of one long principal street, is flanked by rich meadows, through which meanders the Avon. The quaint, old-fashioned houses are built on the acclivity of an eminence which may fairly be ascribed to the river's wearing work through the ages; and the inhabitants are not without reason proud of their handsome four-arched bridge. Again there comes a season of increase, in which the river gains, from this source and that, a considerable addition to its volume. At Broughton Clifford a brook by that name surrenders to the brimming river from the west, whilst from the east enters the Whaddon streamlet. Then, again, near Staverton the little Biss joineth the great Avon So our river swells with importance as it approaches romantic Bradford-on-Avon. The name of this town — from the " broad ford"' over the river — is by no means its only indebtedness to the Avon, for the highly picturesque situation of Leland's " clooth-making " centre is entirely the outcome of Nature's handiwork. Immediately on the north side of the river a hill abruptly rises, and it is on the brow and along the sloping declivity of this eminence that most of the tastefully-designed dwellings have been erected. The deep and hollow valley of the Avon now extends between two ranges, the hills here and there richly wooded to their summits ; and pretty villages have scattered themselves along these bold acclivities. Bradford-on-Avon Church is of considerable interest, and is remarkable for the success of its highly sympathetic restoration by Canon Jones, the vicar, a distin guished archaeologist. Two bridges here cross the Avon ; the most ancient, in the centre of the town, being described by Aubrey, two centuries since, as "a strong hand- some bridge, in the midst of which is a chapel for Mass." Bradford gained its original eminence in the woollen trade mainly from the introduction of "spinners" from Holland in the seventeenth century, and lost it with the development of the greater Bradford of the North, in the midst of the coalfields. Before, following the more impetuous course of the now considerable river, we quit Bradford and its seductive scenes, the peculiar loveliness of the valley of the Avon in the vicinity of the town, and more particularly at such fascinating spots as Freshfield, Limpley Stoke — just where the river leaves Wiltshire and enters Somerset — and Claverton, to name but a few, must be remarked upon. Then Bladud's creation, " Queen of all the Spas in the World," " City of the Waters of the Sun," "Queen of the West," "King of the Spas." gives greeting to the noble river that plays so great a part in the beautification of the historic city lying at the foot of the valley of the Avon, whence it has grown up its steep banks. Below Bradford the Frome has become a tributary of the Avon, bringing, The Lower Avon.] BATE AND ITS BRIDGES. 75 besides its goodly stream, many most interesting reminiscences of its course. After flowing through the lower part of the agreeably situated town to which it gives its name, the Frome adds its charms to the manifold attractions of the scenery of Vallis Bottom. Just half a mil" beyond the time-worn Priory of Ilinton, which rears its ivy-clad tower amidst a grove of venerable oaks, Frome merges itself in the Avon. As if Nature were here conspiring to make the river worthy of the city of "Bladud, eighth in descent from Brutus," at Bathford the Avon receives the Box brook, from the vale of that name in Wiltshire, and, after a loop to the west, is joined at Batheaston by another small stream, the Midford, which has enhanced the romantic interest of the Vale of Claverton ; whilst a third brook descends from the heights of Lansdowne, the fatal battlefield of Sir Basil Grenville and his Cornish friends, who lost their lives for the Parliamentary cause Tinder the ill- starred leadership of Sir William Waller. Approaching the city of "Beau Nash" from the east, and passing between Bath- wick and Bath proper, the Avon washes "Aqua Solis " (or "Sulis") of the Romans on the south, and plays its part in the fair scene which, "viewed under the intluencc of a meridian sun, and through the medium of an unclouded atmosphere, presents to sight and imagination everything that is united with the idea of perfect beauty." And yet, with all the natural advantages of its situation, Bath long awaited the touch of the wand of the modern magician — the man of enterprise and speculation. There lav the deep romantic valley, gloriously encircled by the triple band of splendid lulls — towering Lansdowne to the north, Si:; feet above the sea: Claverton and Bathwick to the east, some 600 and 400 feet in height respectively: with Beeehen ( 'liff, Sham Castle, Camden Crescent, and Lansdowne Crescent, all tine natural view-points, below. Compare with the Bath of to-day the overgrown village to the practical government of which the famous Beau Nash succeeded in 1704, when be followed the notorious gambler, Captain Webster, as Master of the Ceremonies, and you have some idea of the miracle of change and growth which has been performed. It was after the death of Beau Nash that the city, waxing great, extended its borders to Bathwick, on the country side of the river. Towards the close of the seventeenth century, private munificence caused a bridge to be thrown across the river, and Bathwick itself, from being a daisied meadowland, became a thickly populated suburb. And even the bridge thus built was shortly occupied with rows of dwelling houses and shops, so that the connection between Bath and Bathwick was complete. Long prior to the building of this, the Poulteney bridge— nearly five centuries before, in point of fact — the Avon was crossed by the St. Lawrence's, or the Old Bridge, as it is now usually called. Originally built in 1304, it became a prey to the fever of building speculation which had marked the career of the elder Wood, of the famous family of Bath architects. Out of date, and, we may pre- sume, somewhat out of repair also, it was rebuilt in 1?.")4. The Poulteney Bridge, crossing to Bathwick, followed in 1769; and half a century's growth of the popular 76 RIVERS OE GREAT BRITAIN. [The Lower Avon; lower suburb revealing - the need for further means of communication that would relieve the congested traffic, the Bathwick, or Cleveland, Bridge was added in 1827. Some years later the North Parade Bridge was built. With the advent of the iron horse there had, by this time, arisen a newer necessity still. In com- paratively rapid succession the Midland Railway and the Skew Bridge — which justifies its name by the remarkable angle at which it crosses the Avon —with three suspension bridges and a foot-passengers' bridge near the station, have followed. Bath boasts at least one ecclesiastical structure of great interest, in the " Lantern of England," as the tower of the Abbey Church has been styled, because of the unusual number and size of its windows. In the exceptional height of the clerestory and the oblong shape of the tower, the church is also distinguished from the general. Out by the Western Gate the Avon runs, with Holloway Hill and Beechen Cliff conspicuous landmarks on its left. By Twerton — '' the town on the banks of the Avon" —there are large cloth-mills on the riverside, relics of the monastic indus- tries established by the monks of Bath so far back as the fourteenth century. Thk Lower Avon. J A/.7.V/v,.\ ROUND HTLL. 77 Fielding Terrace, in this town, is the reputed neighbourhood of the residence of the novelist, who is said to have written a part of "Tom Jones" during his stay. Now the Avon is in its beloved valley, deep and green again. Three miles, little or a more, from the city, a beautiful cir- cling knoll seems to shut in the vale. The hill is crowned with a ha ml some hou se, a n d or name nted with wood- land a n d lawn. Kel- \I1\V nctj.M KOKTH 1'AKAH: VII. VV I KOJI 1111' "in I n S BKIDG1 BATH. ston hound Hill, as this impres- sive eminence is called, is 730 feel abi ive the sea-leA el, the Avon wind- ing at its foot and the ascending groves of Newton Park reaching to the line prospecl and the high- est hill in this part of Somerset. Ere, at this point, we hid a re- luctant allien to the beauties of Bath, it should hi' pointed out that in most of the commanding and delightful views obtainable from all the vantage points in and aoout the city the Avon and its fertile valley conspicuously figure, heightening the interesl of each entrancing scene. It is no ex- aggeration to say that the ueigh- 78 RIVERS OF GEE AT BRITAIN. [The Lower Avon. bourhood of Bath is rife with scenic charms. The cliffs, ravines, and deep excavations in the strata lend endless variety to the landscape, which is finely compact of hill, vale, rock, wood and water, the striking beauties of the Avon's course ever and anon lending a crowning grace to the view. Below Ivelston the more expanded vale of the Keynsham Hams succeeds. Flowing round this rich tract of land, the Avon becomes the dividing line between Gloucester and Somerset. Just beyond, within the parish of Keynsham, and midway between the sister cities of Bath and Bristol, the waters of yet another tributary, the Chow, a stream which has come down from the north side of the Mendip Hills, are gathered up. Contracted in its channel for more than a mile between lofty rocks at Hanham, the Avon, emerging from its straitened circumstances, diverts itself with the strikingly sinuous course which it then follows between Brislington and St. George's, ere it is sobered and dignified by its contact with the traditional Caer Oder, "the ( !ity of the ( !hasm," the birthplace of Sebastian Cabot, of Southey, and of Chatterton. Before the river begins to be tidal, it has another, perhaps its greatest, recruit in the Lower Frome. After a picturesque course, the Frome washes the Bishop's Palace at Stapleton, enters Bristol, and there loses itself in the Lower Avon. Between modern Bristol and the great port of the "spacious times" the differ- ence is one of degree only, for the commercial spirit is still strong in the sons of Cabot and Canynge ; and, amid the thick smoke that overhangs the very centre of the city, there rise e'en to-day the tall spars, fluttering pennons, and the rigging of the ships of the mercantile marine that made the name of the opulent city known in every port and on every sea, and brought to Bristol by the tidal river the trade that trimmed her sails to the breeze of fortune and set her course fair on the voyage to fame and prosperity. One of the earliest chapters of the history of the city is connected with the river. ft records the building of the first bridge over the Avon in 1'247, an undertaking mentioned in a charter of Henry ft. This bridge united the city with what was then the suburb of Redcliffe. To-day, this association is splendidly preserved by that golden historical link, the "finest and stateliest parish church in England," as Queen Elizabeth pronounced the edifice of St. Mary Redcliffe on her visit to Bristol in 17-33. The style is the Early English, though the richly sculptured northern doorway and some other portions belong rather to the Decorated Period. The structure was founded about the year 1300, but was enlarged, beautified, and, in fact, refounded by AVilliam Canynge, whose effigy, with that of his wife Joan, will be found at the end of the south transept. The upper part of the stone steeple was struck down by lightning in 1445, and not rebuilt for upwards of four hundred years. It was in the muniment room of this church that young Thomas Chatterton professed to have found a number of curious MSS. in prose and poetry, the boy-poet's ingenious deception long escaping detection. Such success, which might never have attended the confessed productions of his own precocious genius, gave the gifted lad of seventeen the necessary The Loweb Avon.] BRISTOL AND CLIFTON 70 stimulus, and his growing ambition led him to London, where he became a mere literary hack, and took a life threatened l>v starvation. A handsome monu- ment in St. Mary Kedcliffe churchyard pays Bristol's tribute to her great, but unhappy, son. Of St. Mary Redcliffe, the "pride of Bristowe," Camden said it was ''the most elegant of all the parish churches I have ever seen/' The present bridge replaced the thirteenth-century causeway in 1768. It was in 1247 that tlir eourse of the Frome was diverted to a new channel. Anciently, the city boundaries were the two confluent rivers which environed it with a natural defence on all sides save one, where a castle stood, protected by a broad deep moat supplied with water from the Frome, which at that time flowed by its northern walls. In Bristol Castle the son of the Conqueror, Robert, was shut up by his brother Henry. Though it has been justly said of the Cathedral that it is remarkable neither for antiquity nor beauty, being far inferior to St. Mary Redcliffe in at least one of these respects, the Berkeley chapel, forming the north aisle of the choir, is worthy of note as an elegant example of Early English. The spacious nave, with side aisles and clerestory in the Early Decorated style, is a modern addition. Among the animated busts are those of Joseph Butler, of "Analogy" fame — one of Bristol's famous line of bishops, two of whom were of the "glorious company of seven — Robert Southey, and tl Dorcas" of the city. Miss Mary Carpenter. In 1809 our river became a fellow-sufferer with the Frome. The course of the Avon lav through the city, but now a new channel was dug for it on the south side, leaving the river to fall into its original bed at Rownham Ferry. Eor the rest, the old channels of both the Frome and the Avon were converted into a line floating harbour, which, at Cumberland Basin, will accommodate some of the largest vessels afloat. "The Chasm" itself, or, as it is more familiarly known, the Gorge of the Avon, lying just below the Basin, is bridged by a triumph of modern engineering art. The Clifton Suspension Bridgi — our English "Bridge of Si^hs" for suicides- admits to a magnificent view of the Avon where it flows through the romantic deiile of St. Vincent's Rocks. As the story runs, St. Vincent, a rival, caught the Giant Goram asleep, and once and for ever determined the course of the river by cleaving the ravine through which the Avon now runs to the sea. Brunei s Bridge, after a remarkably chequered history — its construction being actuallj suspended for a period of nearly thirty years! — was completed for the visit of the British Associa- tion in 1864. The foundations had been laid in 1836. The chains of Eungerford Suspension Bridge at Charing Cross were taken down and here re-hung. The centre span — one of the longest in the world is 676 feet in extent, and the entire length of the bridge is 1,352 feet. Fifteen hundred tons in weight, the stupendous structure is a wonderful combination of strength and grace, adding a new interest and beauty to the impressive view rather than detracting from its great natural charm. 80 RIVERS OF GREAT BRITAIN. [The Lower Avon. When "Cook's Folly" and the ''Pitch and Pay" gate, of mournful memory, have been passed, and we have reached Sea Mills on the right bank, there is a distinct softening in the character of the scenery. Here is the supposed site of the Roman station Abona. The Avon at this point is joined by the small river Trym. Photo: Ilarvaj Barton, Bristol. BRISTOL, FROM TUT SITE OE THE OLD DRAWRUIDOE ACROSS THE H ARMOUR. Leland, having the St. Vincent legend clearly in remembrance, wrote of it : "' Some think a great piece of the depeness of the haven, from St. Vincent to Hungo-rode, hath been made by liandc.'" As we pass Pill, which furnishes pilots for the port of Bristol, its ancient fish-like smell forces itself upon our attention. Now we near the last reach of the Avon, Broad Pill, where the river widens greatly. Sinuous as well may be, and running between low hanks, those "sea-walls" of The Lower Avon.] AVON MOUTH. 81 rich marshland that lie about Birchampton, the river's course beyond that pretty neighbourhood changes fast, and gathers a new and picturesque interest when the tide comes in. Now we are at the mouth of the Avon, and in that fine roadstead which the loyal Bristol seamen would have styled King's Road. From the decks of the great ships that here ride out the light gale in safety a glorious view, up river, along shore, and about the fine anchorage in the estuary of the Avon and the Severn, may be enjoyed. The pier and docks at Avonmouth form another splendid enterprise, which, if it has not come too late, may retain for Bristol something more than a remnant of its ancient glory as the first port of the kingdom, a training ground for the British Navy, the haunt and home of sea-dogs who added many a gallant deed to the proud annals of our island story. Hugh W. Strong. CLIFTON SUSPENSION B1UDGE (p. 79). 104 SOURCE OF THE SEVERN', PLIXLIUilOX. THE SEVERN. CHAPTER I. FROM THE SOURCE TO TEWKESBURY. Birthplace of the Severn — Plinlimmon — Blaenhafren — IJanidl • I raws — Newtown — Montgomery — Welshpool — Powys Castle— The Breidden Hills— The Vyrnwy — Distant Views — Shrewsbury — Haughmond Hill— The Caradoc Hills — Atcham— Wroseter— Condorer — The Wrekin— Benthall and Wenlock Edges — Build was Abbey— Coalbrook Dale— Iron- bridge — Bros ley and Benthall — Coalport — Bridgnorth— Qnatford— Forest of Wyre — Bewdley—Stourport— Worcester — The Teme — Ludlow — Tewkesbury. HE SEVERN, though a much longer river than the Dee, £ < ii- it is the second* in Britain, is born among less striking scenery. The latter issues from an upland lake, enclosed by the peaks of the Arans and the craggy slopes of the Arenigs. But south of Cader Idris the mountains become less striking in outline, the cliffs fewer and lower, the summits tamer. It is a region not so much of mountains as of great hills, which stretch away into the distance, range after range, like rollers on the Atlantic after a storm. The central point of this region, the loftiest summit of Mid-Wales, is Plinlimmon, which, though so insignificant in outline attains to a height oi 2,463 feet, and is the parent of quite a family of rivers. Of these, one is the Wye, the other the Severn: the sources of the two, though their paths are distinct unto the end. when they mingle their waters in the Bristol * The Severn is about 200 miles in length, the Thames being about L'.".n. The Dee is hardly more than 90 miles. I'm. StVEKX.] SEVERN AND DEE COMPARED. - Channel, are some couple of miles apart. Nor is the distance very great between the fount- of the Severn and the Dee. If we suppose, as i- generally done, the actual head of the latter to be on the flank of Aran Benllyn, the interval betw< the two is less than twenty-three miles. But to return to the Severn, which rises <>n the aorth-east side of PKnlimmon, at Maes Haf'ren. Our first illustration gives a good idea of the scenery near its source: not. indeed, striking in outline — upland moors without trees, hills nearly without crags, covered for the most part with herbage, coarse on the lower ground near the rivulet-, rank in the not unfrequenl bogs, but liner on the upper sloj somewhat monotonous in it- tints, vet not without a charm of it- own — a sense of freedom ami expansion, which is sometimes felt to he wanting among the towering peak- ami precipitous ravines of the grander mountain ranges. At first. as i- the wont of rivers anion-- such surroundings, the Severn wander- idly through the moorland, a mere brook rippling among stone- and boulders: then by degri - it begins to fray out a path for it-elf and to cut down into the underlying rock-. The second illustration shows it at this stage of life — the child just beginning to feel it- strength — and. besides this, gives a good idea of the character of the hill scenery in Mid-Wales, of which we have already spoken. The little Severn has now begun to strike out a way for itself on it- journey to the sea; the general plan ". '■■■ mtUi 1 ):' ' - MR ? ' " Vholo: Robinson y a fall thai he was taken prisoner. On the western side of the Hautmont — for that was the original name — a priory was founded by William Fitz- alan, in the days of King Stephen. The ENGLISH i.KII'GK, SHKEWSIil l:V [p. on. monks soon found their way to royal, and even to papal, favour, for they were permitted to say the divine office in a low voice and with closed doors, even when the land lay under an interdict. Then the priory became an abbey of the Augnstinian order, until at last it shared the fate of all others at the Reformation, passing into lay hands and being cared for no longer. It is now a complete ruin ; the church is gone, though just enough remains to show that it was cruciform in plan. The monastic buildings have been nearly destroyed, though a couple of Norman doors remain, and the more important structures can be identified. The best preserved part is the chapter-house, in the 96 RIVERS OF GREAT BRITAIN. [The Severn. west front of which arc three fine arches in the Transitional-Norman style. The views from the slopes above are very attractive, as the eye ranges over the Shropshire lowlands, with their rich alternations of pasture, cornfield, and wood, to the ridges already named, and still further towards the Longmynds, the Breiddens, the Berwyns, and the yet more distant ranges of Wales. On winds the Severn, gliding with steady flow by meadows, shelving fields or copses, till it comes at last to Atcham, with its bridge and picturesque old church IRILDYVAS ABBEI (2>. 98j . near the waterside. Here was horn Ordericus, afterwards historian of William the Conqueror. About a mile helow, the little Tern adds its waters to the Severn, near the home of the Berwick* ; and yet another mile, and the river glides by the paiish church of Wroxeter, with its interesting Norman work, and the site of the Romano-British city of Uriconium, on the famous Watling Street road; founded, as is supposed, about the reign of Trajan, to guard the passages over the Severn and the outlets from Wales. In the year 577 a hand of West Saxons forced their way, plundering and destroying as they went, up the rich valley of the Severn. Uriconium was taken, and, as the bard lamented, "The white town in the valley went up in flames, the town of white stone gleaming among the green woodland; the hall of its chieftain left without fire, without light, without song: the silence broken only by the eagle's scream — the eagle who had swallowed fresh drink — heart's blood of Kyndylan the Fair." The walls of Uriconium were three miles in extent, and the area enclosed was larger by nearly a third than that of Pompeii. The Sevehn.] WROXETER AND ITS HISTORY. 97 Excavations have been made which have disclosed a basilica, or public hall, a hypo- caust belonging to the baths, and many foundations of houses; but no work of a high class, either in architecture or in decorative art, has been discovered. Uriconium at best was only a provincial city, and that in distant Britain ; and THE SEVERN PROM HKXTHALL EDGE (^). 98). even if it had possessed any important buildings, they would have perished, if not from the fury of the barbarian invaders, at least by the hands of those in later days, who used it as a quarry. Most of the things dug up are preserved in the museum at Shrewsbury. " In the corner of the hypocaust three skeletons were found — one of a man, and two of women; by the side of the former lay a heap of copper coins, numbering a hundred and thirty-two, which belonged to the days of the later emperors, and some bits of rotten wood and rusty iron, which may have been the fragments of a box. It is supposed that some poor wretches, perhaps servants at the baths, sought refuge here during the sack of the city, and then perished, either suffocated by the smoke of its burning or buried alive by the fallen ruins." * Below Wroxeter, the undulation of the country through which the Severn now ' "Our Own Country,'' Vol. V., p. liiU. 106 98 FIVERS OF GREAT BRITAIN. [The Severn. flows, for a time with a straighter course, becomes rather more strongly marked. The Cound brook joins the river on the right, flowing clown by Condover village, with its Hall, " a perfect specimen of Elizabethan stonework,'' and its interesting church and monuments. Then the Severn glides under a red sandstone cliff and beneath the wooden bridge of Cressage, with its memories of old oak trees; then through wooded ravines as the ground begins to rise. On its right bank copse-clad slopes enrich the view, while in one direction or another the great hill masses stand out against the sky. Among these the Wrekin is generally the most conspicuous, and now for a time it rises on the northern side of the river almost without a rival. It is the Salopian's landmark — his Olympus or Parnassus — "all round the Wrekin" is his toast. This is no wonder, for few hills in Britain, considering its moderate elevation — 1,320 feet above the sea — are more imposing in aspect, because it rises so boldly and abraptly from the lowland; and though the Salopian could not assert that "twelve fair counties saw the light" of its beacon tire, as was said of the Malverns, still, from far distances and from unexpected places the Wrekin is visible. In shape it is a rather long ridge, steep on either side capped by three fairly distinct summits, of which the central is the highest. But from many points the lower summits seem to be lost in the central one, and the Wrekin assumes a form rudely resembling a huge tumulus. Like several of the other hills, it is largely composed of very ancient volcanic rocks. As we look down the stream, the view before long appears to be closed by a wooded ridge, which seems at first to prohibit further progress. This is Benthall Edge, which may be said to begin at Lincoln Hill, on the left bank of the Severn, and on the opposite side to join on to Wenlock Edge, to the south-west. It is formed of the Wenlock limestone, belonging to the Silurian system, and so called from the townlet of Much Wenlock. This owes its origin and part of its name— for " Much" is a corruption of monasterium, like moutier in French — to its priory, once famed as "the oldest and most privileged — perhaps the wealthiest and most magnificent — of the religious houses of Shropshire." Now it is only a ruin, except that the priory-house is still inhabited, and is a remarkably good instance of a domestic building of the fifteenth century. The ruius, however, are very extensive, and in parts most picturesque. But as they are a league away from the riverside, and are hid by the wooded slopes of Wenlock Edge, we must turn to another ruin, which stands on the level strath, almost by the waterside, just before the hills • lose in upon the Severn. This is Buildwas Abbey, formerly an abode of the ( 'istercians, which bears traces of that strict order in the simplicity of its archi- tecture. Still, its ruins are admirable in their noble simplicity. "They impress us with the power of its designer, who ventured to trust simply to the strength of his composition and the grace of his outlines, so as to dispense with almost all ornamentation whatever. It thus gives it a sense of calmness and repose, for which we seek in vain in works of more modern date." The style indicates the passage *"Our Own Country." Vol. V.. p. Kill. The Severn.] COALBBOOK DALE AND IRONBRIDGE. 99 from Norman to Early English; the influence of the latter, on the whole, pre- dominating. The church and chapter-house are still in fair preservation. The abbot's house— mainly thirteenth-century work — has been restored, and is inhabited. The date (if the foundation is a little uncertain ; but it is believed to have been about the middle of the twelfth century. Buildwas was a wealthy abbey in its day, but made no figure in history. Through the ridge of Benthall Edge the Severn has sawn its way, so that the river-valley now becomes almost a gorge, along which, on the abrupt southern side, the Severn Valley railway has been conducted, and tins not without considerable engineering difficulties. Wooded steeps and grey crags on either side of the strong stream flowing at their feet form a series of exquisite pictures, though unhappily not for long, for a change comes where the dirty hand of man has smirched the lace of Nature. To the north and to the east of the limestone hills lies the most noted of the Shropshire coalfields, that of Coalbrook Dale, which is rich also in iron, though its mineral wealth is becoming exhausted. Dismantled engine-houses and great piles of dark rubbish are only one shade less unpieturesque than tall chimneys vomiting black fumes, smelting furnaces, the apparatus of the pit-mouth, and smouldering spoil-banks. But before the days of "smoke, and wealth, and noise," (his part of the ravine of the Severn, and even Coalbrook Dale itself, must have been very beautiful. Ironbridge is a dingy-looking town, built on the steep hillside, which gets its name from the metal arch — 120 feet in span — l>v which the Severn was bridged in the year 1779. On the opposite side of the river, hardly more than a mile away, is Broseley, noted for pottery and clay pipes; and another mile west of that, Benthall, equally noted for encaustic tiles. The neighbourhood of the Severn, as far as Coalport, has fallen off in beauty as it has increased in wealth. lint soon, in a . Wj Others, again, will be found in or near to the churchyard, and yet another near the end of the street, which descends so steeply as the main way to the lower town. This, which bears the date 1580, is a particularly good specimen of the black-timbered houses so abundant in the valley of the Severn. Here, in the year 1729, Percy was born, the collector and editor of the " Keliques of Ancient English Poetry." Bridgnorth Castle also must not be forgotten; occupying the extremity of the promontory already mentioned, it was a place of great strength in olden days, and stood more than one siege. It was destroyed after holding out for a month for King Charles. The most conspicuous remnant is a massive wall, a portion of the keep, which has heeled over to one side, at so great an angle — about 17 degrees — that it looks actually unsafe. The adjacent church was designed by Telford, the eminent engineer, to whom we are more indebted for the suspension bridge over the Menai Straits than for this rather ugly Renaissance building. :L/: -» 'Jgi3)% -.V. ;-■■ ■fit/ 1 ' f sfei'V --T_:~^ IJPi 1. THE SEVERN IN WYRE FOREST. 2. NEAR SHKAWLEY. 3. QUATFORD. 4. OLD HOUSES AT BEWDLEY (p. 102). 10 2 RIVERS OF GREAT BRITAIN. [The Severn. For some miles below Bridgnorth the valley of the Severn is extremely pretty, the banks half slopes of pasture, half masked with trees. "Now it is a little wider, now a little narrower, the hills a little steeper here or a little more wooded there, the grass by the riverside always green, the Severn sweeping on as it swings from side to side of the valley," and breaking here and there into a series of little rapids. It passes Quatford, the site of a Saxon fortress, which was erected in the tenth century, and through the Forest of Morf, long since brought under cultiva- tion. Quatford was a place of some importance till some years after the Conquest, when Bridgnorth was built, and most of its inhabitants removed to the new strong- hold. The river leaves on its western side the old Forest of Wyre, which, though it still retains some pretty woods, had lost its best trees even so long ago as the days of Camden. It is now better known as a coalfield, though it is not one of much commercial importance. The Severn glides on beneath the wide arch of an iron railway bridge and across the parting of Shropshire and Worcestershire to Bewdley, pleasantly situated on a slope by the river-bank, and well worthy of its name, Beau lieu. In olden times it had an extensive trade by means of the river, when it was a place of import and export, especially for the Principality. All the country round is pretty, notwithstanding occasional symptoms of factories. The lanes are sometimes cut deep in the red sandstone, and here and there the rock is hollowed out into dwellings after a primaeval fashion. Three miles or so away to the east is busy but un- picturesque Kidderminster, famed for its carpets. Stourport follows, not less busy, and yet less picturesque, where the Severn is joined by the river after which the place is named. Here the construction of the Worcestershire and Stafford- shire Canal has turned a hamlet into a town. Undulating ground on either hand, the long low line of the Lackey Hills some miles away to the east, the slightlv more varied forms of the Abberley Hills on the west, limit a piece of country pleasant to the eye through which the Severn flows for several miles, past Shrawley and Ombersley. Then the valley becomes a little broader and flatter. The scarp of the Cotswolds, with Bredon Cloud as an advanced bastion, replaces the Lickey Hills, and on the other side, as the tower of AVorcester Cathedral grows more and more conspicuous in the view, the Malvern Hills, with their mountain-like out- lines, divert the attention from their humbler advanced post on the north. There are no places of importance near the Severn, though Ilartlebury Palace, which has belonged to the See of Worcester for over a thousand years, lies about a league away on the east. Worcester has no special charm in point of situation, though the river itself and the distant hills are always an attraction, but some of its streets are quaint, and its cathedral is grand. The site, comparatively level, but raised well above the river, early attracted settlers, and it is believed to have been inhabited before the days of the Romans. It figures from time to time in our history, but its most stirring days were in the Civil War, when it took the king's side, was twice The Severn ] WORCESTER. 103 besieged, twice compelled to surrender, and twice suffered severely for its "malignity." But even the king's death did not bring peace to Worcester, for it was occupied by the younger Charles, and the decisive battle which crushed the hopes of the Cavaliers was fought in its very streets. Since the Restoration it has Photo: Harvey Barton, Bristol. WORCESTER CATHEDRAL, FROM THE SEVERN. been undisturbed, and has prospered, especially since it added the manufacture of porcelain to that of gloves, for which it has long been famed, the compounding of sauce to the potting of lampreys, and took to making bricks and yet more stronfflv scented chemicals. The cathedral overlooks the Severn, its precincts being almost bounded by the river-bank. It is a noble pile, the tall central tower being a conspicuous object for many a mile away in the valley, though it has been, perhaps, overmuch restored. Parts, however, of the fabric had become so decayed that it was thought necessary to re-build them. A crypt belongs to a building erected soon after the Norman Conquest, but the greater part of the present structure is Early English, and very beautiful work of its kind, being begun about 1225. The nave, however, is of later date, with the exception of one or two incorporated fragments of the preceding cathedral. .Some of the monuments also are interesting. Though King 104 RIVERS OF GREAT BRITAIX. [The Severn. John loved not churches, he lies in the middle of the choir, where his effigy remains, the earliest one of a royal personage in England ; a beautiful chantry chapel commemorates Prince Arthur, the elder brother of Henry VIII.. and no visitor is likely to forget the mysterious gravestone with its single and sorrowful inscription. " Miserrimus." Cloisters, chapter-house, and other portions of the con- ventual buildings still remain, though the fine old Guesten Hall was destroyed not manv years ago. The town also retains some fairly interesting houses, though neither these nor the twelve parish churches are likely to divert the visitors' attention from the cathedral. Below Worcester the Teme conies into the Severn from the west. hew rivers of its size pass through more charming or more interesting scenery. It collects a group of streams that have risen among the great hill-masses on the edges of Radnor and Montgomery, and in the southern part of Shropshire. They have flowed by craggy slopes and wild moorland, by lonely farms and quiet villages, by ancestral oaks and ancient halls, by ruined forts and manv a relic of primaeval folk. But on these we must not linger; a glance at Ludlow must suffice. It is one of the most attractive towns in England — church and castle crown a hill between the Teme and the Corve, and from it the streets run down the slope. \\i olden time Ludlow was a place of great importance, for the castle was the chief of thirty-two that guarded the Welsh Marches, and here the Lords Presi- dents of Wales held their courts. Even after this state had passed away, the town was a centre of county society. The castle, a picturesque ruin, crowns the head- land, the inner court occupying its north-western angle, and the main block of buildings overlooks a wooded cliff. These are of various dates, from Norman to Tudor; the most remarkable being a curious little circular chapel of Late Norman work, which now stands alone, its small chancel having disappeared. The castle witnessed sharp fighting more than once in the Border Wars, and finally surrendered to the troops of the Parliament. Here died Arthur, Prince of Wales, sun <>f Henry VII.; here also Milton wrote "The Masque of Comus " and Butler part of " Iludibras." The church — a grand building in the Perpendicular style, on a commanding site — is justly designated one of the noblest parish churches in England. There are several good specimens of timber- work among the older houses; the most striking, perhaps, being the Reader's House in the churchyard, and the Feathers Inn. The grand old trees in Oakley Park, the Clee Hills, Stokesay Castle. Tenbury Church, and St. Michael's College, are but a few of the many attractions of the surrounding district. For some fourteen miles below Worcester the Severn flows through its wide and pleasant valley without passing near any place of special interest, unless it be Kemsey, with its fine church standing within the enclosure of a Roman camp, or Upton, which makes much vinegar and enjoys, besides, considerable traffic up and down the river; for its bridge, in place of a central arch, has a platform which can be raised to let vessels pass. But the foreground scenery, fertile and wooded, 107 106 BIVERS OF GREAT BEIT J IX. [The Sevekn. is often very pretty : the scarp bounding the limestone uplands of the Cotswolds is pleasant to see, and the range of the Malverns is always beautiful. Passing thus through a fertile land, Ave come to Tewkesbury, with its abbey church, less magniti- cent but hardly less interesting than the Cathedral of Worcester, and its black- timbered houses not far behind those of Shrewsbury. But as this town belones to the Avon even more than to the Severn, it shall be described in connection with the former river. THE SEVElUf AT TBWKESBUHT. koto: E. II. \ THE WON M.Alt RUGBY [j>. 1IISJ. THE S E V E I! X CHAPTER "II. THE UPPER OR WARWICKSHIRE AVON. The Watershed of Central England— Naseby— Rugby— The Swift— Lutterworth and Wiclif— Stoneleigh Abbey :m,\ Kenil- worth Castle— Guy's Clitf — The Leam— Warwick ami its Castle— Stratford-on-Avon and it r- Shakespeare Associations — Evesham— Pershore — Tewkesbury. rpiIK Avon is a typical river of the English lowlands, and it is surpassed by few •*• in the quiet beauty of its scenery <>r in the places of interest on its banks. It rises in the northern part of Northamptonshire, on an elevated plateau, the highest spot on which is nearly 700 feet above sea-level. This forms the water- shed of Central England, for on it also the Welland and the Nen begin their courses to the Wash. But it is not only tin 1 source of an historic stream, it is also the scene of an historic event. Almost on the highest ground is Naseby Church, and to the north of that, quite in the corner of the county, is the fatal "field" where the forces of Charles and of Cromwell met in a death-grip and the King's cause was hopelessly lost. It was more than a defeat, it was an utter rout. Henceforth Charles was "like a hunted partridge, flitting from one castle to another." 108 RIVERS OF GEE AT BRITAIN. [The Upper Avon-. From this upland country — pleasantly varied by cornfield, pasture, and copses —the Avon makes its way to the northern margin of the county, and then, working round to the south-west, forms for a while the boundary between it and Leicestershire. Entering Warwickshire, the Avon passes near Rugby. All know the great railway junction, immortalised by Charles Dickens, and the famous school, with its memories of old Laurence Sheriff e the founder, and Dr. Arnold, its great headmaster. Then the river is joined by the tributary Swift, which, while hardly more than a brook, has rippled by the little town of Lutterworth. There, higher up the slope, is the church where Wiclif ministered, the pulpit from which he preached. There, spanning the stream, is a little bridge, the successor of that from which the ashes, after his bones had been dug up and burnt by order of the Council of Con- stance, were flung into the English .Ttiles 5 s 10 IS THE XTPER nit WARWICKSHIRE AVON. water. So the Swift bore them to the Avon, and the Avon to the Severn, and that to the sea, to be dispersed abroad into all lands — "which things are an allegorv." The Avon flows on through the pretty, restful scenery of Warwickshire, which has been rendered classic by the authoress of "Adam Bede," twisting in great curves gradually more and more to the south. It leaves, some three miles away from its right bank, the spires and ancient mansions of Coventry — once noted for its ribbons, now busy in making cycles ; it sweeps round Stoneleigh Abbey, with its beautiful park and fine old oaks, where a comparatively modern mansion has replaced a Cistercian monasters'. On the opposite side, half a league away, are the ruins of Kenilworth Castle, with their memories of Leicester and Queen Elizabeth. It glides beneath Guy's Cliff, where the famous Earl, the slayer of the Dun Cow, after his return from the Holy Land, dwelt in a cave as a hermit, unrecognised, till the hour of his death, by his own wife, though she daily gave him alms. A little further, and a short distance away on 'lio left, on the tributary Learn, is the modern town of Leamington, which began a career of prosperity just a century ago on the discovery .of sundry mineral springs. Then the Avon sweeps by the foot of the hill on which HO RIVERS OF GEE AT BRITAIN. [The Upper Avon. stands the old town of Warwick. The site is an ideal one— a hill for a fortress, a river for a moat— and has thus been occupied from a distant antiquity. Briton, Roman, Saxon — all are said to have held in turn the settlement, till the Norman came and built a castle. The town retains two of its gates and several old timbered houses, one of which, the Leicester Hospital, founded in 1571, is perhaps the finest in the Midlands; and on the top of the hill, set so that "it cannot be hid," is the great church of St. Mary. It is in the Per- pendicular style, more or less, for the tower and nave were rebuilt after a great lire in 1694, the choir escaping with little injury. Two tine tombs of the Earls of Warwick are in this part, but the glory of the church is the Beauchamp Chapel, with its far-famed altar-tomb and effigy of Richard Beauchamp, the founder. He died in 1439; and near him lie the Earl of Leicester, Queen Eliza- beth's favourite, and other members of the house of Dudley. Warwick Castle is one of the most picturesquely situated mansions in England. It stands on a rocky headland, which descends almost precipitously to the Avon. One of our illustrations (p. Ill) may give some notion of the beauty of the view over the rich river-plain ; the other (p. 109) indicates the aspect of the castle itself. A mediaeval fortress has been gradually transformed into a modern mansion, yet it retains an air of antiquity and not a little of the original structure. It incor- porates portions of almost all dates, from the Norman Conquest to the present day. The oldest part is the lofty tower, called Caesar's tower, which must have been erected not many years after the victory at Hastings. The residential part mostly belongs to the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, though alterations and additions have been made, especially during the restoration, which was rendered necessary by a lamentable fire in 1871. We must leave it to the guide-books to describe the pictures, antiquities, and curiosities which the castle contains— relics of the Civil War, when it was in vain besieged by the king's forces, the sword and porridge-pot of the legendary Guy, and the famous Warwick Vase, dug up near Tivoli at Hadrian's Villa. But the view from the windows is so beautiful that the visitor will often find a difficulty in looking at pictures on the walls ; he will be well rewarded if afterwards he stroll down towards the old mill by the rivei\side. After leaving Warwick the Avon keeps winding towards the south-western boundary of the county till, before reaching this, it arrives at another and yet more noted town. Stratford-on-Avon is a household word wherever the English tongue is spoken. No American thinks his visit to the country of his ancestors is complete till he has made a pilgrimage to the birthplace and the grave of Shake- speare — nay, even our distant kinsmen in Germany are not seldom drawn thither by the same magnetic force. The town, till the days of railways, was a, quietly prosperous, old-fashioned place, in harmony with the scenery of the neighbourhood. This is thoroughly characteristic of the Midlands, and exhibits one of their most attractive types. "The Avon, a fairly broad bright stream, sweeps silently along The T'rri u Avon] SirAKKSPEAUVS TOWN. Ill on its way to the Severn, through level meadows, where the srrass grows green and deep. The higher ground on either side rolls gently down, descending sometimes to the margin of the stream, but elsewhere parted from it by broad stretches of level valley. The slopes are dotted with cornfields, and varied by clumps of trees and lines of hedgerow timber. It is a peaceful, unexciting land, where hurry would seem out of place." * The little house where Shakespeare was born — in 1564, on the 23rd of April, as they say — after many vicissitudes has been saved to the nation, and perhaps a little over- restored. It is a parcel- timbered dwelling without enrichment — one of those common in the Midlands — such as would bo in- habited by an ordinary burgess of a country town. When Shakespeare re- turned, a prosperous man, to his birthplace, he lived in a much better house near the church, which he purchased in 1597. This, however, was pulled down by an ill-tempered clerical vandal in the middle of the last century. Shot- tery, where we can still see the cottage of Anne Hathaway, whom Shake- speare loved not wisely but too well, is a mile away ; and about four times that distance is the picturesque old brick and stone mansion of Charlecote, with its beautiful p. irk. Here dwelt Sir Thomas Lucy. with whose deer the youth made too free, and on account of whose anger he ran away to London. The dramatist, it is said, took his revenge on the knight in the : --Our Own Courtry," Vol. V.. p. 183. J / i THE AVON HliiM WAKWKK CASTLE (p. 110). taTKATFORD-ON-AVON CHUKCH. The Upper A.von.1 STRATFORD CHURCH. 113 portrait of .Justice Shallow, but when lie looked back on the ultimate results of his flight from Stratford he might have justly said, "All's well that ends well!" In the month of his birth, 1616, Stratford Church received the body of William Shakespeare. "Church and churchyard are worthy of being connected with so great a memory. The former is a fine cruciform structure, crowned with a central spire; the latter a spacious tract, planted with aged trees. An avenue of Shakespeare's hovse (p. 111). limes leads up to the church porch, between which, perhaps, the poet often passed to worship, and whose quivering shadows may one sad day have fallen upon his coffin. But there is a part of the God's acre where, perhaps, more than any other, we mav think of him, for it is one which can hardly have failed to tempt him to musing. The Avon bounds the churchyard, and by its brink is a terraced walk, beneath a row of fine old elms. On the one hand, through the green screens of summer foliage, or through the chequered lattice-work of winter boughs, we see the grey stones of the church — here the tracery of a window, there a weather-beaten pinnacle — then, through some wider gap, the spire itself. (hi the other hand, beneath the terrace wall, the Avon slowly and silently glides along by bridge and town, bv water-meadows, bright with celandine in spring and thick with lush grass in i une. * "Our own Country," Vol. V. p. lsfi. 108 114 EIVERS OF GREAT BRITAIN. [The Upper Avon, The church, once collegiate, is an unusually fine one, partly Early English, partly Decorated, but mostly Perpendicular in style. To the last belongs the chancel, where Shakespeare is buried, with his wife, daughter, and other relations. His monument, with the bust, is on the north wall, and his grave with the quainl inscription is near at hand, both too well known to need description; but though this one great memory pervades the place, almost to the exclusion of all beside, there are other tombs of interest, and the church of itself is well worth a visit. About a league below Stratford, the Avon becomes a county boundary, separa- ting 1 Warwickshire from the north of Gloucestershire. Then it returns to the former county, and lastly enters Worcestershire. Its valley becomes more and more definitely marked as the river cuts its way through the upland, which forms the eastern limit of the broad Vale of Severn. On a peninsula of Worcestershire made by a southward sweep of the stream, near the boundary of the two other counties, stands an historic town, Evesham, which gives its name to the beautiful vale. A ruined archway and a noble tower are the sole relics of its once famous abbey This was founded early in the eighth century, on a spot where they said both a swineherd and a bishop had seen a vision of the Virgin. Ultimately it was attached to the Benedictine order, became one of the most wealthy monasteries, with one of the grandest churches in the West. It was exceptionally rich in relics and ornaments. The shrine of the founder was a superb specimen of the goldsmith's work; the forms of worship were unusually sumptuous. But at last the crash came, and the spoiler's hand fell with exceptional weight on the abbey of Evesham. ''The estates were confiscated and parcelled out, and the abbey was dismantled and given away to Sir Philip llobv, a gentleman of Worcestershire, who shortly afterwards seems to have leased out the magnificent buildings of abbey and monastery as a quarry for stone, and thus it continued to be for many a day." So now ' l it can hardly be called a ruin " ; * but the beautiful tower still remains, which stood at the entrance of the cemetery, and was meant for clock and bells. This was only completed just before the surrender of the abbey. Near it are two churches, each of fair size, each with its wn steeple, chapels founded by the monks for the use of the townsfolk. The three, as shown in our illustration (p. 117), form a very striking group. But this quiet town in a peaceful valley was once disturbed by the noise of battle, and witnessed a crisis in English history. Prince Edward, son of Henry III., had contrived by masterly generalship to prevent the junction of the armies of Simon de Mont fort and his son. The former w r as encamped at Evesham. The Prince's army blocked his one outlet by land ; a detachment of it had cut off a retreat by the bridges over the river. The fight from the first was hopeless ; De Montfort's troops were inferior: "The Welsh tied at the first onset like sheep, and were cut ruthlessly down in the cornfields and gardens where they had sought refuge. The little group of knights around Simon fought desperately, falling one by one till the Earl was left alone. So terrible were his sword-strokes that he had * Dean Snence in " Cathedrals, Abbeys and Churches," p. 774. o The Titer a vox.] EVESHAM AND PERSHORE. 115 all but gained the hill-top when a lance-thrust brought his horse to the ground; but Simon still rejected the summons to yield, till a blow from behind felled him, mortally wounded, to the ground. Then with a last cry of ' It is God's grace,' the soul of the great patriot passed away."' * The beauty and richness of the Vale of Evesham are proverbial; it is a land of coin and orchards, and it widens out as the Avon winds on in rounding the northern extremity of the Cotswolds. After a time the stream makes a great un- dulating sweep to the northward, as if to avoid the outlying mass of Dundry Hill, and brings us to another country town and another fragment of a grand church of olden time. Pershore was founded in the tenth century, as was Evesham, and only a few years afterwards; it too passed under the rule of the Benedictines, and was richly endowed by a pious Saxon noble, not only with lands, but also with relics. Pershore, however, was less uniformly prosperous than Evesham. Edward the Confessor gave of its lands to his new abbey at Westminster. William the Conqueror took of them for himself or his courtiers. For all that, money was found for re- building, and for rearing a glorious structure, resembling those at Gloucester and Tewkesbury, in the latter part of the eleventh century. The choir was again re-built in the thirteenth; the central tower dates from the middle of the fourteenth. The Reformation here, as elsewhere, was a time of plunder and destruction — nave, lady- chapel, and monastic buildings were pulled down; the people of Pershore, to their honour, purchased the rest of the church, and thus saved it from annihilation. The north transept fell down at a later date; but what is left has been carefully repaired and restored, and this fragment has been justly called one of the noblest specimens of Norman and Early English work that our country possesses. Though the foreground scenery, as the two valleys merge, becomes less striking, the more distant views are always attractive; for the scarp bounding the limestone uplands of the Cotswolds forms a pleasant feature, and the range of the Malverns is beautiful in its outline. At last, just before its confluence with the Severn, the Avon brings us to another interesting town — Tewkesbury, on the left bank of the latter river, and within half a mile of the former one. Tewkesbury has an abbey church, not •so magnificent, but hardly less interesting than that of Worcester, while it is not less rich than Shrewsbury in black-timbered houses. Here the course of the Severn is interrupted by a weir and a lock, constructed in order to make the river navigable to Worcester for vessels of larger tonnage, and is crossed by a tine bridge of iron. It receives the Avon, by the side of which the town is built, and this stream is spanned by another and ancient bridge of stone. The streets, with their old timbered houses, are a delight to the antiquary: they usually have bay windows carried the whole height of the front, the " Wheatsheaf Inn" being one of the best specimens. The abbey, however, is the glory of the town, and in ancient days, before Tewkesbury mustard became a proverb, made its name known all over England. It claims as its founder two kings of Mercia, rather more than eleven * Green, "Short History of the English I "• ■■ .j ■ l ■ -." cli iii. 116 RIVERS OF GREAT BRITAIN. r THE Tpper Aton. and a half centuries ago, and in any case appears to carry back its history almost to this time. But the greater part of the present church was erected early in the twelfth century, though the choir was re-constructed about two centuries afterwards. Phot E . lu istol. THE AYOX AT STKATFOKD [p. 110; Yet this, though graceful Decorated work in the upper part, maintains the massive Norman piers below, the combination producing a rather unusual effect. But not only so, the choir terminates in an apse, a feature not very common in our English churches, and certainly not the least among the attractions of Tewkesbury. Central tower, transept, and nave are mainly Norman ; and the west end is peculiar, for it terminates in a huge arch, which occupies almost the whole of the facade, and in which a great Perpendicular window has been inserted. It has a curiously The Upper Avon.] TEWKESBURY. 117 incomplete look, so, possibly, the architect contemplated the addition of a facade with towers. The church also is unusually rich in chantries and ancient monu- ments, secular and ecclesiastical. l'hoto : Harvey Barton, Bristol. evesham {p. 114). Tewkesbury, too, has a place in English history, for on the meadows south of the abbey was fought the last battle between the houses of Lancaster and York, and the Red Rose was trampled in the mire. Margaret of Anjou was taken prisoner; her only son, Edward, was stabbed by tin Yorkists — it is said after the Duke of Y'ork had struck him in the face with his gauntlet; and a large number of the chief men on the losing side were killed or were executed after the battle. Some of them fled to the abbey lor sanctuary. Edward and his soldiers came in hot 118 RIVERS OF GREAT BRITAIN. [The Upper Avon. pursuit, but a priest, bearing- the Host, confronted them on the threshold, nor would he move until the victor promised to spare the lives of the fugitives. But on the third day afterwards a troop of soldiers broke into the building, dragged out the refugees, and promptly struck off their heads. Revenge proved stronger than religion! The young prince lies in a nameless grave beneath the central tower of the abbey ; and other illustrious victims of the battle were buried within its walls. The building itself has had more than one narrow escape from destruction : it was seriously THE AVON AT TEWKESBURY. injured by a fire in the later part of the twelfth century ; at the suppression of the monasteries it was placed on the list of "superfluous" buildings and doomed to be pulled down by the greedy vandals of that age. But the good folk of Tewkesbury bought it for themselves, and thus preserved one of the finest and most interesting- ecclesiastical buildings in the West Country. They have well earned the gratitude of posterity. The monastic buildings, however, to a great extent have disappeared. The cloisters, which seem to have resembled those at Gloucester, are unfortunately gone, but the monks' infirmary, with some adjacent buildings, has been incorporated into a mansion called Abbey House, and the principal gateway still remains. Tewkes- bury, in short, is to the lover of architecture far the most interesting town of its size in the valley of the Severn. DISTANT VIEW OF TEWKESHl'HY. THE SEVERN. CHAPTER III. FROM TEWKESBURY TO THE SEA. Deerhurst — Gloucester — The " Bore " — May Hill— Minsterworth — Westhury-on-Severn— Newnham — Berkeley Castle- Lydney — Sharpness — The Severn Tunnel — The Estuary — A Vanished River. BELOW Tewkesbury several pleasant places, country-houses, parks and quiet villages are situated on the lowland, or on the gentle undulations which diversify the width of the valley, but few are of special interest, except the little church of Deerhurst, standing near the waterside, which was built, as an inscription now preserved at Oxford has recorded, in the year 1056. The greater part of the comparatively lofty tower, with some portions of the body of the church, belongs to this age; but the latter to a considerable extent has been rebuilt at various dates, and its plan altered. There was a priory of earlier foundation, but of this nothing of interest remains. But for some miles a great tower has been rising more and more distinctly above the lush w r ater- meadows, as did that of Worcester on the higher reaches of the Severn. It is another cathedral, on a scale yet grander than the former one, the centre of the old city of Gloucester, which for not a few years has been rapidly increasing; but all about the precincts and in the original streets are many pic- turesque remnants of the last and preceding centuries, while its churches surpass those of Worcester. Gloucester, as it guards the Severn, and is one of the natural approaches to Wales, very early became a place of mark. An important station for the Roman troops, it was in the days of Bede a very notable town, not only in the .Mercian kingdom, but also in all Britain. At Gloucester the first of its Christian kings founded a monastery about eighty years after the landing of Augustine: and when the Dane began to harry England the town had not seldom to fight and sometimes to 120 RIVERS OF GREAT BRITAIN. [The Severn. suffer. Saxon and the earlier Norman kings often visited it. Probably in few cathedrals out of London — except, perhaps, Winchester — were royal worshippers sc frequent. Henry III., a boy of ten, was crowned here, and had a particular affection for the town. Hither the murdered Edward II. was brought for burial; Parliaments were held in the city ; and most of the kings up to the sixteenth century paid it at least one visit. But when the great Civil War broke out, Gloucester took the side of the Parliament. So, presently, the Royal troops and Charles himself appeared before its walls. For about four weeks it was closely invested, and its defenders were in sore straits, till Essex raised the siege. As a penalty the walls were destroyed after the Restoration. That did no real harm; the city was quietly prosperous, till it was quickened to a more active life by becoming a railway junction, when the ''break of gauge" provided many a subject for Punch. The cathedral stands well within the old city, a good quarter of a mile from the Severn. One rose on this site before the Norman Conquest, but that was destroyed by tire — the crypt beneath the choir being the only relic — and another building was erected in the last dozen years of the eleventh century. Notwithstanding great and conspicuous alterations, the shell of this structure is comparatively intact. The nave has undergone the least change, and is a very fine example of the earlier work in that style. It resembles Tewkesbury in the increased height of the piers and con- sequent dwarfing of the triforium, thus differing" from, and not improving on, the great Norman cathedrals of Eastern England ; the choir is also of the same age, though the older work is often al- most concealed beneath a veil of Per- pendicular tracery; and the east window THE SEVERN, FROM TEWKESBURV TO THE SEA. of the latter date, is the argest in England. The roof also is a magnificent piece of vault- ing. In fact, all the east- ern part, including the transept, was remodelled between the years 1337 and 1377, but the roof of the nave had been already replaced The Sf.verx ] GLOUCESTER CATHEDRA I,. 121 nearly a century earlier than the former dale The latest conspicuous changes in the cathedral were the additions of the grand Lady Chapel and of the central tower. The former was grafted on to its little Norman predecessor in the last Photo : II. IV. Watson. Gloitcesti GLOUCESTER. forty years of the fifteenth century, and its great Perpendicular east window still preserves the stained glass with which it was filled on tne completion of the structure. The east window of the choir also contains the original glass, which is a yet finer specimen of the art. and is older by nearly a hundred and fifty years. The central tower was begun at the same time, but was not completed till some 109 12S RIVERS OF (i RE AT BRITAIN. [The Severn. t'noto : ifudson. THE SEVERN BRIDGE, SHABVNESS (p 123). thirty years later. It has few rivals in Britain; some prefer that in the same position at Lincoln, others Bell Harry Tower at Canterbury. Gloucester, at any rate, is the most ornate, even if it bo not the most beautiful. The old stained glass, the exquisite tracery of its windows, walls and roof, give exceptional richness to the eastern half of the cathedral, but in addition to this, it possesses several remarkable monuments. The luckless Robert Courthose, oldest son of the Conqueror, who died a prisoner at Cardiff Castle, was buried before the high altar. His tomb and effigy, contrary to the usual custom, are of wood (Irish oak), but whether they are contemporaneous is uncertain. The yvi more luckless Edward II. was brought from Berkeley Castle to lie under the central arch on the north side of the choir. There his son and successor raised a memorial, which is not surpassed by any in England. Despised in life, this Edward was honoured in death — such is the irony of fate. A constant stream of pilgrims Hocked to his grave as to that of an uncanonised saint, and the magnificent reconstruction of the choir was the fruit of their offerings. Telford spanned the Severn with an arch of stone 150 feet in diameter, and below < rloucester the railway runs on a viaduct across the meadows, Alney Island, and the river. The valley now is becoming very wide, and seems to hint that before long the Severn will broaden into an estuary. The river begins to swing in huge curves through the level meadows. The tidal wave, called "the bore," sometimes The Severn.] 77//: ESTUARY. 123 attains a considerable height, and is one of its "wonders." The Malvern Hills have receded into the background, and their place is taken by May Hill, famous among geologists; on the opposite side the scarp of the Cotswolds continues, though with a rather more broken outline; but outlying hills come nearer to the city. The Severn ebbs and flows by Minsterworth, where Gwillim is buried, whose heraldry was beloved by country squires. The main high road, when possible, keeps away from the stream, lor the land lies low and is liable to floods. West- bury-on-Severn is the first place of mark — a small town with a rather large church noted for having a separate steeple, the spire of which is of wood. The Severn here lias pressed againsf higher ground and has carved it into a low cliff, which affords sections well known to every geologist: and in the nei'di- bourhood iron ore is worked, as it has been for many a century. Newnham comes next, a market-town, and an outlet for the important mining district of the Forest of Dean, which lies a few miles away to the west. It still preserves a sword of state given to it by King John, and there is some old Norman work in its church. The Severn is now changing from a river to an estuary. X<> places of im- portance lie near the riverside, and its scenery is becoming marshy and monotonous; but some distance away to the east is Berkeley, an old town with an old castle. memorable for the murder of the hapless Edward; and on the other side is Lydney, a (plaint little town with a small inland harbour, a market cross, and a tine old church. In the adjacent park, on a kind of elevated terrace overlooking the valley, are the remains of a group of Roman villas, from which many coins, pieces of pottery, and other relics have been unearthed. At Sharpness, above Lydney, a railway crosses the Severn by p. long bridge of twenty-eight arches, a magnificent work; but below it ferryboats were the only communication from shore to shore till in 1886 the completion of the Severn Tunnel linked Bristol and the West more closely to the eastern part of Smith Wales. At this point the river is more than two and a quarter miles across; hut the tunnel itself is about double that length. This, the greatest w< rk of its kind in Britain, was completed by the late Sir John Hawkshaw. The banks become yet farther apart, the water is salt, the tide ebbs and flows, as in the sea. The estuary, indeed, continues for many a mile, still retaining the form of a river-valley. Very probably there was a time when a Severn flowed along a broad valley, where now the Bristol Channel parts England from South Wales, to join another stream which had descended over land, now sunk beneath the Irish Sea, and the two rivers discharged their united waters into a more distant Atlantic Ocean; but that was very long ago, so that our task is now completed. We have followed the Severn from its source to its ending — till our brook has become a river, and our river has become a sea.. T. (jr. BoNNEY. A ItEM) OP THE WYE. THE WYE. •The Notorious Hill of Plinlimmon "— The Stronghold of Owen Glcndower— T.lansrmig— Rhayader Gwy— Llyn-Gwyn — The Elan, the Ithon, and the Yrfon— Llandrindod— Builth— Aberedw and the Last Prince of Wales— Hay— Clifford Castle and the Fair Rosamond — Hereford — The Lug — "The Wonder'' — Ross and John Kyrle— Goodrich Castle— Coldwell Rocks— Symond's V.n Monmouth— 'Me- Monnow, the Dore, and the Honddu— Wordsworth's Great Ode— Tintem AlVhey — The Wyndclifi -Chepstow — The Lower Reaches. ^Sgi^ IKE many another thing of beauty, the Wye is born amidst '*K?a * * surroundings dreary and dismal. Plinlimmon, the monarch \^''.'^ c 7-^ r ^\\ of the vast waste of hills that forms the southern portion JUP^fg of the Cambrian system, has three heads. But no one can point the finger of scorn at him on that account, for great are his DLwy cares as he stands there in that region of morass and bog, the tf^ ~ father of five rivers. His chief head, towering to the sky, gathers from the heavy clouds as they drift across the land the raindrops and the mist, and these, trickling down his shoulders, are gathered into five different courses, and, hurrying on their way, form the five rivers — the Severn, the Wye, the Rheidol, which flows to Aberystwyth, and the Dulas and the Llyffnant, which by different courses flow to the Dovey. Moreover, the rugged, austere mountain has long been spoken lightly of; for a shepherd — it would never do to call him an humble shepherd — who, in the early part of the present century, had the right to sell ale and small beer in his cottage up amongst the mountain-tops, had a board hung out with this modest sentence, which, to be sure, soon became classic. painted upon it: "The notorious hill of Plinlimmon is on these premises, and it will be shown with pleasure to any gentleman travellers who wishes to see it." So, what with the clouds and mists resting upon his head, the large family of rivers he The Wvi ] OWEN GLENDOWER. 125 has to feed, and the slighting language that is held towards him, the ''notorious hill of Plinlimmon " is bald and sad and sodden. Unless, therefore, the traveller is fond of dreariness and dankness, he Avill scarcely find this a profitable journey to make— this climb to the very source of the Wye. Legend, however, weaves a charm ever many an else dreary waste, and up amongst the scramble of hills of which Plinlimmon is monarch, leg-end and history unapocryphal combine to fill the home of mists with interest for all who Photos : Hudson. VIEWS IN THE LOWER ELAN" VALLEY (p. 128). love a stirring tale. Here, at the very source of the \Yve, Owain Glyndwr — the Owen Glendower of Shakespeare's King Henry IV.— who could call spirits from the vasty deep, had his stronghold, and gathered around him his vicious little hand of followers :— "Three times hath Henry Bolingbroke made head Against my power; thrice from the banks of Wye And sandy-bottomed Severn have T sent him Eootless home, and weather-beaten back." 126 RIVERS OF GREAT BRITAIN. [The Wye. This lie truthfully told his fellow-conspirators. Plinlimmon and the surrounding country is rich in records and leg-ends concerning this turbulent prince, whose very birth, on May 28th, 1354, is said to have been attended by remarkable premonitions of coming trouble, for it is told that on that eventful night his father's horses were found in their stalls standing in a bath of blood that readied to their bellies. This is the popular account, but Shakespeare's imagination created other and farther- reaching warnings to the world concerning the fiery spirit that had been ushered upon the scene: — " At my nativity The front of Heaven was full of fiery shapes, Of burning cressets ; and at my birth The frame and huge foundation of the earth Shak'd like a coward." From this lofty region, half earth and half sky— for the Wye can lay claim to trace its source to the very clouds that hang thick upon Plinlimmon's head —the tiny rivulet bounds down the mountain-side, and the Fates, catching at a myriad of still smaller rills, braid them into the main stream, as the tresses of a maiden's hair are woven together, till united they form a brook. For a number of miles the land through which the Wye's course is laid continues to be melan- choly in the extreme, and the torrent, like all urchins brought up amidst harsh, inclement surroundings, goes on its way brawling and turbulent, playing leapfrog with rocks, flinging itself over precipices, swirling in little maelstroms, and almost getting blown away in spray; and it is not until the pretty village of Llangurig is reached that it comes in part to its senses, and, although still boisterous, shows itself amenable to the influence of civilisation. Not only does the Wye here meet for the first time with civilisation, but here, too, it becomes acquainted with that which later on in its life is one of its glories, almost its crowning glory — trees. The head and shoulders of mighty Plinlimmon afford no gracious foothold for these children of fat lands and lusty air, scarcely a bush raising its branches in the bog and marsh of the mountain. But up to Llangurig a few of them have straggled, to break the monotony of the mountainous region. Here, too, a bridge — one of the few works of man that sometimes add to rather than detract from the effect of river-scenery, always provided that it is not a modern railway bridge of iron —crosses the young stream ; and a church, the first of many on the banks of the Wye, stands near by. A short distance below this village the stream spreads out in its valley, and flows more gently amongst huge boulders that have been hurled down from the sides of tlie mountains. Between Llangurig and the next village of any importance, Rhayader Grwy, to give it its full name, although most people are content to call it by its "Christian" name only, leaving the " (uvv " to take care of itself — between these two villages the Wye enters Radnorshire; and now the scenery, although still wildly mountainous, is of a more subdued description, trees becoming more plentiful, and the rocks, occasionally shaking their heads free from the thick covering of spongy morass, The Wye.] RHAYADER GWT. 127 beginning to stand out bold and picturesque, and to take their proper place in the composition of mountain-scenery. A short distance above Rhayader Grwy the river Marteg pours its tiny volume into the Wye, and here is one of the choicest bits of scenery in all the upper reaches of our stream. Xannertli Rocks, lofty crags, confront the river, and narrow the bed so that the combined waters can only squeeze through at the expense of a mighty uproar and much plunging and dashing and flinging of spray and foam, the brawl of the forced passage being audible for a great distance. After its straitened course between these rocks, the river enters an easier bed and flows sulkily down to Rhayader Grwy. This village has a situation as wonderful as any in all the kingdom. On every side tower the great hills, not harsh and gloomy now, but clothed with oak forest thick and deep. Not so many years ago there were, as the name of the village bears record, falls at Rhayader Grwy; but in building the bridge that spans the stream the good people, little caring for the picturesqueness of the place, removed the stones and widened the channel, and so reduced the falls to rapids. Although the place is of little note now, being only a lovely village, once upon a time it was of considerable importance in the country, and saw stirring times. Among other things, it had a strong fortress of its own, erected by Rhys ap Gruffydd, the Prince of South Wales ; but this was so thoroughly rased to the ground by Llewelyn, in 1231, that not a vestige remains. At a later da}' a successor to this stronghold was built, but it, too, fell, in the stormy days of the Parliamentary War, and only a mound marks the spot where it stood. Near to Rhayader Grwy the Wye, like a mountain chief exacting tribute from his weaker neighbours, secures the overflow from a quaint lake, said to be the only beautiful lake in Radnorshire — the Llyn-Grwyn. In olden days many a pilgrim, full of faith in the miraculous powers of this little lake, made his way through the rugged district to bathe in its waters; and there can lie little wonder at the hope inspired in their breasts by the sight of Llyn-Grwyn, for it is such a lake as is rarely found, dainty, clear, cool, its high wooded banks rising nearly perpendicularly- a veritable fairies' ocean. With the over- flow from this the Wye tumbles along, soon to find tributaries of much more importance. The first of these is the Elan. This river receives the < 'laerwen ; and near to the juncture of the two streams THE WYE AND THE I SK 128 FIVERS OF GREAT BRITAIN. [The Wye. is Nantgwillt, a house which, in the momentous year 1812, was occupied by the poet Shelley, while at Cwm Elan lived Harriet Grove. The journey from Rhayader to Cwm Elan, a distance of five miles up the valley of the little river, is very beautiful. Mountains rise on every side, as though guarding the privacy of the delicious glen; inspiring sights are to be seen at every turn, dainty views of the Wye and the Elan pleasantly breaking the green of trees and grass, and the variegated colours of rocks. Further up the valley is the scene chosen for Photo: J. Owen, Newtown, North Wait PONT-HYLL-FAN, IX THE ELAN VALLEY. the illustration on tliis page, where the waters of the Elan splash along over the rocks that bestrew their course, until they come to a sombre and forbidding pool, which might well lie bottomless. Next, the Ithon, its waters drawn from the Montgomeryshire hills, flows into the Wye; and then, more considerable by far than any Brecknock tributary, comes the Yrfon, whose fountaindiead is some ten miles from Llanwrtyd. Long time ago a cave near to the river-bank harboured Rhys Gethin, an audacious free- booter, who levied contributions from all and sundry, including his Majesty the King himself. At the Wolf's Leap, a point on the Yrfon worthy of a visit, the river may be said to run on edge, for the rocks close in so that the water, while some 30 feet deep, is only a few inches across. This is the place where, if tradition is to be credited, the last Welsh wolf took matters into his own paws, and committed suicide. The niche of land formed by the junction of the Yrfon with the Wye is pointed to as the spot where Llewelyn, in 1282, made his last Tub Wyf.j LLAXIWIXDOI) AND ITS WELLS. 129 stand against Edward I. and his English hosts, and was there slain and buried. About an equal distance from Rhayader and Builth, up the valley of the Ithon, is Llandrindod, long famous for its pure air and healing wells. As Long ago as the seventeenth century, the waters of these wells were known to have medicinal Photo: Hiul 11. THE SHAKY BRIDGE, I.I,.\M>liIN"]>< properties that made them of peculiar value to those suffering from scrofula and kindred troubles. The water flows out of the rock high up on a hillside, and guests at the pump-house and hotels enjoy a magnificenl panoramic view of the valleys of the Wye, Ithon, and Yrfon. In the last century an hotel of extravagant luxury was erected by the side of these wells, but, proving unprofitable, it soon became a favourite resort of gamblers, and continued to be the scandal of the country until a lady of practical piety became possessed of the property, and, so that there should be no doubt about her ideas on the subject of gambling, had the building torn down and utterly removed. That happened long ago, and now other hotels have taken the place of the one of evil repute; and Llandrindod, having railway communication with the outside world, is prospering exceedingly. Let us add that it has not, in its prosperity, come to feel ashamed of its Shaky Bridge a primitive arrangement of planks and stretched ropes, which wdl some day, it is to lie feared, be displaced by a more "imposing" structure. no 130 RIVERS OF GREAT BRITAIN. [The Wye. Builth, on the Wye, is a fisherman's paradise. Using the little town as a base, he has within easy reach the waters of the Wye, the Yrfon, the Edw, the Dihonw, and the Chweffru, all waters rich in sporting fish; and in the seasons of the sport about as many artificial as natural flies skim the waters, for anglers come from far and near to a centre so celebrated. The authentic history of Builth reaches back to Roman times; and in later days the Danes came with fire and sword, and levelled the place with the ground. The Castle of Builth was stormed and destroyed as often as it was rebuilt, the partisans of one chief after another wreaking their rage upon it, and now nothing but a mound marks the spot where once a succession of strongholds stood. History has no more romantic tale to tell, nor one that is more generally known, than that of the ride of the Prince of Wales, Llewelyn, from Aberedw, where on the banks of the Wye he had a castle, towards Builth, which refused to succour him. There is scarce an elementary schoolboy who has not heard of the ingenious blacksmith who hastily nailed to the hoofs of Llewelyn's horse the shoes reversed, so that the tracks in the snow might mislead those who were in hot pursuit; and alas! heard, too, that the blacksmith, clever as he was at his trade, was not clever enough to keep the secret, but betrayed his prince to the enemy, so that the last authentic Prince of Wales was hounded to his death. It is a story destined to immortality, for it has drifted into folklore, and, like the curiously barbarous tale of Little Red Riding Hood, is crooned to each generation of children until every Welsh child dreams at least once in its lifetime of the harried prince and the foaming steed, the new-fallen snow, and the marks of the seven- nailed shoes running, as it were, backwards. The tale has been transplanted to many quarters of the globe, but the Wye knows that the prince fled along its banks from the castle to the cruel, inhospitable town. ( )f the castle — Llewelyn's — to be sure, almost nothing now remains ; but the village is delightfully situated, and is much resorted to by anglers, and not by anglers only. The next place of particular importance is Hay. From the river the streets of this picturesque and thriving little town rise rather too abruptly for the pleasurable convenience of vehicular traffic ; but pieturcsqueness and practicability seldom go hand in hand, and what Hay streets lack in the latter is fully made up in the former virtue. To crown them rises the ivy-clad fragments of the famous castle. It is often found that the same hero ciphers through the history of a country or district with the persistence of a damaged note in an organ, although usually with a less irritating effect. In this quarter of the kingdom, which was once the buffer State between England and Wales, the name of Owen Glendower crops up continually, and at Hay among other places. At the head of his wild men from the hills, he came down like an avalanche upon the castle at Hay ; when he retired, the pile was a mass of ruins, and now nothing stands of the ancient fort but a gateway — the very stones grey with age — and part of a tower. The Wye.] HAY CASTLK 131 Legend, which has a pretty fancy and nimble brain, relates that the castle was built in one night by the celebrated Maud de Saint Wallery, alias Maud de Ilain. alias Moll Walbee. "She built the Castle "of Hay" (to quote Jones's "Brecknock") THE nvi: BRIDGE AND HEREFORD CATHEDRA! (/'. 1 34 "in one night, the stones for which she carried in her apron. While she was thus employed, a small pebble, of about nine feet long and one foot thick, dropped into her shoe. This she did not at first regard; but in a short time finding it trouble- some, she indignantly threw it over the river Wye into Llowes churchyard, in Radnorshire (about three miles off), where it remains to this day. precisely in the position it fell, a stubborn memorial of the historical fact, to the utter confusion 132 RIVERS OF GREAT BRITAIN. [The Wye. of all sceptics and unbelievers." Americans have long claimed for their Chicago belles the largest feet; but from this well-substantiated fact it i.s doubtful if any one of them ever wore so spacious a shoe as the fair Maud on the banks of the Wye. King John, in revenge for succour refused, visited the town with his vengeance; and altogether its early history is as stirring as any to be met with in these parts. By the time Hay is reached the Wye is fast becom- ing a stream of considera GOODRICH CASTLE (p. 138}. Now entering Herefordshire, it flows through a broad vale, cultivated and mellow, where Clifford Castle stands a hoary ruin. Here, if history speak true, was born, in the reign of Henry II., one of great and general notoriety, whose name — or nom de guerre, as Dryden has it — is woven richly into the ballads of that and later days: for doubtless her beauty, like her failings, was great, and her death untimely and cruel : — "Jane Clifford was her name, as books aver; Fair Rosamond was but her nom de guerre" Fair Rosamond was born about the year 1140. How much of the story coming to us through the medium of ballads and folk-tales be true, it is now quite impossible to discover, but popular fancy still clings to the idea of a lonely and innocently unfortunate girl installed at Woodstock, protected by a nurse who proved insufficient when pitted against the cunning of a scandalised wife and queen. Fair Rosamond was buried at Godstow, and upon her tomb was carved the famous epitaph: — The Wye ] CLIFFORD CASTLE AND FAIR ROSAMOND. 133 "Hie jacet in tumba Rosa Mundi, non Rosa munda : Ncm redolet, sed olet, qua? redolere solet." The railway lias not improved the situation of this old castle:- " Clifford lias fallen — Lowe'er sub- lime. Mere fragments wrestle still with i ime ; Yet as they perish, sure and slow, And, rolling, dash the stream below, They raise tradition's glowing scene, — The elue of silk, the wrathful queen ; And link in memory's firmesl bond The love-lorn tale of Rosamond." Passing between wooded eminences, broad holds, and peaceful farms, the Wye at length roadies the suburbs, and then the ancient city of Hereford. Hereford was a town of importance even at the dawn of English history. Outside its walls stood the palace of OfPa, the greatest of all the Mercian princes; and during the reign of the Mercian kings it was the principal town of Mercia. Ethelfleda, sister of Edward the Elder, governed the place with great skill, and she it was who constructed the castle that guarded the town, and constructed it so well that it proved to be one of the strongest in all England. Leland lias this to say of the keep: "High, and very strong, having in the outer wall ten semicircular towers, and one great tower within"; and adds that "it hath been one of the largest, fayrest, and strongest castles in England." Here, again, the wily Llewelyn conies upon the scene, for he led his men from the fastness of the Upper Wye, pillaged and burnt the place, murdered the bishop and his assistants, set the cathedral ablaze, and left what had been a fair town a mass of smouldering ruins. A visitor to this ancient city will find it hard to realise that anything but peace and goodwill ever reigned in all the district, tor in these days of bustle and worry it would be dif'ticult to discover in all Great Britain a more placid, steady-going, self-satisfied city than Hereford. Well laid out, clean, at least reasonably well-to-do — although it does not lay claim to be a place of • great ROSS CHURCH (p. 136). 134 RIVERS OF GREAT BRITAIN. [The Wye. industry, relying more upon the church and the market than upon the manufactory — there seems to be a perpetual air of Sunday hovering over the town. The very visitors — and they are many — move soberly about the streets, and appear to have become imbued with the spirit of the place. No one can be many minutes in Hereford without detecting that not only the people but the very buildings take their key from the grand cathedral that, calmly gazing info the face of Time, has seen of men and houses generations come and generations go. Hereford as an ecclesiastical centre is one of the most ancient in Great Britain, hut until the commission of Offa's grievous crime it must have been comparatively unimportant, with a small wooden structure for a church. Offa's perfidy changed all that. It will be remembered that the ruthless prince treacherously induced Ethelbert, King of the East Angles, to visit his Court, where he had him foully murdered, and buried in the church. Offa. of course, then seized Ethelbert's crown. Having secured this, and being safely installed in the place of his murdered guest, he found time to repent; and that his repentance might seem the more real, he endowed with great riches the church in which lay the body of his victim, and soon the wooden building gave place to a stone edifice. No doubt the king's offerings greatly assisted in founding Hereford on a solid ecclesiastical basis, hut the effect of his gifts was evanescent, compared with the value of his victim's bones, as an attraction to the devout. Ethelbert's remains had not long been buried in the cathedral ere they began to work miracles, and soon great numbers of jjeople from near and from afar sought the good saint's assistance, so that great riches flowed to the church and town; and from that day to this Hereford has continued to prosper. For two hundred years the church built over the bones of Ethelbert stood, before the Welsh, as has been told, laid the place in ruins. In 1*179 Bishop Robert of Lorraine began to rebuild, and the work was not completed until early in the sixteenth century. This is the building — many times restored — that stands to the present day. More than a hundred years ago (in 1786) the western tower collapsed, bringing down with it most of the west front, and this, as well as many other parts of the cathedral, was rebuilt. Inside the cathedral are many interesting monuments of men who played large parts in the history of England, and, besides these, the cathedral has a unique treasure in the far-famed " Mappa Mundi," a production of one De Haldingham, who lived in the fourteenth century. This map, if not the oldest, is at least one of the very oldest in the world. Havergal says of it: "The world is here repre- sented as round, surrounded by the ocean. At the top of the map is represented Paradise, with its rivers and trees ; also the eating of the forbidden fruit and the expulsion of our first parents. Above is a remarkable representation of the Day of Judgment, with the Virgin Mary interceding for the faithful, who are seen rising from their graves, and being led within the w r alls of Heaven. The map is chiefly filled with ideas taken from Herodotus, Solinus, Isidore, Pliny, and other ancient The Wye.] HEREFORD. 135 historians. There are numerous figures of towns, animals, birds, and fish, with grotesque customs such as the mediaeval geographers believed to exist in different parts of the world. The four great cities are very prominent — Jerusalem as the centre of the world; Babylon, with its famous tower; Rome, the capital of the world . . . and Troy ... In Great Britain most of the cathedrals are mentioned, but of Ireland the author seems to have known very little." Truly a wonderful record of the geographical knowledge of the Middle Ages! Hereford was the birthplace of Nell Grwynne, orange-seller, actress, and Court favourite —short, red of hair or nearly so, and with feet so small as to cause general amusement. The street in which she was born is now called Grwynne Lane, and the place is still pointed out to tourists who are interested in the story of the famous beauty. David Gfarrick also was born in the city. Before leaving Hereford, it may bo worth while to note that here, as at many other places, it was once the custom to insert a clause in the indentures of apprentices ''that they should not be compelled to live on salmon more than two days in the week." Needless to say, no such clause is now necessary. In 1234 the wolves became so numerous about the outskirts of the city, that a pro- clamation called upon all the king's liege people to assist in destroying them. And now leaving the cathedral city, our river flows under the Wye Bridge, built so long ago as 1490, with six noble arches, and proceeds on its way towards Ross. Four miles below Hereford, the most important of all the tributaries that spill their floods into the winding Wye is met with. This is the Lug, which itself absorbs the waters of several smaller rivers on its way southwards. The meeting of the Lug with the Wye takes place at the little village of Mordiford, where once upon a time an enormous serpent, winged and awful, used to betake itself from feasting upon men and women and little children to drink of the waters of the Wye. This terrible serpent was destroyed by a malefactor, who was offered a pardon should he accomplish the task of ridding the good people of the sore pest; and it is sad to learn that in killing the serpent he inhaled so much of its poisonous breath that he died almost at the same time as the monster he had brought low. But the results of a later event, almost as important and awe-inspiring, are to be seen not far from this part of the Wye. They are known as " The Wonder," a mile and a half from Woolhope, in a parish which, one would think, should be called Miracle, but is really called Marcle. To best describe what "The Wonder" is, we will quote Sir Richard Bakers "Chronicles of England" as follows: — "In the thirteenth year of Queen Elizabeth a prodigious earthquake happened in the east part of Herefordshire, at a little town called Kinnaston. On the 17th of February, at six o'clock in the evening, the earth began to open, and a hill, with a rock under it, making at first a great hollowing noise which was heard a great way off, lifted itself up and began to travel, bearing along with it the trees that grew upon it, the sheepfolds, and Hocks of sheep abiding there at the same time. In the place from whence it was first moved it left a gaping distance 4(1 foot broad and 136 RIVERS OF GREAT BRITAIN. [The Wye. fourscore ells long: the whole held was about twenty acres. Passing along, it overthrew a chapel standing in the way, removed a yew-tree planted in the church- yard from the west to the east ; with the like force it thrust before it highways, sheepfolds, hedges, the trees ; made tilled ground pas- ture, and again turned pasture into tillage. Having walked in this sort from Saturday even- ing till Monday noon, it then stood still." Surely, this is a record, even JE THE FERKY, SYMOND S YAT. symond's yat (p. Hi)). iii the land of Saturday-to-Mon- dav trips! Between Hereford and Ross the Wye flows quietly, and with- out many striking features, either as regards the scenery or the stream itself. Upon its breast float pleasure-boats in great numbers, although in the dry season of the year, unless the midmost channel is rigidly adhered to, numbers of shallows interrupt the passage even of skiffs of light draught, for the river occasionallv spreads out to a great surface, and runs proportionately shallow over rock and gravel. Indeed, it is not until the ancient town of Ross is reached that tlio Wye becomes a general favourite with the floating population. Ross, as seen from the surrounding country, appears to be standing a-tiptoe, trying to touch the sky with the tip of its beautiful spire. The church with its slender spire attracts the eye from a great distance — it is, to all appearances, the one prominent object in all the country round about — and the first sight of it lias caused travellers to sigh, for to see it for the first time is to be a long, long way from it. Here in this tiny town of Ross lived and died a man whose name is known, The Wye.] "THE MAN OF ROSS." 137 one might say, not at all, but whose descriptive appellation, given to him whilst he was still alive, will be recognised the world over. This is John Kyrle, "The Man of Ross." The history of the town of Ross is principally a mass of details, authentic and apocryphal, regarding the life, times, and labours, the recreations, walks, works, and ways of " The Man of Ross." Few places are so entirely given up to MONMOUTH [p. 141) the memory of one man as is Ross to the memory of John Kyrle. Everywhere in that quaint and clean little town, "The Man of Ross," in some form or other, meets the eye. Here his favourite walk, there the park he gave to the people, again the pew in which he worshipped, the house in which he lived, the buildings he reared, the streets he made — everything tells of John Kyrle. He was born in the year 1087, and was educated at Balliol College, Oxford, whore is still to be seen a silver tankard bearing his name. As this tankard holds five pints, it is to be inferred that the student who was to become "The Man of Uoss" was a lusty drinker, although in after-life he proved himself to be a man of abstemious habits. His long life — he died aged eighty-eight was devoted to doing good to all whom he could help, improving not only man but town and country as well : — " Hut all our praises why should lords engross 1 ! Rise, honest Muse! ami sing the Man of Ross : Pleased Vaga echoes through her winding bounds, Ami rapid Severn hoarse applause resounds. Who hung wit)' woods yon mountain's sultry browl From the dry rock who bade tin- waters flow] No1 to tlic skies iii useless columns tost, ( )]• in proud tails magnificently lost, 111 138 RIVERS OF GREAT BRITAIN. [The Wye, But, clear and 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 the heaven-directed spire to rise? ' The Man of Ross,' each lisping babe replies." So says Pope in his "Moral Essays," and, in saying this and much more about the good man, scattered the fame of John Kyrle far and wide. It is pleasant to know that a man who showed himself so solicitous that others should taste of enjoyment was able himself to take great delight in simple things. " He dearly loved a goose," says Leitch Ritchie, " and was vain of his dexterity in carving it. During the operation, which lie invariably took upon himself, he always repeated one of those old sayings and standing witticisms that seem to attach themselves with peculiar preference to the cooked goose. He never had roast beef on his table save and except on Christmas day, and malt liquors and good Hereford cyder were the only beverages ever introduced." The good man's bones rest in Ross Church, the spire of which he had repaired ; and to this day are shown the trees that have forced a way through chinks in the wall and floor of the building, so that their branches and leaves might droop as though in the attitude of mourning over his grave. From the churchyard there is to be had a magnificent view of the Wye sweeping in a great curve far below, the waters hastening on to lose themselves in the Severn. From Ross to the mouth of the Wye, those who can afford the time should make the journey by boat. It will be well to discard the use of adjectives and exclamations in taking this trip, for the most gifted in the use of these parts of speech will speedily find them- selves at their wits' end for words to express their admiration of the scenery. Midway between Ross and Monmouth stands Goodrich Castle, grandly seated upon a steep, heavily-wooded hill — a castle built so long ago that the memory of its beginning is lost in the haze of ancient days. During the Civil War it was besieged and at length successfully stormed by the Roundheads, in 1646. It is in form a parallelogram, having a tower at each angle, and a keep in the south- west part of the enclosure ; and, viewed from the Wye, it is a splendid ruin, trees that cling to the face of the cliffs heightening the effect of the picture. The Wye, flowing swiftly, soon sweeps one's boat round its many bends, until the district known as the Forest of Dean is reached, lying between the Wye and the Severn. Striking scenes of stream and forest-clad cliffs, of castles and courts, of abbeys haunted by memories of events rich in historical interest, now follow one another as rapidly as changes in a kaleidoscope. Courtfield claims the honour of being the place where Henry V. was nursed; and there is a cradle to substantiate the claim. Alter passing Mailscot Wood, the river forms itself into a loop like an elongated horseshoe. On one side of the narrow neck of land are the famous Coldwell Rocks, the beginning of the great limestone cliffs that, onward to the 140 RIVERS OF GREAT BRITAIN. [The Wye. sea, hem in the stream, and carry on their rugged sides clinging woods and ivy. Rains and storms have beaten these Coldwell Rocks into fantastic shapes, until to the traveller who first sets eyes upon them they seem to be castles cut TINTERX ABBEY, FROM THE WYE (p. 145). out of stone by a race of mighty giants. " -Castles and towers, amphitheatres and fortifications, battlements and obelisks, mock the wanderer, who fancies himself transported into the ruins of a city of some extinct race." * Anyone who has seen the beauty of both the Moselle and the Wye must be struck by the similarity between the two rivers. The Moselle, to be sure, is in every way more important than the Wye — in depth and breadth of stream, in height of the bluffs that at many points form the banks, and in the number of castles that crown the hills; but, notwithstanding these differences, they might almost be called twin rivers. There are no neatly-trimmed vineyards sloping down the sides of the Wye heights, but, on the other hand, the Moselle cannot show such grand forests as can the English stream. And each river, at least once in its course, doubles back upon itself, so that the spectator can trace the loop, and see the stream flowing far beneath on either hand. At Symond's Yat, a little below Coldwell * Quoted in ''The Wye and it* Associations," by Leitch Ritchie. The Wve.] COLBWELL ROCKS. 141 Rocks, the neck of land that divides the Wye from itself is only some 00!) yards across ; and by standing on the rocky plateau, one may see the river flowing by on botli sides. The prospect, one of the finest in all England, embraces large parts of Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, and Monmouthshire, including Coppet Hill, Huntsham, Pocklands, Whitchurch,. Goodrich Castle, Coldwell Rocks, the Forest of Dean, Courtfield, and — it is difficult to escape this- -the spire of Ross Church. In hurrying between these gigantic cliffs, and sweeping round the loo}), it is only natural that the Wye, bom with a turbulent disposition, should have many savage encounters with the rocks; and, now grown so mighty, the waters roar their anger in deep-lunged notes. Many obstacles impede the course of the stream, for storms still continue occasionally to hurl great masses of rock from their positions; and altogether, were one to be given the choice of seeing only one part of the Wye, Symond's Yat should be the chosen spot. Passing between Lords Wood and Lady-Park Wood and skirting Greatwood and Newton Court, the Wye arrives at Monmouth. Encircled by hills, and itself seated high, this town, still unspoiled by the modern builder and restorer, occupies a position between the Wye and the Monnow. Monmouth has had its ups and downs; for long before the Conquest a fortress existed here, and to build a castle has ever been to invite a siege. In the days of Henry III. the castle was levelled with the ground so effec- tively that Lambarde writes : " Thus tin' glorie of Monmouth had clean perished ; ne hade it pleased Gode longe after in that place to give life to the noble King Henry V., who of the same is called Henry of Monmouth. 1 ' John of Gaunt lived here, and Henry IV. also, and, as the ancient writer says, Henry V. was born in the castle. This event has not been forgotten, for a statue of the popular king stands opposite the Town Hall in Agincourt Square, the centre of the town. In more ancient days Mon- mouth was a walled town, and one of the four gates of the wall still stands ; and a bridge built in 1272, remarkably narrow, but sturdy and strong, still spans the Monnow; while the meagre ruins of the castle look down from the brow of the NAVl, nvrruN ABBEY. 142 RIVERS OF GREAT BRITAIN. [The Wye. the river-cliff on the meadows by this tributary stream. St. Mary's Church has a spire 200 feet in height : St. Thomas's Chapel, dating from the days of the Normans, stands in the centre of the part of the town which used to be given up to the making ,,f the renowned Monmouth cap, of which Fuller, in his "Worthies," says: "These were the most ancient, general, warm, and profitable coverings of men's heads in this island. It is worth our pains to observe the tenderness of our kings to preserve the trade of cap-making, and what long and strung struggling our State had to keep up the using thereof, so many thousands of people being thereby maintained in the land, especially before the invention of fulling-mills, all caps before that time being wrought, beaten, and thickened by the hands and feet of men, till those mills, as they eased many of their labour, outed more of their livelihood." Not far from the parish church is the pictures! [lie remnant of a Benedictine priory, founded in the reign of Henry I. l>v Wyhenoc, third Lord of Monmouth; and here it is not improbable that Geoffrey of Monmouth, compiler of the fabulous "History of the Britons," out of which grew the Poem of the Table Round, Avas educated. The Monnow, which flows into the Wye below Monmouth, has for its chief tributary the Dore, which winds its way through that delightful region known far and wide as the Golden Valley. This valley is fitly styled Golden, though it lias received its designation from a mistaken derivation of its name, which means " water"— that and nothing more — being but a form of the Welsh rficr. Round it ring the hills, not bald and craggy, nor morass-bound, but gentle and lush and green, for the valley lies just out of the grip of the mountainous districts of Wales. Here the fields are fresh, the undulations capped with glorious trees, and the whole valley is chequered with tints; for it is a region rich of soil, and highly cultivated. One of the most interesting places on the banks of the stream is the little village of Abbey Dore, where is the remnant of an ancient abbey, now forming the parish church. It was begun for the Cistercians, by Robert of Ewias. in the reign of Henry I., but was only finished in the days of the third llenrv. Not less attractive to the antiquary is the tiny Norman church of Kilpeck, celebrated for the richness of its decorations. Near by there once stood a castle, but of this nothing now remains but the mound, a deep moat, and fragments of the walls. Another tributary of the Monnow is the Honddu, which flows down through the Vale of Ewias, past the ruins of Llanthony Priory. This famous house seems to have been founded in the early years of the twelfth century by William de Lacy, a Norman knight, and Ernisius, chaplain to Maud, wife of Henry I. At first it had a prosperous career, but the wild Welshmen soon fell upon it, and the Prior and his brethren were forced to betake themselves to the more peaceable regions of Gloucestershire. When men and times became quieter, however, the monks returned. The remains of the Priory are still beautiful. In LSD!) Walter Savage Landor purchased the estate on which the}' stand, and set about making great The Wye] LL ANTHONY PRIORY. 143 improvements. Mr. Colvin, in his " Landor," says: " He imported sheep from Segovia, and applied to Southey and other friends for tenants who should introduce and teach improved methods of cultivation. The inhabitants were drunken, impoverished, and morose: he was bent upon reclaiming and civilising them. The woods had suffered from neglect or malice : he would clothe the sides of the vallev with cedars of Lebanon. With that object, he bought two thousand cones, calculated to yield a hundred seeds each, intending to do ten times as much afterwards, and exulting in the thought of the million cedar-trees which he would thus leave for the shelter and the delight of posterity." All Landor' s schemes, however, came to nouffht. Before lone: he found himself in em- barrassed circumstances: Llan- thony was, by arrangement, taken out of his hands and vested in those of trustees, and his half - built mansion was pulled down. A little below Monmouth the Trothey, a much smaller stream than the Monnow, also joins the Wye. The banks from Monmouth onwards to the sea are steep and well wooded, and for the greater part of the way a splendid and well-kept road winds along the side of the right bank. Far below, the river is continually dig their feet into the rocks and seem precariously to cling towards the stream. Occasionally a cliff more than dicular has managed to ward oil' the encroaching GATEWAY AT ' 111 l-l OW appearing and ihsappoariu .] sually rowths and the trees they dip down near to the pcrpen- n id bush forest folii aire to and ivy, and to stand bold-faced to the sun ; hut generally there is make more refreshing to the sight the precipitous hanks. Rivers have ever attracted to their banks poets, who of all men most closely 14. 1 RIVERS OF GREAT BRITAIN. [The Wye. search the heart of Nature in her peaceful and gentle moods; but few streams have enjoved the good fortune of the Wye to have their very spirit caught and shaped into imperishable verse. Wordsworth's noble poem, " Lines composed a few miles above Tintern Abbey, on revisiting the banks of the Wye during a tour, July 13th, 1798," breathes the inmost soul of river and hills, and of the tranquil, meditative atmosphere that fills the glorious valley. No poet has held his ear so close to Nature's bosom as Wordsworth, and in these lines he has pictured and glorified the Wye as no pen may hope to picture and glorify it again. To quote but the opening score of lines: — "Five years have passed; five summers, with the length Of five long winters! and again 1 heav These waters, rolling from their mountain springs With a sweet inland murmur. Once again Do I behold these steep and lofty cliffs That on a wild secluded scene impress Thoughts of mure deep seclusion ; and connect The landscape with the quiet of the sky. Tin' day is come when 1 again repose Here, under this dark sycamore, and view These plots of cottage-ground, these orchard-tufts, Which at this season, with their unripe fruits, Are elad in one green hue, and lose themselves Among the w Is and copses, nor disturb The wild green landscape. Once again I see These hedgerows, hardly hedgerows, little lines Of sportive wood ran wild ; these pastoral farms, Green to the very door ; and wreaths of smoke Sent up, in silence, from among the trees ! " Meditation, contemplation, serenity, each not unmixed with pathos, are the key- notes of this part of the Wye valley ; and our river would have done well enough if not another poet had ever afterwards sun»- of its banks and flood. But this was not to be its fate: for has not Tennyson told us in ''In Memoriam " how " half the babbling Wye" is hushed by the Severn, whose mightier tide drives back its flood ? — - " The Wye is hushed, nor moved along, And hushed my deepest grief of all When rilled with tears that cannot fall 1 brim with sorrow drowning song. " The tide flows down, the wave again Is vocal in its wooded walls ; My deeper anguish also falls, And I can speak a little then." It is at the Bargain Pool, past the pretty village of Llandogo, that the Severn tide is first met. Now, although the scenery is sublime, there can be no gainsaying that the rise and fall of the tide mars the beauty of the The Wye.] TINTERN ABBEY. 145 Wye. Instead of the clear mountain water, the stream is turbid, and at low tide the banks present great stretches of soft mud. For the first time the stream now takes on a commercial aspect, lazy barges floating up and down, Photo: Harvey Barton, Bristol CHEPSTOW CASTLE (j) HO) and a few enterprising little steamers making their cautious way round the sharp bends. But forgetting the blemish, if blemish it be, the traveller can set bis thoughts upon and his face towards one of the most inspiring of all the ancient memorials of England's past, the home of the Cistercian monks dedicated to the Virgin Mary — Tintern Abbey. Coming round a bend in the river one catches sight of the beautiful ruin with startling suddenness. It stands close by the waterside, on what 112 14G RIVERS OF GREAT BRITAIN. [The Wye. was once a meadow stretching away from the Wye. Here the hills rise in a complete circle, and nestling in the midst of this amphitheatre is the abbey, a ruin, it is true, yet not so mutilated by the hand of Time as to make it impossible or even difficult at this day to imagine it as it stood in all its completeness and beauty. Whether Tintern, unspoiled by Time and neglect, was as impressive as it is in its decav, though the greenest of green grass now grows on the floor once trodden by the white-robed > monks, and the rooks sit in a jet-black line on the top of the roofless walls — one may very well doubt. Those who have passed even a day in and about the ancient abbey will find it easy to believe that its history is one of serenitv and peace. The hills that ring it round stand like a cordon of mhditv giants to beat back all worldliness that would enter the charmed circle. The very air hangs heavy and still, and the river, forgetting its wild youth and stormy middle age, passes by, if one might so describe it, with bared head and hushed breath. Here for hundreds of years lived successive generations of monks, having little, wanting little, passing their days in the deepest peace and solitude; and though they have long since vanished, they have left behind them what is perhaps the finest monastic ruin in the kingdom. Shortlv after the dawn of the twelfth century one Walter de Clare founded Tintern for Cistercian monks, and in the thirteenth century a lord of Chepstow, Roger de Bigod, built the abbey. Cruciform in shape, it was 228 feet in length, 70 feet high, and 37 feet in breadth, with transepts 150 feet long. When King Henry VIII. took possession of the monasteries, he allowed this to fall into rapid decav, and at length presented it to the Karl of Worcester. The ruins now belong to the Duke of Beaufort, and they arc watched and guarded from further decay with admirable vigilance, each particular stone being carefully noted, and every moulded arch and mullioned window — indeed, the very ivy and grass — receiving close attention. The magnificent eastern window, 64 feet in breadth, is but one feature of a ruin that attracts multitudes of visitors to the valley of the Wye. Between Tintern and the little metropolis of the lower Wye, Chepstow, duty to one's sense of sight requires him to scale the summit of Wyndcliff. Once on top, nine counties, according to Bevan, can be seen — to wit, Gloucester, Somerset, Wilts, Devon, Glamorgan, Monmouth, Brecknock, Hereford, and Worcester. Not only for the curiosity of a prospect which in its sweep takes in so many shires, but also for the beauty of the view, this ascent of the Wyndcliff should not be missed. For an exquisite blending of rock and river, forests, mountains, and plain, towns and villages, ruins and farmhouses, roads like white-silk threads blown upon the face of the land, black railways, drifting ships, it is not too much to say that the finest views in all the land can do no more than claim to be its peer. After we have passed on the left Llancaut and on the right Pierce Woods, the sturdy old town of Chepstow comes into view. The castle, from the river, seems to have grown out of the living rocks, which here rise sheer from the water to a great The Wye.] CHEPSTOW, 147 height, and form a natural defence that must have rendered the fortress impregnable to all attack from the water. Supposed to have been built in the eleventh and rebuilt in the thirteenth century, it experienced its most stirring- times in the days of the Civil War. It was held by the Royalists; and there first appeared before it Colonel Morgan, who, with singular valour and determination, carried it by assault. Later on Sir Nicholas Kemys suc- cessfully surprised the place, which action brought before the bat- tlements Cromwell him- self, who, however, could not spare the time per- sonally to direct the operations. His sub- stitute, Colonel Ewer, with great skill conducted VIEW FltOM THE WYMM 111; the seige, and ultimately forced the king's men to throw open the gates. Several parts of an ancient wall that once surrounded < !hep- stow still remain, with the watch- towers complete; and one gate dating from the sixteenth century — the Town Gate — still stands, a curious archway across the principal street, a thoroughfare that slopes steeply down to the Wye. A church of grecit antiquity is Chepstow Church, built in the days of the Normans, and containing several monuments of unusual interest, with the grave of Henry Marten, one of the signatories of King Charles's death-warrant, who spent many long years as a prisoner in Chepstow Castle. One of the towers of the castle is called Marten's Tower, an unintended commemoration of the Roundhead's imprisonment within its Avails. Bidding a final good-bye to towns and tributaries, but still retaining its rugged OLD MONASTERY OS THE WYE. 148 RIVERS OF GREAT BRITAIN. [The Wye. banks and, in a measure, its stately woods, the Wye makes straight for the sea, where this child of the mountains, after swallowing the largess brought down to it by a score of smaller streams, is itself, in turn, swallowed in the greater flood of the Severn. To the very last, however, the Wye retains its individuality and character — picturesque ever, picturesque to the end. From its fount on Plinlimmon to the end of its course of a hundred and thirty miles, where it gracefully rolls into the broad estuary, it has scarcely ever, even for a mile, been commonplace. E. W. Sabel. NEAR THE SOURCE OS THE I >K, TALSAKN-SIDE. istic of THE USK. The Black Mountains — Trecastle — The Gaer — Brecon — The Brecknock Beacons - Crickhowell — Ahergavenny — TJsk — Caerleon and the Arthurian Legend - Christchurch -Newport. ■ HI] wild and inclement Black Mountains, " Fforest Fawr," between Carmarthenshire and Brecknockshire, collect tlie first Imps that, trickling down the side of the hills, gather volume and strength and in time become rivers that are the delight and pride of a country. Three springs, clear and tiny, away up the dark mountain side, where Talsarn towers to an altitude of more than 'J, 500 feet, are the fountain- heads of a river that, after an extended course of seven-and- fze$; fifty miles in the general shape of a bow, joins the sea at Newport — the Usk.* Not far away are the sources of many another river — the Tawe and the Neath, to name but two ; but of all the streams that are born in this cheerless region the Usk is by far the most important. Hurrying on its way with the leaps and falls that are cnaracter- mountain streams, our river is first joined by the Henwen brook, a tiny For Map of the Usk «r ««'<, p. 127. 150 RIVERS OF GREAT BRITAIN. [The TJsk. stream that has the honour of forming a part of the boundary-line between two shires. Beyond the wooded vale of Cwm Wysc the Usk receives the Hydfer, and at leno-th comes to Trecastle, once a place of rare show and importance, but now modest enough in all conscience. Here may still be seen a mound and large earthworks of Bernard Newmarch's Castle. Below this village the Usk receives the waters of Drayton's " Cray," the first stream of real importance that flows into the greater river; and, after leaping a ledge of rock in a beautiful fall, continues its way through a tract of country once the hiding-place of a swarm of deter- mined robbers and outlaws — the Forest of Brecon. At one time this region lay at the mercy of these desperadoes ; and it seems to have been necessary for Edward III. to build castles for the protection of people compelled to journey through the forest. Henry IV. sojourned in one of these fortresses in 1403, and thence issued a general pardon to all the rebels who would cease from troubling ; but the chances are that this wild and well-nigh inaccessible district offered more attractions to the turbulent robbers than did the prospect of hard and honest work, coupled with the king's pardon The Usk now receives a goodly contribution from the Yscir; and between the two streams are the remains of a Roman camp, the Gaer, rectangular in form and believed to have been in command of Ostorius Scapula. The ruins of this fort are remarkably well preserved, the walls in places standing six feet high, although partly overgrown with bush. Many valuable coins and other curiosities belonging to the Roman period have here been excavated. Inclining to the south, the Usk now flows through a lovely bit of wooded country, and reaches the village of Llanspyddid, where an attractive view is to be had of the river, still in its youth, running with merry song over shallows and between high picturesque banks. Brecon, occupying a highly picturesque situation, is the first place of any importance that the Usk comes to in its flight from the mountains. Two streams join the river at this point, the Tarel and the Honddu ; and, as the town is ringed completely round with high mountains, it may be said to lie in the bottom of a huge bowl. Near by, the Beacons, twin peaks, the highest mountains in South Wales, tower to the sky, and add grandeur to the beauty of the neighbouring hills. In the reign of good Queen Bess, Churchyard was moved to verse at the sight of Brecon and its surroundings. Thus he sings: — " The towne is built as in a pit it were By waterside, all lapt about with hill ; You may behold a ruinous castle there, Somewhat defaste, the walles yet standeth still. Small narrowe streetes through all the towne ye have, Yet in the same are sundrie houses brave ; Well built without, yea trim and fayre within, With sweete prospect, that shall your favour win. The river Oske and Hondie runnes thereby, Fower bridges good, of stone stands on each streame." Thf Usk.] BRECKNOCK BEACONS. 151 Though a town of great antiquity, Brecon, when compared with many places in Wales, is almost modern, for it seems to have first come into prominence in the days of the Normans, who out of the ruins of the old Roman fortress already referred to built the first stronghold here. It was, of course, a walled town, with ten turrets and five gates, and traces of this old wall still exist. The castle was a strong one, occupying a commanding position. In one of its towers Morton, Bishop of Ely, lay in prison, given into the custody of the Duke of Buckingham by Richard III., who was jealous of the bishop's power; and here the gaoler and prisoner, neither of them well disposed towards the king, plotted to marry Henry of Richmond with the Lady Elizabeth, and thus heal the breach between the rival houses of York and Lancaster. So Morton was allowed to escape, while Buckingham, marching against the king, fell into his enemy's hands and lost his head at Salisbury. The Castle of Brecon met its fate in sorry manner. When the great Civil War broke out, and king and Parliament came to blows, the people of the town, fearing that the fortress would be garrisoned by one party or the other, and that the place would be besieged and themselves visited with all the danger and suffering- that waits upon active war, took matters into their own hands by demolishing the stronghold, of which only some ivy-clad walls, with the Ely tower, now remain, overlooking the Honddu. Charles I., in his feverish flight after the disastrous battle of Naseby, put up for a time at Priory House ; and in a humble hostelry in High Street, then known as " The Shoulder of Mutton," Mrs. Siddons, queen of actresses, was born in 1755, her parents being temporarily resident here. The chief glory of the town in these days is the Priory Church of St. John, founded by Bernard Newmareh, in the reign of Henry I., in the hope of atoning for the murders and other crimes that he had committed in hewing his way to the place of power he occupied in this part of Wales. It is a building of unusual interest, predominantly Norman in style, but with Early English and Decorated additions. Another feature of Brecon is the massive bridge of seven strongly buttressed arches which spans the Usk. Taking a south-easterly direction, the Usk flows away from the county town, and soon receives a tiny river that conies from the towering heights of the Beacons, locally called " Arthur's Chair," and forming one of the finest of the sights which Wales offers to her lovers. " Artures Hille," says Leland, "is three good Walche miles south-west from Brekenok, and in the veri toppe of the hille is a faire Avelle spring. This Hille of summe is countid the hiest Hille of Wales, and in a veri cleere day a manne may see from hit a part of Malvern Hides, and Cllocester, and Bristow, and part of Devonshire and Cornwale. There be divers other hides by Artures Hille, the wich, with hit, be communely caullid Banne Brekeniauc." Wood, in his "Rivers of Wales," declares that "the well here mentioned does not exist," so that it would have been better, perhaps, if Leland had done as Churchyard 152 RIVERS OF GREAT BRITAIN. [The Usk did, who -wrote of nothing he had not seen — if his verse is to be taken quite literally. He says: — " Nere Breaknoke Towne, there is a mountaine bye, Which shewes so huge, it is full hard to clime. The mountaine seemes so monstrous to the eye, Yet thousands doe repayre to that sometime. THE USK AT BRECKNOCK. And they that stand right on the top shal see A wonder great, as people doe report ; Which common brute and saying true may bee, But since, in deede, I did not there resort, I write no more, then world will witnesse well." From the Brecknock Beacons there is a truly remarkable view ; and for those unable or unwilling to climb, there is the sight of the mountains themselves. Continuing its course to the east and south, the Usk passes on, skirting Bwlch, The Use:.] CRIOKHOWELL ; THE WELL OF ST. CENAU. 153 a mountain over which the main road runs, offering glimpses on one hand of the valley of the Wye, and on the other of the valley of the Usk. Presently, our stream passes by the meagre remains of Dinas Castle, which had the honour of being stormed by Alfred the Great's daughter, Ethelfleda, and taken too, although garrisoned at the time by three-and-thirty valiant Welsh women; for the men were all fighting far afield. Through a lovely valley the Usk reaches its second town of consequence — Crickhowell. This "preatie tounlet stondith as in a valley upon Wisk," Leland says ; and, indeed, its situa- tion on the north-east bank of the river is beautiful. Whichever way one looks, the scenery is charming in its attractiveness and rich in the romantic and the picturesque. Close to the Abergavenny road stand the ruins of what once must have been a castle of very considerable dimensions, which covered as much as eight acres of Even in the days Elizabeth this castle was nothing more than a ruin. No great distance from Crickhowell is the Well of St. Cenau, eagerly sought for by the newly-married, for to drink its waters first was to secure command of the house for life: — ground. BIT OF THE HOHAN WALL AT CAEKLEON {p. 155). of " ' You drank of the -well, I warrant, betimes,' He to the countryman said ; But the countryman smiled as the stranger spoke, And sheepishly shook his head. 'I hasten'd as soon as the wedding was done, And left my wife in the porch ; But, i' faith, she had been wiser than me, For she took a bottle to church.' " Farther down stream is Llangattoc Park, with its roomy cave, known as Eglwys Faen, "the stone church"; and beyond is Llangwryney, where Richard, Earl of Clare, passing through the wood, preceded by pipers, was set upon by the Welsh and murdered. Here the Gwryney joins the Usk, which, flowing through scenery that has been called the "Garden of Wales," and passing from Brecknock into Monmouth, reaches the ancient town of Abergavenny, lying in the shadow of the 113 154 RIVERS OF GREAT BRITAIN. [The TTsk. Sugar-Loaf Mountain at the junction of the Usk and the Gavenny — " the hrook that christneth Abergeney." As is the case with so many Welsh towns, Abergavenny is wholly surrounded by high hills, but here the valley is spacious and fruitful. Of tliis place Churchyard, whose poetry is met with at every turn, says : — " Aborganie, behind I kept in store, Whose seat and soyle with best may well compare. The towne somewhat on steepe and mounting hill, With pastor grounds and meddowes great at will : On every side huge mountaines hard and hye, And some thicke woods, to please the gazer's eye." "Hard and live" the mountains do rise and tower above the luxurious valley of "pastor grounds." Not so long ago all the streets of Abergavenny were narrow and crooked, but of late years there has been a great display of public enterprise. Whether the changes that have been effected are to be regarded as improvements is questionable ; for with the widening of the thoroughfares and the building of a new town hall and markets, and so forth, the individuality of a town is apt to disappear; but the residents may be pardoned for thinking themselves to be much better off than were their forefathers. To be sure, the town has scanty remains of a castle rising from a tree-clad 'hill to overlook the houses and the river. Part of the castle area is covered with houses, and another part has been converted into public gardens. The associations of the fortress are none of the noblest, for historians tell us that " it was dishonoured by treason often er than any other castle in Wales." It seems to have been the practice of the Norman lords of Abei'gavenny Castle to invite neighbouring Welsh chiefs to feasts within the walls of the strong- hold, and then treacherously murder them. Wood tells of one of the most dastardly of these deeds. " Soon after the murder of Trahaern Vechan, at Slansavaddon lake, by William de Braose (lord of Abergavenny Castle), the Welsh, inflamed with resent- ment and revenge, commanded by Sitsvlt ap Dyfnwald and other Welsh chieftains, surprised the Castle of Abergavenny, and took the whole garrison prisoners. William de Braose recovered his castle by composition ; and after the reconciliation of the Welsh lords to King Henry, a.d. 1175, he invited Sitsylt, his son Geofrey, and other men of note to a feast, under pretence of congratulation upon the late peace; when, contriving cause for dispute, he called upon his men, who were ready for that purpose, and most treacherously murdered the unsuspicious and unarmed Welsh ; then proceeded to Sitsylt's house, slew his son Cadwallader in his mother's presence, and, setting fire to the house, earned her away to his castle." Once upon a time Abergavenny was noted for flannels, but this industry has been wrested from it by more enterprising competitors, while the manufacture of wigs, for which it was once noted, has succumbed to change of fashion. St. Mary's Church, a fine fourteenth-century church, occupying the site of a Norman church which was attached to a Benedictine priory, contains many ancient monuments, amongst others that of Sir Richard Herbert of Coldbrook, who, together with his TheUsk.] USE AND CAERLEON. 155 brother, was beheaded, after the Battle of Banbury, in 1469 ; and in the Herbert chapel is "a Jesse tree," of which Murray's "Handbook" says that it is "perhaps one of the most perfect extant." Leaving this lovely town, the Usk makes more directly for the sea. A few miles away to the east, in the valley of one of its tributaries, are the ruins of Raglan Castle, standing on a richly-wooded eminence not far from the village of the same name. It was begun not earlier than the reign of Henry V., and apparently not finished until the time of Charles I. ; and so strong was it that it had the distinction of being one of the last fortresses in the kingdom to surrender to Cromwell's men. It would be interesting to recall the story of the siege which it endured, and to describe the lovely remains of it ; but it lies too far out of our course, and we must return to our river and follow it through the pretty scenery it traverses to the town to which it has lent its name. In days long gone by, Usk had to bear many a sore blow from Owen Grlendower, but now it has no more alarming invaders than the placid, contemplative wielders of the rod — for here the Usk is famous for its salmon and its trout. Standing upon a tongue of land formed by the confluence of the Olwey with the main stream, Usk has been identified with a Roman station ; and though the evidences are external rather than internal, the theory has been almost universally accepted of anti- quaries. Of its castle, occupying a commanding site near the river, and still retaining its outer walls in very fair preservation, with the gateway, towers, and keep, the precise origin is not known ; but in the reign of Henry III. it was in the hands of Robert de Clare, Earl of Gloucester. From this family it passed to the Mortimers, Earls of March, and in the reign of Henry VI. was granted to Richard, Duke of York, as nephew of the last of the Mortimers. It became a favourite residence of this personage, and is believed to have been the birthplace of Edward IV. and other princes. Of the scathe which Owen Grlendower had wrought at Usk we have already spoken, but it remains to add that the citizens were at last avenged, for here he sustained a crashing defeat and had to flee to the mountains. Flowing beneath the ancient stone bridge shown in our view (page 156), the river passes on, through scenery that is never less than pleasant, to Caerleon, prettily placed on the right bank ; and here the Usk takes toll of the Afon. Caerleon is one of the most interesting spots in all this part of Wales. Here was quartered the second Augustan legion, and this was the principal Roman town in the country of the Silures. In those days it must have been a place of great magnifi- cence and refinement as well as of war, for Giraldus Cambrensis, writing in the twelfth century, tells of the remains of splendid palaces, baths, theatres, and other public buildings; and though these have all vanished, an abundance of Roman relics has been unearthed, which are treasured in a museum that has been built by an antiquarian society ; and bits of the wall are still to be seen in ■situ. But the legendary associations of Caerleon are even more memorable than its history ; for 156 RIVERS OF GREAT BRITAIN. [The Usk. 1'hoto: A. Dunning, Uslz. I Mi [p. 155). here it was, according to one version of the Arthurian myth, that the British prince, when, after the withdrawal of the legions, the land was laid waste hy the "heathen hosts " and by the warfare of the native princes — " Thro' the puissance of his Table Round Drew all their petty princedoms under him, Their king and head, and made a realm and reigned." The Roman amphitheatre consists of a grassy hollow enclosed by a bank, lying just outside the wall on the east; "Arthur's Round Table" is a bank of earth some sixteen feet high. There is no reason to doubt that after the Roman era Caerleon became the centre of one of the British kingdoms. At a later time it was " threatened by the fleet of Alfred, which, however, was recalled home before making an attack. In early days it had its martyrs — 8t. Julius and St. Aaron — and afterwards it became the seat of a bishopric, which for some time enjoyed the honour of being the Metropolitan See of Wales. After the Norman Conquest Caerleon was a frequent bone of contention between the Welsh and the invaders, and was alternately taken and retaken. A castle was built here by one of the Norman barons; but it was not until the reign of Edward I. that the English obtained undisturbed possession of the town, which, prior to the building of a castle at Newport, was a place of considerable strategic importance." * * "Our Own Country." Vol. V. The TTsk.] NEWPORT. 157 By this time the Usk has become a tidal stream with a rapidly widening valley ; and now it follows a devious course through rich meadows with wooded hills on either hand. A tomb in Christchurch, on the road connecting Caerleon and Newport, was long believed to have miraculous powers of cure for sick children who touched the sepulchre on the eve of the Ascension; and in 1770 as many as sixteen children were laid upon it to pass the night. Newport, four miles from the mouth of the river, owes its prosperity mainly to the great output of iron and coal from the interior of Wales that comes hero for shipment. It has many railways to wait upon it, and its facilities in this kind have been greatly increased by the construction of the Severn Tunnel; and it is also furnished with abundant dock accommodation. Of the castle, built by Robert, Karl of Gloucester, a natural son of Henry I., to command the Usk, some of the walls and towers still remain, close to the famous bridge of five arches, reared at the beginning of the century and widened and im- proved in I860; but the greater part of the stronghold has been either demolished or converted into business premises. The record of the town is, for the most part, one of peace and commercial development, and contains few episodes of violence, except the attack upon it by the Chartists led by John Frost in the year 1839. The tower of the church of St. Woollos, standing on an eminence overlooking the valley of the Usk and the Bristol Channel, is said by Wood to have been built by Henry III. in gratitude to the inhabitants of this place and surrounding districts. CAERLEON. 158 RIVERS OF GREAT BRITAIN ". [The r»K. who, by a victory over his enemies, relieved him from captivity. Newport may not have great attractions to offer to the tourist, but in these later days it lias not been mindful only of money-making, as one may see from the many public buildings with which it has provided itself. Photo : Hudson. NEWPORT : THE BRIDGE AXD CASTLE. Leaving Newport, the Usk wanders through a plain of no particular interest, scenically speaking, and almost at its embouchure is joined by the river Ebbw, which, rising: on the border of Brecknockshire in two headstreams that unite near Llanhilleth, has run a course some twenty-four miles long. Thus reinforced, Usk merges itself in the larger life of the Bristol Channel. E. "VY. Sabel. THE BRECKNOCK BEACONS, FROM THE TAFF. RIVERS OF SOUTH WALES. Brecknock Beacons — The Taff : Taff Fawr and Taff Fechan — Cardiff Reservoirs — Merthyr— The Dowlais Steel and Iron Works — The Ehondda — Pontypridd— Castell Coch — Llandaft' and its Cathedral — Cardiff and its Castle. The Neath: Ystradf elite— The Mellte and its Affluents— The Cwm Porth — Waterfalls and Cascades — The Sychnant— Pont Neath Yaughan — Neath and its Abbey — The Dulas and the Clydach. Swansea and its Docks— Moniston Castle — Swansea Castle — The Mumbles and Swansea Bay. The T.hve : Craig-y-Nos— Lly-Fan Fawr. The Towy : Ystradffin — Llandovery — Llandilo — Dynevor C'astli — Carmarthen and Richard Steele — Carmarthen Bar. The Taf : Milford Haven — Carew Castle — Pembroke Castle— Monkton Priory— New Milford and Old Milford— Haverfordwest. The Teiit : Strata Florida Abbey— Newcastle Emlyn — Cenarth — Cardigan. The Ystwith : The Upper Waters — Aberystwith. 1HE bold-headed, ruddy Brecknock Beacons and their neighbouring heights of the Fforest Fawr are, between them, to be held responsible for the nativity of three important streams of South Wales: the Taff, the Neatb, and the Tawe. Not one of these streams is navigable, and they all have courses trivial enough compared with the Severn, the Usk, or the Wye. They are, however, quite strangely remarkable for their natural beauty, and for the scars on their beauty due to the mineral wealth of the valleys they drain. Nowhere in Great Britain is there more fascinating glen scenery or more sequestered and picturesque waterfalls than on the Neath and its tributaries. 160 RIVERS OF GREAT BRITAIN. [The Taff. Yet Neath itself is a grimy town, and the river, which, ten miles to the north, wins admiration from everyone, here flows discoloured amid ironworks and coal mines, with all their ugly rubbish heaps. The Taff and the Tawe begin among heather and bracken, loftily and crystal clear ; and they end alike, brown as canals in manufacturing districts, the one among the ship- ping of Cardiff, and the other in the blackest and most forbidding part of Swansea. In all Wales there is no finer little group of mountain -tops than the Brecknock Beacons, as seen from the south. Pen-y- Fan, the highest summit, stands 2,910 feet above sea- level, and 500 feet less above the town of Brecon, some five miles to the north. The Beacons are an isolated society, separated by the Usk and its valley from the Black Forest Mountains east, and by the deep Glyn Tarel from the irregular mountain mass whence Tawe springs to the light. Their bases lie set among charming pastoral nooks. Above, they are good to see when autumn has made tawny the acres of their bracken ; and at the summits they vie with each other in the redness of their precipices, that of Pen-y-Fan rightly winning the day with a sheer slide of rock some 600 feet deep, at an angle of about 70 degrees. Many are the legends that animate the Beacons. Enough if we believe with certain of the bards that it was here, on Pen-y-Fan, that Arthur called his chivalry together, and initiated the Order of the Knights of the Pound Table. In the land LLA.ND.UF CATHEDRAL: THE WEST FRONT (p. 164). The Taff] PEN-Y-FAN. 161 of the Red Dragon, centuries ago, there could be no higher dignity than to be associated with him who was to appear for the glory of Britain: "the lamp in "In forest, mountain, and in camp, Before them moved the Burning Lamp; In blackest night its quenchless rays Beckoned them on to glorious days." Havin ig clambered, not without considerable exertion, to Pen-y-Fan, the traveller, if he feels thirsty, has but to turn his back to the north, face the distant Photo: F. Bedford, by permissio i ofCaJtherall & PritcTiard, Chester. LLANDAFF CATHEDRAL: THE SATE AND CHOIR (p. 164 . smoke clouds above the hills of Merthyr and Rhymney, and walk a few yards down the western slope of the mountain. Here are two ice-cold springs, the parents of baby rivulets. Below you see how briskly these rivulets broaden and unitedly carry the pure water to the south. This is, in fact, one of the two main sources of the Taff. The other also is on the Beacons. The two streams, Taff Fawr and Taff Fechan (the "Great" and ''Little*' Taff), run parallel, in respective glens, among heather and rocks, for eight or ten miles, to join just above Merthyr. Pollution of all kinds comes to the stream as soon as it is thus fully entitled to be called the Taff. Even before Merthyr is reached, Tall' Fawr has learnt something of the pains 114 162 RIVERS OF GREAT BRITAIN. [The Taff. Miles and penalties of an industrial district. Ere it has run five miles from its source, it falls into the hands of the Cardiff Corporation. Its valley is here a characteristic mountain glen, with heathery solitudes on either side, and little clefts among the heather by which nameless affluents bring their pure tribute to the main stream. Houses there are none. But of a sudden, in all this loneliness, you come to a huge dam built and building across the valley from east to west, and beyond you perceive the goodly lake of which the rising dam is to be the mighty" northern boundarv. Yet farther south are other evidences of Cardiff's great thirst. Our Taff is again enclosed, and flows through a second reservoir, proceeding out of it by a series of prepared water- falls, not unpicturesque, though they have artificial flagged beds and precise parapets. Here, however, one may almost look one's last at Taff the pellucid. The area of toil and sophis- tication is at hand. Yet some four miles above Merthyr the river has one notable reach of beauty. There is a ruined turnpike house to hint of the time of " Rebecca," when this part of Wales rose in arms and fought toll-bars as ancient Wales fought the Normans of the Marches ; and high above the wrecked house are some precipitous limestone cliffs, with jackdaws always circling about their crests. Taff lies in a deep bed here, with woods on the western slopes where its waters wash them. It rose in the old red sandstone of the Beacons: it has now come to the carboniferous limestone and to the coal-measures to which South Wales owes its phenomenal prosperity. Merthyr would be a pretty place if it were not sullied by smoke beyond redemption. The hills, studded with chimneys, cumber each other ; and in all the adjacent hollows, high up and low down, are manufactories. The people wear clogs. As in other such busy centres, they seem happy enough, and by no means tearful about the local desecration of Nature. But it must be admitted that they are grimy, like their environment. 1IITEHS OF SOUTH WALES. The Taff.] DOWLAIS ; PONTYPRIDD. 163 Of all the large manufactories round Merthyr, those of the Dowlais Steel and Iron Works, two miles away (a constant ascent), are the most considerable. One may doubt, perhaps, if these are now the largest of their kind in the world, but they are still very extensive. A recent report tells us that they consist of eighteen blast furnaces, producing about 700 tons of iron and 2,400 tons of steel rails per week, and that their collieries can lift 3,700 tons of coal daily. Founded about a hundred and fifty years ago, they have been a staff of life to millions. Few- sights of the kind are more impressive than the manipulation here of the huge cruses of molten steel, and the methodical treatment of the ores, which develop in a few- hours into red-hot steel rails from thirty to sixty yards long; or than the cutting of these substantial rails into sections by a serrated disc which makes some 1,600 revolutions a minute. The " Dowlais Lights," as they are called, flash at times high over the mountains to the north. The landlord of the little inn at Devynnock called the writer out at night to see them. "It's a sign of rain, for certain," he said. Tradition locally lays down this laws but tradition often errs, and on this occasion the Dowlais lights, seen here twenty miles away, were, as it chanced, the augurs of a glorious autumnal morrow. From Merthyr downwards Taff flows fast, as if anxious to reach the sea from the uncomely rows of colliers' cottages which rise so thickly above it. It is still hedged about by mountains, but the mountains are not now "things of beauty." Quaker's Yard, Aberdare Junction, and Ponty- pridd are names of industrial value. At each of these places, " coal " railways from lateral valleys join the Taff Vale line. With these tributary railways descend tributaries for the Taff itself, the river Rhondda (which itself bifurcates higher up into the Rhondda Fawr and Fechan) being the most noteworthy for the volume of its water. The scenery of these affluents is, like that of the Taff itself, im- posing, with deep glens and wooded dingles, but mercilessly cut about by capitalists. Pontypridd deserves particular mention for the famous bridge which gives it its name. In the words of a specialist, this bridge "is a perfect segment of a circle, and stretches its magnificent chord of HO 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." It is the supreme % 164 FIVERS OF GREAT BRITAIN. [The Taff. achievement of a local stonemason named Edwards, who, a hundred and fifty }"ears ago, devoted himself to the construction of bridges much as a mediaeval artist devoted himself to the Madonnas of his canvases or to his crucifixes. South Wales owes much to Edwards the bridge-builder: we shall meet with his work on the Towy and the Teifi as well as here. In 1755 this " beau ideal of architectural elegance" showed to better advantage than now, when it is surrounded by the common buildings of a mining town : but it was never more useful than at present. Hence, now wide in a shallow hed, and now nar- row and rushing deeply between high banks, gaily wooded in places and mere refuse-heaps in others, Taff speeds towards Llandaff. Three or four miles ere it conies to this tranquil spot, a striking crag is seen on its left bank, with glorious beech woods clothing the steep red slopes of the rock. This is an historic spot : Castell C'och, or the Red Castle. It is such a site as in Rhineland would at one time have given a robber-baron a superb base for his depredations. As such, in fact, it was utilised. We read how. in 1158, Ivor Bach of Castell Coch descended upon Cardiff Castle and carried off the Earl and Countess of Gloucester as prisoners: the event is set forth on canvas in the Cardiff Town Hall. Nowadays the turret that rises above the topmost trees of the crag tells of other exploits. Castell Coch belongs to the Marquess of Bute, and it is here that the wine is grown which, in the opinion of some, is convincing proof that England might, if she would, become a viniferous country. In the Cardiff Exhibition of 1890 a stall was devoted to the sale of Castell Coch wines. But the graceful spire and tower of Llandaff soon appear, in the midst of green meadows and lofty old trees, to tell of yet other aspirations, with the myriad houses of expanding Cardiff beyond. Its name describes it: Llan-ar-Daf, "the church on the Taff." It lias been spoken of "as the most ancient episcopal see remaining on its original site in Great Britain." The old records go far to acclaim Llandaff as both venerable and ancient. Lucius, the great-grandson of Caractacus, in the second THE I'ALACE GATEWAY. LLAXDAFF (p. 166). The Taff.] LLANDAFF CATHEDRAL. 165 century a.d., endowed, we are told, four churches from the royal estates, one being Llandaff. A bishop of Llandaff is also said to have died a martyr in the Diocletian persecution. And yet, with such high associations, forty years ago this cathedral was the most desolate and neglected in the land. As it stands, it is eloquent of the whole-hearted labours of two men. chiefly: Dean Conybeare and Dean Williams. Previous to 1857, the cathedral was a pic- turesque ivied ruin of Perpendicular tower and Early-English rootless walls, with a ghastly eighteenth-century conventicle absorbing what is now half the nave and the east end of the building. The grand old Norman doorways south, north-east, and west, and also the tower, seemed to have SV ; , vM / • I /.■■./<>: Alfred Fr.ke, Cardl CARDIFF CASTLE (p. 1()C). outlived their vocation; and the Norman arch of the interior, above the present altar — perhaps the finest thing in Llandaff — was plastered up and totally expunged. The present cathedral owes its origin to the Norman bishop Urban (1107-33), who was dissatisfied with the church — 28 feet long, 15 feet broad, and 20 feet high — to the throne of which he had been raised: and its remarkable restoration to the Llandaff architect, John Pritchard, of recent times. It can no longer lie described as, by Bishop Bull in 1697, "our sad and miserable cathedral." Alike within and out- side it satisfies by its beauty and good order. The old and the new are well blended here. 166 RIVERS OF GREAT BRITAIN. [The Taff. As a village, Llandafl is now hardly aught except a flourishing suburb of ( 'ardiff. Still, it keeps its individuality, and declines to be incorporated with the great invading town. The remains of the old episcopal palace and the old market- cross consort amicably with the one or two single-storey ed thatched cottages of the village square. The imlace gateway has quite a baronial look, but it leads to nothing of particular interest. Bishopscourt, the modern palace, is a more cosy residence than that built mm 11 m mm Photo: Valeniine d Sons, Dundee. ST. MARY STREET, CARDIFF. by Bishop .John de la Zouch early in the fifteenth century, of which this gateway is the most conspicuous relic. < >f ( 'ardiff, what can be said adequately in few words? It began the century with about a thousand in- habitants; in 1881 its popu- lation was 82,671 ; and now it is about double as much. The Romans had a fort here, which the Welshmen called Caer Didi, or the fort of Didius (Aulus Didius): hence, Cacrdydd and Cardiff. Fitz- hamon the Norman, about 1095, erected the castle, the substantial fragments of which adorn the grassy courtyard of the mansion of the Marquess of Bute, who — more than Morgan ap Rhys, or Fitzhamon, who dispossessed Morgan — may well be called the lord of Cardiff. The prosperity of the present town began with the canal and sea-lock, early in this century, which enabled Merthyr to send its coal abroad ; but it was guaranteed by the enterprise of the father of the actual Marquess of Bute, who expended millions in the construction of clocks. Within the memory of men still living there was tidal mud close to the stately, if bizarre, outer Avail of the Marquess's residence, with its glass-eyed effigies of wild beasts perched on the stones. But the "Welsh Metropolis," as Cardiff loves to call itself, will not again see those times. One cannot conscientiously say that there is much of romantic or even artistic interest in this thriving town — the castle, with its Asiatic richness of decoration, apart. But the place is at least interesting, in its acres of docks, its prodigious machinery for the control of water-power and for the lading of vessels, and even its long ugly road of mean houses connecting it with the town of Bute Docks. This last is a cosmopolitan district. Coal is in demand everywhere, and it is pre-eminently coal that Cardiff thrives on. In 1819, only 162,829 tons of it were exported hence; The Tafi-.] CARDIFF. 16? in 1895, the amount was 11,067,403 tons. One of the astonishing sights of the Docks is to see a railway truck full of coal lifted by machinery as easily as if it were a penny loaf, emptied into the hold of a ship, and then, in less than a minute, be succeeded by another truck. Cardiff has every incentive and determination to go ahead. St. Mary's, the main street, can boast of costly banks and hotels and a very great deal of traffic. Photo: Mr. Fi is Bedford, Camden Boad, X. THE DKAWIXG ROOM, CARDIFF CASTLE. It is singularly noisy at night ; and that also, we presume, is evidence of the strong modern spirit of the place. The town in 1896 indulged in an Ex- hibition on such a scale that its loss may be computed in scores of thousands of pounds; but the Exhibition was an investment, and it is a proof of Cardiff's wealth that it can afford thus to cast expectantly so many thousands upon the waters. The Marquess's castle is as unique in its splendour as is Cardiff among Welsh towns in its development. Of its external towers, one, the Clock Tower (with mam' quaint arrangements for spectacular effect), is as modern as the residential part of the building. The other, or Black Tower (though it is of white limestone), dates from early times. It is also known as the Duke Robert Tower, because it was here that 1GS RIVERS OF GREAT BRITAIN, [The Neath. Robert Duke of Normandy was, by his own brother, Robert of Gloucester, son of Henry I., confined for many years. *c. h \ IN THE VALE UF NEATH. Taff has much to be proud of as it glides into the sea past the castle, though it has, for miles and miles ere this, lost its crystal purity. The river Neath, like Taff, rises among lonely mountains, heather, bracken, and the bracing winds of the uplands. The three summits of the Fforest Fawr range— long-backed ridges, woeful to be lost upon — each give names to the tribu- taries that How from them, and at Pont Neath Vaughan form the Neath river proper. Y-Fan-Nedd, Y-Fan-Llia, and Y-Fan-Dringaith thus beget the Little Neath (the "dd" in Welsh being equivalent to our "th"), the Llia, and the Dringarth. Th'e Neath.] YSTEADFELLTE. 169 The two latter, after about five miles of independence, join just above Ystrad- fellte, where another Castell Coch reminds us that Wales had long ages of intestine and other strife ere she gave up unfurling the Red Dragon on her hilltops. We arc here in the "fiery heart of Cambria," where the rocks and morasses were such mighty fastnesses for the brave Welshmen of old. But these times are long past, and Cambria's fiery heart may now be said to depend literally upon the fuel in the bowels of the land. There is little of exceptional interest in the upper reaches of the Neath's tributaries. Maen Llia, or the Stone of Llia, is a huge boulder of granite some eleven feet high by the Roman road of Sarn Helen, which, far up near the source of the Llia, crosses the mountains with the recognised audacity of a Roman thoroughfare. But few are the wayfarers, other than reckless tramps, who set eyes on this one among the many monoliths that decorate Wild Wales. It is at \strad- fellte that the wonders of the Neath's scenery begin. This little village stands more than 000 feet above the sea-level, and the Mellte (as Llia and Dringarth conjoined are named), in its fall of nearly .100 feet in the five miles between Ystradfellte and Pont Neath Vaughan, is a succession of pictures so lovely, and yet so confined, that they excite as much admiration as despair in the mind of the artist who comes to paint them. The Little Neath runs parallel with the Mellte during this course, separated from it by a high ridge, and scarcely a mile apart. This stream also gallops in a rocky bed, with soaring woods on both banks, NEATH ABBEY fit). 171). 115 170 RIVERS OF GREAT BRITAIN. [The Mellte. and with waterfalls here and there of much beauty. But the Mellte and its two affluents, the Hepste and the Sychnant, quite put the Little Neath in the shade in this respect. You may see it for yourself, and also judge by the opinions expressed without reserve by the many colliers and their families who come hither, on picnic bent, from Hirwain and even Merthyr, over the high eastern bills. The Vale of Neath would be accounted a wonder if it were in Middlesex. But its remoteness keeps metropolitan tourists aloof ; its charms are for the local colliers, and few besides. The Cwm Porth, or " river cavern," a mile below Ystradfellte, is the first of the Mellte's marked eccentricities. The combination of rocks and water and wood, with the added element of danger in exploring this rugged, echo-haunted perforation in the cliff, are attractive in the extreme to the able-bodied traveller. Mellte, in time of flood, carries a deal of amber-tinted water in its rocky bed, and Cwm Porth is not in the hands of a company who charge for admittance, and guarantee smoothed paths, and ropes and handrails where there is a risk of broken limbs. This, indeed, is just the best of the Mellte : you feel as if you are on virgin soil while scrambling at a venture in its steep woods, now on the edge of the roaring little stream fifty feet sheer above a waterfall, and now midway in the river itself, perched on a rock, with vistas of boisterous water up and down, and the river's banks, wooded to the sky-line, hundreds of feet on either hand, at an angle of forty-five or fifty decrees. The writer, on one memorable September afternoon, was for hours alone in these woods, passing from waterfall to waterfall, more by instinct than sure guidance, with the gold and bronze and crimson of foliage constantly betwixt him and the blue autumnal sky ; nor did he see sign of other human being than himself, nor more than one white farmstead, when he climbed above the topmost trees and returned to the bleak and bare uplands beyond. The scpiirrels ran from bough to bough, the birds chirped in the infrequent grassy glades, where the sun- light made a bright spot in the midst of this dense, clamp shade, and the waters filled the glen with their clamour. In all England there is nothing of its kind so admirable as the seclusion and beauty of this gorge of the Mellte, with its tributary, the Hepste, to the east. Categorically, the chief waterfalls may be mentioned thus : the Chin Gwyn Falls — Upper, Middle, and Lower — and the two Falls of the Hepste. One cannot describe such things ; each of these five has such individuality and beauty that on seeing it you prefer it to the others. Their framing is perfect. Even the heron that gathers up its long legs and whips across the stream out of your way is not wanted to complete your satisfaction in such pictures. Yet in a three miles' flight a crow would reach coal mines and swart heaps of such refuse as you Avould not dream could lie within scores of miles of these divine solitudes. The great Cilhepste Fall, otherwise Ysgwd-yr-Eira (the Spout of Snow), though the best known of the valley's cascades, is, in the writer's opinion, the least convincing. The water is tossed in one curve over a ledge of rock, and falls The Neath.] THE MELLTE AND TEE SYCHNANT. 171 about 45 feet into a basin, whence it moves downwards to the far finer succession of furious white steps known as the Lower Hepste Falls. The woods in autumn clasp it amphitheatrically with their green and gold. There is no fault anywhere. There is also this added eccentricity : you may walk under the Fall from one side of the river to the other. The writer did it in time <>f heavy flood, and was soaked for his pains. Afterwards lie clambered, not easily, down to the Lower Falls, the disarray of which was much more to his taste. The Ysgwd-yr-Eira would please more if it had a flaw. As it is, it looks as if Nature and man had conspired to make a cascade with surroundings that should be a model of their kind. Yet even this criticism — which may well be held to be of the bilious order — will by most be regarded as highly flattering to the Spout of Snow. After the Mellte, one is not profoundly stirred by the Falls and sylvan graces of the Little Neath and its tributary, the Perddyn. Yet they, too, are beautiful, especially the cascades of Scwd Gwladys (the Lady's Fall) and Sewd Einon Gam (Crooked Einon's Fall), in the latter stream. The Syclmant, however, is a sensational little river. It joins the Mellte at the foot of a rocky precipice, Craig Dinas, which, even with its mere 170 feet of per- pendicular rock, may be warranted to yield a thrill. From the grassy, hawthorned summit of Craig Dinas, one may peer into the deep-cut bed of the Syclmant, where this cleaves through the mountains from Hirwain, and also see its brace of waterfalls. But the glen is well-nigh impassably dense with undergrowth and trees, and bound about with precipices as emphatic, though not as high, as Craig Dinas. Where the Syclmant comes to the light from this dark embedded dingle, it is sadly spoiled by quarrymen and others. But even these enterprising gentlemen will tight shy of its higher recesses, especially as they have nothing to gain by the intrusion. Pont Neath Vaughan is a snug little village, with none of the airs it might assume in pride of its position as key to the glories of these glens of the Neath. Its inns are homely, modest buildings. South, for the ten or twelve miles to the sea, the river Neath flows through a broad and lovely valley, with wooded or bare mountains on both sides. From Cefn Hirfynvdd (west) and Craig-y-Llyn (east) many a dashing little stream, with miniature cascades, makes great haste to swell the main river. But collieries are here, as well as fascinating scenery, and it is impossible to overlook them and their smoke. The town of Neath neither gives to nor gains from its river much distinction where this moves through its midst, brown, and with tidal mud on its banks. It is a colliery town, pure and simple, surprisingly furnished with public -houses. The fragments of its castle that survive are pent about by dismal slums, so that a man must have a very keen antiquarian sense to discover them. Nor are they much when found: just a gateway with its towers, the whole prettily hugged by ivy. Richard Grenville, of Bideford, who founded it in the twelfth century, would not care to see it now. Hence to the much more grandiose ruins of the Cistercian Abbey of St. Mary 172 RIVERS OF GREAT BRITAIN. [The Neath. to the same Richard and the Holy Trinity, which also owed its orig: Grenville, is a walk of a mile or more — not a rural walk, by any means. You may, if you will, take a tram-car thither, with collier-lads or their womenfolk for your companions, and with black mud on the roadway. The ruins stand close-girt by canals and mines and ironworks. Leland describes the abbey as, in his day, the fairest in "Wales ; and in the year 1500 its glories, and especially the sweetness of its OUTSKIRTS (IF NEATH. convent bells, were bardic themes. Never was there so abject a change ; and yet, after the Dissolution, when it fell to the lot of Sir Richard Cromwell, nephew of Henry VIII. 's minister and great-grandfather of Oliver, it was for long an appre- ciated residence. The white stone mullions of the many windows of the parts of the 1 abbey added by Sir P. Hoby, in 1650 or so, still gleam against the dark grit- stone of the walls. In spite of its sordid surroundings, however, Neath Abbey is not despicable. The area of its ruins impresses; the jagged towering ends of the ivied Avails of its church, with daws croaking about them, and the long-desolate aisle, tangled with coarse grass and brambles, are also impressive. The ecclesiastics who sleep in Neath Abbey may ho said to lie fathoms deep under the accumulated soil. Not a trace of one of them remains above the surface. The dark refectory of their convent, with its pillared roof, stands pretty much as it did in the sixteenth century, and of itself would dignify the ruins. But echo alone feasts in its damp, sombre hall. One The Tawe.] NEATH AND SWANSEA. 173 remembers that it was here our Edward II. sought shelter after his evasion of ( laerphilly Castle, and that it was a Xeatli monk who betrayed him into that terrible custody of Berkeley Castle, where death awaited him ; and, remembering this, one is inclined to be sentimental, and to talk about the curse that broods over the Neath Abbey ruins. In truth, however, smoke is the main brooder here. NORTH DOCK, SWANSEA (p. 174). The river Neath glides on to its estuary by Briton Ferry, some two miles distant from the town. Hills escort it right to the sea— not all with smoking chimneys on them. The town is indeed quite uniquely hemmed round with beauty, as well as ugliness. Up the valleys of the Dulas and the Clydach, slim streams which join the Neath near its mouth, are nooks and recesses as Avinsome as those of the Mellte itself; and once on the tops of the mountains, in any direction, the pedestrian may readily forget coal and iron. It is but seven or eight miles from Neath to Swansea, where the Tawe comes to its end, foully enough, amid ironworks and " coalers." < >ne may, for con- venience sake, make the journey, and later rise with the river to its source. There is more satisfaction in seeing it gradually purify than in watching its progress from pellucidity to pollution; from the sweet-aired heather hills where 174 RIVERS OF GREAT BRITAIN. [The Tawb. Adelina Patti has fixed her quiet home, to the .sulphureous atmosphere of Landore and Hafod. Sweyn's Ea (Sweyne's Eye or Inlet), Aher Tawe— or Swansea, as we modern English call it — is not what it was when Swejme the King and Rover was wont to come hither as a hase for his forays into the vales of South Cambria. Still, it can, if it cares to, brag stoutly of its ancient enlistment in the service of carbon. In 1305 it received a charter from William de Brews (Breos), great-grandson of the famous Lord Marcher, " to have pit coal." That was beginning an industrial career early indeed. Four centuries later, in 1709, its jurisdiction as a port extended from Oxwich, in the Gower peninsula, to Chepstow— of course, including the then unborn and unthought-of Cardiff. It began to smelt copper in 1504, thanks to a charter given by Queen Elizabeth ; and it is to copper and shipping, quite as much as to its position at the mouth of a great coalfield (estimated still to hold 10, 200, 000, 000 tons of fuel underground), that Swansea owes its tine fortunes and its population of about a hundred thousand. It seems an ungracious thing to say, but Swansea is apparently somewhat hampered by its antiquity. In the struggle for supremacy with Cardiff, it has not had Cardiff's free hand in the matter of laying out a new town ; nor, one may add, quite that powerful vigour of youth which carries all before it. Hence, it has already been left behind. The Duke of Beaufort is not such a potentate in Swansea as the Marquess of Bute in Cardiff; yet he stands to this city somewhat like the Marquess to Cardiff. It was a Duke of Beaufort who cut the first sod of the North Dock, or Town-Float, in 185'2 ; and his Grace has large representation in the Swansea Harbour Trust, which has charge of the city's port affairs. The late Lord Swansea, speaking on behalf of this Corporation, once said: "Swansea, you may depend upon it, is destined to become the Ocean Port of England." Cardiff, at any rate, laughs such words to scorn, and even a layman of England may be allowed to think the prophecy over-sanguine. The North Dock has an area of 14 acres, and is "connected with a half-tide basin of two and a half acres by a lock 100 feet long and 56 feet wide, having at its seaward entrance gates of 60 feet, with a depth of 23 feet over the sill at spring-tides and 16 feet at neaps." This is, of course, but one of Swansea's docks, and by no means the most important of them. Cardiff's docks are undoubtedly finer than Swansea's, with more gigantic fitments. Swansea, though ancient, possesses few relics of its past. The castle tower, in the main street, with a clock set in it, is the chief of them. In the large hall of the Royal Institution of South Wales — one of Swansea's many meritorious establishments — may be seen divers drawings and engravings of the city one, two, and three centuries ago. In all of them the castle towers stand up as if they still had the feudal faith strong in them. Green, pleasant, wooded hills form the invariable background. How changed the landscape now! The green hills are gone; cut bare and covered with mean mechanic tenements or smoking manufactories. The Tatve] MOBBISTON ; THE MUMBLES. 175 On the summit of the most conspicuous of them are a few gaunt walls, which by night may, with the help of a glamorous moon, come near being deceptively picturesque. This is the so-called Morriston Castle, three miles north of the city, yet with the black suburb of Morriston at its feet, an active contributant to Swansea's fortunes. The "castle's" history is brief and ignominious. A hundred years ago Sir John Morris, a maker of tin plates, who gives his name to the suburb, erected a lofty and large building on this breezy hilltop, for the accommodation of four-and-twenty of his workmen and their families. Healthier homes these could not then have had within easy reach of their daily labour. But the gradient of the hill soon wore out their enthusiasm, and, one by one, the families moved down on to the level. Then the lodging-house, being abandoned, fell slowly but surely into ruin. The ruin is now Morriston Castle. Swansea's castle has a more conventional history. It was built in its final form (which can only be conjectured from its remains) by Bishop Grower of St. David's, in the fourteenth century. After the usual vicissitudes of disestablished castles, it still, until 1858, offered its dungeons for the confinement of recalcitrant debtors. In that year even these privileges were taken from it, and, ever since, civilisation has tried to crowd it out of existence. Its body is lost in the various buildings and workshops that have encroached upon it, but the graceful arcaded clock-tower remains. It gives a pretty touch to Swansea's main street, which it commands. Little more can here be said about Swansea, except that the visitor owes it to himself to leave the city (which was made a suffragan bishopric in 1890) as soon as possible, and make friends with the Mumbles. The five-mile curve of bay thither has been compared to that of the Bav of Naples. The com- parison is not a modest one. Nevertheless, there is something uncommonly exhilarating about this Swansea. Bay, with the red and white green- topped cliffs of the Mumbles at its south-western horn. You soon get out of reach of the fumes of the city's copper and other metal works. The shipping of the Mumbles has ;i nice clean look after that at the mouth of the Tawe. And, save when the wind is north-east, the air is sweet here, as it is bound to be. Mumbles — or (Jysterniouth, as it used to be called — has an attractive old castle of its own. of the Decorated period. But it is precious chiefly to Swansea for its sea and the lighthouse islets at the extremity of the headland. The view hence towards the busy city, less than four miles across the water, is not gay. Tall chimneys and a dense canopy of smoke: such is the Erebus you behold from the pleasant Mumbles cliffs. Ere moving up Tawe's valley, it seems quite worth while to tell of Swansea s connection with the fortunes of John Murray, the publisher. Cower the poet, Beau Nash, and other celebrities, owed their birth to this city; and it was while living here in 1806 that one Mrs. Randell compiled the "Domestic Cookery," for which John Murray paid her the solid sum of £2,000, and which, Dr. Smiles tells us, was very profitable to the young publisher, and helped in a great measure to establish 176 RIVERS OF GREAT BRITAIN. [The Tawe. his position. It may be added, also, that in the parish churchyard at the Mumbles lies the Dr. Thomas Bowdler who busied himself so strenuously with Shakespeare's Plays, and gave to our dictionaries an awkward, ugly word. The Tawe cannot be much more than twenty-live miles in length, from its source in the lakelet on the Brecknock Van, or summit, of the Fforest Fawr Mountains, to the Swansea Docks. As fully half its course is through a colliery district, it may be supposed that its claims to beauty cannot be of the strongest. But the Neath river lias taught us that these South AVales streams cannot be judged thus summarily. One must, therefore, proceed up the long valley of Tawe in the hope of charms other than those that emanate from pit- gear, long chimneys, and factories. Morristoia has already been noticed for its " castle." It deserves a word also for its bridge over the river. This bears the look of one of Edwards's constructions ; its evelet holes and J graceful single curve remind one of Ponty- pridd. From Morriston to Ystradgynlais, Tawe is continually trammelled. In one part there is a canon of slag heaps half a mile long for it to descend through. It is here shallow, and not more tainted than you would expect. The hills rise in high long; banks on the outer boundaries of the valley, with wooded reaches above the lofty collieries, and crowned by the naked rock. Just J v south of Ystradgynlais the river receives its chief affluent, the Twrch, which has as bright and lengthy a youth as Tawe itself, rising under the Carmarthen Van, MORRISTON". The T awe.] CBATG-Y-NOS. 177 the rival peak of this Fforest Fawr range, which makes so commanding a mark <>n the two counties of Brecknock and Carmarthen. The ascent here begins to be steep, and it is constant to the source. The colliery villages become less and less assertive, and the woods greener. By Coelbren a little stream hurries to the Tawe through one of those deep, thickly-treed glens which the Neath river knows so well. It is an enchanting spot, with the blue and green SWANSEA CASTLE (j) 174). -- THE MUMBLES (j). 175). and russet of Craig-y-Nos across the valley to the north-west. The river gets quite near to the palace of our sweetest singer, whose conservatories can be seen gleaming for miles. In South Wales Patti holds a court other than that assured to her in all the world's capitals. She is at home here. Her photographs are in the shop- windows of Neath and Swansea, and so are the photographs of the various luxurious rooms of her mountain palace; and she is praised for other virtues than those that proceed from her entrancing throat. People wonder how she can isolate herself here, 116 178 RIVERS OF GREAT BRITAIN. [The Twy. where collieries are not so remote that they cannot be seen. But that is Adelina Tatti's affair, and has nothing to do with us. She is queen of the Tawe valley, in one sense, as well as the world's queen regnant of melody. At Craig-y-Nos, which is 7(H) feet above sea-level, Tawe is distant only live or six mountainous miles from its origin. It begins, like the Taff, with numerous slender rills from red cuttings in the stony sides of the bleak uplands, all hurrying together, as if anxious to compose a little strength with their divided weakness. But its chief source is the lonely tarn (to borrow the North-country word) of Lly-Fan Fawr, which never fails to keep it active. This is on the Brecknock Van. On the Carmarthen Van also there is a lake, Lly-Fan Fach, some two miles from the source of Tawe. From Lly-Fan Fach conies the Sawddy, one of the Towy's band of tributaries, which enters that river at Llangadock. The Towy, which now claims our notice, is. a far nobler river than the others treated in this chapter. From its start in the desolate wet uplands of Cardiganshire (less trodden than any other part of Great Britain) to the long channel south of Carmarthen, where it enters the bay of that name, it knows nothing of such pollution as spoils Tawe, Taff, and Neath. It is rural from first to last: savage almost in its upper reaches, beyond Ystradffin, where it can be explored only at some not incon- siderable risks, and where its first company of eager affluents rush to it from all sides in glens and defiles, as deep, craggy, and yet beautiful, as its own. Of its early affluents, the Doethiau certainly deserves particular mention. Hard by its junction with Towy is a strikingly picturesque wooded hill, one of Wales's many Kinases. Ystradffin is scarcely a village, but it boasts of attachment to the memory of a seventeenth-century cattle-raider named Twin Shon Catti (otherwise Tom Jones, the son of Catherine), who made use of a cave in the side of the Dinas by Towy for purposes of concealment. Tins hero of tradition at length determined to mend his ways, and, we are told, set about it by wooing an heiress. He secured her hand in the literal sense, and vowed to cut it off unless she gave it to him in the matrimonial sense. So stern a courtship was irresistible. Afterwards Twin Shon Catti became respectable, and died bidding high office in the county. But the cave over Towy keeps the memory of his naughty youth and early manhood still green. From Ystradffin the river descends circuitously some eleven miles to the well-known fishing and tourist townlet of Llandovery, gambolling gaily in its rocky pools as if resolved to make the most of its youth ere coming to the long green valley which extends from Llandovery to Carmarthen. Here it receives two voluminous aids in the Bran from the north-east, and the Grwedderig from the east, both yielding pleasant prospects even for the few miles their valleys are visible from Llanymddyfri (i.e. "the Church amid the Waters"'), or, as we know it, Llandovery. TheTowy] FROM LLANDOVERY TO CARMARTHEN. 179 Green hills embrace Llandovery as if they Lived it. The little town is not so interesting as its situation, apart from its old inn, the " Castle," a mellow, time-worn house. The very rooms here in which you sup on eggs ami bacon (if you are lucky enough) may have known that worthy, the Vicar of Llandingat, who, in the seventeenth century, daily came hither for his ale, attended by a goat as thirsty as himself. One day, it is said, this goat drank well rather than wisely, and thenceforward declined to cross the threshold of the "Castle" with its master. One may hope that the Vicar learnt a lesson from the goat. Towy is here a great, clear, rapid stream, and so it continues for the remaining thirty miles of its career. Famous view-points on it are the bridges of Llandovery, Llangadock, and Llandilo, the bridges themselves as graceful as the valley. Llandilo stands on a knoll on the west bank of the river, and rejoices in its superiority to Llandovery as a market-town. This, to the stranger, is much less commendatory than its nearness to one of the most beautiful seats in South Wales, Dynevor, where the Barons of that title have long held sway. The ruins of the old Dynevor Castle, on a hill crowded with oak, ash, and beech trees, are from the river quite ideally picturesque. It is a pity that the "common herd" of tourists have so misbehaved themselves that Lord Dynevor has felt compelled to deny free access to so charm- ing a spot. Golden Grove, an estate as winsome as its name, on the other bank of the Towy, opposite Dynevor, has had its attractions sung by Dyer, the poet, who was born in the neighbourhood, and died rector of Coningsby, in Lincolnshire, in 1757: here is the Grongar Hill, where "often, by the murm'ring rill," one "hears the thrush while all is still." Between Llandilo (Llan-Teilo: the Church of St. Teilo, who died Bishop of Llandaff, in a.i>. 540) and Carmarthen, Towy's zigzags are many and eccentric. After Dynevor another castle, that of Dryslwyn, is soon passed. It is a mere ruin on a green hill. The Nelson Monument, high in the distance, on the south side of the river, is a more assertive feature in the landscape, though less welcome. Midway towards Carmarthen, we cross the Cothi, the longest of all Towy's affluents, and here, near its mouth, as great a stream as the Towy at Llandovery. Looking up it, there is even here some suggestion of its tine upper gorges. At Abergorlech, some ten miles nearer its sources, either artist or angler would rind reason to rejoice in it, while higher still it absorbs streamlets right and left as greedily as the Towy itself. One must, however, resist the temptation to loiter on Cothi's bridge by Llanegwad. There is nothing of especial mark to see by the way, save Merlin's grotto, where the Arthurian wizard fell a victim to the wiles of the fairy Viviana, and where he is still imprisoned, and will be for all time. But you must carry a fine faith with you to be fitly moved by the legend, and it will not be inexcusable if you fail to find it. At the Ivy Bush Hotel of Carmarthen, whence there is a commanding view over the lower part of the valley, one may think tenderly of .Sir Richard Steele, 180 RIVERS OF GREAT BRITAIN. [Mil ford Haven. who once lived in it. The tablet to his memory in the parish church of St. Peter here describes him as the "first chief promoter of the periodical press of England." What would he say to the growth of the babe for which he is thus made responsible ? This capital town, which in the time of Giralclus had walls of burnt brick, is nowadays of the modernest. Its castle, or what was left of it, has been turned CAEEW CASTLE (p. 182). into a jail; though you may discern some of its ancient stonework in the adjacent alleys. The town stands well above the river and the seven-arched bridge beneath which Towv now moves with stately ease towards the sea, a navigable stream. There is a small quay here, and a larger one some three miles farther down, for local coasters. For five" miles more Towy holds its own against the ocean ; and yet another five have to be passed ere, at Carmarthen Bar, the fresh waters gathered from the peaceful and fertile vales of Carmarthenshire are wholly merged in the salt sea. We have now come to a singular district of Wales — a part of South Wales that is not Wales, but "a little England in Wales." Close by Towy's mouth, another river Taf (though with only one "f") enters the sea very broadly with the body of water yielded to it by the rivers Dewi Fawr, Gynin, Feni, and Marias, Milfokd Haven.] ENGLAND IN WALES. 181 which all have brig-lit tortuous courses among the green hills of Pembrokeshire. And four or five miles still farther west, the "Llans" and. "Abers" which proclaim the land of the Cymry end, and give place to names Danish, Norwegian, and Norman. This continues until we are at Newgale Bridge, on St. Bride's Bay, eight Photo: Hii'l CARM U;l]ll N Q.V LY 0*. 180). miles from the thoroughly reverend and Welsh city of St. David's. Newgale Bridge has a small ale-house adjacent, where they seem contemptuously ignorant of the existence of the Welsh counties of Carmarthen and Glamorganshire to the east, so positively do they inform you that on one side of the streamlet spanned by the bridge it is England, and on the other side Wales. 182 RIVERS OF GREAT BRITAIN. [Milfom. Haven. The Normans could not, in spite of their sternest efforts, make much impression on Wales as a whole for a century or two after the battle of Senlac. But they could, thanks to Milford Haven, nibble at its south-western extremity. This is what they did, and with the planting here by Henry I. of a large colony of Flemings the earlier stock seems to have been either absorbed or superseded. Milford Haven, with its arms of tidal water extending twenty miles into the heart of the country, was a grand aid to conquest in these parts. The Norman lords who Avere invited hither to carve out careers for themselves had much success. The)" raised castles at the extremities of Milford's water-ways, and thus assured to themselves broad controlling powers. Enough if mention be made of only the important fortresses of Pembroke, Haverfordwest, and Carew. The last of these may be first visited. Its situation at the head of a (lammed tidal inlet, low-lying and witli no prominent hills near, is unworthy of so noble a ruin. But Gerald de Windsor, the Norman lord who built it (having received the land as a dowry with his Welsh wife, Nesta, daughter of Prince Rhys ap Tewdwr of Dinefawr, or Dynevor), probably cared little for the picturesque. The strong western towers still bear witness to him; but to the mere tourist by far the most interesting part of the castle is the east side, over against the water, with its high wall and the lofty great Haunting skeletons of the windows of the palace above, their white mullions bowing forward with inimitable grace. Unfortunately, one cannot romance about the rooms to which these majestic oriels and bays belonged. This part of the castle is of the sixteenth century, and was left unfinished. Carew Castle (Caerau = fortified camps) still belongs to the Carews. The AVindsors took the name of this possession of theirs, and held the castle for more than three hundred years. Then their line of lordship was interrupted ; and it was during this period that the great Sir Rhys ap Thomas (whom Henry VII. made a Knight of the Garter for the part he played before and at Bosworth Field in aid of the House of Tudor) held such revels here as have made Carew almost a by-word. Among other shows was a " feate of arms" of five days' duration, to which knights Hocked from all parts of England and Wales. These guests filled the castle and more : five hundred, " moste of them of goode ranke," were accommodated with tents in the park adjacent, of which no trace remains. Sir Rhys himself, in gilt armour, on a "goodlie steede," attended by two pages on horseback and a herald, "was the judge of the jousts." This same mighty noble received Henry VII. at Carew before Bosworth Field was fought ; and, if tradition speak true, with his own hands killed Richard of Gloucester, who would dearly have liked ere then to have killed him. Sir Rhys lies in the parish church of Carmarthen, with about seven feet of armoured stone for a monument ; and a very small effigy of a wife lies by his side. With the Civil Wars came the castle's destruction. The Carews of Crowcombe, in Somersetshire, are now lords of the castle, and anyone may tread its grass and broken stones on payment of a threepenny bit. MiLFoun Haven.] PEMBROKE CASTLE; MONKTON PRIORY. 183 Carew had the honour of entertaining Henry VII., but Pembroke had the higher honour of being his birthplace, Margaret Beaufort, his mother, being then >nlv in her fifteenth year. Five months later he was an orphan, and Jasper Tudor, his uncle, began his long, exemplary, and singularly fortunate guardianship. Ere then this great castle, at the tip of the most southerly of Milford Haven's arms, had had nearly four centuries of existence. The first castle was only "a slender fortress with stakes and turf," says Griraldus the chronicler. If so, however, it must soon have been ousted by the existing Norman keep, which, with its 70 feet of height and 17 feet of thickness at the base, is anything rather than "a slender fortress.' 1 Throughout England there is no better specimen left to us of a feudal keep than this of Pembroke. The castle buildings, as a whole, measure some odd feet by 400 feet within the walls; and, viewed from the breezy summit of the keep (reached by broken steps and a rope), are, even in their ruin, a very instructive lesson in feudal history. The gate-house and the keep are by far the best preserved parts ; these are both little less serviceable than they were in their prime. The central space, or Outer Ward, is now a grass-plot, kept trim for tennis. One cannot do more than touch on the conventional last scene in this castle's active history. The building was held for Charles 1. by Colonel Laugharne and two other Royalists named Powell and Poyer. As was to he expected, they made a stout resistance even to Cromwell, who came hither in person. Eventually, however, supplies were cut off, and the castle surrendered. "The three leaders were condemned to be shot — though the sentence was reduced to one. Lots were drawn, it is said, by a little girl. Two were marked 'Life given by God,' the third was blank, and fell to Poyer, who was shut in ('event Garden, 1649." Since then Pembroke Castle has accepted its role as a ruin. The very peacocks that strut about its courtyard seem to understand that their haunt is a superb one. There is little else in Pembroke save two of those pleasant white church- towers which are quite a characteristic of the shire. Monkton Priory, one of these. has as lengthy a history as the castle. It was founded in 1098, and belonged to a community of Benedictines connected with Jayes in Normandy. Anciently this church, which has a very long back, with the tower about midway in it, was divided by an inner wall between the monks of the priory and the local parishioners. Its Norman nave and Decorated choir are well preserved: indeed, the original builders were as generous of material as they who raised the castle keep. Externally, save for its tower (restored in 1804), and a Norman south doorway, it has a very modern aspect, though its acre or two of gravestones in the churchyard bear witness against appearances. There are two Pembrokes and two Milfords on Milford Haven; in each case one old and the other new. Our New Pembroke, however, n'oes by the name of Pater or Pembroke Dock, and a very important little town it is for the United Kingdom, with its building slips, dry dock, and naval stores. If you chance to 184 RIVERS OF GREAT B1UTAIX. [Milford Hayek. be going from Old Pembroke to Pater between two and three o'clock any Saturday afternoon, you will be tempted to form an exaggerated idea of the number of hands employed at this State dockyard. In fact, there are about 1,000, though, of THE KOYAL DOCKTAltD, PEMBKOKE PEMBROKE CASTLE AND MOXKION FKIOKY {p. 183). course, the figure is a variable one. From Pater the view down the Haven is unin- terrupted as far as the watering - place of Dale, eight or nine miles due west. just at the north corner of the entrance. The channel is there nearly two miles in breadth, and fortifications on the small island of Thorn, to the south of Dale, are designed to prevent undesirable interference with British property in the Haven's recesses. In less than five minutes you may cross the Haven, by steam ferry, from Pembroke Dock to New Milford or Neyland, which calls for no particular notice. It is a creation of the Great Western Railway, in connection with which steamers ply nightly to Ireland. Hence to Old Milford is a pleasant walk of three miles, Milfohh Haven-.] OLD MILFORD. 185 with the water continuously to the left. The low green hills of the Haven to the south are not very beautiful, and it is only on exceptional occasions that the great water-way holds more than half a dozen big ships in its midst. One or two ironclads on guard may, however, at all times be looked for. Imogen, in Cymbeline, inquires, as a significant aside — - •• by the way, Tell me how Wales is made so happy as To inherit such a haven ! ' But Wales's happiness in this possession is of the kind that depends more on the expectation of favours to come than on benefits actually enjoyed. Milford Haven HAVERFOKDWEST (p 18 was better appreciated in the Middle Ages than it is now. It was only natural, for example, that Henry Tailor should land here in his quest of the English crown. Here too, earlier still, Richard II. set foot, on his anxious return from Ireland, when Henry of Bolingbroke was troubling Ins realm. The French chronicler, De la Marque, who was at Milford at this time, finds much to praise in the conduct of the Welshmen who were with the unhappy king. Richard's English retinue deserted him and plundered his baggage, but the Welsh could with difficulty be dissuaded from accompanying him in Ins march north to Conway, and they fell upon such of the deserters as they could. ' What a spirit! God reward them for it!" says De la Marque. Old Milford is a prettily situated town terraced above the Haven, with quays and embankments on its shore-line, ready for the traffic that is still withheld from it. Master Atkins's red coat helps to enliven it. The blue water, the green level ridges that run west to the sea, and the Atlantic itself in the distance, all prepossess in its favour. But Liverpool and Holyhead both hold it aloof from the fortune it aspired to. liv 185 RIVERS OF GREAT BRITAIN. [The Ton. Before proceeding north to that little known yet seductive river, the Teifi, Haverfordwest, on one of the two Cleddaus, which enter the Haven at its northern and westernmost arms, must be briefly mentioned. It is an ancient town, as its castle — built about 1112 by the father of Richard Strongbow, that eminent castle-builder — testifies. Among its other privileges was that of being county and capital town in one ; also of having its own lord-lieutenant. Here the Flemings of the twelfth century most did congregate in this peninsula, and no doubt the little town's prosperity was largely due to them. Nowadays, however, it is a waning place, in spite of its lively look and, considering its remoteness, its line buildings. This is proven by the number of its Maiden Assizes in the later years of its inde- pendence, before its annexation to Carmarthen for judicial purposes, as well as br- other less agreeable tokens. It is, perhaps, the most hilly town in the kingdom. Ere you arc half a mile away from it on the road to St. David's, it is lost to sight; while, approaching it from Milford, its situation seems quite Alpine. The Teifi (or Tivv), like the Towy, is little known to Englishmen other than anglers: and again, like the Towy, it well deserves knowing. The two rivers both rise amon^ the heather-clad moors of Cardiganshire; so near, indeed, that you may stand on the watershed and mark the different trend of their streams. Teiii's chief supply, however, comes from the Teifi pools, three miles from Strata Florida Abbey, a congeries of mountain lakes, the abode of interesting and capricious trout that may be recommended to the traveller with a fishing rod — and a mackintosh. It has as wild an origin as any of the rivers of South Wales. The Cistercians of Strata Florida probably fished these lakes far more than do the moderns. From the pools Teifi descends impetuously to the mere graveyard that reminds one of the Mynachlog Fawr, or Great Monastery, of which only an archway remains. Either Rhys ap Tewdwr or Rhys ap Gruff ydd, royal princes both, was the founder of the abbey, which was so important an establishment that Henry IV. made a special expedition to destroy it. If, as tradition says. Dafydd ap Cwilym — "the greatest genius of the Cimbric race and one of the first poets of the world," in the opinion of George Borrow — was buried here, one can understand the patriotic influence of such a spot, and Bolingbroke's ruthlessness. But many are the poets and princes, as well as Dafydd ap Gwilym, who lie in this "Westminster of Wales." The Strata Florida, monks have been made responsible for the Devil's Bridge, on the Rheidol — that bonne louche for visitors to Aberystwith. Excavations have recently been made in the abbey precincts, with promising results. Strata Florida is accessible by railway from the Manchester and Milford station of Pontrhydfendigaid. It must be confessed that some courage is required to alight at this dreary place on a wet autumn day. Teifi traverses dismal bog-land for miles hence: a vast flat of glittering pools and reddish grass and reeds, abounding in hares. One marvels that no serious attempt has been made to drain these thousands of acres: not such a difficult task, surely, considering the steep fall to the ThiTbb.] NEWCASTLE EMLYN. 187 west beyond the lulls. However, each landlord to his own ideas. Tregaron is passed, and still Teifi is rather a dull stream, though it can be seen that, lower down, the hills are drawing together suggestively. This is a famous district for cattle-drovers and cattle fairs. Your modern Cardigan fanner finds in these fairs one of the main excitements of his life. But the dealers are often far gone in whisky by the end of the fair-day, especially if they have had ''bargains." So towards Lampeter, leaving on the east Llanddewi Brefi, where, in a.d. 519, was held the Great Synod, attended by St. David, at which Pelagius was adjudged a heretic. Teifi has now become a real river, broad and swift, and a charm to the angler. A column on a hill by Deny Ormond holds the eye. This is a tale told of it. The grandsire of the present owner of the estate wooed a young lady of London, and brought her home; but she pined for the Metropolis, and said either that she could not or would not live where she could not see London. To help her a little in this respect, her husband built the column. History does not inform us whether the wife was won to her allegiance by this proof of marital infatuation. Teifi does not excel in its auxiliary streams. This is explainable by the nature of the country it traverses. Its watershed is not an extensive one, like Towy's. The streams that flow to it throughout its course are all insignificant in size, though the two Cletwrs (Fawr and Fach\ Afon Cych, and especially the merry little mountain-rivulet that joins it a mile west of Newcastle Endyn, are not without the customary fascinations of these well-nigh untrodden glens of Wild Wales. It is when Teifi turns decisively to the west and its home in the long inlet of Port Cardigan that its graces become truly bewitching. From Llandyssil to Newcastle Endyn it alternates between SAveet, green, hill-bounded reaches and contracted gorges which trammel and fret it so that it roars with dissatisfaction. At Newcastle its valley is broad again, with wooded hills on all sides, enclosing the pretty little village and its castle. But thence to Cardigan it is majestic all the way, zigzagging with glorious curves, and with high, densely-wooded banks in the main. Seen when the tints are on its trees, this part of Teifi's course makes an enduring mark on the memory. The salmon-fisher who comes once to Teifi here (and it is a prolific river, in spite of the ''professionals,'' who take heavy tolls at its mouth) will have abundant compensation, even though he have poor sport. There is no railway between Newcastle and Cardigan; but what a nine miles' drive or walk it is ! At Cenarth, for instance, it is impossible not to pause awhile. Here the river bursts from a confined defile into greater freedom, sweeping under a bridge of the Edwards hall-mark. Cenarth is a lovely little village, out of the world, given up to the woods and the crying waters. And under its bridge, at the side, you may see some of the tiny coracles still in use on this stream. Fashions die hard in these secpiestcrcd parts of Wales. Giraldus tells us that the beaver kept its haunt on the Teifi when it was extinct elsewhere in Great Britain. 188 RIVERS OF GREAT BRITAIN. [The Ystwith. There is a contenting sameness about Teiii all the way to Cardigan: unchanged perfection. Two miles short of this capital town, however, it speeds to the south, and then turns boldly in its final curve towards the sea. Above it here, on a lofty crag, with woods caressing it, is Kilgerran Castle, which Turner painted. He could hardly have resisted the temptation, having seen it. The castle remains Photo: Hudson. MILFOKD HAVEN (p. 1S5). consist of two towers and a iratcway, all of the thirteenth century. Historically, Utile seems known about it. Thence Teifi makes for the defile which ushers it to salt water, past the small yet prosperous county town, which has close sea intercourse with Bristol, and does a good trade in fish. Cardigan, like all these Welsh capitals, has a fragmentary castle ; so fragmentary, indeed, that it is hardly discoverable. It has also an old church with a remarkably massive tower, having a buttress like a staircase. From its churchyard tombstones one may learn much, as well as the common lesson of the mortality of mortals. It is, for example, interesting to the stranger to be informed that "Let" is no unusual christian name for a man here, and "Lettice" for a woman. The town suffers from a complaint nowadays rare among the capitals of British counties, to wit, difficult railway communication with the rest of the land. This will be remedied somewhat when the existing line is continued from Newcastle Emlyn. But one may be excused for hoping that Teifi's The Ystwith.] BTSE OF THE YSTWITH. 189 banks may for years to conic know nothing of the mauling and devastation that will be inevitable when this takes place. If you wish to see Teifi, or Tivy, quite to its end, it is worth while to go north another three miles, to Gwbert-on-the-Sea, a distinctly primitive and pleasing watering-place, facing Kemmaes Head, with the mile and a half of Teifi's mouth (at its widest) intervening. Photo : S. J. Allen, Pembroh Dock. THE TEIFI AT KILCEUUAN". Bidding farewell to the beauteous Teifi, we must now in few words track the last of our rivers to the same inevitable destination. Ystwith has had no poets that we are aware of. Not all who visit Aberystwith, indeed, perceive (though they surely might) that it gives its name to this salubrious town. The Rheidol, which also enters the "sea at Aberystwith, is treated with distinction. For it there is a solid, handsome bridge, lighted with lamps. But for Ystwith there is only a very commonplace bridge. The Ystwith rises in the broken upland a few miles south of Plinlimmon, runs in a deep channel for three or four miles, and then, with little hesitation, though infinite sinuosities, rushes due west. Its entire length is not more than thirty miles. Until it comes to the road by Eglwys Newydd, and within four 190 RIVERS OF GREAT BRITAIN. [The Ystwith. miles of the Devil's Bridge, on its rival the Rheidol, and even past Hafod, it sees few admirers, though it might have many. People who come to Eglwys Newydd, on their circuitous way to the Devil's Bridge, do not go out <>f their path to see the Ystwith, hut the Chautrey monument, in memory of Miss Johnes, in this " New Church." Farther west the Manchester and Milford Railway runs in its valley from Trawscoed, and accompanies it to the sea. Here its boauty is of a superb order. The wooded mountains soar with most impressive effect on its southern side, now and then parting ti> show an abysmal glen, just as densely wooded, down which a bah}' stream tumbles towards our Ystwith. It matters not so very much, except to the angler, if the river does suffer from lead-poisoning. The mines do not obtrude themselves ; and one may cheat oneself into the belief that the thickness of its waters comes from the melting snows high up mi the mountains which it taps. For a few miles one may search the vocabulary for adjectives in eulogy of Ystwith. Then it sobers into comparatively level ground, and green pastures between receded green and heather-clad hills succeed the splendid towering woods. For the rest of its journey, it is an ordinary stream, and as such it slides into the sea just south of the town with a modesty that is almost affecting. Aberystwith the piered, esplanaded and castled, might well condescend to take a little notice of its humble "godparent," as well as of the Rheidol, and might gain credit in the condescension. This resort of a certain order of fashion (especially now that there are sweet girl-graduates to give a classic touch to its broad breezy promenade) seems, however, fully content to rely on the seducing charms of its powerful pure air, its tea-gardens on Constitution Hill, and — the Devil's Bridge. Wondrous indeed is the power of ozone ! It reconciles us to weeks in lodging- houses that are ugly to behold and are in themselves uncomfortable. Xot that Aberystwith is worse off in tills respect than other places. Indeed, it may be said to he in a better plight than most, since the Esplanade buildings are handsome, once you have accepted their uniformity. Even were it otherwise, it would matter not at all to the sojourner in bracing Aberystwith ! He acquires resignation and divers other virtues merely in breathing this pure invigorating air on the broad paved walk between the lodging-houses and the sea. Of Aberystwith's castle it must suffice to say that it dates from the eleventh century, and owes its parentage to Gilhert Strongbow. Cromwell cut its little comb effectually, and now it exists only in fragments. They are, however, attractive morsels, and the little green enclosure which they prettily dignify is a popular resort tor visitors. There arc seats about it, and you may perch close over the mutilated low cliffs of the coast and watch the breakers rolling in towards the town, while listening with your mind's ear to the tales told by Time of this downright ancient little place. The University buildings adjoin the castle demesne. They are quite grandiose. One wonders how often in the year the noise of the waves on w E- 02 - H pq 192 UirEES OF GREAT BRITAIN. [The Ystwith. their stones is so loud that it distracts the academic minds within its stately walls. It has been said authoritatively that " Aberystwith stands out as being far and away the Welshiest of the University Colleges, and Cardiff as the most English.'' This is gratifying to those of us who like to see the boundary-lines of nationalities clearly defined. And yet the faces of the students in the streets here do not show their birthright as one would expect. But enough. One must be very morose or abased in body as well as mind not to perceive the peculiar charms of Aberystwith. To the enterprising, and perhaps jaded sojourner in this Brighton of Wales it may, moreover, come as welcome news that for a mile or two of its course the Ystwith is of a beauty matchless even in Wales. Charles Edwakdes. DOLGELLEY (p. 200). RIVERS OF NORTH WALES. CHAPTER I. THE DOVEY, THE DYSYNNI, THE MAWDDACH. Glories of :i Wet Autumn in North Wales. The Doyey: Source <>f the Stream- Dinas Mowddwy — Mallwyd — Machynlleth. The Dystski: Tal-y-Llyn -The " Bird Keck "— Towyn. The Mawddach : The Estuary— The Wnion— Torrent Walk— I lolgelley — Precipice Walk — The Estuary— Barmouth —Harlech Castle — Portmadoc — The Glaslyn — Tremad o and Shelli y The Traeth Bach. J^£f HERE arc times of the year when North Wales seems to be all rivers ami mountain torrents and tumbling cataracts. The hills are seamed by thin, white streaks of foaming water. It is as if all the land were rushing down to the valleys and the sea. What was yesterday a slow dribble from pool to pool, a scarcely perceptible moisture among i^.'^f fVr .^ > weeds, a narrow reflection of sky among stones and boulders, is to-day a broad, impetuous stream, or a wide expanse of bog-stained water, or a torrent swollen and turbulent. The cataracts which have disappointed the tourist in dry seasons come down in a way that wholly sustains their ancient reputation. But the mountains are, for the most part, hidden in mist, or whelmed in cloud; the white mads glitter like streams, and— "The rain, it raineth every day; Heigho, tin' wind and the rain ! " Yet, decidedly, it is in a wet autumn that one should see North Wales. "Then, if ever, are perfect days," when the whole glory of wild Nature reveals itself in some MZ . g& V v , m r_ I i V ' • ft . ,J>.jfT I Si If Tit 118 194 RIVERS OF GREAT BRITAIX. [The Dovey, interval of dripping rains ; when the brown foliage, clipping into the flooded rivers, ulows like gold in some sudden outburst of the sun ; and when the mountains fade upward from their heathery bases, and purple middle-distances, into shadowy peaks of faintest blue. How fascinatingly the bells of Aberdovey have rung themselves into the popular consciousness! And all by means of some foolish verses that are as securely immortal as the famous and touching air in which Neil Gow has set the bells of Edinburgh town to music: — . - Mih ! J> 10 RIVERS OF NORTH WALES. "'Ac os wyt ti'n fy ngharu i Fel 'rwyf ti'n dy garu di, 3Ial un, dan, tri, pedwar, pump, chwech,' Go the l»Hs of Aberdovey." Seated in a boat in the middle of the estuary of the Dovey river, one laments the fact that the bells exist in legend only. How sweetly they would sound through the distance and in the dusk, over this wide expanse of shallow water and glimmering sand ! But the little town of Aber- dovey, 1 mooing the hill- side at the south-westerly corner of Merionethshire, has certainly had no peal of bells at any date more recent than the time when Owen Glendower descended into tlie Dovey valley to procure his own proclamation as Prince of Wales. It is a humble little town, which, as somebody has remarked, seems to ask itself why it is not Liverpool. It has a wharf and a deep-water pier, and a railway at only a few yards from the beach. Large vessels could lie in safety near to the doors of the Aberdovey folk, and the maps insist strenuously on the directness of the sea-routes to Dublin, to Rosslare, and to Waterford. They are direct enough, no doubt; but who cares to travel by them? (July a few small schooners are to be seen in the harbour of Aberdovey. Two or three others are drawn up high and dry on the sands, so that one might almost leap on board from the thresholds of the cottages. If the world were more happily ordered, the chief trade of the place might be the exchange of rich merchandise; but, as one may perceive from the pier yonder, it is merely the exportation of slates. The river Dovey — or Dvfi, as it is called in the more ancient language — rises among the peaks of Aran Mowddwy, and, dashing down the mountain-sides with a pretty music, leaves Merioneth for a while to course through a jutting corner of ImDotm MOWDDWT AND ITS BANDITTT. 195 Montgomery shire. Then it becomes the boundary between Merioneth and Cardigan, making its way to the sea through an estuary <',', miles long — broad, noble, and impressive, with hills green, gentle, and round on its left, and on its right high mountains and purple heather, and "the sleep that is among the lonely hills." It is a river much beloved of angling folk, for there are ''salmons" not only, as Fluellen said, in Monmouthshire, bul also in Montgomery and Merioneth. Likewise there is abundance of sewin and trout; and the fisherman who visits Dinas Mowddwy, Mallwyd, or Machynlleth will be likely enough to store his memory with recollections not only of fine scenery but of glorious days. Dinas Mowddwy is a small village with a large hotel; but it was nothing less than a city in the old days, and it calls itself a city still. Even up to so recent a date as 1886, it had all the honours of a borough, with a Mayor of its own. and a Corporation, and a Recorder, and the tradition of a charter dating from James I. It may be reached ley means of a ridiculous but convenient railway from Cemmaes Road, the trains consisting of an engine and one carriage, with, possibly, a few truck- loads of slates attached behind. Aran Mowddwv, on which the Dovey rises, is, next to Snowdon, the highest mountain in Wales. It is the centre of a district full of vague traditions and curiously varied grandeur and beauty. After the death of Owen Glendower, "many powerful gentlemen of Wales" assembled at Dinas "for the purpose of making compacts to enforce virtue and order." Their success can scarcelv have been very great, for it was at this place, not long afterwards, that the "Red-Haired Banditti of .Mowddwy" were wont to hold their meetings and arrange their murders. It is pleasant to be able to record that in due course these gentry were as effectually suppressed as were the Doones of Exmoor, if the story of John Ridd is to be believed. How they found means to exist by rapine in a country so sparsely peopled is not now intelligible; but they were, clearly, a very savage and revengeful folk, for forty arrows were found in the body of a judge who had condemned some of their brethren to death. Sparkling along through Dinas, and flowing under the ruins of an ancient bridge, with a more modern and substantial structure close beside it, the river Dovey shortly reaches Mallwyd, where there is a church that is much visited, occupying the site of an earlier edifice which is said to have been erected by St. Tydecho in the sixth century, and with an ancient yew-tree which the saint himself is believed to have planted. On the other side of the river stands the farmhouse of < 'amlan, associated by a tradition, into the veracity of which we need not now inquire, with Camelot, and that "battle long ago" in which King Arthur is said to have been overthrown. All this wide, winding Dovey valley teems with history of a sort. At the farmhouse of Mathafarn, below Cemmaes Road, '-the great poet and scholar," David Llwyd ap Llewelyn, entertained the Earl of Richmond, who was after- wards to become King Henry VII., and was then on his way to Bosworth fight. At Machynlleth, with its tine, broad, mediaeval street, much frequented by salesmen of cattle and sheep, you may see the house in which Owen Glendower held 196 RIVERS OF GREAT BRITAIN. [The Dovey. his Parliament after he had "defeated" the English by flying before them into the hills. Machynlleth itself was the Roman station of Maglona, and is now a fairly considerable town. situated almost as happily as Dolgelley, with the square ivy-clad tower of an ancient church dominat- ing 1 the centre of the vallev. Here the beautiful river Dulas joins the Dovey, and hence one may travel by m TORRENT W.ll i;. .. LGEIXEY [p. 198). the tiny ('orris railway to Tal-y-Llyn, through some of the most satisfying scenery in all Wild Wales. Before reaching the estuary, the Dover wanders through much wide marshland, over which a railway lias been carried, where there is a railway station set amid dc olateness, and where no tree or shrub breaks the flat, brown margins of the stream. From such scenery it is very agreeable to break away to where, at high tide, there is a sheet of water six miles broad — the sweetest, calmest, most restful estuary in all Wales, with Borth sunning itself by the sea far away, with hills at whose feet plantations flourish, and mountains with flr-woods climbing up their slopes. The Dystnni.] TAL-Y-LLYN. 197 Flowing from the sides of Cader Tdris, which holds a gloomy lake in its lap, there is a complex network of streams. Several of these join themselves together to form the little river Dysynni, which, after wandering among the mountains for twelve miles or so, drowns itself in the sea beyond Towyn. One of the sources 01 the Dysynni is Tal-y-Llyn. Noble and beautiful and ever memorable is the valley through which the stream hurries downwards from that renowned lake, the object of innumerable excursions made from Dolgelley, from Towyn, from Machynlleth, and Prom all the wild, wonderful, fascinating places roundabout. Tal-y-Llyn is no more than a mile long, and a quarter of a mile broad ; but it is like a small piece of Norway transported to Wales. Here alike come those who are intent on reaching the summit of Cader Idris, and those who desire to follow "the contemplative man's recreation," for the Dysynni, like the Dovey, is a famous fishing river. Salmon, sewin, and gwyniad are to be found therein, from May until after the autumn leaves are falling. There are white and sea trout, and bass, and in the estuary plentiful grey mullet, which make fine and exciting sport when a ring of nets is thrown around them, and the noisy and vigorous "beaters" drive them into the meshes. One must go up the Dysynni to see the famous "Bird Hock," a great shoulder of mountain on which the hawk and the cormorant dwell. It is so precipitous that it may be climbed on only two of its sides, ami it has one of those echoes for which Wales is almost unapproachable, so that the music of any instrument that is played 14)011 it will be reverberated in a startling chorus from all the surrounding hills. Lower down the river, always amid such scenery as it were vain to describe, there is the site of a manor house from which Prince Llewelyn wrote important letters to ecclesiastical magnates in London, and which that stout soldier-king Edward I. visited, for he dated a charter thence. Older relics there are, like the Tomen Ddreiniog, which, maybe, is one of "the grassy barrows of the happier THE LOWER BRIDGE, TORRENT WALK (p. 199). 198 RIVERS OF GREAT BRITAIN. [The Mawotach. dead." It is a vallev renowned for its birds and their songs, this of the Dysynni, and for its rare plants and mosses, and its rich store of maiden-hair fern. As we approach Towvn the mansion of Ynys-y-Maengwyn, the dwelling of an ancient Welsh family, presents a quaint and most picturesque mixture of architectural periods, for it combines all the styles of domestic architecture that prevailed between the period of Elizabeth and that of the Georges. The Dysynni is a land-locked river as it approaches the sea. for the Cambrian Railway crosses its estuary. There is a spectacle on one hand of what seems a lake among purple mountains, and on the other of a stream winding amid dreary hats t<> the breezy waters of Cardigan Bay. Towyn, which is but a small place, has a certain fame for sea-bathing, and for its association with " a holy man of Armorica, who came to Wales in the sixth century to refute the Pelagian heresy." One does not inquire too curiously into these things; but there, not far from the estuary of the Dysynni, is St. Cadfan's Church, and St. Cadfan was one who performed miracles; and in the church there is a pillar which, as some aver, is inscribed in debased Roman characters, and once marked the site of St. Cadfan's grave. "Neither the North of England, nor Scotland, no, nor Switzerland, can exhibit anything so tranquil, romantic, snug, and beautiful as a Welsh valley." These are the words of John Wilson, the " Christopher North " of the famous " Noctes Ambrosianae" and the "Recreations"; the "rusty, crusty Christopher" of Lord Tennyson's early satire. He was thinking of Dolgellev and all the indescribable charm of its surroundings. Wilson was a Scot who had dwelt continuously and for many years amid the English Lakes. He knew his Switzerland, too; and it must have been reluctantly, one would think, that he gave this unstinted praise to the particular valley in which North Wales seems most to unite its grander and its quieter beauties, all its wonders of mountains and wood, torrent and waterfall, snug valley and scarred and towering height. The Mawddach estuary, which has the appearance of a chain of lakes, winds among the mountains as far as Penmaenpool, where there is a long, low, sinuous railway bridge of innumerable arches. Here, where the Mawddach suddenly becomes a stream, flowing through green marshes, with its course indicated by lines of deep-driven stakes, Christopher North must often have been reminded of the head of his beloved Windermere, missing only the solemn and silent majesty of the Langdale Pikes. Following the river upward through the wide, marshy plain until it again hides itself among woods and hills, one comes upon the river Wxiox, which is chiefly of importance among Welsh rivers because it is famous for its trout, because it winds through Dolgelley on its way, and because, two miles further upwards, it is joined by the tumultuous thread of water which tumbles from pool to pool, over cataract after cataract, close beside the steep, mile-long piece of sylvan beauty known as the Torrent Walk. Until it receives this tributary the Wnion is, except in seasons of rain, but a thin and feeble stream; but it flows through beautiful and shady woods, fretting sometimes over a rocky bed, The Wniok] TORRENT WALK. 199 sometimes flowing in a peaceful, sunlit calm, and now and again reflecting one of those wide-arched, mossy bridges winch indicate by their breadth of span how much way tins little river claims for itself when the thin silvery threads of all the small -- BETWEEN DOLGELLET AND BARMOVTH (p. '2"- - streams that How into it from the Arans on one side, and from the lower slopes of Rhobell Fawr on the other, are swollen into mountain torrents by continuous rain. There are innumerable little rivers in North Wales, boiling down over tumbled rocks, in deep valleys, with trees swaying and arching 1 over- •ad. The type of these is the turbulent brook, so narrow that one might leap across it, which descends through the Dwygyfylchi valley, and then quietly loses itself in the sea between Conway and Penmaenmawr. But in all "Wild Wales there is no such mad, merry, laughing, and leaping piece of water as the lone,- cataract which hastens down from the upper to the lower bridge of the Torrent Walk, to join the Whion two miles above Dolgelley. It falls, like a white mist, amid riven cliffs; it pours itself, with a frolic music, between great masses of moss-grown rock; it dips under tree-trunks which have been thrown across it, like rustic bridges, by long-forgotten storms. The channel which this torrent has made for itself is a deep, dark, winding cleft through a beautiful wood on the side of a steep hill. It is in the late autumn that it is at its best, when the trees are ->f all rich tints, from mssel to gold, and when there is a glorious, glowing carpet of brown leaves on either side id' the Torrent Walk, and <> 200 RIVERS OF GREAT BRITAIX. [The Wxion. when the torrent itself, swollen by the unfailing rains, breaks into white spray amid the blue mist of the cataracts. The Wnion is tame enough after such a spectacle; but it makes some really striking loops and bends as it winds away to Dolgelley, broadening out in the ever-broadening valley, and then darting forward to the tall, grey arches of Dolgelley bridge, where it dreams along for a while over its multitudinous pebbles, and then wanders away into the green shadow of trees. Photo: II. Ui -whether it is worth while knowing so much that is not so. The Rhaiadr-y- Mawddach-over which, at this stage, How. the river that is shortly to broaden out mto t l ie grandest estuary in Wales-descends, in two lea,,, into a arge and mag nificent basin, about which the rocks and trees have arranged themselves into 119 202 RIVERS OF GREAT BRITAIN. [The Mawddach. a noble amphitheatre. The Precipice Walk is not far a way. One may behold all the Snowdon region from this dizzy height on the open hillside; the Ganllwyd valley opens out below; the Arans tower upwards to the right; and beyond the village of Llanfachreth, looking northward, rises the grand mass of Rhobell Fawr. its head halt- hidden in a cloud, "that moveth altogether, if it move at all.'' And as for the Pistyll-y- Cain and the Rhaiadr-Du, "the black cataract," the one, as its name indicates, is the fall of the river Cain, and the other is the fall of the Camlan, less broad, less precipitous, at the first glance less impressive, than its more renowned rival, but quite wonderfully beautiful in its surroundings, its rocks and woodlands, its dual lea}), and many windings, and numerous tumbling streams. Says a Welsh proverb: "There is only one prettier walk in Wales than the road from Dolgelley to Barmouth. It is the road from Barmouth to Dolgelley." The adjective is ill-chosen. Not prettiness, but a calm majesty, is the characteristic of the rich scenery of the valley of the Mawddach. When the tide is up, the river between Penmaenpool and Barmouth is like a chain of lakes among bold and craggy heights, sloping brown moorlands, and terraced woods. One is reminded sometimes of Switzerland and sometimes of the Rhine. It is advisable to ascend the river, as Wordsworth did, in a boat. The poet was at Barmouth in 1824, when he rowed up •• the sublime estuary, which may compare with the finest in Scotland.'' One is always driven back upon these comparisons. The estuarv of the .Mawddach arouses sensations of strangeness and unexpectedness. Even amid the grandeur and the beauty of North Wales, it seems to belong to some other country, and almost to a land of dreams. It may have been some recollection of rowing upwards towards Penmaenpool that inspired the first and greatest of the Lake poets with two of his most splendid lines : — "I hear the echoes through tin' mountains throng; The winds come to me from the fields of sleep." And the scenerv here is everything. There is little history to eno-aae the mind, One merely shudders at the story of how, in what are now the grounds of Nannau House, Owen Glendower fought with his cousin, Howel Selc, slew him, and hid the body in a hollow tree. The Abbot of Cynuner is credited with having brought about the meeting, in the hope that the two kinsmen might be reconciled; but who knows anything about the Abbot of Cymmer? So much of the abbey as remains is mixed up with farm buildings, amid beautiful sylvan scenery, about two miles from Dolgelley, and near to the banks of the Mawddach. Griffith and Meredydd, lords of Merioneth and grandsons of Owain Gwynedd, Prince of North Wales, founded the abbey in 1198. The architecture suggests Irish influences, and an Irishman by whom such influence is likely to have been exercised is known to have emigrated to Wales at about the time of the foundation. The monks were of the Cistercian order, and the abbey was dedicated to St. Mary. The ruins of the church are the principal portion of what now remains. The abbot's lodgings and part of the The Mawddach.] BARMOUTH: HARLJBOH CASTLE. 203 refectory have been incorporated into the present farmhouse. The emissaries of Henry VIII. penetrated even to this remote spot, and so the abbey was despoiled. Barmouth, which, in Welsh, is Abermaw, or the mouth of the Mawddach, is built in strange fashion about the foot of a mountain which is surpassingly noble in its contour. Some of the houses cling high up among the perilous slopes. In one direction they look out to sea, and in the other across the "sublime estuary at its widest part. The rich, glowing woods of Arthog climb up the opposite slopes, with the side of Cader Idris rising like a vast cliff above their topmost branches. The little town, with its tremendous background of rugged mountain, has been likened to Gibraltar. The oldest of its dwellings is alleged to date back to the reign of Henry VII. For us of to-day the place has the interest of having been selected as the earliest of the settlements of .Mr. Raskin's Guild of .St. George. "1 have just been over to Barmouth," the Master wrote many a year ago, '"to see the tenants on the first hit of ground — noble crystalline rock, 1 am glad to say- possessed by St. George on the island." Grandly impracticable was the idea, of settling a community of this kind in such a place,, and one looks at the small cottages, high on the hillside, with a feeling that they are a stray and stranded fragment of Utopia. It is a bare, ordinary-looking town, this Barmouth, when surveyed from the level of its lower streets; but there is an unapproachable dignity, beauty, and charm in the wide, level stretch of sand and water which lies between here and Arthog, which winds inland among the brown mountain-slopes, which broadens outward to Cardigan Bay. The bridge is a curious and useful rather than a pleasant feature of the landscape. It carries a railway that branches off to Dolgelley on the one hand, and to Glandovey and South Wales on the other. Fortunately, it lies low down, and close to the water, as it were, its central portion being occasionally raised for the admission of ships, of a tonnage, however, that is marvellously small. From its further side, where the sand has gathered into hillocks, crowned by long, waving, rank grass, the town of Barmouth, with its vast hill of Craig Abermaw, brings into mind the castle of Gallon and its surroundings. It seemed poor and common enough, away there on the other side of the bridge; but from this point it is graceful, noble, almost sublime. The grand castle of Harlech looks out on to the waters about midway in that waste of shore which divides Barmouth from Portmadoc. The castle has long been a ruin, but, all things considered, it has been magnificently preserved. It had the fortune to escape the dismantling which was so nearly universal during the Civil Wars. Later times have been less considerate, for many of the houses roundabout have been built from the stone and timber of the fortress ; yet, looking at it from a distance, the place still seems to be intact, and grandly formidable in its strength and its situation. From Portmadoc it is the principal feature of the landscape as the eye sweeps round the fine curve of the bay. The 204 RIVERS OF GREAT BRITAIN. [The Glaslyn. interest of Portmadoc itself lies in the incomparable view of the Snowclon range which is to be obtained therefrom, and in a curious association with Shelley. A huge alluvial plain, the Traeth Mawr, or Great Sand, sheltered by an irregular semi- circle of hills, makes an impressive foreground. Here one might expect to hear tales of that Prince Madoc who is alleged to have preceded Columbus, by a huge interval, in the discovery of America ; but Portmadoc, with its long, low line of railway across the Traeth Bach, its small schooners laden with slate, its rows of houses struggling about the hillside, its active industry, its bridges and quays, is a town of quite modern date, its history extending backward only to the end of the last century, and its name being derived, not from the adventurous prince whom Southey has made the subject of an epic, but from an energetic Mr. Maddocks, who reclaimed 2,000 acres of good land from the sea, and carried a mile-long mole of stone across the great estuary into which the little river Glaslyn flows. Portions of Portmadoc are at this day some two or three feet below the seadevel. One may obtain from here one of the best views of Snowdon ; and on the south side of the valley, over which his shadow seems to be cast, the CVnicht — the Matterhorn of Wales, as it has been called — rises up in noble and entrancing proportions. Hence, too, come into impressive prominence the green and grassy sides of Moel Wyn. A walk of a few miles would bring us to Beddgelert, or to the lovely Pass of Aberglaslyn, with its unforgettable admixture of mountain and of sylvan scenery; or, by climbing the hill at our back, we may come within sight of Tremadoc, and the house in which the poet Shelley alleged that lie Avas assailed by a mysterious and murderous visitant. Into the Traeth Bach, which is an unreclaimed extension of the Traeth Mawr, pours down the stream which accompanies the traveller on the "baby railway" from the heights of Blaenau Festiniog. Westward lie Criccieth and Pwllheli, and the sharp bend of the Lleyn peninsula, and Bardsey Island and its lighthouse, round which one may sail into Carnarvon Bay. CfUfAjoLi SUuXsli Till'. ENTVAKY, BARMOUTH. RIVERS OF NORTH WALES. CHAPTER II. THE SEIONT, THE OGWEN, THE CONWAT. The Seiont: Llanberis Pass— Lakes Peris and Padarn— Dolbadarn Castle and Ceunant Mawr— Carnarvon and its Castle The Ogwen: Llyri Ogwen and Llyn Idwal— Bethesdfi Penrhyn Castle. The Llugwy: Capel Curig— Moel Siabod — Pont-y-Cyfing— Swallow Falls— The Miners' Bridge— Bettws-y-Coed. The 1. 1.1:1.1: : Dolwyddelen— Pont-y-Pant. The Maciino and its Fall. The Conway: Fairy Glen— Llanrwst— Gwydir Castle— Llanbedr— Trefriw— Conway Marsh— Conway Castle and Town — Deganwy — Llandudno. rpHE river Seiont is only about thirteen miles long. One seldom hears mention -*- of its name, except by the trout-fisher, it may be. It is treated, in general, as of small account. And yet, surely it is one of the most distinguished rivers of North Wales, for does it not drain the north-eastern side of Snowdon, and flow through the Pass of Llanberis, and broaden out into Llyn Peris and Llyn Padarn, and finally, after devious wanderings, and much merry tumbling among rocks, boulders, and little reedy islets, culminate in a port, with the great castle of Carnarvon guarding its exit into the Strait across which one looks to the lovely island of Anglesea ? But if few speak of the Seiont, there has been unlimited eloquence concerning the grandeur — what the descriptive writers of the last century would have considered the awfulness — of the Llanberis Pass. The point of view has changed whilst the century lias been passing away. Where our great-grandfathers spoke of "horrid scenes" we find nowadays glory of colour, and magnificence of form, and all the finer characteristics of mountain beauty. But something, after all, is to be said from the point of view of our great-grandfathers. We travel through the Pass of Llanberis by coach on good and safe roads, and they ventured, perforce, along " a horse-path so rugged that much of it was like going up and down rough stone stairs." It was between the two lakes Peris and Padarn, and at the new village of Llanberis, that the late Poet Laureate foregathered, in his youth, with his friend Leonard, who sang of "all the cycle of the golden year": — " We