' V 't4&i T 1K>< 17s- THE SCENERY, ANTIQUITIES, AND BIOGRAPHY, OF SOUTH WALES. T. bstrsisr, Printer, Bait CoUrt, 71ect Street, Landau. AtldAnuai jcuI? Cy X Cy/J fuitisActl Ju~l w^iBoj bf LonjiriarL,JIiirst,Jlec*$tOriTic,r.iier A'o, THE SCENERY, 1 i ANTIQUITIES, AND BIOGRAPHY, OF gMttl) Wate, MATERIALS COLLECTED DURING TWO EXCURSIONS IN T«E YEAR 1803. BY ' BENJAMIN HEATH MALKIN, ESQ. M.A. F.A.S. THE SECOND EDITION, WITH ADDITIONS. VOL. I. LONDON: PKISTED FOR I.ONGMAN, HUKST, REES, AND ORME, TATERNOSTER ROW. 1807. TO THB REVEREND WILLIAM WILLIAMS, PREBENDARY OF LANDAFP, &C. &C. &C. IN TESTIMONY OF LONG ESTABLISHED FRIENDSHIP, IN GRATITUDE FOR MANY USEFUL NOTICES ON THE SUBJECT TO WHICH THE FOLLOW ING PAGES HAVE BEEN DEVOTED, %$t$t Volumes at* inmibzti, BY THE AUTHOR. London, Sept. 1807. VOL. I. ADVERTISEMENT. The art of writing Prefaces is worn so thread bare, that it is no longer an easy task for Au thors to address the Public, without having any thing to say, or to talk about themselves, vvith either decency or interest. On occasion of reprinting a work, which has been received with some portion of favour, it is however impossible not to express a sense of obligation, for that candour with which the errors, inci dental to all works of this nature, have in the present instance been overlooked both by the casual Reader and the professed Critic. The fol lowing remarks on a very interesting tract of country are now offered in a more portable and convenient form. It is to be feared,, that symptoms of inaccuracy will still be found to hang about them. Yet such corrections and additions have been made, as the opportunities of the Author have furnished him with in the interval. They ought to have been more nu- ADVERTISEMENT. merous; tut apology is a lame substitute for reformation; and the Work is a second time launched from the press, with much need of indulgence, and an assurance, founded on past experience, that nothing short of wilful mis representation will incur the resentment of contempt of Readers in general. Those who think that no man ought to write, unless he be able to write excellently, will receive these pages with disgust, if they look at them at all: but it may be questioned, whether the loss upon such fastidiousness be not greater than the gain : and happily there lies an appeal to * more numerous and better-tempered tribunal. CONTENTS, OF VOL. I. CHAPTER I. Introduction , Page 1 CHAPTER II. Glamorganshire 79 CHAPTER III, Aburthin. Welsh St. Donatts. Hensol. Ystradowen. Ash Hall. Chapel Talegarn. Lantrisent 113 CHAPTER IV. Castella. New Bridge. Dukes Arms. Porto Bello. Melin Gruffyth. Pentyrch. Chapel Laniltern. Landaff. St. Fagans. St. Lythans Common. Coedryglan. St. Nicholas. Dyffryn House. Cotterel. St. Georges. Peterston Super Ely. Bonvilston. Lant-rythid Park. St. Hilary. Cow- bridge ' 129 CHAPTER V. St. Mary Church. Lancarvan. Flemingstori. St. Athan. Fonmon Castle. Barry Isle. Scilly Isle. Michaelston Le Pit. Landough. Wenvoe. Ely Bridge. White House „ Bridge. Cardiff 181 CHAPTER VI. Roath. Ceven Mable. Ruperrah. Caerphilly Castle.. 224 v VI CONTENTS. CHAPTER VII. Energlyn. Eglwysilan. Lanbradach. Lanvabon. Ceven Hengoed. Gellygare. Quakers Yard. Aberdare. Hir- waen Furnace. Merthyr Tydvil. Penderyn. Cyfarthfa Works. Dowlais Iron Works. Gelly Vallog. Llwyn y Pia. Ystradyvodwg. Llyn Vawr. Pont Neath Ve- chan 249 CHAPTER VIII. Brecknockshire . 304 CHAPTER IX. Ystradvelltau. Mountdenny. Ponty Stickylh. Chapel Glyncolwyn. Stone Bridge. Cantrev. St. David's. Brecknock. The Priory 320 CHAPTER X. Aberisker Court. Lanspyddid. Penpont. Abercamlas. Devynnock. Trecastle. Llywel. Head of the Usk River. Chapel Collwyn. Tywyn. Cribarth Lime Rock. Henneuadd. Lanvihangel Talyllyn. Langors., Llynsy- vaddon. Talyllyn House. Langasty. Tal y llyn. Lan- santfred. Bwlch. Pentiegare. Pontprenhurst. Glanusk. Langadock Place. Dany Park. Crickhowel 347 CHAPTER XI. Gwem Vale. Llan Dair. Tretower Ruins. St. Michael Cwm Du. Castle Dinas. Trevccca. Tredwstan. Bru- inllys Castle. Talgarth. Hay 370 CHAPTER XII. Aberllyvenni. Three Cocks. Langoed Castle. Landevailog. Lanvihangel Vcchan. Castle Madoc. Chapel Langynog. Skynog Wood. Llan Dewi 'r Cwm. Bu'allt 393 CONTENTS. Vll CHAPTER XIII. Radnorshire!. .. 1 ~. .. .• 407 CHAPTFR XIV. Clyro. Llowes. Glasbury Bridge Mjeslough. Pough- rood. The Skreen. l.andilo?iab;m. Llyn I anbvchllyn. AV>eiedwy Castle. Cregrjna. Colwyff < astle. Llyn La- nillyn, a large pool. , Harpion New Radnor. Lanvi hangel Nant M' Ion. Landegles. Faldap. Perivbont. Lad- drindod Wt-lls. Cevenllees. Lanbadarn Vawr. Nant- mel. Abby Cwm Hir. Lanelweth House Ithon Bridge. Llwyn y Barried. Rhayader. - Cwm E!nin, Llyn Gwyn , , 423 CONTENTS OF VOL. II. CHAPTER XV. Cardiganshire Page 1 CHAPTER XVI. Head of the Ystwith River. Plinlimon Mountain. Head of the Severn. Head of the Wye River. Head of the Rydol River. Cwm Ystwith. Pentre Briwnant Inn. Havod. Maen Arthur. Devil's Bridge. Havod Arms. Yspitty Kenwyn. Pont Erwidd. Fronfraith House. Lanbadarn Vawr. Eskynallt. Piccadilly. Aberystwith Castle. . 43 CHAPTER XVII. Nanteos. Crosswood Park. Lanavan. Lanwnws. Ystrad Meiric. Pont Rhydvendigaid. Ystrad Fflur Abbey in ruins. LlynTivy. Tregaron 118 CHAPTER XVIII. Cwm Verwin. Rescob Forest. Pont Lanio. Llan Dewi Brefi. Millfield. Kellan. Lanbeder 134 CHAPTER XIX. Pontynen. Lanwnnen. Lanvaughan. Lanwenog. Rhy- dowen. Alltyr Odyn. Landyssul. Lanerchaeron Castle. Ga^engyr. -Tavern Spite. Llan Rhystyd. Lansantfred. Lannon. Morva. Llan Dewi Aberarth. Aberaeron. Lanarth. Landysilio Gogo. Rhydfechan. Synod Fynon Dewi. Tavernscour. New Inn. Pwllglas. Castle Yndalig. Blaenporth, Kerry Bridge. Newcastle in Emlyn 146 CONTENTS. J-C CHAPTER XX. Bken y Pant. Pont Llechryd. Langoedmor. Cardigan. 165 CHAPTER XXI. Pembrokeshire 177 CHAPTER XXII. St. Dogmael's Priory. Kilgerran Castle.. 203 CHAPTER XXIII. Kenarth. Trevithel. Nevern. VeKndre. Llwyn Gwair. Newport Castle 225 CHAPTER XXIV. Lariuchlwydog. PJcton Bridge. Lanychair Bridge. Fis- card. .' , 234 CHAPTER XXV. Manernawen. St. Catharine's. Mathrey. Gorid Bridge. St. Justinian's Chapel. Ramsey. The Bishop and Clerks. St. David's Head 243 CHAPTER XXVI. Caervai. Solva. Pen Dinas. Newgill Bridge and Sands. Roch Castle. Nolton Haven. Yrecoyd. Pelkam Bridge. Bridell. Eglwyswrw. PontCynon. Pont Seison. Hendre Gate. Font Lanbifan. Tavarn y Vach. Percily Moun- ' tain. New Innr Cwm Kerwyn ¦Hill. Scole's Cross. Krogall. Pendegrast. Haverford West 281 CHAPTER XXVII. Merlin's Bridge, dinnamon Grove. Bolton Hall. , Johnston. Robertson, HalK Hubbefston Priory. Hakin. Milford Haven ( , , 299 Tot. x. b X CONTENTS. CHAPTER XXVIII. Picfon Castle. Slebitch. High Tor Wood. Cresselly. Carew. Pembroke 312 CHAPTER XXIX. St.Twinell's. Castle Martin. The Castles. Pulslater Bay. Bosheston Meei. Sir Gawaine's Chapel and Head. Stack- pole Court. Fresh Water East. Manorbeer. Lamphey Park. Tenby ; . . . . 376 CHAPTER XXX. Caermarthenshire 396 CHAPTER XXXI. New Inn. Pendine. Llaugharne. Landowror. Whit- land 40$ CHAPTER XXXII. Llan Stephan Castle. Caermarthen 417 CHAPTER XXXIII. Kidwelly. Spudder Bridge. Penbre Hill. Lanelly. Daven Bridge. Cb.apel Dewy. Langranach. Pont ar Dulas. Landebie. Carreg Cennen Castle 433 CHAPTER XXXIV. Abergwili Palace. Allt y Gog. Cothy Bridge. Cross Inn. Court Henry. Rhiw'r Adar. Golden Grove. Newton Park. Dinevowr Castle. Landilo Vawr 443 CHAPTER XXXV. ' Gurry. Taljiarris Park. Talley. Edwinsford. Lansawel. Cynwyl Gaeo. Landovery. Ystrad Ffin. Pont Ve- hndre 46s CONTENTS. XI CHAPTER XXXVI. GLAMORGANSHIRE. Swansea. Sketty Park. Lower Sketty. Oystermouth Castle. Thistle Boon. Caswell Bay. Pool dy Point. Penarth. Perimaen. King Arthur's Stone. Peniice Castle. Ox- wich Castle. Port Inon Point. Rosilly Bay. Worms Head. Langenith. Lanmadoc. Cheriton. Penclawdd. Lloughor. Gellihir 477 CHAPTER XXXVII. Kilvay Hill. Morriston. Clasemont. Wern Llwynhwith. Penllegare. Crumlljn. Ynys y Gerwyn. Melin Court. Gnoll Castle. Neath '..... 499 CHAPTER XXXVIII. Briton Ferry. Eagles Bush. Baglan Hall. Aberavon. Lan- gonoyd. Ty'n y Caeau House. Margam Park. Pyle Inn. Kenfig Pool. Newton. Merihyr Mawr. Tythegstone. Laleston. Eridgend. Coycburch. Linharan.1 New castle. Coity. Langeinor. Ewenny. Dunraven. Mare- cross. St Donatts. Lantwit Major. Lanmaes. Lanvi- Landough. Lanblethinn. . : 509 SOUTH WALES. i ' CHAP. L INTRODUCTION. I he antiquities of Wales, with the history of its kings and princes, are involved in much ob scurity. I am assured by my friends, learned in the language and written documents of their nation, that the incredible accounts which we have received of their fabulous princes and magicians are not to be found in the writings of the old Welsh bards. I do not know that the cause of truth has much to dread from an alliance with the romance of early times; or that opinions and manners may not be illustrated, in the same proportion as facts are obscured by the tales of traditionary superstition. But if it be true that these wondrous stories are re mote from the character of their supposed authors, who are able to abide a severe and perilous test, it becomes necessary to separate, as far as may be, real transactions, which cart be traced to history, from the ornamental fictions of the poet, or the credulous narrative of the monkish antiquary. vol. i. '. » 7"~ & INTRODUCT1UJN. Selden, who, "being not very prodigal of his historical faith, in passages of first inhabi tants, name, state, and monarchic succession' in this isle, after explanation, oft adventures on examination and censure," has given a chronology of the kings and'princes of Wales, from Arthur, until the end of the British blood in them; prefixing the following caution: " I will not justify the times of this Arthur, nor the rest, before Cadwallader; so discord ing are our chronologers : nor had I time to examine, nor think that any man hath sufficient means to rectify them." Ambrosius Aurelianus and king Arthur were the only British chiefs who were able to make a formidable opposition against the Saxons. The former of these princes, descended from a. noble family at Rome, was the son of Hono- rius, supposed to have been put to death by Vortigern ; on whose election to the command of the British forces, a powerful party declared in favour of the young prince. The object of this unsuccessful attempt, fearing the revenge ful disposition of the new monarch, retired to the court of his relation Aldroen, king ofArm'o- rica. There he remained till the British power* had been defeated in several battles, in conse^. quence of dissensions which arose between thet. foreign settlers and Vortigern, notwithstand ing the obligations of the former to that king. The natives, reduced to great distress by the INTRODUCTION. S ravages of Hengist, applied for assistance to the king of Armorica, who sent them a rein forcement of troops under the command of Ambrosiiis. For several years the bravery of this prince enabled him to oppose not only the Saxons, but Vortigern and his son Vortimer, who, instead of uniting with him to drive out their mutual enemies, formed a party for the purpose of frustrating all his designs. But it happened that Rowena was induced by Hengist to poison her son-in-law Vortimer, after which the British adherents of Vortigern were traitorously slain under colour of a friendly treaty, and the king himself was kept a pri soner. Then Ambrosiiis became the sole mo narch of Britain, and assumed the imperial purple after the manner of the Roman empe rors. He continued his opposition to the Saxons through the whole course of his life, and obtained many victories, though without preventing the gradual increase of their power. It.is said that some thirty years after the trea cherous murder of the British worthies, king Ambrose raised the first wonder of this land as a monument in honour of their name. The people were for a long time persuaded that th* stones were first hrought out of Africa by giants, who came thence to inhabit Ireland; and Geoffrey of Monmouth gives us to under* stand, that they were medicinal. "Non est ibi lapis qui medicamento caret." s 2 4 INTRODUCTION. After the death of Ambrosius, Uther suc ceeded. This prince formed an alliance with the Scots and Picts^ by the marriage of his daughter to the king of the latter nation. This triple confederacy was the occasion of several victories over the Saxons; and the name of Uther began to be formidable through out all Britain. He would indeed have been to be numbered among the greatest princes of- liis age, had his private virtues corresponded with the fame and importance of his public ex ploits. But Geoffrey of Monmouth informs us, that Uther Pendragon, so called from a golden helmet, with a dragon for the crest, worn by him and his son Arthur king of England, fell in love with Igerne, or Jogerne, the wife' of Gorlois, prince of Cornwall, eminent among the Britons fortius valour and his power. In the absence of Gorlois, Merlin, by his magic, transformed Uther into the likeness of Jordan, a familiar friend of Gorlois, _ himself assuming the figure of one Bricel; by means of which artifice Uther enjoyed Igerne, and begot king Arthur. This story comes from a notorious vender of the marvellous: but common sense - must deny Merlin to have been a conjurer, and the nationality of his countrymen writ take fire, if without the strongest evidence we ,»et him down for a pimp. It appears that this intrigue took place before the succession of Uther to the crown ;, on whicV event, and th& INTRODUCTION. 5 -death of his wife, he slew Gorlois in a precon certed quarrel, married Igerne,, and acknow ledged Arthur for his son. It was probably to throw a veil over the loose character of his new household, that the fable of Jupiter and Alcmena was applied with a change of cir cumstance to this event ; yet if such was its purpose, we must suppose Uther to have heen represented as changed into the simili tude, not of Jordan, but .of Gorlois ; since the assumption of any other form would have left Igerne as much as ever exposed to the moral reproach of her adultery. The existence of Arthur has been doubted by Milton, and some other historians. — But that he reigned after Uther Pendragon, and performed many martial deeds in defence of his country, is an historical fact, entitled to as much credit as the invasion of the Rpmans, or the settlement of the Saxons. Whatever sus picion may be attached to the story of his im mediate ancestors, there is every reason to be lieve that he was of royal extraction. Rapin says, that Arthur was- initiated in the art of war by his kinsman Ambrosius, at the early a?e of fourteen, and that he succeeded his fa- ther Gorlois in the petty kingdom of Danmo- nium, comprising the present counties of Corn- "wall and Devon. According to this chronology, differing widely from the opinion of most his torians, his reign commenced in the year 467, 6 INTRODUCTION. and he lived to the age of ninety. But the general accounts fix his birth in the year 501, just about the time of Ambrosius's death. The more effectually to check the growing power and devastations of the Saxons, Arthur, having already given the promise of his fu ture greatness, was chosen by the British no bles to the command of the army and the suc cession to the throne. At the age of eighteen he came to the crown, which was ineffectually challenged by the king of the Picts, in favour of his own children, on the ground of Arthur's bastardy. But the popularity of the young monarch soon induced king Lot to abandon the plea; and the league between the Scots, Picts, and Britons- was renewed. And now began that series of warlike exploits, which hjas been decorated with so many marvellous circum stances, as to bring their authenticity into the questionable predicament of romance. The monk of Malmesbury produces Arthur to his reader with the following eulogy, which suffi ciently evinces how entirely his history was known to have been overlaid with fable. — • " This is that Arthur of whom the Britons even on this day speak so idly: a man right worthy to have been celebrated by true story, not false tales, seeing it was he that long time upheld his declining country, and. even inspired martial coinage into his countrymen." And Selden wishes "that the poetical monks in cele- INTRODUCTION. 7 brat ion of Arthur, and other such worthies, had contained themselves w(ithin bounds of likelihood ; or else that some judges, propor tionate to those of the Grecian games (who always by public authority pulled down the statues erected, if they exceeded the symmetry of the victors) had given such exorbitant fic tions their1 desert." Thus Arthur his great story mourn'd, By too fond praise to fable turu'd: Mourn'd the companions of his toils, Mock'd with false glory and fantastic spoils, G. West's Institution of ihc Order of the Garter, Out of whose ancient race, that warlike Arthur sprong; Whose most renowned acts shall sounded be. as long As Britain's name is known ¦. which spread themselves so wide> As scarcely hath for fame left any roomth beside. Drayton's Poly-olbion, Song viii. His high character for generosity, prudence, and personal bravery, which procured him the suffrages of his countrymen, brought them in great numbers to his standard; and his suc cesses answered their most sanguine expecta tions. In order effectually to root out the evil, with which the island was afflicted, he antici pated the movements of the Saxons, and with the aid of his allies overthrew them in two general engagements. Without giving them time to breathe, he took London, the capital 8 INTRODUCTION. of the Saxon dominion, and reduced it to obe dience. He thence took the direction of York, and besieged the town; but a reinforce ment from Germany, added to their own num bers and military discipline, enabled the enemy to withstand all his efforts for a time. The next summer however gave him the city with out a struggle ; where he wintered, and re vived the ancient saturnalia, in the shape of Christmas, the bacchanalian celebration of which, and ether like festivals, has given room to our antiquaries as well as poets for characterizing the domestic manners of the time in glowing colours. As these festivi ties were nearly similar at all seasons, and on all occasions, whether sacred or profane, I shall subjoin the following passage from Selden, where he attempts to account for the origin of the round-table, and of the customs connected with the institution of solemn holydays : lt At Caer-leon in Monmouth, after his vic tories, a pompous celebration was at Whitson- tide, whither were invited divers king's and princes of the neighbouring coasts ; he, with them, and his queen Guinever, with the ladies, keeping those solemnities in their several con claves. For so the British story makes it ac cording to the Trojan custom, that, in festival solemnities, both sexes should not sit together. Of the Trojans I remember no warrant for it; INTRODUCTION. 9 but among the Greeks one Sphyromachus first instituted it. Tournaments and justs were their exercises; nor vouchsafed any lady to bestow her favour on him, which had not been thrice crowned with fame of,martial perform ance. For this order (which herein is deline ated) know, that the old Gauls (whose cus toms and the British were near the same) had their orbicular tahles to avoid controversy of precedency (a form much commended by a late writer for the like distance of all from the salt; being centre, first, and last, of the furni ture), and at them every knight attended by his esquire (o tzMfpofivrtc, Athensus calls them),, holding his shield. Of the like in Henry III. Matthew Paris, of Mortimer's at Kelingworth, under Edward I. and that of Windsor, cele brated by Edward III. Walsingham speaks. Of the Arthurian our ' histories have scarce mention. But Havillan's Architrenius, Robert of Glocester, John Lidgat, monk of Bury, and English rhimes in divers hands, sing it. It is remembered by Leland, Camden, Volateran, Philip of Bergomo, Lily, Aubert Miree, and others, but very diversely. White of "Basing stoke defends it, and imagines the original from an election by Arthur and Howel kings of Armorique Britain, of six of each of their worthiest peers to be always assistant in counsel." u ' n 10 INTRODUCTION. We are told also that " Camilot was the an cient palace of king Arthur, to which place all the knights of the famous order yearly re paired at Pentecost, according to the law of the table: and most of the famous home-born knights were of that country, as to this day is perceived by their ancient monuments." Stow speaks of a silver horse-shoe dug up there among Roman coins, and other works of an tiquity: and Leland exclaims, '" quot hie pro- fundisBimamm fossarum ? quot hie egesta; terras valla? quae demum pra?cipitia? atque ut paucis finiam videtur mini quidem esse et arti3 et na turae miracuium." On the appearance of the Saxons, in the fol lowing spring, the effects of these carousals were" visible in the relaxed discipline of the British army: but the arrival of his nephews, Mordred and Gawaine, with the auxiliaries, enabled him to expel the Suxons from all but tbj eastern part of England and Kent, and to substitute the rites of Christianity for those of paganism in the conquered countries. In the summer - of the following year, he resolved to confine his enemies within narrower bounds. For this purpose he added to his own an armv of Scots under the banner of Cong;;llus, and another of Picts, commanded by Mordred the son of Lot. While they were encamped separately/ the Saxons took the Picts by surprize in the INTRODUCTION. If night-time, and Mordred wais obliged, after ait obstinate resistance, to take refuge with Ar thur, who nothing dismayed at the defeat or his allies, bore down upon the Saxons with unexpected rapidity and irresistible force, avenging their attack by a signal and bloody defeat. The arms of this prince are said, by the English writers, to have been crowned with victory in twelve pitched battles, before the Saxons were sufficiently weakened to agree on terms of peace. But it appears, by his yield ing up the counties now named Somerset and Southampton, that his fortune was not always without reverse; and these concessions left his enemies such a footing in Britain, as gave them an easy opportunity of increasing their dominions, and ultimately recovering all which they had lost. Yet he did what man could do against opponents so fertile in resources, and his; name has ever been held in the highest veneration by the descendants of the ancient Britons. As soon as the tranquillity of his native country seemed in some measure restored^ Arthur passed over into France, leaving the administration of the government at home in his absence to his kinsman Mordred. It is in his expeditions to the continent, therefore, that the origin of those fabulous histories must be sought, which belong to nothing of Wales IS INTRODUCTION. except Geoffrey Of Monmouth, but are to be ascribed .entirely to the, Saxon, Norman, French, Provenqal, _and Italian romancers. They indeed extol him as the greatest king that ever lived: as so renowned a warrior, that he slew with his own hand four hundred and sixty men in battle, and added other king doms to his own. Drayton, whose Poly-olbion, though it may scarcely be refined enough to stand the test of modern 6riticism, continues to be held in esteem by the admirers of the old poetic personification, thus celebrates Arthur, where the Briton and English rivers -contend for Lundy: " As first, t' affront the foe, in th' ancient Britons right, With Arthur they begin, their most renowned knight; The richness of the arms their well-made worthy wore, The temper of his sword (the try'd Escalabour) The bigness and the length of Rone, his noble spear : With Pridwin his great shield, and what the proof could bear; His baudrick bow adorned with stones of wond'rous price, The sacred Virgin's shape he bore for his device: These monuments of worth, the ancient Britons sonar. Now, doubting lest these things might hold them but too long. His wars they took to task; the land then overlaid With those proud German pow'rs; when, calling to his aid His kinsman, Howel, brought from Britany the less, Their armies they unite, both swearing to suppress The Saxon, here that fought through conquest all to gain. On whom he chanc'd to light at Lincoln; where the plain,' lach-where from side to side lay scatter'd wtth the dead. INTRODUCTION. \$ Then bravely set they forth, in combat how these knight* On horseback and on foot perform'd their several fights; As with what marv'lons force each other they assail'd. How migh'ty Flollio first, how Arthur then prevail'd; For best advantage how they traversed their grounds, The horrid blows they lent, the world-amazing wounds, Until the tribune, tir'd, sank under Arthur's sword. Then told they, how himself great Arthur did advance, To meet (with his allies) that puissant force in France, By Lucius thither led ; those armies met while ere , Affrighted all the world, by him struck dead with fear: Th' report of his great acts that over Europe ran, In that most famous field he with the Emperor wan : As how great. Rython's self he slew in his repair, Who ravished Howel's niece, young Hellena the fair; And for a trophy brought the giant's coat away, Made of the beards of kings. Then bravely chaunted they The seyeral twelve pitch'd fields he with the Saxons fought : The certain day and place to memory they brought. We find the exploits of Arthur and his com panions incidentally mentioned ,in the fourth book of the Orlando Furioso ; a soil from which Spencer has transplanted many of his most ro mantic and improbable tales. I shall tran scribe the passage from the spirited and ele gant translation of theJate Mr. Hoole. |tinaldo that, and all th' ensuing day, Was driven by tempests o'er the watery way : From morn till eve the wind unceasing blew : Now to the west, and now the north they drew; At last upon the shore of Scotland light, yv'.here Caledonia'-s forest rose to sight, 14? INTRODUCTION. That midst its ancient oaks was wont to hear The. riven target, and the shiver'd spear : Here once were seen, beneath these shades rever'd, Each errant-knight in Britain's combats fear'd : From regions far and near, well known to fame. From Norwa) , Germany, and Gallia came Each gallant chief, who nobly scorn'd his life, Where death or conquest crown'd the glorious strife ! Here Tristram mighty deeds perform'd of old, Galasso, Launcelot, and Arthur bold, Galvano brave ; with more that titles drew Both from the ancient table, and the new ; Knights, who have left to speak their valiant mind, More than one trophy of their worth behind. But before we trace^this hero through the re gions of foreign romance, it will be proper to pur- suehisreal history as far as our slender materials will allow. During his absence in France, the course of events at home was preparing a most destructive war for Britain. There was in the train of Arthur, a young man named Constan tine, the son of Cador, whose personal qualities rendered him a great favourite with the people. The king on his return was urged to name a successor, in case of his dying without issue. Mordred was mentioned on the ground of affinity, with the additional recommendation of his having already discharged the duties of the vice-royalty. But the multitude refused to accept of a foreigner, and Arthur had the prudence to adopt Constantine with a good grace, in compliance with their wishes. This INTRODUCTION. 1$ \ settlement was contrary to a previous agree-; ment with Lot in favour of his children, and, could not fail to alienate the affections of Mordred and his friends, who levied an army of Picts and Scots, increased in their numbers by a party from among the Britons. The disaffection extended even into Arthur's own household, in which he was particularly unfor tunate. His first wife was carried off by Melvas, king of Somerset, but Arthur finding out her retreat, and advancing with an army to invest the fortress in which she was detained, the lady was restored. His second wife ap peared to have been buried at Glastonbury, where Arthur was himself interred. The third was instrumental to his death, by listening to . the seductions of Mordred, who openly brought forward his pretensions to the throne. No sooner was this afflicting intelligence con veyed to Arthur, than he relinquished his new- made conquests, and marched back in haste to guard against a blow so fatal to his peace. He found his ungenerous kinsman prepared to defend his usurpation, of which he was not dispossessed till after several contests. At length in a battle fought near Camlan, now Camelford, in Cornwall, in the year 542, he slew his traitorous nephew with his own hand, but received his mortal wound at the same iiastaut, Gawaine, who had been the faithful 16* INTRODUCTION. companion of Arthur through the vicissitudes of his life, did not desert him at the close, but died in the ranks of opposition to his brother. Now Thetis stays to hear the shepherds tell, How Arthur met his death and Mordred fell. Bhown's Britannia's Pastorals. Arthur's principal opponents were Occa and Cerdick, the most famous of the Saxon gene rals after Hengist. Cerdick, who was lineally descended from Woden/ having acquired a high reputation in Germany, and finding there no room for further conquests, resolved to seek his fortune in Britain, where he knew many of his own nation already to have established themselves. With this view he equipped five vessels, and landed at Yarmouth with a considerable force, soon after the death of Hengist. Though often defeated by king Arthur, he maintained his ground, and became famous for founding the kingdom of Wessex, to which all the others were at length united. The royal family of England descending from him as its head, continued uninterrupted in the male line to Edward the Confessor. In the female, it has been extended to the present time. The old Welsh bards are said to have had a strange tradition, which became the common belief of the nation, that Arthur was hot dead, INTRODUCTION. 17 but would return after a time, and reign in as great authority as ever. This romantic tale, which relates to Morgan le Fay, did not originate from these native sources. Even Geoffrey of Monmouth contents himself with telling us, that Arthur was taken after the battle to the Isle of Avalon, to be cured of his wounds, and that beyond this we have no further account of Arthur. Lidgate does indeed mention it in the following lines. My prophesy Merlin set the date, Among princes king incomparable, His seat againe to Carolin to translate, The Parchas sustren sponne so his fate, His epitaph recordeth so certaine, Here lieth K. Arthur that shall raigne againe. The last line has been thus quaintly turned in Latin : / Hie jacet Arthurus rex quondam rexque futurus. Arthur's grave was afterwards discovered in Avalon, or Glastonbury. The fact seems to me to have been clear enough. It was deemed politic to conceal the death of this great mili tary commander, that the Saxons, who had good reason for being afraid of him, should believe him to be still alive. It is very pos sible that those heathenish worshippers of Woden, believers in the Scandinavian super stition, might have been induced to think that VOL. I. c 18 INTRODUCTION. Arthur was still living in fairy land,. Valhalla, or any other place, ^ accredited by barbarian credulity. The story might have been pro pagated by them for ages, and have passed over into France, to be taken up by the Norman or old French Troveres, the Provencal Trouba dours, and the romancers of Bretagne, who, as we are informed from the best authorities, led the way in the wilds of romance. It is remarkable that a similar story prevailed among the Bur- gundians, respecting one of their dukes, and that a report was current in Scotland for many years, of king James the Fourth having been seen to eross the Tweed after the battle of Flouden. It was supposed that he was gone to perform a vow of pilgrimage to Jerusalem, and wouldsoon return to his kingdom. Ariosto has borrowed his tale of the en chanted cup, from 'the romance of Morte Arthur. This cup, with many more fictions of the same kind, relates to Arthur's fairy lady. The following passage is in the words of Caxton's translation. "By the way they met with a knight, that was sent by Morgan le Fay to king Arthur; and this knight had a • fair horn all garnished with gold, and the horn had such a virtue, that there might no lady or gentlewoman drink of that horn, but if she were true to her husband; and if she were false, she should spill all the drink, and if she , INTRODUCTION. 19 were true unto her lord, she might drink peaceably." The story relates a variety of experiments, with their several success. Fon taine has exercised his admirable genius in new-modelling this story: See La Coupe En- chaht.ee. Morte Arthur seems to be compiled chiefly from the Roman de Tristan. The adventures are in the true spirit of romance, and are often adopted by Ariosto, as in the fiction of Rodomont's Bridge, which resembles Sir Launbelot's encounter with a churl, who defended a passage over a river: " On the third day he rode over a 'great long bridge, and there started upon him suddenly a passing 'foul churl, and he smote his horse on the nose, that he turned about, and asked him why he rode over that bridge without his license? and lie struck at him with a mighty great club full of pins of iron. Then Sir Launcelot drew his sword, and put the stroke back, and clove his head unto the navel." Part I. c. 3. There is also a very silly romance, named, The History of Prince Arthur, and his Knights of the Roundf^Table, which deals in the same kind of adventure: but it is ennobled by a resem blance in many of its circumstances, to simi lar disasters in Spenser, Ariosto, and old Lidgate. There was a current tradition, that this prince was the first who established the order c % 20 INTRODUCTION. of the Round Table, with so many famous knights: but we are informed, in the Reliques of Ancient Poetry, that the round table was not peculiar to the reign of king Arthur, but was common in all the ages of chivalry. Any king was said to " hold a round table," when he proclaimed a tournament, attended with some peculiar solemnities. Thus Alfred, while the example was recent, conferred the honour of knighthood upon some of his military commanders. Malmesbury gives a particular account of the solemn manner in which he knighted his grandson Athelstan, the eldest son of Edward his successor, giving him a scarlet coat, a belt set with precious stones, and a Saxon sword in a gold scabbard. Dray ton, in his England's Heroical Epistles, gives the following account of its revival, without ' allowing it to have been kept alive by the intermediate orders. My grandsire was the first since Arthur's reign, That! the round table rectify'd again j To whose great court at Kenelworth did come The peerless knighthood of all Christendome, i Who^e princely order honour'd England more, Than all the conquests she achiev'd before. Robert Mortimer, called the great lord Mortimer, grandfather to this Roger, who was afterward the first earl of March, erected 6 INTRODUCTION. 21 again the round table at Ken el worth, after the ancient order of king Arthur's table, with the retinue of an hundred knights, and an hundred lafdies in his house, for the enter taining bf such adventurers as came, thither from all parts of Christendom. The same poet, in the legend of Pierce Gaveston, com memorates its removal into France, which seems naturally enough to connect the sub sequent engraftments of the continental ro mancers with the original British legend. And into France they charg'd me to convey A goodly table of pure massy gold, A relique.kept in Windsor many a day, Which to King Arthur did belong of old, Upon whose margent, as they did surmise, There were engraven Merlin's prophecies. This subject has been elegantly treated by Gilbert West, in his Institution of the Order of the Garter. Begin : the list'ning echoes round, Shall catch with joy the long-forgotten sound, ' And warbling through each grove the British strain To Windsor's smiling nymphs, recal their Arthur's reign. Ye nymphs of Windsor's bow'ry woods, Ye powr's who haunt yon glist'ning floods, That with reluctant fond delay Around yon flow'ry valley stray j Say, from your minds hath time eras' d. The pleasing images of glory pass'd ? Review ye now those scenes no more ? When, nobly stain 'd with Saxon gore, %% INTRODUCTION. From Badpn's long-contended plain, ^ ' Great Arthur with his martial train To Windsor's chosen shades repair'd, And with his knights the festive banquet shar'd. Then too, in feastful hall or bowr, Attendant on the genial hour, The British harp sweet lyrist strung, And Albion's generous victors sung : While valiant Arthur's copious fame Incessantfed the bright poetic flame. The history of Arthur, with respect to the Italian and Saxon allegories, stands on a similar foundation with that of Agamemnon, Ulysses, or* JEneas; Orlando, Rinaldo, or Godfredo : nor need we be fastidious in reject ing the fictions, by which a Spenser has deco rated his annals, degraded as they .have been into tales of the nursery, while we dwell with delight on the licensed, and even consecrated, fables of Homer, Virgil, Ariosto, or Tasso. In fact, we find in the romances a strange mixture of all ages and all nations ; for it may be considered as more than conjecture, that Palomides, a knight of the Round Table, the unsuccessful rival of Tristan, for the love of la Belle Isoude, in Morte Arthur, was no other than Palamedes,, the son of Nauplius, one of the Grecian commanders at the war of Troy. Spenser, indeed, professes to have coloured his allegory with an historical fiction " in the person of Arthur, whom he conceives, after his long education by Timpn, to whom INTRODUCTION. 23 foe ir&s by Merlin delivered to be brought up, so soon as he was borne of the lady Igrayne, to have seene in a dream or vision the Faery Queene, with whose excellent beauty ravished, he awaking resolved to seeke her out ; and so being by Merlin armed, and by Timon throughly instructed, he went to seeke her forth in Faery Land." Spenser, 'who is more poetically select than Drayton in his choice of circumstances^ but enlarges more diffusely on those he adopts, describes Prince Arthur's shield, which is barely mentioned by the latter, with much fancy and magnificence. The passage occurs after the captivity of the red-cross knight by the giant, when the prince meets Una in her distress* On this shield was engraved' the effigies of the Virgin Mary. His haughty helmet, horrid all with gold, Both glorious brightness and great terror bred, For all the crest a dragon did enfold With greedy paws. B. i. e. 7. He bore besides a lance of uncommon size and weight, with which some of the romances tell us that he slew his son Mordites; who had rebelled against him, and lay in ambush to assassinate him. Hence Dante says, Con ess'un cOlpb per Iff man- d'Artu. With this a blow from Arthur's hand— 24 INTRODUCTION. Thus it is said of Sir Lionel, in la Mort d'Arthure: Sir Lionel he gonne to tene, And hastily he made him bowne; To Launcelotte with herte kene He rode with helme and sword browne. In the inventory of Arthur's personal pro perty, of a species, indeed, which has gone out of fashion in these latter days, Spenser has presented him with a horn of wonderful effects, which his squire sounds, on their arrival at the castle-gate, whither he is brought by Una to deliver the red-cross knight from the giant Orgolio : but this fiction seems merely to have been copied from Ariosto, and neither to have been authorized by native legends, nor in vented by native ingenuity. After having destroyed the giant, Arthur exercises his prowess^ on the beast, and exposes the treache rous Duessa in her true colours ; after which, according to the custom of knighthood, he recounts his descent and education. low in a valley greene Under the foot of Rauran mossy hore, From whence the river Dee as silver cleene, His tombling billows rolls with gentle rore : There all my daies he train'd me up in' virtuous lore. Thether the great magician Merlin came, , As was his use, oft-times to visit mee ; For he had charge my discipline to frame, And tutor's nourriture to oversee, INTRODUCTION. 25 Well worthy Impe, said then the lady gent, And pupil fit for such a tutor's hand; But what adventure, or what high intent, Hath brought you nether into Fary Land? Aread Prince Arthur, crowne of martialle band. Full hard it is, quoth he, to read aright, The course of heavenly cause, or understand The secret meaning of th' eternall might, That rules men's waies, and rules the thoughts of living - wiglit. He then recounts the manner in which he became enamoured of the Fairy Queen, after which the knights pledge their mutual friend ship, and exchange presents. s Prince Arthur gave a box of diamond sure, Embowed with gold and gorgeous ornament, Wherein were clos'dfew drops of liquor pure, Of wond'rous worth, and vertue excellent. That any wownd could heale incontinent.— Thus been they parted ; Arthur on his way To seeke his love, and th' other for to fight With Unaes foe that all her realme did pray. The canto concludes with the flight of Sir Trevian from despair, and the example of superior firmness in the subordinate hero of , the first book. In the second book, Arthur is introduced to rescue Sir Guyon from the hands of Pyrochles and Cymochles, who had taken him at an unfair advantage. But they did not long enjoy their superiority. 26 INTRODUCTION. ¦ Rise, rise by live, And unto batteil do yourselves addresse j For yonder comes the prowest knight alive, Prince Arthur ! flbwre of grace and nobilesse, That hath to paynim knights wrought great distress, And thousand Sar'zins fowly donne to dye. This word so deepe did in their harts impresse, That both eftsoones upstarted furiously, And gan themselves prepare to batteill greedily. The prowess of the hero is powerfully -illus trated in the following similies. As salvage bull, when two tiers masfives bayt, When rancour doth with rage him once engore Forgets with wary ward them to awayt, But with his dreadful homes them drives afore, Or flings aloft, or treades downe in the flore, Breathing out wrath, and bellowing disdaine, That all the forest quakes to hearliim rore: So rag'd Prince Arthur 'twixt his foemen twaine, That neither could his mighty puissaunce sustainc. As when a windy tempest bloweth hye, That nothing may withstand his stormy stowre, The clowdes, as things afrayd, before him flye 5 But all so soone as his outrageous powre Is layd, they fiercely then begin to showre, And as in scorne of his spent stormy spight,, Now all at once their malice forth do poure ; So did Prince Arthur beare himselfe in fight, And suffred rash Pyrochleswastehis ydle might. Warton remarks, in his observations on Spenser, that " the difficulty which prince INTRODUCTION. 27 Arthur finds in killing Maleger, seems to be copied from the encounter of Gryphon and Aquilant, in the Orlando Furioso, with Orilo ; who, like Maleger, receives no injury from all the wounds that are given him ; and the circumstances by which Maleger's death is effected, partake . much of the fantastic ex travagance of those by which Orilo is at last killed." In the third book, we find Arthur engaged in an unsuccessful pursuit of Florimell. But well I weene ye first desire to learne What end unto that feareful damozell (Whjch. fled so fast from that same foster stearne, Whom with his brethren Timias slew) befell : That was, to weet, the goodly Florimell, f Who wand'ring for to seeke her lover deare, Her lover deare, her dearest Marinell, Into misfortune fell, as ye didheare, An4 fiW Prinpe Arthur fled, with wings of idle feare. In the mean while, Britomart had encountered and overthrown Marinell. The adventure of Timias, whom Belphgebe found almost dead of his wounds, and restored by her skill, is particularly interesting. I doubt whether there is any character in the poem more delicately touched than that of.Belphsbe. Her jealousy of the squire is described with equal poetry and pathos. The story is resumed in the fourth book, 28 ' INTRODUCTION. For on a day, by fortune as it fell, His own deare lord, Prince Arthur came that way, Seeking adventures where he mote heare tell ; And as he through the wand'ring wood did stray, Having espide bis cabin far away, He to it drew, to weet whc there did wonne, Weening therein some holy hermit lay, That did resort of sinfull people shpnne. Or else some woodman shrowded there from scorching sunne. The personification of Sclaunder, Corflambo's chase of Placidas, and Arthur's conquest of the former, are among the most spirited parts of this book. The story goes on with the marriage of Parana to the Squire of Low Degree, after his release, Britomart's unequal combat with many knights, and Prince Arthur's interference. It is a singular, but perhaps not a very happy contrivance, by which the poet assigns a distinct subject and hero to each book, but makes his general hero the hinge on which each distinct adventure turns ; yet without giving him a sufficient interest in the event, to render him the first object of attention. Now after that Trince Arthur grannted had To yield strong succour to that gentle swayne, Who now long time had lyen in prison sad, He gan advise how best he mote derrayne That enterprize, for greatest glories gayne. In this case the character of the hero, which INTRODUCTION. QQ should always be prominent, is completely merged in the superior attraction of the nar rative. Yet we may console ourselves with the assurance, that though he dives in one book, we shall see his head above water in the next; for in the fifth book Prince Arthur and Sir Arthegal, the first earl, of Warwick, and one of the knights of the round table, after having delivered Samient, slay the Soldan, and afford a happy opportunity for that mixture of poetical description and moral emblem, which is the object of the poem, in the chai'acter of his allegorical wife Adicia. On such an occa sion as this, the champion disdains not to employ supernatural means, in opposition to mortal prowess. When engaged with the Soldan, he discovers his shield, which was always kept covered with a veil, in order to dazzle the eyes of the Soldan's horses. The next adventure of the combined heroes, Arthur and Arthegal, is with Guile, another allegorical personage, in whose capture that whimsical but grand and interesting character, Talus, is concerned ; after which they visit the palace of Mercilla. The description of her state and residence is rich and lively. Prince Arthur next takes up the enterprize of fight ing for Belgee, in whose cause he slays the seneschall of Geryoneo. This evidently has a political reference. He then overcomes 30 INTRODUCTION. Gerioneo himself, kills the monster under the idol, by which popery is evidently figured, and restores Belgee to her right. This courtly adaptation of passing events to legendary fic tion is scarcely exceeded by the i-efined com pliments of Horace and Virgil to Augustus. In the sixth book we have the adventures, of Prince Arthur and his squire with the savage and Serena. Bout which whilest he was busied thus hard, Lo where, a knight, together with his squire, All arm'd to point, came ryding thetherward, Which seemed by their portance and attire To be two errant knights that did inquire After adventures where they mote them get 5 Those were to weet , (if that ye it require) Prince Arthur and young Timias, which met By straunge occasion, that here needs forth be set. The description of the hermit and his cell in the fifth canto, is highly picturesque. Disdain affords the next trophy to Prince Arthur. The adventure is thus ushered in : So as they forward on their way did pas, Him still reviling and afflicting sore, They met Prince Arthur, with Sir Lnias, (That was that courteous knight, whom he before Having. subdew'd, yet did to life restore) To whom as they approcht, they gan augment Their druelty, and him to punish more, Scourging and haling him more vehement, As if it them should grieve to see his punishment. INTRODUCTION. 31 The battle is well described; but the cha racter of Mirabell, who rejects her proffered deliverance, is scarcely worthy of such an avenger. Ah T nay, Sir knight, said she, it may not be> But that I needes must by all meanes fulfill This penaunce, which enjoyned is to me, Least unto me betide a greater ill : ' Yet no lesse thankes to- you for your good will. So humbly taking leave she turn'd aside ; But Arthur with the rest went onward still On his first quest, in which did him betide A great adventure, which did him from them devide. .y. And here, the poem being left unfinished, we take our leave of him. The variety and pleasing nature of the incidents, together with the admirable strain of the poetry, place this fragment amongst the boasts' of our language: but owing to the accumulation of characters inevery fresh book, mostof whom are continued on the scene after their legend is completed, it becomes a question whether the continuity of the work, for it can scarcely be said to possess any unity, was not in danger of being altogether broken in the further progress, and the thread of the story so entangled, as with difficulty to be traced. One of its most beautiful episodes is the delivery of Serena from the savages by Calepine. I shall make no apology for travelling out 32 INTRODUCTION. of my immediate subject, to comment, how ever superficially, on such a poet ; but it is at the same time necessary to point out very distinctly, that his materials are to be found any where, rather than in the country of his hero. The Welsh had indeed romances in^ their own language, of the twelfth and thir teenth centuries, but they "were all in prose. Arthur is a character in several, of them, yet I question whether the most ignorant ever conceived these stories, to be real history. One of their romances, or rather moral apologues, is entitled The Parables of Arthur and hi* Warriors. They are also called Mabinogion, which is in literal English Puerilities, and were professedly written for the instruction of youth. There are a number of other fables, all of them greatly resembling the fables of Pilpay. Wales has besides many mythological tales or allegories, which are chiefly founded on the Druidical mythology, and particularly on the doctrine of the Metempsychosis. A collection of these, translated into English, would be highly curious ; but they would bear a much, more near resemblance to the trans lated fables of Sir William Jones, than to the poetical romances, of modern Europe. Among them, there is the story of the Milk-white Cow, which supplied all the world with sweet milk,. till men, " lusting for flesh," (not to prophane Introduction. $$ a scripture term) made an attempt to kill and eat her ; but she vanished away, and has never since been seen in this world. Yet she left behind her, out of compassion to mankind, calves of an inferior species, whence are de rived all the several breeds of cows now on the earth. This mythological apologue is almost the counter part of the Hindoo tale respecting the cow Cunedoga. To things of this natnre the old bards frequently allude, not as historical characters or events, but as allegorical repre sentations of theological and moral principles or doctrines. With regard to history, their fancy is confined within much severer laws; and so scrupulously tied down to truth, that this circumstance derogates not a little from ,the merit of their poetry. Among the English poets, from the earliest to the present time, it has been the fashion to fix the scene of any merry or romantic tale among the bachelors of king Arthur's court. Chaucer goes back, " In olde dayes of the king: Artour," when he characterises the de- sires of women, in the Wif of Bathes Tale, and Dryden loses nothing of his wit or freedom in the revival. Jonson, in his Under- Woods, casts infinite ridicule on the Arthurs, and Merlin's marvels. Drummond, on the contrary, makes the name of Arthur the foundation of a high compliment to king James in a serious poem. D 3$ INTRODUCTION. But among all the accounts of the round' table, that travestied picture of its institution in Hudibras is the most whimsical. Arthur wore in hall Round table like a farlhingal, On which, with shirt pull'd out behind, And eke before, his good knights din'd; Though 'twas no table some suppose But a huge pair of round trunk hose, In which he carried as much meat As he and all the knights could eat, When laying by their swords and truncheons, They took their breakfasts or their luncheons. King, in his Art of Cookery, pursues the ridicule on the same scent but with less poig nancy. Dryden has made king Arthur the sub ject of an Opera, the incidents of which are extravagant, and many of them very puerile, but it contains several excellent songs, admi rably set by Purcell. Parnell lays the scene of as pretty a fairy tale as any in the English language, in Britain's isle, and Arthur's days ; and Mickle's Hengist and Mey is in the true spirit of the ancient ballad. Warton made a most miscellaneous use of this topic, in his various poems. But Arthur owes his most ponderous obligations to Blackmore, who bestowed ten heroic books on hjm as the prince, and twelve epic as the king. ThriGe Budgel^im'd to speak, but thrice supprest By potent Arthur, knocked his chin and breast. Introduction. $5 Without taking up the controversy of the Dunciad, the reader will at once recollect that Blackmore had for his opponents Dry den, who says that he " writ to the rumbling of his cha riot wheels," and Dennis, as well as Pope. Gildon was his champion, and he obtained the approbation of Locke and Watts. The face tious Mr. Thomas Brown has a whole collec tion of epigrams, poems, and satires,, on this fruitful subject. But it is time to return from this digression. Leland gives the prince of whom we are speaking a fleury sceptre for his seal, but without any warrant. What he professes to have seen is conjectured to have been the seal of Henry the Third ; but improbably, since in that case it must have been a sword and not a sceptre, as emblematical of William's conquest. The inscription calls him Patricius Arthurius, Britannicus, Gallicus, Germanicus, Dacicus, Imperator. The standard of king Arthur is thus mentioned by Robert of Gloucester — " he ys dragon yverd of gold." " When king Arthur had knowlechynge of Mordred's foul treason," and had paid the forfeit of his life, the bravest and most experienced warriors among the Britons but vainly strove to support their expiring freedom. The Saxons found means to enlarge their territories, till at length they became masters of the whole country. d 2 36 INTRODUCTION. Against the kings, who followed Arthur in immediate succession, Gildas prefers the most disgraceful charges ; charges which most mournfully contrast the character of their age with the splendid annals of their predeces sor, and urged with the more authority, as the accuser was himself a Briton, and the most ancient of our historians. The first of these was Constantine, the son of Cador, half-brother to Arthur by the mother's side, and his ap pointed successor; who is taxed in general with perjury and adultery, and in particular with the murder of Mordred's two sons, with their two governors, before the altar, and in their mother's presence. The motive for their , deaths seems to have been the security of the throne, but ill ensured in such turbulent times by the mere will of Arthur. The second was Aurelius Conan, whom he charges with- cruel ties worse than the former; with the murder of his nearest relations, and the indulgence of the most licentious passions; and Avishes him, being now left alone, like a tree withering in the midst of a barren field, to remember the vanity and arrogance of his father and elder brethren, all of whom came to an early and unnatural end. The third was Vortipor, reign ing in South Wales, the son of a good father, but himself a detestable tyrant, following the murderous example of his predecessors, and INTRODUCTION, 37 divorcing his wife, that he might gratify his passions without controul. The last was Malgo, the dragon of the isles; represented as stronger and greater, in arms and dominion, ,, than any other British potentate. His resi dence is supposed to have been in Anglesea, whence he derived his legendary appellation. His specific crimes were the murder of his uncle, to pave the way for himself to the throne ; after which, he put away his own wife, and betook himself to his nephew's consort, whom with her husband, after a short time, he caused to be put to death. The declamation of Gildas, on the subject of the atrocities com mitted in the foregoing reigns, is eloquent. They avenge, and they protect ; not the inno cent, but the guilty. They swear oft, but per jure; they wage war, but civil and unjust war. They punish rigorously them that rob by the highway; but those grand robbers that sit with them at table, they honour and reward. Yet there were characters of a different complexion even in these melancholy times. Owen ap Urien, who acted as his father's gene ral, and Cenau ap Coel, were in the number of Arthur's knights, Cenau led to the assistance of Urien, Reged, the forces of his father Coel Godhebog, king of a northern tract called Godden, probably inhabited by the Godini of Ptolemy. The account of the battle is to be found in Lewis's history of Britain, and it fur- 38 INTRODUCTION. nishecl Taliesin with the subject of a fine poem, of which William Whitehead has given a ver sion. I shall transcribe a passage, as a speci men of Taliesin, in elegant modern English,. Owen, of 'the mighty stroke, i Kindling as the hero, speke, Cenau, Coel's blooming heir, Caught the flame, and grasp'd the spear; Shall Coel's issue pledges give, To the insulting foe, and live! Never such be Briton's shame, Never, till this mangled frame Like some vanquish'd lion lie, Drench'd in blood, and bleeding die, Day advane'd : and ere the sun ,' Reach'd the radiant point of noon, Urien came with fresh supplies. The coincidence of historical narrative, with what is commonly called poetical justice, is ex emplified in the brief span of the tyrant Malgo's reign, which only lasted five years as chief monarch, though he had before enjoyed a subordinate principality. Nor can we easily reconcile it, that Gildas should have passed over so singular an instance of providential re tribution, on a culprit who had excited his ut~ most indignation; for he represents Malgo as having died without issue, and left his crown' to another: yet the fact seems to have been, that he had a son by the illicit connection before mentioned, and a daughter born in wed- INTRODUCTION. 3§i lock; but the esteem in which illegitimacy was held by the princes of Britain prevented the bastard from succeeding him in the moharchy, and the disadvantage of sex, at a time when the recovery of abridged rights was to be agi tated, excluded the daughter. The conse quence was, that the kingdom was conferred on Catheric. In this prince's reign, whose seat was in Glamorgan,- the Britons, though occasionally victorious over the Saxons, were ultimately compelled to retire into that part of the island which is now called Wales, and leave the several kingdoms of the heptarchy in pos session of the remaining district. It was pro bably, at this period that the people first ob tained the appellation of Welsh. Still, unfortunate as were the aboriginal in habitants, the difficulty of access secured the independence of their retreat, which afforded a ready asylum to the persecuted or disaffected subjects of the more prosperous powers. The court of Cadwan, in North Wales, is memor able for having given education as well as pro tection to the children of prince Edwin, who was thus enabled to escape the snares of his injurious brother-in-law, Ethelfred, and after many perils to gain the kingdom of Northum berland ; which, unlike the generality of his contemporaries, he governed on principles of policy and justice. Nor would he probably 40 INTRODUCTION. have been exposed to those dangers, which so frequently threatened his life, during the reign of Ethelfred, had he not been obliged, in con sequence of a quarrel between himself and Cadwallo, the eldest son and successor of Cad- wan, to abandon the territories of that prince. So formidable, indeed, continued to be the prowess of the British chieftains, that this pue rile altercation proved fatal in the end to Edwin. For Cadwallo, on his accession to diminished royalty, not having forgotten fhe resentments of his youth, entered into an al liance with Penda, king of Mercia, to revenge his defeat, and consequent flight into Ireland, during the reign of his father. His adherents, Avho accompanied him to Ireland, ' remained with him seven years, without making a»y claim for their services; hence they were de nominated, in the historical triades, one of the three faithful families of Britain; as the battle fought between Cadwallo and Edwin, which compelled the former to seek for safety in Ireland, is called, in the same triades, one of the three discolourings of the Severn. The result of the league with Penda was the inva sion of Northumberland, with the defeat and death of little less than the best and greatest in the list of Anglo-Saxon kings. In the year 634, Cadwallo killed two other Saxon princes; Osric, the cousin of Edwin, and Eanfred, the INTRODUCTION. 41 eldest son of Ethelfred: after which he ranged at will through their provinces, and ably sup ported a series of continued warfare, opposing all the resources of his genius agaiirt th^ esta blished power of the usurpers, but in the mo ment of success rioting over the calamities attendant on his conquest; till Oswald, the brother of Eanfred, assaulted and slew this formidable antagonist, with the defeat and de struction of his forces. Thus fell Cadwallo, the most powerful of the British princes since Arthur, a distinguished patron of the bards, and only withheld by the duties of his station from becoming a member of the order. And though his character is blackened with the imputation of cruelty, it is distinguished by a vigorous opposition to his Saxon rivals, and the hopes his valour held out to the Britons of recovering their country. With respect to Cadwallader, familiar as is the name, the British and Saxon chroniclers are at variance about the person. Selden has given the con troversy, with the authorities on both sides, without deciding the question; and in his hands I leave it. " Cadwallader driven to forsake this land, especially by reason of plague and famine tyrannizing among his subjects, joined with continual irruptions of the, English, retired himself into little Bretagne to his cousin Alan, 42 INTRODUCTION. there king; where in a dream he was admo- nisht by an angel (I justify it but by the story) that a period of the British empire was now come, and until time of Merlin's prophecy* given to king Arthur, his country or posterity should have no restitution; and farther, that he should take his journey to Rome, where, for a transitory, he might receive an eternal kingdom. Alan, upon report of this vision, compares it with the Eagle's prophecies, the Sibyl's verses, and Merlin; nor found he but all were concording in prediction of this ceas ing of the British monarchy. This Eagle (whose prophecies among the Britons, with the later of Merlin, have been of no less respect than those of Bacis were to the Greeks, or the Sybillines to the Romans) foretold of a re verting of the crown, after the Britons, Saxons, and Normans, to the first again, which in Henry the seventh, grand-child to Owen Tyddour, hath been observed, as fulfilled. Through Alan's advice, therefore, and a pre pared affection, Cadwallader takes his voyage to Rome, received of P. P. Sergius, with holy tincture, the name of Peter, and within very short time there died; his body very lately, under Pope Gregory the Xlllth, was found buried by St. Peter's tomb, where it yet re mains ; and White of Basingstoke says, he had ,a piece of his raiment of a chesnut colour, taken INTRODUCTION. 43 up (with the corps) uncorrupted; which he acqounts, as a Romish pupil, no slight miracle. It was added, among British traditions, that, When Cadwallader's bones were brought into this isle, then should'the posterity of their princes have restitution. Observing concur rence of time and difference of relation in the story of this prince, I know not well how to give myself or the reader satisfaction. In Monmouth, Robert of Glocester, Florilegus, and their followers, Cadwallader is made the son of Cadwallo, king of the Britons before him, but so, that he descended also from English-Saxon blood; his mother being daugh ter to Penda, king of Merckland. Our monks call him king of West^-Saxons, successor of Kentwine, and son to Kenbrith. And where Caradoc Lhancarvan tells you of wars betwixt Ine or Ivor (successor to Cadwallader) and Kentwine, it appears in our chronographers that Kentwine must be dead above three years before. But howsoever these things might be reco'ncileable, I think clearly that Cadwallader in the British, and Cedwella king of West- Saxons in Bede, Malmesbury, Florence, Hunt ingdon, and other stories of the English, are not the same, as Geffrey, and, out of Girald, Randal of Chester, and others since errone ously have affirmed. But strongly yon may hold, that Cadwallo or Caswallo, living about 44 INTRODUCTION. the year 640, slain by Oswald, king of Nor thumberland,, was the same with Bede's first Cedwalla, whom he calls king of Britons, and that by misconceit of his two Cedwals (the,. other being, almost fifty years after, king of West-Saxons), and by communicating of each other's attributes upon indistinct names, with out observation of their several times,, these discordant relations of them, which in story are too palpable, had their first being. But to satisfy you in present, I keep myself to the course of our ordinary stories, by reason of difficulty in finding an exact truth in ali. Touching his going to Rome, thus : Some will, that he was Christian before, and received of Sergius only confirmation ; others, that he had there his first baptism, and lived not above a month after; which time (to make all dis sonant) is extended to eight years in Lhan carvan. That one kingCedwal went to Rome, is plain by all, with his new-imposed name and burial there: for his baptism before, I have no direct authority but in Polychronicon; many arguments proving him, indeed, a well- wilier to Christianity, but as one that had not re ceived its holy testimony. The very phrase in most of our historians is plain that he was baptized; and so also his epitaph then made at Rome. " The" next reign, which materially influenced ¦// n h. INTRODUCTION. 4J the subsequent fortunes of the principality, was that of Roderique the Great, when Wales had her three parts, North-Wales, South- Wales, and Powys. The last, as the middle betwixt the other, extended from Cardigan to Shropshire; and on the English side from Chester to Hereford, being the portion of Anarawd son to the great Roderique. It com prehends, for the most part, both nations and both tongues. But it is to be noted, that North- Wales was the chief principality, and to it South-Wales and Powys paid a tribute. For this we have the authority of doctor Powel, who cites the laws of Howel Dda to such effect. This division of Wales into three kingdoms was first made about the year 870. Many think, that'll was from the beginning parted out in this manner,: biit Powel in his account abides by the former opinion, though he gives the history of the event, in some particulars differing from the foregoing statement, out of Giraldus Cambrensis. He tells us, that Ro derique before hisdeath assigned Aberfraw, or North-Wales, to his eldest son Anarawd: Di- nevowr and South-Wales to the second son, Cadelh, and the country of Powys to Merwyn, the third, after whose death, Cadelh seised upon Powys-land and Mathraval, and kept it from the right heirs by force. Powel, p. 25. 46 INTRODUCTION. ', After Edwal, the son of Anarawd, in the year 94-0, his cousin-german, Howel Dda, hav ing before the principality of South Wales and Powys, took upon him the government of the third division, and thus became a great prince, lord of Powys, and king of all Wales. Having entered at some length into the character and capacity of this prince as a legislator, in my account of Whitland, I shall not anticipate the subject here, , but content myself with citing the testimony of Drayton to the merit of those laws, which are still remembered with rever ence, though they have long lost their sanction and authority. For, what Mulmutian laws, or Martian, ever were More excellent than those which our good Howel here Ordain'd to govern Wales ? which still with us remain. Poly-Olbion, Song ix. " After the death of Howel Dha, his sonnes did divide South Wales and Powys between them : and Jevaf and Jago the second and third sons of Edwal Voel, ruled North Wales." Powel's Hist, of Wales, p. 59. From the death of Howel Dda, there were continual animosi ties between the people of North and South Wales; and many cruel battles were fought. " In those days Jago and Jevaf by force and strength ruled all Wales as they thought good." But this is not to be understood in INTRODUCTION. 47 absolute independence of England, as they paid Edgar a tribute of wolves' heads, which led to the ultimate destruction of those ani mals both in England and Wales : though it should seem that this measure did not quite accomplish the object, sir>ce the manor of Piddlesley in Leicestershire was held long after by one Henry of Angage, per serje- antiam capiendi lupos, as the inquisition de livers it. In 966, arose a dispute between the brothers, each claiming the whole, which ended in the imprisonment of Jevaf, and that unmanly revenge, too common in those days, the putting out of his eyes. Jago thenreigned alone, till Howel ap Jevaf, the son of the im prisoned Jevaf, made war against his uncle, delivered his father, and took on himself the whole principality towards the latter years of Edgar, sometime from the year 980 to 982. Cadwalhon ap Jevaf, brother to Howel, suc ceeded to the principality of North Wales in 984, and, after a reign of only two years, was put to death by Meredith ap Owen, grandson to Howel Dda, who in the year 986 added by force the possession of North Wales to his hereditary principality. Some say that Mere dith was not the son of Owen, but of Howel Dda, In either case, he succeeded lawfully to the government in South Wales. During this period, Wales, in common with the rest of the 48 INTRODUCTION. island, was afflicted by the predatory incur sions of the Danes : which induced the inha bitants of the northern division, Avhile Mere dith was occupied in the south, to receive Edwal ap Myric, the right heir, for their prince, in the year [)d%. Edwal, having obtained pos session, studied only to redress the injuries of his people, and defend them from further wrongs. This character, so little according with the fashion of the age, is authorized by the testimony of David Powel, in his history. But Meredith, notwithstanding his antago nist's merited popularity, collected his power, with the intention of recovering his supre macy. Edwal, however, was not backward to meet the attack, and overthrew him in a deci sive battle. After his defeat, one great event only distinguished the remainder of his career, in the marriage of his daughter and heiress with Llewellyn ap Sitsylht, a youth only four teen years of age at that time : Soon after which he died, with the character of the most restless chieftain even in that turbulent period. After the death of Meredith ap Owen, iEdan ' ap Blegored usurped the government of South Wales. In the mean time, the northern free booters again entered the territories of prince Edwal, who sacrificed his life in resisting their rapacity. He left behind him a. son called Jago. INT R0DUCTI0N. 49 iExlan ap Blegored now possessed himself of the western part of North Wales, on the same plea by 'which he had wrested the South from the lineal succession. He claimed the whole principality, as the direct, descendant from the ancient kings of Wale9, and heir to the family of Bran, the son of Llyr. This Bran was the father of Caradoc, king of the Silures, famous for his great exploits, and accounted the best general Great Britain had ever pro duced; who for more than nine years success fully opposed all the powers of Rome, ind was victorious over them in more than sixty bat tles. He was at length basely betrayed into the hands of his enemies, by Aregwedd Voed- dig, the daughter of Avarwy, a princess of the blood-royal of Britain, the Cartismandua, and the Boadicea of the Romans. This act was denominated one of the three secret treasons of Britain. Thenceforth this land was tributarie made T' ambitious Rome, and did their rule obay, Till Arthur all that reckoning defray'd : Yet oft' the Briton kings against them strongly sway'd. Caradoc, with his grandfather Llyr, his fa ther Bran, his mother, brothers, sisters, wife and children, was carried in triumph to Rome. His magnanimous speech before the emperor and senate procured to him his liberty, and VOL. I. E 30 INTRODUCTION. permission to return to his native country, and resume the government of his people; not indeed as an independent prince, but in sub jection to the Roman eagle. His father Bran, and others of the family, were detained at Rome as hostages for seven years; during which period they were converted to Chris tianity. , At the' expiration of the term for which he was detained, Bran returned to Bri tain, and brought with him two Jewish Chris- 'tians, whose names were Cyndav and Hid. These three persons are represented in many of the oldest and most authentic manuscripts as the first who introduced the Christian re ligion into this island. Hence do we meet with the appellation of Bran the Blessed. Such is the account which wrests from Joseph of Arimathea his long accredited honours: but the numerous untruths which are connected with that monkish fable appear so flagrant^ that Ave are inclined to give the more easy be lief to an authority, containing not one syl lable in favour of the imposture. In the tale of Bran, there is nothing that in the least militates against the nature of things, the character of that age, or the general com plexion of those events, which are best ascer tained and most generally admitted.' This signal event, which happened about the year 60 of the' Christian era, rendered INTRODUCTION. 3 1 Bran an illustrious character in British history; and from this distant, but august source, did iEdan affect to derive his claim. Llewellyn ap Sitsylht, on the contrary, preferred, in the year 1005, being then of full age, more modest, but better authenticated pretensions to the principality of South Wales. He Claimed in right of his wife, sole heiress to her father Meredith ap Owen, grandson of Howel Dda, who was son of Cadelh, consequently grandson of Roderique the Great. Oh this foundation, therefore, he raised an arm}7, and after a con-1 siderable period had elapsed in preparations, skirmishes, and trials of strength, he at length marched against the alleged usurper, In the year 1015, their respective forces having met, a furious battle was fought, in which JEdan ap Blegored was slain, and Llewellyn recovered his long-contested principality, which he go verned from that time till the year 1021, with justice and to the general satisfaction, in peace and in proSperit}', During the reign of Llewellyn ap Sitsylht, the inhabitants of Wales grew rich ; prosperity appeared on the face of the .country; the earth yielded its' abundance, the seasons were .benign ;- peace and just laws prevailed against turbulence and iniquity; every inhabitant had his house, and every house its inhabitant; every spot of land its cultivator, and every cultivator his E 2 53 introduction'. spot of land: so that plenty was known tbroughout the region, and the region enjoyed its plenty. But these blessings took their flight, when Howel, son of Edwin ap Eneon, who was brother to Meredith ap Owen, and consequently standing in the same degree of consanguinity to Howel Dda, claimed the prinj cipality of South Wales, and, jointly with his brother Meredith, raising an army, marched against Llewellyn ap Sitsylht, whom they slew, though they were themselves put to flight by Llewellyn's brother Conan. Llewellyn's death was accomplished only through the bishop of Bangor's treachery. But retribution, however tardy, awaited Howel, who was killed at Swansea, in the year 1043, by the hand of Gruffyth ap Llewellyn. After the death of Llewellyn ap Sitsylht, his widow Angharad married Conwyn, by whom she had children; a circumstance which more embroiled the already tumultuous oppositions of contending claimants. Jago ap Edwal ap Myric, now grown to man's estate, assumed the sovereignty of hii forefathers, and reigned from the year 1021 to 1037. In the year 1031, the Saxons came into Glamorgan, when Conan ap Sitsylht, brother of the late prince Llewellyn ap Sitsylht, marched with an army against them, and at Ystradowen INTRODUCTION. 53 a bloody battle was fought^ in which Conan ap Sitsylht and all his sons were slain. But his brother Rpbert ap Sitsylht rallied the army, and animated the Welsh by recalling to their memories the noble achievements of their an cestors against these restless invaders. The consequence was, that they once more at tacked their enemies, who in the second battle were completely routed, and great numbers of them slain. The reign of Gruffyth ap Llewel'yn, who succeeded Jago in one of those bloody alter nations, by Avhich the various branches of the royal family were continually supplanting each other, Avas distinguished by many great and important events. He got possession of the whole kingdom ; and being elated with his good fortune, made many inroads into Here fordshire, and the neighbouring counties. Upon this the king of England, at that time EdAvard the Confessor, sent Harold the son of - Goodwin to sail with a fleet from Bristol, and coast the western part of Wales. Being joined by his brother Tostie with a force by land, Harold worsted the Welsh in several en counters, and distressed them gi'eatly. Some time after he got together a large power, and entered into South Wales. Here he soalatmed the natives, that they sent him the head of their king Gruffyth, and swore fealty both to 54 INTRODUCTION, king Edward and to carl Harold, engaging at the same time to furnish aids at command either by sea or land. The dominion of North Wales was then bestowed upon Gruffyth's two half-brothers, Blethyn and Rywallon the sons of Coqwyn, on Avhom the second marriage of Angharad had conferred some colourable title to the widely-contested succession. They were besides in alliance with Harold, and ap^ pointed by him. See PoAvel's Hist. p. 102. In the year 1043, died Howel, prince of Glamorgan, at the very advanced age of 130, 'and Avas succeeded in the government by his nephew Jestin ap Gwrgant, This Howel ap Morgan Mawr is not, however, to be confounded with HoAvel, son of Edwin ap Eneon, who Avas killed at Swansea in. the same year. He was brother to Ithel, the reigning prince of Glamorgan, and himself became the sovereign after Gwrgant, Ithel's successor, in the year 1030. HoAvel Avas invited to the throne by the unanimous voice of the countiy, which could not be induced to bear with the government of Jestin ap Gwrgant, on account of his Avorthless character and untractable dis position. After the death of his uncle, how ever, the people no longer rejected Jestin from the sovereignty. Caradoc mentions Howel as the Avisest and best among the princes of Wales. With respect to his extra- ) INTRODUCTION. 55 ordinary age, it is to be remarked, that this family presents some astonishing instances of longevity. Morgan Mawr attained the age of 129; Howel ap Rhys reached 124; another son of Rhys died at 120, while Gwrgant and his son Jestin. lived considerably beyond the period usually assigned to man. Glamorgan, in later times, has furnished numerous proofs of simi lar protraction in the age of its inhabitants. In the year 1064, Meredith ap Owen was constituted king of South Wales by Harold. Relative to the motives of this appointment, Ave may take Powel's information', p. 104. — " Caradoc ap Gruffyth Avas the first that pro cured Haroald for to come to Wales against Gruffyth ap Lhewelyn, hoping by him to at- teine unto the government of South Wales: but it fell out otherwise. ForAvhen Haroald un derstood, that he should not get that at the hands of Caradoc, Avhich he looked for (Avhich Avas a eertaine lordship within Wales, nigh unto Hereford) and knowing also Caradoc to be a subtile and deceitful man, compounding Avith Meredyth ap Owen, for that lOrdship, he made him king, or prince of South Wales." Blethyn ap Conwyn reigned jointly with his brother Rywallon, in North Wales, from the death of Gruffyth ap Llewellyn- to the death of RyAvallon in 1068. In the time of these two princes, the great revolution hap- 5~6- INTRODUCTION. pened in England, whiph seated a Norman on the throne, and reduced the Saxons to a level Avith the British in the scale of subjection. '- Blethyn and RyAvallon did not fail to take advantage of the turbulence and confusion to Avhich political convulsions gave birth : yet their efforts served only to mark an impatient submission to tributary inferiority, without making that impression on the conqueror's resources, which might enable them to assert their independence. Little, indeed, could it be expected, that publip. liberty should triumph over that spirit of revenge, Avith Avhich the alienation of their inheritance actuated the sons of Gruffyth ap LleAvellyn. Instead of making common cause Avith their kinsmen, they met them in hostile array, when, after a long contest, Ithel was slain on one part, and RyAvallon oil the other; and Meredith so closely pursued, that he was- starved ampng; the mountains, and Blethyn remained sole ruler over Powys and North Wales till 1073, when he Avas slain in battle by Rhys ap OAven. Blethyn was a vigorous and patriotic charac ter; he lived in times of violence; yet was his reign distinguished by the revision and ame lioration of the laws. Blethyn ap Conwyn is one of the most distinguished names which grace the royal tribe of Powys. A circumstance is here to be recorded as INTRODUCTION. 57 having led to consequences, visible at this day in those remnants of antiquity, attaching a still stronger interest to the picturesque scenes of Glamorganshire. Robert ap Sitsylht, the only surviving brother of the late prince Llewellyn ap Sitsylht, had been for many years at variance with Jestin ap Gwrgant. About this time a reconciliation was effected between them. Robert had a beautiful daughter by his first wife Evilian, who was descended from a family of great note and power in Wales. The name of his daughter was Arddun, She Avas an only child by that marriage, dearly beloved by her father, and celebrated as not unAVorthy so distinguished a parent as the faithful Evilian. Jestin ap Gwrgant, now a widower, and grow ing old, having buried his first Avife, the daughter of Blethyn ap Conwyn, prince of POA^ys, solicited this daughter of Robert ap Sitsylht in marriage : but her father objected to the alliance ; for Jestin was now declining into the vale of years, and the lady Avho was the object of his addresses, disproportionately young. Jestin, hoAvever, sought an opportu nity to violate her, as he had several times before dishonoured the daughters of other lords and eminent persons. This outrage on a family of such high rank so exasperated Robert ap Sitsylht, that he ever afterwards continued the sworn enemy of Jestin ap Gwrgant. 58 INTRODUCTION. Traherne ap Caradoc obtained the sove- reignty of North Wales, on the death of Blethyn ap Comvyn, his uncle, in -1073, Avhile the dominion of South Wales devolved on Rhys ap Owen the victbr. Caradoc and Meilyr, the sons of Rywallon ap Comvyn, followed the fortunes of their cousin Traherne ap Caradoc ; who maintained his ascendancy through a series of turbulent events, and not withstanding the opposition of Gruffyth ap Conan, till his rival had procured an accession of strength in the support of RhyS ap Tudor, the right heir of South Wales from Roderique the Great, as Gruffyth of North, so as to carry on an offensive Avarfare, which termi nated the life of Traherne in the fiercest battle recorded in the annals of the principality. After a most bloody contest, victory declared itself in favour of Gruffyth ap Conan and ' Rhys ap Tudor. Traherne and his kinsmen fell on the fatal field, and the victor took pos session of a kingdom, equally due to his merit and descent, which he governed with dignity during a reign of fifty-nine years, and, to say nothing of Merioneth lost to Hugh, surnamed Wolf, Earl of Chester, but soon recovered, thence left it continued in his posterity, until its finalabsorption under Edward the First, in the time of Llewellyn ap Gruffyth. His ally was less fortunate in the duration of his power, INTRODUCTION. 5(J though perhaps equally brave and public- spirited, owing to the more accessible nature of his country, the south and west parts of Avhich especially were less favoured by the frequency of craggy mountains. Elevcn'years of various fortune elapsed, between his signal victory over Traherne, and his violent death at the very advanced age of 92, by the hand of Jestin, who afterwards dearly paid for the alliance his ambition had courted. Under Wi Ilium Rufus, the Norman-English Avere very desirous of Welsh territory; and Robert Fitzhamon Avas but too successful in wresting parts of South Wales from their law ful prince, Rhys ap Tudor, and afterward from Jestin, lord of Glamorgan, Avhich he subjected to the English crown. The circumstance which enabled the Nor mans, headed by Robert Fitzhamon, to com plete the conquest of Glamorgan, may be traced to personal resentment and private^ . pique, rather than to any diminution of valour or abatement of British spirit in the breasts of the people in general. In the year 10y0, Robert ap Sitsylht, to avenge the injuries sus tained by himself and his daughter from Jestin, raised an army of such as Avere disgusted Avith the Avicked and tyrannical conduct of the oppressor. After they had joined the Normans, a bloody battle Avas fought on Cardiff heath. 60 INTRODUCTION. Jestin and his armies Avere vanquished. Robert Fitzhamon assumed the sovereignty of Gla morgan, not altogether by conquest, but in a great measure by the consent and invitation of the country ; for great numbers of the natives sided with him, tired as they Ave re, and avoiu out, Avith the vexatious and arbitrary govern ment of Jestin. Those Avho acquiesced in a revolution, rendered necessary by the miscon duct of their native prince, Avere not molested or disturbed in the possession of their estates. Hence it was that Robert ap Sitsylht, Avith many others, retained their lands, and their ancient privileges Avere confirmed to them. It has already been mentioned that Gruffyth ap Conan" left his son, Owen Gwineth, in peaceable possession of his dominions, the direct descent of Avhich Avas no longer inter rupted by the claims of riAal kindred. This prince succeeded his father in the principality of North Wales, A. D. 1137; so that Gray is mistaken, Avhere he ascribes that event to the year 1 ]<20, in a note to his Triumphs of Owen. The battle ther^ described Avas fought near forty years afterwards, about the twenty-third year of Owen's reign. But as the Welsh speak much for the glory of their country during this period, in some instances discording with the suppositions of the English story, the am plifications of Drayton's historical muse may INTRODUCTION. fjl fairly be admitted, as containing evidence at least of the assertions, boldly if not unquestion ably advanced by the Cambrian chroniclers. And let the English thus, which vilify our name, If it their greatness please, report unto our shame The foil our Gwyncth gave at Flint's so deadly fight, To Maud the Empress' son, that there he put to flight, And from the English power th' imperial ensign took; About his plumed head which valiant Owen shook. Gray thus begins his description of this celebrated battle: Owen's praise demands my song, Owen swift, and Owen strong ; Fairest flower of, Roderic's stem, Gwyneth's shield and Britain's gem. David ap OAven Gwyneth succeeded to his father in the year II69. In his time, Madoc his brother discovered part of the West Indies. The posterity of Owen GAvineth are thought by many of the Welsh antiquaries to exist as a nation in America to this day. As Madock, his brave son, may come the rest among ; Who, like the godlike race from which his grandsires sprung Whilst here his brothers tir'd in sad domestic strife, On their unnatural breasts bent either's murtherous knife 3 This brave adventurous youth, in hot pursuit of fame, With such as his great spirit did with high deeds inflame, Put forth his well-rigg'd fleet to seek him foreign ground, And sailed west so long, Until that world he found To Christians then unknown (save this adv'ent'rous crew,) Long ere Columbus liv'd,, or it Vespucius knew j 62 INTRODUCTION. And put the now-riam'd Welsh on Indians parched face, Unto the endless praise of Brute's renowned race ; Ere the Iberian power* had touch'd her long sought bay, Or any ear had heard the bound of Florida. " About the year 1170, Madoc, brother to David ap Owen, Prince of Wales, made this sea voyage ; and by probability those names of Capo de Breton in Norembeg, and PengAvin in part of the Northern America, for a white rock and a Avhite-headed bird, according to the British, Avere reliques of this discovery. So that the Welsh may challenge priority, of finding that new Avorld, before the Spaniard, Genoway, and all other mentioned in Lopez, Marinanis, Cortez, and the rest of that kind." — Selden. At this period lived Owen Cyfeliog, Prince of Powys. He Avas equally distinguished as a warrior and as a poet. Of his talent in the latter art there arc some fine specimens extant. Chatterton,. in his miscellanies, pro fesses to have translated the liiilas from the ancient British of this prince. The model on which he has formed his oavh style is evident. I leave it to the Cambrian antiquaries to deter mine from the two following specimens, Avhe- ther it bears any resemblance to its pretended prototype. " Fill up the golden hi; las. Let the mead be borne to Sylliw, defender of our coast; to the lion of war, the son of Madoc; fierce as INTRODUCTION. 63 a wolf in the fight, soft as the mossy bed in peace." " Fill the hirlas of mirth to all the chiefs of Oweyn, Avho are the Avolves of the mountain. Madoc and Meyler are in soul one; they are our castles. The Avarriors of the hill stood round their chief, strong as the spear of Uther, swift in pursuit as the vapours of the night." The prince of South Wales in the reign of David ap Owen GAvineth, was Rhys ap Gruffyth, whose daughter Gwenellian married Ednivet Vaughan, ancestor to Owen Tudor. Not satisfied Avith this simple pedigree, Owen Tudor himself boasted his royal blood as flowing in upon him from every point of the compass. Drayton, in his England's Heroical Epistles, thus makes him deduce his arms from the three helmets, prophetically foretold by Merlin, Avith the assurance that in him, "Cam bria shall be glad, Cornwal shall flourish, and the isle shall be stiled with Brute's name, and the rame of strangers shall perish," in justifi cation of his boldness in his correspondence with queen Catherine. To every name is not allotted chance, To boast with Henry to have conquered France : Yet if my fortune be thus rais'd by thee, This may presage a farther good to me ; And our Saint David, in the Briton's right, May join with George, the sainted English knight: And old Caer-Merdin, Merlin's famous town, , Nor scorn'd by London, though of such renoAvn. 64 , introduction. Both Merlin and Taliesin had prophesied, that the Welsh should regain their sovereignty over this island, Avhich seemed to be accom plished in the house of Tudor. Owen's descent has, indeed, been grievously questioned, but his pretensions are not with out their plausibility. Be they what they may in sober truth, Drayton thus states them in the person of the prophetic Severn : A branch sprung out of Brafe, th' imperial top shall get, Which grafted on the stock of great Plantaganet, The stem shall strongly wax, as still the trunk doth wither } The power which bare it thence, again shall bring it thither - . By Tudor, with fair winds from little Britain driven, To wham the goodly bay ofMilford shall be given ; As thy wise prophets, Wales, foretold his wish't arrive, And how Lewellin's line in him should doubly thrive. Yet it may well be supposed that the per sonal merits of Owen Tudor had more influ ence with the amorous Avidpw, than all his ancestry, since Ave are told that u being a courtly and active gentleman, commanded once to dance before the queen, in a turn (not being able to recover himself) he fell into her lap as sue sa.t upon a little stoo* with many of her ladies about her." WtiLP ilc-i.ry was, my love was only his, But by his death, it Owen Tudor's is. My love to Owen, him my Henry giveth ; My love to Henry, in my Owen liveth. INTRODUCTION. 65 But- whatever may be decided respecting the merits of this alleged consanguinity, Rhys ap Gruffyth, prince of South Wales, is entitled to the notice of the historian and the respect of posterity, as the anchor, hope, and stay, of his declining country: a prince, Avho, as he de scended, of noble blood, so he surpassed all com petitors in commendable qualities and endoAV- ments of the mind. According to Dr. PoAvel's history, and the Welsh poets, he Avas the over- throAver of the mighty, and setter-up of the weak; the scatterer of his foes, and the over- turner of their holds : among his enemies he appeared as a Avild boar among whelps, or as a lion that for anger beateth his tail to the ground. In the year 1 176, he gave an example of the Stethva, as Drayton terms it; but properly written Eisteddfod, and thus described by the poet. Some with their nimbler joints that struck the warbling string; In fingering some unskill'd, but ohly used to sing Unto the other's harp ; of which yau both might find Great plenty, and of both excelling in their kind, That at the Stethva oft obtain'd a victor's praise, Had won the silver harp, and worn Apollo's bays ; Whose verses they deduc'd from those first golden times, Of sundry sorts of feet, and sundry suits of rhimes. This description of the measure in the last line refers to the Englyn, consisting of two vol. 1. f 66 INTRODUCTION. parts: the first an hexameter, and generally of sixteen syllables. This is called Paladr. The second part is a pentameter. The whole is precisely the distich of the Romans, their usual elegiac' verse. In Welsh it is often called Pen- nill; but this word properly signifies a stanza in any kind of lyric verse. In the year 1194, Llewellyn ap Jorwerth ap OAven Gwineth, Avhose father had been dis inherited by the preceding king David, ob tained possession of the chief sovereignty with out bloodshed, and reigned forty-six years. During this period, notwithstanding the advan- . tage of steady perseverance Avith thepoAvers of a large empire on the part of the English, the ancient Britons did not boAV their necks to the unbridled will of the usurpers, while headed by a prince, capable of defending their liberties by enterprise and courage. In the year 1240,, David ap LleAvellyn ap Jonverth succeeded; and by him a compromise Avas effected Avith the crown of England. But it Avas not till the conclusion of the next reign, that the inde pendence of Wales was finally surrendered. The circumstances Avhich attended the death of the last British prince will be detailed in the body of this Avork ; suffice it therefore to say, that with him the means rather than the desire of freedom became extinct. The incorporation seems then to have been,. Introduction. 67 though not cordially, at least legally effected. Yet did the recollection of the past keep alive a spirit of discontent and mortified indignation, which instigated these high-minded moun taineers to acts of rebellion, on every pretence that presented itself, during the succeeding - reigns : and it was not till the second prince of the Lancastrian line, atoning for his defect of title by an over-ruling splendour of charac ter, seemed to have extinguished all other pretensions, that the Welsh could alloAV their nationalgallantry to be reconciled Avith their allegiance to their sovereign. Neither did it- contribute slightly to that attachment, which they manifested almost for the first time, to the person of an English king, that he was, Henry of Monmouth. The battle of Agin- court Avas the occasion, on which they parti cularly signalized themselves, Avhile the me mory of their independence, happily changed for perfect union, was in any degree recent. This historical and national sketch shall there fore be closed with a delineation of their mili tary array, as described in "The Battle of Ag-incour.t." -o From Milford haven to the mouth of Tweed, Ships of all burthen to Southampton brought, (For there the King the rendezvous decreed), To bear abrpad his most victorious fraught; ~ F 2 68 • introduction. The place from whence he with the greatest speed Might land in France, of any that was thought, And with success upon that lucky shore, Where his great grandsire landed had before. Then follows the order of battle, Avith the armorial ensigns of each county. <¦ The -English we omit. Pembroke, a boat wherein a lady stood, , ¦ .».;,;¦;;;,-> Rowing herself within a quiet bay; Those men of South Wales of the mixed Wood, Had of the Welsh the leading of the Way. Caermarthen in her colours bore a rood, Whereon an did man lean'd himself to stay. At a. star pointing; which of great renown; Was skilful Merlin, namer of that town. Glamorgan men, a castle great and high, ' From which, out of the battlement above, A flame shot up itself into the sky : The men of Monmouth (for the ancient love v To that dear country, neighbouring them so nigk)" Next after them in equipage that move, Three crowns imperial, which supported were With three arm'd arms, in their proud ensjgn bear. The men of Brecknock brought a warlike tent, Upon whose top there-sat a watchful cock ; Radnor, a mountain of a high ascent, Thereon a shepherd keeping of his flock; As Cardigan, the next to them that went, Came with a mennaid sitting on a rock ; And Merioneth bears (as these had done) Three dancing goats against the rising sun. Those of Montgomery bear a prancing steed; Denbigh, a Neptune with his three-fork'd maee; " INTRODUCTION. 69 Flintshire, a work-maid in her summer's weed, With sheaf and sickle. With a warlike pace Those of Caernarvon (not the least in speed, Tho' marching last in the main army's face) Three golden eagles in their ensign brought, Under which oft brave Owen Gwyneth fought. During the time that the sovereignty of the principality Avas divided, in South Wales, Caer- marthen, and afterwards Dinevowr; in PoAvys, ShreAvsbury, and then Mathraval; in North Wales, AberfraAV in Anglesea, were the three chief places of the Welsh monarchs' court, or princes' royal residence, specified by Giraldus Cambrensis in two passages, in one of Avhjch he calls that of Powys, PengAvern. Chatterton celebrates a hero of the South Wales line among the combatants in the fatal conflict at Hastings. He has introduced like wise a chieftain of the Powys division. The knighthood of both heroes is Avell supported, and the similies are in the true style of heroic poetry. So have I sene two weirs at once give grounde, White fomyng hygh to rorynge combat runne; In rorynge dyn and heaven-breaking sounde, 1 Burste waves on waves, and spangle in the sunne; And when their myghte in burstynge waves is fled, Like cowards, stele alonge their ozy bede. Yong Egelrede, a knyghte of comelie mien, ' 70 INTRODUCTION. Affynd unto the kynge of Dynefdrre, At echohe tylte and tourney he was se'ne, And lov'd to be arhange the blOudie warre j He couch'd hys launce, and ran wyth mickle triyghte Ageinste the brest of Sieur de Bondbbe; He gron'd and sunken, on the place of fyghte, O Cbryste ! to fele his wounde, his harte was woe. So have I seen a rocke o'er others hahge> Who strongly plac'd laughde at his slippry state, But \yhen he falls with heaven-peercynge bahge That he the sleeve unravels all their fate, And broken onn the bench thys lesson speak, The stronge and 'firme should not defame the weak. Howel ap Jevah came, from Matraval, Where he by chaunce han slayne a noble's son, And now was come to fyghte at Harold's cajl, And in the battel he much goode han done ; Unto kyng Harold he fought mickle near, For he was yeoman of the bodie guard ; And wilh, a targyt and a fyghtyng spear, He of his bodie han kepte watch and ward : True as a shadowe to a substant thynge, So true he guarded Harold hys good kynge, But when Egelred tumbled to the grounde, He from kyng Harolde quicklie dyd acivaunce, '• And stroke de Tracie thilk a crewel wounde^ Hys harte and lever came out on the launce. Thilk deeds do all deserve, whose deeds so fowle Will blacke theire earthlie name, if not their soule When lo ! an arrowe from Walleri's honde, Winged with fate and dethe, dauncedakmge; And slewe the noble flower of Powys londe, Howel ap Jfevah, who ycleped the stronge. INTRODUCTION. 71 The name of HoAvel ap Jevah is sometimes expressed ap Jevaf, and ap Jorveth. It occurs in Giraldus; but is by him appropriated to a person, Avho lived in the time of king Henry the Second. " Hoelas, Filius Jorveth de urbe Legionum." We have already found the name in earlier times. The Howel ap Jevah men tioned in this poem Avas of the same family, as it is apparent from the circumstance of his being lord of the same district, PoAvys Land. We are told that Howel had killed a man; and had therefore retired. But this Avould not necessarily make him engage in fight ; nor be so zealous in the Saxon cause. The connec tion may seem under all circumstances Un natural : but sufficient reason may be deduced from the preceding history, to Avithhold our wonder at finding a nobleman of Wales in at tendance on a Saxon king. The persons sub stituted by Harold as governors in North Wales, after the death of Gruffyth, were de scendants of HoAvel Dda; so that Howel ap Jevah must have been their relation, afld in the game interest. The individuals and parties of this intricate period are no Avhere more clearly distinguished and disentangled than in Giral dus Cambrensis. What the poet in the above passage expresses Dynefarre, is the same which js more truly rendered Dynevore; and by the Welsh, Dinevowr, to whose king Egelrede the 72 INTRODUCTION. Saxon is said to have been affined. The re lationship was most likely to have taken place by a marriage into that prince's family. It seems consonant to probability that Meredith ap OAven, reigning king at the time alluded to, was the person to Avhom he Avas thus related. It may require some apology with the searchers after rigid facts, to have dAvelt so long on the obscure history or legendary tales of Arthur; but the~ traveller, in his progress through the principality, Avill meet with so many ascriptions to this king, marking the passion of the natives for the marvellous, that he will lose much of his pleasure and interest, unless he can persuade himself to a temporary acquiescence in these disguised and exagge rated relations. The highest hill is Arthur's chair, the largest cromlech is of Arthur's erec tion; the prophetic Avisdom of Merlin still exists in the proverbial ascriptions of the vul gar, the exploits of Arthur suffer no diminu-r tion from the lapse of time or the defect of probability. But the events Avhich are re corded in the' succeeding ages, verified and ac-r krioAvledged in the main, though the historians of opposite parties may dispute about the par ticulars, exhibit Wales in a more interesting and important point of vieAv. The gallant princes of that mountainous tract, supported by a people, breathing a. spirit of hereditary on-' INTRODUCTION. 73 position to their invaders, contended for li berty and independence, during the unex ampled period of nine hundred years. In that interval, the conquerors became themselves the alternate prey of Danes and Normans; Avhile the native Britons maintained an indignant struggle, for their country and their homes. It is true, it Avas unsuccessful; but so much the more meritorious Avas its obstinacy. Such an instance is among the most uncommon ex amples of patriotism, that history records : their enemies of course called it nationality; but it assimilates so closely with what we have been taught to admire from our infancy, in the character of the Grecian and Roman com monwealths, that to deny its merit, is to over turn eAfery principle, on which we fix our opi nions of virtue and magnanimity in a people. The cherished remembrance ofwhat they once were, so long after their having ceased to exist as an independent nation, is a not less remark able feature of the modern Welsh. The Scotch are indeed equally national ; but their union with. England isa comparatively modern event. In general, a long connection melts the man ners and the language into those of the predo minant power: but in Wales, though English and Englishmen are" gradually enlarging their sphere, the progress is far from being accele- 74 INTRODUCTION. rated in proportion to the time and distance. The common people still look with an evil eye on the intrusion of strangers. This may seem to accord ill with their proverbial attribute of hospitality: but the fact is, that highly as they are gratified by the interest a traveller takes in their scenery and antiquities, and agreeable as they render his temporary resi dence among them, they have no desire to see him become a settler. The instances of re maining prejudice, though Avearing away, are still frequent, and often Avbimsical. One of the most singular occurred to the lord chancellor Talbot ; it was almost too, strong to be laugh able, and certainly too malignant to do credit to the spirit that suggested it. ¦ Lord Talbot, during an excursion on horse back, had parted from his servant, and con tinued his ride alone to the bank of one of the rivers near Hensol ; probably either Ely or Taff. He met with a countryman, of Avhom he inquired, Avhether the stream Avas fordable in that place. The rustic nodded assent, in a manner which happened not precisely to meet Avith lord Talbot's approbation, Avho re peated the question in Welsh. The man, Avith much emotion, exclaimed, "Oh no!-— For Heaven's sake, do not attempt it; it is very dangerous. Come with me, and I will shews INTRODUCTION. 75 you the ford! I beg your pardon most humbly;— but indeed, sir, I took you for a Saxon !" One of the reflections, Avhich Avill most forci bly strike an observing traveller in Wales, and scarcely meet Avith credit from those who have not visited the country, is the height of im provement and grandeur to Avhich it had at tained at an era looked back upon as bar barous, through the delusive medium of mo dern pride. The style of castle architecture, the style of cathedral architecture, the style even of the cottages that yet remain, evince the flourishing state of those arts, Avhich infer a corresponding convenience in others, whose evanescent nature precludes us from more direct evidence of their perfection. Wherever we see large mansions, adapted to the accom modation of numerous guests, and domestics, or the reception of military squadrons, Ave take it for granted, the access to these places Avas by Avide and convenient roads. Wherever Ave ob serve the remains of large and populous tOAvns, however ruinous their present condition, we naturally suppose them to have been supplied by plentiful and choice markets. Consider ing the face of the country in this light, Ave must contemplate it Avith astonishment. The continual recurrence of castles, some built for Strength, and others for magnificence, but all 76 INTRODUCTION. with demonstrations of skill, extorting the ac-. knowledgment of inferiority from the candid workmen of these days, is of itself a sufficient proof, how considerable must have been the population, how great the Avarlike force of the district. In England, our ancestors have left us, dispersed in various places, splendid re mains of their greatness : but in Wales, you can scarcely travel ten miles, without coming upon some vestige of antiquity, Avhich in an other country you Avould go fifty to trace out. Nor is it alone in the palaces of the lords, that these features of civilization are to be found. The ruins of ancient farms and barns are par ticularly to be noticed, as unquestionable evi dences of opulence and fertility. The agricul ture of the country was much in the hands of the clergy ; and it was no uncommon thing, to meet with barns, belonging to abbeys and monasteries, capable of containing more than the produce of the parish in Avhich they are situated, in the present supposedly improved state of cultivation. Many of the barns be- » longing to parsonages are of dimensions, the occupation of which the modern incumbent vainly sighs to beliold; and breathes, from his' contracted benefice, the frail spirit of envy, at the lost revenues of his long-departed prede cessors. It is, indeed, Avell known, that long before the date of those vestiges, which still - INTRODUCTION. 77 remind us of former grandeur, the Welsh na tion had passed through a former and very luminous period of civilization, that of the Roman empire in its most flourishing and po lished state. For several hundred years did the Britons enjoy the benefits of that illuminated period ; so that they never fell into a state of real barbarism, though they sunk not only into poverty, but into that* depression, the misera ble condition of Avhich they thus expressed, when applying to iEtius the Roman general for assistance : — " We know not which way to turn us. The barbarians drive us to the sea, and the sea forces us back to the barbarians ; between which Ave have only the choice of two deaths, either to be SAvallowed up by the waves, or butchered by the SAvord." But, notwith standing these distresses, they retained to after ages some traces of their learning and fine arts. As a proof of this, Robert of Gloucester speaks of the delicacy and good breeding, which Avas supposed to prevail in the court of king Ar thur. On the whole, the pleasure of a tour in Wales is in some degree tinged Avith melan choly, on observing the honest and amiable manners of its inhabitants, to find so many .ap pearances of a fallen country. The Garter and the Bath flourish in all their pristine ho nours, while the honourable denomination of 78 INTRODUCTION. Arthur's Knights has degenerated into a cant term for gamesters, and the round table is used by our ludicrous and satirical writers, to desig nate the mysteries of hazard. It is true, the consolidation of interests is, on the Avhole, for the benefit of both parties; and Wales yields not, in the shadow of a thought, to England, in loyalty to the reigning family. Indeed, the King seems to be the only Saxon, to whom they are thoroughly reconciled. Yet, when Ave consider how highly they valued their inde pendence, and how respectable is that senti ment in a nation, Ave cannot but regret, that the union of the countries Avas necessarily to be obtained, at the expense of patriotic feel ing, and with some diminution of that con sequence, so proudly maintained by their ancestors. Cold is Cadwallo's tongue, That hush'd the stormy main ; Brave Urien sleeps upon his craggy bed: Mountains, ye mourn in vain, Modred, whose magic song Made huge Plinlimmon bow his cload-top'd heai 79 CHAP. II. GLAMORGANSHIRE. L/inevoavr, or South Wales, consisted pro perly of six counties : or as long as Mon mouthshire Avas included in the division, it was extended to seven, by the addition of Radnorshire. " Now remaineth the laste kingdome of Wales, called DineA7OAvr ; Avhich although it Avas the greatest, yet Avas it not the best, a,s Giraldus witnesseth : cheeflie bi- cause it Avas much molested with Flemings and Normans; and also that in divers parts thereof the lord's would not obey their prince." In other respects all 'ancient authorities agree in speaking of it as a fine country. A very considerable part of South Wales is included in the country of the Silures, who inhabited Herefordshire, Radnorshire, Breck nockshire, Monmouthshire, and Glamorgan shire. They Avere esteemed the bravest and most poAverful of all the Britons. Glamorgan, the county, Avith the eastern part of which this circuit commenced, is the 80 south Wales. south maritime shire. It is supposed to have taken its name from the circumstance of hav ing afforded a telnporary, though insecure re treat, to an ancient prince, at a very early period of British history. Spenser briefly re capitulates the story in his Chronicle of British Kings ; placing it soon after the reign of king Llyr.— Fairy Queen, B. II. C. 10. Then gan the bloody brethren both to ralne ; But -fierce^ Cundah gan shortly to envy His brother Morgan, prickt with proud disdaine To have a pere in part of soverainty j And kindling coles of cruell enmity, Rais'd warre, and him in batteil overthrew : Whence as he to those woody hilles did fly, Which hight of him Glamorgan, there him slew; Then did he raihe alone, when he none equal knew. Glamorgan Avas in succeding ages an inde pendent sovereign principality, distinct, as those assert, who profess a more intimate ac quaintance Avith Welsh Archeology, from the rule and government of South Wales. The principality or sovereign lordship of Glamor gan contained the present counties, according to this authority, of Glamorgan and Mon mouth; the southern and eastern parts' of Brecknockshire, and that part of Herefordshire, lying to the Avest of the river Wye. The prin cipality of South Wales contained the present v GLAMORGANSHIRE. 81 counties of Caermarthen, Pembroke, Cardigan, and a large portion of Brecknockshire, Avith part of Radnorshire. The traveller enters South Wales from Lon don at Rompney- bridge, over the riA^er Romp- ney, which constitutes the boundary between Glamorgan and Monmouthshires. This is the orthography used in the surveys and records of all the adjoining manors; and it properly belongs to tl?e Romney of Kent; for they run into the sea through a similar tract of country. The Kentish Romney passes through the fen called Romney-marsh; the Welsh through the fens of Monmouthshire and those of Cardiff level. The name is obviously of Saxon ety mology. This river is called in Welsh, Elercb, Avhich in the Silurian dialect signifies„a swan. I shall transcribe from Drayton's topogra phical poem, the orderly and collected cata logue of the highly picturesque rivers, which constitute the great beauty of this county. In the course of the following tour, they have all, not excepting the smallest, been visited, though in a different order from that, in which the poet enumerates them. But I Avould strongly recommend it to the traveller *f curi osity and leisure, who shall, instead of pur suing a course, dictated to me by personal convenience, take the direct route from Eng land east and Avest, to begin with Rompney vol. i. g 82 SOUTH WALES. from the sea to its source: then, adhering to that method, to pursue the banks of each river as far as they will lead him Avith tolerable convenience, in the ensuing succession, the regular chain of which a good map will point out. I can promise him an ample recompence for his labour. Indeed it may be observed in general, that a stranger, whose object is to wander pleasantly through a country, will find his account in following the courses of rivers, both as to the advantage Avith Avhich the scenery Avill pass in revieAV, and his security from dangerous or inconvenient aberrations. That Remny, when she saw these gallant nymphs of Gwent, On this appointed match were all so hotly bent, Where she of ancient time had parted, as a mound, The Monumethian fields and Glamorganian ground, Intreats the Taff along, as gray as any glass ; With whom clear Cunno comes, a lusty Cambrian lass : Then Elwy, and with her Ewenny holds her way, And Ogmore, that would yet be there as soon as they, By Avon called in ; when nimbler Neath anon (To all the neighbouring nymphs for her rare beauties known ; Besides her double head, to help her stream that hath Her handmaids, Melta sweet, clear Hepsey, and Tragath) From Brecknock forth doth break ; then Dulas and Cledaugh, i By Morgany do drive her. through her watry saugh j With Tawy, taking part t' assist the Cambrian power: Then Lhu and Logor, given to strengthen them by Gower. Drayton here mistakes the river Ely for the Elwy in Flintshire, on the banks of which St. GLAMORGANSHIRE. 83 Asaph is situated. The Welsh name of that see is Llan Elwy, or the Church on Elwy. The Glamorgan river always was, as it still continues to be, called Elai in Welsh, and Ely in English. , Betwixt Neath and Lloughor in Glamorgan is this Gower, a little province, extended into the sea as a chersonese ; out of it, on the west, rise these two rivers meant by the author. With respect to the picturesque character of this county, it is distinguished by unbounded variety. It is full of pictures from one end of the district to the other. It has sea, moun tain, vallies, and rivers. It furnishes pros pects that remind you of what you have seen in other parts, without perhaps rivalling the most excellent of those detached objects. It is remarked to resemble the style of North Wales, more than any of the six counties. Its mountains are not so high as those of Breck nockshire, but they present ih a great degree the appearance of Merionethshire, by their extreme abruptness, Avhich imparts an air of Avildness to the country, and of elevation ex ceeding the reality to them. The parish of Ystradyvod wg exhibits such scenes of un touched nature, as the imagination would find it difficult to surpass : and yet the existence of the place is scarcely knoAvn to, the English traveller. © 2 84 South wales. The imputation under Avhich Glamorgan shire generally labours is Avant of wood; but this is only true of its level and most culti vated parts ; and even here it seems to have prevailed Avithout sufficient reason : for taken. all together it is certainly the most Avoody county in Wales. Even the level district of the vale is far from being destitute of Avood. It has full as much as ought to be suffered to groAv on such soils, Avhere corn rather than wood should be encouraged. This part of the county has excellent hedges' every where, which chiefly consist of hawthorn. Those Avho know the banks of the Taff, the two Ronthas, and the Cynon, the wilds of Aberdare and YstradyvodAvg, have seerAuch woods and groves as are rarely to be found. The magnificently clothed hills of Margam, Baglan, Briton Ferry, and the vale of Neath, unite the beauties of cultivation with the un- felled luxuriance of forest scenery. There is one peculiarity in the face of this country, which I must not omit to mention. In the flat parts of it, and near the sea, at the greatest distance from the mountains, seeing as you imagine the whole surface of the ground for a considerable stretch, you come suddenly on an abrupt sinking, not deep, buft perpendicular as the side of a crag, of more or less extent, forming a rich, Avoody, and retired GLAMORGANSHIRE. 85 shelter, the picturesque properties of which contrast most delightfully Avith the uniform dulness of corn fields. You pass through these sequestered dells, ascend on the other side, and regain the flat. Instances of this singularity are, among others, Landough, at Avhat is called the Lake, and between Flemingston and St. Athans. Anarnple account of the manner in which the lordship of Glamorgan Avas Avon, is to be found in PoAvel's History of Wales, Avritten in the time of Elizabeth, or in Evans's edition of Wynne's History of Wales. The abstract of it is as folloAVS : Jestin ap GAvrgant, of Avhose odious charac ter some particulars have already been re corded, Avaged war, in the year 1088, against Rhys ap Tudor. Eneon ap Collwyn assisted him in -his enterprise. Not being able to make any impression on his enemy's domi nions, Jestin commissioned Eneon to go to England, and procure some more poAverful ally. His propositions Avere eagerly received by Robert Fitzhamon and tAvelve other Nor man adventurers, Avho came to Glamorgan on an, expedition, professedly for the object of retrieving Jestin's affairs, The allies marched against Rhys ap Tudor, and came up with his forces on the borders of Brecknockshire. A 86 ' SOUTH WALES. battle Avas fought at a place called Hirwaen, signifying Long Moor, where Rhys was en tirely defeated. In his flight he Avas soon taken prisoner, and put to death. On this occasion, Jestin exhibited his characteristic treachery, in violating his agreement Avith Eneon, to Avhom he had promised his daughter in marriage, as a reward for his services. This stipulation he refused to fulfil, with the aggra vation of insult and contumely, Avhich exaspe rated Eneon to enterprizes of revenge. Thp Normans had fulfilled their engagements; and, on obtaining satisfaction for their services, were quietly returning home. But Eneon Avas assiduous in representing the injuries he had sustained at the hands of Jestin: he painted in tempting colours the hatred of the country " to its tyrant. Is it not easy then, said he, to obtain possession of this fertile territory, with the aid of the different princes at variance with Jestin ? Robert Fitzhamon and his sol diers of fortune caught Avith eagerness at these intimations and pretences. Suiting therefore their vieAvs to the opportunity of the moment, they turned their arms against their employer, who was unprepared for so formidable a re verse. His country therefore Avas easily over run, and he sa%'ed himself by flight, and died soon after, unlamented and unrevenged. GLAMORGANSHIRE. 87 The division of property and power, in con sequence of this event, is thus laid out by Caradoc Lancarvan: Robert Fitzhamon took for his share the castles of Cardiff and Kenfig, with the market tOAvn of Cowbridge, and the demesne of Lant- wit. He appropriated to himself the lands ap pertaining to them, together Avith the sove reignty of the whole country. William de London had the castle and manor of Ogmore, Avith the lands belonging to that lordship. Richard Grenville had the castle and lord ship of Neath, Avith the borough tOAvn, and the territory adjoining. To Robert de St. Quintin Avas given the castle and lordship of Lanblethian; but whe^ ther the tOAvn of Cowbridge was annexed to the allotment, or reserved by Robert Fitz hamon, seems not to have been correctly as certained. Gilbert Humphreville had the castle and lordship of Penmark. Roger Berkrols had the lordship of St. Athan. Reginald Scilly had the castle and lordship of Scilly, so called after his name. Peter le Soor had the castle and lordship of Peterston super Ely, Avhich place derives its name from him. §8 SOUTH WALES; John Fleming had the castle and lordship of St. Georges. Oliver St. John had the castle and lordship of Fonmon, which name Avas given it by the Normans in lieu of Abernant. William de Esterling had the castle and lordr ship, of St. Donatts. Payne Turberville obtained the castle and lordship of Coity ; but he professed to have derived his title, not from the chance of Avar, but from the legitimate rights of matrimonial connection. Eneon ap Collwyh possessed Caerphilly, with Jestin's daughter in marriage, the prize at Avhich he aimed, and the cause of the dispute. Caradoc ap Jestin obtained Aberavon, Avith all the lands betAveen Neath and Avon, as a royal castle and lordship. Howel ap Jestin had Lantrythid. Rhys ap Jestin obtained the territory ber tAveen Neath and TaAvy. Aticieut Welsh names are very commonly retained in most parts of Wales; but they prevail more in the county of Glamorgan than in any other district Avith Avhich I am ac quainted. The following appellations of British origin, used promiscuously as surnames, or Christian names, are currently to be met Avith in that division of the principality, Avhich is GLAMORGANSHIRE. 8<) the subject of our present inquiries. Tra herne, Owen, Madoc, Caradoc, Howel, Rhys, LleAvellyn, Cadock, Blethyn, Arthur, Cadwgan, Gruffyth, Morgan, Llywarch, Lleision, Rhyd- derch, Illtyd, Jevaf, Metric, Ivor, Gronwy, Tudor, Taliesin, Merlin, Meredith, and several others, occur Avith more or less frequency to the curious and inquisitive traveller. Gwenel- lian, Angharad, Morvudd, Lleian, Avith a long catalogue besides, are still to be met Avith as applied to women. A great number of Avords marked as obsolete in Dr. Davies's Welsh and Latin Dictionary, printed in folio about the year 1630, are to this day used in common conversation throughout Monmouthshire and Glamorgan. The former, though reckoned an English county, comes the nearest of any to the ancient literary dialect. The Avorks of Taliesin and others of the fifth and sixth cen turies downAvards to the thirteenth, are more readily understood in Monmouthshire, than in any other part of Wales. The reason may be, that during the British monarchy, after its emancipation from the Roman empire, the seat of government was at Caerlion in Monmouth shire, The Silurian dialect then became that of the court or government, and consequently the dialect of literature. Its use Avas con tinued even in the courts of North Wales, and among their writers. Their numerous bards, SO " SOUTH AVALES. from the eleventh to the fourteenth century, all wrote in the Silurian dialect, on the princi ples of Avhich all their verbs are inflected, all their phraseologies and idioms constructed. ; It Avas a remarkable usage of the Welsh, de rived from high antiquity, for the son to take the Christian name of his father for his own surname. This custom still prevails to a very considerable extent in the mountains of Gla morgan, and in the adjoining counties of Brecknock and Monmouth. It is much less commonly retained in the other parts of the principality. After the incorporation of Eng land and Wales in the time of Henry the Eighth, Judge Mostyn and other persons of consequence in North Wales recommended it to the inhabitants, to adopt regular and per manent family surnames, after the manner of the English. The principal motive for urging this "request was, to prevent that confusion which, on the ancient system, Avas perpetually occuring in the law courts, and on many other occasions. Judge Mostyn himself set the ex ample, by adopting the name of his OAvn house for his surname. It is to be supposed that a fashion would be folloAved, Avhich originated in such high authority. Many heads of families took the names of their oavii houses, estates, or places of abode. This practice Avas most popular in North Wales, Avhere Ave find the GLAMORGANSHIRE. 91 surnames of Carreg, Madryn, Glynn, Coed- mor, Pennant, and many of a similar descrip tion. Others adopted Avhatever the names of their fathers happened to be, and fixed them as permanent appellations in the family. The latter mode Avas received Avith the most cor dial approbation by the Welsh in general, and especially by the inhabitants of South Wales. A man, named John, Avhose father's name Avas William, called himself John William, and his son in turn avouIcI be William John. The son of Thomas Richard Avas Richard Thomas. The son of Robert Henry was Henry Robert. Hence is derived the singularity, so striking to all travellers in Wales, that there are so few families names ; and hence arise the nu merous families, unconnected with each other, of Johnes's or Jones's, Williams's, Richards's, Thomas's, Henry's, Roberts's, and many others. It proceeds from the same cause, that the sur names in Wales are generally the same as the Christian names in common use. At the period to which vAve are referring, the old Welsh names were to the full as prevalent, as those that haA'e just been enumerated. The father of one man was named Traherne; the son Avas called LleAvellyn; he therefore became, according to the neAV mode, LleAvellyn Traherne; and Traherne became from that time alternately convertible Avith . LleAvellyn. The father of ?J2 SOUTH WALES. / another Avas called HoAvel ; the father of a third Owen ; and so on through the Avhole catalogue. When therefore Ave consider that these Avere Christian, though royal names, Ave are by no means to take it for granted that families, bearing such surnames as Traherne,.. LleAvellyn, Morgan, or Owen, are for that reason the more likely to have been descended from ancient princes, or any other great men of former times, though their present opulence and respectability may confer on them an -im portance in society more than equal to that which is derivecLfrom high and remote origin. It Avould be quoted as an instance of xevy sin gular absurdity, if any Englishman, on no better evidence than the fact of his bearing the family name of Stevens, Avere to deduce his extraction from the monarch Avhose Chris tian name Avas Stephen. The descendants of the old princes are well knoAvn ; and I am credibly informed, that the instances are very rare, in which the families of those houses have for their surname the Christian name of any one in the list of their ancestors. 1 his adoption of surnames, on either of the principles here laid down, or any other, Avas not carried into effect all at once, at the time it was first proposed, but on the contrary took place very gradually. Indeed the degrees by which its progress has been carried fonvard GLAMORGANSHIRE. Q$ are so very sIoav, and the reluctance to in novation is so rooted in the minds of the Welsh, that the modern system has not yet more than half established itself amons' the common people, throughout the counties of Glamorgan and Monmouth, with part of Brecknockshire. , The agriculture of this- county does not keep pace Avith the fertility of the soil. South Wales in general is far behind England in this most important branch of improvement. But Brecknockshire, perhaps Pembrokeshire, and certainly Cardiganshire, seem to me to be inhabited by gentry, more intent on the intro duction of the modern improved farming, and more determined by perseverance to conquer the prejudices of the natives. The agricultural society here is extremely imperfect, especially with respect to the present state and circum stances of the county. It Avas formed about forty years ago, and probably was well adapted to the state of knowledge at that period : but it has availed itself little of those neAV prin ciples and discoveries, Avhich have since been added to the stock of general information on the subject of husbandry. A tract of land can scarcely be found, more inviting to scien tific cultivation, than the vale of Glamorgan between the mountains and the sea: yet per haps that very circumstance is unfavourable to 9i SOUTH WALES. industry and enterprize. In addition to natu ral fruitfulness they have lime every Avhere at command for manure : and this facility af fords a strong temptation to that act of cruelty and injustice, Avhich the farmers call driving the land. With respect to the rate at Avhich land lets, it is impossible in this or any of the Welsh counties to ascertain any thing like an average. Situation will every where enter largely into the calculation, as Avell as quality; but in a mountainous country, the difference of value becomes too great to be reducible to any standard. In Glamorganshire, good land situated near a considerable town lets almost as high as within five miles of London; but land among the northern hills, scarcely reclaimed,' and from its locality irreclaimable to any very lucrative purpose, is of course Ioav in its rent, and occupied only by tenants, natives of the hills, and unacquainted Avith the superior ad vantages and comforts enjoyed by the farmer in the vale. Pasturage and corn do not ap pear to be affected by the sea air or spray of the tides, but seem rather improved by them: at least this appears to be the case in the vale of Glamorgan and in GoAver, Avhere the soils near the sea afford finer grasses and a richer verdure than further up the country. Another material consideration Avhich affects the value of farms, is right of mountain : where that is \ GLAMORGANSHIRE. Q5 attached to an estate, it compensates in some degree for distance from markets or poverty of soil. But Avhat distinguishes and enriches this county above all the rest, is the profusion of coal, iron, and lime-stone, Avith Avhich it every Avhere abounds. It is to be observed, Iioav- ever, that in the parish of YstradyvodAvg, and for the most part in the north of the county, there is no lime-stone to be found, but that kind of siliceous stone, or rock, of a schistose nature in some of its strata, Avhich every where attends coal and irOn. The earth, indeed, of Avhich this tract is composed, taken externally and internally, seems to be full of every thing necessary to the use and convenience of man. Manure, metal, and the means of manufactur ing that metal, are all found on the same spot ; so that industry is exerted at the least possible expense, and consequently to the greatest pos sible advantage. The rivers and mountain torrents, so remarkable in this district, afford an ample supply of Avater for all the purposes of life, as Avell as the means of procuring that artificial and cheap conveyance, which is among the most ingenious improvements of the present age. With respect to that most extensive bed of lime-stone, of Avhich nearly the whole, of Glamorganshire forms only a part, it commences eastward on the borders of Wiltshire, and, taking a western direction, 96 SOUTH WALES. runs through Somersetshire, under the Bristol Channel, through Glamorgan Vale, and under Swansea Bay, appearing again in Gower, and, having passed under Caermarthen Bay, is seen to occupy in great part the south and Avest of Pembrokeshire, and particularly almost the Avhole of Castle Martin hundred : it then takes its course through St. George's Channel, and is found in Ireland in that exact bearing, Avhich unquestionably marks its continuity. I have been credibly informed, that having passed under the Atlantic, it appears again in Canada and Labrador, and is supposed to zone the terrestrial globe in nearly the same parallel of latitude. At the point in Wiltshire from Avhich Ave suppose it to set out, it dips under the chalk, running eastward into Germany, till it meets the Avestward vein. The mountainous parts of Glamorgan pro duce Avith sufficient liberality, oak, ash, beech, and all the common forest trees. In the vale near the sea-shore, we find but very little oak,, though it seems to be indigenous in other parts, especially in the neighbourhood of Landough. Near the sea, it abounds most about Porth- kerry and Margam. In these parts there is no beech, birch, or alder, but what have pro bably been planted. The largest of the former are in the north-east part of the county. Elrrir appears to be a native, and is every Avhere seen GLAMORGANSHIRE. 97 springing up spontaneously in the hedges and copses, especially between Cowbridge and the sea. It is not observed to be of indigenous growth in any other part of Wales, where it is Only planted by art in gentlemen's parks, and makes a part of their modern improvements. It bears the sea air much better than any of the timber trees, unless we except the syca more, which may be" added to the natives. Next to these, the ash is least affected by a marine exposure. Of exotics, the Scots fir, plane, larch, and some others groAV well in the sea-air, as may be observed in the groves of the Rev: Mr. EdAvards, at Gileston, Avithin a quarter of a mile of the coast, where vari ous kinds of myrtles are seen to gnnv and .flourish in the open air, without being housed in winter. The mildness of the climate re quires no better proof. The antiquity of the cottages is a strongly- marked feature in the appearance of this county." There is little doubt that many of 'them are as ancient as the castles to which they Avere attached. Their architecture is as deserving of observation, as that of more ostentatious buildings. The pointed door-vrays, and pointed windoAVS, sufficiently evince their date ; and, though Welsh towns are universally censured by strangers, for the inelegance and inconvenience of tfaeh houses, the direct re- VOL. I. H ; .98 SOUTH AVALES. verse is the fact with respect to the habitations of the peasantry here. There is no part of Eng land, Avhere the general appearance of the cot tages is more neat and respectable' than in Glamorganshire; and those of them Avhich are ancient Gothic, and they abound in every di rection, carry Avith them the recommendation of a venerable exterior, and a portion of in ternal room, comfort, and security from the elemeuts, rarely enjoyed by their felloAVS in any part of the world. In many cases it may be truly said, that the labourer is better lodged than his employer. , Another circumstance Avhich adds to the respectable appearance of the cottages is, the universal practice of whitening them; which gives a peculiar neat ness and gaiety to the villages, though their uniform glare is perhaps a little too dazzling for the eye. This has been the custom of the country from very remote ages, and is ex tended even to the barns, and stables, to the walls of yards and gardens. It is noticed and praised in the most ancient Welsh poems, and certainly evinces a very early sensibility, to the arts and decencies of life. Indeed an atten tion to such external appearances has at all times been favoured by the circumstances of a , country abounding with lime, coal to burn it, .and excellent stone for building. The price of provisions in this county has of GLAMORGANSHIRE; 9§ late years been very high, owing to the in creased demand of the manufacturing dis tricts, incapable, from their mountainous situ ation, of raising sufficient for their own supJ port. The price of labour is equally enhanced from the same cause. Every man knoAvs, that in case of disagreement Avith his employer, he has a probable resource at the various Avorks carried on in the county, Avhere high wages and constant employment hold out a strong temptation to exorbitance, in negotiating terms Avith individuals Avho are compelled^ Avith slender purses, to bid against the wealth of Merthyr Tydvil and Swansea. The increase of population, owing to the influx of commerce and the magnitude of its establishments, af fords another reason, why the cheap comforts and elegancies of life are no longer to be sought for here. The number of inhabitants is no \v computed at above sixty thousand ; and every year may be considered as augmenting the general proportion^ independent of local eauses. With respect to the singular cohstitutibns of the Lordships Marchers, no historian of Wales has hitherto given any thing approaching to a correct account. Their nature has, indeed, been little understood. Mr. Warrington's re presentation is the most justj as far as it goes; but it is very defective. An elaborate his* h 3 100 _ SOUTH WALES. tory of Wales, comparing the local documents of the country with the memorials of Saxon annalists, Avould tend very much to elucidate the early history of both nations, disfigured as it now is by animosity on the side of the con quered, and on that of the conquerors obscured by supercilious contempt. Mr. Warner, and most of the tourists, have adopted the ideas of the honourable Daines Barrington, Avith out examination, and have represented the Welsh as unable to construct any Avork of de fence beyond a rampart of sods, before king Edward the First taught them the art of for tification, at the expense of that liberty Avhich might have been presented by the previous knowledge. But surely a vieAv of the country furnishes some reasons for believing the opi nions of this gentleman to have been erroneous. If the ignorance of the people was so pro found, and the population so scanty, that no native prince or lord could have built Caer philly Castle in the thirteenth century, where were the workmen found to design and exe cute the cathedrals of Landaff and St. David's so long before? Yet skill in constructing works of defence may be supposed, in a Avar- like and turbulent age, to have preceded the less obvious and more recondite taste for edifices of pious magnificence. If the church drew its architects and labourers from Enjj* GLAMORGANSHIRE. 101 land or the continent, to perform Avhat the natives were incapable of accomplishing, surely the state must haA'e possessed some power to command, or some opulence to entice, the assistance it required. .) As I have already referred to these Lord-> ships Marchers, I shall here notice Avhat, I be lieve, has not hitherto been observed by any topographical writer. The Lordship of Gla morgan was subdivided into a great many petty lordships, in every one of which their lords exercised jura regalia, reserving, how ever, to the subject a right of appeal to the court of the chief lord, or, as he vras termed, the lord paramount. There are at least fifty ancient buildings still remaining in the district, universally understood to be the halls, in \yhich the courts of legislation and of justice were held for the respective petty lordships. They are noAV commonly called Church Houses, and belong to the parishes they happen to stand in. These halls are large rooms,, to which the as cent is by stairs from without. They are at present used as school-rooms, -and occasionally for dancing; an amusement still very common in Glamorganshire, though iioav beginning to decline. The ground-floor apartments under these balls are used as alms-houses for the poor of the parish, and are in most instances about three in number, in a few four, in some }02 SOUTH WALES. qthers only hvo. It also appears, by some ancient surveys and other accounts of the lord ships in which, they sjaud, that before the re formation a market was held in each of these halls eyery Sunday morning, till the tolling of. the first bell, which is said to have been in tended as a. notice for the business of the market to cease. The second bell was a signal pf preparation for church, and the third for the commencement of divine service, during which, no door but the church door Avas al lowed to be seen open. Whh respect to the Sunday-morning markets^ for the purpose of accommodating those persons, Avho received not their weekly pay till late on the Saturday llight,. it may be questioned, Avhether such an usage, easily reconciled with regularity and good order, has been Avisely or beneficially superseded by a puritanical observance, at the expense of comfort to the poor, Avhen only they can enjoy it. J,t is very remarkable, that great immorali ties do not prevail in any part of Wales, not even in places contiguous to large manufacto ries, especially if the English language happens, to be but little spoken. One reason for this probably is, that though there are accounted to be about tAvo thousand books in the Welsh language, there are none of immoral tenden cies,, none that propagate principles pf infi-. GLAMORGANSHIRE. 103 delity. Indeed, so alive are the common people to the dignity of their oavh literature, that it is probable, no modern refinement in either branch of instruction Avould be tole-- rated, but AVould, on the contrary, expose its' author to the indignation of his countrymen, Avho are not yet aAvare of the possibility, that the sacredness of a printed book ever Avas, or, can be, converted to any but moral and bene ficial purposes. It may perhaps in some mea sure be attributed to their general acquaintance with their own legendary poems and tales, composed by scholars in the literature of the age and place, such as it Avas, that there are few if any parts of England, Avhere the loAver classes of the people speak Avith so grammatical a propriety. Those of them Avho speak Eng lish, though but a feAV words, pronounced in an accent that an Englishman can scarcely recog nize, still contrive to translate literally, but Avith an miAvitting accuracy, their vernacular idioms into a phraseology, the figurative style of which produces a most Avhimsical effect in its foreign clothing. A countryman, Avho sheAved me one of the lakes in Cardiganshire, with very great difficulty both to himself and me, conveyed an idea of its depth by saying, that a house might stand at the bottom of it, with his forehead under water. .This is a most uncouth personification ;in English; but' I 104 SOUTH WALE-S. doubt not that retranslated his thought in the best manner he could, and that the expression in Welsh Avould have sounded neither absnrd nor far-fetched. The common conversation of the country is altogether made up of meta phors and figures: a man in distress has a black cloud hanging over him; and every ob* ject in nature is mustered in regular array, to furnish a description of his joys orsorroAV§, his circumstances or wishes. Another reason why the people are more respectable and better informed, than might be expected in a district apparently little calculated for the progress of improvement, is, that the advan tages of decent education have been longer established in Wales, than in most parts of England. I do not mean to affirm, that at the present moment -the Welsh peasantry are better taught than the English, because the instruction of the poor has of late been taken up in England by persons of condition; and the benevolent institutions of this country, when once their necessity is felt and acknow ledged, are seldom allowed to relax in their progress towards universal utility. But I ap prehend our middle-aged and elderly poor to be much more ignorant, than the middle-aged and elderly poor of Wales, at least in that part with Avhich I am acquainted: and a certain portion of knowledge having descended here- GLAMORGANSHIRE. 105 ditarily from father to son for several succeed ing generations, it is more firmly rooted and more generally spread, than where it is of very recent acquirement, though the immediate op portunities are superior. It has been urged as an objection to Sunday and other day schools with us, that the children unlearn at ' home with their ignorant parents, faster than the efforts of their instructors can induce them to learn: but this objection Avould rarely be found to apply in the principality. There are few persons in the towns, Avho are unable to read ; and even in the villages, and the more mountainous parts, schools are very common, and in many instances of ancient establish ment. Where there is no hall, as before de scribed, and- espeqially in the mountains, the school is kept either in the church porch, or in the body of the church. There are many circumstances pf local man ners, totally differing from the habits and cha racter of their felloAv islanders, which cannot fail to strike the most superficial observer. An uncommon vivacity, both of tone and ges-^, ture, meeting ¦ half way the saturnine demean our of the English and the caricatured vehe mence of the French, with an uniformity and peculiarity of dress, gives in a great degree a foreign air to every concourse of the country people. The dress in Glamorganshire is not 106 SOUTH WALES.' so strongly marked as in most other counties, except that the Avomen universally adopt the man's hat: but they Avear it with a very good grace, and are remarkably neat in their attire, as well as comely in their persons, and grace ful in their carriage. This cleanliness and de cency in dress, as well as in general habits, under Avhatever depression of poverty they may-labour, is a genuine characteristic of true civilization. It has already been mentioned, that dancing is a favourite amusement Avith them; and they practise it Avith a skill almost exclusively their own. There are feAv in the condition of servants, who cannot dance Avell; and the gentry not unfrequently introduce their domestics into the set, on occasions of festivity, Avhen numbers add to the zest, with out detracting from the decorum of their re creation. Their modes of greeting are unusually af fectionate, sometimes bordering on the ludi crous, among the Avomen particularly, Avho are constantly seen saluting each other at market, and on the most ordinary occasions of busi ness: but on occasions of distress, to omit this sympathetic ceremony, even toAvards the most ordinary- acquaintance, Avould be considered as an instance, rarely occurring, of pertinacious or misanthropic opposition to the common charities of nature. Ill may it befall the GLAMORGANSHIRE. 107 traveller, Avhov has the misfortune of meetinsr a Welsh Avedding on the road. The custom is, to force away the bride from her friends. Then one party, consisting of the bridegroom and his associates, Avho are iioav in possession of the bride, gallop towards the church, as if running aAvay from their pursuers. At some distance, the relatives and friends of the not unwillingly constrained damsel pursue Avith great violence, affecting to attempt a rescue, for Avhich however they systematically arrive too late. This rustic ballet of action prevails more hoAvever in some parts of Caermarthen- shire and Brecknockshire than in this county/ and is the universal pantomime of a Welsh Aved- ding in the neighbourhood of Lamvrtyd Wells. Their customs in case of death are not less remarkable. The bed on Avhich the corpse lies is ahvays strewed Avith floAvers, and the same usage is observed after it is laid in the coffin. They bury much earlier than Ave do in England; seldom later than the third da)', and very frequently on the second. This haste would, be considered here as less respectful and affectionate: yet, take their customs in the aggregate, and they will be found to be more so. Indeed, respect or the reverse on such 'occasions is altogether determined by opinion. The custom or ceremony is in itself nothing, any further than as it supposed to indicate the 108 SOUTH WALES. mind. It appears to me that the custom of burying early is in every respect the most proper, Avhere the evidence of actual mor tality is decisive. Ju this part of the country especially it is for the interest of the living; for the habit of filling the bed, the coffin, and the room, with sweet-scented flowers, though originating probably in delicacy as well as af fection, must of course have a strong tendency to expedite the progress of decay. The at tentions which ¦ immemorial presciiption de mands from a family, are such as could not be continued long Avithout serious inconve nience. It is. an invariable practice, both by day and night, to Avatch a corpse; and so firm a hold has this supposed duty gained on their imaginations, that probably there is no instance1 On record of a family so unfeeling and aban doned, as to leave a dead body in the room by itself for a single minute, in the interval be- tAveen the death and burial. Such a violation of decency would be remembered for genera tions. The hospitality of the country is not less remarkable on melancholy than on joyful occasions. There are never any invitations to a funeral. All come uninvited ; and it would be deemed disrespectful for any one in the neigh bourhood not to attend ; though according to the English custom, with which the higher classes more frequently comply, none join in GLAMORGANSHIRE. 109 the ceremony but such as are invited. In all events of high domestic concern, Avhether me lancholy or joyful, neighbourhoods are con sidered as of Avide extent. Any deficiency in the supply of ale would be as severely cen sured on this occasion, as at a festival. With respect to these peculiarities, it is to be un derstood that they apply rather to the farmers and peasantry, than to persons of condition, • who are apt to lose their nationality, and con tract the manners and opinions of the polite world : but streAviiig floAvers and watching the corpse are universal among all ranks and de grees, because the observance or neglect of , such ceremonies depends on servants and nurses, whose minds are always peculiarly susceptible of local and superstitious preju- dices. The grave of the deceased is con stantly Overspread with plucked fiOAvers for a Aveek or tAvo after the faneTal; the planting of graves Avitla flowers is confined to the villages-, and the pporfer people. It is perhaps a pret tier custom. It is very common to dress the graves on Whitsunday, and other festivals, when flowers are to be procured : and the fre quency of this observance is a good deal af fected by the respect in which the deceased was held. My father-ih-laAv's grave in Cow bridge church has been strewed by his surviv ing servants, every Sunday morning for these twenty years. It is usual $>'r a family nop to 1 10 SOUTH WALES. appear at church till Avhat is called the month's end, when they go in a' body, and then are considered as having returned to the common offices of life Beside these peculiarities, what iii Wales are called corps' candles, are often imagined to appear and foretell mortality. In thef county of Caermarthen, it is seldom that a person dies Avithout his light or candle being s,een. There is a similar superstition among the vulgar in Northumberland. They call it seeing the waff of the person whose death it foretells. Mr. Pennant, in describing the cus toms of the Highlands, informs us, that in cer tain places death is supposed to be foretold by the cries and shrieks of Benshi, or the fairy's Avife, uttered along the very path by which the funeral is to pass. There is an account of the fetch-lights, or dead men's candles, in the first volume of the Athenian Oracle. It is- to be observed, hoAvever, that these opinions respect ing fairies and their lights are now entirely confined to the lowest of the people. Chaucer, though born in a dark age, throAVS a comic colouring on the creed of fairy mythology, in his Canterbury Tales. The Wife of Bath in troduces her narrative thus: In olde dayes of the king Artour, All was this lond fulfilled of Faerie j The Elf.quene with hirejol'y compagnie Danced, ful -oft in- many a grene mede, This was the old opinion as I rede. GLAMORGANSHIRE. ]]1 Gervase of Tilbery, Avho Avrote in 1211, mentions another, set of apparitions Avhich were called , fam iii a Arturi. "In sylvis Brittannia? inajoris aut minoris consimilia eontigisse refe- runtur, narrantibus nemprum- custodibus, quos forestariosvulgus nominat, se alternis diebus circa horam meridianam, et in primo noctium conticinio sub plenilunio luna lucente, saepis- sime videre militum copiam venantium et ca- num et corn u urn strepitum, qui scissitantibus se de societatq et familia. Arturi esse affir mant." He had just said that Arthur, not long before, had been seen in a palace, "miroopere constructo," in a most delicious valley in the neighbourhood of Mount iEtna, Avhere he had resided ever since the time of his supposed death, " vulneribus quotannis recrudescenti- bus." See Glossary to Chaucer. The Roman stations, forts, aud camps, in this county, are generally understood to be at Cardiff, Caerphilly, Caera; the Britons gene rally prefixing the Avon! Caer to places forti fied by the Romans, as the Saxons termed them Chester, both from castruin : Avhether the Roman Bovium was at Cowbridge, or' at Lantwit Major, the learned have disagreed. The great Roman road runs pver Newton Down, leaving the present road on the right,' and passes through Kenfig to Margam, and, 'as straight as > the nature of the country will ad mit, through Aberavon, parish to Neath. 112 SOUTH WALES. In the earlier volumes of the Archasologia, published by the Antiquarian Society, niay be found some curious papers on Welsh antiqui ties, well worth the notice of the historian. Mr. Edward Lloyd's Itinerary through Wales, published in the Philosophical Transaction, also deserves attention. Mr. Gongh's Anec dotes of British Topography will acquaint the reader with many very rare and curious tracts, in print and manuscript, relating to Wales, and indeed to every part of the kingdom, which are but very imperfectly knoAvn. Mr. John Wilkins, goldsmith to king James the First, furnished Drayton with many of those curious particulars relative to Wales, which are not to be met with elsewhere. Mr. Davis of Crin ged, near Neath, has undertaken a history of Glamorganshire. 113 CHAP, lit Aburthin, Welsh St. Donatts. Hensol. Ystradowen. Ash- Hall. Chapel Talegarn. Lantrisent. The following tour was performed in the months of June, July, August, September, and October, 1803; The pjan which I adopted was that of Avalking ; but taking a servant on horseback, for the conveyance of books as well as necessaries, Avithout which convenience ah most every advantage of a pedestrian is lost, except economy, and that is completely frus trated by so expensive an addition. It is not in my power to carry my reader from stage to stage in the order in which I performed my journey, because I made two circuits of South Wales, one in June and July, the other in August, September, and October, and by this arrangement, enjoyed the beauties of the two seasons. On both occasions I visited the fol lowing places: Lantrisent, Cardiff, Brecknock, Buallt, Rhayader, Aberystwith, Cardigan, Ha- verford West, Pembroke, Tenby, Landilo Vawr, SAvansea, Neath, and Bridgend ; bcgin- VOL, I. I 114 SOUTH WALES. ning and ending on both occasions with Cow bridge. At each of these places I arrived by a totally different route, which enabled me to comprehend at least tAvo-thirds of each county ; and as it would be tediously uninteresting to the reader to be informed as to the precise time at which each point of view was observed, I shall only draw his attention to personal cir cumstances on occasions, Avhen the appearance of nature resulted peculiarly from the state of the seasons, of when the authenticity of my information was materially strengthened, by the sources from which it Avas, derived. On paper, therefore, I shall for the most part steer -my course, in the direction pointed out by the map; a regularity which Avill, I hope, more than compensate for the omission of those road side anecdotes, which fill the page with a very disproportionate entertainment, and little ac cession to the stock of useful matter. ' The vale of Glamorgan has, from frequent- visits and family connection, necessarily ob tained a larger share of my research, than those more distant parts, which Avere only- visited in the capacity of a traveller; and as I made many short excursions from Coav- bridge, where I was for some time stationary, for the sake pf saving time and labour on my extended tour, I shall begin my description GLAMORGANSHIRE; 115 With some account of those places, which were so visited. The village of Aburthin lies at a short dis tance to the northreast of Cowbridge. It claims attention on no other ground than that of its presenting a rural and retired spot, highly ornamented by some remarkably neat white cottages, in the usual style of this County, with small gardens very neatly keptj and Avell planted both for ornament and use. Between Aburthin and Welsh St. Donatts, in a very narroAV lane, there is a tree, for size and luxuriance, well Ayorth the. attention of those who are curious in- such particulars. The name of the last-mentioned village seems to have been imposed, for the purpose of dis tinguishing it from St. Donatts by the sea side, Avhich Avas occupied by a part of the Flemish colony, settled at Lantwit Major: but this village Avas entirely inhabited by native Welsh; and it is very remarkable, that though it lies Avithin little more than a mile of the great road from England to Mil ford and Ireland, there is perhaps scarcely a village in the principality, where less: English is spoken. The situation, particularly that of Mr. Llewellyn's house, is agreeable, without being striking. In this village are several specimens of the genuine Welsh pig-sty, the conical form and solid fa bric of Avhich give an air of architectural dig- i 2 116 SOUTH AVALES. nity to these edifices, not granted to the habi tations of so slovenly a race in England. But the pigeon-houses are in many places really or namental: their height, size, and circular con struction, give them at a distance the effect of castellate tOAvers; and some of them are ac tually of very considerable antiquity. From the top of an elevated common just beyond Welsh St. Donatts, you look doAvU on the vil lage of Peterston to the right ; and before you lies Hensol, the house and. grounds belonging to Avhich are seen to more advantage from this spot, than from any situation in the neighbour hood. The front of the mansion is completely visible, at a proper distance; and its style is particularly imposing in a country Avhich can* not be said to abound in specimens of good building. Samuel Richardson, esq. is the present proprietor of this estate, by purchase from lord Talbot, who takes from it his second title of baron Hensol. But the Talbot family derived this inheritance from an intermarriage Avith the survivor of the Jenkins's, Avho Avere the ancient Welsh possessors of Hensol. The lord chancellor Talbot married Miss Mathews, great grand-daughter and heir to David Jen kins of Hensol, one of the justices of Wales, distinguished for his learning in his profession, and for his steady, adherence to the cause of king Charles the First. He died in the year GLAMORGANSHIRE. 117 166A; his Avife died on the 12th of February, 1671. David Jenkins, esq. his son, died on the 18th of March, l696;,gMary his Avife died in September, 1667- Richard Jenkins, esq. grandson of the judge, died on the 1 6th of July, 1721. This Richard Jenkins, commonly called captain Jenkins, Avas a very good per former on the Welsh harp," and seems to have inherited undiminished that affection for Welsh poetry and music, Avhich had distinguished the Jenkins's of Hensol from time immemorial. He is said to have made his oavii harps. He was a gentleman of very considerable singu larities, and, as Ave generally find in such cases, of mixed character: but the good predomi nated over the bad. He was sp generally re spected and esteemed among his tenantry and in his neighbourhood, that the Avarmth and Avildness of his temper were forgotten in the effects of his benevolence. He Avas the last Jenkins of Hensol: but he had the satisfac tion of living to see his sister Avell married, and her only daughter become the wife of a man, Avho was not likely to tarnish the an cient honours of the house, though the. name of Jenkins was sunk. Catharine his wife died on the 19th of June, 1719- The late lord Talbot, son of the lord chancellor, added the two wings with the towers to Hensol,, be tween tbe years, 1730 and 1740, which gave it 118 SOUTH WALES. its present castellate appearance, and restored , its outAvard shoAV to that rank, which it id said anciently to have h§ld among the castles. Its exterior is indeed more in unison Avith that character, than that of any modernised or1 re built mansion in Glamorganshire. To the late lord Talbot likeAvise the place OAves its planta tions, formed on the inseparable principles of good taste and utility; indeed, from him it de rives all its finished improvements. It Avas the eldest son of the lord chancellor, whom Thomson accompanied in his travels, and whose death he laments so feelingly in the introductory lines to his " Liberty." Mr. Richardson,- the present owner, seems dis posed to pay as much attention to the agri cultural, as lord Talbot did to the decorath'e, improvement of Hensol. He farms about six hundred and fifty acres; the high grounds to the north of the house, Avhich at once shelter, and give an air of grandeur to the place, af. ford the best sheep-walk m the county. Mr. Richardson has greatly improved the demesne by irrigation, the direct object of Avhich of course is to produce more copious crops of grass. But a collateral advantage of this system is, that the channels Avhich he has formed for conveying the water over the land, serve as drains for the moisture in the lpAver grounds; and this, is. the more important, as GLAMORGANSHIRE. 1 1^ the inconvenience could not be sufficiently removed by gutters underneath. There is a very fine, piece of artificial water, measuring twenty-five acres; and the dimensions of the pond betAveen the house and mill are five and a half. The farm-yard, Avith its threshing machine, and other modern improvements, is in a style superior to the usual habits of the country. The grounds in general are rich and pleasing, and frorn the summit pf the heights Avhich bound the premises on the north and Avest, command a magnificent and extensive vieAv of the fertile vale beloAV. On the Avhole, this place contains a more than ordinary share of domestic attractions and agricultural capacity, Avith the addition pf much picturesque beauty, YstradoAven is remarkable for the battle fought between Conan ap Sitsylht and the Saxons, and still more so, for the meeting of the Welsh bards, under the -immemorial pa tronage of the Hensol family, at whpse ex pense they Avere annually entertained, with every indication of native hospitality, on the 28th day of May. The last assembly under these auspices took place on the 3§th of May, 1720; for though Richard Jenkins, the last of the family, lived till July 1721, it'does not ap pear that the meeting Avas patronized as usual ithat year; perhaps on account of his declining ISO SOUTH WALES, state. It Avas, however, continued for some years after his death, though it gradually dwindled into nothing, in consequence ,of the new family at Hensol looking with indifference on the institution, and Avithdrawing the ac customed liberality of the patrons. After the year 1730, or thereabouts, Ave hear nothing of the bardic competitions at Ystradowen. The house Avhere the bards Avere entertained is still standing. But it is to be observed, that this assembly Avas not held according to the most ancient and approved forms and ceremonies. The most exact observers did not allow it to be regular and canonical, and consequently their displeasure, as well as the absence of the old and substantial hospitalities, may be sup posed to have contributed to its dissolution. Ash-Hall is the residence of Richard Au brey, esq. colonel of the Glamorganshire mi litia, and brother to sir John Aubrey, bart. of Lantrythid. This is one of the most de sirable places in the county, on a small and unaffected scale. Viewed from a distance, it holds out no inducement for the traveller to deviate from his path; but when arrived there* he is surprised to, find that, from an eminence, gentle and apparently inconsiderable, he com mands the Avhole of the rich and fertile flat be tween the spot he stands on and the Bristol Channel, the view of which, on a bright day, GLAMORGANSHIRE. l%\ with the Somersetshire and Devonshire hills beyond, is singularly beautiful, while the situa tion itself is skirted by a Avoody shelter, and emboldened by the range of hills bounding the prospect on the north. Without any ostenta tious display, inconsistent with the dimensions of the homestead, , colonel Aubrey has brought his grounds into a state of cultivation and beauty, far beyond Avhat "they possessed when I first knew them, by the judicious application of moderate labour and expense, and particu larly by disencumbering the lawn of those stone fences, by Avhich it Avas formerly the custom of this country to shut out the beau ties of the surrounding scenery. On the road to Lantrisent, you leave Ash-Hall on the left, and, keeping the boundaries of Hensol on your right, enter on a road Avhich carries you from the track of English conversation and polished inhabitants. But nature, groAving wilder as more retired, amply recompences the pic turesque traveller for the loss. The landscape becomes bolder and more Avoody; the hills are , nearer, and their magnitude more imposing; and the situation of Lantrisent, Avhich fills Avith its white buildings the lofty pass betAveen two craggy peaks, imparts no common interest to his progress towards the mountains. The banks of the Ely about Chapel Talegarn are pleasingly grown about, and the character of 122 -SOUTH WALES. the river exhibits rural and quiet beauty. The ascent to Lantrisent is steep; but the pro spects become more and more striking as you advance, and are perpetually varied by the circuitous direction of the road, till on gain ing the church-yard you comprehend the magnificent Avhole at one view, iu which Pen nine Castle, always looking well at a distance, forms a striking featured The tOAvn has every thing against it, except situation. The houses, with the exception of two or three, are in a style very inferior, in point of comfort, to those even in Welsh towns, especially near the sea. But Lantrisent lying out of the high road betAveen Cardiff and Merthyr Tydvil, and at the beginning of the hilly country, its in tercourse Avith the vale is very limited and ir regular; and though a tOAvn not of very small population, the appearance of a stranger ex cites some curiosity and surprise. It takes its name from the church, dedicated to three saints ; a large Norman' edifice. Little re mains of the castle, besides the fragment of a 'circular toAver; but that little is Avorth visit ing, for the sake of the situation and view. One of the circumstances which most dis tinguishes the parish of Lantrisent, is that of its having given birth to sir Llewellyn, or Leolinus, Jenkins, of Avhose life it may not be •uninteresting to give a short abstract. It is GLAMORGANSHIRE. 123 an honourable peculiarity iii the history and Character of this country, and proves its aris- tocratical institutions to be tempered Avith practical freedom, that persons born in very humble situations are not unfrequently seen rising to the first offices of state : and Avhere such elevation is not suspected to have been owing to those party cabals, which give the needy and unprincipled an opportunity of lend ing themselyes to the purposes of men in high stations ; where no Avhimsical accident has thrust greatness on shoulders not designed to bear it; there is no page of biography more pleasing to read, no feature in the portrait of a nation to be studied with more adArantage, In the instance before us, no powerful patron age tore off the veil, which diffidence and Avant of opportunity too often cast over merit; to his own assiduity and incessant application, joined with a rational dependence on his own powers, this successful traveller in the. road of fortune was indebted for his first advancement, and. to unfailing probity for his multiplied and lasting honours. He was the son of Jenkin Llewellyn, a small freeholder, and Avas in structed in the rudiments of the Latin and Greek languages at a grammar school in Cow? bridge, whence he Avas removed to Oxford at the age of sixteen, and admitted a member of Jesus College in the year 1641. But on the 124 SOUTH. AVALES. breaking out of the civil wars, after having taken up arms for the royal cause, though he did ,not long continue in a military capacity, he was under the necessity of leaving the uni versity, and of returning to Glamorganshire. In a short time, he' was engaged as a tutor for the son of sir John Aubrey, at Lantrythid, which Avas then an asylum to the persecuted royalists. Here he became acquainted with many eminent characters, and amongst others, with Dr. Frewyn, archbishop of York, and Avith Dr. Sheldon, aftenvards archbishop of Canterbury, Having been forced, by the misfortunes of the times, to leave the king dom, after a second attempt to settle in Oxford, he travelled, during the period of three years, over a great part of France, Germany, and Holland, by Avhich means he acquired a proficiency in the languages of those countries. At the restoration, he re turned to Jesus 'College, and Avas elected one of the felloAvs. Soon after, on the resigna tion of Dr.Mansel, he was unanimously chosen principal of the society, When the Dutch Avar increased the business and fatigues Pf the court, he was, in consequence of his profound knoAvledge in civil and maritime law, made assistant to Dr. Exton, judge Of the admi ralty : and after he had exercised his func tions jointly for some time, on the death of GLAMORGANSHIRE. 125 the principal he was himself appointed sole judge; in which situation his charges and de cisions are deservedly held in repute even to the present day. In the year 1668, he Avas appointed by the archbishop of Canterbury, at the express desire of king Charles the Second^ to succeed Dr. Meiric as judge in the preroga- ' tive court of Canterbury: and his conduct in each court, Avas honourable to himself, in pro portion as it Avas satisfactory and beneficial to his country. Henrietta Maria, the AvidoAV of Charles the First, died in France in the year 1669. Her property Avas claimed by her ne phew LeAvis the Fourteenth. Dr. Jenkins Avith three others Avas commissioned to go to Paris, where he demanded and recovered the queen- mother's effects, discharged her debts, and provided for her interment: and king Charles the Second, to testify his high approbation of the services performed in this instance, con ferred on him the honour of knighthood on his return to England. His next appointment Avas to be one of the commissioners on the part of England, to treat Avith those autho rized from Scotland about an union between the two kingdoms. He Avas chosen a repre sentative in parliament for Hythe in Kent, one of the Cinque Ports, in the year 1671. In 1673, having resigned his situation as pi in- 126 SOUTH WALES. cipal of Jesus College, this rising statesman Avas appointed to attend a congress at Cologne, as ambassador and plenipotentiary with others, for the purpose of attempting to settle a treaty of peace under the mediation of Sweden, be tween the Emperor, Spain, and Holland, on the one part, and England and France on the other. The negociation having failed at Co logne, he Avas appointed One of the mediators in the discussion of the treaty at Nemiguen, in conjunction Avith the celebrated sir William Temple. From Nemiguen he Avas appointed ambassador extraordinary to the Hague, Avhere having continued a short time, he returned to Nemiguen, and succeeded most happily in ac commodating all differences. In 1679, he re turned to England, after having been em* ployed above four years in a tedious treaty. Soon after his arrival in England, he Avas elected one of the representatives for the university of Oxford. In 1680, he Avas SAvorn a privy counsellor, and Avas appointed secre tary of state. He retained the seals about four years, during a period of uncommon difficulty, OAvingto part}r rancour and animosity. On re signing his office as secretary of state, in con sequence of his declining health, he retired to Hammersmith, between three and four miles frotn the metropolis; bat having been again GLAMORGANSHIRE. 127 elected a member for the university of Ox ford, he Avas SAvorn of the privy council, after the accession of James the Second. But his indisposition speedily returned, and he died on the first of September, 1685. His remains were conveyed to Oxford, and interred in the area of Jesus College chapel, Avhere there is an epi taph written in Latin by his friend Dr. Fell, at that time bishop of Oxford and dean of Christ Church, Avhich enumerates his offices and ho nours in regular progression, and concludes Avith styling him almost a second founder of Jesus. Having never been married, his Avhole estate was bequeathed to charitable uses ; and by far the greatest part of it Avas left after Tiis death to that college, which he had so liberally patronized in his life-time. The events, which are here sketched, require no comment : but I would briefly call the atten tion of my reader to the circumstance, .that this distinguished knight, doctor of laws, judge, privy counsellor, and secretary of state, , was not worth a surname. The son of Jenkin Llewellyn, a common combination to this day, became sir LleAvellyn Jenkin, according to the very singular custom of this country; but the latter noun, to comply Avith English manners, was pluralized into a permanent surname, and, had he been married, would probably have 128 SOUTH WALE$. given birth to a higher race of Jenkins's, tt adds not a little to the pleasure, with which we contemplate so deserved an elevation, that Jenkin LleAvellyn and Elizabeth his Avife both lived till the year 1667, and consequently shared in the prosperity of their son. 129 CHAP. IV. Castella. Hey? Bridge,. Dukes Arrns. Porto Bella. Melift, Gruffyth.. Pentyrch. Chapel Laniltern. Landaff. St. Fagans. St. Lythans Common. Coedryglan. St. Nicholas! Dyffryn ~House. Cotterel. St. Georges* Peterston Super Ely. Bonvilston. Lantrythid Park. St. Hilary. Cow bridge. The" descent on the northern side of Lan trisent opens to the view a country, where the effects of cultivation are less generally visible, and the less expanded vale partakes the character of the hilly scenery by Avhich it is surrounded. On passing the cleft in Avhich the tOAvn stands, the change in the face of na ture is very striking, and the contrast of cha racter betAveen a mountain valley and that which you have just left, rarely impressei itself more strongly on the mind. From this eminence Castella, a seat belonging to the fa mily of Traherne, is seen to much advantage, and forms, by its cultivated and inhabited ap pearance, a gay and brilliant spot in a land scape, whose prevailing stymie is grand and sombre. ' It Avas once, as the name denotes, a fortified place : but Avhat bloody scenes have been acted there, it has not been my fortune VOL. T„ it 130 south wales. to discover. Perhaps its retirement within the hills has involved it in a peaceful and happy security. At Castella, various sorts of myrtles bear the open air in the shrubberies all the year round. May not this be con sidered as a proof, that the mountain climate is not much colder than that of the vale, though for the most part more humid, from the mists which frequently collect about the mountains, and are condensed into hasty showers, or continued and drizzly rains? At the bottom of the long descent, the road . on the right leads to Yr Evel Issa, and across the Taff to Caerphilly Castle ; but the road to New Bridge carries you straight forward up a hill, higher than that you have just descended, and places you at once in the unfrequented wilds, Avhich compose the interior of Glamor ganshire. For about three miles, nothing can be conceived more dreary than this almost im passable road : and it may not be unseasonable ' to inform the traveller, that it is impracticable to pass this way in a covered carriage, but with four horses, and then at' considerable risk to the vehicle. At very great inconvenience, and Avith every sensation the reverse of plea sure, is this broad and high ridge crossed over, where the effects of cultivation, so miserably disproportioned to the toil, impress a gloom beyond that of actual barrenness, without pos* GLAMORGANSHIRE. 131 sessing the sublimity of naked nature, to raise and inspire the imagination. But the change, on reaching the broAV of a very steep hill, a mile in length, is instantaneous and delightful. The vale of Taff displays itself at once, in the very spot where its artificial and natural beau ties are most eminently combined. The con fluence of the Taff and Rontha Vawr, each rolling impetuously over its bed of rocks; the braAvling of smaller and nearer rills, whose waters are unseen, hut the sound of their fall distinct; the amphitheatre of hills, of which?.. tAvo, the boldest and most grand, seem to de fend the passes of the Taff, and to be con nected by that stupendous bridge, viewed from this spot in all the triumphs of its art; the luxuriance of the hanging Avoods diversified by projecting masses of rock, that relieve the eye from the satiety of richness; the hills which close in upon the river above and beloAv this widest part of the vale; all these circum stances, rushing at once upon the sight, after a long interval of dreariness, combine to make up as pleasurable a scene, as the traveller can wish for, to recompense his labours. The effect of the bridge is much more sensibly felt, if it is first seen from this eminence, than if your ap proach is from the Cardiff road; and I must take occasion here to observe, that the vale of Taff is viewed to more advantage, by taking . /K 2 152 , SOUTH AVALES. the turnpike road from New Bridge to Car diff or Landaff, than by coming up from either of those places. The appearance of the bridge from the hill on the Lantrisent road has gene rally been likened to that of a rainbow, from the lightness, Avidth, and elevation, of the arch. Without Weighing the exactness of % simile, I may safely say that the effect of such a struc ture, in such a position between two rocky but Avell-Avopded crags, with a considerable reach of the river and valley seen through the lofty arch, affords an instance scarcely to be parah leled, of art happily introduced among the wildest scenes of nature. It is a question therefore to be asked, what eminent ai'tist, whether from our own or some foreign acar demy, furnished this extraordinary design. But as the circumstances of this Welsh bridge- builder were totally different from those, in which so celebrated a work might be supposed to have been undertaken, I conceive that it will be adding something to the stock of in teresting biography, if I supply the-deficiencies of former publications, by the following ac count, drawn up from the communications of his son David Edwards, Avith which I was favoured at his own house, in the month of October, 1803. William EdAvards was the son of a farmer, who had two other sons and a daughter. The GLAMORGANSHIRE. }$$ family lived in the parish of Eglwysilan, in the county of Glamorgan, very near the spot which Avas hereafter to be the foundation of its celebrity. William Edwards was born in the year 1719- His father died when he was only tAvo years old. He was the youngest soli. He, with his other two brothers and sister, lived Avith their mother on the farm, till he was about sixteen or eighteen years of age. When he had reached his fifteenth year, he frequently repaired the walls, or stone fences, Of the farm. Every traveller, Avho is ac quainted Avith Wales, must have remarked, that such fences are common in the mountain district. He Avas observed to perform his Work in a style uncommonly neat and firm, and with an expedition surpassing that of most others. Some friends, observing this, advised the elder brother Io encourage him in fhts employment, not only on their OAvn farm, but in the service of any neighbours, who might Avish to engage him. William readily assented to this proposal, and Avorked almost continu ally at wall-building, for Avhich occupation his talents Avere in eager request. He added his earnings regularly to the common stock of his mother and brothers, Who carried on the busi ness of the farm. The fences in this part of the country are called iii technical phraseology dry walls, from the circumstance of their being 154 SOUTH WALES. constructed Avithout any mortar. Some time after he had exercised his ingenuity in this way, some masons, regularly brought up to the trade, came to the neighbourhood for the purpose of erecting a shed for shoeing horses at a smith's and farrier's shop. William Ed wards admired the neatness Avith which they constructed the pillars, and other parts of the shed, and felt an anxious Avish for the ability to do the sarrie.- He often left his Avork, and came to a field opposite the smith's shop, where the masons Avere employed. He ob served that Avith the common mason's hammer of the country, one , end of which is also an axe, they Avere able to dress their stones very neatly; and this led him to the discovery, that the principal reason Avhy he could not do the same, arose from his hammer not being steeled. He made all possible haste therefore to pro cure from a smith some hammers better suited to his purpose, such as he observed those masons to use ; and found that Avith them he could execute his dry-walling much better, and Avith a neatness far beyond what he had before been able to accomplish Being thus furnished with proper tools, and having ac-r quired a degree of dexterity in the use, of them, he aspired to a higher, rank m his pro fession; and from a dry-wall builder, hoped to become a builder of houses. Soon after? GLAMORGANSHIRE. 135 wards he undertook to build a little Workshop for a neighbour; and gained great applause for the propriety with Avhich he performed his contract. But a very short period had elapsed, before he was employed to erect a mill in his own parish ; and it Avas in the prosecution of this building, that he first became acquainted with the principles of an arch. When this mill was finished, it did not merely meet with cold approbation, but was admired by all ap proved judges as an excellent piece of masonry. He was now considered as the best workman in that part of the country. Employment was thrust upon him on better grounds than Mal- volio's greatness ; and as skill and fidelity are indispensably requisite in a business, which re quires the evidence of time and experience to detect faults, not then to be remedied, appli cation Avas generally made to William Edwards, by those Avho wished to avoid both disappoint ment and altercation. In 1746, he undertook to build a neAV bridge over the river Taff/ at the spot, the singularities of Avhich have intro duced him to our attention. This he executed in a style superior to any thing of the kind in this, or indeed any other part of Wales, for neatness of workmanship and elegance of de sign. It consisted of three arches, elegantly light in their construction. The heAvn stones were excellently w?ll dressed and closely 136 SOUTH WALES. jointed. It Avas admired by all Avho saAv it. But this river runs through a very deep vale, that is more than usually woody, and croAvded about With mountains. It is also to be con sidered, that many other rivers of no mean capacity, as the Crne, the Bargoed Taff, and. the Cynon, besides almost numberless brooks that run through long, deep, and Avell-wooded Vales or glens, fall into the Taff in its progress. The descents into these vales from the moun tains being in general very steep, the Avater in long and heavy rains collects into these rivers With great rapidity and force; raising floods that in their descriptions would appear abso lutely incredible to the inhabitants of open and flat countries, where the rivers are nei ther so precipitate in their courses and pro*' jections, nor have such hills on each side to swell them with their torrents. Such a flood unfortunately occurred after the completion of this undertaking, which tore up the largest trees by the roots, and carried them doAvn the river to the bridge, where the arches Avere not sufficiently Avide to admit of their passage. Here therefore they Avere detained. Brush wood, weeds, hay, straw, and Avhatever lay in the way of thg flood, came down, and col lected about the branches of the trees, Avhich stuck fast in the arches, and ehoaked the free current of the water. In consequence of this GLAMORGANSHIRE. 137 obstruction to the flood, a thick and strong dam, as it Avere, was thus formed. The aggre gate of so many collected streams, being un able to get any further, rose here to a pr6- digious height, and with the force of its pres* sure carried the bridge entirely aAvay before it. William Edwards had given the most ampld security, both in his OAvn person and the .sure-' tires of respectable friends, for the stability of the bridge during the space of seven years. Of course he Avas obliged to erect another; and he proceeded on his duty Avith all possi ble speed.* The bridge had only stood about two years and a half. The second bridge wa* of one arch, for the purpose of admitting freely under it Avhatever incumbrances the floods might bring doAvn. The Span or chord of this arch Avas. one hundred and forty feet; its altitude thirty-five feet; the segment of a circle Avhose diameter Avas one hundred and seventy feet. The arch Avas finished, but the parapets not yet erected, Avhen such Avas the pressure of the unavoidably ponderous wdr% over the haunches, that it sprung up in the middle, and the key-stones were forced out. This Avas a severe1 blow to a man, Avho had hitherto met Avith nothing but misfortune in an enterprize, Avhicli Avas to establish or ruin him iii his profession. William Edwards, hoAV- ever, possessed a courage which did not easily 13S SOUTH WALES. forsake him, so that he Avas not greatly dis concerted. He engaged in it the third time; and by means of three cylindrical holes through the work over the haunches, so reduced the weight over thern, that there was no longer any danger from it. These holes or cylinders rise above each other, ascending in the order of the arch, three at each end, or over each of the haunches. The diameter of the lowest is pine feet; of the second, six feet; and of the uppermost, three feet. They give the bridge an air of uncommon elegance. The second bridge fell in 1751. The third, Avhich has stood ever since, was completed in 17.55. It is generally supposed, that William Edwards experienced the liberality of some gentlemen in the county, which Avas increased by the gratuities of others, who came from many parts of the kingdom to see the bridge and its builder: but of this we have no clear or cerr tain accounts ; nor do his family know that he was ever indebted for any emolument but tp bis OAvn industry and abilities. Hitherto the Rialto Avas esteemed the largest arch in Europe, if not in the Avorld. Its span pr chord Avas ninety-eight feet. But New Bridge is forty-two feet Avider; and Avas till lately, if it is not still so, and I am not aware that its claim to this distinction is invalidated, the largest arch in the world, of Avhich we have GLAMORGANSHIRE. 139 any authentic account. The fame of this bridge introduced William Edwards to public notice ; and he was employed to build many other bridges in South Wales. One of the next bridges that he constructed was Usk Bridge, over the river Usk, at the tOAvn of Usk in Monmouthshire. It was a large and handsome work. He afterwards built the fol lowing bridges, in the order of succession which is here assigned them. A bridge pf three arches over the river Tawy ; Pont ar TaAvy, over the same river,' about ten miles above the tOAvn of Swansea. This.Avas of one arch, its chord eighty, feet, with one cylinder over the haunches. . BettAvs Bridge in Caer- marthenshire, consisting of one arch, forty- five feet in the span. Landpvery Bridge in, the same county, consisting ¦ of one arch, eighty-four feet in the span, Avith one cylin der over the haunches. Wychbree Bridge, over the river Tawy, about tAvo miles above Morriston; this has one arch, ninety-five feet in span, twenty feet in altitude, Avith tAvo cylinders over each of the haunches to relieve them. He built Aberavon Bridge in ' Glamorganshire, consisting of one, arch, seventy feet in span, fifteen feet in altitude, but with out cylinders. He likewise built Glasbury Bridge, near Hay, in Brecknockshire, over $he river Wye : it consisted of five archer, 140 SOUTH WALES. and was a light, elegant bridge. The arches were small segments of large circles on high; piers, as best adapted to facilitate the passage of floods under the bridge, and travellers Over it. William Edwards devised very important improvements in the art of bridge-building. His first bridges of one arch he found to be t&o high, so as to be difficult for carriages, and even horses, to pass over. The steeps at each end of New Bridge in particular are very inconvenient, from the largeness and altitude of the arch. This peculiarity, it is true, adds much to , its jierspective effect as a part of tbe landscape; but the sober market-traveller is not recompensed for the toil of ascending and descending an artificial mountain, by the com parison of a rainbow and the raptures of a draughtsman. He avoided this defect in his subsequent Avorks; but it Avas by a cautious gradation that he attempted to correct his early and erroneous principles, and -to con sult the ease of the public, at the same time that he surmounted the greatest difficulties of his occupation. At length he discovered^ not by reading, conversation, or any other mode of extrinsic instruction, but by dint of his oavu genius matured in the school of experi ence, that where the abutments are secure from the danger of giving way, arches of much GLAMORGANSHIRE. 141 less segments, and of far less altitude, than general opinion had hitherto required, are per fectly secure, and render the bridges much easier for carriages to pass over, and in every respect adapt them better to the pur poses of a ready and free communication. Im pressed Avith the importance of those rules, by which he had assiduously perfected his own practice, he was in the habit of considering his own branch of architecture as reducible to three great requisites: durability; the freedom of the Avater flowing under; and the ease of the traffic passing over. These are certainly maxims of peculiar importance in bridges of one arch, which are not only the best adapted to situations, Avhere tremendous floods occur, but in many cases are the only bridges securely practicable in mountain vallies. The literary knoAvledge of William Edwards Avas at first confined to the Welsh language. Avhich he could read and Avrite from early youth. He was supposed to be rather obsti nate when a boy; an imputation Avhich gene rally rests on genius, that sees beyond the scope of those by whom it is controlled. His oavh account of this alleged temper Avas, that he ahvays considered whether any thing that was proposed to him, or any principle he was re quired to act .upon, coincided Avith his own ideas of rectitude. If he found that it did,- I4& SOUTH WALES*. / he firmly persisted in it. > His general cha racter was that of uncommon resolution and inflexibility. , He Avas very wild, as it is com monly reported of him, till about eighteen years of age. After that period, he became very steady and sedate, A neighbour instructed him a little in arithmetic. About the age of twenty or twenty-one, he undertook the build ing of a large iron forge at Cardiff," and lodged with a person named Walter Rosser, a baker, and blind. This man taught Englisr?reading. William Edwards was alive to every oppor tunity of improvement, and rapidly acquired/ what he eagerly pursued.' He seems, indeed, to have possessed a mind, that could not easily be stopped in its progress. To the two lan guages, however, his attainments in literature were confined; but their, application to the various branches of study in Avhich he Avas en gaged, afforded, constant exercise even to his industry and spirit of inquirj'. After he had performed his engagement at Cardiff, he built many good houses, with several forges and smelting houses, and was for many years em ployed at works of this nature by John Morris,' of Clasemont, esq. now sir John Morris, bart. . Caerphilly Castle is in his native parish.. He has often been heard to say, that he Avould frequently visit that celebrated ruin, and study the principles of its excellent masonry, with all GLAMORGANSHIRE. 14S its various peculiarities, appearing in those venerable remains. He considered himself to have derived more important knowledge from this, than from any dther circumstance. In deed, his principles Avere formed on those of the Caerphilly Castle masonry. He Avas, Avhat may Avith sufficient propriety be termed, a mason of the ancient castle, or Gothic school. His manner of hewing and dressing his stones Avas exactly that of the old castle-masons. He put them together in a style of closeness, neat ness, and firmness, that is never seen but in those ancient, and, as far as we knoAv, ever lasting edifices. His son is perhaps the only workman remaining, Avhoon any occasion prac tises the ancient masonry : and in the modern he is equally a proficient. The full complement of business, Avhich ' usually attends a high reputation in any line, might be supposed to have engrossed all the time and thoughts of a self-taught man. But William Edwards united with his trade the occupation bf a farmer during the Avhole of his life. Nor Avas, Sunday, though a sabbath, a day of rest to him; for then he had clerical functions to exercise. In his religious senth ments he Avas a dissenter, of the denomination styled Independents. About 1750, he Avas re gularly ordained according to the usage of the sect pf "which he Avas a member; and about 144 SOUTH WALES* / the same time Avas chosen minister of the con gregation meeting at a chapel in. his native parish, Avhere he officiated for forty years, and till he died. He Avas a Calvinist, but of a very liberal description : indeed, he carried his charity so far, that many persons suspected he had changed his opinions, and for that reason spoke very unhandsomely of him. For a length of time, during the last years of his ministry; he always avoided in his discourses those points of doctrine that Avere more pecu liarly in dispute between the Calvinists and other parties. He frequently repeated and enforced a maxim, Avell worthy the adoption of the most enlightened and eminent divines: that the love of God and of our neighbour is the ultimate end of all religions, which having attained, their possessors had arrived at their object: and that it is against the spirit of Christianity to suppose, that among all parties, be they what they may, there are not many Avho have indisputably obtained this distin guishing characteristic. FeAv among his party were considered to be so edifying in their dis courses as he was ; and this specimen has a strong tendency to accredit the opinion : but 'sentiments of such liberality and moderation must have heen suspected of trenching a little on the soundness of his Calvinism. An* ^ther principle of his evinced that his judg- GLAMORGANSHIRE. 145, ment was equal to his candour. He always declared it to be the duty of a religious so ciety, to support their minister decently ; and for this reason he took from his congregation the stipulated salary, though he never con verted a single farthing of it to his own use, but distributed the Avhole among the poor members of the church, and even added very considerably to this largess from his oAvn per- > sonal property. He very wisely alleged, that though a lucrative business would have al lowed him to officiate gratuitously, his suc cessor might be differently circumstanced; and the people, relieved from a burden for a time, would look with an evil eye on an instructor, avIio had it not in his poAver to exhibit similar disinterestedness. So judicious a mixture of prudence and generosity might furnish a lesson to certain undiscriminating enthusiasts, who brand with the opprobrious name of hire those fair emoluments, from Avhich respectable abilities, however or where- ever employed, are entitled to derive ease and competence. From these authentic notices it Avill sufficiently appear, that those who have termed him sarcastically, or by Avay of ridi cule, a methodist preacher, have egregiously misrepresented him. He never officiated at any of the methodist meetings. He frequently preached at the dissenting meeting-house of VOL. I. L 146* SOUTH WALES; the Rev. LeAvis Rees, father of Dr. Abraham Rees, the editor of the New Encyclopedia. This meeting-house Avas situated near Morris- ton, the building of Avhich he superintended. Many of his discourses Avere taken down in short-hand by William Jones, clerk to Mr. Padley of SAvansea. They were ahvays de livered in Welsh. It may well be supposed that he detested an intolerant or persecuting spirit, and always reprobated the rancour of too many dissenters towards the established church. He Avas well respected by the most intelligent and liberal of all sects and parties, and died, very much lamented by all who kneAv him, in the year 1789, and in the 70th year of his age, in his native parish of Eglwy silan, Avhere he lies buried in the church-yard. He had six children: four sons and two daugh ters. Thomas, David, and Edward, Avere brought up to their father's trade; William was shot at Gibraltar in the American Avar. His son David is likeAvise very skilful in bridge-building, the principles of which he learnt by Avorking Avith his father. Among many others, he built in Caermarthenshire, Landilo Bridge, of three very light, elegant, and large arches, over the river Towy, six miles above the town of Caermarthen; Ed- winsford Bridge over the river Cothy; Pont- loyrig over the river Taw, that divides the GLAMORGANSHIRE. 147 counties of Caerniarthen and Pembroke ; Bedwas Bridge over the Rompney, between the counties of Glamorgan and Monmputh ; and, last of all, NeAvport Bridge over the Usk in Monmouthshire : and this, if Ave con sider, the impediments Avith Avhich he had to struggle here, must be alloAved to have been a very arduous undertaking. The difficulty of making good foundations, together Avith the hazards attending Welsh mountain floods from the land, and the furious Severn tides from the Bristol Channel, might have deterred a less enterprising artist: but he- surmounted every obstacle, and completed it in 1801. It consists of five arches, supported by high piers. The central arch is seventy feet in the span, and twenty-tAvo feet and a half high from the base or chord of the, arch. The other arches are each sixty-tAvo feet in the span, and tAventy-tAvo feet in altitude. The piers are fourteen feet Avide at the springing ofthe arches. The height, from low-Avater mark to the top of the parapet, is fifty- seven feet. It is a very ornamental, mag nificent, scientific, and conveniently con structed bridge. Mr. David EdAvards lives at present at Beaupre, or as it is commonly pronounced, Bewper, in Glamorganshire, in a good farm of about five hundred pounds per annum. He •l 1 148 SOUTH WALES. is very much respected in his neighbourhood, simple in his manners, hospitable in his house, and very intelligent in his profession. His son William, brought up to the trade, is a very skilful mason, and particularly so in all kinds of bridge and Avater Avorks. He noAV super intends many of the locks and bridges of the Ken net and Avon navigation from Lon^ don to Bristol: but his father is not informed Avhether he has yet entered into a contract for the rebuilding of Caerleon Bridge in Mon mouthshire. The present is an uncommon in stance of the same taste and talents pervading a family for three generations. Bridge-build ing and farming seem destined to be their he reditary employments. About half a mile above New Bridge on the Taff. is a Avater-fall of considerable celebrity, not for its height, but for the grandeur of its concomitant scenery. The way is along a path, beautifully overhung, between the bank of the river, and that lofty pile of impend ing rock, Avhich has been mentioned before as seeming, at a distance, to be connected with its rival on the other side by the magnificent arch of New Bridge. The naked terrors of the rock are relieved and rendered picturesque by the wood, Avhich springs luxuriantly from between its clefts: and 1 have been informed by a native of North Wales, whose remark my own experience has since confirmed, that he has GLAMORGANSHIRE. 149 not been accustomed in his oavii country to meet Avith so much of mountain ruggedness and sylvan beauty combined in one spot. The river exhibits a scene of uncommon wildnfcs.s : as far as the eye can reach, its bed is choaked with rocks, Avhich in some places collect the water into deep transparent pools, and in others toAver above its surface in high and irregular masses. The effect of these piles on ' the character of the stream, and of its con stant a\ earing on their forms in return, unites the properties of singularity and sublimity in a very high degree. T! e fall is divided, by v the strata over Avhich it is projected, into several cascades, Avhich, by their number i-nd variety, atcne to the eye of Avonder for the, inconsiderable descent of ten feet. In times of flood, these several streams must coalesce nearly into one, only interrupted by the large and lofty mass about the centre of the bed ; and then so Avide a sheet of water foaming over the grey rocks, contrasted Avith the shadows Avhich the banks project, and the sur rounding verdure, must indeed be grand. From the rocks in the middle of the river, the reach of the vale is peculiarly advantage ous : and perhaps the magic of NeAV Bridge is no where so imposing, as when viewed from the front of the fall. The abutments on each side are concealed by a small bend of the Taff, and 150 SOUTH WALES. by the intervening foliage of the banks; and the arch seems to ride unsupported in the air. On the Rontha there are many falls ; one of them Avell known: but 1 shall defer my re marks on that river till a future occasion. The road from New Bridge to the Duke's Arms, a respectable inn, passes along the river side, Avith Avhich a very curious canal keeps pace. This canal is esteemed a remarkable in stance, of art triumphing over the obstacles throAvn in its Avay by nature. The course of the river continues dark, rocky, interrupted, and romantic. The hills that close in the narrow vale are lofty and precipitate, but clothed with an almost exhaustless magnifi cence of Avood. As you look towards Cardiff, they encroach still more, and apparently con verge to a point, Avhere intervolving moun tains seem finally to close the scene. As the hills crowd more obtrusively on the' bed of Taff, the road is carried higher and higher up their sides, to the unspeakable gratification of the traveller, whose eye is kept on the stretch by the rapid succession of scenery exhibited at every turn. It is with difficulty that the admirer of mountain vallies, Avhose route re quires him to turn on the left for Caerphilly Castle, can persuade himself to exchange this theatre of enchantment for that rude and la borious path, which is to conduct him towards GLAMORGANSHIRE. 151 the magnificent object of his search, but af fords him no gratification, except the sight of Energlyn, till he arrives there. The character of the scenery along the road continues similar, though various, till you ar rive at Porto Bello, the spot where the moun tains close in on each side, as described above; and here the mountain, along whose side you are journeying, is romantically topped by a very picturesque castle in ruins, called Castell Coch in Welsh; in English, Red Castle. This venerable seat Avas for a long time the resi dence of Ivor Bach, or Ivor Petit, hereafter mentioned, Avho so gallantly headed the in habitants of Glamorgan, for the purpose of forcing Fitzhamon and his son-in-laAv Robert earl of Glocester, to restore to their country its ancient laws and privileges. This is a most characteristic spot, and, as it Avere, the gate way of the vale, composed ofAvood and rock. Castell Coch Avas a dependency on Cardiff, and a sbrt of out-post: it deriA^es its Welsh appellation, according to the explanation given above, from the high rock of red stone on which it stands. Its elevated position, and the contour of its half-prostrate Avails, render it a most magnificent addition to the beauties col- lected on this luxurious spot. It must have been nearly impregnable in ancient times, from its height and steep ascent. I found the ruins, 152 SOUTH WALES. when I arrived at them, infinitely more con siderable than they appeared to me from the road. But this concealment, effected as it is by the intervention of bushes and foliage, only serves to render it more ornamental in the landscape. The rocky summit of the moun tain, Avhich is of a bluish tint, forms a fine contrast with the red soil and thick foliage, so rich and picturesquely decorative on its sides. From this place the prospect is beautiful and striking : on one side appears the valley above this strait in all its romantic variety; on the other, the flat and fertile country stretching out under the eye, and bounded by the sea. After descending from the castle, the face of nature changes, and the valley becomes wider; the fancy is still gratified by pleasing, but less stupendous views; and the vicinity of popu lation is anticipated by the more regular and artificial aspect of the country. The tin works at Melin Gruffyth are per haps the largest in the kingdom ; not less than thirteen thousand boxes of the very best tin plates, containing two hundred and twenty- five plates in each box; have been known to be sent Avrfhin the year from this manufactory to Bristol. The scraps of iron plates from which the tin is made are converted into bolt- iron for ship-building. This place is four miles north of Cardiff. The numerous ranges of GLAMORGANSHIRE. 153 buildings for the habitations of the workmen give this part of the vale an air of bustle and business: while the canal, passing parallel with the Taff, and not being carried in a straight line, infringes less on nature and beauty, than almost any other artificial construction of the kind. The banks opposite the tOAving path are steep, though not lofty, and richly orna mented Avith hanging Avoods. . Near this place, the road towards Landaff crosses the canal, while the Cardiff road keeps straight forward. There is nothing particu larly deserving observation, till you reach Landaff Bridge, a venerable structure over hung with h^y, and commanding a long reach of the Taff, Avhich has now completely changed its character. It has quitted the obstructions of the hills, and keeps on a steady, tranquil course through the plain, its bed deep and un incumbered, its banks shady and contempla tive. There are few occurrences more grati fying to the mind, than the contrast of scenery higher up the vale, and at Landaff Bridge. The course of the Avater, from having been rapid, shallow, noisy, and narrowed by obtrud ing rocks, is become gentle and glassy like a lake, deep, broad, and silent. The bridge is carried over it, Avhere a long reach without any winding lies directly under the eye, and 154 SOUTH WALES. forms a scene of sylvan beauty, perfect in kind and exquisite in degree. There is likewise a turnpike rOad from Lan trisent to Landaff, running parallel Avith that just described, and passing through the Vale of Ely, shut in by those hills on the east, Avhich bound the vale of Taff to the west. The cha racter of the country here is altogether dif ferent; it affords perhaps the most advan tageous specimen of richness and cultivation to be met with in Glamorganshire, to so great an extent. Its inequalities, indeed, and pic turesque interest are less; but it is AvOody and pleasingly diversified, so as in some degree to mingle the requisites of the painter with those more substantial ones of the farmer. At a short distance from Lantrisent, on the right, are the ruins of an ancient monastery, dedicated to St. CaAvrdav, son of Caradoc Avith the Brawny Arm, though of no great extent, more distinct and complete than almost any thing of the kind remaining. Ewenny is at present the most perfect; but the dilapidations now beginning to be committed on that vene rable remnant of monastic life will rob Gla morganshire of its proudest antiquarian ho nours. It is a trite remark, that the monks always knew hoAV to choose their situation. The structure of which I am speaking stands GLAMORGANSHIRE. 155 I on a moderate eminence, overlooking this ferr tile and pleasant vale. The charms of the spot are at present heightened by a very Avelh planted park and handsome mansion immedi ately under the eye at the foot of the hill. The ruins are only worth notice on account of their antiquity. On the left of the road about Pentyrch, are very extensive collieries among the hills, Avhich likewise abound in iron ore, and are thought to be capable, by the application of industry and enterprize, of rivalling Merthyr Tydvil in quality and copiousness. The country, as in all such neighbourhoods, is wild and black; and one of the largest mountains in Glamor ganshire overhanging these mines gives a mag nificence to the sooty complexion of the scene., One of these mines has been known to have been on fire for many years ; indeed, accord ing to my information, during the memory of the oldest person in the neighbourhood : the spot Avas generally to be traced by smoke issu ing from the surface of the ground, burnt to cinders by the pent-up fire; and sometimes by flame issuing as from a miniature volcano. About six years ago Mr. Rickards, jun. the son of a very respectable clergyman at Lan* trisent, in pursuit of game, fell up to his middle in this heap of ashes, then burning, and was very much scorched. His com- 156 SOUTH WALES. panions, from one of whom I received the ac count, experienced much difficulty in extri cating him; and, had he been alone, in all pro bability he Avould have sunk much deeper, and must inevitably have perished. A long stick pushed down would at any time, by giving vent to the subterraneous fire, occasion smoke, and often flame, to ascend : but it is noAV pro bably extinguished, as it has not been dis covered burning by any of the country people for the last year; and I tried the experiment of stirring it repeatedly in vain. The country from Pentyrch to Landaff is fine, Avithout any very marked objects, except that there is an inscription at Chapel Laniltern, in the corner of the tower Avithout, said to be to the memory of Arthur's wife. The Britons chaunt king Arthur's glory, The English sing their Saxons story. Meiric, king of Glamorgan, and the Avholeof the Silures, founded the episcopal seat of Lan daff, in the middle of the fifth century, and endowed it with all the lands between the ri vers Taff and Ely. St. Dubric, a native of Pembrokeshire, from the banks of the Gwaen, where from early youth he had been so cele brated for his learning, that the Avhole country round about flocked to his school by the river GLAMORGANSHIRE. 157 A side, Avas first appointed to the new bishopric of Landaff, for his zealous opposition to the Pelagian heresy. This distinguished ecclesi astic Avas afterwards consecrated archbishop of Caerleon, and made metropolitan of Wales. In this capacity he croAvned successively Uther Pendragou and the great king Arthur; in Whose reign he died, on the 13th of Novem ber, 5Li% He left behind him some learned declamations in Latin. He was succeeded in the primacy of Caerleon by St. David; who procured the translation of the archbishopric to his own town. St. OAvdock succeeded him as bishop of Landaff, in Avhose time many par cels of land and large possessions avci e added to the revenues of the church, by petty kings and princes, as an expiatory penance for mur der and injustice.. St. Teilo was next in suc cession to the bishopric of Landaff, in the latter part of the fifth and beginning of the sixth centuries. In the Liber Landavensis, or old Register of Landaff, this name is often written Teliau, at other times Teleau, and Teleavus, Avhence the word has been mis takenly corrupted into'Telean by the English Avriters. There are several churches dedicated to St. Teilo in South Wales, Avhich are to be knoAvn by the circumstance of the parish to which they belong bearing the name of Lan- dilo, Avhich is in English the church of St. 153 SOUTH WALES. Teilo. This saint was distinguished, Avith David and Padern, for. the zeal with Avhich he preached the gospel without reward. They were called the three holy visitors of Britain. This disinterestedness, hoAvever, can only be considered as applying to their conduct before their consecration. During several centuries this bishopric continued to profit by multiplied compensations for crimes: but in the tAvelfth century, the bishop of the time complained heavily to the Pope that his brethren of Here ford and St. David's had encroached on the jurisdiction and revenues of his church, Avhich had once been the mistress of all Wales, but Avas then almost desolate, and had only two in stead of four-and-tAventy canons. These in fringements of its territorial rights, together Avith the improvident disposal of its property and estates after the reformation, have reduced it from one of the most splendid, to the poorest see in Great Britain. The diocese of Landaff at present contains, besides some parcels of the adjoining shires^ above three parts in four of Glamorgan; in which county there are tAvo deaneries, Landaff and Cowbridge; and all the deaneries are under the archdeacon of Landaff. The mem bers of the cathedral are a bishop, "who has, besides the episcopal throne, the decanal stall in the choir, att archdeacon, treasurer, chan- GLAMORGANSHIRE. 15g cellor, precentor, and nine prebendaries, who constitute the chapter. The other members are, tAvo priest-vicars, a schoolmaster, verger,\ and bell-ringer. There Avere formerly four lay-vicars, an organist,, four choristers, and a Latin schoolmaster; but these were put down, that their stipends might be applied towards repairing the fabric ; a suppression which might have been considered as meritorious, had the renovation been decently and tastefully con ducted. The history of the building seems to be this : that it Avas destroyed at the time of the con quest, and rebuilt in its present form by its bishop, Urban, in the year 1120, at which time the bones of St. Dubric were translated from the isle of Bardsey, Avhere he died, for more honourable interment in his OAvn cathe^ dral. It was this Urban Avho complained to the Pope of invasion; and probably he proportioned the dimensions of his new edifice to the more circumscribed limits Avithin Avhich his jurisdic tion was confined ; for though the present re mains evince a high degree of merit and skill in their architecture, it Avas on a very small scale as a cathedral, though in the earlier ages its importance Avas nearly commensurate Avith that of St. David's, with which it has by some been, thought to have shared the arphiepiscopal honours for a time. The church, Avhen re- lrJO SOUTH WALES. built, was dedicated to St. Peter, as before; but St. Dubric, St. Owdock, and St. Teilo, were added to the firm. The west end had two towers, one of which only remains, and that in ruins, having been damaged by a violent storm in 1703. The north tower Avas elegantly rebuilt in the reign of Henry the Seventh : but its pinnacles and battlements Avere also de stroyed by the same tempest. A consider able portion of the west front, Avith some part of the side walls to the spring of the arches, affords an elegant and beautiful specimen of what is commonly called Gothic architecture. There is on the south side a very richly exe cuted Norman door-case : yet the whole being unroofed, serves only as an entrance to the new building, which the zeal of the chapter, ill supported by its taste, has united Avith the ancient, as an Outrageously incongruous ap pendage of modern finery. To whom they were indebted for the design I know not : who ever he Avas, he played on their unarchitectural credulity, but altogether at the experice of his OAvn reputation. As it stands at present, the apostolic church of St. Petei-j St. Dubric, St. Owdock, and St. Teilo, serves as a vestibule to a Grecian temple. I wish the stipends of the lay-vicars, the organist, the choristers, and the Latin pedagogue, had accumulated till this time; for the pains Avhich the present chapter have - GLAMORGANSHIRE. 16l taken in clearing away the rubbish, that the well-sculptured ruins may be commodiously seen, together with a laudable anxiety for their preservation, as far as depends upon them, all seem to argue that they Avould have carried on the line of the nave, if not in a style of cor responding magnificence, at least Avith neat- ' ness and consistency. There is neither cross aisle, nor middle tower, to this cathedral. This is the most ruinous church, belonging to a bishop's see, in Great Britain. It is under stood to have suffered" greatly during the re bellion in the reign of Henry the Fourth. It stands, as seems to have been the fashion in this part of the country for buildings' of great account, in a bottom, surrounded by rising grounds, that overlook its highest battlements. It serves, therefore, neither as a beacon nor ornament to the neighbourhood : but its situa tion, Avhen you come to it, is aAvful and mo nastic, interspersed as it is with religious re mains, and partially overhung with Avood, or clothed with ivy. There are several ancient, and some elegant monuments of bishops and considerable families. There is one in parti cular, of an emaciated figure, in Avhichthe ap pearance of sickness and morbid wasting U re presented with admirable fidelity and appeal to feeling. There ate also two in alabaster, be longing to the family of Mathews, that are very yol. i. M l6t ApUTH AVAtESi tastefully executed, and thought to be the work of an Italian sculptor. The castellated place of the bishop AVas onCe- a residence, suited to the dignity of the see; but nothing noAv remains, except part of the outer Walls, and a very stately gateway. This mansion is supposed to have been built at the same time AVith the cathedral, and to have been destroyed by Owen Glendour in the same rebellion by which that venerable edifice suf fered. It probably Was never rebuilt or re paired; nor does it appear that the bishop since that time has ever possessed a fixed resi dence at Landaff; the consequence of which is, that the chapter only assembles annually at tbe time pf audit. The site of the palace or castle now belongs to what is commonly called the court of Landaff, a mansion adjoining, and is formed into a garden. To those Who look for the population" and magnificence attending the episcopal, stations in England, the appearance of a Welsh city is attended Avith considerable surprise and disap pointment: and though the situation of Lan daff is beautiful, and has several elegant re- sidences, belonging to dignitaries and other" gentlemen, the house's pf the poorer people, lying aAvay from the traffic of the main road, dnd yet collected into a toAvn, have unusually little of that neatness and accommodation, GLAMORGANSHIRE. If33 .Which either cleanly retirement, Or the more frequent intercourses of society, afford. It is to be observed, that none of the houses in Landaff belong to the dignitaries of the church in their official capacity. Near Landaff, to the north-west, is the rural and retired village of St. Fagan's ; which has a castle, built in a much more modern style than those of Glamorganshire in general: I have not been able to trace its connection Avith his tory: and probably it was designed rather as a place of dignified retirement, than for political purposes or defence. The dedication, of this church to Christian wor,ship is much more an cient than that of. Landaff, according to the account both of the English and Welsh Avriters, none of whom place the arrival of this mis sionary later than the second century. When the second civil war broke out in tbe. year 1648, the Welsh were the first to take up arms in favour of Charles the First. They collected about eight thousand men., This army met Oliver Cromwell's at St. Fagan's, on the 8th of May, 1648. The republicans Avere obliged to give way; but being reinforced with such a train of artillery as Wales had never seen, after a bloody conflict of two hours, the royal army was entirely routed : about three thousand Avere slain, and as many taken prisoners. The Ely was reddened with M 2 164 SOUTH WALES. blood; and the battle of St. Fagan's gave sixty- five AvidoAvs to that single parish, and more than seven hundred to Glamorganshire. The descent to the river by the castle wall is pleasing: and the bridge affords a fine vieAv of the Ely. A short distance brings the tra veller into the high road between Cardiff and CoAvbridge, at the foot of a steep hill, on the top of which he comes upon St. Lythan's Com mon, affording one of the richest and most ex tensive, but not most picturesque views in this county, over the vale of St. Fagan's or Ely, bounded by the mountains to the north. At the edge of the common, on the right as you proceed towards Cowbridge, is Coedryglan, signifying Rye-hijl-Avood, a handsome brick house, the property of LleAvellyn Traherne, esq; This residence, placed on the broAv of a A:ery steep declivity, bears a very imposing aspect when viewed from the bottom about the village of St. Fagan's. The village of St. Ni cholas has nothing remarkable about it, except some very neat cottages, Avith uncommonly pretty gardens: but a road turns aside to the left, Avhich 'leads to some ancient monuments, supposed to be druidical, near Dyffryn House, in a vale Avith a village so called, about six miles south by west of Cardiff. These monuments bear, in every point of view, the marks of great antiquity. Dyffryn GLAMORGANSHIRE. 165 is Welsh for vale: and the proper English translation of the name Dyffryn Goluch, by which this estate goes, would be the vale of worship, adoration, or prayer. But there are no traces, not the least Vestige, of any place here, in Avhich Christian Avorship can be sup posed, to have been instituted. Of druidical wdrship, indeed, there are very obvious and striking appearances. The most remarkable of these monuments is a grey stone, on one of the farms belonging to the honourable William Booth Grey, about half Avay betAveen the vil lage of St. Nicholas and Dyffryn House, near the abode of the farmer. It is a rude piece of antiquity, and seems to take its class among that kind, Avhich in North Wales is termed Cromlech. There is one near Newport in Pembrokeshire, Avhich has hitherto been sup posed to be the largest in Wales; but that opinion only arises from the singular circum stance, that the object of our present inqui ries, though in so public a neighbourhood, has been generally overlooked by those travellers, who have favoured the public with the result of their observation. Mr. Salisbury Brereton has noticed it, but Avith very feAv particulars. Even the learned and laborious Camden, though such researches have been pursued by him with more diligence than by /almost any other man, makes no mention of this \ \ 166 SOUTH WALES. archasological curiosity. He seems to have taken his road from Cardiff to Cowbridge nearer the coast. This monument at Dyffryn is supported by five large stones, enclosed entirely on the east, west, and north sides, and open to the south, forming a considerably large, though Ioav room, sixteen feet in length, fifteen wide, and, at the east end, six feet high, but only four and a half at the Avest end. What the real height was originally, cannot be known Avithout clear ing away the rubbish Avithin it, that stands about two feet and a half, or three feet, above the surface of the field, in which the cromlech is situated. Some other rubbish, Avith aheap of stones, is placed about it to a greater height on the outside. The supporting stone to the north is sixteen feet long; that on the Avest end about nine feet in length. At the eastern ex tremity there are three stones set" closely to-> gether. The middle stone is four feet and a half Wide ; the northern stone of these three about three feet, and the southern nearly tAvo feet in width. These stones standing upright, support a large stone on the top, which forms the roof of this rude apartment. The length of this horizontal stone is twenty-four feet. It is seventeen feet in its widest part, and of different breadths at other places. I found it by measurement to be ten feet 'at one extre- GLAMORGANSHIRE. \$J mity, and twelve about the middle. I like- wise found it to be from tAvo feet to t\yp and a half thick. The, top stone, therefore, having for its mean breadth thirteen feet and a half, if twenty-four feet be multiplied by that mean breadth, the contents Avill be three hundred and tAventy-four square feet : by which it ap pears that this top stone is nearly thrice as, large as that of the crornlech near Newport in Pembrokeshire.. There appears to have been an immense heap of stones throAvn over it ; and it seems as if, subsequently, this had been in part removed, so as to open a way^intp the room. This is a singular circumstance: but the like appears in a structure of the same kind near Barmouth in Merionethshire, and in many other places, according to the best accounts. For Avhat reason these collections were made, may be a subject pf plausible, con jecture; but no certain opinion can be formed. The heap of stones about this place occupies something like four square perches of ground, and is overgrown with thorns and brambles/ so that it is not very easy to get into this curi ous apartment. About fifty yards south, in another field, -appear the quarry and rock whence these large stones were taken. It is p. coarse kind of freestone, very durable, pf an Isabella yellow colour, apd contains in it a con siderable portion pf calamine, or ?ink ore. It 168 SOUTH WALES. is a kind of stone that in building might be applied to many useful purposes, from its large ness, durability, and its not being very diffi-, cult or expensive to Avork. This piece of an tiquity stands about three quarters of a mile north by west of Dyffryn House. There are in the same field with the quarry tAvo fiat stones of no inconsiderable, though comparatively small dimensions, set up nearly in the same manner, though much incumbered by rubbish and brambles : there are several very large pieces irt the quarry, loosened from the main rock; and the stile, by Avhich the two fields communicate, is formed by a very massy piece of the same stone, which seems, by its colour and appearance, to have served that purpose for ages. This estate came to Mr. Grey by marriage with Miss Price, co-heiress of Thomas Price, esq. The grounds about Dyffryn House are richly Avooded, and the country round varie gated and pleasing. The house at present has little to recommend it on the score of outward show: but it is understood that Mr. Grey has some intention of building. About three quar ters of a mile distance to the south-east of Dyffryn House, stands the greyhound-bitch kennel, in a meadow which derives its appel lation from the name of a greyhound-bitch. It is rather singular, that these cromlechs, GLAMORGANSHIRE. 169 as they are called in North Wales, and in some parts of South Wales, should almost every Avhere in Glamorganshire, where there are many of them, be known by this uncouth term of greyhound-bitch kennels. Mr. Edward Williams, who possesses more real knoAvledge and conjectural sagacity on antiquarian sub jects, than almost any man of his day, has furnished me Avith the folloAving plausible sup position: that in all probability, the first British Christians, by way of sheAving their detes tation, Avherever they met Avith druidical or heathenish places of worship, converted them into dog or bitch kennels. The second curiosity in question near Dyf fryn, bearing this odd name, consists of four large stones : one on the north, another on the south side, each about ten feet anc' a half long, and more than seven feet wide or in height, standing on their edge and very upright, nearly tAvo feet thick. At the Avest end, there is another stone five feet long, and of the same height as the sides. These three stones sup port the top, which is nearly fourteen feet long, and thirteen feet Avide at the east end, where Ave always find the widest end of the stone in structures of this kind. It is nar- roAver at the other end. The mean breadth is about ten feet; by which multiply fourteen, and the contents in square feet will be one 1/0 SOUTH AVALES. hundred and forty, which makes this even larger than the stone near Newport: and as it is eyery Avhere about tAvo feet thick, it also contains more cubic feet than that. Tbe opening of this is to the east. It forms a kind of room eleven feet long, five Avide, and seven feet high, or more. It has at times been used as a house for sheltering cattle, and other rustic purposes', and, as I have been informed, it Avas .formerly occupied as a stable for one horse. It is certainly large enough for any such ap. plication. There are some remains of a cam, or heap of stones, round this, on three sides, but none at the entrance. This heap of stones has possibly been diminished, for the sake of building a cottage that stands just by. The stone is of the same nature as that before de scribed. There is a third structure of the same kind in the neighbourhood: but I haye neither been able to discover its situation, nor obtaiii any account of it. There are others, whose present state proves that they must ei ther have fallen, or been throAvn down, or else the stones must have been brought to the places Avhere they appear, for the purpose of erecting such edifices. It is not very material to discover which of these conjectures is the truth, We may indeed naturally suppose, that after the stones had been brought, they Avould pf course be erected. The probability there* GLAMORGANSHIRE. 171 fore is, that, when Christianity gained the ascendency, they Avere thrown down as ob* jects of pagan superstition and idolatry; and that the largest were suffered to remain, only because they Avere too umyieldy to be over turned. Over these possibly they threw a heap of stones ; for this Avas used by the ancient Britons as a punishment of malefactors. When a criminal was condemned to die by the laws, he was fixed to a spot, and a heap of stones throAvn over him : Avhoever passed by threAv, a stone to the heap in token of detestation. Hence arises the common Welsh expression of a earn murderer, or a murderer that deserves to have a heap of stones over him. To the same origin is to be traced an imprecation much in use among the people : " May a heap of stones lie upon thy face, or be throAvn over thee." From these instances it may perhaps be inferred, that the Christians, detesting the place of heathen worship, might cover it Avith a heap of stones. The Druids ahvays worshipped in the open air. It was a standing maxim of their religion to do so. Indeed, all solemn public meetings or assemblies Avere held in the same manner, whether religious, legislative, or judicial. The laAvs of Howel Dda, the famous Welsh legisla tor, were enacted by him and his senatorial assembly in the open air. The place where I7& SOUTH WALES. they met is as highly venerated, to this day, as is Runny Mead, near Windsor. By those laws it appears', that the courts of justice, especially the supreme courts, Avere always held in the open air; and the king or prince, Avho Avas ac customed to sit as supreme judge, was placed on theieeAvard side of a large stone fixed up for the purpose. It is very clear, in the oldest historical documents, that the early Welsh Christians, from the middle of the first to the middle of the fifth century, always met for re ligious Avorship in the open air. No churches, at least such buildings as Ave noAv term churches, are ever mentioned, or in any sense hinted at, before the mission of the saints Germanus and Lupus, Avho Avere sent thither by the Pope in the fifth century, tp suppress Avhat was called the Pelagian heresy; so that where I have mentioned St. Fagan's as being dedicated to that Christian missionary, it is not to bfe understood of the church as we now term it, or any enclosed building on that or any other spot, but merely that Chris tian worship was established there, after the manner pf the time. From the fifth century doAvnwards Ave read that there were churches, or places of Avorship, similar to those Aye have at present. Possibly these cromlechs Avere places of shelter for the Druids, and after them, for the first Christian priests, in rain GLAMORGANSHIRE. 173 and other inclemencies of the wea*her ; un less Ave may suppose them to have been ora tories, from the tops of Avhich they delivered their discourses, or, in times of Druidism, al tars on Avhich victims Avere offered. Such are the conjectures which I have been able to propose, from inquiries into the tradition of the spot, and communication Avith intelligent antiquarians. If any of the foregoing sup positions may be admitted, respecting the an cient use of these structures, Ave are to suppose that some time after the erection of such build ings for religious Avorship, as are customary among the moderns, became general, those more rude and antiquated places of the druids, and after them of the first Christians, Avere considered as objects of detestation, and treated with the same ignominy, that aAvaited the most atrocious malefactors. To support the opinion here advanced, it may be observed in addition, that though Llan is the true Welsh word for a church or place of Avorship, it pri marily signifies a circle or enclosure, not a house or covered building ; Ydlan, a cornfield, or corn enclosure; GAvinlan, a vineyard, or vine enclosure; Corphlan, a burying ground, or corps enclosure; Perlan, an orchard, or en closure of fruit-trees; are all derived from the old word Llan, an enclosure. I might give many instances besides, if these Avere not suf- 174 SOUTH AVALES. ficient. The Landref of South Wales, and the Treflan of North Wales, signify the town or village containing the church, or enclosure of worship. Hence the many' names of places formed every where from Llan, in Wales, whether North or South. Of similar etymo* logy is the English word church, the old Eng lish or Saxon, and the present Scotish kirk, from the Latin, circus, accurately describing the original places of worship in every part of Britain, which were merely a circle or'enclo- sure, not a covered building. The first object of attention on regaining the turnpike is Cotterel, on the side of the road from Cardiff to CoAvbridge, opposite the five- mile stone. By the gate that enters into the park, grows a very magnificent Avych elm, one of the largest trees in the kingdom. At the height of six feet, it girts twenty feet. At the height of about sixteen or eighteen feet, it divides into two large limbs, and soon after, these again subdivide into many other bulky branches, groAving high and spreading widely. It is a grand object, and has not the least appearance of decay. The whole pre mises of Cotterel are very beautiful: the park abounds with picturesque inequalities, and the view from the hpuse toAvards the hills is un commonly fine. It is at present the residence of Mr. Lascelles. GLAMORGANSHIRE.' 175 In a field just opposite, on the other side of the road, is a very large ' stone, ten or twelve feet high, and about six or more in Avidth, standing on one end, similar in appearance to those which Avere to be erected, according to the requisition of the ancient Welsh laAvs, as just mentioned, Avherever the king presided in a court of justice. In no part of the kingdom, perhaps, are antiquities of this kind more nu merous; than in this' part of Glamorganshire. St. George's and Peterston super Ely have each ' of them their castles, built by Fitzhamon's knights. In St. George's church there are some Gothic monuments. The village of Bonvilston is the next object ' of attention^ Avhich has nothing more remark able to attract, than a well-wooded view of the flat, from behind the houses on the left side, and some of the most ornamental cot tages lining the street, that are to be met with any where. Lantrythid Park abounds in romantic and picturesque spots. It is finely timbered, and its sylvan honours are unimpaired b}' the re spectable and honourably-descended proprie tor. The house was built, according. to a fa mily tradition, in the time of Henry the Sixth; and the truth of this story is confirmed by the style of the architecture. The large stone- framed Gothic windoAV of the dining-room "rs 176 south Wale*. V twelve feet square. The other windows are in general large, and in the same style, in the tAvo ancient Avings. In addition to these/ another suit of rooms was built, fronting the east, close upon the churchyard, as it should seem by the architecture, which is a mixture of Roman and Gothic, in the time of Elizabeth, or soon after. The windows are of stone, Avith large lutherns. Luthern is a term applied to this kind of AvindoAv in general. In the dic tionaries it is derived through the French from the Latin lucerna, with some degree of violence, and at the same time Avithout any distinctive application. I apprehend it to sig nify Lutheran ; and that it is opposed to the Transom Avindow* Avhich had in it the repre sentation of a cross, thus : This was the favourite window , of Roman Catholics. The Luthern, or Lutheran window is in the following form: Sash windoAvs were in those days unknown. The great window -of the principal parlour, looking into the churchyard, is twelve feet GLAMORGANSHIRE. 177 \yjde and nine feet high. Another of the same room to the south is nine feet square, and has some fine painted glass in it, Avith coats of arms, and other heraldic and splendid decora tions. This house is a ^very fine specimen of the taste that prevailed in the age to which its building is ascribed : but the introduction of taAvdry ornaments is a puerility in architecture, from Avhich the better instructed moderns must totally dissent. The Aubreys are one of the most ancient families in this county, and have been pos sessed of this estate for many ages. They Avere distinguished by their attachment to the cause of Charles the First ; and this place Avas one of the last retreats that Avelcomed the dis concerted fugitives of the party from every quarter of the island. Both the gentlemen of the county and the tenantry of the estate have to regret, that sir John Aubrey is only an oc casional visitor among them. The property is very considerable; but sir John has another large estate in Buckinghamshire, on which he principally resides. There is a large, Avidely-branching yeAv^tree in the churchyard, not at all decayed, Avhich o-irts eighteen feet six inches. This Avas its true description in 1803. I saw it in 1806, not indeed decayed, but stripped of its venerable arms, and left a bare trunk, divested of all" its VOL. i. n 176 SOUTH WALES. grandeur. The graves, in this receptacle of the dead, are planted Avith floAVers, such as pinks, ! carnations, SAveet-Avilliams, gillifloAvers> and all the variety that the pious attentions, of the relations can procure. Some of them are made fragrant with thyme, hyssop, southern wood, rosemary, and other aromatic produc tions. This is a very common practice in Glamorganshire; and it is a maxim never to plant any floAvers or herbs on graves, but such as are SAveet-scented. From Lantrythid Park you come upon a down, which opens a fine prospect, though the moorish common immediately below rather disfigures the fore-ground. The town of Coav- bridge in the bottom, the hill and church of Lanblethian, Avith its castle beyond, and the boldly situated castle of Pennine, altogether form a scene of much grandeur, On the left is the village of St. Hilary, the residence of LleAvellyn Traherne, esq. This situation al most vies with Coedryglan in point of bold ness; at the same time that it is rather more defended from the elements, and therefore more desirable as an abode. Mr. Traherne is of a long-established and Avell-respected fa mily in this county. I have never heard that he traces his genealogy to any of the princes Avhose name he bears; and I am Avell aware that it would be inconsistent with his unaf- GLAMORGANSHIRE. 179 fected good-sense, to entertain a wish of de* riving such distinction but from the most au«- thentic sources. In the year 1091, flie town of CoAvbridge Avas encompassed with a stone-wall by Robert de St. Quintin, who aftenvards built the castle of Lanblethian. It should therefore seem as if this place Avas part of his allotment, and not reserved by Robert Fitzhamon, according to Camden's account. One of the gates remains, and is ornamental to the part of the town where it stands. There is nothing particularly •worthy of observation here, except the free- school, which was endowed by sir LleAvellyn, or Leolinus, Jenkins, who has already been mentioned as secretary of state in the reign of Charles the Second. He Avas not, as has been erroneously stated, the founder; but, on the contrary, his benevolence Avas probably directed to this object by the recollection, that he had derived the first elements of his great knowledge from this source. He may, Iioav- ever, Avith much propriety be considered here also, as a second founder; for it is to him that the young men on the foundation owe, in ad dition to a small annual stipend while in school, the probability of enjoying consider* able advantages jn Jesus College, Oxford, where there are two felloAvships, tAvo scholar ships, and an exhibition, exclusively confined N 2 180 SOUTH- AVALES. to students educated at this school. Its lite rary reputation has kept pace with its acade mical advantages,, under a succession of able masters. It is at this time under the govern ment of the Rev. William Williams, prebendary of Landaff, whose name I have had occasion to mention in another place, on a subject so per sonal to myself, jas not to admit of- my enlarg ing here oh the present character of the school. There is also a very good school for reading, Avriting, and aceompts; so that I question Avhe-i ther there be any town in Great Britain better • provided, in proportion to its extent, Avith the means of instruction, both vernacular and scholastic. 181 CHAP. V. St. Mary Church, Lgncarvan. Flemingston. St. Athan. Fonmon Castle. Barry Isle. Scilly Isle. Michaelston Le Pit. Landough. Wenvoe. Ely Bridge. White House - Bridge. Cardiff. -The road from Cowbridge to St. Mary Church is through some of the prettiest,. most Avoody, and picturesque country, to be found in the cultivated part of Glamorgan shire, The village itself contains nothing re-' markable: but there is, in a beautiful field very near it, a castle that challenges the ad miration both of the antiquary and architect. Whether considered Avith a reference to the national events that are supposed to have takeii place there, or to the history of the fine arts, it merits much more attention than it has hitherto received. The name of this castle is Beaupre, of Norman etymology; but vulgarly pronounced, and frequently written, Beupcr, in Welsh as well as in English. Its ancient Welsh name is Maes Essyllt, Avhich signifies in English, Fair MeadoAV. The Norman name therefore is but a close translation of the ori ginal. The princes Llewellyn and Conan ap Sitsylht, Gruffyth ap Llewellyn, and Robert :ip Sitsylht, Avere successively lords of this castle; 182 sout& Wales. and the Cecils, earls of Exeter and of Salisbury^ are lineally descended from the Sitsylhts or this place. The surname is corrupted or anglicised into- Cecil. It is rather a singular circumstance, that Llewellyn ap Sitsylht, prince of South Wales by hereditary right of his Avifo, and of North Wales, it is difficult to say by what right, should keep his court, at least very frequently, at this place, which Avas in another princi pality, that Of Glamorgan; Avhere he Avas only the subject of a prince less poAverful than him* self. An old Welsh adage says, "that the man privileges the place, but place does not privh lege the man." But probably this Avas under stood only in a moral, and not in a legal or jurisprudential sense. It is to this day a popu* Jar tradition in Glamorganshire, that this place was formerly the palace of kings : but no per son ever lived here, excepting Llewellyn ap Sitsylht and his brothers, together with his son Gruffyth probably for some time, Avho in any proper sense of the Word could have been called a. king. The descent of the noble families just men* tioned from the Welsh princes is thus de-> duced; Llewellyn, Conan, and Robert ap Sifc sylht, were brothers, and successively resided in this castle, the inheritance of Avhich de scended to sir James Sitsylht, the son of Robert. Sir James took part with the empress GLAMORGANSHIRE. 183 Maud, and was killed at the siege of Watling- ford Castle, in the fourth year of king Stephen. He left a son and heir in the person of John jSitsylht, who Avas taken prisoner at the siege of Lincoln, after the death of his father, in the same reign. > His son was named Eustace, and married sir Walter Pembridge's daughter, by whom he had sir Baldwin Sitsylht, who Avas knighted by king Henry the Second, but was slain at the siege of Cardiff Castle, during his father's lifetime. This sir Bahhvin Avas mar ried tAvice. His eldest son Avas Gerald Sitsylht, whose heir was Robert Sitsylht. The next in descent Avas James Sitsylht, Avho was succeeded by Gerald, the eldest son living at the time of his death. This Gerald Sitsylht was married four times. His eldest son by the first Avife Avas John Sitsylht, Avho Avas succeeded by the valiant and renoAvned sir John Sitsylht, in the reign of EdAvard the Third. His right to the family arms Avas solemnly adjudged, in conse quence of a vehement controversy, as. lineally descended from James Sitsylht,, who fell dur ing the siege of Wallingford Castle in the reign of king Stephen. He had a son and heir named John, who died in his lifetime, leaving behind him a son called Thomas Sit sylht, Avho succeeded his grandfather sir John •Sitsylht. Next came Richard; then Philip Sitsylht, Avlio.se eldest son v/as 'Philip, and his -younger, David Sitsylht, from whom are de- 184 SOUTH WALES. s'cendedthe present earls of Exeter and Salis bury, which titles respectively originate with the two sons of the great lord Burleigh. It appears, therefore, that the earl of Exeter, as sprung from the elder branch of lord Burleigh's family, is rightful heir to the croAvn of Great Britain in the Welsh line of Sitsylht. Such circumstances are curious and Avorth mention ing. They might, indeed, have danger in them, where the claims of genealogy are held paramount to every other consideration. But the royal honours of the Sitsylhts have long since faded, though their nobility remains fresh and untainted. The British sceptre, in the early periods of our history, \yas alternately wrested by conquerors, and recovered by here ditary claimants; now the plea of conquest and the disputes of pedigree are all absorbed in that substantial tenure, by Avhich the free choice of the people placed it in the hands of the reigning family; a choice not announced by a tumultuary sIioav of hands or shout of voices, but resulting from the solemn decision of an assembled legislature. This has made us an united people, has broken the spring of civil wars, and eradicated every fibre of hazard ous ambition from men's breasts. Beaupre Castle and estate, Avhich has given rise to the foregoing investigation, Avas sold by one of Robert ap Sitsylht's descendants to sir Philip Bassett, lord of St. Hilary. Jt Avas pur- GLAMORGANSHIRE. 185 > chased by Mr. Edmondes, grandfather of the V present major Edmondes, about the year 1758, from colonel Berkley, a son of lord Berkley, Avho by foreclosure as mortgagee had become possessed of it from sir, Richard Bassett,.the last of the Beaupre branch. But it is neces sary I should proceed to the architectural cha racter and singularities of this place. A family, Avhose surname was Twrch, of the same import Avith Hog in English, had here ditarily for many generations possessed and worked some freestone quarries hear the mouth "of Ogmore river. Two brothers of this famihy, Richard and William, worked those quarries about the time of Edward the Sixth and of Queen Elizabeth. They were young men, and, unfortunately, each of them became enamoured of the same young woman. This occasioned mutual'jealousies between them, Avhich at last ended in a virulent and inexplicable quarrel, so that they both solemnly swore never to speak the one to the other. They hoAvever continued- to Avork at the quarry as usual ; and Avhenever one of them Avanted the assist ance of the other to lift or move a large stone, or for any other of those purposes that oc casionally ;occurred in the progress of their business, he beckoned, or made some sign. The misunderstanding Avent on thus for some time: but the young Avoman having been in formed of the situation- in Avhich things stood J8$ SOUTH WALES. between the brothers, voAv«d on her part never to admit either of their addresses. This reso? lution, and the unnatural terms on which he lived Avith his brother, threAV Richard into a deep melancholy. Soon aftenvards he left the country, and Avent no one knew whither. For a long period he was not heard of; but after the lapse of twenty or thirty years he returned to Glamorganshire, having been in London, Paris, several parts of Italy, and probably over a considerable portion of the continent, Avork- ing at his trade of a stonecutter, or freestone mason. In the course of his travels he had assiduously applied himself to the study of architecture and sculpture in their variou* branches, in each of Avhich arts he acquired a very considerable proficiency. On his re turn, he found that his brother had left the family quarry, and had discovered the free stone quarries of Bridgend, where he had settled. Richard therefore entered upon the old quarries, and worked at them. The supe rior manner in which he executed his Avork attracted the notice of the gentry, Avho resided in this part of Glamorganshire; and Richard Bassett of this place employed him to do the ornamental parts of the stone- Avork belonging to his chapel at the castle, the frontispiece of which he executed with his own freestone in the Ionic order. It has over its entrance the arms of the Bassett family carved in stone,, with GLAMORGANSHIRE. 187 the Welsh motto, signifying, "better death than disgrace," in embossed or relieved let ters, and over it the date, 1586. He was after wards employed to execute the porch, 'which is of Dundery freestone, near Bristol. This is a fine and. very ornamental specimen of Greek architecture, three stories high, consisting of ' the Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian, and over these a sufficiently elegant attic story.i The capitals of the columns,, intaglios, and other sculptures, are finished in a very masterly manner. Over the arch of the entrance are the family arms in very light and bold relief. In the intercolumniations of the second or Ionic story, and dado of the pedestals, are three tablets Avith the following inscriptions on them : SAY COWLDST IHOU E VER FYND. OR EVEli HE A RE OR SEE,: A WOBLDLY WRET C.E OR COWARD PROVE A FAYTHFUL FRYNDE TO BE RYCHARDE B- AS SETT. HAVING TO WYFE KATHARINE DOUGHTER TO SIR THOMAS IOHNS KNIGHT BWYLT THIS PORCHE WITH THE CHYMNYE 1UNNES IV ANNO IflOO. HIS YERES 65. HIS WYFE 55. 188 SOUTH WALES. The Avhole is in a very- graceful style^ and much superior to the earliest examples of Greek and Roman architecture in England, Avhere those principles of the art appear to have been first introduced about this time. There is here, however, a single .trait of Gothicism. The arches of the entrances to the chapel and porch are pointed ellipses, or, as Avorkmen term it, the ox-eye arclL These anecdotes of Richard and William, of the porch and its architect,, though only tra ditional, there is good reason to consider as true. I had them from Mr. EdAvard Williams; and he derived his information, many years ao"o, from William and Richard Roberts, free stone masons of Bridgend quarries, Avho Avere, as they assured him, descendants by, male issue of William, Avhase posterity, down to the pre sent age, have been in possession of the free stone quarries at Bridgend, and have Avorked them. Thomas Roberts, the last of this fa mily, Avho Avas also of the trade, died about the year 1787- The descendants of later ages by male issue Avere usually called Turk, and so wrote the name; but a son of Robert Twrch, or Turk, being called Richard, took for his surname his father's Christian name of Robert, and this became the established surname of- that branch; and of the other, Avhich retained the surname of Turk, there are some now Uv* ing at Bristol. GLAMORGANSHIRE. 189 I should think it necessary to apologize for my prolixity on this subject, were it not that these facts, hitherto unknown or unnoticed in the history of architecture, go near to invali date some very stubborn opinions. And lest- it should be thought that mere traditional as sertion, coming from persons Avho might think to derive honour from the tale, is insufficient to shake more grave and learned authority, I shall take the liberty of premising, that the in ference I deduce from Mr. Edward Williams's information is sufficiently maintained by the unquestionable evidence ofthe date, though the Avhole of the foregoing- narrative should fall to the ground. Inigo Jones, in the time of James the First, is said to have been the man Avho introduced the Greek and Roman architecture into this island. In the temple of British worthies at StoAV, the marquis of Buckingham's seat, there is a bust of this distinguished artist, Avith the folloAving inscription under it: "Ignatius Jones, who, to adorn his country, introduced and ri valled the Greek and Roman architecture.'* But Inigo Jones never executed any thing in architecture, at least in England, till the reign of James the First: yet this porch Avas com pleted three years before the death of queen Elizabeth ; and the entrance of the chapel, „ when' this great representative ,-of England in 190 SOUTH WALES. one branch of the fine arts, as sit Josbua Rey nolds in another, was but fourteen years of age. Of course he could not be the introducer of Greek and Roman architecture into thisf island, though he certainly was its very great improver. Old Somerset House was the earliest specimen that ever came to my knowledge of Greek and Roman architecture in England ; and I, am only able to speak of that from the recol lection of plates, which are not now at hand. It was taken down about the year 1775. It Avas built by the Protector duke of Somerset, in the time of king Edward the Sixth. The demolition of churches and religious houses to furnish materials for this palace, lost the duke much of his popularity, and involved him in the suspicion of a stronger partiality for a fine house, than Avas consistent with the decencies of religion, or a due respect for the sacred resting-places of the dead. I have read someAvhere, though my recollection does not serve to quote the author, that it was executed by Italian artists or architects. Hence it may fairly be supposed, that the Richard above mentioned, when he left Glamorganshire, came to London, and might have Avorked as a journeyman at the building of Somerset House, where bf course he would first become acquainted Avith the rudiments of Greek and Roman architecture. The time when he must GLAMORGANSHIRE. ¦ }g% have left Glamorganshire corresponds per* fectly with the time when old Somerset House Was built. Should there-be no, reason to ques* tion the probability ¦ of his being thus ern> ployed, Ave may further conjecture, that he might have gone over to Italy, or some other part, of the continent, with a party of the Italian workmen who were on their return home after Somerset House had been finished. But whoever introduced the Greek and Roman architecture into England, it Avas this Richard, or at least the architect of the porch in ques tion, let him be Avho he will, that brought it into Wales. I believe that there wa's nothing in Somerset House equal in delicacy of sculp ture to this porch. It AVas of tAvo stories, if my memory is accurate, for I have not an im mediate reference to the prints; the lower Avas Doric, the upper of the Ionic order; and there Avas not much sculpture. Horace Wal- pole, lord Orford, considers John of Padua, or Holbein, as entitled to the credit of beginning the reformation in building; and he infers, from the pension of the former being reneAved in the third year of Edward the Sixth, that he owed it to the Protector, and Avas the architect of his palace. All therefore that can be meant by the inscription at Stow is, that Inigo Jon^s Avas the first Who practised the unmixed Gre cian, and therefore he only could be said to 192 SOUTH WALES. have introduced it in its perfection, and to have rivalled it. This indeed Avas probable; for all innovations require time to gain ground: and we find accordingly, that Somerset House Avas a compound of Grecian and Gothic, and . therefore, though a specimen of the ueAV taste, was more unclassical than the old in its best and purest manner. But the porch of this Castle, and frontispiece of the chapel, with the exception of one infringement, are as chaste and exact, though on a comparatively small scale, as the most splendid of Inigo's designs; who himself indeed, as in the instance of St. Paul's cathedral, occasionally blended the two incongruous styles. Whether therefore the name of the architect and his origin be as I have stated or not, Avhether he learnt his art at the building of Somerset House, in Italy, or elsewhere, the dates of 1586 and 1600 prove Wales to have possessed a specimen of regular' architecture before the time of Inigo Jones, probably one of the earliest in Great Britain, and certainly more perfect than that of Somer set House. Should these unmethoclized, and probably incorrect remarks, obtain for this porch a notice it has not yet received, from some better-informed amateur, or some prac titioner of the art, I shall consider myself as having done some service, more than eqiial to the tediousness I "have bestoAved on my GLAMORGANSHIRE. 193 reader, by a prolix detail of provincial tra dition. The house is large and ancient ; all of it but the porch and the entrance into the chapel, in that style of Gothic architecture that chiefly prevailed in the thirteenth, four teenth, and fifteenth centuries. It has close by- it a very large barn of equal antiquity. The arches of its doors are highly pointed in a very old style. It is on this farm, and in this house, that Mr. David Edwards the bridge- builder resides. Here Avas the last congress of Bards, according to the precise laAvs of their ancient institution, in the seventeenth century. Lancarvan is celebrated as the birth-place of Caradoc, the historian, from Avhose authority a considerable part of. the historical matter in these volumes is derived. He wrote the his tory of Cambria, from the abdication of Cad- wallader to his own time.. Of this work there Avere several copies preserved in the abbeys of ConAvay and Ystrad fflur, Avhich generally agreed in matter, but differed in phraseology and the period of their terminations. This ap parent variance may be reconciled by sup posing, that such copies Avere so many dif ferent editions written by him and distributed in the course of his life, Avhich terminated, ac cording to some accounts, in the year 1156. But probably the time of his death is merely vol. i. o 194 v SOUTH WALES. taken for granted, because he ended his col lections with that year. One of his AVorks, printed in the Welsh Archasolog) , comes doAvn ' to the year 1 196. But David Pawel, Avho cor rected, augmented, and continued, Humphrey Lloyd's translation, accounts for this circum stance by informing us, that these successions and acts of the British princes Avere after- Avards augmented yearly, and compared toge ther eyery third year by the Bard, in his pro gress from one abbey to the other, at the time of their triennial visitation. This species of register Avas continued in those abbeys till the year 1280, tAvo years before the death of the last LleAvellyn. There is another copy extant Avhich contains the whole, down to this latest period, but still Avithout distinction of Caradoc from the hand of his' continuator. In David PoAVel's time, which Avas that of Queen Eliza beth, there Avere at least one hundred copies dispersed over Wales : and when Ave consider that all these agreed in every thing but in form and literal phrase, and that Humphrey Lloyd inserted Avhat Avas defective, and cor rected Avhat Avas discordant, from the autho rities of Matthew Paris and Nicholas Trivet, Ave may reasonably believe that the present translation, improved as it is from records and authors consulted by David Powel, forms a sufficiently authentic compendium of Welsh GLAMORGANSHIRE. 195 antiquities. There was anciently a monastery at Lancarvan, founded about the end of the fifth century, by Cadock, son to GAvynlliw, or Gundleus, a prince of GleAviseg, the country lying betAveen the Usk and Rompney, in th6 Western part of Monmouthshire. The. village of Flemingston derives its name hot from the colony of Flemings on the coast, but from the family of Fleming, who possessed the castle and lordship of St. George's under Robert Fitzhamon. Its ancient name in Welsh is Lanmihangel y Twyn, or as it Avas after- Wards called, Michaelston Le Mont,- to dis tinguish it from Michaelston Le Pit, as Avell as from several other Michaelstones in this county. There are still some remains of a castle adjoining the churchyard, some parts of which are as yet used for purposes connected with husbandry: and the marks of antiquity about" this and all the neighbouring villages are continually recurring in the pointed forms ofdoor-wavs and AvindoAvSi In this village lives Mr. Edward Williams; a man Who is capable bf doing the Avorld more service, than the world seems willing either to receive or to re turn. He stands unrecommended by external Tank in society; yet are his mental powers of a superior order. He is best known to the English public, by two volumes of poems, highly meritorious, considering the disadAran- o 2 196* SOUTH WALES. tages under which they were composed: but his best claims to distinction are founded on' his knowledge as an antiquarian, profound and sagacious in every thing curious relating to the customs, 'manners, and history, of his native principality. He Avas very unhealthy Avhile a child, and has continued so through life; a misfortune that frequently attends more than ordinary expansion of intellect. It Avas thought useless to put so unpromising a boy to school, where his three brothers Avere kept for many years. He learned the alphabet by seeing his father inscribe grave-stones. His propensity to poetry appeared at an early age; for his mother, Avho was a woman of good education, taught him to read; but could never persuade him to learn from any other book, except a Volume of songs, entitled, "The Vocal Miscel lany," to which his fancy appears to have been directed by his mother's agreeable singing. He Avas born about the year 1747- At that time there Avere no booksellers in Wales, and ' consequently none but Welsh books to be bought, Avhich Avere sold by itinerants. His mother's library consisted of the Bible, som'e of Pope's works, Lintot's Miscellany, Steele's Miscellany, Randolph's poems, Milton's poeti- ' cal Avorks, a few volumes of the Spectator, .Tatler, and Guardian, The Whole Duty of Man, Browne's Religio Medici, and Golding's GLAMORGANSHIRE. 19/ Translation of Ovid's Metamorphoses, in the black letter, with'tAvo or three books of arith metic. This respectable parent also taught him writing, and the principal rules of arith metic, Avith something of music. His first at tempts in poetry were Welsh, though English Avas the language pf his father's house. He worked at his father's trade of masonry from the time he Avas nine years of age, but never associated Avith the children of his neighbour hood, or joined in their amusements. He re turned every night to his mother's fireside, Avhere he talked or read with her. If ever he walked out, it Avas alone, in unfrequented places. He Avas pensive, melancholy, and very .stupid in all but his mother's estimation ; and his cheerfulness, Avhen it occurred, Avas wild and extravagant. His mother died in 1770, and he could no longer be happy at home. He rambled for some years over a great part of England and Wales. During that time, he -chiefly studied architecture, and othersciences appertaining to his trade, and composed Eng lish poetry at Mis leisure hours. In 1777, he returned into Glamorganshire, and has ever since exercised the humble occupation to which he was originally destined. His attach ment to the cause of the French revolution, at a time Avhen it presented prospects to the warm hearted, which are for ever shut out by rapine, 198 SOUTH WALES. injustice, and tyranny, created him many ene* mies before the extinction of party : but this, can no longer operate to his prejudice, as, events have convinced him, in common with most pther men, Avhpse pride does not stand in the way of their conviction, that a mixed constitiition, if not theoretically the most per fect, is practically the most conducive to all the worthy and attainable ends of government. But his character perhaps is not sufficiently ac commodating, to promote his advancement in, life. As an example of a certain pertinacity, which is apt to accompany talents, he had in early life a habit of making resolutions, Avhich he has never broken in a single instance, though in many cases he has lamented their inconvenience or absurdity. Many of them however Avere, under his circumstances, Avise. I shall just mention one or t\vo of his best and Avorst. He knew that his talent for song- writing would procure him many pressing in vitations to join the pot-companionships of per sons in his own humble sphere. He saAv the incdngruousness pf such society Avith his pur suits and inclinations : he therefore made a re solution never to sit cIoavii in any public tap room. A confirmed habit of uncommon ab stemiousness soon rendered this precaution unnecessary to sobriety; so that he makes no objection to an appointment of business at such GLAMORGANSHIRE. JQ9 ' . . . I places, if it suits the convenience of the par ties; he is willing to stay one or two hours, or as long as the affair to be negociated may re quire; but always in a standing posture. In early life he was frequently invited by the gentlemen of the country, who took a plea sure in hearing him* recite his poetry : but he conceived himself to be treated Avith less re spect than other guests, and made a resolu^ tion never again to repeat his own A^erses. He has often offended those, who Were disposed to be his patrons, by the refusal; but is generally willing' to lend his unpublished manuscripts, though at the risk of losing them. He thought his family unkind at his entrance into life, and made a resolution never to enter the house of a relation : but he has forgotten all animo sity, and converses Avith his kindred in the most friendly manner on the outside of then- own doors. On a review of his resolutions at large, he found the inconveniencies to over balance ,the benefits: he therefore, Avithout abrogating What he had already formed, made the Avisest resolution of his life; never to make any more resolutions : and he has observed this last as inflexibly as any of the rest. It is much to be, lamented, that his talents, in the line of his profession, have been buried Avhere they could not possibly emerge from their, ob scurity. Had they been noticed in early life, gOO SOUTH AVALES. the public Avould probably have gained an emi nent architect or sculptor, Avithout losing a valuable antiquarian. As it is, there are feAV better judges either of design or execution in architecture. For some time past, he has been employed by the Board of Agriculture in col lecting materials for a statistical account of the principality, or at least of South Wales. I heard of him at the houses of the most intel ligent and enlightened gentlemen in Cardigan shire, through Avhich he had travelled; and they all concurred in a most honourable tes timony to the simplicity of his manners and the extent of his qualifications. I am sorry to say that the proverb of a prophet in his OAvn country is but too much verified in him ; for Avhile Mr.Williams the antiquarian is mentioned clseAvhere Avith the respect due to the attain ments, without the estate, of a gentleman, there are few in Glamorganshire Avho knoAV him by any other name than that of NedWilliams,, the stonecutter.. Indeed, he has to complain of injustice as well as neglect' from some persons, Avho have made him not the slightest recom- pence for the discovery of very valuable quar ries on their estates: and such conduct is im politic as well as mercenary, because it has ex cited in him an angry disposition to Avithhold the remainder of his-knoAvledge on that sub ject, This part, of Glamorganshire abounds -GLAMORGANSHIRE. 201 Avith very fine marble, many beautiful speci mens of Avhich he possesses, that take a very high polish. He is married, and has several children. The village of St. Athan derives its name from a saint, who lived in the beginning of the sixth century. He was the founder of a church, to Avhich he returned, after an absence of some years, and Avas buried here. The castle of East Orchard was built in the year .1091, the date of the great revolution, and all its dependent antiquities, by Roger Berkrols, Avho divided his lands Avith the original pro prietor of , the Avhole,- and out of his reserved moiety gave subsistence to other families, Avho had' been deprived of their estates upon the Norman usurpation. Such liberality and feel- ino- in an age when those virtues Avere little known or understood, prove that Roger Ber krols was designed for something better than a conqueror. Berkrols is the true name, though the Welsh manuscripts, and from them Owen's Cambrian Biography, generally write it Ber- clos. In this castle it is said that Owen Glen dour slept three nights, , and Avas sumptuously entertained for four clays, Avithout his person being knoAvn or his rank discovered. At this very time, sir Lawrence Berkrols, the last of the family, had dispatphed one hundred of his tenants in search of bim in various directions, 202 SOUTH WALES. Avith promises of very large rewards for taking him, and bringing him to East Orchard, either dead or alive. Owen, Avhen he departed Avith out any attendants, except one servant, thus addressed sir LaAvrence, — " Owen Glendour, as an honest and sincere friend, gives sir Lawrence Berkrols his hand, with thanks for his kind hospitality, declaring that he Avill never think of retaliation, and is determined to forget the injuries intended him by his un conscious host." With these words, unpro tected as he Avas, he immediately sallied from the mansion. It is said that sir LaAvrence Berkrols Avas struck dumb with astonishment, and never recovered his speech. This castle stands on the edge of an extensive flat, and overlooks one of those remarkable sinkings in the ground, that have been noticed in a pre ceding chapter. A small rivulet runs through the bottom, giving an interest to this singular recess, Avhich is tolerably Avell wooded, con sidering its vicinity to the sea. The ruin is rather picturesque. A cottage erected within its walls has lately fallen to the ground, owing to the superstitious fears of the vulgar, though it has been offered rent-free to any poor family who Avould inhabit there. A very luxuriant Avild fig-tree grows out of the cement, of which the chapel Avails are composed ; and it is re markable how much tha,t -tree affects such GLAMORGANSHIRE. 203 situations, and that even in the most exposed aspects. This circumstance seems to hold oiit a probability, that the tender Turkey fig might be propagated with more certainty and suc cess, by grafting it on this sort of Avild fig. Perhaps this wilding might be originally pro duced from the seed of the cultivated fig, planted by the Norman lords in their gardens. The trunk of the ivy, that encompasses the northern part of this castle, is of an uncommon substance. It at least girts five feet, and in some years yields large quantities of gum. In St. Athan church there are two large and uncommonly fine gothic monuments of the Berkrols family. The effigies of the men are recumbent, at full length, in armour, and cross-legged. The women are in the habits pf nuns. Gwenllian, the sister and heiress of sir LaAvrence Berkrols, married one of the Strad- lings of St. Donat's Castle, and 'with her the estate Avent to that family. There are in St. Athan parish the remains of tAVQ other castles, West Orchard and Castleton. « From East Orchard there is a very advan-r tageous view of Fonmon Castle, Avhich has ah ready been mentioned as one of those pai> celled Out to the Norman intruders, In an old printed pedigree of the St. Johns, the an cient proprietors of this castle and estate, it is called Faulmont, and it is vulgarly pronounced 204/ SOUTH AVALES. Fulmun. A brook has its spring-head in Fon mon village, Avhich runs, only about half a mile before it falls into the river called Nant Bran, in English Crow-brook. Even in that short space, it forms a deep gully or dell Avith steep sides, on the brink of Avhich stands the castle. Colonel John Jones, Avho signed the death- warrant of Charles the First, who took his seat in the council of state on the com mencement of the commotiAvealth, and died on the scaffold among the regicides at the Restoration, . Avas the possessor of this castle, and from him the present OAvner is descended. It is probably .the most extensive and august of the inhabited casties. in Wales. The kitchen belonging to this castle is said to be the largest in the kingdom. There js here perhaps the finest portrait extant of Oliver Cromwell. Near this place is the little village of Pen mark, bearing the same name as a place in Bretagne, of which Chaucer speaks in the Frankeleines Tale. And when he was in this prosperite, Home with^his wif he goth to his contree, Not fer fro Penmark, ther his dwelling was, Wher as he liveth in blisse and in solas. It is by no means unusual to find this iden tity of names in the two countries, which would of itself prove, Avere other evidence de- GLAMORGANSHIRE. £05 fective, "the early communication and close connection of the people. On the sea shore near this place are the two isles of" Barry and Scilly, with the Flat-holm and the Steep, of Avhich Dray ton speaks thus : Of all the inland isles her sovereign Severn keeps, That bathe their amorous breasts within her secret deeps (To love her Barry much and Scilly though she seem, The Flat-holm and the Steep as likewise to esteem), This noblest British nymph yet likes her Lundy best, And to great Neptune's grace prefers before the rest. In -Camden's Britannia there is the following passage: "In a rock of the island of Barry, in Glamorganshire, there is a narroAV chink or cleft, to Avhich if you put your ear, you shall perceive all such sort of noises, as you ma}r fancy smiths at Avork under ground; strokes of hammers, bloAving of belloAvs, grinding of tools." The accurate and judicious Camden, however, borroAvs this story from Giraldus, Avithout giving it much credit, as he could not perceive any such effects in his own time, nor could he find that any credible person had ever been ear-Avitness to them, though the tradition Avas universally current. During the preva lence of certain Avinds however, there are in reality_such noises as described by Giraldus, to be heard by a determined listener in the caverns- of -Barry island cliffs. When the wind £06 SOUTH WALES; as Avell as tides pour into them, Avarrri fancies' may Avith ease Avork up the effects into some thing miraculous; Such sounds are at times^ when the Aveathcr is boisterous, to be heard in many other places on the coast of Glamorgan. I have often heard them near Dunraven. These two isles derive their names from a saint and a conqueror. The saint Avas buried on his island, and the Norman spoiler had the castle and lordship of Scilly on the main land for his share in the division. From Barry the noble family of that name in Ireland derives its original. The Flat-holm and Steep are seen from all this neighbourhood, and the former has its light-house. At Michaelston le Pit is an elegant villa, in a most delicious retirement, belonging to Mn Rous. It has lately been laid out and com pleted. Any thing more beautiful, on a small scale, cannot Avell be conceived. The houses Avhich stands on a pretty stream artificially Avidened and improved, running down into Barry Harbour, looks to the left upon an. unterminated dingle, Avith a picturesque rock of limestone, surmounting its ample furniture of Avood. In Tanner's Notitia Monastica Ave have art account of an ancient monastery in Glamor gan, the name of Avhich, or of the place where it stood, Avas unknOAvn to him. Cyngar, hav* GLAMORGANSHIRE. §07 trig settled one monastery -in Somersetshire, is said. to have come over into this county about the latter end of the fifth century, and to have built another here in some place, the very ves tiges of which are destroyed, for tAvelve monks or canons, dedicated to the Holy Trinity, and endowed by Paulentius, king of Glamorgan. The writer of the pedigrees or genealogies of the British saints also mentions him as having founded a congregation or college in Glamor gan. Cyngar Avas also called Docuinus, and Docunnus; in Welsh, Docheu. A place Avas called after his name Landocheu Pen Arth, or by strangers, Landough juxta Penarth, and Landough super Ely, to distinguish it from Landough juxta CoAvbridge. On the law re cords, on those of Landaff, in the surveys of the manor, and other authorities, it is called Langennys, alias Landough super Ely. Here the memorials of the ancient saints place the church and monastery of St. Cyngar or Cun- garus, othenvise called Docunnus or Docuinus. They mention the monastery of Cyngar and of Docheu as, one and the same place. This is not an oral tradition, but a Written historical account. The book of Landaff mentions seve ral synods held in this monastery of Cyngarus or Docunnus, and gives several names of its abbots. In the churchyard there is still re maining a very ancient cross, ornamented with 203 SOUTH AVALES. rudely executed Roman frets, similar to those at Lantwit Major, with a short but unintelligh ble inscription, in the Roman or British cha racters of the fifth century. The abbot of this place ranked as one of the three great abbots in the diocese. The abbots of Lantwit Major and Lancarvan Avere the other tAyo. They are on several occasions mentioned as the principal persons, next to the bishop, at the synods held in their respective churches or monasteries, aud even in the bishop's church, or cathedral; at Landaff. Landough is at the distance of tAvo miles from Michaelston le Pit. It stands on a rising ground, on the Avestern side of Ely river; about a mile above its fail uito Penarth Har bour, and about three miles to the south-west, in full view of Cardiff. The church is in a very antique style, antecedent to the Gothic,' though some Gothic Avindows have in subse quent ages been inserted. The village has perhaps from thirty to forty houses. It has finevieAVS of Cardiff and its Avide vale, of Lan daff, Avith Monmouthshire in the distance, and down the river to Penarth Harbour. In the parish of Landough stands Coggan, noAV the marquis of Bute's property ; a fine old Gothic mansion, Avell built Avith hewn stone, in the style that prevailed in the fifteenth century. It is now inhabited only by a tenant, who has GLAMORGANSHIRE. , 209 converted the large and noble hall into a barn. The arms of the Herberts, earls of Pembroke, Avhose property itformerly was, are well carved in stone over the principal entrance.- The soil in this part of the country is a stiff clay or loam, on a limestone rock, producing Avheat, beans, oats, and other articles for consumption, of the finest quality. It is not equally good for barley. The horned cattle, that are reared on it, thrive very much. It is less favourable to sheep, especially if kept overwinter; but in summer and autumn they fatten on it very rapidly. The butter made on this soil is sup posed ro be the best in the county. Though the crops here are of backAvard - groAvth in spring, Avh eat frequently ripens as early as in July ; whereas on lands in the neighbourhood, seemingly warmer and drier, as being on the gravel, it is not reaped till the month of Au gust is some way advanced. In the quarries of this parish are found fine black marble, ala baster, somefuller's earth, and other useful pro ductions. The country is Avell wooded. It only AA'ants a better state of the roads, oc casioning a more unrestrained intercourse, to make it a most enviable spot. Wenvoe is the seat of Robert Jenner, esq. and was built in the castle form by his mater nal grandfather, Mr.Birt. It is a very large, handsome, and commodious house. But I do VOL. i. ' p 210 SOUTH WALES. notj on the Avhole, accede to the good taste of building modern castles in a country abound ing with such magnificent specimens of that architecture, unless where there are remains,1 Which may be preserved and rendered habit able, by additions in a style of massy grandeur, in some degree at least approaching to the original: and a country gentleman should pos sess almost a royal purse to conduct such Avorks, now that he has no longer his vassals or their labour at command. The towers at Wenvoe seem rather to aim at the convenience of a bow-windoAV, than at any of those purposes for Avhich such structures Avere intended. Indeed, the criterion of true taste in all arts is orna mented utility; but the ornament without the utility savours of that false and affected refine ment, for which the French are disgracefully proverbial. The castles of antiquity Were the protection of their inhabitants: and the beauty. of a castle, as a specimen of art, consists in uniting magnificence Avith strength. We pre serve these monuments of our ancestors as long as Ave can, because they furnish ocular proof of their arts, their, domestic habits, and progress in civilization: but why should Ave erect Avorks of defence, where no defence is wanted? or if it Avere, such Avorks as Ave can erect possess only the outward shoAV and trap pings, Avithout the solid capability of military GLAMORGANSHIRE!, 211 fortresses. We may possibly seem to be jus tified in this taste by the circumstance, that the ancient barons built their palaces of re1- creation in the castellate form. The reason Avas, that in their state of society, they Avere liable to surprise from their hostile neighbours, and could never change the scene Avithout the attendance of an armed retinue, though less numerous than that Avhich they maintained at their established stations of military and poli tical residence. But Ave have no hostile neighi hours, no armed retinues: nor is any indivi dual of sufficient weight to be exposed, Avhat ever may be his wealth or rank, to the danger of a surprise, or the honours of a conspiracy. There is a considerable domain about Wen voe, and Mr.Jenner has ventured to a large extent in the patriotically useful, but, to in dividuals, the doubtful experiment of farming. The grounds are Avell Avooded, agreeable and diversified; but afford nothing peculiarly adapted either to description or the pencil. The village of Wenvoe is neat and pretty. BetAveen Wenvoe and the Cardiff road lies Caera, which signifies a fortification. There is here an entire Roman camp, occupying a •hill often or twelve acres, oblong and nearly rectangular in figure. The parish church is situated Avithin the works, which are formed by high ramparts of earth all round the hill. p 2 21:2 SOUTH WALES. t They are very lpfty to the south, on which side the entrance is steep and narrow. The Porta Decumana is to be seen oh the west, and at the east end, the General's tent, which is deep and entire, of a circular form, with a very narrow entrance from the camp.-?- After examining this military antiquity, the tra veller comes upon the turnpike road, at the distance of about four hundred yards, opposite to St. Fagan's, and crosses Ely Bridge at no great distance. The flat is en livened, as he proceeds, by Penarth and its harbour with the shipping; till White House Bridge* over a smaller arm of the Taff, which separates itself from the main stream a little higher, and rejoins it just below, introduces him to the beautiful meadoAvS' that stretch up to Landaff. Over these the eye may noAv range at will, uninterrupted by Avhat Avere once "the wayless Avoods of Cardiff." Cardiff is the capital of Glamorganshire, though far from the first of its towns in ex tent and population. It Avas built about the year 1079. The, requisitions of the Welsh are so moderate, that they consider this as a neat and agreeable place, though it has little con trivance to boast in the arrangement of itr. streets, little of accommodation or symmetry in the construction of its buildings. ,,If, in deed, all other features of the principality cor responded with the -inartificial model of its - , GLAMORGANSHIRE. 213 towns, there would be Very slight attractions to induce the visit of a stranger. Yet is Car diff far from deficient in objectsof interest to the antiquary, or of more active speculation to the enterprising and commercial mind. Its castle is among the most distinguished by mili tary and political events; though Avhat are called the modern improvements derogate considerably from its venerable aspect, and scarcely allow us to suppose, from its present appearance, trim and shorn in the interior on the principles of modern gardening, that it was once the fearful seat of Fitzhamort's usurped sovereignty. It is distinguished in history by a most barbarous and tragical event, Avhich took place soon after its pre sent foundation. The circumstances, Avhich produced and attended it, are prolixly detailed 'by Drayton, in his Legend of Robert, duke of Normandy. He introduces fortune perso nified, alluding, to the most atrocious part of the alleged cruelty, in the following terms: The while in Cardiff he a captive lies., "Whose windows were but niggards of their light, I wrought, this Henry's rage not to suffice, But that he robb!d duke Robert of his sight, To turn this little piece of day to night; _ As thqugh that sense, whose want should be the last To all things ljving, he the first should taste. t , In the year 1 1 10, Robert Fitzhamon died of a terrible frenzy in his castle of Tewkesbury. 214 SOUTH WALES. After this event, king Henry the First gave the daughter and heiress of Robert Fitzhamon to his own natural son Robert, creatinghim at the same time earl of Gloucester. This Robert endeavoured to force the English laws on the Welsh of Glamorgan. But Ivor, son of Cedi- vor, Avho was called Ivor Bach, from the small ness of his stature, contrasted, as it Avas by his formidable proWess, heading his countrymen, rushed suddenly on Cardiff Castle, broke into it, seized on Robert and his Avife, and held them close prisoners, till they consented to re store their ancient laws and liberties to the people, and all their privileges as they had ever stood, since the time of HoavcI Dda, the fa mous laAvgiver. Nor Avould he release them, till the king confirmed these extorted conces sions, by solemnly declaring, that he Avould no further concern himself Avith Glamorgan, than by extending his friendship toAvards the peo-* pie on the terms of general union and public league, but private and domestic independ? ence. It Avas among the number of these stipulations, that no Welshman should be obliged to serve in any office, or to render any other performances or aids, but on con dition that every one subjected to such duties should have his lands in free tenure, and all his rights and immunities, as due to him Avith out favour, by the nature of his engagement, as well as to all the Welsh nation under similar GLAMORGANSHIRE. 215 circumstances. After all these privileges had been confirmed to theni, Ivor and his men con cluded a peace with the king, and all of them returned to their habitations. Camden places this gallant enterprise a generation later, sup posing it to have been carried into effect agairtst William, earl of Gloucester, Fitzhamon.'s grandson by the before-mentioned daughter. In either case, the fact, to which he, and other English authorities bear testimony, remains the same. A dark and damp dungedn is still -shoAvn, Avhich tradition assigns as the prison of duke Robert: but the possibility of existing there is doubtful. The keep, raised on an artificial mound, is iioav called the magazine, from its having been applied to that purpose, when Cardiff espoused the cause of Charles the First. The castle' Avas bombarded by Cromwell in per son for three day;s successively, nor Avould it so soon have been gained, but for the treachery of a deserter, Avhom Oliver executed in an ex post facto fit of -moral indignation. It is en closed by a high rampart, round the top of which a walk is carried, affording an advan tageous prospect of the tOAvn and the sur round ing country.. The modernised and habit able assorts ill with the ancient and ruinous part of this fortress: the AvindoAvs are in a style of uncommon violence against every 216 ••! SOUTH WALES. »> principle of harmony and taste; and the rooms afford nothing but a few family portraits, that confer little lustre on the personal graces of their originals. At the eastern extremity of the town there Avas a priory of Franciscan Friars, the shell of which still remains, but is continually moulder-^ ing. Much of it has fallen within these feAv years, and the rest Avill soon follow. It con tinued till the dissolution of religious bouses by Henry the Eighth, after Avhich the property was vested in the Herberts, Avho Avere very great lords and owners in the principality, and to whom Cardiff Castle gave a title, Avhile it owned their jurisdiction. The titles that at tach to the chief of the Herberts are among the most numerous and honourable of the peer age. They are, earls of Pembroke and Mont-> gomery, barons Herbert of Cardiff, Ross of Kendall, Parr, Fitzhugh Marmion, St. Quintin, and Herbert of Sliutland; and they have gene-. rally 'been knights of the garter. The eldest son takes the title of lord Herbert. The pro perty of Cardiff, hoAvever, with their other castles and lordships in this county, has alto gether migrated from this family by intejmar-' riages: and such is the revolution occasioned by a feAv scores of years, that I am not aware, of their possessing a single foot of land in any part of the principality at this moment. Their GLAMORGANSHIRE. 217 connection with the literary, as Avell as political history of the* country, entitles them to some biographical notice : but as the Pembrokes of other name and stock have borne their part in the transacions of their times, I shall, on an other occasion, collect into one catalogue the most prominent, who have been honoured Avith that illustrious title. The church has a high toAver of peculiar beauty, the parapet of which is richly carved, and croAvned with four light Gothic pinnacles at the corners. It is a bold effort of masonry: for one of the abutments is supported on a very small arch, beyond the centre of which it projects considerably. The long-tried sta bility of the building, in defiance of a Aveight seemingly disproportioned to the means of its support, has Avarranted an experiment that "contradicts the established rules of masonic computation, The arch of the Avest door- way is rich and good. - Within the church, adjoin ing the north wall, is a monument of sir'Wih liam and sir John Herbert, under a canopy of white marble, supported by four pillars of black, gilded and painted Avith all the pue rility that constituted the magnificence of the age. It is, however, handsome of its kind. There are two figures in a praying posture, one of them in armour: but the inscription, which appears to have been very long and minute, is 218 SOUTH WALES. nearly obliterated. The1 taste . Avould fix it about the time of James the First, if Ave had not the evidence of the persons to Avhom it is erected. The organ Avas built, I believe, about a century ago by Byfield and Harris. It is a much better instrument than generally falls to the lot of a country church. The diapasons are remarkably fine. The body of the church is a plain Nornian building, respectable and commodious, but not on a level Avith the architectural excellence of its more modern tOAver. t There Avas formerly another church, as there are tAvo parishes: but St. Mary's Avas gradually undermined by the river, Avhich has made fre^ quent encroachments on the western extre-r mity of the town : the church Avas at length SAvept away suddenly by an inundation of the sea,' in tbe seventeenth century. There Avas also, in former times,, a monastery of black friars Avithout the Avest gate. The trade, of this tOAvn is increasing, and consequently its Ai'ealth, population, and prosperity. It has the advantage of Penarth harbour, which enables it to carry on a considerable traffic with Bristol in the produce of the farm and dairy. From Cardiff there is a very good canal, Avhich esta-^ blishes that town as the connecting link be^-. tween the great iron Avorks of Merthyr Tydvil and the English markets. This canal, passing GLAMORGANSHIRE. 210 through a country so rich in collieries imme diately on its banks, tends greatly to facilitate the exportation, and reduce the price of coals to the public at large, though it may enhance it near the pits. The future inroads of the spring tides on the moor betAveen the town and the Bristol Channel are prevented by a sea-wall ; and the tide-lock is remarkable as the only one in the principality. The town is enclosed by a stone- wall, and there were formerly four gates. The ditch and a watch- tower are still to be seen. The bridge over the principal branch of the Taff Avas built by Mr. Parry in 1796. Vessels of four hundred tons burthen come up to the tOAvn. But Car diff is capable of much greater improvements in a commercial point of view, than are yet contemplated by the inhabitants, notwithstand ing the successful example of their neighbours. Penarth harbour, beloAv the tOAvn, is the beat and safest in the Bristol Channel, except Mil- ford Haven. It is formed by the junction of three considerable rivers, Taff, Ely, and Rompney, just Avhere they fall into the sea; though these rivers, as we proceed up their banks into the interior of the country, di verge Avidely,frpm each other. Ships of the greatest burden may at all tides enter into. Penarth harbour, where they may anchor, and lie on very fine mud, without any rocks or 220 SOUTH WALES. sands. Many hundreds of vessels may have ample room there. Very frequently tAventy, thirty, and even fifty sail of the Bristol ship ping are obliged to take shelter in Penarth harbour. When it is considered that by the canal, Cardiff might be easily, abundantly, and cheaply supplied with coal from the col lieries, and iron from MerthyrTyd vii, for carry ing on the hardware manufactories; Avith tin- plates also from the largest tin mills in the kingdom, on the banks of the canal, three miles above the tOAvn at Melin Gruffyth ; Avith copper and brass by Avater from SAvansea, Neath, and other establishments in the Avestern part Of the county; it is difficult to ascribe a limit to the commercial capabilities of this jplace. Bristol is a market, equal to the ab sorption of any quantity that could be pro duced of such manufactures. Cardiff is situ ated, in as plentiful a country as any in the kingdom for all kinds of provisions; and hav ing so good a harbour for the largest shipping, could easily export its produce and manufac tures, not only to Bristol, but to any part of the Avorld. It could Avith equal facility im port any thing it might want. Birmingham, one of -the remotest towns in this island from the sea, Avith a very long and expensive lamb carriage to and from its sea-ports, of iron and other metal wares, heavy beyond ajl other ai> GLAMORGANSHIRE. 221 tides, rose into its present" opulence under these discouragements and disadvantages, long before it had. any inland navigation. Cardiff, on the contrary, possesses all the advantages of nature that can in /this respect, be con ceived, and those on the largest scale. Yet after all, advantageous as such extensions ne cessarily must be to the, community at large, it may Avell be doubted, whether either the comforts; habits, or character, of the imme diate neighbourhood would be improved by the speculation I have suggested, if the sub ject is to be considered in any narroAver point of view, than that of commercial splendour and national aggrandisement. The influx, of wealth Avould bring with it wants, Avhich have not hitherto made themselves knoAvn; AA'hilp thephilosophic beauty of rural manners might possibly be lost in the pursuits of higher for tune, and the affectation of refinement. . - History mentions a king of Ghrwiseg, in the seventh century, who for his many tyrannical acts Avas hurled from the high cliffs of Penarth near Cardiff. GieAviseg was a little sovereign state between the Usk and Rompney in Mon mouthshire, from the fifth to the eighth cen tury, Avhen kings were so plentiful in Wales, that every county, almost every hundred, and in some instances single parishes', had their kings. But the Saxons swept most of these 222 south Wales. aAvay: nor would their conquest have been any dther than a deliverance to the country, bad its consequences been limited to the abo lition of such petty tyrannies. I have been told, that Wilson the painter Avas born in the town of Cardiff, and that he Avas brother to Alexander Wilson, late surveyor of the customs in thajt port, as well as that he was brought up by his maternal uncle, Alex ander Purcell, to the trade of a goldsmith, Avhich he quitted on going to London for the profession of a painter. The celebrated mu sician Purcell Avas claimed as an ancestor, though not in a direct line, by the Purcells of Cardiff. Henry Purcell was probably born in London; as his father and uncle Avere both gentlemen of the chapel at the restoration of Charles the Second, Avhen he Avas only tAvo years old. But there seems reason to think from his compositions, that the principality may claim the honour of connecting itself Avith this great master, and probably through his relations in this town. Several among the most favourite of his productions are only ah terations or improvements of ancient Welsh melodies, among Avhich may be reckoned his Grounds. His Joy Jo Great Cassar is very much in the Welsh style, and adapted to a versification very common in the Welsh lan guage, but never, I belieA'e, naturalized with GLAMORGANSHIRE. 223 the English, excepting in the loyal song Avrit- ten by Tom Durfey, to the measure of that fine melody. Of his very favourite cantata, From Rosy BoAvers, many of the parts or stanzas are on the most prevalent principles of Welsh versification, and such as both look and sound very uncouth in English poetry. From all these musical and poetical predilections, which could scarcely have been the work of chance, Or of accidentally meeting Avith a Welsh air, it is probable that he Avas introduced to his in timacy with this national style of melody and rhythm by family connection. There are no Purcells now remaining at Cardiff. The last died some years ago ; and his nepheAV, Alex ander Wilson, having been dismissed from the customs, went to London, where I am told that he is uoav living. He also Avas brought up to the trade of a goldsmith, and afterwards prac tised watch-making, in Avhich he Avas famous for his ingenuity, though unfortunately at tended with that indolence, too frequently loitering about the path of genius. It wa§ this temper which induced him to procure the place of surveyor in the customs, and he lost it after some years, for want of proper attention to its duties. 224 CHAP. VI. Roath. Ceven Mable. Ruperrah. Caerphilly Castle. The village of Roath adjoins Cardiff on the eastern side, and forms, as it were, the sub urbs of that town. Its Welsh name is Rhath, and it is the Ratostabius of Ptolemy. Out of the ruins of this ancient town and Roman sta tion, Cardiff was bliilt, and erected into a capi tal town, by Jestin ap GAvrgan, in the year 1080, according to Caradoc of Lancarvan. The road, as far as the river Rompney, Avhich separates the counties of Glamorgan and Mon mouth, is over a dull and dingy moor. The river itself is muddy, from the tide, about the bridge, and extremely, disagreeable at Ioav water; but when you skirt it up to Ceven Mable, it becomes interesting though Avith out any features of grandeur. In order to keep near its banks, it is necessary to cross into Monmouthshire on the turnpike road, and then taking the first path to the left,, to cross a second time into Glamorganshire at the dis tance of about tAvo miles. The character of the country here assimilates with that of Mon- GLAMORGANSHIRE^ 225 inouthshire in general : the meadows to the Avest of the river are fertile, and Avoody in the hedge-rows, and the hills to the east of the Taff form the western boundary of the pros pect on the banks of the Rompney. From the main road, Ceven Mable, a large yelloAv house on a considerable eminence, is seen standing due north; and above that, on a higher ground in the same direction) Ruperrah, appearing from a distance as a smaller mansion : but when you arrive at Ceven Mable, it seems nearly lost in the magnificence of Ruperrah, backed by stately groves, and, though in an elevated situation, placed under the brow of the superior heights, that bound the vale of Caerphilly. Ceven Mable is an ancient seat and park of the Kemes family, Avhom I appre hend to have come originally out of Pembroke* shire, though they Avere settled at this place before the fifteenth century. In the course of the seventeenth they became connected by marriage with the Mansels of Margam. The house, in point of architecture, is tasteless and insignificant, Ioav and irregular; but it has a length of front that renders it conspicuous from afar. Its prospect is rich and exten sive, without being picturesque. Sir Nicholas Kemes raised a thousand men Avithin his own county, Avith Avhom he joined the forces that Were defeated by Oliver Cromwell at St. Fa* VOL. I. Q, 226 SOUTH WALES.. gan's in 1648. Sir Nicholas and his troops re tired to ChepstoAv Castle, Avhich they defended Avith great bravery for about three Aveeks : but colonel Pride, arriving Avith his heaAW artil lery, made a breach, and Carried the castle sword in hand. Sir Nicholas is said to have been»put to death with circumstances of pecu liar-cruelty. So fatal had been the battle of St. Fagan's to the Welsh, that in the ensuing harvest, the hay Avas moAvn, and the corn Avas reaped, chiefly by Avomen; nor did men enough survive in that part of Glamorganshire for the Common, business and purposes of life. The Avalk from Ceven Mable to Ruperrah through the meadoAvs is singularly beautiful. The ascent to the latter is rather steep and inconvenient; but the features of the place furnish sufficient recompence for any little trouble attending the excursion. Near this place are some very fine old beech trees. The mansion belongs to the Morgans of Tre degar, Machen, and Lantarnam, wno are je- scended from Cedivor Mawr, the son of Coll- wyn, about the period of the conquest. The death of Cedivor is, assigned by the Cambrian Biography to the year '1089- This estate. has been possessed by various branches of the fa mily, almost from time immemorial : but the present house Avas built by Inigo Jones, and. is the only structurethe principality can boast of Glamorganshire. 227 from that great, architect. It Avas burnt doAvn some years ago, after which misfortune the in side Avas built in the most common manner pos sible; but the shell was preserved; so that the exterior still exhibits a specimen of Inigo. It is, hoAVever, designed after the castellate man- Tier of the country, Avhich tenders it a less irtr- portant and interesting, relic, than it Avould have been, had he exercised his fancy on the more costly and tasteful embellishments of that neAvly-acquired style, that gave most scope to the display of his excellence. There are four fronts, three stories high, Avith five Avinclows in each, and four round towers.. The hall Aviii- dp.Avs in the south front are loAver than the rest, which destroys its uniformity: but this sacrifice, I take to have, been made fpr some purpose of internal, convenience at the time of the rebuilding, when the dignity of the ori ginal design seems to have given Avay to other considerations. I am told that some among, the numerous tribes of Jones's in, the principality claim Inigo for a countryman and a relation; but it is probable that London gave him birth, as he is understood to have been the son of a cloth- Worker, and bound apprentice to a joiner, Avhen he was noticed either by tbe earl of Arundel or the earl of Pembroke. He might, hoy ever, have been^of Welsh extraction; and, at all ' - ""' "a 2 " ; 228 south Wales. events, a feAv brief memoirs cannot be unac^ ceptable, when they relate to an artist ef whom Greece or Italy, in its best times, might have been proud, in a country Avhich has not hitherto been distinguished by preeminent knoAvledge or genius in the find arts. He Avas born about the year 1572, and sent over to Italy by one of his patrons, to study landscape: but he changed his pursuit, and became an architect. He saAV the works of Palladio in the state of Venice, and profited by the example. The palace at Leghorn and the front of a church are thought to have been executed from his designs. He was appointed architect to Chris tian the Fourth of Denmark, where our James the First found him, and brought him over in the retinue of queen Anne. On the death of prince Henry, to Avhom he had the appoint ment of architect, he returned into Italy, and extificated himself from the inconsistencies of the mixed Grecian and Gothic. When the place of surveyor became vacant, he came back again to England, and in the year 1620 was appointed one of the commissioners for the repair of St. Paul's : but the Avork \yas not begun till 1633, when the bishop of Lon don laid the first stone, and Inigo Jones the fourth. Yet a Roman portico, however ex cellent, had little affinity Avith a Gothic church. But his greatest design was the palace at GLAMORGANSHIRE. 229 hitehall; and the Banquetting House, though small part of the intended pile, is so com* jte as to furnish a perpetual example of the ist exquisite and finished taste. He was also iployed to design a chapel and a river front r Somerset House. The accession of, Charles e First introduced no new favourite to di et the pleasures of the court. He continued invent the decorations of those masques, r Avhich Jonson composed the poetry, La- ere and Ferabosco the music; Avhile the yal family and the nobility acted and danced. ilton Avas another distinguished theatre, lere the genius of Inigo Jones had to fol- v that of Holbein. Surgeons' Hall, in- Len in, Covent Garden with its church, and ncoln's-Inn-Fields, were executed^ by him, under his direction. Gunnersbury, near entford, Avas his ; but the portico is thought engross too large a portion of the front. le idea of Greemvich Hospital is said to ve been borrowed from his papers by Webb. it the civil war interrupted his efforts. He is a royalist and a Roman catholic: he was srefore fined and persecuted. Grief and sfortunes are said to have shortened his ys: but surely time may come in for its are of the disgrace, Avhen it is considered at he Avas nearly eighty years of age. 230 south wales. From Ruperrah, the gardener conducted me across the park. The prospect Was uncom monly attractive. The harvest moon at the full was just risen. The effect of it shining on. the Bristol Channel, Avith the bold hills of Somersetshire beyond, was in a high degree beautiful. The channel, though from twehe to fifteen miles across, seemed but like an inland river. The mountains-valley of Caerphilly, as you come upon the Newport road, has a poAver- ful effect upon the mind, as seen by a bright moon -hght, About a mile to the south-east of Caerphilly is Vann, an ancient house in a ruinous state, formerly a seat of the Lewis's, ancestors to the Carls of Plymouth. Caerphilly Castle was once the largest in Great Britain, next to Windsor, and it is Avithout exception the most extensive, ruin, Its magnitude and strength have caused the probability of its origin to be much contro verted: and it is perhaps too much the eus* torn to question the authenticity of those do^ cuments or traditions, Avhich happen not ex actly tp tally Avith our own conjectures or pre^ concerted hypotheses. The memorials Avhich I have been able to collect, from the Welsh Archaeology, extracted for me by Mr. Edward Williams, and from other sources, received as GLAMORGANSHIRE. 231 the most authentic in that country, furnish the following broken and interrupted parth culars of this place from very early times. Cenydd, the son of Gildas, the celebrated author of the epistle De Excidio Britannia;, founded a church and monastery in the eastern, and another in the western part of Glamorgan. This anecdote is found in a very ancient manuscript account of the British saints, in the Welsh language: but no place is assigned to the first of these. To the se cond our attention will be drawn hereafter. But Caradoc Lancarvan, in a copy differing from that which PoAvel translated, supplies the deficiency by informing us, that, in the year 831, the Saxons of Mercia came unexpectedly in the night, and burned the monastery dedi cated to St. Cenydd, standing Avhere Caerphilly Castle is now; though there Avas at that time a SAvorn truce between the Britons of Glamor gan and the Mercian Saxons. In the vear 1094, the earls of Arundel and of Gloucester, Arnold de Harcourt and Neale le Vicount, came with an army against the^. Welsh of GIa-> morgan, in aid of Robert Fitzhamon, The ar mies met, and in the battle of Gellygare, Avhich is five miles north of Caerphilly, the natives slew e\7ery one of those Norman leaders, and accomplished an exemplary ven geance on their enemies, taking from' them 232 SOUTH WALES, v very rich and copious spoils. Some of the Normans escaped into their castles; but few of them were so fortunate; for Ednerth ap Cadwgan, with his sons, Gruffyth and lA'or, folloAved them very closely, and sleAv great numbers in their retreat. Others of the de feated army fled from their pursuers into Eng land; Avhile such of the Normans as had been able to secure themselves in their castles, granted, as they termed it, but more pro perly restored to the Welsh, their ancient laws and immunities, with their lands in free tenure. The continuator of Caradoc Lancarvan in- 'forms us, that in the year 1217, Rhys Vechan, prince of South Wales, took this castle, but it is not mentioned from Avhom : the garrison, hoAveyer, to impede his operations, from the success of which they dreaded summary punish ment, burnt the town. Hence there appears to be some truth in the tradition at Caerphilly, that the town Avas formerly much larger than it is noAv; but that in early times, it had been burnt, during a siege, of the castle, They still shew in the fields, and other vicinh ties of the tOAvn, many ancient foundations, with various vestiges of buildings; and so lately as the year 1802, in digging founda tions for a new fulling-mill and other Avorks, destined for the purposes of a Avoollen manu- GLAMORGANSHIRE. 233 factory, in addition to those which are already established there, some very strong old foun dations Avere discovered, with several pieces of oak timber, some of them partly burnt, a great number of old nails, aud other remains, that' confirmed the traditional relation. These dis coveries Avere made nearby a quarter of a mile out of the present small tOAvn. It is mentioned in the annuls of the same year, that LleAvellyn ap Jorwerth, prince of North Wales, GAven- wynwyn, prince of Powys, son of Owen Cy- feliog, and Rhys Vechan, prince of South Wales, confederated to destroy the castles of the Normans and English in Wales, and among others, they, took the castle, which is the sub ject of the present remarks. But Avhether we are to understand, that these tAvo accounts refer to the same event, and that the reduc tion of this castle was allotted to Rhys Vechan, in the arrangement of their concerted opera tions; or that he lost it again, and that the allies immediately combined their forces to recover it* is neither easy nor important to ascertain, In the year 1218, LleAvellyn ap Jorwerth is represented as having taken this castle once more from Reynald de Bruse, lord of Brecknock, and having then consigned it to the custody of -Rhys, prince of South Wales. Rhys soon afterwards rased it to the ground. In 1210, John de 'Bruse, son of William de 234 SOUTH WALES. Bruse,, married Margaret, daughter of Lie w-' ellyn ap Jorwerth, prince of North Wales. In 1221, John de Bruse rebuilt and fortified this castle, .with the permission and by the advice of his father-in-law, prince Llewellyn ap Jorwerth. In. the year 1270, Llewellyn ap< Gruffyth ap Jorwerth, the last prince of North- Wales, took the Castle of Caerphilly. This is the first time it is called by the name of Caer philly in the Welsh history. It Avas in earlier times denominated from .the founder of the monastery, on the site of which, after its de molition, tbe castle Avas rebuilt. This is also the last time it is mentioned at all in the con tinuation of Caradoc, from Avhich these parti culars are taken. But there is a more cor rect, and an ampler continuation of Caradoc extant, Avhich is not at present put to the press. It is strongly suspected, that there are some considerable errors, or at least de ficiencies, in all the copies hitherto published. It is not distinctly ascertained, into what bands Caerphilly Castle passed after the pe riod of LleAvellyn's capture. There may pro bably be some notices, dispersed in genealpgi- cal manuscripts; but it is difficult to collect those short anecdotes, faintly and imperfectly recorded here and there, in a mass of con fused materials. In the time of Edward the Fiist, it Avas undoubtedly in the possession ¦GLAMORGA'tfS»i*tE. 235 of Gilbert de Clare, lord, or prince, , as he is sometimes termed, of Glamorgan, who pur chased it, but from Avhom I knoAv not. On his marriage Avith Joan of Acres, he settled this castle, and the lands belonging to it, oa -her and her heirs for ever: but the estates be longing to the lordship of Glamorgan, Avith those belonging to his earldoms of Gloucester and Hereford, he settled on her only for life. After his death, she married, unknown to the king,- Ralph de Mortimer, and settled Caer philly Castle, with the estates belonging to it, on him and his heirs, for ever. After her" death, Gilbert, son of the last earl de Clare, Avho was only five years old at the time of his , father's decease, succeeded to the lordship or principality of Glamorgan. Mortimer, how ever, remained. possessed of Caerphilly. This young lord, Gilbert de Clare, was slain at the battle of Bannockburn, in the year 1314, leav ing no issue. His lordships of course de-, scended to his three sisters, coheiresses. One of them named Eleanor, Avas married to Hugh Spencer the younger; another, Margaret, to Piers GaA^astope; and the third, Elizabeth, to John cle Bugh. Hugh Spencer the younger, came to possess the lprdship of Glamorgan by this marriage, and by purchase or compromise from the other cobeiresses, Among various acts ofodepreda- §36 SOUTH WALES. tion, he seized on Caerphilly Castle, which is said to have been built in a stronger manner than hitherto by Ralph de Mortimer. He likewise usurped the lands belonging to it, and added considerably to the strength and mag nitude of the Castle. He and his father Avere the great favourites of Ed Avard the Second; and being countenanced by him in all their licentious proceedings, both the father and the son acted so directly in violation of all laAvs and justice, as to excite the indignation and resent ment of the English barons, as well as the hatred of the nation in general. Their Welsh subjects, Avho made up the petty sovereignty of Glamorgan, Avere not backAvard in express ing their detestation: and Roger Mortimer, who Avas heir at laAv to Caerphilly Castle and its estates, drew up a regular statement of his case, 'and accompanied it Avith a petition, com plaining of the unjust seizure, by which his property Avas converted to the use of young Hugh Spencer. He presented this memorial to the barons, at a meeting held by them, for the purpose of taking into consideration the iniquitous conduct of Hugh Spencer. ' The barons agreed to furnish him Avith an army of ten thousand men : they placed him at the head of it, and encouraged him to enter Glamorgan, and take possession of his estates. But the Spencers had so strongly fortified and GLAMORGANSHIRE.' 237 garrisoned the castle, and had supplied it Avith such an immense store of provisions, that they' held out for a long time. The queen, siding with the barons, found means to raise a pOAver- ful army. King Edward her husband, on the other hand, was enabled to get into Caerphilly Castle. But, after a long siege, the castle was taken, in consequence of a breach having been effected by means, Avhich it requires some faith to credit on the testimony of local traditions and manuscripts. According to such accounts, a battering ram was worked bv one thousand men, and suspended to a frame, com posed of twenty large daks. The breach Avas made in the depth of a dark night, and king Edward escaped in the habit of a Welsh pea sant. The more effectually to disguise him self, he assisted with great eagerness to pile. Avood on the tremendously large fires which lighted the besiegers in battering the castle. Local authorities assert, probably with some degree of poetical amplification, that one hun dred teams Avere employed to supply wood for those vast fires. The Welsh are said to have assisted the besiegers from all quarters, at a proper opportunity. EdAvard made his escape from every clanger, and through the dark and stormy night Avent on, till he came to the parish of Langonoyd, twenty miles Avestward', where he hired himself as a Cowherd or shep- 23S SOUTH WALES. herd, at a farm still knoAvn by so singular a circumstance. After having been there for .some time, but how long is not precisely asf certained, the farmer, finding him but an awk- Avard and ignorant felloAv, dismissed him. Such is the colouring of one account : but anofher story in manuscript relates, that the farmer kneAy who , he Avas,\and befriended him as long as he could. From Langonoyd he Avent to Neath Abbey, whence he issued a prociar mation, ordering his subjects to take the queen, Avith other particulars, Avhich are, to be found in Rymer's Foedera. ' The Spencers were taken in their castle, Avhere prodigious quantities of salt and fresh provisions were found. In one of the towers, every apart ment Avas crammed full of salt. Under this tower Avas a furnace -for smelting iron, hot masses of Avhich had been thrown by engines on the besiegers, Avho, when they had got pos session of the castle, let out the fused iron from the furnace, and threAv Avater upon it. This occasioned a most dreadful explosion, that rent, the tower in two, and destroyed the salt. What stands of the toAver at present \a that Avhich overhangs its base. The subsequent 'fate of the tAvo Hugh Spencers, father and son, is too av ell known to need a record pn this oc casion. Hugh Spencer, the grandson, howeA*er, with his faithful garrison,, found means to de- GLAMORGANSHIRE. f 239' stroy, very unexpectedly, a considerable mini* ber or the besiegers, and leading his men to .the breach, Avas able to prevent others from entering. Presuming on this, success, young Spencer succeeded in destroying his enemies Avithin, and procuring, tolerable terms, by which .he avas permitted to remain in posses sion of the castle and his estates, together with the lordship of: Glamorgan. His son Thomas Spencer succeeded him. The next in the catalogue Avas a second Thomas Spencer* the last, and, if possible, the Avorst, of this ty rannical and unprincipled family. He, after the accession of king Henry the Fourth, Avas on Jiis way home, in consequence of the conspi racy being betrayed, and the.rebels being routed at Cirencester. He Avas met there by a great number of the Welsh, who had been deprived of their properties by him and his ancestors. These Welshmen took him out of his bed at Bristol, and being joined by the populace, be headed him. He left no male issue, and only One daughter, Isabella, his heiress, who mar ried Richard Beau.champ, earl of Warwick, and in -her right lord of Glamorgan. There re mained in Glamorganshire, of illegitimate issue, several families bearing the surname of Spencer. The Spencers, lords of Glamorgan, were .immensely, wealthy; and hence .we may 240 SOUTH WALES. easily account for the magnitude of Caerphilly Castle. This castle having been thus roughly handled by the queen and barons in the years 1326 and 1327, there are some reasons for supposing, that it was never afterwards inhabited by the lords of Glamorgan. For Ave find that in the year 1400, the famous Owen Glendour had obtained possession of it. A celebrated Welsh bard addresses a fine ode to Glendour, express ing himself after the folloAving manner, mak ing alloAvance for the difference of idioms. " Bring together a faithful host from the territories of the Dauphin : pursue thy course to Ross and Pembroke, and to the region of Breiddin. Then, a protector like Constantine, bring forth thine armies from gigantic Caer philly, a fortress great in its ruins." It is very probable that it had remained in a state of desolation, ever since the siege of the barons. Still, however, it must have been a place of considerable strength, or it Avould not have been occupied by Glendour, after whose time there is but little mention of it to be met with, for more than a whole century. It seems to have been a place, where its ra pacious lords the Spencers amassed every thing they could possibly, get, by plundering their" yassals or tenants, and the inhabitants in GLAMORGANSHIRE. 241 general. From this circumstance arose the Welsh proverb, It is gone to Caerphilly; sig nifying, that a thing is irrecoverably lost, and used on occasions when an Englishman of no very nice selection Avould say, It is gone to the devil. A distinguished Welsh bard of the fourteenth century, David ap GAvilym, has in a satirical poem of his the following passage, the sense and style of Avhich may in some measure be preserved in English, uncouth as they appear. in our phraseology : " May all curse, and I Avill curse; yes, curt* that fellow, and my curses will prevail. He of hardened lips ; — he Avith all the courage of ex cessive cold; — he, our enemy; — may he be come a dead carcase: — his soul; — may his dog run away Avith it, or become, possessed of it, and may his body go to Caerphilly." More passages of this nature might be col lected from the poets; but these are sufficient to illustrate the gloomy ideas which Avere as sociated in the minds of the natives, Avith the seat of so many horrors and such rapacity. Leland, Avho Avrote about the year 1530, mentions Caerphilly Castle in his Itinerary, as set amongst marshes, with ruinous walls of a wonderful thickness, and a tOAver kept up for prisoners. In the first volume of the Archasologia, pub- VOL. I. R 242 SOUTH WALES. lished by the Antiquarian Society, there is a paper by the late Dairies Barringtoii, at that time one of the judges on the circuit of Nfirth Wales. In this communication, he offers some reasons for supposing, that Caerphilly Castle Avas built by Edward the First, on the ground of the probability, that as he had thought it necessary to construct the castles of Conway and Caernarvon, for the purpose of control ling the northern inhabitants of the princi pality, he might also have erected other cas tles in South Wales for the same purpose. I believe that the reputation of the author, and, the ingenious reasoning of the paper, are ge-. nerally considered as having set the question at rest; for it is attributed to Edward the First, in most modern publications, on this authority specifically, Avithout the slightest hint of sus picion or uncertainty. But I apprehend that, "a closer inquiry into the subject would have led that acute and learned antiquary into a train of observation, not altogether consistent with his hypothesis, and have induced him at least to doubt. Glamorgan Avas one of those petty sovereignties, called Lordships Marchers. Its lords were its sovereigns. They had their parliaments, their courts of justice, and their other offices executive and jurisprudential, in which they, and not the king of England, Were supreme. They exercised jura regalia, GLAMORGANSHIRE. 243 and did not hold of the crown, but per gla- dium, as their term Avas. They were gene1- rally, for their greater safety, in close alli ance Avith the king of England, but not his subjects. This distinction, however, is to be understood in- reference to these lordships only; for with respect to their baronies^ and estates in' England, they Avere to all intents and purposes subjects. King Edward had no jurisdiction at that time in Glamorgan. He could not possess an acre of land there, but as a subject to the lord of the country. It hap pened, indeed, in subsequent ages, that in con sequence of intermarriages, the lordship of Glamorgan devolved on the king of England, and he in that case granted it to others oil such terms as he thought proper, till,, in the time of Henry the Seventh, it was united to the croAvn of England, as were most of the other Lordships Marchers in the same man ner: and this assumption enabled Henry the Eighth to incorporate the Avhole of Wales with England. Edward the First had united North Wales by conquest with the crown of England. He had done the same by that part of South Wales, Avhich had been subject to the house of Dinevowt and its princes: but those most poAverful of the Lordships Matchers, Glamor gan and Pembroke in South Wales, with those of Denbigh and Flint in North Wales, part of „ R 2 244 SOUTH AVALES. the lordships belonging to the earls of Ches ter, that of ShreAVsbury, and possibly some others, continued- independent of the crown of England till the time of Henry the Eighth, when the incorporation took place. These circumstances go to prove, that it could not have been EdAvard the First who built Caer^ philly Castle. We have already seen from his torical documents, deduced from the Welsh au thors, that John de Bruse built it in 1221 ; that after it had been taken, and of course partly ruined, it had afterwards been rebuilt in greater strength than it had before possessed, by, Ralph Mortimer; and in process of time Avas again greatly augmented and strength ened by Hugh Spencer the son, Avhose Avealth appears, by all the accounts we have of him, to have been fully equal to such an undertak ing; and it may be supposed, Avith sufficient probability, that it Avas as great, and very pos sibly greater, than that of Ed Avar d the First. The present appearance of Caerphilly fully accords Avith the ideas Avhich ancient records inspire of its strength, magnificence, and ex tent. The area is entered betAveen two dilapi dated towers; and the interior view of this great gateway, betAveen its mighty bastions, is as striking and perfect as any part of the venerable structure. The circuit of theputer works encloses a very large tract of ground, GLAMORGANSHIRE. 245 though the circumference, great as it is com pared Aviththat of fortresses in general, scarcely renders credible the enormous provision, re lated to have been throAvn in by the younger Spencer. The Avail of the celebrated leaning tower, though but a fragment, is still between seventy and eighty feet high, and of a pro digious thickness. It hangs eleven feet and a half out of the perpendicular, and seems only to rest on one part of its south side. It ap pears as if held together principally by the strength of its cement, Avhich is of a tenacity unknoAvn to the experience of modern ma sons. Its* singularity is best observed by an interior examination, or from the moat under neath, whence the effect of its apparently fall ing mass is indeed stupendous. They shoAV the mint close by this interesting part of the ruin, arched in a curious manner, with tAvo furnaces for melting metal. These furnaces likeAvise dealt out dreadful vengeance on be siegers, and were the means, according to the most plausible as well as best-authenticated accounts, of placing the adjoining tower in that singular situation, to account for which has given rise to so many conjectures of fancy, and so many tales of superstition. From the mint there is an ascent to a long gallery, Avhich communicated with the different apartments, 246 SOUTH WALES. and, afforded a ready intercourse betAveen the guards, Avho occupied the embattled tOAvers. This corridor remains entire for the extent of from ninety to one hundred feet on the south side, except where -the staircases have been destroyed, which circumstance prevents its being traversed: but the view from the ex* tremity, along the vaulted passage, darkening as it recedes, realizes the a Ave inspired by the irrational sublimity of chivalrous romance; The descent of the sally-port is tremendously, steep, When once the force of the castle be' gan to notir downj the alternative rested be tween victory and death. The declivity im pelled the steps of those, whose fear might have paused on even ground : and there could he no retreat for the foremost, while the ranks behind were rushing to the conflict, The great hall is large and complete. It exhibits an august example of Gothic grandeur, united with a considerable degree of elegance. This foorn i-s about seventy feet by thirty, and seventeen in height. It has large Avindows, and ail ornamented chimney-piece in masterly and scientific proportions, with clusters of pil lars along the side walls. The north Avindpw of the chapel is not only perfect, but uncom monly light ai]d elegant. The windoAv of what my guide, in the spirit of modern refinement, GLAMORGANSHIRE. 247 v called the draAving-room, is nearly entire* Close by one of the drawbridges i§ the western ' entrance of the ruin, with a high Gothic arch in the centre, supported by two /ponderous towers in a circular form. This great gate- Avay is grand and perfect, and leads to the stupendous structure of the inner court from the Avest, as the gate Avith the hexagonal towers from the east. The dungeon has all those ex cellencies of a dungeon, to which the ancient barons knew how to give full effect ; dark ness, damp, and gloom. The interior has not a great deal of ivy; but the outer walls, par ticularly to the Avest, are venerably clothed. It Avould be superfluous to enter into a de scription of the buildings for the garrison, or ' the outworks. Suffice it to say, that it still ' exists a monument of magnificence, and an in timation of almost irrefragable poAver, in the ancient possessors of this once important lord ship. There is from the castle court a fine view of Energlyn, the seat of Mr. Goodrich. The trade of Caerphilly is becoming of im portance. It was only knoAvn as an object of antiquarian curiosity till of late years, Avhen a Avoollen manufacture Avas established. There are iioav three: and the effect is observable s in traffic on the roads, and population in the tOAvn. There is here one of those very large 248 SOUTH WALES. shops, furnished with articles of every de scription, which are established in particular stations of the mountainous country, and by supplying the wants of the inhabitants, for many miles round, generally ensure a fortune to the industrious and indefatigable adven turer. 249 CHAP. VII. Energlyn. Eglwysilan. Lanbradach. Lanvabon. Ceven Hengoed. Gellygare. Quakers Yard. Aberdare. Hir- waen Furnace. Merthyr Tydvil. Penderyn. Cyfarthfa Works. Dowlais Iron Works. Gelly Vallog. Llwyn y Pia. Ystradyvodwg. Llyn Vawr. Pont Neath Vechan. The turnpike road from Caerphilly to Mer thyr , Tydvil winds through Ystrad vale. I rather chose the road over Eglwysilan moun tain, which is only a horse path, as more favourable to the objects of my journey. There is someAvhere in this district a quadrangular monument described by Camden ; but it Avas not my fortune to meet Avith it, having at this time no guide, and having appointed my ser vant, who was better acquainted with the country, to meet me at Merthyr Tydvil. The courtesy betAveen Caerphilly and Energlyn is reciprocal ; for each affords a most advantage ous view of the other. The latter place is handsome and Avell laid out, with woods at the back and sides for ornament and shelter. The front aspect to the south-east is genial and pleasing, and commands a striking view of the plain hemmed in by mountains, with its august 250 SOUTH AVALES. castle completely under the eye, and impres sively exhibited in its collected mass. The ascent from Energlyn to the farm-house above opens gradually an extensive and grand prospect of the plain immediately beneath, and over the nearer mountains to the channel, with almost an uninterrupted expanse of coun try on each side. Beyond the farm-house on the flat top of the mountain, as you retreat from the southern scene, you have Ystrad vale to the right, Avhile you look over into the A*ale of Taff on the left, and the prpspect is terminated on that side by the hills which bound the horizon to the west of that river. The character of the district is Avild, yet not without occasional specimens of cultiva^ tion and beauty. Among these is the undulat'- ing line of brushwood in the valley, that over hangs the quiet and concealed course of the Rompney : the respectable mansion of Lan bradach, the cottages belonging to the chapelry of Lanvabon belpw the mountain on one side, CeA'en Hengoed on the other, the improved and Avell-wooded grounds about Gellygare in front; Avhile the rude grandeur of the scene, thus relieved and diversified, is appropriately terminated by the tAvo lofty and perpendicular peaks of Bann-uwch-denni, Avhich are seen from very distant parts of South Wales, and GLAMORGANSHIRE. 251 thence called the Brecknockshire beacons, forming part of that continued chain from Landilo Vawr to Crickhowel. The parish church is dedicated to Helena," and thence called Eglwysilan, and the name of the chapel annexed, Lanvabon, imports it to have been dedicated to Mabon, a saint who lived in the fifth century. He Avas a brother of Teilo, the second bishop of Landaff. About tAvo.mMes from Caerphilly, in this direction, are several tumuli, in which burnt bones have been found, but no medals. They Avere opened about the year 1752, and have been mentioned in a paper by the Rev. William Harris, read to the Society of Antiquaries, and printed in the Archseolqgia. The urns Avere all broken by the workmen. The peace of this neighbour* hopd is much disturbed by the parties of gene* ral and particular, or Calvinistic, baptists into which their religious societies are divided. After descending the mountain, my road lay to the left in the vale near Gellygare, where the memorable battle Avas fought after Fitz- hamon's conquest, Avhich proved to the Nor mans, at their cost, how dearly the natives loved their liberty, and how deeply they re sented its Joss. The next deviation was up a steep ascent, Avinding round suddenly on a height, that overlooks the Quaker's Yard, with all its romantic scenery. This is, on the 252 SOUTH AVALES. Avhole, perhaps the most singular spot in the vale of Taff. The Quaker's Yard is now a burial place belonging to that sect. It is a spot of ground, enclosed by a wall, but Avith out any kind of house or other shelter. This was for a long time the place Avhere the ori ginal catabaptists performed their Avorship; and even to this day, or till very lately, there are, or have been, occasional meetings for di vine service here among the Quakers. It Is about six miles lower in the vale than Merthyr Tydvil. Directly beyond it, on the curiously- contrived turnpike road from Merthyr Tydvil to Cardiff, is a bridge over the Bargoed Taff River, just at its junction -vvith the Taff; the banks of Avhich' have here acquired their woody character, Aidiile the valley on each side is choked up by mountains. The road, earned over a precipice, exhibits the eccentricities of nature in all their extent and variety. I had been informed that the direct journey from the Quaker's Yard till within a mile or tAvo of Merthyr Tydvil was over a continued range of mountainous and unrelieved barrenness. I de termined therefore to take a circuitous route; and for that purpose bent my steps, near the feeder to the canal, towards NeAv Bridge, by which, direction, at different times, I com pletely explored the richer part of this deli cious vale. At the aqueduct, Avhere the canal is. GLAMORGANSHIRE. 253 carried over the river, an' iron rail- road, for the present, ends ; and from the wharf at this place the canal is the only conveyance for heavy goods to Cardiff. The length of it, as far as it has already been completed, is about ten miles ; but it Avas designed to have exr- tended from Merthyr Tydvil to Cardiff; and it is said that one horse Avould have been able to draw forty tons of iron the Avhole distance of tAventy-six miles in one day. I understand, however, that it is not likely to be finished : and indeed it is much more necessary Avhere it is noAV made, from the occasional Avant of water, than lower down, Avhere the confluence of many and copious streams affords a more certain supply to the canal. The wonders of art in this neighbourhood almost rival those of nature. There are just here eighteen locks on the canal in the space of one mile, eleven of Avhich follow each other in such immediate succession, as to occupy only one quarter of that mile. After pursuing this interesting part of the road nearly as far as New Bridge, I returned over the aqueduct into the vale of Cynon or Aberdare. , This clear and> rapid river pays its tribute to the Taff at this place; and the romantic narroAv- ness of the opening between the clustered mountains to the north-Avest, Avhere the two vales meet, strongly invites the traveller to 254 SOUTH AVALES, deviate, at the, expense of time, distance, and intolerable paths. The right ^bank of the -Cynon leads directly through the parish, Avhich is many miles in length, to the village of Aberdare. It has already been described as very narrow at the eastern extremity, but it Avidens as you advance, and becomes exqui sitely beautiful and verdant. It is equally seeluded, but less wild than Ystradyvodwg. About two miles from the aqueduct, there is on the left bank of the Cynon a most luxu riant and majestic grove of oaks. The next feature of peculiar attraction beyond, is a very picturesque hollow way overshadowed with lofty trees. The road, a rough and much- obstructed horse-path, afterwards runs by the side of the Cynon, the bed of Avhich is so shal-. low here, that you may stand in it, and catch a beautiful view of its reach, encompassed by mountains on every side. Near the place- "to which I refer is an Alpine bridge, formed by two trunks of trees, Avith the luxury and safe guard that does not often occur, of a railing on each side, to compensate for its tremulous- ness under the foot. The river soon becomes broader, and introduces you to a fine vieAV of the vale in its most open and extensive part. The track afterwards takes a higher level on the side of the mountain, and introduces more of the upper grounds into the landscape. For GLAMORGANSHIRE. 255 some AVay it runs along a precipice over the water Avith hanging, avoqcIs beneath fringing tbe river to its edge; while the nakedness of the rocks above contrasts and sets off the luxuriance and verdure of the meadows and groves beloAV. But there is a confined view, about three miles short' of the village, Avhich struck me as the most engagingly romantic and beautiful of the Avhole. It consisted only of three meadoAvs, surrounded by grove's of oak and fir, which completely shut out the world, and realize the) tales of uninhabited islands, whose Avildness is partially pruned and regulated by some shipwrecked mariner or exiled sojourner. It is Avorth Avhile to clitnB a hill close by, for- the purpose of taking a general vieAV of the country down to the Taff, which you have just examined in detail. It is a bold and rich scene, and the meadoAvs form a most pleasing fore-ground. This vale, taken as a Avhole, is one of the most fertile and beau tiful in the mountains of Glamorgan. All the circumstances of these wild districts do riot correspond in the agreeableness of their features. The face of nature is enchanting; but the state of human accommodation Avould, be ^considered as frightful by the nursed in habitants of more populous and better accom modated tracts. A stronger contrast cannot be conceived than between a cottage in th* 256 SOUTH WALES. vale of Glamorgan, and a cottage in the vale of Aberdare or Ystradyvod wg, though proba bly there is scarcely ten miles of intervening space in a straight line. Yet even to the cot tages of Aberdare I can give the negative praise, that I have since seen Avorse. The diet of the peasants in the hills is of the coarsest kind: it consists of oatmeal bread, with a relish of miserable cheese ; and their beer> Avhere they have any, is worse than none. Their butter and milk are of a more palatable quality. Yet I question whether their ignorance of better things, and consequent exemption from the purgatory of comparison, may not keep them among the most contented, though poorest of the poor. Their cheerful ness among one another, and communicative disposition towards inquirers, renders it a matter of regret to a stranger, that he has no common language in Avhich to converse Avith them. Having formed my preconceived opinion from what I had witnessed of Ystrady vod wg in the summer, and the style of the huts I had passed in my progress up this vale, T found the village of Aberdare more populous and better arranged than I expected. This is to be attributed to its having become, in com mon Avith Merthyr Tydvil, a manufacturing place, though its establishments bear no com parable proportion with that metropolis of iron- GLAMORGANSHIRE. 257 Piasters; It prdduces a sudden and rather in explicable sensatiPn in the mind, to meet with the modern improvements of scientific inge nuity; and the activity of commercial enter- prize, in a country which seems to have pre cluded all Such possibilities; and appeared but just before like the very head-quarters of solitude. % I did not visit, and of course dd not describe, either the works of Aberdare be longing to Mr. Scales, br Hirwaen Furnace* at the distance of four miles to the north; whose columns of smoke, rising from its stai tion at the black and barren extremity of this Alpine vale, Obscure and stifle those rural images, produced on the fancy by the sportive creations of nature. Such arrangements are every where similar ; and as I Avas to see the most extensive and perfect hereafter, I was glad to escape from the contusion of anvils, the blast of furnaces, and the whirl of wheels* The churchyard of Aberdare has some vene rable, but decaying yeAV-trees, and some mo numents, in all the pomp of gilded cherubims, with a profusion of devices in every taste but the good. It is difficult to conjecture how the supposed simplicity of these mountaineers, eould have conceived, much less executed,- such finery. But the church itself is a most N lame and impotent conclusion to this, funereal magnificence, though quite as good as almost vol. i. s 25S SOUTH WALES. ' any others in similar situations. The natives? of the Welsh mountains worship their Maker, Avhere an Englishman Avould not litter the most ignoble quadruped about his house; in dark ness, and in damp, pelted through crevices by the elements; and immersed in dirt more pro found and impenetrable than that of their own miserable hovels. In respect to cleanliness, indeed, there is a lamentable .difference be tween the peasants of the mountains and the vallies ; a difference that makes it a question, whether that virtue, as it is justly called, is not rather an invention and refinement of so ciety, than an instinct of nature, as those are apt to imagine, who have been too long in its habits to remember their own initiation. A canal to joirr the other is carried the length of seven miles and an half, beside a rail-way eight miles and an half further; and a turnpike road through the vale .is in agitation. It is yet doubtful whether these improvements Avill be, carried to their proposed extent. At the upper end of Aberdare vale, you enter Brecknock shire, at the parish of Pender. The road from Aberdare across the moun-v tain, that divides it from the vale of Merthyr Tydvil, is of rugged and toilsome ascent, and passes by the works of Mr. Scales. The com munication betAveen the tAyo places is constant, and renders the -scene Avidely different from the unfrequented Wilds of Aberdare.. From GLAMORGANSHIRE* 259 the summit, the tOAvn of Merthyr Tydvil, with its populous vale, stretches itself under the eye. The first perception of singularity that it occasions in the mind, is the extreme dis proportion between the population and the visible means of sustenance. A mountain val ley, overspread, as far as the eye can reach, With the comparatively commodious habitations of masters, agents, engineers, and workmen, seems to have been peopled in the teeth of every obstacle, and to assert the triumph of fact over probability. The vale is of consider able Avidth, and inaccessible to all but the equestrian traveller, except at the very narrow passes of the extremities. The mountains are bleak, barren, and devoid of wood : the bottom has its sprinkling of successful cultivation : but the inhabitants live on the contributions of distant parts, and enhance the prices far beyond their natural level, at the same time that they drain the surrounding country of its labourers. It is seldom that so populous a district and so bare a soil are found to coalesce. It is, however, owing to the difficulty of mountain tillage, Avhich strong inducements will always overcome, and not to a defect of vegetative powers when called into action, that this tract exhibits these peculiarities, in a fair ttain for being diminished and effaced by time. Since the establishment of the iroh- s 2 26*0 SOUTH WALES. * Avorks, the great increase of the population, and the proportionately imperious demand for articles of consumption, the farmers have been excited to improve their lands ; so that all sorts of corn, in very good and plentiful crop3, are now raised upon lands, where it Avas once taken for granted that no corn could possibly be produced. Agriculture is perhaps improv ing here^ more rapidly, than in parts of the county more favourable to its efforts; and the energies thus awakened seem likely to be croAvned Avith a success, not^predicted by the most sanguine hopes of the projectors* Merthyr Tydvil derives, its name from Tyd vil, the daughter of Brechan, Prince of Breck nockshire. She AvaS the wife of Cyngen, son of Cadelh, Prince of the vale royal and part of PoAvys, about the close, of the fifth century ; and> is reckoned among the ancient British saints. She, with some of her brothers, was on a'visit to her father, then an old man, when they were beset by a party "of Pagan Saxons and Irish Picts, as they are termed in vari ous old manuscripts. Tydvil, her father , Brechan, and her brother Rhun Dremrudd, Avere murdered. But Nevydd, the son of Rhun Dremrudd, a very young man, soon raised the country by his exertions, and put the infidels to flight.. It should seem by this Snecdote, as well as by others that may be GLAMORGANSHIRE. 261 found in the Cambrian biography, derived from the ancient manuscript memorials of the British saints, that Brechan had his residence, or Avhat the modern language of princes usually terms court, at this place. Tydvil having been murdered, or martyred in the manner de scribed," a church was here dedicated to her in after times, and called the church of Merthyr Tydvil, which signifies the Martyr Tydvil, from the Greek word ftaprup, a Avitness, exclusively appropriated in ecclesiastical language to the designation of those who have borne testimony by their sufferings to the truth of their reli gion. These are the few and scanty memorials Arhich have hitherto been discovered respect ing the history of this place in the earliest times. But it Avas in after ages, though in considerable in population and political im portance, of no cpntemptible note as a sort of hot-bed, that contributed principally to en gender, and kept alive for more than a cen- ' tury, those religious dissensions, Avhich still separate a larger portion of the inhabitants in Wales, than in any part of England, from the established church. Indeed it cannot be, but that the zealous and devout, Avhether capable or not of appreciating controverted creeds or metaphysical distinctions, Avill form themselves intp distinct societies, where the scanty proyi- 262 SOUTH WALES. sion of the clergy, and the neglected state of the churches, scarcely admit of that seemliness and grave impression, so necessary to the due effect of public Avorship. Almost all the ex clusively Welsh sects among the loAver orders of the people have in truth degenerated into habjts of the most pitiable lunacy in their de votion. The various subdivisions of methodists, jumpers, and I know not Avhat, Ayho meet iii fields and houses, prove how Ioav fanaticism may degrade human reason: but the intelli gent and enlightened part of the dissenters, among whom have appeared many luminaries of our harning, are every Avhere respectable, and no Avhere more respected, than in the estimation of moderate and candid churchmen. At Blaen Cannaid, in this parish, the first dis? sen ting congregation in Wales was formed about the year 16'20, or very soon after ; and it Avas Avhile preaching to this society, that Vavasor PoAvel, a man celebrated in the annals, of nonconformity, Avas taken up and imprisonsd in Cardiff gaol. Vavasor Powel was born in Radnorshire, and descended on his father's side from the Powels of Knuckles in that county, an ancient and honourable stock; by his mother,' from the Vavasors, a family of high antiquity, whicb came out of Yorkshire into Wales, and Avas, related to the principal gentry, He was edu* GLAMORGANSHIRE, g63 SOUTH WALES. permitted to return to Merthyr Tydyil, after his imprisonment at Portsmouth as Avell as at Shrewsbury: but as he persisted in exercising his functions, he Avas committed to Cardiff Castle, and afterAvards sent to London, Avhere he expired in the Fleet, and Avas buried in Bunhill Fields. But it was not to the bloody memory of its martyrs, whether ancient or modern, that Mer thyr Tydvil Avas to OAve its rank in the historic page; for it continued a very inconsiderable village till about the year 1755, Avhen tbe late Mr. Bacon took more notice of the iron and coal mines, wi th which this tract of country abounds, than they had before excited. For the very low rent of tAvo hundred pounds per annum, he obtained a lease of a district, at least eight miles long and four Avide, for ninety- nine years. It is to be understood, however, that his right extended only to the iron and coal mjnes found on the estate, and that he had comparatively a very small portion of the soil pn the surface, on Avhich he erected his works for smelting and forging the iron. He possessed in addition some fields for the keep of his horses, and other necessary convenien- cies. He at first constructed one furnace; and little besides this was done, probably for at least ten years. The next advance was the erection of a forge for working pig, into bar GLAMORGANSHIRE. 26$; Jron. About the beginning of the American. war, Mr. Bacon contracted with government for casting cannon. Proper founderies were erected for this purpose ; and a good turnpike road was made down to the port of Cardiff, along an extent of twepty-six miles. At Car diff likewise a proper wharf was formed, still palled the cannon wharf, whence the cannon were shipped off to Plymouth, Portsmouth, and wherever the service required. These were carried in Avaggons doAvn to Cardiff, at a pro digious expense of carriages, horses, and roads. There are those who do not hesitate to assert, but I know not with Avhat truth, that sixteen horses were sometimes employed to draAv the waggon that contained only one cannon, It is likeAvise said, that the roads Avere so torn by these heavy Avaggons and the Aveight of their loads, that it was a month's Avork for one man to repair the turnpike after every deportation pf cannon. I had no opportunity of inquiring properly and minutely into the truth of these relations; but I cannot help suspecting them to be matter of fact in the main, hyperbolically aggravated, thpugb I derive the account from yery respectable sources of information. This contract is supposed to have been im mensely lucrative to Mr. Bacon; but he Avas obliged to relinquish it about the close of the American war, or rather to transfer it to the Caron Company in Scotland, as I have beep 6 SOUTH WALES, formed; Avhere most, perhaps all, of, the can- n are now cast. He made this disposal, that might be enabled to hold a seat in parlia- :nt, j-to which hp had been elected. Soon envards,, about the year 1783, he granted ises of his remaining term, in the folloAvjng reels : Cyfarthfa works, the largest portion, Mr. Crawshay, and the remainder to Mr. 11. Mr. Bacon never had any interest in ndarren or Dowlajs works ; but his heirs ve from the other tAvo a clear annual income ten thousand pounds. tMr. Crawshay's iron >rks of Cyfarthfa are now by far the largest this kingdgjm ; probably, indeed, the largest Europe; and in that case, as far as Ave knOAV, 2 largest in the world. He employs con- mtly fifteen hundred men, at an average of irty shillings a Aveek per man, which will ike the Ayeekly Avages paid by him two thou- id tAvo hundred and fifty pounds, and the mthly expenditure, including other items, out ten thousand pounds. From the canal counts, it appears that Cyfarthfa works sent le thousand. nine hundred and six tons of m to Cardiff, betAveen the first of October 05, and the first of Octdber 1806; so that 2 average maj' be reckoned from one bull ed and eighty to two hundred tons every ek. Mr: CraAvshay noAV Avorks six furnaces, 1 tAvo rolling mills. For procuring blast for ; furnaces and working the mills, he has four (Glamorganshire. 267 steam engines, one of fifty, oneef forty, pnp ©f twelve, and one of seyen horse power. • .< The quantity of iron sent from Pendarren works by the canal, from October J 805, to October 1806, was six thousand nine hundred and sixty-three tons; so that the men employed by Mr. Homfray must amount to about one thousand, and his monthly outgoings mast be about seven thousand pounds, and the weekly average of iron from one hundred and thirty to ope hundred and forty tons. Dowlais iron works, belonging to Messrs. Lewis and Tate, are next in the scale to those of Pendarren. Their produce last year amounted to five thou sand four hundred and thirty-two tons. Ply-? mouth Works, belonging to Mr. Hill, sent out within the same period, three thousand nine hundred and fifty-two tons, or twenty-six tons per Aveek. They employ about five hundred raen, at a monthly expense of about four thou sand pounds. The total of^the iron sent to Cardiff down the canakJrtSm the first of O'ctor ber 1805, to the first of October 1806, was tAventy-six thousand two hundred and fifty- three tons, or abopt five hundred tons Aveekly; whence' it is shipped off to Bristol, London, Ply- -mouth, Portsmouth, and other places, and a considerable quantity to America, The number of smelting furnaces at Merthyr Tydyii is about sixteen. V. g6§' SOUTH wales. In such a revieAV of the increasing Avealth and population, which -these important manu* factures are yearly conferring on the country, we may well exclaim with Jago, v,, , Hail, native British ore! of thee possess'd, * "We envy not Golconda's sparkling miries, Nor thine, Potosi ! nor tliy- kindred hills, Teeming with gold. What ! though jn putward fprra X.ess fair ? net less thy worth. To thee we owe |tlore riches than Peruvian mines can yield, Qr Montezuma's crowded magazines And palaces could boast, though roof 'd with gold. This town, as it may properly be termed, js now by far the largest town in the whole prin cipality. Its population, in the year 1802, war found to be upwards pf ten thousand ; and it js supposed that jt amounts 3* this time, De cember 18P.3, though a| the interval of only one year from the date of the numeration, to cphsjderably more than eleven thousand ; and this is tq be understood Avithout including the suburb, as Ave may denominate \t correctly enpugh, pf Coed, y Ctimmar, on the Breck nockshire side of fhe river, the population Qf which is at leas$ one thousand. Swansea, here tofore t\\e largest town in Wales, exceeding every other town by at least one thousand in habitants, is uoav nearly, if not quite, doubled by Merthyr Tydvil. It is true, the external appearance of Merthyr Tydvjl js not to be GLAMORGANSHIRE. 26$ compared with that of Swansea. The house of Mr. Homfray at Pendarren is large and elegant^ with fine and and Avell-planted gardens, green- bouses, hot-hpuses, and all the accommodations befitting the residence of a Avealtby family : but tbe splendours of Merthyr Tydvil begin and end with this mansion. When the first furnaces and forges Avere erected, there could not exist the slightest glimmering of presci ence, that this little obscure Welsh village would, in less than forty years, groAV up to such a magnitude, as to be far more populous than any other tOAvn in Wales. The first houses that were built Avere only very small and simple cottages for furnace-men, forge-men, miners, and such tradesmen as Avere necessary to construct the required buildings, Avith the common labourers who Avere employed to as sist them. These cottages Avere most of them built in scattered confusion, without any order or plan. As the works increased, more cot tages Avere wanted, and erected in the spaces between those that had been previously built, till they became so connected with each other, as to form a certain description of irregular streets, very much on the plan of Crooked Lane in the city of London. These streets are noAV many in number, close and confined, hav ing no proper outlets behind the houses. They are consequently very filthy for the most part, 270- south WAle£- -. and doubtless very unhealthy. Som6 streets,' it is to be observed, have within these fe\V years been built, and more are building, on a better plan; in straighter lines, and wider/ having decent houses, with commodious out* lets, and other necessary attentions to cleanli ness, and health. In some of the early, and rudely-connected streets, we frequently see the small miserable houses taken down, and larger and very respectable buildings erected in their ' Stead. Such improvements are increasing Avith some degree of rapidity. Shopkeepers, inn-" keepers, forge-men, some of them at least, and in no inconsiderable numbers, are making comfortable fortunes, and consequently im proving their dwellings. Mr. Crawshay, how ever, is more conspicuously qualified to set them an example of industry than elegance. His house is surrounded Avithfire, flame, smoke, and ashes. The noise of hammers, rolling mills, forges, and belloAvs, incessantly din and crash upon the ear. * Bars and pigs of iron are continually throAvn to the hugely accumulating heaps that threaten to choke up every avenue of access. It is more humourously than truly. said in the neighbourhood, that such scenery is most congenial. to the taste, such sounds most lulling to the repose of the owner. The fact, hoAvever, is, that the situation of the masters dAvelling was fixed long before Mi\ GLAMORGANSHIRE. 271 CraAvshay came to it: and when it is considered hoAV conveniently it lies for the superintendr ence of the business, few men, brought up in the habits of commercial prudence, would' consult agreeable prospects and domestic ele gance, at the expense of that best security, the ever- watchful eye of a principal. The ma chinery of this establishment is gigantic; and that part of it, Avorked* by water, among the most scientifically curious and mechanically powerful to which modern improvement has given birth. The most reniarkable piece of mechanism in Merthyr Tydvil is the great Wa ter Avheel made by Watkin George. Its dia meter is fifty feet, and it has the poAver of fifty horses. „Tt has the advantage of water from above, on its centre, and beneath it ; or, in other Words, it possesses all the forces of an overshot, breast, and undershot Avheel. I ap prehend it to be the largest in the kingdom. Watkin George and William Aubrey; Avere the two principal engineers, and they are both na tives pf this country. Watkin George in par ticular; who planned and executed this immense undertaking, Avas a common village carpenter. Owing to his success in these mechanical in ventions, he got forward by degrees, and be came at last so useful to Mr. Crawshay, as to obtain a share in his works. He has lately quitted" the concern with from thirty to forty 272 SOUTH AVALES. thousand pounds in his pocket. This is ririe' among the most remarkable instances of wealth acquired b}7 the untutored ingenuity 6'f the natural faculties; Such, as I have described it; is the architec tural cliaracter of Merthyr Tydvil; a place that never had a premeditated plan on AVhieH to be built* but grew up by accident, and Oil the spur of variously occurring necessities. Such. obviously has been the case, unfortu nately for convenience and the arts, with many of our greatest cities. It is evident that they consisted originally of cottages, communicating with each other in very confused directions^ The first inhabitants little dreamt that the rude village Avould ever groAV up to be a popu lous tOAvn, perhaps the metropolis of a mighty empire; for to such an origin may London itself be with every probability asci'ibed. Had Sir Christopher Wren's plan been adopted after the fire, Ave should indeed have possessed a capital commensurate Avith our political rank and commercial greatness: but the early rein statement of the sufferers was too imperiously demanded, to admit of the delay, Avhich so ex pensive a reformation must have occasioned. The workmen of all descriptions at these immense iron works are Welshmen. The lan guage is almost entirely Welsh. The number of Englishmen among them is very inconsideY- GLAMORGANSHIRE. 273 able. But the ill effects, Avhich large collec- , tions of the loAver classes produce upon the state of manners, are here very observable; though by no means to so great an extent, as in the manufacturing toAvns of England. The simplicity, sincerity, and disinterestedness, of the peasant is lost in the mercenary cunning or extortion of the mechanic. But a few miles off, you can scarcely prevail Avith the rustic to accept your gratuity, though he has lost half his day's Avork by directing you over the moun tains: here, you are beset Avith the demands of the importunate hordes upon yourpurse, though the only favour you request at their hands, is to view the objects of your curiosity Avithout their intrusion. The people come together at this place from the interior and mountainous parts of Wales ; and for that reason there is less English to be heard here in common conversation, than in any other considerable town of the principality. The men employed at these works are too much addicted to drink ing; but in other respects no great immorali- - ties are to be found among them ; far less indeed than might have been expected, considering the tide of dissoluteness Avhich is usually found to floAv in upon a place, from the rapid increase of vulgar population. The principal check to immorality arises from the iron-masters, as. the proprietors are, palled, being magistrates pf the T ' 274 SOUTH WALES. coupty. The Rev. Mr. Maber, the elergyman of the parish, is also a magistrate ; and the high respectability of his character renders him" a most valuable^ acquisition^ Avhere the united influence of example and authority are required, to preserve peaee and decorum. These magistrates appoint a proper number of constables. The Avhole system, and the pro ceedings attendant on its operation, are all subjected to the quarter and great sessions of the county ; and consequently more energetic and effectual than a police vested in the courts and magistrates of corporations ; an additional illustration to the more' prominent instances of Manchester, Birmingham, and other unfran chised towns, that the laws and law courts of the country at large are better calculated to preserve good order, than the powers usually vested in corporate bodies, and are at the same time much less oppressive to the community in general. There is a printing-office here, and a book seller who communicates with London every Aveek. It cannot be expected that, literature should have been much cultivated, or the arts of elegance and^civilization have been held in much price, in a town Avhich oavcs its- exist* ence to rough, unpolished industry.- Yet litet rary improvement has begun to put out some buds pf early promise, and Ave have only to GLAMORGANSHIRE. 271 nope, they may be brought forward to that state of ripeness and utility, which science has attained in rpany other places, originating in similar causes, and blessed with similar pros-; perity. There are many of the inhabitants who apply themselyes to the study of mineralo gy, chymjstry, and other branches of natural knowledge, in a regular train of scientific ini tiation. Indeed, the nature of the place leads them to such investigations. There are seve ral book societies at Merthj-r Tydvij, and I am told that a philosophical society is in its infan? cy, though I augur but indifferently of itsge? neral success, -among a people Avhose pursuits are little favourable to any branch of science, but such as may be immediately connected with the advancement of their own manufactures. The parish church is Avell attended, and it has been furnished Avith an organ of late years. It is rather large, but not sufficiently so for . the place; in consequence of which a spacious and elegant chapel of ease has just been erected. This is an octagon building, to be furnished alsp with its organ. There are about ten dis? renting and methodist meeting-houses; and their denominations are thus divided : three. baptists, two presbyterians, two independents, two in the connection of Wesley, and one, if »ot tAvo, in that of Whitfield. In the northern . and western parts of Glamorgan, the dfssen- T % 276 SOUTH WAL'ES.- ters and methodists are to the members of the establishment, as eight or ten to one ; but in the vale, the proportion is inverted, though less considerable. A theatre has lately been erected at Merthyr Tydvil, Avhere an itinerant company of actors, by no means of the lowest description, perform at stated times. Since the first edition of this Avork Avas pub lished, Merthyr Tydvil church has been taken down, and is rebuilding on a larger scale. The chapel is finished, and licensed by the bishop. On my visit to this place, in the summer of 1 806, I found that great improvements had been made in the tOAvn, within the last tAvo years. Many new streets, in addition to those before- mentioned, have been built, Avhich are suffi ciently straight and Avide, and more have been laid out. The neAV houses are in general good, and some of the older streets have been re built on an improved plan. Mr. Maber, the rector, has lately obtained an act of parlia ment to enable him to grant leases on the glebe for building. These leases are in gene ral for three lives, but some of them for a term of years. Nearly the Avhole of the glebe has been laid out in regular streets for build ing ; but the effects of the scheme cannot be ascertained for some time, as the profits Avill be uncertain, and the dilapidations very great. Should the speculation answer, it may be cal- GLAMORGANSHIRE. 277 ' culated that Avhen these leases expire, the an nual rents of the houses, Avith other advantages which will accrue from an extended popula tion, will render the rectory bf Merthyr. Tyd vil greatly superior in yearly income to the bishopric of Landaff. It is a curious circum stance, that a feAv years back the whole revenue of the rectory, Avhich Avas then more than three hundred pounds per annum; was insufficient to pay the parochial rates. I think, if my me mory is correct, that in one year, Mr. Maber paid five pounds more than he received from his living. The poor-rates are tremeridPus, OAving to the influx of strangers to the Avorks. A very good canal, of Avhich some incidental notice has before been taken, is made from Merthyr Tydvil to Cardiff. It was begun about sixteen years ago, and completed in June 1798. From the tide-lock, Avhere it en ters Penarth Harbour, up to the town of Car diff, it is navigable, as Ayas before mentioned, for ships of four hundred tons ; but from Cardiff to Merthyr Tydvil it is navigable for barges of one hundred tons. The head of this canal at Merthyr Tydvil Bridge is five hundred and sixty-eight feet five inches higher than the tide-lock two, miles beloAv Cardiff, where it falls into Penarth Harbour, and for a part of~ this distance, it skirts precipitous mountains, at the height of near three hundred feet above f78 T80UTH WALES. the river Taff, which it closely accbmpanies. through its Avhole length. This canal has up wards of forty locks on; it in the space of tAventy-six miles, which is its whole length ; and it is crossed by more than forty bridges. The neAv tram-road runs nearly by its side. It was constructed under thelirst act of parliament x ever passed for these roads. On the 2 1 s.t of Fe* bruary, 18C)4, ten tons of iron and seventy per sons were drawn for nine, miles by the power of steam. Merthyr Tydvil has three market places, which are well supplied tAvice every Aveek, oft Wednesdays and Saturdays. It has seveval fairs in the year; and in the same parish, on the top of a mountain, about tAvo miles out of toAvn, there is a very ancient market place, With a large public house and a cottage or two. Here Aveekly markets have been held for at least eight hundred years, during the summer season, from the 14th of May till the 14th of October. This singular market is in its season frequented by great numbers. There are also several large fairs for cattle chiefly held here, The neighbourhood of Merthyr Tydvil abounds, with excellent coal, iron ore, very good mill-stones, and limestone rocks, in Avhich kre found beds of black marble, equal to that of Derbyshire. They afford marble of various. other colours, -some variegated like the Broc- GLAMORGANSHIRE. 279' catello in the. south of France. In this coun try, impregnated Avith iron, chalybeate springs abound. Excellent flag stones for paving, and a very good kind of slate for covering ropfs, are plentifully found in this neighbourhood, and indeed throughout the mountainous district of Glamorgan. While I am on this subject, it will not be impertinent to observe, that though the French are, generally speaking, infinitely behind us in all the useful arts of life, 'they have a manifest superiority in their mode of tiling and slating their houses. The roof of a bouse in Paris is as symmetrical a part of the building, as the elegant stone front; nor is the one discernible from the other but by a near and curious examination: but our clumsy and inartificial roofs either disfigure the archi tecture most unmercifully, or are concealed by vthe unworkmanlike device of a parapet, Avhich contributes neither utility nor ornament, be- , yond the negative apology of covering a de fect. About three miles north-east, and in the parish of Merthyr Tydvil, about half a mile out of the old road over the mountains to Breck nock, Avhich I shall pursue hereafter, stands Morlais Castle on the top of a mountain, Avith its dismantled materials throAvn about in the most dreary confusion, overlooking a dingle or great depth, and desolate Avildness beneath, 280 SOUTH WALES. " > with a branch of Taff Vechan river, or little Taff, running in the bpttom. Tt is defended naturally on the north and Avest sides by the height and steepness of the hill, and by the river at its foot. -The south and east sides, though Aveak in themselves, are strengthened by a wide and deep trench, cut in the, solid rock. The main body of the castle was built on an area, forming an irregular pentagon; on the outside of the trench there are several re- mains of foundations, about three feet and a half thick. ' The chaotic appearance of the whole on the ascent forbids the expectation of finding any thing entire; but" there is at the end of a narrow subterraneous passage, a cir cular Gothic room Avith a central pillar, sO buried by the ruins that ha,ve fallen about it, as scarcely to be accessible. Morlais Castle commands the whole country round. It Avas built by Ivor Petit, or Ivor Bach, Avhom I have already noticed. ' From this fortress he sallied out with his tAvo hundred heroes, and took Cardiff Castle. After having performed several other exploits, he built. Red Castle, or Castell Coch, to be a check upon the Normans. The Taff rises above Merthyr Tydvil, some what to the Avestward of this place. In my first excursion, the direction I took from NeAv Bridge to Brecknock, was through the parish of Ystradyvodwg to Pont Neath GLAMORGANSHIRE. 281' Vechan : and I question Avhether any part of my tour is better furnished Avith its apology, if an untrodden track may excuse an author for supposing, that his observations are of suf ficient value to come before the public. I have already mentioned the bridge that crosses the Rontha VaAvr at its confluence Avith the Taff, close , by NeAV -Bridge. The scenery from this bridge to the first and only knoAvn and frequented water-fall on this river, which is-a salmon-leap, and frequently mistaken by strangers for the cascade before described on the Taff, is highly interesting, singular, and impressive. The progress of this river, narrow and rapid, is still more turbulent, and more impeded by rocky fragments, than that of the Taff. The vale is much confined, admitting only a road and a feAv fields on one side, and on the other, the cliffs rise perpendicularly from the Avater in all their naked grandeur, but are clothed on the top with some of the choicest and most majestic timber that Glamorganshire produces. The union of wildness with luxuriance, and of sublimity with contracted size and space, is " here most curiously exemplified. The distance to the Avater-fall is about two miles. About a quarter of a mile before you- arrive at it, there isa very long and tremendously lofty Alpine bridge, ' constructed with trunks of trees laid together, and supported in a sort of reeling equilibrium 282 SOUTH WALES. by a prop of timber in the middle of the river, without Avhich the ricketty contrivance could not abide. It is picturesque in proportion to its rudeness. The fall disappoints those visi tors, whose admiration is adjusted by measure ment, and whose accuracy of computation teaches them, that there must ih all cases be one third more of the sublime in thirty feet than in tAventy. 'But the scene addresses it self Avith peculiar charms to those, Avho have other inducements than to tell their friends in London, with travelled self-complacency, that they have seen a cascade or a mountain. I have had the pleasure of visiting this spot at many different times, both before and since the first publication of these remarks; and once when the river Avas very full of Avater. The compo sure and solitude of the place,- undisturbed by any thing but the roar of the* projected stream and the dashing of the spray; the rocks in truding- on the precincts of the flood in massy portions, rendered smooth by attrition and worn into fantastic shapes; the river placid and shady for a lengthened reach above the fall, but throAvn as it Avere unexpectedly doAvn the steep, collecting itself in dark and pro found pools among the fragments, and then driving its impetuous course from the scene of its disturbance; — all these are circumstances and features, which aim at our sensibility, GLAMORGANSHIRE, 283 more than they command our Avonder. When the season suits, the fish-basket, slung across the fall from a pole supported by the rocks, affords a specimen of- rustic ingenuity, that adds to the pleasures and speculations of the moment. The character of the scenery re mains the same, when you pursue the road be yond the salmon-leap; but the river, instead of rippling over rocks, becomes deep and darkly placid, but transparent. Indeed, a principal beauty of the rivers in this rocky country arises from their perfect clearness, uncontaminated, unless in With Isker; and with her comes Hodny fine and. clear, Of Brecknock best belov'd, the sovereign of the shire: And Grony, at an inch, waits on her mistress^ heels. Then Ebwitfa, and with her; slides Srowy; which farelay Her progress, and for Usk keep entrance to the sea. The rivers Avhich find their Avay into the Wye out of Brecknockshire are thus men tioned : To whose old nation's praise whilst she herself' add rest. From the Brecknodian bound when Irvon coming in, u Her Dulas, with Commarjch, and Wevery doth win, Fersuading her fbr thern good matter to provide. '» The only river in Brecknockshire which bears a name at all resembling Drayton's xg 30& SOUTH WALES. Wevefy, is a small one called ChAvefrin, of 'according to Silurian pronunciation, Whevrin. Among the most distinguished of prince Brechan's sons, Avho gave the name to Breck^ nockshire, Avere Cadoc and Cynoc, both re corded, if not remembered, in the annals of martyrs and confessors: So Clintacky Brecknock's prince, as from one self-same mother', A saint upon that seat, the other doth ensue, Whom for the Christian faith a pagan soldier slew^ To these are to be added, St. Cain, another of prince Brechan's children, who seems to have inherited the prolific holiness of the family, atid was, according to the accounts, so highly blest in his endeavours, as to have been the father of thirty reputed saints. About the latter end of the ninth Century, during the reigrt of Alfred in England, while AnaraAvd was disputing the equitable- division of the sovereignty Avith Cadelh, Brecknock shire suffered greatly by that common griev ance, with Avhich the whole island Avas afflicted in the predatory ravages of the Danes: but it was not till about the time of Fitzhamon's usurpation in Glamorgan, or shortly after, that any thing like a permanent alienationof this district was effected in favour of foreign ers. Barnard Newmareh, a Norman noble man, obtained the lordship by conquest, but BRECKNOCKSHIRE. 500 strengthened his title by marrying the grand daughter of Gruffyth ap Llewellyn, by Avhom he had a son called Mahael, and a daughter. But Mahael fell a 'victim to his own sense of honour. Flaving taken offence at the disso- , lute conduct of his mother, he not only Avarned her to avoid the infamy to which she Avas ex posing herself, but wounded the knight Avith Avhom she intrigued in a rencontre. His mo ther determined to avenge herself: she therer fore sAVore, though falsely, that Mahael Avas not the son of her husband. He was disin herited in consequence of this oath, and his sister Avith the entire estate Avas bestowed by king Henry the First on Milo, the son of Walter Constable, Avho was afterwards created earl of Hereford, lord of Gloucester, Breck nock, and the forest of Dean. Milo had by his Avife five sons, all of Avhom, excepting one, were successively earls of Hereford, and lords pf Brecknock, but died Avithout issue. He bad three daughters, the eldest of whom was married to Humphrey de Bohune, whose grand? father came into England with the Conqueror, Humphrey de Bohune was in her right earl of Hereford, and constable of England. The second daughter's husband, Philip Bruse, Avas lord of Brecknopk in her right. The forest of Dean went with the third daughter. Hum? phrey de Bohune had two daughters; the 310 SOUTH WALES. elder Avas married to Thomas Plantagenefc, the sixth son of Edward the Third, Who was created earl of Buckingham and duke of Glou cester, by king Richard the Second, and earl of Essex and Northampton, and constable of England, in right of his Avife, - Avhose father had possessed those titles. The lordship of Brecknock likewise devolved on Thomas Plan* tagenet, whose son dying Avithout issue, his eldest daughter bestOAved it on the earl of Stafford, in Avhose line it continued,, annexed ,to the dukedom of Buckingham, till an at tainder vested it in the crown. After Barnard Newmarch's conquest, in the reign of LleAv ellyn ap Jorwerth of Wales, and Henry the .Third of England, while the Welsh still strug gled for their independence, Brecknockshire was tAvice the seat of Avar; once in 1217, and kftenvards in 1£33, when Llewellyn came with an army, and destroyed all the towns and cas tles in the country. At the restoration, James Butlet, afterwards duke of Ormond, Svas created earl of Brecknock. These are the leading particulars of the county, as connected with political and historical events. The general aspect of Brecknockshire is mountainous arid grand, affording a sublimity of scenery, interspersed Avith large plots of cultivation, that attaches to 'it its peculiar cha» racter among the strongly-marked divisions BRECKNOCKSHIRE. 311 of South Wales. What most distinguishes it from Glamorganshire is, that its vales are more extensive, more level, less interrupted by swelling hillocks, and have a more English complexion both in their natural appearance, and mode of management: the mountainous tracts are more continuous, more lofty, Avith hill piled upon hill, .but less sudden, and less unexpectedly come upon. The scene does not change so instantaneously and incessantly : it therefore creates more a.Ave, but less surprise; it calls up more intense reflection, but presents less variety of pleasure Its Avoods are in very large masses, where they occur, but are not very generally distributed; the bcru-rs of its principal rivers are, however, very iux.-ri- antly clothed, and it is on the Avhole much better furnished Avith timber than Glamor ganshire. Its rivers are less numerous, and consequently less universally ornamental: but the Usk and the Wye, if indeed the latter is to be called a Brecknockshire river, since it divides this county from Radnorshire, are larger and more important. Most of the Glamorganshire rivers rise in Brecknockshire; but issuing from among the southern hills, repay but parsimoni ously the district that gave them birth. The grand and beautiful variety of occasional sea views is here denied, except from the tops or .some mpuiptains ; and then1 too distant to pro- 312 SOUTH AVALES. duce much sensation. Vulgar wonder may be excited by an immense expanse, and vul gar pleasure may be materially increased by the assurance, that a corner of the seventeenth county may be distinguished, where common tradition had only reckoned up sixteen: but beyond a certain extent, the distance is filled up by one undistinguished colour, the eye has no object it can embrace or comprehend, the mind no topic, on Avhich to build a sentiment or found an inference. In regard to agriculture, it is considered to be in an improving state. The first agricultural society in South Wales was established in this county, on a good plan, and it continues td be supported Avith spirit and judgment. The introduction of many English purchasers, who have imported English principles of husbandry, is gradually bringing this tract of country to a nearer conformity Avith the most approved and general modes. The circumstance of its lying contiguous to Herefordshire, than Avhich there are perhaps feAv parts of England more fertile or better cultivated, is in this respect of infinite advantage.' Glamorganshire, on the contrary, is shut out from such a profitable contact; for though Monmouthshire is made English by authority, its manners, opinions, language, virtues, and vices, are as obstinately and decidedly Welsh, as in almost any part of BRECKNOCKSHIRE. 313 the principality. But it is not only traditional prejudice that arrests the progress of improve ment, which might otherwise rival the career- of its neighbours; the invincible and acknoty> Jedged love Of ease, Avhich marks the character of the natives, and constitutes their least re-? spectable feature, is an insurmountable draw back to those deeply-considered speculations, those painfully sought-out inventions, or ac~ tively-prosecuted accidents and occurrences, to Avhich mankind owe Avhat they possess in philosophical discoveries or economical im provements, directed to the use and comfort; of human life. The price of land varies very greatly : the Soil on the hills is barren and stony; but the vales produce corn and grass Avith great fer^ tility. They are not very near lime except in the south: but land bears the highest rent in the northern part of the county, on the banks of the Wye. The best land about Hay Avill let a$ high as four pounds an acre; and it is Avorth two guineas in any favourable situation be~ tAveen Hay 'and Buallt; but it is much loAver on the banks of the Usk. In the neighbour-? hood of Crickhowel, the general rate near the water side is one pound per acre, and the high grounds ten or twelve shillings. One pound I understand to be the rent of Dany Park; and there probably is not a finer farmer's spot ia 314 SOUTH WA1.ES. the vale of Usk. Immediately round Breck nock, inhabited by many families of condition and fortune, the average is probably much higher; but that difference arises from local causes, and throws no light on the general state of agriculture or value of property. With respect to the condition of the common people, it invariably strikes the eye, on enter ing this county from Glamorganshire, that the appearance of the cottages, and the condition of the cottagers, changes for the worse. The Pride of decorating them, and the comfort of keeping them in repair, seem no longer to enter into the scale of happiness. The gardens and potatoe grounds are not universal, and »eem, where they are possessed, not to be very highly , valued. Even in the tOAvn- of Breck nock, the habitations of the labouring poot are in a much worse condition, than streets ¦similarly occupied in the most insignificant town of Glamorganshire, iii the vale. Yet Brecknock contains an unusual portion of ac commodation for the rich. But the loAver classes seem to be in every respect poorer, and to live more hardly. They have no large ma nufacturing establishments, so that agriculture is the principal object of attention; yet they make a considerable quantity of coarse cloth and stockings in different places. Provisions and labour are not so much advanced as in BRECKNOCKSHIRE. 315 Glamorganshire, but are much higher than when you advance to the north or west. The manners cannot be supposed materially to vary in tAvo contiguous counties. In both the constant intercourse with England by the passage of a mail-coach, Avith the frequency of travelling parties, occasions a continually growing conformity. For though it be true, that Brecknockshire still retains the Welsh language, and, in its south-western parts, in, considerable purity, English manners and ha bits prevail more here than in any other part of South Wales. It is west of Caermarthep that the unmixed Welsh character appears^ probably Avith little variation for centuries. Their countryman Giraldus ascribes, to them good humour, which they preserve uninter- rupted to this day; strict morals, and exem plary piety. With respect to the strictness of their morals unh'ersally, a cursory traveller has no means of forming a judgment; but as far as decency is an essential of morality, they seem to possess it in the "spirit of sincere feel ing, as Avell as in outward semblance. Their piety does not appear very conspicuous]}', ei ther in the attendance or the care of their- churches: and- where it displays itself in as semblies of sectaries, except among the regii* lar dissenters, it is too apt to degenerate into fanaticism. But Giraldus, in a subsequenl 316 SOUTH ATALES. ¦ publication, sets three vices in array against the previously admitted virtues: fickleness against good-humour, breach of faith against strict morals, and a marauding spirit against piety. A good-humoured man. may ^ be con ceived to be fickle; but hoAv a faithless man can be moral, or of Avhat avail is *tbe piety pf a free-booter, it is not so easy to com- .prehend. The latter ascriptions Avere proba bly penned under the influence of spleen. Occasional visitors do not remain long enough to try their 'constancy; but I believe com plaints either of pillage or intentional decep tion on the road to be altogether unknoAvn. Jt should seem as if bishop Hall attributed to the inhabitants of this county another vice, certainly not epidemical in the principality, nor at the present time in this part of it ; since he begins the most spirited satire of his fifth book with the folloAving exclamation; House-keeping's dead, Saturio, wot'st thou where? Forsooth they say far hence in Brecknockshire: The principal remains of Roman antiquities are in and near the town of Brecknock: a causeway running in a direction nearly at right angles Avith the Isker, and leading probably tq the great Roman camp in the neighbourhood; another Roman road near the bridge of Chapel T^yd y Briw, about seven rnjles frpm Breck-j BRECKNOCKSHIRE. S 1 7 iiPck on the Trecastle road ; another in a part of the mountains the most unfrequented at thp present day. The situations of Loventium and Bulleum Silurum remain undetermined by the learned. Even the county of the latter is not agreed, as some place it at Caerphilly, others at Buallt; but probably some little coincidence; of orthography and sound, rather than any evidence, has given rise to the last conjecture^ since I do not understand, either from infor mation on the spot, or from any archaeological memoirs, that Roman coins, bricks, or any Other reliques of antiquity, have been found in the immediate neighbourhood of Buallt It appears from coins found there, and other evi dences, that Hay was knoAvn to the Romans. Since the foregoing paragraph Avas written, I have found occasion to believe, that Castra Bulleum is, beyond a doubt, Caer Vule in the county of Monmouth, and country of the Si- lures. Caer in Welsh is the Latin Castrum. Bute, or Bu-lle, signifies in the same language the place of coavs. The Latin termination would. make it Bulleum. The Welsh nouns change not their endings, but their initials. Bule in the genitive case is Vule, a word of tAvo syllables. Caer Vule, or Castra Bulleum, long as it has unaccountably been missed by the geographers, stands just Avithout the tOAvn of Newport to the west. Large vestiges of a 318 SOUTH WALES. Roman station still remain there. Caer Vule has been supposed by many to, be Caerphilly, by Avhich conjecture Camden has been led into an error. It certainly Avas not at Buallt. As in other cases, so in this; those who think that by understanding Latin they can find a place in Ptolemy, will be much mistaken if Avithout understanding Welsh they expect" to find it in Wales. HoAvever much the scenery of Wales may have been the subject of poetical panegyric, its toAvns have obtained a very slender share of notice. They have, indeed, little that can light up a poetical imagination. John Philips, who in his burlesque poem of The Splendid Shilling, gave a ucav appearance both to ob? jects themselves, and to the manner of their re presentation, by applying Milton's phraseology to familiar incidents, has introduced the prin cipal tOAvn of this county among the places of traffic and resort, to Avhich he Ayith majestic and sonorous pleasantry represents his Welsh farmer as solemnly journeying: But I, whom griping penury surrounds, "And hunger, sure attendant upon want, With scanty offals, and small acid tiff (Wretched repast ! ), my meagre corpse sustain t Then solitary walk, or doze at home In garret vile, and with a Warming puff Begale chill'd fingers -, or from tube as black As winter-chimney, or Avell-polish'd jet,. BRECKNOCKSHIRE. 319 Sihale mundungus, ill-perfuming scent : Not blacker tube, nor of a shorter size, Smokes Cambro-Briton (vers'd in pedigree, Sprung from Cadwallador arid Arthur, kings Full famous in romantic tale) when he O'er many a craggy hill and barren cliff, Upon a cargo of fam'd Cestrian cheese, High over shadowing rides, with a desiga To vend his wares, or at th' Arvonian mart, Or Maridunum, or the ancient town Yelep'd Brechinia, or where Vaga's stream - Encircles Ariconium, fruitful soil ! Whence flow nectareous wines, that well may vie With Massic, Setin, or renown' d Falern. The population of Brecknockshire, by the last account,! exceeded thirty thousand; and I take this opportunity' of correcting my former statement of the population in Glamorganshire,, which Avas taken from an earlier survey, It now amounts, from the rapid increase of tbe various works, to more than seventy thousand. 320 CHAP. IX. x*stradvelltau. Mountdenny. Ponty Stickylh. Chapel Glyncolwyn. Stone Bridge. Cantrev. St. David's. Brecknock^ The Priory. Pont Neath Vechan admits of an easy visit from Neath by any conveyance; and its sur rounding scenery is so interesting, that those who explore the celebrated vale of Neath should not rest satisfied, Avithout committing themselves to the discomforts of the Angel Inn for one night, that they may devote the following day to ranging over the beauties of the neighbourhood. This village stands as it were at the head of the valley, on the con fines of the tAvo counties, and at the confluence of five rivers, each of them contributing its rocks, Avoods, and Avater-falls, to the general grandeur and magnificence, Avhich here seems to be brought together as in a focus. The Neath river, on Avhich the village stands, is the principal ; its double head is mentioned by Drayton. The source of that branch, which fertilizes the spot in question, is at tbe distance of some miles due north; but the Neath Vechan branch rises far to the north east on Mount Denny, as we shall henceforth BRECKNOCKSHIRE. S21 7, ' call it for the ease and satisfaction of the Eng lish reader, and after dividing the counties of Brecknockshire and Glamorganshire in a wide and circuitous sweep, joins its sister stream just at Pont Neath Vechan. The. other tri butary rivers are the Melltau and the Hepsey, rising from different, but not far distant sources, and, after their union, pouring them selves into Byrthin river, Avhich likewise re ceives Tragaeth, and conveys its collected wa ters into the Neath. The meaning of the name Tragaeth is confined river, because it passes as it Avere with difficulty between two rocks. Augmented by such copious contributions, the Neath river rolls through its vale in a body, and Avith a force, that are truly majestic. But its further progress must remain to be de scribed hereafter. The number of cascades in every direction, Avithin three or four miles of this place, is so great, that it is difficult, and perhaps unnecessary, to visit them all. Neath, Melltau, Tragaeth, and Byrthin, have each of them one, besides the wonderful ca vern, through A\?hich Melltau runs: and Hepsey has- five; not at present to mention the three on the Glamorganshire rivers, that join the Neath betAveen Pont Neath Vechan and the sea. Tho$e on the Tragaeth, Hepsey, and Melltau, I selected, on information which proved to have been correct, as most easily VOL. I. Y 322, SOUTH WALES. reconciled with the course I meant to pursue, and comprising the boldest and most charac teristic features. In order to explore the beauties of these rivers, the Merthyr Tydvil toad is to be followed, till it leads to. a grand pass, forming as sublime and romantic a scene, as can Avell be conceived in this or any coun try. This pass from Pont Neath Vechan to Merthyr is called Craig y Dinas, in English the fortress precipice. The Byrthin runs to the right, Avith a line of high grounds at a little distance parallel to its course; its banks wildly overgrown, and darkened by the pro jecting shadows of the impending cliffs. The acclivity on the left is completely clothed Avith magnificent timber, contrasted Avith the rougher growth arid sometimes naked pinna cles of the opposing ridge. The Brecknock road above it is intercepted by the A\rood; while the front is occupied by an immensely high, abrupt, and rugged crag, nearly perpen dicular. This is certainly one of the first scenes in Sdtith Wales. Such is its boldness, that it might Avell be supposed to belong to the larger scenery of the continent. The Merthyr Tydvil road here makes nearly a right angle Avith that of Brecknock over the hill; but the visitor of the cascades has to climb this difficult arid awful rock. After o-ainina; the top of the crag, -in crossing to the right, brecknocJkshireY 323 ybu look doAvn upon a dingle, through1 Avhich Tragaeth river Aoavs, in its passage to the Byrthin; and opposite, you have a fall of Tragaeth, before it reaches the level of the dingle, forcing its way through some broken fragments of rocki The Tragaeth here di vides Brecknock and Glamorgan. The fall is the most inconsiderable in the neighbour hood* but it is not without its beauty. There is here a very curious and uncommon stratum of marble in the rock, the curvilinear form pf which is not unaptly described, by adopting the figurative language of the natives, and calling it BAva Maen, or the stone boAV. It is on the Glamorganshire side, and is composed of grey marble, which bears a considerable price. The route from Tragaeth to the falls of the Hepsey is over a Avild common, stony and dreary, but that the dells on each side enliven the scene. At the upper end of the common there- is a farm-house above' the Hepsey, whence the vieAV down the vale of Neath to Swansea and the Mumbles is very grand as well as extensive. Beyond the farm-house is the point, where the Hepsey and Melltau join. The bed of the former is at an immense depth iinmedrately below, and the two streams are separated by a rich, turfy, Avell-Avooded pro montory, forming a frontispiece to the vieAV, when you look up the course of the united 324 SOUTH WALES. rivers. The roaring of the Hepsey cascades is heard at a considerable distance, as they are approached from the upper grounds. On arriving at the edge of the dingle, the great fall bursts at once upon the viCAv: a broad sheet of Avater projecting itself over an abrupt ledge of rock, to the depth of fifty feet. Th© distance of the fall from the junction of the tAvo dingles with their streams is less than a quarter of a mile, so that both these objects can be embraced at once from the higher ground* But the general vieAV of scenes like these is never the most interesting. The less obtrusive, but most beautiful features are lost, while the termination detracts from the sub limity. By taking the parts in detail, on the contrary, the attention, undisturbed, is alive to every concomitant circumstance, as well as to the leading character of .the object: nothing is overlooked, because nothing is too distant, or too perplexed, to be taken in both by the mind and by the eye: every turn pre sents something new; while the perspective, lessened into obscurity as it lengthens, holds out the promise of still unexhausted variety. The descent, by Avhich to examine the fall more minutely, is down a rugged and steep rock, which forms the boldest feature in the dingle at the bottom, but affords a very abrupt and hazardous passage. The ascent on return- BRECKN0CKSHIBE. 39,$ ing, 'were it necessary, Avould be very diffi cult; and there is apparently no other way; for the violence Avith Avhich so large a body of water is precipitated, has worn the rock of the bed beloAV the cascade into a large and deep pool, and the breadth of the Avater all through the dingle, especially Avhen augmented by heavy rains in the night, as on the present occasion, besides other obstacles not yet ap pearing, prevents its being forded. It excited therefore a strong sensation of surprise, not unaccompanied with pleasure,, in the mind of a stranger, Avhen he is told, that his road lies very unexpectedly behind or under the cas* cade; for such is the rapidity of the torrent, unprepared by previous obstacles for the per* pendicular of the precipice, that the inter woven sheet is thrown out ao far,, as to leave a clear passage, at all timesy wide enough for a horse path, between the falling river and the rock. This path is formed by a rude natural- ledge of half- worn stone, covered Avith moss, at about one third of the height from the bot tom of the precipice. Its breadth is about three feet; and constitutes the only projection in what avouM otherwise be like a flat wall. The stone, hoAvever, shelves a little- -inwards' from the topmost edge, while the water is forced forwards; so, that, the two elements unite in forming as it Avere, a roof or canopy 326 SOUTH WALES. Over the head of the passenger, which affords him an impenetrable shelter/rom an occasional storm. Mr, Warner, Avhen he visited this spot, had occasion to seek the protection of tbe river from a shoAver of rain. The effect of sunshine on the cascade, Avhen behind it On a fine day, is both grand and beautiful. The particles of Avater glittering with a silvery brightness as they fall; the uncommon bril liancy of every thing Avithout, seen through such a medium, contrasted Avith the dark green of the moss, everlastingly wet with spray; the corroded dinginess of the rock; the damp and vaporous gloom of the atmosphere Avithin; al together form a singularly mingled scene of aAve and gaiety. The dark hue of the bason beloAv, deeply excavated by continual attri tion, enhances the contrast of the thin, trans parent fluid in its descent. After passing the cascade, the stranger has to skirt the further side of the dinglq for a feAv steps, in front of the majestic rock he descended, Avhen he comes upon another cataract, and a large ca vern under the opposite bank close by. Three more folloAV in immediate succession, and all four within an eighth part of a mile from the first. The most considerable of these is about twenty-five feet in height, and the smallest about ten. The last is the largest. These fqur are all seen at once: but, oAving to a hend BRECKNOCKSHIRE. 327 of the river, the great cascade, though so near, is not seen even, from the first of these. Were tbe five visible at one point of vie>\r, they -would nearly rival the great fall of the Mynaeh in Cardiganshire, below the Devil's Bridge; for though they would still be very inferior in point of height, the Hepsey is much broader than the Mynaeh, and in that respect Avould have the advantage in respect to grandeur. The Avhole of this dingle is profusely over- groAvn Avith Avood of A'arious kinds, among which the venerable and classic oak predomh nates. From the last of the cascades, the scarcely discernible path Avinds round the front of that promontory, which separates - the two dingles and their rivers. But there is a path; for the country people drive their cattle this way, and under Hepsey cascade, Ayhen they have occasion to pass from the Melltau to the eastern side of the Hepsey. Having gained the high ground, and passed two or three stony and unproductive fields, the brink of a prepipice, not to be descended, disr /closes the great fall of the Melltau, which is broader than that of the Hepsey 4 and seventy feet. high. It is very different from the others in point of character. It projects as suddenly, and, carrying a larger body of Avater, with more violence. It is therefore mpre awful and tremendous, but unaccompanied by those cir-- 528 SOUTH WALES. cuinstances of variety and beauty, which adorn and enliven its rival cataract. Here the rocks on each side are naked and abrupt, so that the dingle is divested of its accustomed clothing for a considerable space below the fall. Where the wood commences, it is poorer, more stunted in its groAvth, and more wildly entangled; so tbat, on the whole, it forms a dark and rugged scene. The cascade is inaccessible from below, as the rocks are not to be climbed, nor the dingle to be threaded, from the confluence of the two rivers upwards. But the great curi osity of this river, singularly and sublimely characterised in the catalogue ,, of British scenery, is a stupendous cavern between the cascade and Ystradvelltau, through the dark holloAV of which the Melltau runs for the space of half a mile. The top of this cavern forms the only bridge from one part to the other of the farm, which lies on the east and west sides Pf the river. The descent from the upper lands to the bed of the river is by no means difficult; nor does.it at the first view present anything beyond a rural, quiet landscape; but as tbe guide wound cautiously to the left, rau ther in a retrograde direction, Ave suddenly found ourselves at the mouth of the cavern, the opening of which is about forty-three feet wide, and nineteen feet high. Through this Melltau river rolls in a sinuous course, wear- BRECKNOCKSHIRE. 329 ing its channel through the rockr deeply per forated into fathomless pools, whence it issues into daylight, after a subterraneous passage of at least eight hundred yards. There is a prac ticable passage through it; but the attempt is imprudent. It is necessary to carry candles; and if they are extinguished by the damp vapour, the difficulty and danger become very great. In one instance, a life was lost; though my guide had been through several times, and Avas ready to undertake it with any visitor. We penetrated about an hundred yards, as far as any glimmering of daylight from the mouth directed us: and this speci men of Stygian horror was amply sufficient to satisfy all rational curiosity. The passage over uneven rocks, with scarcely a guiding light, and in many places with a bottomless gulph directly under on the left, in a misty atmo sphere from the vapour of the place, and the exbaustion of a laborious walk,' was not to be pieasurably continued for any length of time or distance: but if the object be Avorth attaining, any person who will enter this cavern as far as the natural light Avill lead him, may form a just, and I apprehend no contracted idea, of the classical Avernus and poetical de scent into the infernal regions. Since my first tour, I have again visited this curious place; and must- mention that there is a passage to 330 SdUTH WALES. the right, where it is necessary to take can dles, Avhich after having pursued for a short way, you come to a very considerable area, excavated to a great height, and partially illuminated by an aperture at the top. The effect of this is the most striking and stu pendous of the whole. It is formed by the whimsical hand of nature into a rude dome; and the stinted admission of light through the lancet-like crevices above, throAVS a more than Gothic gloom round the Avails and through the vistas. On quitting the cavern, _the Melltau, find ing its Avay into it through deep and narrow gullets, worn betAveen the rocks, is crossed at the entrance, Avhen a regular and beaten path winds gradually and pleasingly along the Avest- ern bank, Avith the little village of Ystrad velltau in the distance, and green meadoAvs, delightfully quiet and rural, in the fore ground. The church stands Avell, and is a pleasing object, after a circuit of about seven miles, with only one house in the Avay. But the village itself miserably disappoints the ex pectations Avhich its distant aspect has excited. It consists of a few miserable cottages, most of them in a ruinous condition, inhabited by a ragged and barefooted peasantry, with less of natural urbanity, than is usually experienced in these ^yild, but not uncivil regions, BRECKNOCKSHIRE. 331 The road from Ystradvelltau to Brecknock is over mountains the most dreary, wild and desolate, till within three or four miles of the last-mentioned place. The hills are covered with one unvaried turfj affording excellent sheep- Avalks, but rising each above the other^ without a single twig to relieve the wearied eye. The only object of interest is another fall of the Melltau, about tAvo miles north of Ystradvelltau. The angular direction in Avhich the river projects, itself is wild and romantic. It is noAV at no great distance from its source, and very shallow, rippling over loose fragments of rock; but it is unaccompanied by wood, or any other picturesque circumstance. After this, the road and prospect become disgusting, toilsome, and unsightly, till on crossing the western side of Mount Denny at a consider able height, but through a cleft with lofty- ridges on each side, the flat country of Breck nockshire toAvards the north, with part of Rad norshire, extensive, fruitful, and improved, un folds itself to the gladdened sense, and proves a farmer's prospect, as well as a painter's, to possess some interest. The nature of the coun try here, looking from the mountainous part, seemed greatly to resemble the finest parts of Leicestershire. t It is curious to observe tbe beginning of cultivation immediately under your eye; the ground on which you tread 332 SOUTH WALES. barren and Avaste, but every inch beyond a certain point useful and productive. The Melltau and Neath rivers both rise in this neighbourhood, and are crossed near their source by this rough and little travelled road; There is nothing further that merits descrip* tion on the road to Brecknock in this direc tion; I shall therefore give some account of the journey from Merthyr Tydvil to the capital of this county. From Morlais castle therefore I noAv pur-*- sue the old road to Brecknock over the mountains, when the dingle on the left, through which runs Taff Vechan, or little Taff river, is deep, wild, and precipitous. The rough and stony horse-path, for the new turnpike road winds round the bases of the mountains to the west, is carried over the top of the precipice, and affords successively a complete view of the circling dell, through which the eastern branch of Taff river runs, dividing Brecknockshire from Glamorgan shire in its course. The winding down the hill to the water-side is picturesque and ver dant, and brings the traveller to Pont-y-Stic- kyll, a bridge of one arch, crossing Taff Vechan river, after Avhich the mountain is to be climbed on the left, and the scenery of the dingle on the right becomes wilder and less verdant. The two peaks of Mount Denny BRECKNOCKSHIRE. 333 now present themselves in a different direc tion. They may almost be said to personify ubiquity, and may be seen from Blorench- hill, from Breedon, and the Clees. The one is more pointed than the other; but both, en veloped in clouds, communicate a grandeur to the prospect, which compensates in a great measure for its poverty and want of beauty. A green lane, enclosed Avith overhanging hedges, and inclining to the right, leads again to the river side, Avhich is here quiet, shallow, and translucent, crossed by a bridge of one long, narrow- trunk, without railing. There is some wood about the banks. Chapel Glyncolhvyn is near this spot, no otherAvise observable, than as affording an evidence to the senses, that though the abodes of men do not present themselves to the eye, there are occupiers of these unfrequented sheep-walks, and those occupiers are civilized. This is in English the glen, or dale of hazle groves, very well Englished by Hazel dale, or Hazelden, ac cording to the meaning of den in the old Eng lish or Saxon. After passing Chapel Glyn- collwyn, the path soon leads to the foot of Mount Denny, Avhich has long appeared im mediately in front, and now presents a length ened, laborious, and dreary ascent. A stone bridge is thrown across Taff Vechan, the last effort of human art to tame and Tender 334 SOUTH WALES. commodious the passage of the mountain*,, when this uncommercial track afforded the only communication between Merthyr Tydvil and Brecknock. It might, indeed, do very Avell for Tydvil and Brechan to exchange vi sits ; but as a medium of intercourse betAveen tAvo flourishing towns, it Avould be miserably toilsome and forbidding. After crossing the bridge, the Avay up the mountain is on the right, close by the river, noAV a mere trick ling rill, and passes by its very source, at which there is nothing particularly charac teristic or interesting. The mountain, as you become more closely and intimately acquainted Avith its precincts, appears in all its majesty: its undulating ridges, stretching iii length ened succession, Avith varied arid fantastic shapes, Avith clouds, sometimes passing over the top, and sometimes hanging halfway doAvn like drapery, excite an awe and attention, that relieve the mind from the othenvise barren uniformity. The pass of the mountain on this eastern side is over nearly the highest part, be tAveen the tAvo perpendicular and inaccessible peaks, ft opens to the Aveary traveller almost the same rich and extensive vieAV in front, Avhich succeeded the satifcty of mountain dreariness in traversing the western extre mity from Pont Neath Vechan. At the bot tom of the mountain to the north-east is a BRECKNOCKSHTRE. 335 deep, black pool, occasioned by the same causes as Llyn Vawr in Glamorganshire, but much smaller, Avith little of character or gran deur in its circumstances. The depth at which the flat country lies beloAV is awful, and the stretch of cultivated enclosures fills the mind with ideas of opulence and vastness. Tbe de scent is vfery long and steep; but the gradual return to the haunts of human industry, and the society of human beings, beguiles the tedi- ousness of the serpentizing path, and animates the spirits Avith the expectation of approach ing hospitality. In the vale below Mount Denny, resided Dr. John David Rees, a very learned man in the time of queen Elizabeth. In the year 1592, he published a very curious and learned Latin Welsh grammar in folio, and introduced a very ample theory of Welsh A'er- sification, at the same time comparing it with that of the ancient Italians. Scarcely a hut has been seen from Merthyr Tydvil to the bottom of Mount Denny on the north. From Mount Denny to the tOAvn of Brecknock the population is very scanty, the inconvenient and almost impassable road having been deserted for the level and commodious turnpike. There is, however, a small collection of houses, called Cantrev, embosomed in Avood, and enriched with verdant meadows, sloping gently down to a small brook. The spot-is- overhung by a 336* SOUTH WALES. part of Mount Denny, raising its broad and lofty top over this quiet retreat,, in a pictur esque and striking manner. The mixture of boldness and luxuriance is admirably adapted to the pencil, Avhich delights neither in the formal opulence of contrived and far-fetched improvement, nor in the undressed baldness of sterile and ungenerous nature. The de scent continues Avith little intermission as far as St. David's, Avhich is a sort of suburb to the town of Brecknock, with a very respect able church, dedicated to the founder of the diocese in which it stands. There are seve ral respectable old buildings, partly inha bited; and it was probably of some conse quence formerly, from its contiguity and con nection Avith the priory and college. The new turnpike-road from Brecknock to Merthyr Tydvil presents a succession of varied and interesting scenery, Avhich would well merit a particular description, were it not more generally known than most of the other routes described in these pages, without being very materially dissimilar. The town of Brecknock appears to most advantage, Avhen vieAved after descending from Mount Denny. Its ancient name Avas Aber- hodni, derived from the circumstance of its standing at the mouth of the Hodni, where that river throws itself into the Usk. For BRECKNOCKSHIRE. 33/ tiiat great antiquary, Leland, informs us, that Aabren, or Aber, in British, is as much as to say, a river's mouth, in English; as appears by the names of Abergaveny, Abertivy, Aber- hodrti, signifying the fall of the rivers Ga- veny, Tivy, Hodni; -either into the sea, or into larger rivers Avhicli receive them. Thus has it been conjectured, that Severn perhaps was first Hafreil, and not so called from the' maid there drowned, who is more likely to have owed 'her legend to poetical fiction,' than the river to have borroAved its name frqm her: The former is nearer the fact ; for there is no such poetical fiction as that about Severn here insinuated, either in the Welsh printed ac counts, or in any of their manuscripts. Con- fl uens, the meeting of tAvo rivers, is com monly called in the old Scots, Abre. Yet; though the etymology of Abergaveny, Aber tivy, and Aberhodni, are perfectly clear, it is equally clear to me that Hafren, or Havren, the Welsh name of Severn, has nothing to do~ with the general term of Aber. And though the Welsh legends are silent on the subject of Sabrine as an individual heroine, yet I can-s not he]p thinking that there is some reference in the name to a similar storv. The single F in Welsh has always the power of V. The prepositive Ys added to Havren makes Ysha- yren, or; omitting the Y, 'Shavreh. Havren in vol. i» z 338 SOUTH WALES. the Silurian Welsh, signifies a wild and bold female, a romp, a hoiden, a virago. The an cient poets use it frequently to signify a fe male goat. The first object that arrests the attention, Pn the approach to this town over the bridge across the Usk, Avhere it receives the Hodni, is its castle, standing on a hill. The foun dations prove it once to have been extensive and magnificent. Little of the superstruc ture noAV remains; but that little, though ruinous, is noble, as Avell( as picturesque. It Avould be highly interesting, if the sides of the /hill Avere not encumbered and disfigured Avith Avretched hovels, altogether repugnant to the taste and temper of its ancient grandeur. It Avas first built by Barnard Newmarch, and afterwards greatly augmented and beautified by the last Humphrey de Bohune earl of Here ford, Essex, Northampton, and constable of England. The situation is commanding, for every purpose of those days, and seems to have been judiciously chosen for the purpose of se curing his conquest to the founder." In aid of that object,' however, he brought Avith him many strangers, on whom he bestowed mar nors and inheritances; but Avithout establish ing his folloAvers in that state and splendour,' •with which Fitzhamon invested his usurping band. Hoav the castle came into the .family BRECKNOCKSHIRE. 339 pf Bruse, has already been related. About the year 1215, Giles de Bruse, bishop of Here ford, son to William de Bruse, sent his brother Reynald to Brecknock; and on his own arri val, the castles of Aberhodni, Hay, and Buallt, Avere delivered to him. After the death of Giles, Reynald de Bruse, contrary to his pro mise, and Avithout the knowledge of Llewellyn ap Jorwerth, to Avhose interests he Avas bound by every tie, came to a compromise Avith Henry the Third of England. LleAvellyn ap JorAverth was much offended, and coming Avith an army to Brecknockshire, laid siege to the town of Aberhodni; but the burgesses prevailed with him to raise the siege, by, paying a sum of money, and giving hostages. Reynald de Bruse lost Caerphilly Castle about the same time. William de Bruse, son of Reynald, adhered to Llewellyn against king Henry, and was takeii prisoner ; but the subsequent peace, and par tial submission of LleAvellyn, exonerated him from the necessity of paying the ransom he had offered. William de Bruse Avas after- Avards hanged, according to the current ac count, for adultery Avith LleAvellyn's Avife. But the peace between the English and Welsh princes did not last. In the year 1231, the earl of Kent, having been stationed to'defend the Marches, slew a great number of the jWelsh, who had entered the forbidden ground z2 340 SOUTH WALES. on a predatory excursion. But Llewellyns ap Jorwerth supported his countrymen; and among the rest, the castles of Radnor, Aber hodni, and Rhayaderr suffered by his attack. Tavo years aftenvards, he came again Avith an army to Brecknockshire,. and destroyed all the. toAvns and castles in the country: but such was the strength of this fortress, that though he lay a mouth before it, he Avas obliged,, after burning the town, to return home Avithout his- booty. Some part of the keep still remains; but the tower, Avhich perpetuates in some degree the idea of what the whole once was, is at present. known as the place Avhere Dr. Morton Avas con fined by order of Richard the Third, and plan ned, in cpncert with his disappointed keeper, the union of the two houses, and the succes sion of Henry the Seventh. The castle is di vided from the tOAvn by the river Hodni. The main body, the citadel, and all the parts of this ancient fortification, are still to be traced, though the tower just mentioned is the only large mass of building that still preserves its gloomy dignity. But it is not exclusively by Avorks of defence that Barnard NeAymarch is knoAvn to later times. His religious institutions kept pace with his military appointments. He founded both the priories : the one is now a parish church,. BRECKNOCKSHIRE. ,341 and the other Avas converted into a college by Henry the Eighth. The first -was benedictine, the second dominican. The benedictine church, which, with its precincts,- is now called the ¦priory, as the other, the college, is very mag nificent. It is built in the form of a cross; but its architecture is not so ancient as the institu tion itself. From the centre of the cross there rises an embattled tower. A paved cloister extends from the church to the refectory. The extent of the building, and the loftiness of its situation, impending over the obstreper ous Hodni, whose banks are shaded by trees of majestic groAvth, render it at once pictur esque and venerable. It contains several mo nument* and tablets, of decent execution and considerable cost, but little sculptural distinc tion, dedicated to no Aery memorable names. This priory, as Avell as the castle, is at the western extremity of the town, and adds to the recreation of the inhabitants, as avpII as the emoellishment of the place, by some of the most delightful Avalks, Avhich have ever fallen to the lot of a populous A'icinity\ Their situation is most romantic, with the Hodni rolling at the foot of the bank, along the side pf which their level is carried; while its Avaters are only seen by glimpses, through the thick Avood that fringes its abruptly-rising margin, and overhangs its bed. From the western 342 SOUTH WALES, boundary of the walks, on the return, oc casional snatches of the monastic buildings through the long-drawn vista, add much to the solemn and impressive effect of the scene. The college still remains, transferred from AbergAvili by Henry the Eighth, over, which the bishop of St. David's presides as dean. It contains nothing distinguished either, in archi tecture or antiquarian curiosity, and appears to be much neglected. There is another very magnificent Avalk running behind the toAvn Avail on the south, by the side of the Usk, and looking over a rich flat, to the chain of mountains magnificently closing the vieAV, Avith the rugged and cloud-capped peaks of Mount Denny. A gloomy day adds much to the grandeur of this prospect. The parisb church Avithin the tOAvn is ancient and vene rable. With respect to the town itself, it is one of the best built in Wales, iu point of ac commodations for persons of fortune and con dition; but very mean, and often ruinous, in the streets occupied by the poorer inhabitants, and miserably deficient in its general arrange ments. Neither is it neat and cleanly, ex cept in the principal situations, Avhich is inex cusable in a town, situated on a gentle slope, rising from the confluence of copious and rapid ¦ rivers. The trade of Brecknock is not at pre-? sent very considerable, though it is already/ BRECKNOCKSHIRE. 343 much increased by the completion of its canal. The principal business is in the line of hat- making, which is established on a very respect able scale; and somethina; is done in the ma- nufacfcuring 0f woollens. I understand the population to have been taken, by the last accounts, at tAvo thousand five hundred; and. that it is considered as much on the advance. It appears in most respects to be a very desir able residence, and is much inhabited by clergy, and gentry of independent fortunes. Tt is quiet and orderly, Avithout being too re tired. The number of spacious and modern built houses is greater, in proportion to its size, than perhaps in any town of Wales. The markets are well, but not very cheaply sup plied. Tbe manners of the people are decent and orderly, to Avhich the blank calendar of the judges bears no unfrequent testimony. The toAvn had formerly four gates, and was strongly Availed: the principal remnants of for tification are to be seen by the Avater-side, where the view is very romantic, particularly when the Usk- swells into a torrent after rain. The broken summits of the mountainous ridge, continued into Monmouthshire in irregular lines; the dismantled towers of Aberhodni, Avith its-mouldering Avails^ in wild and various ruin, wbde the unpicturesque compactness of the 344 SOUTH WALES. modern buildings is favourably concealed; render this one of the most striking situa tions, near any town in the principality. Dr. John David Rees, Avho has been nien- tioned before, tells us in th,e preface to his Grammar, published in 3o£)3, that he lived in a house at the foot of the mountain called, Ban UAVch denni, otherwise Ban Arthur, otherwise Cadair Arthur. These names, in English Avould be, the peak above Denni, Arthur's Peak, or Arthur's Chair. Many places in Wales in hills and rocks are honoured with Arthur's name; Ave have besides, Arthur's Oven, in Stirling of Scotland; and * Buchanan, in the twentieth book Rerum Scpticarum, mentions a mounT \ tain, quern Arcturi sedem yulgus appellat. This Arthur's seat was a lofty mountain, whi ther the M'Craas, or Macraes, seceded from/ Edinburgh Castle in 1778, like the Commons of- Rome to the Mons Sacer. The cause of their mutiny Avas an apprehension that they were to be sold to the East India Company. So inaccessible was the elevation of their encampment, that they set all the force in Scotland at defiance for three days and thrifie nights; nor did they come down, till they had obtained formal articles of capi tulation from the commander in chief., But the j only Cadair Arthur in Brecknock is /V BRECKNOCKSHIRE. 345 the eastern front of Mount Denny, compre hending the whole range which flanks this toAvn from east to Avest, under the popular name of the Brecknock beacons. Yet we are not to infer from this name, that the Avord Chair is to be understood literally, or that any thing fabulous is implied by the appellation. The bardic meetings, or sessions, were always held in the open air, on a high and conspicu ous place; or in the figurative phraseology of antient times, under the eye of the sun, in the face of light, in the view and hearing of the country and the sovereign power. The histo ries of Arthur affirm, that he held a grand meeting of thr bards ; and the institutes which he ordained for them are said to be still extant in manuscript. These obscure do cuments make no mention of the place; but the name of Arthur's Chair, given to this ma jestic hill, fairly indicates that here. Arthur's bardic assembly held its meeting. Many mountains in Wales bear the name of Cadair; as Cadair Idris, the -chair of Idris; Cadair Wen, the white chair, and others. The bards pf the most modern date have continued to term their meetings, the Chair of Song, or of Poetry. The Chairs of South Wales, of Gla morgan, of Powys, or of North Wales, mean the bardic assemblies of these several districts. 346* SOUTH AVALES. By researches into customs like these, if at all, the thick clouds Avhich envelope ancient his tory might be dispersed, and the origin of apparent fictions might be traced to true rea sons, or rescued from the fabulous interpre tations of monkish credulity. S47 CHAP. X. xAberisker Court, Lanspyddid. Penpbnt. Abercamlas. Devynnock. "Trecastle. Llywel. Head of the Usk River. Chapel Collwyn. Tywyn. Cribarth Lime Rock. Henneuadd. Lanvihangel Talyllyn. Langors. Llynsa- vaddon. Talyllyn House. Langasty. Tal y llyn. Lan- santfred. Bwlch. Pentregare. Pontprenhurst, Glanusk. Langadock-* Place. Pany Park. Crickhowel. .. Th e road from Brecknock to Trecastle. through the upper vale of Usk, is distin guished by a. considerable number of gentle men's seats, embellished Avith picturesque, in teresting, and appropriate scenery, of no in ferior order. The sloping banks of the Usk, bold without being precipitate, the richness of the verdure, and the magnificent Avoods of oak, that clothe the sides of the bills on the • north, furnish a pleasing prelude* to the more aAvful and majestic character of the county, at ,jts south-Avestern termination, Aberisker is a village at the mouth of the small river Isker, as the name signifies, when it falls into the Usk. It is enlivened by the vicinity of Aber- Jsker Court. On a rising ground, near the confluence of these tAvo rivers, is a Roman camp, commanding an extensive Yiew of the 348 SOUTH AVALES. vale betAveen Brecknock and Trecastle. It is a parallelogram of six hundred and twenty- four feet by four hundred and fifty-six, and the longest parallels point nearly north and south. Some part of the enclosing Avail re mains, and the foundation is entire all round the area. The Avhole thickness of the Avail was nearly seven feet and a half It in every respect resembles the specimens of Roman for tification in Monmouthshire and elsewhere, and proves Brecknock to have been a very important station. About a quarter of a mile from this place, on the causeway, is Avhat Camden and other antiquaries have denomi nated the Maidenstone, from a tradition among the common people, that it Avas erected to the memory of two young women, murdered on that spot. These elder topographers have doubted Avhether it be British or Roman; but. the more modern opinions are strongly inclined, and indeed nearly decisive in favour of the latter. It is believed to represent a man and Avoman, rather than two Avomen, pro bably a Roman soldier and his wife. Some brass coins have formerly been found Avithin the camp, and Roman bricks have been ploughed up. Lanspyddid is a village on the south side of the Usk, Avith a small, but very neat church,' surrounded with large and vene rable yeAv-trees, which expand themselves in BRECKNOCKSHIRE. 349 all the majesty of gloomy luxuriance. The natives of the principality pride themselves much on these ancient ornaments of their churchyards ; and it is nearly as general a custom in Brecknockshire, to decorate the graves of the deceased Avith slips either of bay or yew, stuck in the green turf for an emblem of pious remembrance,, as it is in Glamorgan shire to pay a tribute of similar import, in the cultivation of sweet-scented floAvers on the same spot. At ho great distance, the Bran pays its tribute to the Usk; where the spa cious laAvns and extensive plantations of Pen- pont adorn the borders of the larger river; while the- family mansion commands a pros pect up the Bran for several miles. The mea dows and pastures through which it runs are rich and verdant, while a bridge of three arches. gives an air of artificial elegance to the scene. Abereamlas is known by its name to stand at the mouth of the attendant river Camlas. It belongs to the Rev. Mr. Williams, canon resi dentiary of St. David's, and archdeacon of Car digan, Avho has a place near Brecknock. Thi* spot seems well adapted to the philosophic and dignified, but hospitable retirement of a cleri cal life. About Penpont and Abereamlas may be seen Scots firs of prodigious growth. Many x of them girt six feet, and some even more than that. Where such large and rapid growth in- 350 SOUTH AVALES. dicates so kindly a soil and climate, it is to be wished that numerous plantations should be encouraged. Some of the persons are hoav living Avho planted the trees of Avhose thriAnng progress I have been speaking. Oak grows to a great size and with much rapidity in most parts of Brecknockshire. Timber is likely to become alarmingly scarce in all parts of our island. To raise it in appropriate soils Avould be of the greatest possible advantage to the public at large, as Avell as ultimately to the in dividual proprietors: and there is enough of unproductive ground, Avhich might be devoted to the purpose; and Avould produce a large profit, without encroaching on the returns from corn, or any other kind of produce. The castle of Devynnock is in a state of decay, which will soon level Avith the ground the al ready unimportant remains of the ruin. Some Roman medals have been found in this parish. On the approach to Trecastle, the softer fea tures of nature give Avay to the rude vastness of a mountainous district. After passing the Craj', the earliest and nearest stream that con tributes its abundance, the Usk increases in torrent-like impetuosity, in proportion to the vicinity of its never-failing spring, the nar- roAver confinement of its channel, and greatly- inclined descent from the parent hill. Every circumstance indicates most strongly to the BRECKNOCKSHIRE. 351 traveller his entrance on a wildly precipitous region. The Black-mountain, towering above Trecastle, and rivalling Mount Denny in height, is the leading object of this untameable scene. This mountain is forked, like Mount Denny; and it is not decisively ascertained which is the highest ; though the general opinion is in fa vour of the latter. When I was on the Black- mountain, on the third of October, its two peaks Avere covered Avith snow, which Avas ex pected to lie till May or June; and instances have been knoAvn, in cold summers, Avheo.the snow has not melted at all on the highest points of the mountainous ridge, betAveen Lan- dilo Vawr and Crickhowel. There was a very powerful sun in the middle of the day, and it was hot for travelling; so that the cold aud alpine aspect of the mountainrtop, contrasted with the oppressive gleams of moist, autumnal heat, imparted altogether a continental cha racter to this impressive specimen of British scenery. The village of Trecastle has nothing to recommend it, but its wild enclosure of sur rounding mountains. In front of the inn, the •site of the castle is clearly to be distinguished; but-all its honours are completely laid Ioav, and every vestige of its structure effaced. Beyond Trecastle is the small village of Llywel, better adapted to the Avants and comforts of its in habitants, than might be expected in so poor 352 SOUTH WALES. and barren a region. The traces of cultiva* tion, here, so different from the fertility of Brecknockshire in the more level parts, appear as if their returns were jejune and ungrateful. Close upon this village Caermarthenshire joins; and the country from Landovery hither Avill be the subject of a short descriptibn hereafter. The nearness of the Black-mountain commu nicates a feeling of sublimity, Avhich prevents the unvaried meagreness of the extensive pro spect from becoming painful. The head of the Usk river is on the Black-mountain, whence it forces its way in a deep channel along a lengthened descent into the vale. It issues from three apparently inconsiderable springs ; but, inconsiderable as they may seem, they furnish a constant supply to that noble river, which runs through the heart of Brecknock shire, and Monmouthshire, and is only sur passed by the Wye, pervading the north of the former, and the east of the latter, county. On crossing the Black-mountain in a south-1 ern direction from Trecastle, the ascent is very long, and the assimilation of distant ob jects so closely in unison Avith the character of the mountain itself, as to impress the mind with a feeling of tiresome uniformity. There wants a fertile and luxuriant valley, stretched out before the hills, Avhich bound the horizon* But the descent into the vale of TaAvy is sin* BRECKNOCKSHIRE. 35$ gularly beautiful. The Avildness of crags, pointing and projecting in every conceivable form, is contrasted Avith the incipient foliage immediately beloAVi, stretching out in the dis tance into a widened and luxuriant, but moun- tainously bordered vale. The Tawy rises from this mountain, at no great distance from the head of the Usk. Its source" is very near the path over the mountain. The rieAV-born stream rushes impetuously over pebbles and frag ments of rockj in a shallow and transparent rill, seeming to derive more force from the steepness of its descent, than from the volume of water Avhich shapes its confined, but ever lasting course. The early progress of this river seemed to me much more picturesque than that, of the Usk, thoUgh little known and less celebrated. This vale of Tawy, even in the upper part, has an aspect uncommon to such districts, in being studded^Avith white cot tages, after the manner of Glamorganshire. This circumstance communicates a pleasing gaiety to the otherAvise sequestered dell, ov'er- shadoAved with mountains rising above moun tains, in the rude and fantastical majesty of , fashionless variety. The grand deppsitory of lime, which these mountains furnish for the use of the more populous and cultivated parts, with the facility of its conveyance down the .neighbouring canal, sufficiently accounts for VOL. I. A A 35$ SOUTH WALES. the sprinkling of inhabitants, who would not Otherwise have sought so bewildered and in clement a spot. Early in the autumn as it was, the common and only path over the mountain to Trecastle had been two or three inches deep in snow, but an hour before our arrival. There are two villages, consisting each of a few houses, higher in the vale than Henneu- add; Chapel Collwyn and Tywyn. But the most romantic part, and greatest curiosity, of this extraordinary neighbourhood, is the Crib- arth lime rock. It rears itself perpendicular to an immense height, with frequent projec tions of seemingly decumbent fragments. The abruptness of this, like most of the other rocks, standing singly, unincumbered by lower hil locks at its base, occasions the scenery here, as in Glamorganshire, on which it borders, greatly to resemble that of North Wales. There is a considerable excavation near the top of the rock, visible from the road below: but I did not climb to it, having before bestowed much unrequited labour on similar attempts, which in general afford little return beyond the tra veller's childish boast, of having been there. Unless the landscape is vieAved to peculiar ad vantage from such heights, a cavity of a few feet or even yards square, with no history at tached to it, and nothing uncommon in it* BRECKNOCKSHIRE. 255 stratification, furnishes little to excite specula tion, and little to gratify curiosity. The river, on reaching the level of the vale, assumes a beauty neatly equalling the most distinguished .streams of this well-Avatered country. It is remarkably sinuous in its course, through mea- doAys rich in verdure, and Avoods luxuriant in grOAvth and foliage. Its bed is clear; and its rapidity obstreperously animating to the pas senger, as well as healthful to the inhabitant and freshening to the soil. The descent to Henneuadd by the rail-road is romantically overhung, and confined between the noble wOods on the slope, and the river running at the bottom. The immediate vicinity of Hen neuadd is less mountainous; but the view from the half-demolished wooden bridge, up the ¦river, with the loftier mountains terminating the distance, is uncommonly beautiful, parti cularly, by moonlight. The soft and mellow colour, the interesting obsurity, by Avhich ob jects derive an ideal importance from their in distinctness, the luminousness of the water re- flecting.the silvery beams, all conspire to render a night-scene in such a region most irresis tibly fascinating: and I knoAv not Avhether I Avas longer detained or more completely satisfied by any picturesque occurrence in the course of my journey. - There is a public-house close by, at which it A A 2 $56 SOUTH WALE*. is possible to sleep, though not commodiouslyr and I Avould strongly invite those of my read ers, who may hereafter travel over South Wales, to explore this vale either from Tre castle doAvn wards, or up from SAVansea. It will afford a most agreeable deviation from the threadbare route along the turnpike roads. Indeed, if we would but accustom ourselves to a tenth part of those inconveniencies, Avhich Ave are eager to encounter, swelling as they do into real difficulties, on a foreign tour, Ave should entertain higher and more just notions of that variety, grandeur, and richness, dis played by our home scenery, to those Avho compare it candidly either Avith their own ob servations or the best accounts of continental landscape. It Avas remarked by Wilson, Avhose authority is not to be disregarded on his OAvn subject, that a young artist might find, in some part or other of this island, every thing he could attain by going abroad, or indeed that he could possibly want to complete his studies and form his style, excepting Avhat is distinctively characterised as an Italian sky: and it may be much doubted, whether English painters are not sometimes induced to shew that they have travelled, at the expense of propriety. We not unfrequently meet Avith men of respectable talents and sound judg ment in the main, Avho talk about uniting the BRECKNOCKSHIRE. 357 brilliancy of Claude with the grandeur and sublimity of Poussin. But surely such a com bination of properties is unattainable in prac tice; and were it not so, it Avould confound all character, and consequently ought rather to be avoided. We never see those heteroge neous mixtures in nature,, who brings together such circumstances as may harmonize and co operate Avith each other, not such as must be eternally at variance. Nor can it be said with truth, that there is less beauty in an English than an Italian sky; since each Avill be found to suit best with the general complexion of its respective scenery. When therefore it is con sidered, that an English student generally, in tends to exercise hh talents on his oAvn coun try, and for his own countrymen, a foreign education seems not so desirable as it was be fore we had a respectable school of native growth. A habit of constantly observing the . works of creation as they really exist, rather than as they are set doAvn in treatises, or practical specimens of masters, will teach him to vary his style, Avhen he takes his subject from a different climate : but there is no real excellence in stretching a sky, under Avhich vegetation must languish and be dried up, over a landscape, Avhose verdure could only have been preserved in its luxuriance by the fre quent distillations of a surcharged atmosphere. 358 SO*UTH WALES. I have been told by an ingenious and observant Italian, that in warm and dry summers we h'aVe skies in Britain of equal brilliancy Avith those of Italy. I question Avhether any summer passes without some of those specimens to Avhich he alludes. But to our taste at least, a summer sky, spotted Avith clouds of golden and other hues; Avhile the sun shines in full splendour, possesses a kind of beauty infinitely surpassing the charm of a monotonous clearness. The soft and humid tints of spring and autumn are in general more delightful than the fervour of the solstice. Variety in this, as in all other cases, is more attractive than the sameness of an appearance, in itself more beautiful. It may after all be principally the novelty of an Italian sky, which so powerfully arrests the admira tion of an Englishman. The present head of the SAvansea canal is at this place; but it is a part of the plan to carry it all through the vale. The formality of its parallel banks, hoAvever, Would nearly destroy the picturesque effect of a narrowing valley, too closely contracted, in the upper part, to admit of their removal from under the eye, almost for a moment. Unless, therefore, the interests of agriculture or commerce Avere to be very extensively benefited, by the intro duction of human labour among the sports of nature, the less learned admirer of artless and BRECKNOCKSHIRE. S#§ untamed beauty will concur with the professed draughtsman, in Avishing to preserve, these hai- loAved retreats from the invasion of business, and the prophanation of the engineer. The, valley Avidens beyond Henneuadd ; but as Avq now enter on Glamorganshire, jt will, be fur ther described in the same chapter with the western side of that county. At Chapel Cpel- bren, betAveen Henneuadd and Ystradvelltau, are the remains of a Roman road. An excursion, in no respect less pleasant, though very different, may be made on the .east of Brecknock, towards Monmouthshire, The direct turnpike road to CrickhoAVel is car ried through a fine country ; but the Breck- nock canal, which for some miles obtrudes it self on the '.view, much injures the general ef fect. The traveller of taste and curiosity will therefore deviate from the high road to the left, for riie purpose of inspecting Llynsy- vaddon more closely. A road that turns asid$ about three miles frpm the town Avill bring him to the village of Lanvihangel Talyllyn, which derives its name from, its vicinity to the lake. The road beyond Lanvihangel Talyllyn, chang ing into green sward, Avincls between high hedges, an occasional break in which presents jn a very impressive point of view this grand expanse of water, surrounded by dark-' und melancholy ^uuntahis,. A sylvan foregroipidl 360 SOUTH AVALES, contributes its chastised pleasures to the con templative scene. -You approach the lake on the Avestern side; but near as it seems, Avith out breaking through enclosures, an act of vio lence to be defended only in casek of extreme picturesque necessity, you are obliged to cross the river Llyvenni, Avhich issues from its north ern extremity, and to bend doAvn towards its eastern brink through the village of Langors, consisting of a feAv very poor houses, but with a 'large and respectable toAver to its church. The walk through about four meadows from Langors to the edge of Llynsyvaddon is re markably pleasant. This lake is larger than any in Wales, except Bala; and is justly con sidered as one of the leading objects in the topographical delineation of Brecknockshire; It is two miles in length, and in some places one mile broad. In the latter respect it is very unequal; consequently the line of its boundary undulates, and its character is m-i finitely more ornamental to the landscape, than if its dimensions had been more curiously proportioned' as to length and breadth, and its shape more regular. To skirt it all round, as near the brink as possible, takes in a compass of about seven miles; nor will the votary of retired and peaceful scenes be contented Avith much less than a complete survey of this in teresting spot. It is entirely shut in by pre^ BRECKNOCKSHIRE. 361 cipitous mountains, some woody and some Avaste, except on the north, where the flat is enlivened and enriched by pastures, groves, and sometimes the coiner of a farm house, emerging from its Avoody shelter. The idea of total seclusion from the Avorld is still further relieved by Talyllyn House, situated almost at the edge of the Avater on the north, as is the church of Langasty tal y llyn at the southern extremity. This manor, with that of Lan- hamlwch, or the church on the verge of the lake, Avas bestowed on the Walbiefes by Bar nard NeAvmarch, ,011 his taking possession of the county. Talyllyn House Avas till noAV the residence of Champion -Crespignyy esq. ; but it is at present occupied by a farmer, u These objects, with the substantial toAver of Langors church, introduce to the mind as much of man and his institutions, as is capable of consorting harmoniously Avith the predominant tone and temper of the Avhole. The river Llyvenni dis charges its stream into this lake, and finds its Avay to the Wye in a direction nearly due north. It is observed not to mix its Avaters Avith those of Llynsyvaddon in its passage; and so complete is the separation understood to be, so insuperable the antipathy between the active and passive state of the same element, that unless immediately after very heavy storms, the fish of the river are not found in 362 SO U TH AVA LBS. the lake, nor those of the lake in- the river. The depth of Llynsy vaddon is said to be about thirteen fathoms. The ancient tradition of a city being droAvned, so universally applied to such bodies of water, is too trivial to deserve notice. A little to the east of Llynsy vaddon, on the banks of Llyvenni river, . stands the castle of Llyvenni, Avhich Avas the baronial residence of Peter Fitzherbert, descended illegitimately from Henry the First, and legitimately from Bar nard Newmarch. Lucia, the third daughter of Milo, earl of Hereford, by the daughter of Barnard NeAvmarch, Avas married to Herbert, the son of Herbert, the illegitimate offspring of Henry the First. The forest of Dean con stituted the principal part of Lucia's portion, and Peter Fitzherbert was the issue of the mar riage. This is the account of Caradoc Lan- carvan, and the British genealogists in gene ral : but Mr. Collins, in his Peerage, is of opi nion, that Peter Fitzherbert was the grand son, not of the beforementioned Herbert, but of Henry Fitzherbert, chamberlain to Icing Henry the First, Avho married his master's mis tress; and that from this marriage came the Herbert, chamberlain to king Stephen, and husband of Lucia. Peter Fitzherbert obtained this castle by marrying the third daughter and coheiress of William de Bruse, baron of Breck- BRECKNOCKSHIRE. S63 nock, descended from Bertha, the second daughter of the before-mentioned Milo. Peter Fitzherbert had been strongly attached to the party of king John, and had even been of suf ficient consequence to be joined Avith those barons, who stood as mediators between their sovereign and the pope. But the king's ex actions for the maintenance of his army in Poictou occasioned even this zealous adherent to fall off; so that his lands in Warwickshire Avere seized; and on the accession of Henry the Third, all his other estates Avere confis cated : but as lie returned to his allegiance almost immediately, Reynald de Bruse Avas commanded to make restitution of this castle, and all his possessions in Brecknockshire. He aftenvards recovered the Avhole of his exten sive domain. It appears that the property of the lake was attached to this castle; for Her bert, the son and heir Of Peter, granted to the ' monks of Brecknock the liberty of fishing in his mere with a boat, three days in every Aveek, and every day during Lent and Advent, besides paying a commutation for the tithes of the castle. This Herbert died about the year 1248, and bequeathed the inheritance of his honours and possessions to his brother. Henry the Third, on receiving the homage of the suc cessor, confirmed the testament of the deceased in general, but disposed of this castle to an- 36b SOUTH AVALES. other family. We hear no mole of the Her* berts ou this spot; but they were widely spread in this part of the country, Avhich seems to have been their original establishment, branch ing out afterwards into most of the Welsh counties, and giving birth to the houses of PoAvys and Pembroke. It is probable that there is no family now extant, supposing dubi ous and fanciful genealogies out of the ques tion, who have anciently been such large pos sessors in Wales, as the Herberts. With re spect to the supposition of some antiquaries, that here Ave may find the Roman Loventium in Llyvenni, a more diligent inquiry leads me to believe, that the argument is supported by very probable circumstances, as well as by etymological affinity. The present ruins are doubtless of later than Roman datle, and pf Gothic architecture. But it stands within the area of a large Roman camp, Avhich most pro bably had been one of their stations. The ves tiges of the fortification are still very visible, and not to be mistaken in their character. The embankments within which the castle stands are in some places entire, and then- continuity may easily be traced. About four teen hundred years ago, Avhen the Welsh alpha bet had only sixteen letters, the name Avould have been written Lovenni. Instances of this nature are numerous, as I am informed, in fhp BRECKNOCKSHIRE. 365 Old Welsh manuscripts, Avhere is to be found Louel , instead of Llywel, Hovel for HyAvel, and Convet, in the Merthyr Mawr inscription of the fifth century, for Cymvyd. The circumstance which distinguishes Llan Sant Ffred, or St. Bridget's church, is a stone pillar about six feet high, nearly cylindrical, on Avhich is an inscription, noticed in Camden. A family of Jenkins's was seated at Llan Sant Ffred in the reign of Richard the Third, Avhich made a considerable addition to its fortune by a marriage Avith the heiress of Raglan Castle. The Herberts likewise intermarried with this family. Thevisitor of Llynsyvaddon now regains the turnpike road, and comes at once on the Bwlch, which opens to him an extensive and magnificent range of scenery, diversified with Avoods and lawns, and terminated by a ma jestic" elevation in front. The meaning of the term BavIcIi is the pass of a mountain, between tAvo perpendicular heights. The landscape from this BavIcIi is peculiarly striking. The duke of Beaufort's hills, grandly Avobded, form the skreen on the right; on the left,, the little Valley of St. Michael Cwm Du, stretching up in a lancet-like direction from the larger vale> is bounded by the mountains above the top of the valley. The front is occupied by one of the most considerable mountains in Brecknock, 366 SOUTH WALES. in point of height and grandeur. It is dark and cloudy in its aspect; while the continuity of the foreground is finely broken by an abrupt hill starting up, Avith the road winding round it after the long descent of the BavIcIi. The vil lage of Pentregare lies in the bottom; and just beyond it TretOAver ruins add their mouldering grandeur to the other attractions of the scene. After having passed Peiitregare, and stretched along the side of the beforementioned hill, a bridge, close by a few houses, called Pont- prenhurst, carries you over a little brook, run ning from St. Michael Cwm'Du to the Usk, which here renews its intercourse Avith the traveller, after having SAvept round the ex tended base of the BavIcIi at a considerable distance. And here it is, nearly at its de- A . parture from Brecknockshire, that the Usk be gins to assume those riper charms, and that more matrQnly importance, which characterise its fuller and more majestic course through Monmouthshire. It is noAV, to the unspeak able relief of the instructed eye, no longer at tended -by its starch companion, the canal. The banks of the river on both sides from this' bridge to CrickhoAvel are more than ordinarily beautiful. Its very bed is accessible; whence the sides, sometimes folding over each other into an amphitheatie, and sometimes, after a long reach of perspective, terminated in a BRECKNOCKSHIRE. 567 stupendous frontispiece, detain the sense of sight agreeably, or afford a study at once for the mind and the. pencil. Several gentlemen's seats, of elegant appearance, line the banks on each side. Those of the most taste on the south are Glanusk, belonging to Mr. Frederic; and Langadock Place, the seat of admiral Gell. -Both these are recommended by natural beauty, and the judicious application of art. Dan y Park, which means in English under the park, beloAV CrickhoAvel, at the eastern extremity of the county, belongs to an iron-master of La nelly. The house and land are at present rented by a farmer. The mansion is well backed with wood nearly to the top of the hill, which however exhibits a dark and barren ridge above the line of vegetation. The fields sdown to the river are pleasant; but the coun try just here has no marked character of picturesque attraction. On returning from Dan y Park, by the southern bank of the Usk, a narrow Gothic ivy-clad bridge carries you over to Crickhowel. From this bridge, there is an advantageous and intersting vieAV of Lan gadock Place; and the bridge itself is a fine addition to the landscape, wherever it is visible. The ruin of Crickhowel Castle is by no means -extensive, as viewed from a distance; but it forms an object of some interest on the ap proach, from the commanding site of the keep, 36*8 SOUTH WALES. On a lofty artificial mound. There is little else remaining , of the standing Avails, but that little sheAvs its date to have been early. The ivy, pleasingly interwoven Avith the venerable mass it delusively seems to assist in supporting, confers beauty on a fragment, too much dila pidated to be important. The foundations, however, may be traced, Avhere the superstruc ture is completely demolished, and prove it to have been of no mean size or strength. About two miles further east\yard, the G runny falls into the Usk. The village of Crickhowel is old and mean; but it hangs on the side of a fine hill, and the cottages bear evident marks of having been furnished Avith their materials by depredations, Avhich have detracted from the ostensible state and dignity of the castle. There is likewise in. the village an ancient palace of the Herberts, which I am rather surprised to find so totally overlooked, considering the eminence of the family to Avhich it belonged, though there is little to recommend it to the more fastidious ken of modern observation. The Avail is per fect toAvards the street, and the great en trance, Avith the porter's lodge, furnishes some idea of its ancient magnificence. The vieAy from tbe interior up the Vale of ' Usk is ex tremely gay and engaging; but the spot itself, and the remaining architecture, afford little to BRECKNOCKSHIRE. 369 exercise the ingenuity of the draughtsman. This palace came to the family of the Her berts by marriage with an heiress, and con tinued in it for many generations. Every thing about it indicates it to have been on a magnificent scale of expense, only to have been supported by the greatest proprietors and most powerful gentry of the age. tot. I. B B 370 CHAP. XI. (Swern Vale. Llan Dair. Tretower Ruins. St. Michael Cwm Du. Castle Dinas. Trevecca. Tredwstan. Bru- inllys Castle. Talgarth. Hay. On returning from CrickhoAvel into the heart of Brecknockshife, along the northern bank of the Usk, the first object to detain the atten tion is Gwern vale, deriving its name from a little streamlet, Avhich passes through it in its course to the principal receiver. There is also a village called Llan Dair, of no peculiar inte rest or character. This spot lies near the foot of an ascending pile, hill placed above hill, forming a mountain of gloomy grandeur. At the distance of about two miles, a narroAV, overgroAvn horse-path leads to the village and ruins of Tretower, both of Avhich are highly picturesque. The spot is enclosed by hills, some of them rising into mountains; but all Avithin sight are cultivated to the top. The sheaves of corn, hanging on the hills exposed to the south, in all the plenty of a most pro pitious harvest, derive an effect from their placing, Avith which they are very rarely in vested; while the duke of Beaufort's woods on the opposite side at once afford a rich drapery BRECKNOCKSHIRE. 371 of foliage, and a shelter to the dAvelling and labours of the husbandman, The property about Crickhowel, and Tretower, principally belongs to the duke of Beaufort, till here abouts he is joined by Mr. MacUamara. Time has taken its revenge on the ruins of Tretower, but without destroying the attend ant interest of their vicinity. It has rather added to their impression, by breaking the formal continuity of architecture, without lay ing low the pride of every tower, or confound ing all their honours. There are some remains of the three towers, from Avhich the place de rives its name : but one of them yet rears its weather-beaten bulk in dark and awful ma jesty, still formidable in its elevation, and little 'dilapidated by the siege of the centuries that have passed. The court is interestingly over grown with wUIoavs, and other trees congenial with the general tone of feeling, while the cattle, rearing their horned fronts in proud possession of those doors, once opened by tbe hand of hospitality to the traveller, or de fended valiantly against the inroads of tbe in vader, read a lesson of mutability to man. Their quaint appearance, where they seem to be intruders, opens new sources of pensive re flection to the moralist, or of picturesque com bination to the professor. This castle be longed to a family of Vaughans, one of whom, BBS 372 SOUTH ACALES. : sir Thomas, Avas beheaded at Pomfret by order of Richard the Third. In a collection of old Welsh poetry, there is among other pieces an elegy on the death of sir Roger Vaughan of TretOAyer, prefaced by an account of his mur der. The import of the tale is, that the inha bitants of LantAvit Major, joining in great numbers with a party about the tOAvn of Mon mouth, went, to TretOAver, where they took the castle by surprise, and beheaded sir Roger Vaughan. What offence he had given them is not mentioned, and there is no other ac count of the transaction extant. It is under stood to have happened in the time of Henry the Seventh. We are t0id that for this act of atrocity Lantwit Major, Avhich had been a cor porate town, Avas disfranchised. There is no such anecdote or popular tradition to be m&t with in any other place. The story therefore rests on a very slender foundation; since it Avas common in those turbulent ages for places as well as persons to be calumniated. The road from Tretower across the country winds along the side of a hill, looking doAvn into the pretty green valley before described. The church and village of St. Michael Cavih Du are at the head of it, Avith Bwlch and Talgarth ' Beacon overtopping them. Nothing can ex ceed the fertility of this parish, of .which Tre tower is a hamlet, with a chapel of ease; Nor BRECS&NOCKSHIRE. 573 is- the village of St. Michael CAvmDu itself less to- be admired, both on tlie score of situation, and' the habitable comforts of a rural retire ment. It is, indeed, a most pleasing exception to the comparative slovenliness of the Breck nockshire villages. It. lies, if I may so express itj on the ledge of the upper valley, looking over the rich meadoAvs of the loAver, Avith a short .reach of cultivated level behind it, and a skreen of mere sheep-walks immediately : above, rising to the . clouds. The rill that waters this valley runs directly through the village, communicating a. cool freshness to the: atmosphere, and the means of cleanliness to the inhabitants;. There are several very substan tial and commodiously built farm-houses ; and the cottages imbibe the air of general decency. It Avould not be easy to name a more favoured village in any part of England or Wales. The church is unusually respectable, both in its in ternal and external appearance ; but the battle ments only of the tower, Avhitened, produce a singular and rather quaint effect at a distance, though they may perhaps serve as a beacon in case of aberration. The practice is not alto gether unusual in this part of the Country. After getting above St. Michael CAvm Du, the crossing of Talgarth beacon becomes labo rious; and as the traveller seems gradually to be deserted by the fading landscape, and re- 374 SQUTH WALES, moved from the traces of living creatures, ex cept the sheep that bound along the mountain, he naturally begins to suspect that he may bid adieu to tlve pleasures of his journey, when a sudden turn on the summit of the ascent dis* plays as grand a panoramic vieAV, as any within the compass of the southern principality. The mountain is^not so high as Mount Denny; but the prospect is to the full as extensive, and though similar in many respects, certainly ex hibits finer features. It may save much trou ble to thPse, who travel in search of vast ex panses, tor consider, that their object is not necessarily attained by climbing the highest tops; a mere hillock, commanding an horizon not intercepted by nearer inequalities, may overlook a greater distance and. more com plete circle, than is afforded elseAvhere by an elevation of many times the measured height, Llynsyvaddon, immediately underneath, is a circumstance of peculiar effect, rarely to be met with in an inland prospect : its Avide-spread surface is not rendered diminutive either by the mountain from which it is seen, or the large track of open country, Avith Avhich it comes into comparison, but preserves its im portance in the extended scale, as Avell as among the more private recesses of its own vicinity. The other" principal landmarks are the ridge of black and lowering mountains BRECKNOCKSHIRE. 375 south of Brecknock, closing up the south west corner of the view at no great dis tance; the villages of Tredwstan and Talgarth, in the bottom ; the undulating line of the Wye, beyond, with Bruinllys Castle on the Llyvenni, the north-Avest probably bounded by the range of hills between Landovery and Buallt afar off; Avhile the champaign part of Radnorshire stretches due north as far as the eye will reach. The descent of the mountain affords that lively pleasure, which is ahvays felt from seeing the forms of things enlarged to the capacity of the eye, and as it Avere their parts and limbs dis tinct, and liable to the ken of every sense, after having looked doAvn on nficroscppically reduced objects, or Avandered far over a maze of purple distance, in vacant astonishment. Nothing occupies the mind pieasurably for any length of time, but Avhat we can handle and examine, what furnishes a groundwork for conjecture, a clue to fancy, or a link in the chain of argument. On the summit of the next hill to Talgarth Beacon, is Dinas Castle, noAV level Avith the ground, excepting here and there some frag ment of the Avail; but nothing that in any de gree gives an air of symmetry, or an idea of the ancient state to the observer ; unless, in deed, an undigested heap may be said to con vey a notion of that magnificence, which the 376 SOUTH AVALES. materials possessed in their proper array. Nor can it be denied, that any large assemblage of loose parts, piled up or spread abroad without form or order, is of itself sufficient to inspire a sensation of awe, from a mere supposition of Avhat they must have been, Avhen employed in composition according to the principles of art. I am inclined to think, that if we could conceive for a moment Blenheim to be rased to the foundation, and the small detached frag ments to be heaped together on the spot, our imaginations would form out of such a collec tion something at least as splendid as the pre sent structure, and perhaps more perfect than the genius of Vanburgh was capable of design ing. There are some traces here of a subter raneous passage, which tradition affirms to have communicated Avith Bruinllys Castle in the vale, at the distance of at least two miles : but such improbabilities almost universally creep into vulgar belief, Avhere places of defence are found to lie at all contiguous to each other. There is likeAvise a current tale, that the ruin of the castle Avas occasioned by the inhabitants setting fire to it, lest it should fall into the hands of an enemy, and become the instru- ' ment of their oppression. On descending from these present haunts of mountain sheep, and ancient seats of unsociable and distrustful barons, the traveller arrives BRECKNOCKSHIRE. 377 suddenly at a spot, the most incongruous and unexpected that can ; be conceived* in these simple regions. He finds himself translated all at once to the Paragon, Prospect Place, Paradise Roav, Mount Pleasant, or some such supreme court of finery, foppery, and folly, as occurs within a circle of five miles round London : a space Ayhich comprehends most of the architectural absurdities, and most of the horticultural deformities, to Avhich a vitiated imagination has ever given birth. Yet does TreveCca seem, by combination, to have out done them all. Here a Gothic arch ! there a Corinthian capital! Towers, battlements, and bastions ! peacocks cut in bpx, and lions hacked in holly ! And Avho is it that has thus deluged his native country Avith bad taste r Is it a nabob, an innkeeper, or a dancing-master, who, having contrived to raise a fortune by one of those trades, which often prosper Avhere better fail, prudently .determines to record the event, and raise a triumphal monument on the site of his honest father's humble cottage ? Nay, verily : it is a preacher of the gospel, professedly of tbe strictest persuasion and most mortified habits. HoAvel Harris Avas born at Trevecca on the 23d of January, 1714. Hav ing a respectable' paternal estate in reversion, he Avas designed by his family for the church, and haA'ing received the rudiments of a clas- 378*;. south wales. sical education, was entered at St. Mary's Hall in Oxford ; but he did not pursue or perfect those studies at the university, which might have given him rank and character among its members. When he was about the age of twenty-five, he began his career as an itinerant preacher, sacrificing all views of worldly ag grandizement to what he conceived to be his highest duty. But a total want of rationality in the pursuit miserably detracted from that approbation, which must otherwise have been extorted even from his opponents by the un questionable respectability of the motive. He was the friend of Whitefield, with whom he aftenvards quarrelled, and the first importer of the mefhodistical tenets and discipline into the principality, as Vavasor Powel had been among the first, to introduce the earlier and more re spected modes of dissent. He actually offi ciated in the fields; but, after having under gone much persecution, and incurred some danger in his travels, he determined, being, as my landlady at Talgarth informed me, a man of deep religion, to establish a sort of monastic family at Trevecca, adopting it as his own, and devoting to it his patrimonial, estates, Avith all the savings of a parsimonious life. , With un accountable inconsistency, he built a large and costly house, and laid out the grounds in the style I have before described. In this house, BRECKNOCKSHIRE. 379 and on his own estate, he collected a number of families, professing the same religious ab^ sorption of mind» He even purchased farms in the neighbourhood, and established manufacto ries, to as great an-extent as his finances would admit, or opportunities presented themselves of laying out his money. The condition he im posed on those who joined his community was, that they should pursue their avocations Pf husbandry or trade solely for the benefit of the common stock, disclaiming all private pro perty, or interference in the management of the joint capital, renouncing the society of strangers, and adhering punctually to the rigid observances of the family. The institution continued to flourish during his lifetime in almost a formidable degree. Their farms en tirely supplied their numerous families dispersed over the estates ; for the mansion-house Avas occupied by his own family and closer inti mates. There was besides a large surplus for the markets ; since their inflexible sobriety was considered to have the effect of making them good farmers^ though the business was much interrupted by their unremitting prayers. They also manufactured, independent of other arti cles, large quantities of fine flannels, the qua lity of which was in high request all round the country, and large orders Avere executed for so distant a market as Bristol. Mr. Harris died > SOUTH WAtES. in July, 1773. I have not been strictly cor rect in stating the produce of their labours as brought to a common stock; for it was all made over to him without control, though exclusively and conscientiously applied to their use and to the extension of the establishment By his will, he bequeathed the whole of his possessions, hereditary and accumulated, to the maintenance of the family for ever on the strict principles of its foundation. He left tAvo trustees, Avith regulations for the re placing them, who Avere to live in the house, receive the earnings of the people, conduct the pecuniary arrangements and devotional ser vices, and in every respect exercise that ple nary authority, Avhich he had himself pre served. He was married, and had a daughter, to Avhom he left nothing, except an apartment ip the house, on the same terms as the others, if ever she chose to become a member of the family. It is, however, to be observed, in ex tenuation of Avhat men of less deep religion will consider as injustice towards a deserving child, that her mother's fortune, not incon siderable, rendered miss Harris independent of her father. But this independence, and all worldly cares and possessions, she Avas to re linquish, if ever she came to Trevecca. It Arill readily be anticipated, that -she did not make that election, Avhen the reader is in- BRECKNOCKSHIRE. 33 1 formed that she was married to a gentleman of Brecknock, of the name of Prichard, I be lieve before Mr. Harris's death. There have been, within the recollection of persons residing at Talgarth, one hundred and forty efficient members of this extraordinary family, besides children : there are now not more than sixty; but the strict ritual of the place is still preserved; the character of in dustrious seclusion and eccentric fanaticism is sedulously maintained; and the visitor of Tre vecca may see it noAV, as in the days of the founder.. There is service in the house three times a day all the year round, the time of harvest not excepted: each person is alloAved a certain proportion of absences, on the same plan as the attendance of chapel is regulated for the students in college, and if the number is exceeded, the offender loses the benefit of the institution, however reasonable may be his excuse, or urgent the plea of his necessity. The service, though so frequent, is very long; and a numerous attendance is by these regu lations constantly secured. It Avere much to be Avished, that it Avere better worth attend ing ! I happened to. arrive there, Avithout any previous knowledge of the place or institution, about three o'clock on a Sunday, Avhen a num ber of decently-dressed and Avell-behaved tpeople were assembling, with Avhose manners £82 SOUTH WALES. on the outside of their chapel I was well pleased ; but the inside exhibited such a me lancholy instance of fanatical fatuity, as, happily for the honour of human intellect, is rarely to be met, but among these jumping enthusiasts. The speaker, for I will not in sult the dignity of our establishment by con sidering him as a clergyman, had his face and head completely muffled with a red pocket- handkerchief tied under his chin! -.The cause of this might have been candidly ascribed to the tooth-ache, had I not observed at Breck nock and elseAvhere, that the preachers of these degradedly fnethodistical and jumping sects, which would not be Avorth noticing in a work of this kind, were they not the unhappy growth of the soil, uniformly array themselves in a similar paraphernalia, probably in an ostentatious sheAv of squalid piety. The rest of his apparel was consistently mean; and all his air and manner indicated the lowest igno rance, though I could not judge of his lan guage. Its effects, hoAvever, atoned in power forwhat it might be deficient in elegance, or the means of rational conviction. The groans of his hearers, sometimes in a solo part, and sometimes in chorus, corresponded Avith the scarcely human contortions and ejaculations of the preacher. Some stood, some knelt, and some were stretched upon the floor in prostrate BRECKNOCKSHIRE, 335 humiliation. I did npt, hoAvever, stay for the animating sound of "Glory to the Lamb," lest the forgetfulness of superstitious enthusiasm, violating the laws of hospitality, might have compelled me also to join in the fantastic rites of light-heeled devotion. But I will not much longer weary the patience of my reader on the habits of an institution, which has culled with scrupulous care all the absurdities and evils of the monastic life, except the prohibition of marriage, and at the same time passed a se vere edict of exclusion against all its learning and utility. Mr. Harris had a brother, who made a considerable fortune as an army taylor in London, which was, I believe, inherited by Mrs. Hughes, his niece, who has a very hand some mansion near Trevecca. The family are very much respected ; and it is most unac countable, that the zeal of a man, placed by birth and education in the most respectable class of society, should have degenerated into such unmeaning and irrational mummery. It is true, indeed, that senatorial names of.no mean authority have graeed the drivellings of pretended inspiration; but they have not con descended to countenance any thing quite so repugnant to eOmnion-sense, or so irreconcile able with the classical taste and elegant attain ments of a gentleman. Since my return, I have heard accounts of Mr. Harris, not so- 384 SOUTH WALES. favourable to the disinterested absurdity of his character and views. I know the impu tations under Avhich leaders of sects and par ties labour from the misconstructions of their opponents, and pretend not to decide. It is certain that he Extorted large sums from the deluded people among whom he travelled, as well as from the labours of his domestic frater nity. These went in aid of the establishment at Trevecca. The frugality and self-denial of his habits is also controverted ; and his taste in building, which speaks for itself, corrobo rates in some measure the suspicion. His doc trine throughout the principality was, that those Avho came with his credentials were sent of God, and if they wanted a coat, a dinner, or a horse, the best in the possession of the be liever was respectively to be furnished. A gentleman of my acquaintance visited Tre vecca about thirty-seven years ago. He then saAV dAvarf box so planted and trimmed as to form letters, Avith the following curious in scription: "Howel Harris, saved by grace, 17 - -." There Avere other such expressions in the cant of methodism, formed of dAvarf box clipped very nicely. It is to be feared that this convertite, not to speak it irrever ently, had no more understanding of the grace he boasted, than sensibility to the grace of, nature. It is not less curious to observe how BRECKNOCKSHIRE. 385 nearly the manners of these methodistical monks approximated to those of their catholic brethren from whom they Avere fain to con gratulate themselves on being removed to the greatest distance. The room Avhere they met to worship Avas hung all round Avith the pictures of the first reformers : so easy is it to relapse into that idolatrous tendency from Avhich we are supposed to have been weaned. Luther, Calvin, Zuinglius, Melancthon, Erasmus, Cranmer, La timer, and a great many more, here lent their countenances to that superstition, which they had taxed the church of Rome with deriving from the heathen world. To be acquainted Avith the persons of celebrated men, through the medium of painting or of sculpture, is a very natural wish ; but the ignorant fanaticism of such un taught rustics as these, is in full as much danger of sliding imperceptibly into error, and fixing its affections on shadoAvs instead of sub stances, as ever Avere the devotees of a religion .' » ' prone to degrade its spiritual nature by corpo real representations, but not unadorned by many bright examples of Avhatever is vene rable in learning, or respectable in morals.- I have met with a person Avho has been seve ral times at Trevecca, and by sleeping for nights in the house, improved his opportuni ties of conversing with the recluse inhabi tants, of the place. They had nothing of this vol.' i. c c , 386 SOUTH AVALES. Avorld to fear; for food, clothing, and lodging Avere secured to them. They had nothing to hope, for they could not by any means become possessed of Avhat they might exclusively call their oavu, or appropriate the smallest token as a bequest in remembrance of a friend. The human affections Avere thrown into a state of apathy, insensible to the impressions of misery or happiness. Their piety appeared rather to consist in a conformity Avith the habits of the place, than to arise from any genuine or na tive sentiments. Religion, to Avhatever for malities it may be subjected, will die away Avhere it never comes in contact Avith the in cidents of human life. Hoav far institutions, for the purposes of literary pursuits or religi ous researches, on a Avelhconceiyed plan of temporary retirement, may be useful to the general cause of virtue and knoAvledge, is a consideration in Avhich some of our own esta blishments are implicated: but seclusion for life renders the duties of humanity and of re ligion as mere an affair of speculation to the recluse, as the parental and conjugal ties to those avIio have taken a vow of celibacy. — After such a revieAv of this Avhimsical institu tion, I am not sorry, to" say, that Trevecca is obviously falling. The farms are only lease hold. When the terms expire, they will most probably be so much advanced in rent, as not BRECKNOCKSHIRE. 387 to admit of the present daily devotions, which the will of the founder imposed as a law on the community. It is not unlikely that the leases Avill not be renewed to the society at any rate, or on any conditions; and in that case Ave may hope to see an extensive flannel manufactory established on the ruins of this farming mo- nastery. But Ave are here at the very head-quarters of-methodism, the capital of its empire in the principality. At Tredwstan, close by Tre vecca," is a college founded by lady Hunting don, for educating young men, to continue the succession of the ministry. But it is at present untenanted by pupils, though there is occasional service there : I shall therefore gladly dismiss it, Avithout entering largely into the nature of its ordinances, . Avhich probably coincide Avith those established elsewhere by the zealous patroness. The first professors, or teachers, in Tredws tan college Avere those Avho about seven and thirty years ago Avere expelled the university of Oxford, for forming private methodistical conventicles, or for praying and preaching in such; In this school jumping originated, and became a leading article of religion among the. Cambrian methodists. Mr. Rowland Hill made the tour or circuit of South Wales in the year 1770, or thereabouts, vindicating and recom- cc2 388 SOUTH WALES. mending this gymnastic species of devotion in all his harangues. A friend of mine heard one of these at St. Athan; in Avhich he urged, with an action suited to the word, and with Avords suited to the action, the absolute necessity of" bawling. His text Avas, "Cry aloud! Spare not ! Lift up thy voice like a trumpet." Dryden's couplet in his Religio Laici may well be applied to this preacher. , The tender page with horny fists was gall'd, And he was gifted most that loudest bawl'd. While Mr. Hill was vehemently urging one of his tenets, he gave the pulpit a tremendous thump, roaring out at the same time, "Who dares deny this great truth r" A country fellow immediately replied in Welsh, " Myn D — w! not any Avise man who may be within reach of that confounded great fist." Bruinllys Castle is a little- Avay to the left of - the high road between Tredwstan and Tal garth, on the banks of the river Lly venni ; and embellishes the prospect very consider ably. There is little remaining except a cir cular tower on an artificial eminence; but it is of remarkable height, and picturesquely cir cumstanced. There is a tradition respecting this castle, that Mahael, the ejected son of Barnard Newmarch, being on a predatory ex cursion, was entertained here by Walter de BRECKNOCKSHIRE. 389 Clifford for one night. The building took fire, and Mahael, in attempting to escape, Avas crushed to death. The building may probably be ascribed to the Normans, on their first set tlement in the county. At Bruinllys, about the year 1450, lived Bedo Bruinllys, esteemed among the most celebrated bards of that age. He rendered the same service to Davydd ap Gwilym, Avho lived about a century before him, as that of Pisistratus to Homer. Davydd ap Gwilym might justly be termed the chief master of lyric and. rural poetry in the Welsh language. His very numerous pieces are alter nately distinguished by the highest beauties, an,d by very considerable faults. Bedo Bruinllys, finding them very extensively scattered, and in great numbers, over every part of Wales, collected them together into a large volume, which Avas deposited, among other valuable Welsh manuscripts, in the rich and curious library of Raglan, when it Avas burnt by the puritanical incendiaries of Oliver Cromwell's time.' But there are some copies of this col lection still extant in South Wales, one of them in Lanharan library, and another in the pos session of Mr. Thomas Evans," a dissenting minister near Caermartheh. There are others to be found. The Herberts of Raglan were ,Avarm and liberal patrons of the bards, and of Welsh literature in general. Their library' 390 SOUTH AVALES. contained the largest collection of Welsh ma nuscripts that ever Avas made. Bedo Bruinllys copied Davydd ap GAvilym Avith great success, apd has left about one hundred and fifty pieces of very good poetry. It is singular enough, that his name is now lost to all memory in the Anglicised county of Brecknock. The village , of Talgarth is pleasantly situated, and rather neat; but has nothing interesting to detain the traveller. Hay is a small tOAvn, on the confines of Rad norshire and Herefordshire. By the many an tiquities here found, it appears to have been of some consequence in the time of the Ro mans; and experienced its share of martial vicissitudes in the contentious struggles be tween the native princes and the croAvn of England. When king John Avas prevented from taking the crpss by the rebellion of his barons, LleAvellyn ap Jorwerth availed himself of the confederacy, raised an army, and gained the tOAvn and castle of ShreAvsbury Avithout striking a blow. While he Avas thus employed, Giles de Bruse, bishop of Hereford, and chief pf the conspirators, seized the opportunity of establishing himself, at the same time that he promoted the views of the discontented Welsh and English. On his arrival in Brecknock shire, the people received him as their lord, apd delivered to him the castles of Aberhodni, BRECKNOCKSHIRE, 391 Hay, and Buallt. Llewellyn ap Jonverth had been excommunicated by the Pope for taking up arms against king John, though but a short time before he had been commanded to levy Avar, under peril of a similar sentence. The same authority compelled the bishop of Here ford to make his peace, so that LleAvellyn com pletely lost the benefit of his rapacious ally. But Giles de Bruse died at Gloucester, on his return homeAvard from the king, and his inhe ritance descended to his brother. LleAvellyn's policy, in marrying his daughters into so for midable a house, reconciled their interests, and once more threAV the Avavering influence of these great proprietors into the scaje of national independence. On the landing of the Dauphin, by the invitation of the English barons, king John fled to Hereford, and pro posed reconciliation and friendly league with LleAvellyn ap Jorwerth and the Bruses. On their contemptuous refusal, his misfortunes had not so far daunted1 his spirit, as to deter him from attempting some revenge; among the immediate fruits of which Avas the com plete destruction of Hay Castle. It is to be understood, that the castle here referred to is the old Roman fortress, on the river's bank, near the church;, the only vestige of Avhich is a mound, Avith entrenchments. The castle on the summit of the eminence, on Avhich 3.92 SOUTH WALES. the tOAvn stands, is of more modern date. A dwelling-house, now inhabited by the Welling ton family, has been built out of the remains : but a Gothic gateway is still preserved, and the large stacks of antique chimnies give it a venerable aspect. > The Avhole tOAvn formerly belonged to the duke of Buckingham. Though small it is populous, and not Avithout trade. It has a thread manufactory, and they make some flannel. There is a very rich, indeed a celebrated, vieAV from the churchyard ; but it has no very picturesque features. From Tal garth to Hay the country loses its mountain ous character, and assimilates very closely with Herefordshire; through which county the Wye holds on its course. 3ps CHAP. XII.; Aberllyvenni. Three Cocks. Langoed Castle. Landevailog. Lanvihangel Vechan. Castle Madoc. Chapel Langynog. Skyriog Wood. Llan Dewi 'r Cwm. Buallt. There is nothing to be observed, beyond what such a river as the Wye must neces sarily be supposed to afford on its banks, till you come near Aberllyvenni, the fall or con fluence of Llyvenni river. Here the scene, where that river forms its junction with the Wye, is in a style uncommonly gay, luxuriant, and beautiful. The meadows by the river side, the trim lawn of Maeslough opposite, on a gently - risingslope, corn-fields, orchards, and all the delights of fertility and cultivation, detain the feasted eye. There is nothing that is grand, but every thing that is pretty. A large shop, kept by a man, a Avool-stapler by trade, Avhose name is Morgan, is the grand emporium of the neighbourhood, and has enabled him to build a genteel house. The, cultivation of his man ners has kept pace with the advancement of his circumstances. He is courteous to strang ers, much respected in the country, and well connected by marriage. Aberllyvenni is the 394 SOUTH WALES. mouth of the Llyvenni, taking its course from Llynsyvaddon, and joining the Wye at this place.. , There is, a little further oiiAvard, a very decent public-house, called the Three Cocks, Avith accommodation sufficient, for any traveller, provided he be very modest in his demands : and just at that spot the river makes the most remarkable horse-shoe bend, in the Avhole extent of its long and sinuous course, to Avhich Drayton evidently alludes in the folloAving lines : But Wye (from her dear Lug whom nothing can restrain, In many a pleasant shade, her joy to entertain) To Ross her course directs; and right her name to show, Oft windeth in her way, as hack she meant to go, There is one betAveen ChepstOAV and Tintern Abbey, which is much noticed, because more seen; but this is infinitely more retrogade, more curious and characteristic. The Wye, from the Hay to its source, much better de serves the attention of. the picturesque tra- A'eller, than does the navigable part of it from Ross to Chepstow, Avhich eloquent description and the transcripts of the engraver have oc casioned to be so much frequented. But as I rather have considered the Wye a child of Radnorshire, though it separates the two coun ties, I shall defer a more particular account of its scenery between Hay and Buallt, Avhich BRECKNOCKSHIRE. 395 must in some measure embrace both sides of the river, and for the present content myself wjfh describing Langoed Castle on its banks in Brecknockshire. This arrangement is however only to be understood as a matter of convenience; for the Wye is not truly more a child of Radnor than of Brecknockshire, since it enters the latter very soon after it comes into the former. From Brecknockshire it receives nearly all the large supplies of tributary streams, Avhich render it a great river. All the great northern streams of Brecknock run doAvn to tbe sea in the channel of the Wye. In truth, as it's spring head js in Montgomery shire, it may be termed a child of that county, rather than of any other. There, hoAvever, it js only in its state of childhood; and it is as a Brecknockshire stream that it groAvs into a river of adult magnitude. Langoed Castle Avas purchased from sir Ed ward Williams, bart. by John Maenamara, esq. barrister at law. It is within, and part of a great manor or lordship, the entire of Avhich originally belonged to the ancient family of Wogan, Avho Avere knights Templars. This family quitted Brecknockshire, and became lords of Wiston Castle in Pembrokshire. The estate is a moiety of the great manor and lord- 1 ship, the earl of Ashburnham being; the pro- 396 SOUTH AVALES. prietor of the other moiety. It runs in a di rect line from the south-eastern extremity of Brecknockshire, nearly as far as Buallt, a length of tAventy-seven miles, consisting of fifty-four thousand acres, including mountain and sheep-walks. There is to be found here an almost unbounded variety of bold and pic turesque landscape, while the sportsman, who has more substantial pleasures in view, is in vited by the lure of game which abounds on its hills. The situation of the castle is close upon the Wye, and the grounds command one of its finest reaches. I question Avhether any spot can be named, where the habitable is more capable of being combined with the romantic. The present mansion is inconveniently irre gular, and, like most of the old houses in Wales, is so placed as to overlook the domain to the least possible advantage. Indeed, the Avhole premises had been neglected in sir Ed ward Williams's time, till they had almost be come a wilderness: but they are rapidly re suming an air of order and cultivation, under the management of Mrs. Macnamara, Avho, Avith a taste not common to ladies of fortune and fashion, hurries every season from the gaieties of London, to conduct the improve ments, and even the farming concerns, of this ancient seat. It Avould perhaps scarcely be believed, if the assurance was not derived BRECKNOCKSHIRE.- 397 fr©m my own personal observation of the fact, that a lady so circumstanced could solely re gulate and superintend a farm round the house of eighteen hundred acres, with which Mr. Macnamara, Avhose taste does not lie in the direction of agriculture, never interferes. He has been in possession of the estate between seven and eight years; and in that space of time, an overgroAvn and ruined extent of tAvo miles along the banks of the Wye has been drained and levelled, while the quality of the soil has been improved and reclaimed almost from the condition of a bog, by the mixture of sand Ayith the brick earth, and the more mucky materials of Avhich the ground was composed. The road, which ran betAveen the river and the house, has been taken in, and a neAV one car ried considerably above the house on the other side; a bridge has been built for the county across the river Calethwr, under the same auspices, Avhere there had been none before; a commodious drive is made about the hilly part of the grounds, commanding good views of the dingles, with frequent bridges across the water courses from the mountains; and a road is made on an inclined plane, to bring stone from "the hills, and save the heavy labour of horses. In addition to the other improvements, it is intended to build a new house in a far prefer able situation on the lawn. 'The gardens are 398 SOUTH WALES. already Availed round. This place may be, and perhaps Avill be made, one of the first in Wales. A range of almost inexhaustibly wooded hills * runs parallel Avith the Wye: but here they leave, what is not often to be found in moun tain vallies, a very fine and sufficiently Avide , flat, for all the purposes of utility and com fort, admitting the introduction of minuter ornament among the grandly folding draperies of nature. It frequently happens, that the oc cupiers of hilly districts pay dear for the plea sures and beauties of their short summer, in the snoAVs or floods Avhich imprison and half drown them in the Avinter. But at Langoed Castle, ample space and ingenious contrivance have guarded against those deluging torrents, which sometimes threaten to carry all before them, Avhen unrelieved by artificial conduits. There are some very beautiful dingles above ' the. new road ; while the bare summits of the hills overtop the woody clothing, and prevent those features of wildness from being lost in the luxuriance of fertility, and the tamer ten dencies of methodical cultivation. The new house Avill be built rather high upon the lawn, which it Avill command; and the large round top of Talgarth beacon at the extremity of the vista, though at the distance of several miles, will seem as if it Avere its immediate boundary. When the road passed by the river BRECKNOCKSHIRE. 399 side, it must very much have confined these grounds, and almost have destroyed their beauty; but uoav, the magnificent and vene rable oaks, Avhich hang their Avide-reaching arms over the water, and formerly spread their shade for the public traveller, are be come a leading ornament of the homestead. In consequence of Mr. Macnamara's having purchased the fine 'Avoody hill on the Rad norshire side of the Wye, that noble and ro mantic river is as it Avere domesticated) on the estate, and exhibits all its varied and con trasted features Avithin the precincts of the pleasure-ground. Here a rapid and whitely- foaming current, rolling over a rocky and impeded bed ; there a deep, dark pool, Avith scarcely an appearance of motion on its duskily transparent surface. It is seldom that such a stream, in its choicest part, can be commanded as the' central attraction of a gentleman's do main. The character of the Wye about Lan goed Castle has been represented to me as very much resembling the Adige, Avith little or no inferiority. The Radnorshire banks are equally beautiful ; and there is, at a little distance, a tremendously grand dingle, lying far from any thoroughfare, and therefore little visited, of Avhich I should never have heard, but for the hospitable attention and local information of Mr. Macnamara, I apprehend the earl of 40Q SOTTTH WAI^S. i Ashburnham to have derived his title to the other moiety of this estate from the marriage of John Ashburnham with Bridget, only daugh ter and heiress to Walter Vaughan,, esq. of this county. John Ashburnham Avas created a baron on the accession of king William and queen Mary. Mr.Wogan, Avho Avas an acting commissioner on the trial of king Charles the "First, was of the family, transplanted from Brecknockshire to Wiston. There is a direct road from" Brecknock to Buallt, through the middle of the county,* the distance about fifteen miles. I took that route in my summer excursion ; and though 'it does not furnish the various entertainment pf the Avider circuit, it has some objects of curiosity, and some interesting points of view, perhaps the more alluring for being less Avithin the track of general observation. About two ' miles above Brecknock to the north-west, and on the top of a high hill, are the remains of a very large British encampment, Avhich forms something of an oval figure, and is surrounded by three deep and broad entrenchments. It is the more singular, that we find no account, of it in Leland, Camden, or any of the great antiquaries, as there is not in the Avhole prin cipality a more curious or better preserved specimen of British fortification. It occurs on the left side of the road, just ppposite to Brecknockshire., 401 Avhere you see Landevailog on the right. There is an ancient monumental stone in the churchyard of Landevailog. The country hereabouts is Avoody and agreeable, exhibit ing an abrupt succession of undulating hil locks and hollows, as far as Lanvihangel Ve chan, about the fifth mile-stone, through Avhich the "crystal Hodni" passes, and gives an air of rural elegance to Avhat would other- Avise be considered as a very miserable vil lage. About a quarter of a mile further is Castle Madoc, an agreeable residence in a Avild and romantic spot, belonging to a family of Powels, of which the Rev. Hugh Price, M. A. rector of Rettenden, and of Little Ilford in Essex, was till lately the representative. He was in every respect an ornament to his pro fession. He had enjoyed the friendship of Warburton, Avho frequently appointed him to preach in the cathedral of Gloucester, on pub lic occasions, when persons of the first literary distinction composed his auditory. He was examining chaplain to Dr.Warburton's succes sor, the'Hon. Dr. York; on Avhose translation to Ely, the bishop expressed a Avish that Mr. Price Avould resign the chaplaiuship, that he might have an opportunity of filling up his number of chaplains from Cambridge, of which university he had been a member, and to -the neighbourhood of Avhich he was going to re- VOL. I. D D 40& south Vales. move. He added, that be. should not forget Mr. Price's claims to his professional atten tion. Soon afterwards, his lordship acquainted him by letter, that Rettenden, a A'aluable bene fice in the bishop of Ely's patronage, Avas va cant; and that on account of the situation being unhealthy, he had already obtained leave of non-residence from Dr. Lowth, then bishop of London. Mr. Price resided on his living of Little Ilford, and only visited Castle Madoc occasionally, Avhere he died in the month of June 1803. There is in the road at this place a remarkably large sycamore-tree. From Castle Madoc the old road is over the hills. For some little Avay the horse-path, and there is now no other, lies betAveen hedges of Avild roses, with other spontaneous floAvers and plants, cool and refreshing. Tbe ascent con tinues gradual for three miles, Avhich in the language of the country is called a pitch. On the top there was nothing visible but the doAvns on which we travelled in dreary uni formity; and on looking back, the high moun tains of the southern chain, Avith their tops lost in cpntinually thickening clouds. Little does the reality accord Avith the superficial aspect of the scene; and a stranger advanc-i ing in a contrary direction would scarcely be lieve, that between these downs and Mount Denny in the distance, a tract seemingly un- BRECKNOCKSHIRE. 403 inhabited, there Avas a rich vale concealed, with a county town, and all its periodical gaie ties and bustle, for high and low, of races, fairs/ and assizes. The journey continues as dreary as any thing that can be conceived, till you regain the turnpike road, which had wound round the hills, at Chapel Langynog. Here is a steep hill to go down, with Skynog Wood on a fine declivity, a grandly expanded vale on , tbe right, and clumps of low-croAvnerl hills in the front. When you arrive at the bottom of the hill, about Llan Dewi 'r Cwm, the coun try, though dreary, is on the Avhole pleasing, because the dreariness is relieved by transient snatches of Avood and cultivation. Within a mile of Buallt, at the bottom of another hill, there is an old and picturesque bridge over Dehonog river, which unites its stream with the Wye a little to the right. On the left is a very considerable fissure in the rock, through the portal of which the river forces its precipi tous Avay in a foaming cascade, half inter cepted and heightened in beauty by a wild and shrubby growth, starting from the crevices of the broken crags on each side. The entrance to the town of Buallt this Avay is at the upper of the tAvo parallel streets, built by a singular arrangement in rude ter races on the side of a steep declivity. This upper street is clean and comfortable; and the r> d 2 404 ,* SOUTH AVALES. church, though Avithout any pretensions to ar chitectural character, is large and rather Avell looking. But the lower and most populous street is as fashionless, as miserable, and as dirty as any thing I have hitherto Avitnessed. It is indeed strange, that a position so un usually favourable, rising from one of the finest rivers in the principality, and attract ing a numerous resort by the noted salubrity of its air and waters, as Well as by the mag nificence of its surrounding scenery, should have- been so little improved. There are, in deed, a feAv good modern houses in the upper street, and in the neighbourhood ; but the town in general exhibits that air of impoverished and dilapidated antiquity, which so univer sally bespeaks the negligent and unambitious character of a thinly-peopled country. The trade of, Buallt extends no further than sup plying necessaries to the neighbouring farmers and peasantry, who flock thither on the market days; but meat is exposed to sale in shops, every day in the week except Sunday: a cir cumstance which I believe is not, known in any other tOAvn of Wales, nor in England, except in very populous places. The castle of Buallt was formerly of some consequence: Ave have before observed it to have been delivered into the hands of Giles de Bruse, bishop of Hereford, and to have been detained in that BRECKNOCKSHIRE. 405 family, not Avithout umbrage to LleAvellyn ap Jorwerth. In the year 1217, when Reynald de Bruse, Avho had joined most cordially Avith Llewellyn ap Jonverth in. opposition to king John, came to terms' with Henry the Third clandestinely and contrary to his promise, the indignant prince turned his arms against his faithless ally, and spoiled him of all his possessions, except the castle of Buallt, which Avas so Avell provided with the means of de fence, as to venture on resistance to the sura-' mons of its superior lord. In the year 1221, Reynald de Bruse Avas besieged in the same fortress by a party of Welsh lords; but king Henry, to Avhom he had remained constant, came with an army, and raised the siege. yIn the year 1260, LleAvellyn ap Gruffyth took this castle in the night, Avithout opposition or bloodshed, from Roger de Mortimer, who then possessed it, and adhered to the English king, contrary to his solemn promise. The fate of this prince, the last of that high-minded race, who contended even to death for their natural rights, is known to have been accele rated by the men of this town. At a little distance, on the Landovery road, is Ceven y bedd, a farm house, built over his grave. There is a very handsome stone bridge over the Wye at this place, Avhere the river, unfet tered by confining rocks, sweeps over a small 406 SOUTH WALES. plain, surrounded by wood and mountains, in a broad and majestic channel. Just above Buallt, the Irvon joins the Wye, after having been reinforced by the three tributary streams of Dnlas, Cammarch, and Wheurin. It is a very romantic river, and in its vale is situated LanAvrtyd, Avhere there is a medicinal well, of much efficac}', and very considerable resort. 407 CHAP. XIII. RADNORSHIRE. The principal river of this county is the Wye, which skirts it from north-west to south-east, constituting the boundary betAveen Brecknock shire and Radnorshire. The first tributary flood of any consequence, that attends on its stream, is ClarAven, AvithrClanvy ; receiving as they do the Elain into their united channels, before they join the Wye. This latter river in its progress is increased by the Ithon, drawing along Avitb it Dulas, ClyAvedoc, and Cymran; all of Avhich rise in Radnorshire; as do EdAvy and Machwy, the last contributions the Wye derives from this county. The train of rivers which attends it from, the Brecknockshire side is not so productive of interesting scenery and speculations connected Avith the mythological antiquities' of the principality. Their topo graphy, as far as it was connected with the progress, that gave occasion to these remarks, has been delineated in the preceding chapter. The celebrity of the Wye Avas not less gene rally proclaimed, in ancient times, on the ground of mystical and superstitious sanctity, 408 SOUTH WALES. than it noAV is, for the pictures it presents, and the beauties it developes* The north-eastern and central parts of the county likewise abound in forests, Avhich were once consecrated by all the natural aAve of religious institutions, and, as some say, by all the fictitious terrors of craftily pretended enchantment; though time has left feAv, if any remains of the machinery, by the mouldering fragments of Avhich we are enabled in some other places to Aveigh the cre dulity of the disciples, against the Avit and ingenuity of the instructors. Of these forests Drayton makes mention : from Avhom we shall understand to Avhat a length the joint autho rity of three attributes, formerly inseparable, poetry, prophecy, and magistracy, are sup posed, according to foreign romance, to have extended in ages, which so humble an obedi ence Avill scarcely alloAV of being called barba rous or untractable. The wood-nymphs, so again, from the Radnorian side, As Radnor, with Blethaugh, and Knuckles forests, call To Wye, and bade her now bestir them, for them all : For, if she stuck not close in their distressed case, The Britons were ;n doubt to undergo disgrace, That strongly thus provok'd, she for the Britons says; " What spirit can lift you up, to that immortal praise You worthily deserve .! by whom Gaul first was taught Her knowledge ; and for her, what nation ever wrought The conquest you aohiev'd J And, as you were, most dread, , So ye (before the rest) in so great reverence had Your bards which sung your deeds, that when stern hosts have stood RADNORSHIRE. 409 With lifted hands to strike (in their inflamed blood) One bard but coming in, their murd'rous swords hath staid ; In her most dreadful voice as thundring heaven had said, Stay, Britons; when he spake, his words so pow'rful were." I have to observe on this passage, that Ave are not able to discover the most remote idea of enchantment, in any remains of genuine Druidism noAV extant, Avhether in ancient ma nuscript or in oral tradition. The poAvers of prophecy the bards indeed pretended to pos sess, but on a principle far different from that of magic; and though their doctrines fell short of rationality or demonstration, their pretences possessed considerable plausibility, their learning much ingenuity, and the myste ries of their profession were not to be ap proached, but by depth of thought and severe devotion to its duties. They were, as the poet describes them, the heralds of peace, and there fore not allowed to bear arms; nor Avas it laAV- ful for any person to carry a naked Aveapon, or draw a sword in the presence of a bard. When he appeared in his professional or offi cial robe, on a mission of peace, the contend ing armies observed a truce during his abode with them, and he very rarely departed Avith out accomplishing his object. To this source Ave may trace the story of bardic enchant ments, with all the powers of the bardic lyre. 410 SOUTH AVALES. Strangers, Avhether Romans, Saxons, or of any other nation, being entirely ignorant of the Druidical institutions, conceived very Avild ideas of Avhatever appeared strange, or Avas hitherto unknoAvn to them. This effects of bardish interference could only take place in cases Avhere different British states, or British and Gallic states were at war, by Avhom the principles of the order were recognized and revered. I believe no instance can be given, in Avhich a Roman civilized army, and much less a savage Saxon army, laid down their wea pons of defence, or even halted for a moment, at the pacific voice of a Bard or Druid. The eastern part of Radnorshire is, upon the Avhole, a fine and beautiful country ; but it has nothing uncommon in its landscapes, its buildings ancient or modern, or any of those local objects, by which in districts, more de cisively marked by art or nature, the spectator .may trace the outline of character, while he surveys the geographical position. The Lug is the principal river on this side, Avhich rises in the interior of the county, and quits it for Herefordshire at Prestaih. Afterwards, at Lemster, it takes in the Ar.ro, the source of Avhich is likeAvise in Radnorshire. But the Lug is rather to be considered as a Here fordshire river, from its longer course through RADNORSHIRE. 411 < the north of that county, the superior plente- ousness of its stream, and the many brooks it brings, with it. Offa's dike passes along within the eastern boundary of this county, and may be traced its whole length. But the limits of Radnorshire, as Avell as those of the other frontier counties, stretch every where beyond the dyke, and considerably further in some places. To de scribe its geography in its full extent, Avould carry me beyond the boundaries of this under taking : its use and purpose are too /well known,; to need elucidation. Radnorshire is generally considered, in a picturesque point of vieAV, as the least in teresting of the Welsh counties. If this is to be understood as applying to it on the Avhole, it is undoubtedly true; for both its grandeur and beauty are, with a feAv exceptions, con fined to its Avestern side, on a narroAV edge of the Wye, opposite Brecknockshire, and to that liorfh-Avestern nook, Avhich touches upon the counties of Montgomery and Cardigan, and participates in the irrefragable majesty of their character. But Radnorshire, independ ently of the Wye, has insulated scenes, Avhich vie Avith any thing to be found in the Avhole compass of the district that surrounds it. I peed only mention the dingle, through Avhich 412 SOUTH AVALES. the Machwy runs, the vale of Edwy, and the beauties of Cavhi Elain, or the vale of does, to illustrate the truth of my assertion. In the two last especially are realised those ap parent contrarieties of luxuriance and barren ness, sylvan decoration and leafless horror, the blended description of which, in Avorks of fancy, Ave are apt to criticise as out of na ture. They certainly are so for the most part, and our poets, to say nothing of our painters, cannot easily be acquitted of dealing in them too profusely and indiscriminately. But they do exist as exceptions to a general rule; and here, seem almost to introduce the traveller into fairy land; particularly if his spirits have become languid, and the elasticity of t his ex pectations has been slackened, by toiling over the eastern division of the county, where his imagination is neither kept alive by Avhat is grand, nor his speculations as a philosopher or economist excited by the improvements of science, Avorking on the higher capabilities of nature. On the subject of the Elain it may be observed, that names of rivers are very com mon in Wales, Avhich avouM be translated in English, by doe, buck, stag, hog, roebuck, raven, Avolf, and other such appellations, per haps because in the original sylvan state of the island these animals abounded more than usual RADNORSHIRE. 413 in some woody vales or glens. Hence these places, Avith the rivers running through them, derived their titles. The proportion of mountain to vale is pro bably less here than in any county of Wales, ex- ceptingPembrokeshire; and the quantity of land in cultivation, compared Avith that Avhich is un broken, is certainly greater than in most, on a fairestimateof theirrespective dimensions. The mountains of Radnorshire are for the most part low and broad-crowned, so that they might be convertible to purposes of husbandry, if there Avas not already a larger proportion of ground in tillage, than the confined knoAvledge and deficient activity of the natives can turn to a lucrative account. The appearance of the farms, therefore, is in too many places im poverished and hungry ; but this is injuriously attributed to nature; for the most intelligent and experienced inhabitants aver the quality of the soil to be in general good, though its ten dency to fertility is kept doAvn by slovenly management, local prejudices, and indolent habits, arising from the Avant of any adequate incentive to emulation. They can live, as their fathers have lived before them, and they have no desire to live better. The conse quence of an agricultural system so imperfect is, that they depend principally on their sheep, for the avooI of which they find a ready market 414 SOUTH WALES. at Lemster; and this, rather than any hrtrinsic difference, is the reason why the price of good land in the heart of Radnorshire bears so very disproportionate a relation to the current price in the adjoining counties of Herefordshire and Shropshire. Cattle and sheep are such staple articles, that the rate at which farms let is very much governed by their ppssessing or not possessing right of mountain: and as the best land for tillage in general is not that Avhich lies contiguous to these black and barren mountains, this circumstance occasions the ap parent absurdity, that some of the best land in the county is let at a lower rent than some of the worst. Such discouragements" to the oc cupation of the more .even and fertile dis tricts, arising from the difficulty of consult ing the general interests of agriculture, Avith out sacrificing local objects, to which long che rished opinions, confirmed by the experience of partial benefit, have attached importance, must continue to depress the improvement and consequent value of land beloAV the average standard of the times and of the country at large. But more extensive and unprejudiced views, a broader calculation of advantages and disadvantages, a less servile adherence to established maxims, and a less timid investiga tion of their merits, are making Avay, though slowly, in these remote regions. Something RADNORSHIRE. A15 like a spirit of adventure is stirring; and the men of Radnorshire begin to try, Avhether they canno't Avipe off from their country the stigma of barrenness and poverty. It may doubtless be questioned, Avhether the progress of agri cultural speculation, Avhich has of late years so greatly enhanced the price of land, will ulti mately benefit any part of the community ex cept the individual proprietors, or even Avhe ther it Avill benefit them.. I do not affect a sufficient understanding of the subject to solve that doubt; but it has generally been thought, that the narrow education of ordinary farmers, wi th their consequent susceptibility of pre judice and dread of innovation, is extremely unfavourable to improvement. If this be true, the recent changes in the general appreciation of land, and modes of managing it, tend to counteract the disadvantages stated, in this respect : the farmer is obliged, undoubtedly at some risk to himself, to deviate from the safe and indolent systems of his predecessors, that he may obtain returns proportioned to the in creased demands of his landlord ; Avhile the experimental efforts of gentlemen, avIio can af ford to fail in those efforts better than he can, set up for him a sort of beacon, to guide him in a path, Avhich it might be dangerous to ex plore without assistance. It is only necessary to travel through the six counties, to Avhich" 4l6 SOUTH AVALES. these pages are devoted, to be convinced that the farming of gentlemen must be beneficial to the public, whatever it may be to them selves. The Welsh husbandry is described by all Avriters as generally backward: Radnorshire is instanced as particularly so ; yet those, Avho have beheld the effects resulting from, the ef forts of two or three gentlemen, happening to live near each other, in a part of the county apparently most untractable, Avhich a few years ago Avas literally a Avilderness, cannot but be convinced, that so magical a transformation could not have been effected but under the auspices of gentlemen. Those tracts, on the contrary, which present no obstacles to the success of cultivation, languish under an igno rant, lifeless, and parsimonious system, because the resident gentry, Avhose advice and exam ple might impart energy to the habits of the common farmer, are very thinly scattered. When I have represented the rate of land in Radnorshire as comparatively low, I of course exclude the immediate banks of the Wye, where, being of similar quality, and under similar circumstances, it is equal in value to that on the Brecknockshire side. It is indeed a general complaint among the inhabitants, and, if the ground of complaint be any thing more than a partial evil, overturns the fore going arguments, that the introduction of mo- RADNORSHIRE. 417 dern and English principles, though slow, has already taken from the county its character of cheapness. This may be disastrous to indi viduals, whose convenience has induced them to select Avhat they hoped to find an econo mical retirement. But , if this enhancement arises, not from a diminished, but an increased produce, Avhich; instead of being consumed, as formerly, almost within the parish where it was raised, finds its Avay, in the spirit of commer cial enterprise, to more distant markets, the community is benefited. It is better that a constant and plentiful supply should be se cured to the country at large, and particu larly to the populous towns, by a facilitated vent for the superfluities of less populous dis tricts, than that there should here and there be a cheap retreat for persons of narrow in come, embarrassed circumstances, or penurious habits. With respect to the natives, the farmer or the gentleman gets more, if he spends more, and the labouring poor must be enabled to live by their employers. Neither have they lived Avorse> but better, since the pressure of the times has compelled the higher classes to look more closely into their situation. The impending fear of actual scarcity, by which Ave Avere alarmed some time ago, has taught us to consider price as- an object of indifference, compared with the certainty of plenty. The VOL. t. e k 418 SOUTH AVALES. late scarcity has produced many good, and Ave may hope permanent effects. It has led us to inquire more anxiously than before, how the fruits of the earth may be most profitably used, as Avell as most copiously produced; and it has brought an unprecedented proportion of ground into tillage. Thus has abundance, though not cheapness, been restored to the craving neces sities of an increased population. But should a temporary glut, in consequence of propitious seasons folloAving one another in unusual suc cession, produce a depreciation to the former standard, though the vulgar might rejoice for the moment, a reaction Avould commence, the farmer Avould be unable to pay his high rents, capital and labour Avould be diverted into other channels, the interests of agriculture Avould suffer, and a few more years Avould inevita bly bring back the danger and dread of real Avant. , The language of Radnorshire is almost uni versally English. In learning to converse Ayith their Saxon neighbours, they have forgotten the use of their vernacular tongue. It is un common to meet with a peasant who under stands' Welsh, though it seems to have been generally spoken even in the eastern parts of this county so lately, as the middle of the seventeenth century. The angle of the county beyond Rhayader to the north- Avest is hoAvever RADNORSHIRE. 4l£> to be excepted, Avhere the few scattered people speak nothing else. But the features and cha racter of this corner' participate entirely in those of Cardiganshire;, and Avhen we recol lect, how near Offa's dyke approaches to this spot, we should perhaps rather Avonderthat the Welsh language has lost so little ground, and not been obliged to recede still further. Nay, in the south-east part of the county, about Clyrow, Paine's Castle, and other places in that neighbourhood, even beyond Offa's dyke, the Welsh language is still understood, and all are able to speak it, though they decidedly affect the English. About Presteign, no natives un derstand Welsh, but it is partially known to all or most in the places five or six miles to the westward. It may indeed be suspected, that the people in the east of Radnorshire are not Welshmen, Avho by vicinity and intermarriages have gradually changed their speech for one more fashionable, but that they are the direct descendants of the English marchers, Avho with their rapacious followers, occupied the limits between England and Wales, and were pouring in upon the natives of. the Welsh shires, from Hereford, Shropshire, and the English part, ©n every slight pretence of licentiousness, disaf- t fection, or clanger. By these means they might have driven the aboriginal Britons still- further into the mountainous district, and have e E $ 420 SOUTH WALES. established themselves in their seats. I merely offer this as a supposition equally tenable Avith any other, to account for the discontinuance of the Welsh language in Radnorshire. After all, the circumstances which occasioned it may be Avell known. Caradoc of Llancarvan as signs some Avhich are highly probable. He says, that a great number of Saxons, as the English have ahvays been called by the Welsh, settled in PoAvys on the Norman invasion. It seems they Avere unAvilling to submit to the bastard king, as he Avas styled in Wales, or to .live under the government of his son the red king. Thus the Saxon language became gene rally knoAvn and spoken in Powys; and from this account of its first introduction, the con sequence of a more familiar intercourse be tAveen the tAvo nations Avill naturally be de rived. To this source Ave may evidently trace" the subsequent predilection of the Powysians for the English government and nation,. with which it appears from history that they Avere for the most part in alliance, and engaged against the princes of North and South Wales. The ultimate subjugation of Wales Avas OAving to the assistance frequently afforded to the English kings by the princes of Powys, of which Radnorshire was a part. The character of the people accords Avith that of the Welsh in general, though their tongue differs. They RADNORSHIRE. 421 speak English Avith very feAv vulgarisms, and Avith remarkably little of provincial accent. They are also remarkably figurative in their phrases and expressions. They grow a good deal of corn in the east, and appear to live with full as much freedom and comfort as the people of Brecknockshire, and \vith much more than those of Cardiganshire. Their cottages in general seem, to be substantially Aveather-proof, though they have not the superior cleanliness and convenience of those in Glamorganshire. Sheep have already been mentioned as remark ably numerous in this county, and they con stitute the chief support of the industrious poor. There are no large manufactories esta blished, but the people make a sufficient quan tity of coarse cloth, flannel, and stockings, for their own use. The Avoods and hills are plen tifully stocked with game, and the county has been celebrated, almost two centuries ago, for its deer; though I believe there are fewer noAV in this than in any other part of Wales, Avhere Ave are to understand, on the authority of Leland, that wild deer then universally abounded. Heaps of stones, promiscuously throAvn doAvn, are very common on the Radnorshire moun tains. ,;,-Their probable origin and purposes have already been discussed. They are found in various situations and of different diinen- 422 SOUTH WALES. sions. They are ahvays circular, and gene rally highest in the middle. Their diameter is frequently from sixty to seventy feet, Presteign is at present the principal tOAvn in the county, Avhere all public business is trans acted. It rose into eminence under the pa tronage of Martin,* bishop of St. David's, about the close of the thirteenth century, and, as New Radnor declined, became the capital. Old Radnor had been burnt nearly a century before, and about a century after, in the time of the rebellion against Henry the Eourth, New Radnor shared the same fate, and has never been restored. The earldom of Radnor was not created till. the time of-Charles the Second ; nor have its pos sessors since that period contributed much to enlarge the page of history. One of them mar ried the daughter of the famous sir John Cutler, and held several offices of dignity under king William, queen Anne, and George the First. He obtained Wimple Hall, Avith the estate round it, formerly the possession of the Cutts's, an ancient family in the county of Cambridge, of Avhich the gallant lord Cutts was a descendant, as a marriage portion. Lord Cutts distinguished himself in the seve ral sieges and battles during the Avar in which the great duke of Marlborough commanded. As the Cutts family sold this estate to sir John RADNORSHIRE. 423 Cutler, who settled it on the marriage of his daughter with lord Radnor, so lord Radnor aftenvards sold it to John Hollis, duke of Newcastle, in the partition of Avhose estates it came to the earl of Oxford, Avho married bis only daughter. This county is not distinguished by the birth of many eminent persons. Presteign has to boast of one man, in no mean degree of re spect as a divine in his day. Richard Lucas, Avhose father Avas also of the same name, be came a, student of Jesus College, Oxford, in Lent term 1664, at the age of sixteen years. He took his degrees in arts, and entered into holyorders. He Avas for some time master of the free-school at Abergavenny, and Avas after Avards preferred to the vicarage of St. Ste phen's, Coleman-street, in London, Avhere he became highly popular as a preacher. His ac ceptable performance of his functions gained him the lectureship of St. Olave's in South- Avark, in October 1683, in the room of Dr. John Meriton, who Avas deprived of his ec clesiastical honours and emoluments on the ground of fanaticism. Here he improved the professional reputation he had before acquired, t and courted the fame of an author, by publish ing several sermons and theological tracts, Avhich Avere very; Avell received at the time. They have not indeed immortalised him, ex- 424 > SOUTH WALES. cept in the folios of Anthony Wood. But it may be doubted, whether the popular theolo gians of modern times, however they may triumph in their ephemeral honours, may not be consigned by the next generation to the same shelf Avith the Oxford Avriters. ' Nor need they despise their company. If a suc cinct and agreeable mode of communicating knoAvledge has been the characteristic of the century just elapsed, labour and learning' marked that Avhich preceded it. But it is in ' vain to think of building a literary renown out of controversy, Avhether political or religious : an author can only gain the ear of a party among his contemporaries ; and posterity is called off to other disputes, and a neAv race of polemics. Mr. Lucas aftenvards took the de gree bf doctor in divinity. The merit of his proficiency was the greater, as he had to strug gle with the disadvantage of very imperfect eye-sight in his youth, and became, totally blind, by the time he had reached the middle period of life. His treatise on happiness, friend ship, and other subjects, still survives, and is in considerable estimation; his style being highly polished for the period in which he Avrote. The roads that pass through the middle of Radnorshire are remarkably good, wherever it has been my, fortune to travel over them. It is not therefore owing to any highway oh,- RADNORSHIRE. 425 stacks, that this county is so little travelled. It is a remarkable circumstance, illustrative of the retirement, to which "the natives of these mountains have been doomed, that in the year 1803, there Avas only one public carriage kept in Radnorshire, a postchaise at Rhayader. In the adjoining county of Cardigan, there are chaises kept at Aberystwyth, Lanbeder, and the Havod Arms; but none at the tOAvn of Cardigan, though the assizes are held there, nor any where else in the county. Neither is there any postchaise at Pembroke, though a county tOAvn. A party, Avho wanted to go from Aberystwyth to Caermarthen, must have been condemned to perform the journey Avith the same chaise and the same horses, a dis tance of about fifty miles over very bad roads, until last year, Avhen the inn at Lanbeder Avas made a posting house. .The custom of dancing in the churchyard, at their feasts. and revels, is universal in Rad norshire, and very common in other parts of the principality. Indeed, this solemn abode is rendered a kind of circus for every sport and exercise. The young men play at fives and tennis against the Avail of the church. It is not hoAvever to be "understood that they lite rally dance over the graves of their progeni tors. This amusement takes place on the north side of the churchyard, Avhere it is the 426 SOUTH AVALES. custom not to bury. It is rather singular, however, that the association of the place, surrounded by memorials of mortality, should not deaden the impulses of joy in minds, in other respects not insensible to the sugges tions of vulgar superstition. It may perhaps appear, as if Thad represented in too strong colours the loneliness of a dis trict, contiguous to Shropshire and Hereford shire ; but I shall be borne out in my assertion, on a comparison of the space Vhich it occupies in tbe map, Avith the return of its population to the inquiries instituted by authority, at less than tAventy thousand. On my journey to Hafod last summer, I ap proached the principality from Worcester, not by the usual road through Montgomeryshire, but by Malvern ahd Lemster into Radnorshire. I mention this, because since my first edition, a regular communication has been opened across the country, by the establishment of post horses at Penybont. Those avIio have al ready passed over the more frequented roads of this county, may noAV examine the neAver objects of curiosity in this direction, Avith the convenience of a carriage: and though the hills and long stages are insuperable impedi ments to expedition, the traveller of leisure Avill find h)is trouble amply recompensed. But the celebrated tour by Avater frOm the mouth RADNORSHIRE. 427 of the Severn up the Wye to its junction with the Lug, and thence by land through Hereford, ending Avith the route it has been my province to describe on the confines of Brecknockshire and Radnorshire, is by far the most pictur esque and interesting. I should retommend it in preference to all others,, to those who only travel once through this district, and in one direction. 428 CHAP. XIV- Clyrp. "Llowes. Glasbury Bridge. Maeslough. Bough- rood. The Skreen. Landilograban. Llyn Lanbychllyn. Aberedwy Castle. Cregrina. Golwyn Castle. Llyn La- nillyn, a large pool. Hafpton. New Radnor; Lanvi hangel Nant Melon. Landegles. Faldan. Penybont. Lan- drindod Wells. Cevenllees. Lanbadarn Vawr. Nant- mel. Abby Cwm Hir. Lanelweth House. Ithon Bridge. \ Llwyn y Barried. Rhayader. Cwm Elain. Llyn-Gwyn. The nearest village in Radnorshire to Hay, at the south-eastern extremity, is Clyro. There may be seen here, on a headstone in the churchyard, the very great age of two hundred and nineteen. The fact will of course be doubted; but there is no person in the parish, Avho can object to the truth of Avhat appears on this stone. The village of Llowes has nothing very remarkable attached to it; but a village near the Wye in Radnorshire cannot be othenvise than pleasing. The reader "will observe that I am taking him from the Play, on the other side of the river, toAvards Buallt, and reviewing, from opposite points, the scenery that has been before described. The first very variegated and engaging scene is at Glasbury Bridge. Here you look from RADNORSHIRE. 420. the grounds of Maeslough, which from the opposite side is the most distant object, to Aberllyn and the Brecknockshire hills. Mr. Morgan's premises form a gay and pleasing feature of the prospect ; perhaps more so than the trim pretensions of Maeslough, Avhen vieAved from the neat habitation of the Avoolstapler. The country is altogether in the first style of beauty, but a beauty very different from Avhat usually characterises Wales. The Wye here puts on its milder a'specf. It meanders Avithout impediment; its verdant banks slope gently; the meadoAvs are rich, and the cattle sleek; the wood, dispersed in clumps, sometimes fringes the river's brink, and sometimes re cedes, to afford an opening for those pastoral beauties, which enter so conspicuously into the character of the landscape. The bridge itself imparts, by its OAvn elegance, an air of ele gance to every thing surrounding it. But the present is not that Avork of art, which has al ready been mentioned in the biographical sketch of William EdAvards. His bridge Avas all of stone, of many arches, which were very light, and the piers remarkably slender, ft had consequently a very airy, and uncommonly elegant appearance. But a prodigious flood in the Wye, as is common Avith the floods of all the Welsh mountain rivers, brought doAvn quantities of large trees torn up by the roots. 430 SOUTH WALES. , Being too large to pass under the arches, they dammed up the 'river, till the accumulated weiaht of Avater carried all before it, and the bridge Avasswept away. This happened about twenty years after it Avas built. The present bridge is of wood on stone piers, designed, I believe, but not executed by Mr. David .Ed wards of Beaupr6, son of William Edwards. With respect to Maeslough, it looks pretty from a distance, and seems to affect the style of a villa on the banks of the Thames. But when you come up to it, it rather disappoints than gratifies ; for you expect something in ad dition to Avhatthe distant vieAV presented; some more retired beauties, accessible only on a closer examination: but you find that a laAvn and shrubbery, a house and offices, gardens and hot-houses, the ordinaryachievements of wealth in less favoured spots, make up the Avhole. The house is by no means a good one. It is the property of Mr. Wilkins, member of par liament for the county, Avho is a very constant resident, but Avith less popularity, than gene rally awaits the resident gentry of these parts. The road on this side of the river is not turnpike, and very bad. It is no Avhere fit ' for a carriage, and I believe. Avill not admit of one between Aberedwy and the bridge at Buallt. But to horse or foot travellers, it is, RADNORSHIRE. 431 if possible, more interesting than the Breck nockshire side. The scenery seems to lie better under the eye. There are ferry-boats stationed all the \yay up, in the deep and tran quil parts: those Avho Avish to explore minutely, will take every opportunity of crossing, that they may vieAV the various appearances of the country on either side. For this purpose, I fer ried over the river seven times in the space of twenty niiles between Hay and Buallt. The way from Maeslough passes sometimes betAveen hedges, and sometimes open to the river, through a sylvan country, as far as Bough- rood,- Avhere there is a ferry, opposite the water-gate of Langoed Castle. The village of Boughrood is beautifully embosomed, in yvood, and sheltered by moderate hills; Avhile the more aspiring ridge on the other side, that skirts the lawn of Langoed, contrasts agreeably with the quieter and more modest recommendations of the humble hamlet. It is Avell Avorth Avhile to cross Boughrood ferry, though you should return immediately, for it carries you just in front of the remarkable, horseshoe before, described, and exhibits alto gether one of the finest scenes upon the Wye. The depth aiid stilnessof the Avater, its green hue and glassy surface, are all opposed td the bold and rocky channel above and below, the shallo\y and perturbed course of the stream, 432 SOUTH WALES. rippling noisily over its. impeded bed, and- dashing its Avhitened spray into the ah; here a narrow and unfathomable gullet, there a broad ledge of rocks, occasionally rough and broken, that form the flooded swell into innu merable cascades. At the other end of Mr. Macnamara's premises, he has stationed a se cond boat, close by a spot in no respect less interesting. Looking down the river, you have a very considerable reach, sometimes placid and sometimes turbulent, overhung on either side by majestic Avoods, shelving from the Avater's edge. At this place, the Calethwr enters the Wye from Brecknockshire, and the Machwy from Radnorshire, directly opposite each other. The dingles through Avhich they fun, particularly the latter, are in the wildest style possible. The hills that bound those dingles branch out on each side into a sort of semicircle, and the mountains close in upon the Wye beyond, contracting the vale almost into another dingle. The extremes of naked ness and luxuriance seem here to m^et; but the nakedness is magnificently formidable, and the luxuriance too strongly contrasted to be cloying. There are few scenes perhaps more uncommon than the dingle of the MaChAvy.. It lies much out of the convenient track, for those who make regular stages : but I avouM advise every curious traveller to see it, though RADNORSHIRE. 433 I will promise him any thing except pleasure from the sight. The first effort is to climb a mossy hill, almost perpendicular, without either tree or rocky protuberance, to relieve the eye, or assist and secure the footing. As the ha bitable borders of the Wye become evanescent, the whole scene assumes an aspect of dreary grandeur. It approaches nearer to what may be denominated savage, than any thing that I have seen of its kind; and Avell accords with the stories current, of the horrors transacted in its recesses. For a time, some scanty brush- Avood communicates a degree of ornament to the dingle : but even that fails, and the naked, perpendicular sides inspire ideas of real danger, as Avell as of imaginary dread. After having traversed the slippery ridge for some time, it becomes necessary to descend, in order to command a point of vieAV, in which are con centrated all the rudely-shaped eccentricities of nature, Avith all the mysterious gloom of vulgar and traditional ascription. The descent is much more difficult than at the Devil's Bridge; as there is nothing to break its too great rapidity, but here and there a stump, some fibres of roots, or a previous footstep, indenting the smooth surface, Mr. Macna« mara's servant, who Avas my guide, and a na* tive of the neighbourhood, performed it with a dexterity and ease, only to be acquired by Vol. i. f F 434 SOUTH AVALES. early habit. The black earth, with here and there a stray blade of grass, or tuft of moss, Avas so parched, as to become completely glazed by the long drought. He therefore placed both his feet together, and slid down as if upon the ice, till he gained a resting- place, where he could assist the more ignoble efforts of his follower. The dingle here is ap parently terminated by a tremendous rock, rising athwart the stream, on the top of Avhich are the vestiges of some very ancient and rude building, probably those of a prison Avhere de linquents might have been confined. I have not been able to trace any authentic account of its history; for it is not mentioned by any of our professed antiquarians, ancient or mo dern; nor have the peculiarities of its situation fallen in Avith the route of any lighter tourist. We have therefore no resource, but to extract sense and probabilty, if we can, from the igno rant and marvellous relations of the common people, who delight in imposing on strangers a tenfold share of those local fictions, by which at once their OAvn credulity is fed, and the im portance of their long-departed forefathers, in the evanescent history of an absorbed kingdom, is collaterally amplified- Even its vernacular appellation is lost. It is now only knoAvn as the Castle of the Black Rock ; which is rather a description, than a name. The story is, that RADNORSHIRE. 43,5 one of their very ancient princes had a castle here, Avhere he kept his prisoners; and that he gratified the magnanimous propensities of his nature, by hurling them, in rotation, from the top of the rock into the dark pool below. If such really was the spirit of his recreation or revenge, his choice of a theatre, on which to act the ferocious scene, must at least be con ceded to have been appropriate and happy. Were it not treason against nature, we might suppose her to have acted in concert with his Avishes : no shelving declination from the per pendicular, no shrubby groAvth of the slen derest twisrs, branching from the riven side of the dAvarfishly fructified rock, interferes with the dreadful certainty, that the victim, who might have survived the violence of his first projection, must reach the alternate death awaiting him, in the watery giilph, to Avhich he precipitately tends. Nor is the story unlikely to be true; for history and tradition tell us, that traitors to their country and their sovereign Avere executed, by being hurled from a high precipice. The spot seems admirably adapted to the purpose described,. and it is difficult to assign any other. It is surrounded by higher ridges, which command it. Scarcely within the verge of military operations, and certainly not of a complexion harmonizing with the pompous resort of political establishment, it F F 2 436 SOUTH WALES, stands insulated, and as it Avere ready made, for the perpetration of any gloomy sugges tions, engendered by the solitary devices of a tyrannical and gloomy temperament. This is among the feAV places in South Wales where Avild goats are met with in any numbers. , Oral tradition points out many dreadful rocks in various parts of Wales, from the tops of which traitors were precipitated. The an cient Romans practised the same mode of punishment on their criminals. Dinsulwy in Anglesea is another rock, Avhence criminals were thrown into the sea. On its top there are, as I am told, some vestiges of a castle, most probably a prison. I see no great reason for doubting the truth of such traditions. This mode of punishment Avas possibly intro duced by the Romans. It was also a druidical practice to sacrifice to the devil, by hurling slaves or captives from a high precipice. There is a little Welsh tract on popular superstitions, which notices this custom. After having descended from the loftier sides of the dingle, and examined these ter rific foundations, which spread a deeper tint of moral gloom over the natural darkness of the picture, the bed of the river is approached Avith considerable difficulty, by a second de scent, and forded in front of the black rock, by stepping on the more elevated stones that RADNORSHIRE. 437 encumber the uneven channel. Here a narrow ledge, on the brink of a deeply-worn pool, con ducts you, bending double under a mass of overhanging rock, to a singular fall of the Machwy, Avhich projects itself angularly from behind the castle, as it finds its way from the upper valley to the lower. The fall is con siderable; probably about thirty feet. Its po sition and circumstances are eminently grand, though all its features are of a revolting cast. The rocks on each side of the fissure so nearly close in upon each other, that in the brightest weather the light is nearly excluded from the bason, formed by the attrition of the water: while the sun-beams are playing on the upper part of the cascade, it is so placed, that the lower is scarcely, if at all, visited by the en livening influence of the day, associated, as it is accustomed to be in our minds, with a train of cheerful ideas. The deficiency of rock in general throughout this scene, and the substi tution of a dark and crumbling soil, serve only to increase the effect of its collected strength in this place. But a prospect, rude and un- chastised, in an atmosphere damp Avith spray, and unmedicated by a free and elastic current, renders it desirable to quit the object of our curiosity soon, though we have laboured hard to approach it at all. The sharp angle of the black rock prevents the cataract from being 438 SOUTH AVALES. fully seen, and its interest is heightened by the circumstance. On returning by the northern bank of the river, the sides of . the dingle appear 'magnificently lofty and abrupt, but drearily barren. The ascent is at first ex tremely difficult, but the difficulty is sooner surmounted than on the southern side. After regaining the hanks of the Wye, the next object that presents itself is The Skreen, a pleasing spot, and in some measure remark able, as being the family estate of Mrs. Harris,, and the fortunate inheritance Avhich rescued her daughter from the necessity of a con ventual profession at Trevecca. Landilo Graban is a small chapelry, dedicated to St. Teleau, or Teilo, a patron of Landaff. Lan dilo signifies the church of Teilo; and Graban, the horse-daisy, or starwort. This plant pro bably abounds at Landilo Graban. This is close by Llyn Lanbychlyn, in English, Brick- lake church, the largest lake in Radnorshire It is smaller than Llynsyvaddon by one third, and its shape much more formal, as Avell as its accompaniments less interesting. It is by np means so picturesquely situated as Llyn GAvyn in this county, though its dimensions consider? ably exceed those of the latter. It may per haps be less Ayorth while to deviate from the beaten track, to visit this lake, than any other in t^e principality. These characteristics of RADNORSHIRE. 439 South Wales Avere little observed by the older antiquaries. Aberedwy Castle and its neighbourhood, Avhile closely connected with Cambrian history, afford picturesque objects the most attractive, to fix and detain, as well as engage, the atten tion. The village is denominated from its situation at the mouth of the Edwy, where that river falls into the Wye. Such situations are favourable both to beauty and to grandeur, and in no instance more so, than in the pre sent. The castle is so placed, as in a great measure to command both streams. It be longed to Llewellyn ap Gruffyth, the last in dependent prince of Wales, and Avas his last refuge. It Avould appear, indeed, as if the prince's affairs Avere not in a desperate situ ation at the time of his death, and that he might still have been at least troublesome to EdAvard, but for the treachery of his unAvorthy countrymen. His friends had, it is true, been overthrown by the king's party, though even there the victory Avas purchased by the loss of William de Valence, a promising youth, and cousin to EdAvard. In the mean time, Llew ellyn ap Gruffyth had laid Avaste the country of Cardigan, and spoiled the lands of Rhys ap Meredith, Avho sided with the English in the Avar. .After this exploit, he unfortunately quit ted, his army with a few friends, and came to 440 SOUTH AVALES., Buallt, which he had taken frOm the Morti mers. In his castle of Aberedwy he designed to have remained in quiet and obscurity for a time, plotting with the neighbouring chief tains the deliverance of their country. As he passed by the banks of the Wye, in his Avay from Buallt to AberedAvy, he fell in Avith Ed mund Mortimer's party, Avho, as natives, re cognised their laAvful prince. Such, hoAvever, was their respect for his person, that, though attended only by his esquire, he was suffered to gain the valley of Aberedwy Avithout inter ruption, and there held his intended confer ence with the Welsh lords. The enemy had pbtained intelligence of his position, and had recovered from the reverential embarrassment into which his first appearance had thrown them. They descended from the hill, but found the bridge over the EdAvy, near the mouth, securely kept, and its passage man fully defended, by LleAvellyn's adherents. The traitors of Buallt, as they have ever since been denominated, then led the English to a ford, across Avhich they sent a detachment, under the command of Walwyn, a gentleman of Hay, some remains of Avhose palace are still to be seen there. Walwyn, thus gained possession of the prince's retreat, and attacked the de fenders of the bridge in the rear, but not till after LleAvellyn had made his escape. The RADNORSHIRE. 441 snow was on the ground ; and the tradition of the neighbourhood is, that he adopted the stratagem of reversing his horse's shoes, to deceive his pursuers; hut the smith, to whom he had recourse, betrayed the circumstance to the enemy, so that it Avas with difficulty he reached a narrow dingle, and there concealed himself. As far as I have been able to learn, the professed historians do not record the stratagem, though they agree substantially in the relation of the general facts: but there is a curious historical fragment in manuscript, where this account of shoeing the horse is given, with some other interesting particulars. He was not very far frpm his main army, to which he Avas lying in Avait to escape, when he heard the noise of horsemen, surrounding the grove that gave him shelter. He Avas unarmed and disguised ; but Adam Francton, I believe, a common soldier, put him to death Avithout knowing the value of his prey. The few friends, who had followed him in his flight, unacquainted-with the melancholy catastrophe, stood their ground, and fought boldly for some time, but were at length overpoAvered by num bers, and compelled to quit the field. The vic torious English began plundering the dead of the valuables about their persons, Avhen Franc- ton recognised his victim, Avhose head he sent to the king at the abbey of Conway. It Avas 442 SOUTH WALES. received Avith savage triumph, and indecently exhibited to the populace on the tOAver of London. The ruin, as it at present stands, is interest ing, both in itself, and On account of its con comitant circumstances. The most perfect part, and that of no great extent, is the Avail, surmounting the hill, as it rises at once, and almost perpendicularly, from the Wye. There is little remaining of the front toAvards the village. The space which it occupied seems not to have been at any time very consider able. The Avildness of the spot, so striking even in these days, renders it likely to have been used as a hunting-seat, Avhen the prince wished to throw off the parade of state, and as a concealment in adversity. After having passed the bridge, just by the confluence of the tAvo rivers, a path on the right leads up a hill, and to the top of a rock above the EdAvy, which bears evident marks of having constituted a part of the fortification; Here is one of the most romantic scenes, Avithin the compass of these observations. Both rivers are enclosed betAveen high tOAvering rocks, clothed half-Avay up with an entangled and forest-like foliage, Avhile the summits of the ridges are broken into points, projections, crags, rude pillars, erect and diminishing, or inverted, with all the wild and fantastical ar-» RADNORSHIRE. 443 chitecture of creation, at once the model and reproach of human art At the angle of the cliff, which separates the valley of the Wye from the dingle of the Edwy, a huge columnar mass of rock stands disjointed, except at the top, where it is united Avith the main body by, as it Avere, a moulding or architrave which maintains it in the perpendicular from its base. Its elevation above all that surrounds it, with the azure of the distant sky appearing through the interstice, while it imparts a character^ of Alpine majesty, associates ideas and recollec tions, though foreign, not uncongenial Avith the scene. I have more particularly described this, as the most lofty and remarkable, but similar perforations meet the eye in every direction, and indicate the most durable con formations in nature to be incapable of resist ing the poAver of time, and the rage of tem pests. The channel of the Wye is at right angles with that of the EdAvy, so that a long reach of scenery on the former is compre hended both ways, as Avell as the grand, but narroAV defile of the river, over whose rocky current the spectator is impending. Almost close by the foundations, whence I suppose the general view, to be taken, are the church and church-yard. The view from the latter, in- pluding part of the village, with the mill, is exquisitely beautiful. 444 SOUTH WALES. It shuts out all the Wye, except the line of mountain ridge that designates its course: but the loss is ainply compensated by our being in troduced to a nearer acquaintance with the de licious features of the EdAvy. This church yard has a great deal of character in itself, as Avell as what it derives from the surrounding objects. There are tAvo uncommonly large yeAV-trees, evidently of very great age, but in unimpaired luxuriance and preservation, under the shade of which, an intelligent clergyman of the neighbourhood informed me, that he had frequently seen sixty couple dancing, at AberedAvy feast, on the fourteenth of June. The boughs of the two trees intertAvine, and afford sufficient space for the e\rolutions of so numerous a company Avithin their ample cover ing. The scene on this occasion must be highly curious to an English spectator. To convert the resting place of the dead into a theatre for the festivities of the living, is con siderably at variance with the common feel ing; but it may be doubted, Avhether the practice is repugnant to any thing better than prejudice or superstition. That the popular eye should neither be disinclined, nor afraid to encounter objects in the moment of recre ation, Avhich may call to mind departed friends, or the idea of mortality in general, need not in candour be construed into levity or propha- RADNORSHIRE. 445 nation. Yet all contradictions to his own habits and customs, strike the mind of a stranger, Avhile a numerous and happy assem bly on a spot Avhose natural desolation seems augmented by the mouldering vestiges of the times that are gone by, connects the simple pleasures of rustic society with the recluse and romantic features of the scene. The, village is mean, but its situation com pensates for the absence of all other charms. You enter it from the church-yard, and Avind down the steep declivity of its little street, to the water's edge opposite the mill, Avhich, Avith its accompaniments, forms one of those sub jects most delightful to the eye, and most favourable to the pencil of an artist. There are few of the great masters in landscape painting, who have not indulged in some such delineation; nor will the most admired speci mens on canvas, whether representing por traits of individual nature, or compositions from various draughts of selected beauty, excel in pleasurable effect upon the mind the cir cumstances of this accomplished spot. The place derives an additional interest and importance, from having attracted and fixed the early* studies of a painter, considerably ap proved in his department, and a native of the neighbourhood. Thomas Jones was a younger son pf a gentleman, possessing a landed estate 446 SOUTH AVALES. of some feAv hundreds a year in Radnorshire, near Aberedwy. This estate Avas to descend in the common course to the eldest son : but as there Avas an uncle Avho had signified his inten tion of providing for the youngest, by the be quest of his personal property, he Avas edu cated for the church, and, in pursuance of that destination, kept regular terms for tAvo years in Jesus College, Oxford. At the expiration of this time, in the year 1762, this uncle died, Avithout having carried his intentions into ef fect, by making a Avill. The law therefore made a different distribution. On this change of his circumstances and \riews, young Jones quitted college Avithout graduating, and im mediately came to London, Avhere, having pre viously, for his amusement, tried his pencil with some success on the romantic scenery of his native place, he engaged himself as a regular pupil of Wilson. It is much to the credit of his memory, that he soon became a distinguished favourite of his ingenious and excellent master. Neither is it a slight evi dence of powers in some measure congenial, that he began his professional career, on terms of strict intimacy with the great and lamented Mortimer. He likeAvise numbered Durno, Wheatley, and many other artists of high re pute at that time, in the catalogue of his friends and companions, He went on im- RADNORSHIRE. 447 proving, and before he went to Italy, painted several pictures, Avhich were very Avell received by the public. A late friend of mine, who Avas Avell acquainted Avith him and his Avorks, and himself an artist of long experience, sound judgment, and pure taste, was of opinion, that some of his performances before he Avent to Italy Avere equal, if not superior, to the pro ductions of his pencil after his return. If this be so, it Confirms a previous inference from a remark of his instructor, Wilson. Had the variety or sublimity of his comprehension been greatly enlarged by, travel, beyond Avhat his native scenery suggested, that enlargement might be expected to have shown itself in more novel inventions, or more perfect imi- rations. In 1772 his father died; and I have been informed that in consequence of the disap pointment from his uncle, his father favoured him in the distribution of his property, as much as the law, and custom identifying itself Avith the law, would alloAv. To this instance of kindness, and his own success in his pro fession, it was probably OAving, that he Avas enabled to- contemplate, and carry into execu tion, the darling project of an artist, a visit to Italy. He arrived at Rome in the year 1776, where he lived in the society of Mr. Banks, and other artists of the first reputation. He also 448 SOUTH WALES. visited Naples, and in both those cities exer cised his talents Avith considerable eclat. At Naples particularly, he is said to have left be hind him several very honourable specimens of English art. His' stay at Naples Avas prolonged much beyond his original intention, in conse quence of his meeting Avith a German lady there, Avhom he afterwards married. On his return to England, he resumed the exercise of his pencil, and exhibited at the Royal Academy tAvo pictures, of the Campi Phlegrai, which met with very considerable approbation from the connoisseurs. He continued practis ing in London for several years, Avhere he Avas patronised and encouraged, and many very creditable performances of his are dispersed among the numerous collections of the metro polis. On the death of his brother, he came into possession of the family estate, to which he retired, and resided on it till the time of his decease, in May 1803. He had two daughters, Avho continue to reside in Radnor shire. I apprehend that his wife died before him. He never had any connection Avith the Royal Academy, having sided with the oppo site party at the time of its institution. I can not help thinking, that the principality has- some reason to be proud of him, though per haps very feAv of its inhabitants are at all con scious of the honour. It is true, that he never RADNORSHIRE. 440 attained, nor Avas likely to attain, the highest rank in his art; but his talent Avas very con siderable, and the sphere of his observation enlarged by an extensive acquaintance with society, at home and abroad. His literary at tainments Avere superior to those of artists in general. I do not mean that a residence of t\vo years in an university, highly as I respect those learned and valuable establishments, ne cessarily dubs a man a scholar: but Mr. Jones had not neglected to build upon that elemen tary foundation, Avhich is nothing in itself, but has supported the most stupendous structures of intellectual attainment. His master, Wilson, was indeed a native of Wales, which may boast of having produced in him, a landscape pain ter, whose easel bore testimony to the great truths of nature, whether simple, elegant, or sublime. He Avas what Barry calls a Leviathan of the art. But Jones seems more peculiarly the property of the principality, as having sought fame and fortune in the most distin guished capitals of Europe, and having re turned to end his days as a country gentle man on his paternal estate. He did not paint professionally after his accession to his bro ther's fortune. I have heard some vague story of his undertaking for Mr.Johnes, after that time, what his altered pursuits did not allow him to carry into execution ; but I am not vol. i. g G 450 SOUTH WALES. master of the circumstances. I could have wished these anecdotes of a Welsh painter to have been more full and complete: but I have some satisfaction in knowing, that a consider able body of information concerning those ar tists, who have died since the memorable insti tution -of the Academy, may be looked for from the well qualified pen of Mr. Edwards; associate, and teacher of perspective. [Since the first edition of this work was pub lished, Mr. Ethvards has been lost to the world; Avhether his intended Avork Avas in sufficient fonvardness at the time of his death to meet the public eye, I am not informed.] After passing the mill, in order to proceed up the valley of the Edwy to Cregrina, the scenery changes from predominant Avildness, to such a mixture, or rather opposition, of cha racters, as constitues a memorable peculiarity in the most, celebrated landscapes among the mountains of the continent. The circum stance to which I allude is, that the side of the hill exposed to the sun is clothed Avith a profusion of verdure and foliage, inspiring the most cheerful ideas of plenty, and creating a paradise of luxuriance under the eye. A very fruitful hop-garden, in the narrow flat betAveen the river and the hill, introduces an unex pected variety of richness into this favoured spot. Look to the hill on the other, and lite- iitt RADNORSHIRE. 451 rally the wrong side of the river, and its bar renness is as exemplary, as the fertility of its opposite. From the base to the summit is no thing but a rude confusion of loose stones and disjointed fragments, some fallen, and some ready to fall, with scarcely a blade of grass to satisfy the sheep, that forage over an exten sive tract for a painful and penurious subsist ence. It is very common, in districts like these, to observe stripes and patches of culti vation scattered over the prevailing nakedness of the country; but I have met with no moun tain valley in these parts of Wales, where such opposite and discordant surfaces of ground are draAvn out so decidedly in array against each other, where the difference between sunshine and the Avant of it is so strikingly exemplified in a single coup d'oeil. After having passed a considerable way up this very interesting valley, at a bend of the river, the traveller, instead of pursuing its cir cuitous course, mounts the hill before him, that leads to Cregrina. Before he arrives at the village, he has occasion to cross a pretty little dingle, Avith a brook of neither note nor name, pushing its short and feeble journey to the Edwy. And here I shall impose on my self a sacrifice of some self-denial to an author, in suppressing a very ludicrous rencontre Avith a person of eccentric character. It is too e g 2 452 SOUTH WALES. much the custom with travellers, when an in stance of individual peculiarity occurs, such as they might find at home, if equally observant, among the various tempers and deportment of men, to set that doAvn as a specimen of man ners in the country they are despribing. But all countries, and still more all cities, have their odd fellows; and it must be a business of some deliberation for a stranger to deter mine, whether the singularity that strikes him in a Welsh character for example, constitutes an integral part of Welsh character in general, or whether it may not be an excrescence of personal eccentricity, as laughably surprising and uncommon in Wales, as the same singu larity ^ would be thought in London. The opi nion of French vanity or Spanish pride has not taken root in men's minds from the extrava- > .... gance of individual instances, but from re peated observations of respective ubiquity, eAren Avhere its excesses are moderated by good sense, education, or commerce Avith the world/ A good story is in itself so good a thing, that it may perhaps Avarrant an oc casional digression; but a book of travels should present a description of country and manners, not a collection of bon mots and anecdotes : if therefore a writer is betrayed, by a desire of lively or surprising narrative, into the production of any occurrence as cha- RADNORSHIRE. "453 racteristic, which has not been confirmed to himself, on every occasion admitting its re petition, or is not acknowledged by the candid and intelligent among the people themselves, fie Avill mislead the public, if he has reputation, and if he has his reputation still to seek, he will not acquire any that is solid from such levities. The village of Cregrina has nothing in it to detain the traveller from his journey. It stands high in a country, the lower parts of Avhich are the most desirable. A miserable road leads to ColunAvy Castle, overlooking the Edwy from an eminence. It does not seem to be agreed betAveen the English and Welsh historians, Avhether a great battle, in the year 1198, Avhen three thousand seven hundred of the Welsh Avere slain, Avas fought here or be fore Paine's Castle. The Welsh are of the latter opinion; and Ave are told in Wynne's history of Wales, that Columvy had been de stroyed in 1 196, by Rhys ap Gruffyth, prince of South Wales. The cause of the battle Avas, that GAvenAvynAvyn collected an army, with the in tention of extending the limits of Wales to the ancient meres, Avhich had been infringed. He began his operations by laying siege either to ColuiiAvy or Paine's Castle, both of which be longed to William de Bruse, Avho had murdered GwenAvymvyn's cousin Traherne Vechan. His engineering skill proved inadequate to the 454 SOUTH AVALES. speedy capture; so that time Avas alloAved for obtaining succours from England. The lord chief justice, Avith all the lords marchers, came in foree to raise the siege. A treaty was in the first instance proposed to GwenwynSvyn. This he rejected, Avith an assurance that he Avould noAV revenge all his country's Avrongs. The English therefore had the policy to set at liberty -a native prince, who Avas his rival and enemy. /Their united armies advanced against the besiegers, Avho did not hesitate to abide the event of battle: but the English gained the victory, and GAvenwynwyn sustained the se vere loss above mentioned, in Avhich were in cluded many of his officers, besides prisoners. After this victory, the chief justice and mar chers returned home Avith a large accession of military honour. On coming into the high road from Buallt to Presteign, on the top of a very high hill, at the angle betAveen the two roads to Presteign and Kington, is Llyn Lanillyn, a large pool, of circular shape, about a mile in circumference. The depth of it is very great, and it occupies the loftiest eminence in the neighbourhood. It is close by the road side. So large a body of water, collected in such a situation, is a cir cumstance of rare occurrence, and as such to b6 noticed here : but there are phenomena in Cardiganshire of the same kind, though of RADNORSHIRE. 455 much greater magnitude and curiosity. From this pool the country has bold inequalities, Avith features not beautiful enough to delight, nor an aspect so dreary as to disgust. The Lug, though a river of no peculiar character, is ornamental. ' At Harpton, betAveen Old and NeAV Radnor, there is a large oak, that girts tAventy-seven or tAventy-eight feet. With re spect to Radnor, both Old and Nbav, they have been so long degraded into miserable and al most depopulated villages, that the visible traces as Avell as traditional accounts of their former state are nearly lost to the inquirer. Old Radnor, Camden supposes to have been the Roman station in the time of Theodosius the younger, mentioned by Antoninus; but Horsley, in his Britannia Romana, altogether denies it to have been of Roman antiquity. The mention of them in history is very rare. Caradoc informs us, that about the year 990, Meredith ap Owen destroyed the town of Rad nor, in a ferocious contest with his nephew, who had been ravaging South Wales with the assistance of the English and the Danes. This was probably New Radnor, though it is not specified by the historian. There are at pre sent very feAv houses, and no regularity in the arrangement 'of those few. The castle, of which very little remains, Avas built on an eminence, commanding the town, and defend- 456 SOUTH WALES. ing the pass, by Avhich it Avas approached, be tAveen two pointed hills. Warlike implements are found in great numbers by the natives, who busy themselves in digging about the castle hill, in the hope of finding treasure. The clearing out of some subterraneous apart ments had been begun, but Avas abandoned. Little more is recorded of it, till the time of its demolition. The forest of Radnor begins here, but affords no topics of remark. There is Avithin a mile of New Radnor a Avater-fall, much visited by travellers. A path along the side of a steep mountain, Avith a brook rolling beloAV, leads to the entrance of the chasm. A hut or two is the only sign of society, and there is none of vegetation. In Avet Aveather, the cataract cannot be approached; but at other times, it is practicable to walk up the course of the stream, between lofty and tre mendous cliffs, composed of rock, the colour of Avhich is almost black. The Avhole scene is overspread with loose fragments, which are broken off by storms, and roll down in every direction. Roots and fibres start occasionally from the crevices ; but they put forth no shoots to enliven the dark and dreary gran deur, or add the picturesque to the astonish ing. The light from above is nearly shut out by the projecting crags, which seem ready to fall on the intruder beloAV. The masses are RADNORSHIRE. 457 very large, their forms uncouthly grand, and their elevations giddy. From the extremity of this chasm, but not from the highest part, a cataract rushes over the projecting edges of the rock, down a precipice of seventy feet in perpendicular height. Smaller cascades trickle doAvn scantily on each side, and join the larger body below. An insulated mass of rock stands erect above the great Avater-fall, about twenty feet high. The attrition of the Avater, forcing its passage on each side, has so far Avorn its base, as to render it much slighter than the top. The grandeur is much heightened by this circumstance', and perhaps by the sensa tion of danger that accompanies it. Notwith standing these strongly-marked and uncom mon features, there are feAv scenes so much talked of, that so little realize expectation. This is not the fault of the spot itself, but of the country in which it is placed. Were the ap proach to it through a luxuriant dell, or a woody and romantic dingle, nothing could ex ceed the "surprise it Avould create, the mingled emotions of awe and pleasure, to Avhich it would give birth We should examine it with a sort of fearful interest, and look Avith in creased delight at our return, on the plea surable contrast of nature in her smiling mood. But as it is, the access is so dull and barren, that pur thoughts are previously led 458 SOUTH WALES. into no train of high expectation, our fancies Ayorked up into no fervour of enthusiasm. We are Aveary before Ave arrive, and though Ave are repaid by something stupendous, there is neither gradation nor variety; nothing less grand in retrospect, nothing more sublime in prospect, with which to compare it. Another drawback is, that the supply of water is apt either to be too scanty for effect, or too full for a*near and curious examination. The spring rises on the summit of a mountain, at no great distance from the cascade, and finds its way to the Lug near NeAv Radnor. At some seasons therefore it is nearly dry. It is generally the custom to return; though there is a path over the hills towards Peny- bont. On returning to the great road toAvards Rhayader, the first object that greets the eye is the little village of Lanvihangel Nant Melon, rural and av ell- wooded,, with a con siderable portion of neatness and comfort in its houses and gardens. Thus far the road betAveen NeAv Radnor and Buallt is retraced. It continues nearly in a straight line, while the road towards Rhayader is on the right. It is very dull till within a short distance of Lancjegles, when a prospect presents itself, of rich enclosures, hemmed in on all sides by a fence of dark, high and rocky hills. The road itself is pleasingly circumstanced, as it passes RADNORSHIRE. 459 under the shadow of a rough and magnificent promontory. The village of Landegles con sists of very few houses, but those few are ra ther interestingly placed; Avhile the obliging manners of the people, in furnishing local in formation, Avith a degree of intelligence rather superior to Avhat might have been expected from their condition, almost make a stranger regret, that the accommodations of the little inn are insufficient to admit of his lengthening his visit. I have more than once remarked the decency of manners, approaching almost to politeness, that distinguishes the loAver classes of inhabitants in the principality. I do not knoAv that Radnorshire yields to any county in this, particular ; and' the attentions an Englishman experiences are not less ac ceptable, for being proffered in the English language. - The address of the hosts and their families, both at New Radnor and Landegles, but particularly the latter, Avas highly to their credit, though they Avere in both cases very small farmers, Avith very little besides civility to offer their guests. Here especially, and in a very considerable degree elsewhere, I ob served the grace Avith Avhich the women per form the office of attendance at table, always presenting any article demanded with that sort of self-collected obeisance, so much no ticed bv travellers through France in dam- 460 SOUTH AVALES. sels of the same description. In both cases, this superiority of deportment is probably ac quired in some degree by the universal and frequent practice of dancing. While I am on the subject of provincial peculiarities, I will just mention an instance in proof of that quaintly figurative phraseology, to Avhich I have before alluded as characteristic of the people My landlord, in shewing me the site of Radnor Castle, expatiated largely on its an cient consequence, and informed me, Avith re spect to the Avarlike implements" occasionally dug out, that they consisted of battle-axes, cannon-balls, and conjectures of a great many other things. This concise application of the word conjecture, in place of a sentence, ap peared to me both original and appropriate; things of which the uses, as unknown to mo dern times, Avere merely conjectural. A little way further, just by Faldan, you cross the small river Cymran, Ayhich rises a few miles off to the north-east, near Lanvihangel Rbyd Ithon, and falls into the Ithon a little below Penybont, standing on the banks of that river. The situation is altogether agreeable, and the environs of the river sufficiently pleasing. There are very feAv houses. It is. singular, that the Radnorshire Bank Avas for some years in this obscure hamlet. It Avas established by a Mr. John Price, a man of RADNORSHIRE. 46l eccentric life and character, who amassed a very ample fortune in this sequestered spot, first as a shopkeeper, and afterwards as the head of the banking firm. His origin is gene rally understood to have been obscure; but the fairs held in the neighbourhood rendered his trade as lucrative as useful, and laid the foundation of the greater concern, which al- Avays maintained an extensive credit. Mr. Price built a neat modern house for himself, and an inn for the accommodation of the pub lic, very superior in extent and convenience to any in the county. The traveller is agree ably surprised to find himself well received, Avhere he could scarcely have expected to meet with any reception at all. There is now a post chaise kept here, which establishes a tolerably easy communication between Kington and Rhayader. About four miles to the left, in the direction of south-west, are Landrjndod Wells. These Avaters have been knoAvn gene rally to possess medical virtues for nearly a century and a half, but they were used indis criminately, till about the year 1750. There are, however, three different springs, all within a feAV yards of each other, totally different in qualities, and applicable to different cases. Mr. Grosvenor of Shrewsbury repaired several houses here at a great expense, after having secured a lease, and since that extension of the 462 SOUTH WALES. old and miserable accommodations, the resort of company has been very considerable, Avhile a more scientific investigation of their proper ties has rendered the efficacy of the Avaters more certain, and their use more safe. On the direct road towards Rhayader, just beyond Penybont, is Ceven Llys, where Cam den mentions that there was an ancient castle, in ruins when he wrote. But it does not appear, either from history, or from the etymology of the name, that there had ever been a fortress here. Llys signifies properly a court of jus tice ; and Cevn Llys, as the Welsh orthogra phy requires it to be Avritten, is the Court House Hill, or Court House Ridge. It most probably was a place, Avhere courts of justice Avere formerly held, and in the open air, as it was an indispensible maxim of the ancient Welsh laws, that all their assemblies should al ways be. Close by Ceven Llys is a place called Lanbadarn VaAvr, but we are not to be deceived by the dedication into the belief, that this is the ancient bishopric. Such was the celebrity of the saint, that several churches were denominated after him. The country hereabouts is desert and dreary, but it improves as you reach the parish of Nantmel, meaning Honey-brook, the church of Avhich is seen as a distinguished object from several points of view. Rhayader either is RADNORSHIRE. 463 noAV, or lately Avas in this parish : for I am not certainly informed, whether the act of parlia ment obtained of late years for building a church at Rhayader, divided the parish, or whether the latter is only an endowed chapelry. The claims of Radnorshire to the,praise of fer tility are in few places more advantageously preferred, than in this neighbourhood. The hills are bold, but cultivated; and the vale enclosed Avith Avell-planted hedge-rows. Be tween LanbadarnVawr and Nantmel, the toad crosses the Clywedoc, another tributary stream to the Ithon, Avhich rises above the Abbey Cwm Hir, a religious house in a delightful and fer tile dell, about seven miles to the north-east. There is a stupendous hill to the north of thp ruins, with a gradual ascent on one side called the Park, Avhich Avas formerly stocked Avith deer. Its fragments and ruins, Avhich may still be traced, prove it to have been a very considerable structure. There is neither door, windoAv, nor any other distinct part remaining, by Avhich to decide upon its architecture. The accounts of its foundation and descent are very imperfect, and Avhat there are, not sufficiently curious to invite a repetition. Hendre Vach is the only object Avorth attention till you come about Rhayader, the descent to Avhich is truly grand. But before I mention any particulars of 464 SOUTH WALES. Rhayader, I shall briefly trace the course of the Wye betAveen Buallt and that place, Avhich, with its descent from Plinlimon ab8ve, Avill comprise its Avhole passage through Radnor shire. This is the direct road from Brecknock to Cardiganshire, Avhich I pursued in the sum mer: the circuitous, and as to scenery less in teresting route through the heart of the county, Avas afterwards chosen for variety, and from curiosity : but those who are confined to one visit, will find nothing in the interior to make amends for the loss of this romantic stage by the banks of the Wye. From the handsome bridge of six arches, at Buallt, before described, Lanelweth House forms a well-dressed object, in a district, Avhose general characteristic is Avildness. After tra velling about a mile near the banks of the river, which in the plain is broad and unen cumbered, it becomes rocky, <. confined, rapid, and majestic. Here its current is concealed by deep and shady Avoods,. there its foaming waters are overhung by threatening crags, and break Avith their hoarse roar the general silence of the lonely scene. From this place the road bends a little to the right, quitting the Wye for a dreary common of two or three miles in extent, the tediousness of Avhich is terminated at Ithon bridge, and the rest of the journey to Rhayader becomes picturesque, various, and RADNORSHIRE. 465 interesting in- the extreme. That river, placid, almost to tameness about Penybont, assumes an air of grandeur as it approaches its junction Avith a more important stream. Its bed is still narroAV, but enclosed between high and perpendicularly rising cliffs. About the bridge they are for the most part as a wall, but luxuriantly surmounted with branching trees, in all the variety of sylvan accompani ment. Sometimes the disparted stratification leaves an opening to the fibres of roots, with . Avhich the rock is impregnated, to put forth a dwarfish growth, that agreeably breaks the continuity of tbe erect and naked precipice. There is, though it may not be very easy to describe it, a peculiarity about the scenery of this little river, that strongly distinguishes its character from that of any other among the many and beautiful rivers of South Wales. The Ithon is scarcely out of the traveller's sight before he renews his acquaintance Avith the Wye, to leave it no more, but foltoAv all its tAvistings and deviations, till he rpacbes the tOAvn of Rhayader. The banks of the river are rich in verdure and foliage, the road on the eastern side running at first at the foot pf rocky hill's, which "increase with the progress of the journey into mountains. ' The road is afterwards carried over heights, which rise VOL. Ir H H '46% sbuYHHWArLES. tly from the VeYy brink of the river, arid command a succession of thev most picturesque 'landscapes. : Sometimes the1 mdiiri tain's, ''That form the side screens, recede to' the' right and left, 'ah'd wbufd; seem to' 'leave' a freer passage, but "that the front is occupied by new 'one's 'rising 16 the view. The "grey' mist hanging halfway down them oh af ''stormy evening' m'ade it' seem' like1 apprbaching^'nigh't 'at; six o'clock, in the. hlohfh of July. Here we travel through a fine Wood; immediately aftenva'rds barren rocksobtrude themselves'almosf offensively on tile' eye, 'not Slaked1 al! the top only, but from their very' base presenting, ho better appear ance of bfcrbage, than a little fern: Again the river becomes rocky; ' heAv1 commons' are stretched put in every direction; 'but 'trie "general" nakedness" of the country is1 relieved by' the' young plantations about a neat bouse on the right, called Llwyn Jy Barried, o^a moderate declivity. From this place to Rha- ' yad'er is' a scene of Uninterrupted beauty. On 'the Avestern side. of the river are several stately groves of oaks : the meadows oil the'eastern * are rich and cultivated. The pedestrian tra veller may take a hearer and very beautiful 'path along these meadoAvs, which lead him to* a "new turnpike road just finished, aiid cut \vlth 'a labour apparently not to be compensated by- # RADNORSHIRE. 46.7 ?ny traffic here, out pf the mountain again closing. in upon the river. Perhaps the most engaging scene in' this stretch of country is about a mile from Rhayader, at the conflu ence of the Clarwen Avith the Wye, the former coming in from the west, in a lancet-like di rection, the tAvo composing,- Ayith their accom paniments of wood and rock, a rich assemblage of Avhatever a painter's art or poets fancy can combine or imagine. The' situation of Rhayader, itself is highly ro.mantic; but its buildings and streets are poor and irregular, in nlore than the usual de gree of Welsh toAvns. The quarter sessions were held here in the reign of Henry the - Eighth; but Avere soon transferred tcrPresteign, .for want pf necessary accommodations. The cattle of Rhayader Avas built by Rhys ap Gruffyth, at the time when the sons of Conan ap Owen GAvineth made war against him. The attempt Avas abortive, but the sons of Rhys were more successful ; for they destroyed the' town of Rhayader, and reduced their father's castle to ashes. In the year 1194, Rhys pro ceeded to rebuild the fortress: his sons, fear ing lest he should revenge their cruelty and want of natural affection, laid Avait for their father and took him prisoner. By means bf his son Howel the Saxon, so named from his H h S 468 SOUTH WALES. having served in England, the unhappy parent escaped from the clutches of his undutiful chih dren. HoAyel the Saxon was blind. The sons of Cadwalhon ap Madoc took the opportunity of these family feuds, to gain the castle and to for tify it for themselves. In the year 1231, king Henry the Third, after having remained some time in the marches with a great army, re turned to England, and left the defence of the boundaries to Hubert de Burgh, earl of Kent, Hubert having been informed by spies, that the Welsh niade predatory incursions into the marches, attacked them near Montgo mery, and slew a great number, Llewellyn ap Jonverth Ayas exasperated at this attack, and in revenge destroyed, among others, the castle of Rhayader, then in the hands of the English party- It does not appear ever to have been reinstated. There is no part re maining of the walls; and the foundation can with difficulty be traced, The church is a very repent structure, more than usually re spectable in its style of building; but there is nothing else Avorth notice in the place,. The south side of Rhayader bridge affords a very characteristic vieAV* of local features. The arch of the bridge, is very elegant, and the picturesque line of the river, furnishes one of the most agreeable morceaus in its whole pro- Radnorshire. 469 ess. There is a fall of some feet just by the idge, though of inconsiderable magnitude, fficient to have given a name to the town. le scenery round this whole neighbourhood eminently beautiful. The road into Cardiganshire may be varied: the summer I took occasion to go cir- itously throiigh Cavhi Elain, and in the au- n>n directly with the turnpike. Neither can relinquished without loss. The former is the )st engaging, but ample time must be ah ved, and it only can be pursued on foot. lis is that north-west angle of the county, of lich I have before spoken. After keeping >ng the turnpike for a very short space, )ye road to the left leads to the banks of the ain. By crossing the fields, the country is tter seen, and the first vieAV of that romantic er soon presents itself. Nor far off it joins s, ClarAven and the ClarAvy, already united* le Elain is here a stream of considerable dth, with nothing to controul its tendency expansion. It comes rolling along in front, d taking a turn close by the present path, ns near a respectable looking old mansion on ; left. Here my guide informed me, that recollected the river narroAvin this part, its annel being by some trees to which he inted,, so that it made much less of a sweep. 470 , south'aval'es; *• -.- ¦-.- • ? ' • - He said that the road bad been turned fiye times, in consequence of' it's encroachments : once' within three, years from that time, and that the ground we were standing on Avould soon go in a flood, Ayhich is sometimes prodigious here. It was the time of sheep-shearing, and I \Vas much struck Avith the difference betAveen the hilly sheep and those of the vale. The former are not only smaller, but infinitely more ele gant and picturesque in figure. They seemed to have all their Svits about t-bem, so that one would think,, tile race had- acqijhed its pro verbial character of silliness by fattening on rich and artificial pastures, Avithout having in herited • it originally in the state of nature. When Ave got into the lane, we met Avith a flock of several hundred, which live among the rocks all the year round, only Coming down at shearing time. They had us in front, and their shepherd Avith his dog in the f ea!r. The bounds that many of them made in avoiding us, were equally powerful and lofty With those of the wild goats. Their faces striped black and •white, and their black tails depending from a back perfectly Avhite, gave them an air of singularity and wildness. My guide told me Avonders of the fox hunters riding down the rocks and hills. Some way further in the valley, there is a retired and neat chapel by radWrsiMr^ 4W • <.' - -. ' ¦ ¦ . the road1 side, not hFP from a good house. I AVas sensibly struck Avith the effect, produced by the residence of only three gentlemen in' this retirement. The scene here becomes more afhd ¦ more confined, but most meritoriously dult'ivated in the bottom, vvhile the rocks rise higher and higher. They are all of slate here, except that -Ave passed the foot of one immense rock, 'apparently of horn-blend, on our right hand, with another nearly as large on the other side df'ithe- river-directly opposite. The- rocks Avhi'ch are not slate; are either horn-blend, often assuming very nearly the appearance of lime stone, granite, porphyry, serpentine, or Avhin. All. these are occasionally found in the same tracts with slate, but never lime stone, of which there is not a grain nearer to this place than Old Ra-dnor, though my guide stated this to be the beginning of that great bed} branch ing out Avider and' Avider in the direction of Brecknock and Glamorgan. But the Glamor gan vein of lime stone in the vale runs due Avest from Penarth near Cardiff under Swansea and Caermarthen bays into Pembrokeshire, and thence under the sea into Ireland. The northern vein runs along the confines of Gla morgan and Brecknock, partly in both coun ties, front Blorenge Hill above Abergavenny, by Merthyr Tydvil, Vainor, Pont Neath Ve- 472 south wales. chan, and Ystrad Gynlais, to the Black Mountain in Caermarthenshi re ; thence along the hills south of the Towy, and into Pembrokeshire by Nar- berth, or a little to the north of that place. It ends at Lawrehny on Milford Haven. The road along CAvm Elain sometimes passes' through groves of oak, Avith naked points and moun tainous projections impending over their tops. Here the rock is continually burst and broken by the fibres of roots Avhich seem to possess no sources of nourishment equal to the growth they sustain. My guide Avas surprised on our arrival at, Mr.Groves's, the principal seat in Cwm Elain, at seeing the clover ready for the scythe, nearly at the summit of hills, Avhich a short time ago were' Avithout a trace of vegeta tion. Mr. Groves is a Wiltshire gentleman, who purchased ten thousand of these almost worthless acres a few years since, and is mak ing a paradise of a Avilderness. We found them here performing the ceremony of sheep- washing in the river. , They threw them in so hastily and, carelessly on each others backs, that they had difficulty in saving one from drowning in our presence. The scenery be yond becomes Avilder : the path lies along the side of a rock, down Avhich rushes a mountain brook, frequently bringing with it such masses of stone as might endanger an incautious tva- RADNORSHIRE. 473 veller. At this point, the channel of the Elain assumes a new aspect The rocks choak it; it forces its passage through curving gul lies : the deep gulph of Avater becomes black and terrific, contrasted with the milk-white rock Avhich it excavates. The stone Avhich occasions this whiteness is quartz alternating with schistus, Avhose colour is grey or inclin ing to broAvn every where in Wales. Quartz is very frequently found imbedded in horn- blend schistus, and at the . bottoms of rivers generally appears protuberant, and often very beautiful, but ahvays white. The foot passenger leaves this scene to cross some cultivated lands, and comes suddenly upon it again, to pass a truly Alpine bridge of planks from rock to rock, over a continued, but no where preci pitous water-fall. Immediately under this tremendous bridge, the river, wears its way at the depth of thirty feet, cutting the smooth white rock into the greatest possible variety of shapes. After rain, the fury of this tor rent, confined for several miles Avithin a rocky chasm, is awful in the extreme. There is no longer a Avorn path to lead into the great road. The river must be crqssed repeatedly, where its bed is shallow and stony. Cultiva tion fades, and the Avhole becomes barren and . unpleasjng. There js nothing to describe. 474 SOUTH WALES. The?strpain is the only guide. , I'.shall uoaV take up the, scenery of the turnpike road-, It ascends, by ,a long and-sfeep pitchy- of. two miles, into a bold and, hilly region,' disparted by fearful, precipices, Avith mountain rising abpye mountain, into Montgomeryshire apd Plinlimon. The. Wye, almost , in its infancy, with banks of sti;nted; beauty, and scarcely in cipient luxuriance, forms a, predominant fea ture on , the right. , ;B,y deyiating . acrpss the heath, to the left, may, be gained what most trayellers lose for want of information ; a view of Llyn GAvyn, the only picturesque lake in Radnorshire. But this is" most eminently so. ,We looked doAvn upon it immediately under us, from the perpendicular heights, by which it is inaccessibly surrounded on every side but the spujh,, A^here.h has an outlet, discharging its. excess -pf copiousness into the Wye beloAV. On that side is alsq a loAver and less abrupt hill, covered Avith the finest timber of the * forest. Beyond, is ap immense reach of the Wye in all its glory, meandering discern jbly at intervals, as : low : as .Buallt, : and furnishing a rich and gay distance, in striking contrast Avith the immediate scene at band. On re turning to the road, the upper Wye again be comes the object. After another ascent of a mile, Ave look on the innumerable mountains RAD N 0 RSH I RE. 475 of Cardiganshire, Avith only the purple heath to enliven them. The road is carried down a 'fearful descent, till it finds the Elain in the bottom, Avhere the traveller, after having bent his course on foot through the vale, may meet his horses and servant, Avho must go the direct road. END OP VOL. I. T. Bensley, Printer, Bolt Court, Fleet Street, London. INDEX. Arthur, vol. 1. chap. i. paffirri Ambrofius Aurelianus, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 Arraorica, 2, 3. 9 Avalon Ifle, 17 Ariofto, 18, ig. 22. 24 Alfred, 20. vol ii. 193. 363-4-5-6-7 Alan, 41, 42, 43 Anarawd, 45, 46 Aedan ap Blegored, 48, 49. 51 Aberfraw, 69^ vol. ii. 414. 482 Avon. 82. 88 Aberdare, 84. 249, &X. Aburthin, 113 Afh Hall, do. Aubrey, Col. 120, 121 Sir John, 124. &c. William, 271 Aberhodni, 339, 340, 341 Aberilker Court, 347 Abereamlas, do. Aberllyvenni, 393 Aberedwv Caftle, 428. 430 Abbey Cwm Hir, 428 Aberyftwith, vol. ii. 25. 103. 112, lij. It6. lag Aberdovey, 109 Alltyr Odin, I46 7. 227 After, 263-4-5-6-8-70 Abermailes Park, 306' Arth River, 156 Aeron River, 1 erf Arundel, Earl of, 337. 363 < Ackland, Capt. 406 vol. 1. II INDEX. Amman River 439-40 Abergwili Palace, 443 Allt y Gog, 443 Aberglafney, 446-7 Ahermarlas Park, 465-6 Aberavon 514-5 B Bran, vol. i. 49, 50, 5* Boadicea, 49 Bangor, 52 Blethyn, 54-5-6-7-8 Brecknockihire, 7 , .... » - • n. r, , , ' >chap. vm. & ix. paifim Brecknock, 3 r r Berkrols, Roger, 87. family of, 201 Bualh, 113. 313. 318. 339. 375. 391.418, &c. Bonvilfton, 129. 175 Bargoed Taff, 136. 252 Bettws Bridge, 139 Beaupre, 147. 181. 184. 430 Barry Hie, 181. 205. vol. ii. 494 Bann-uwch-denni, 250. 304. 344 Brechan, 261. 304-5-7-8. 334 Blaen Cannaid, 262. 298 Bacon, Mr. founder of Merthyr Works, 264 Black Mountain, 304. 351, 352 Bwa Maen, 323 Bwlch, 347. 365. 372 Bruinllys Caftle, 370. 375 Bedo Bruinllys, 389-90 Brule, family of, 404 Blethaugh, 4C8 Boughrood, 428. 431 Bafhel, Mr. voli ii. 12. 14. 117 Bonfal, Sir Thomas, 52. 106 Banks, Thomas, Sculptor, 69, 8cc. Baldwyn, Architect, 70, &c. Beaumont, Henry, 114. 477. 481. 489. 492' Baldwin, Archbiflrop, 203. Baldwyne, Richard, 216 Bowen, George, Efq. 231 Bifhop and Clerks, 243 Barlowe, 271. 273, 274 INDEX. Bridell, 281, 284 Bolton Halt, 299 Bofworth, Battle of, 158. 300. 345 Bourcher, Sir Thomas, 305 Burton Ferry, 3 1 1 Blasnporth, 146. 161 Broc-well, Prince of Powys, 158 Blaen y Pant, 165 Blethyn ap Convyn, 167 Bowen. Rev. Mr. 172 Bofhefton Meer, ^76.381 Broad Haven, 385 Brane, <> 6 Blegvwryd, 413 Burry River, 416. 495 Bayly, Lewis, 430-1 Brane, 3 6. 47 . 473 Benvras, David. 482 Barrv, Reginald de. 492 Bellomonte, Robert de, 495 Briton Ferry, chap. 38. 509 to 14 Baglan, 514 Rridgend, 520-1-2-3 Cornwall, vol. i. 4, 5. 64 Caerleon in Monmouth, 8. 89 Camden, 9. 165. 215. 249. 318. vol. ii. 243. 280 Camilot, 10, Conftantine, 14.36 Cador, 14. ^6. Camlan or Camelford, 15 Cerdick, 16 Catheric, 39 Cadwan, 39, 40 Cadwallo, 40, 41. 43. 78 Cadwallader, 41-2-3 Cedwella, 43-4 Cadelh, 4c. . 51. 260- 308. vol. ii.392. 418 Caradoc, King of the Silures, 49. 54.58 Cartifmandua, 49 Conan 52-3 Canwyn, 52-4 112 , INDEX. Chatterton, 62. 69. Cardiff, 87. 1 11. 113. 122.13'L 142. 150-1-2. 164-6424 Cowbridge, 87. 97. icg. 111. 114. 123. 129^ t$8 Caerphilly, 88. 100. 142-3. 150. 224. 230-2 Chapel Talegarn, 113 Conan ap Sibfylht, 1 j 9. 181-2 Caftella, 129 Chapel Laniltern, 129, 156 Cotterel, 129. 164 Crue, 136 Cyon, 136. 253-4 Caftell Coch, 151 ' Cromwell, Oliver, 163. 225. 265. vol. ii. 253. 309, &c. Cyngar, 207 Caera, 210 Ceven Mable, 244-5 Cedivor Mawr, 226 Caradoc Lancarvan, 232. 235. vol.ii. 125. 1.78-9* 8to-I Clare, Gilbert de, 235 Ceven Hengoed, 249-50 Crickhowel, 251. 313. 347. 351. 370-1 / -•- Caftle, 367 . Coedy Cummar, 268 Craigy Llyn Vawr, 295 Commarch, 307. 406 Chwefriii, 308 Craigy Dinas, 322 Chapel Glyncolwyn, 320. 333 Cribarth Lime Rock, 347. 354 Chapel Colwyn, 354 v Chapel Coelbren, 359 Caftle Dinas, 370 Clifford, Walter de, 388-9 Caftle Madoc, 393. 401 Chapel Langynog, 393. 403 Calethwr, 397. 432. Another river of the fame name, vol. ii. 227 Ceven y Bedd, 405 Clarwen, 407. 467. 469 Clarwy, 407. 469 Clywedoc, 407. 469 Cymran, 407. 460 Cwm Elain, 412. 428 Clyro, 419. 428 INBE3L . Cregrina, 428. 450 Colwyn Caftle, 438. 453 Cevenlees, 428. 462 Conan ap Owen.Gwineth, 467 Cardiganfhire, vol. ii.' chap. 15. to 2a paflirn Cardigan, 2.25. 30. 203 Cwm Yftwith, 18. 43. 51 Cumberland, George, Efq. 37 Clevedoc, 47. 95 Cadvan, 106 Cadwgan ap Blethin, 112. 169. 321-2-4 Caradoc ap Jeftin, 114. Crofswood Park, 188. 120 Canhawdref, 124 Caftle Martin, 182. 200. 228.375-6.478-9 80 Cadrod, 1S8-9 Cardigan, 168, &c. ChureByatrd, -2 1 6-1 8 Caermarthenfhire, chap. xxx. to XXxv. paffim Cawdbr, Lord, 241. 446 Caermarthen Town, 372. 304-5. chap, xxxii. paffim Clarendon, 274. 308, 350. 254-5-6. 362-5-7- 372 Caervai, 281 Cwm Kerwyn Hill, 281 Cinnamon Grove, 299 Carew, Caftleof, 304, &c. Creflelly, 312 Cedivor the Great, 312 Caftle Innn, 130 Cwm Ver win, 1 34- 5 Cothi, 135, 443, 468-9. 476 Caftle Yndalig, 146 Cunedda Wledig, 149 Cardigan Bay, 157. 159 Cotterell, Sir Charles, 172 Chudleigh, Sir George, 175 Clifford, Lady Anne, 364 Caftles, 376 Caermarthen Bay, 392. 405-6' Caldy, 394. 406 Cledaugh, 396 Cowyn, 397. 401 Carkenny, 397 Cheriton, 416 INDEX. Chapel Dewy, 433. 438 Carreg Cennen Caftle, 433.440. 465 Cedivor ap Goronw, 434 Carberry, Lord, 434 Crofs Inn, 4^3-4 Count Henrv, 443-4. Cynwyl Gaeo, 469 Cafwell Bay, 477. 489 Cheriton, 477.495 Catadoc ap jeftin, 477 Cenydd, 495 Crumllyn, 501- Coychurch, 5:^. Coyty, 509-23-4. D Dinevowr, vol. i.45. 69. 71- 79- v°l- "• 45^> &c. David ap Owen Gwineth, 61. 63. 66 David ap Llewellyn ap Jorwerth, 66. vol. ii. 171 De Sr. Quintin, Robert, 87. 179 De London, William, 87 De Efterling, William, 88 Davies, Dr. 89. vol. ii. 41 Duke's Arms, 1^9. 150.302. Dyffryn Houfe, 1 9. 164 Dubric, Saint, 156. 159-60. vol. ii. 235 Dowlais Iron Works, 2+4. 267. Dulas, 307. -,06-7. vol. ii. 396 Devynnock, 347 Dan v Park, 347. 367 David ap Gwilym, 389-90. vol. ii. 41-2 Dehonog River, 4c 3 Dovey, vol. ii. 3. 17. 18. 39 Drurid, 11 Devil'g Bridge, 21. ^. 45 Dolecothy. 80 Davies, Rev. Walter, 110 Daugleddy, 195. 284.293.299. David, St. 245.2,8.251.256 Dewis' Land, 247-8 Down Pool, 31 1 Daniel, 348-9. 351. 364 Donne, 349 INDEX. Drummond, 354 Demetia, 401, &cc. Daven Bridge, 4.33. 438 Dinevowr, Lord, 433. 460. 462 Dyer, John, the poet, 447. 449-50-2-4 Dryflwyn Caftle, 449 462 Deganwy, 482 Dunraven, 495 Edwin, vol. i. 39. 40 Ethelfred, 39. 41 Eanfred, 40, 41 Edwal, 46 Edgar, 47 Edwal ap Meiric, 48 Edwin ap Eneon, 5 1 . 54 Eifteddfod, 65 Ely 74. 82. 83. 121, &c. Eneon ap Colwyn, 85-6-8 Edwards, William, 132 to 148. vol. ii. 469 Eglwyfilan, 133. 249. 251 Edwards David, 147. 430 Energlyn, 151. 247. 249 Ely, 156. 163-4. 219 Ely Bridge, 181. 211 Ednerth ap Cadwgan, 232 Edwy, 407. 412. 442-3-4, &c. Efkynallt, vo). ii. 43. 1 13 Elain, 43-4 , Eglwys Newydd, 91. 122 Evans, Rev. Evan, 124 Eglwyfwrw, 281.285. Eulham, Battle of, 336 Edwin ap Eneon, 43^ Edwins Ford, 46 . 468 Ewenny, chap, xxxviii. 525-6 Flemingfton, vol. i. 85. 181. 195 Fonmon, 88. r8i. 203 Fleming, John, 88 Fitzhamon, Robert, 59, 60. 85-6-7. 151. 179, Sec. INDEX. Faldan, 428. 460 Frandon, Adam, 441 Fronfraith Houfe, vol. ii. 43. 106 Flemings, Colony of, 177. 19.9. 192 Fifcard, 199. 23^. 234. 236 7 Fuller, 2 9- 10-13- 17 Fitzgerald, Lady Elizabeth, 211 , Gerald, 211 Ferrers, George, 216 Florence of Worcefter, 265 Fitzwalter, Robert, 328 Frelh Water Eaft, and Bay, 386-7 Fitzgerald, David, 3J87, &c. Finon Leinw, Geoffrey of Monmouth, vol. 1. 3^ 4^. 12. \7> Gorlois, 4, 5 Guinever, 8. vol.ii. 382 Gawaine, 10. 5. vol. ii. 381, &§c, Gildas, 35> 37-8. 231. y.ol. ii. 265. 429 Glamorgan, chap. ii. 3, 4, 5^ 6, vii. paffmv Giraldus Cambrenfis, 45. 69. 71.315. vol.. ii. gjj, &c. Gruffyth ap Llewellyn, 52-3-5-6. 181. 309. 387, &se. Gwrgant, 54-5 Gruffyth ap Conan, 58. 60. vol. ii. 114. 324 Gray, the poet, 60. vol. ii. 224 Gwenellian, 63 Gower, 82-3. 94-6. vol. ii. 144. 26a. 269, 4^33, &©. Grenville, Richard, 87 Gilefton, 97 Glalbury Bridge, 139. 428 Germanus, 172. vol. ii, 137 Glewifeg, 221 Gelligare, 231. 241 Gwenwynwyn, 233. 453-4 George, Watkin, 271 Glanufk, 347. ^67 Gwern Vale, 370 Giles de Brufe, 390-1 Gw.vdir, \ol. ii. 10 Gogerthan, 14 Griffiths, Rev. Mr, 37 I N D E X. Gruffyth ap Rhys, 112, 1%$., 123. 178,. 345.. 439 Gwineth, Owen, 1 14. 1 .12. 208, 418. 432 Glendour, Owen, 115. 216 Gwrgi Garwlwyd, 183 Gwain, 2.34. 236. 284 Gorid Bridge, 243-4 Gower, Biftiop, 249. 259, 260. 391 Glas Keraint, 269 '/ Gilbert, Dr. 274 Gilbert, Earl of Clare, 169^ 170. 294. 430 , Ma*£M, Vjt Gambold, Rev. John, 29$ - William, 398. Gruffyth ap Nicholas, 301. 466* Gibfon, Bifhop, 136. 142. 160 Golden Grove, 159. 163. 403. 443. 44c Glanvil, ,27 Garth, 368 Grongar Hill, 448 Gilpin, Mr. 48. 45a Gellihir, 477. 496 •Gruffyth de Gower, 477. 492 Gower, John, 480 Gnoll Caftle, 501-4 H Hengift, vol. i. 3. 16. 34 Howel, 9. 12. 5 -2-4 Howel Dda, 45-7.51-2. 71. 171. 214. vol.ii. 413 J 4 14 Howel ap Jevat, 47. 71 Harold, 5-4-5. 70 1 Howel ap Morgan Mawr, 54 Howel ap Rhvs, 55. vol. ii. 1*26 Hugh, Larl of Chefter, 58 Henfol, 74, 113 Hepfey, 82.321 3-4-7 Hirwafu, ^5. 249, &c. Humphreville, Gilbert, 87 Howel ap Jeftin, 88 Hay, 50,. . 40, &c. Herbert, family ol, 309. 364 Hodny,..3Q/. 38. 34.. 4Qi Henneuadd, 347. 354 I N D E X. Harris, Howel, 377-9. 383-4 , Mifs, 380 Hughes, Mrs. 38 J Harpton, 4:8. 455 Hendre Vach, 46 j Howel the Saxon, 468 Hubert de Burgh, 468 Houghfetter, David, vol. ii. 5. 7. Humphrey, William, 5 Havod, chap, xv, xvi. paftim. Howard, Henry, Earl of Surrey, 21 1, &c. Higgins, John, 217 Haverford Weft, 228. 236-9. 2^1. 375. Houghton, Adarn, 258 Hubberfton Priory, 299 Hakin, 2"9> 301 Hungeiford, Sir Walter, 305 High Tor Wood, 312 Herlert, Sir William, 318. 342 Hamet, Sir Benjamin, 166-7 Herbert, Richard, 342-4 , Henry, 347 Halifax, 367 Harte, 370 Hoole, 381. 451 Howel, James, 402-4 -ap Idnerth, 434 Henry ap Gwilym, 445 Hamlyn, Sir James, 468 I Igerne, vol. 1.4,5 Ine or Ivor, 43 Ithel, 54-6 Ivor Bach, 151. 214-15. 280 Hker, 307. 316.347 Irvon, 307. 406 Ithon, 407. 46063-64-65 Illtyd, vol.ii. 106 Ifmefton, 29g Jago ap Edwal ap Meiric, vol. i. 52 Jcftyn ap Gwegant, 54-5-7-9^60. 85-6-8, 8*c. Jenkins, Sir Llewellyn, 122. 12". 179 Index. Jones, Inigo, 189. 22'-27-29 Jenner, Robert, efq. 209-10 John de Brufe, 344 ones, Thomas 445 Johnfon, Dr. vol.ii. 15. 349. 371. 447-49.51 Johnes. Thomas, efq. chap. xv, and \\i Jorwerth, Bifliop, 251 John, King, 26 . 3 6-37-30-33 the monk, 264-67 Jorwerth, bifliop of t. David's, 290 Johnfton, 291-^3-99 Jafper, earl of Pembroke, 330 Jonfon, 349-53 K Kentwine, vol. i. 43 Kent with, 43 Kemes, Family of, 225 Knuckles Foreft. 408 Ki gerran, vol. ii. 112. 200-4-9- 10-17, tcp*. Kenarth, 2„5, &c. Kidwelly, 26 . 433. 48 . 496 Kenfington, Lord, 299 Kellan, 134. 141 King Arthur's Stone, 477 Kilvay Hill, 499 Kenfig Pool and Caftle, 518 Knight, Henry, 519 Leland, vol.i. 9, 10. 35. 241. 337. 421. vol ii, 315 Lidgate, 17. 19 Llewellyn ap Sitfylht, 48. 51-2. 181-2 Llyr, 49. 80 Llewellvn ap Gruffyth, 58, 310. 489-90 -. ¦ Jorwerth, 66. 233. 330; 40-90, 405, &c. Le Soor, Peter, 87 Lantrythid, $6. 120. 129. 175 Landaff. ico. 129. ^38 Lantrifent, uo.,154. 386 Lupus, 172 Lancarvan, 1 8 1. 193 Landough juxta Penarth, 307 INDEX. Lantarnam, 226 Lanbradach, 249-50 Lanvabon, 249-50 Llwyny Pia, 287 Llyn VawF, 29.5; 335 Llewellyn, Thomas^ 297 Lanfpyddid, 347-8 Llywel, 351 Lanvihangel Talyllyn, 359 Langors, 360 LI ynfy vaddon, 359-74-94. 438 Langafty, 361 Lanfantfred, 365 Langadock Place, 367 Llan Dair, 370 Langoed Caftle, 393-5. 431 Landevailog, 393.401 Lanvihangel Vechan, 393. 401 Llan Dewi 'r Cwm, 393. 403 Llyvenni, 3^1 -64-7 5- 8 1-94 Lanwrtyd, 406 Lug, 410-27, &c. Lucas, Richard, 423 Llowes, 428 Landilograban, 438 Llyn Lanbychllyn, 438 Llyn Lanillyn, a large pool ^ 45^ Lanvihangel Nant Melon, 45$ Landegles, 458 Landrindod Wells, 461 Lanbadarn Vawr, 462. vol. ii.43. 10& Lanelweth Houfe^ 464 Llwyn y Barried, 466 Llyn Gwyn, 438. 474 Lanvihangel Rhyd Ithon, 460 Lundy, vol.ii. 13 . Long, Mr. Charles, 37. 105 Llyn Tivy, 118. 127 Liiburne, Earl of, 120 Lanavan, 121 Lanrhyftyd, 122. 146. 155 Lloegrians, 184-6-7 Lodbrog, Regner, 193 Llechryd, 209. 226 INDEX. Llwyn Gwair, 225. 331 Lanychair Bridge, 234-6 Laughom, Captain, 340 • , Colonel, 373-3. 406 Lewis, John, efq. 243 Lawhaden Caftle, 259 Lamphey Park, 259. 316. 376. 391 Lantwit Major, 270. chap, xxxviii. paflim- Laud, Archbifliop, 274 Landovery, 305 Lovibond, 312 Landfhipping, 313 Lawreny, 313 Llyn Vathey Cringlas, 139 Llan Dewi Brefi, 134-6 Lanbeder, 134. 141. 146. 469 Loventium, 1^6 Lanvair Clydogan, 141 Landyflul, 144 6-7. 165 Lanwnnen, 146 Lanvaughan, 146 Lanerchaeron Caftle, 154 Lannon, 146. 156 Llan Dewi Aberarth, 146. 151 Lanarth, do. Landyfilio Gogo, do. Langoedmor, 165-7 Llyfnewidd, 153 Llechryd, 153 Lincoln, Battle of, 334 Lewes, do. 336 Long, Dr. Roger, 347 Langhorne, 349 Langaddoc, 396 Landilo Vawr., 398. 439-40-43-46 469 Landovery, 398. 400. 465-69 Llaugharne, 40 5- 6 Landowror, 405. 413 Llan Stephan Caftle and Point, 405-H-15-17-33 Lanelly, 433-6 Langranach, 433-6 Landebie, 439 Londpn, William de, 433-4-5. 493 Llywarch ap TraUerne, 434 INDEX. Lloughor. 477-8-9-40.477.496 Lanfawel, 469 Lower Sketty 477. 489 Langenith, 477 495 Lanmadcc, -,77. 495 Lanndian 480. 497 Lan^onoyd 515 Lalefton, 519-20 Lanmaes, ^4% &c. Landough, 552 Lanblethian, ^2- 4 Lales, 520 M Merlin, vol. i.4. 17.21 3.42.64-7. 71. vol. ii. 23l»2, 247.426 &c. Mordred ic, n. 14, 15. 36 Morgan le Fay, 17. 18 MonK of Malmefbury, 6. 20. 43 Malgo, ^6 Meredith ap Owen, 47, 48. 51. 55. 72. 459. vol. ii. 107, &c. Morgan Mawr, 55 Madoc, 61-2-3 Moftyn, Judge, 90 Merthyr Tydvil, 99. 123. 155, &c. Melin Gruffyth, 1^9 330 Michaelfton le Pit, 181. ^06 Manfel, Family of, 225 Morlais Caftle, 279. 290. 332 Melltau, ^21 33-37-28 30-31-33 Maeflough, 393.4.8 39 Machwy, 407- 2-3 1-37 Middleton, Sir Hugh, A'ol. ii. 8. 13, 13, 14 , Richard, 8 Mackworth, S11 Humphrey, 15, 16, 17, 18 Moms, Mr. Lewis, 17. 10;. 1-23 Mynaeh 2 . 9 . 98. 100-1 ¦Maen, Arthur, 43-96 , j Miltord chap, xxvii. paflim. M mevi, 6. 247-8. 261 Mirehoufe, Mi. 197 377-8. 380 Montgomery, Roger, 308. 219 INDEX. Manernawen, 243 Morgan, Bifhop, 248 Manby, Mr. 250 Morgan the aged, 269 Merton, Bifhop, 281 Merlin's Bridge, 299 Mortimer's Crofs, Battle of, 301. 341 Milford, Lord, 313. 405 Millfield, 134. 141 Mathern, 141 Mabus, 148 Maelgwn, 170. 395.419 Madoc ap Rhyryd, 323 Marfhall, William, 326 9 , Gilbert, 335 Margaret, Queen, 341 Morgan, Sir Charles, 354 Manorbeer, 376.387 Monkfton Head, 405 , Murray, Lord George, 443 Mumbles Point, 489, &c. Morrirton, 499. 500 Melin Court, 5^3-4 Morris, Sir John, 500 Mackworth, Sir Herbert, 504. 5 Margam Park, 515-16-17 Merthyr Mawr, 518 Marcrofs, 529 Mafon, the poet, 510, 80c. N New Bridge, vol.i. 129.253-81-90-96 Newmarch, Barnard, 308-10-38-40-61-62, &c. Neath Vechan, 301-3-20 Neath River, 321. 332 New Radnor, 423. 428. 455 Nantmel,423. 462 Nanteos, vol. ii. 115-18-19 Newport, 199. 228. 230-31. 284. 305 Narberth, 20Q. 202 Niccols, Richard, 217-18 Nevern, 225-9. 3^6 Newcaftle in Emlyn, 233. 306 INDEX. Newgill Bridge and Sands, 281-2 Noltbn Haven, 281-3 New Key, 151-8 Neft, 322-4-5. 434 Nevil, Sir Henry, 343-4 Newton, 401. Caftle, 443, &c. Paik> 466 Nafti, Richard, 485-6 Neath Town, 504-5-6-7-8 O Owen ap Urien, 37-8 Gwineth, 60-1-6-9 Cyfeliog, 62.' 233 Tudor, 03 Owdock, St. 157. 160 Orchard,, Eaft and Weft, 201-3 Offa's Dvke, 419 Old Radnor, 428 55-71. Owen, Sir Hugh, vol ii. 198. 246. 375. 434 Owen, Mr. G. 241 3. 282 Owen, Prince of Glamorgan, 269 Owen ap Caradoc, 429-30 Oyftermouth Caftle, 447 Oxwich Caftle, Point, &c. 447-89-90-91-93 Ogmpre River, 518-19 Penmark, vol. i. P7 Peterftonfuper Ely, 87, 126-9. l15- 399* Porthkerry, 96 Penlline Caftle, 122 Pentyrch, 129. 155 Penarth, 212-1 -19-21, &c. Purcell, family of, 222 Pont Neath Vechan,, 249,-81-90. 320-1-2, &cc. Penpont, 347-9 Pontprenhurft, 347. 365 Powel, Vavafor, 379 Price, Rev. Hugh, 401-2 Paine's Caftle, 418. 453 Prefteign, 422-3-54-67 Penybont, 426-8 Price, Mr. John, 461 INDEX, Piirilirrion, vol. ii. 2. 43-4. 221 Price, Sir Carbery, 14. 16, 17, 18 Pentre Briwnant Inn, 43. 52 Pont Erwidd, 43, 104 Piccadilly, 43. 112 Philips, John, 48. 50 Padarn, Saint, 106-11-15. 122 Penbryn, 109 Pont Rhyd Vendigaed, .118. 124 Pembrokeihire, chap. xxi. to xxx Pembroke, Town and Earldom, chap, xxviii. paflim Phayer, Dr. Thomas, 209, &c. Pont Llechryd, 225 Percily, 252-5-81-84 Picton Bridge, 234 Patrick St. 247-67 Pebydioc, 248 Pab, do. Powel, David, 263 Pelkam Bridge, 28J-4 Pendegraft, 281 8 PidYon Caftle, 312-19-7T. Philips, Catharine, 173 Pwllglas, 146. 160 Portfmouth, Duchefsof, 365 Powel, Colonel, 313-5. 486 Poyer, Jo. do. do. do. PulflaterBay, 376-80 Penbre Hill, 433-6 Pont ar Dulds, 433-g Pool dy Point, 477. 489 Penman, 477. 48g Penrice Caftle, 477. 490 Port Inon Point, 477. 493 Penclawdd, do. do. Penllegare, 50! Pylelnn, 517-18 Q. Quaker's Yard, vol. i. 249. 25* • VOL. 1. K K INDEX. R. Roderique, vol. i. 45. 51-58. 61. vol. ii. 188. 458 Robert ap Sitsylht, 53-7-9- 60. 181, &c. Rywallon, 54-5-6-8 Rhys ap Owen, 51-8 Tudor, 58. 85. vol. ii. 167, &c. Gruffyth, 63-5. 453. 467. vol. ii. 122-5: Rad 1101ft) ire, chap. xiij. xiv. R6mpney River, 81. 147. 219. 221. 224.-250 Rontha, 84. S3 1, &c. &c. Rhys ap Jeftin, 88 Rees, Rev. Lewis, 146 Robert, Duke, 213-15 .Roath, 224 Ruperrah, do. Rhys Vechan 232-3. vol. ii. 459-70-81-2-96 Rees, Dr. John David, 344 Rhayader, 340. 458. 463-4-5-6-7-8 Roger de Mortimer, 405 Rhys ap Meredith, 439. vol. ii. 459 Rydol, vol.ii. 2. 22. 47. 96-7. 100-1-2-4-12-13 Richard, Edward, 123-4 Rofs hundred, 177-8-9-82. 300. 269. 282 Ramfev, 243. 278 Ro-.h Caftle, 281-3 Rice ap Thomas, Sir, 303-4-5-6-13-16-17-18, &c. Rice-, Sir Gruffyth, 318 Rhyd Owen 146-7 Richmond, Earl of, 158, 303. 337-8-58-61-3 Rofcommoii, Earl of, 174-5 Rhydd?-ch ap Tudor, 429 Rhys Pri'chard, 470. 472. Rofilly Bay, 477, &c. Selden, vol. i. 2. 6. 8. 41. vol. ii. 177-80. 245-53. 400-1 Saxons, 3, 4, 5. 7. 10. 12. vol.ii. 186-7-8-90 Scots, 4. 6. 10. 15. 17. vol. ii. 177. 291. 342-72 Spenfer, 13. 19. 22-3-4-6-80. vol. ii. 215-61, &c. Saint Athans, 85. 87. 181. 201. INDEX. Scilly, 87. 181.305 St. Georges, 88, 129, 175 St. John, Oliver, 88 St. Fagans, T29. 163. 311. 325 St. Lytlians, Common, i2g. 164 St. Nicholas, I2g. 1&4 St. Hilary, I2g. 178 St. Mary Church, 181 Sitsylht, Sir James, 182 — - — ; John, "j ¦ Euftace, —Sir Baldwin, ! „ Gerald, f 3 — ¦ — Robert, '. • Thomas, J St. Michael Cwm Du, 365-6-70-2 Sky nog Wood 393.403 Strongbow, vol. ii. 113. 208. 326 Stephen, King, 179-80-2 Scalm, 196 St. Dog-rnacis, igg. 228 31. Priory, 303 St. Bride's Bay, 202. 281-2-3 Sackville, 215- 6 St. David's Head- 243 St. David's, chap, xxv, pafiini Solva, 2^1-2 Stepney, George, 289-go-i Slebitch, 312 Sidney Sir Philip, 347-9 Sir Gawaines Chapel and Head, 376 Stackpole Court, 375-85 St. Clare, 416-T9-81-3 Steele, Sir Richard, 420 Stepney, Sir John 437 Sketty Park, 477-89. Hill 491 Savage, 487 Swanfea, chap., xxxvi. paflim T. Taliefin, vol. i. 37-8-64. 8g. vol. ii. 37. 141 Traherne ap Caradoc, 58-c, Taff, 74. 82. 84. 13. -1 5-48-9-50-3-6. 211, &d. K K 2 INDEX, Tragath, 82. 321-2 Turberville, 88 Talbot, Lord 116 17-18 Teilo. St. 157. 160.251 Twrch, 185 Tydvil 360-1, 306. 334 Treraftle, 304. 317. 347. vol. ii. 473-4 Talyllyn Houfe, 347. 360 Tawy, 352-3. vol, ii. 303 Tretower, 366-70-1 Trevecca. 370 Tredwftan, do. 375 Talgarth, do. do. Traherne Vechan, 453 Tivy. vol ii. 1, 2. i2r. 203-7-26 Thurland, Thomas, 57 Talley, 81, 465-7 Tregaron, 118. 131-4^5. I41-3 Tenby, 303. 392. 407-16 Talbot 30 -\. Sir Gilbert. 345 Towy, 1^5, 143, 398. 405-18-19-43-5-8-9-51-6, &c. Tyfful, 149 Tyfilio, 158 Troedyraur 172 Tave, 397. 40 . 405-13-38 TucKer, Dean, 408-9-12 Traherne ap Ithel, 434 Taliarris Park, 415 Talbot, Thomas Manfel, 491-3 Tawy River, 499, 500 Tythegftorie, 519 Thomas, Rev. William, 514 Typycarau Houfe, 515 U. Uther vol, i, 4, 5, 63. 157. vol. ii. 261-2. 425 Ulk, 1^9, 147. 304^7, &c. throughout Brecknockftviie V. Vortigern, vol. i. 1. 2, 3. vol. ii. 187-90. 437 Vayafor, family of, 263 Vaughan family 0^371. vol. ii. 446 Vaughan, Sir John, vol. ii. 120 INDEX. Vaughan, Bifhop, 255 Bacon of Emlyn, 163 Vefci, Euftace de 338 Valence, William and Aimer de, 336. 347 Vernon, Lord, 509 W. Welih St. Donatt's, vol. i. 113 Wye, 139. 313.352. 361.393.408, &c. vol.ii, 47, &c, Williams, Edward, 16,-. . 195 Wenvoe, 181. 209 White Houfe Bridge. 181. 212 Wilfon, 222. 449. vol. ii. 206 Walwyn, 440 Wynne, Sir John, vol. ii. 10, li, 12 Wreny Vawr, 195 Wyat, Sir Thomas, 212-13-4 Warton, 214-18-23-369 Williams. Archdeacon, 257 Watfon, Bifliop, 277-8 Warwic,., Earl of, .,7. 340. 344 Whitehead, William, 347 Whitland. 4-0, 405, 413 Worm's Head, 406. 477. 494 Wood, Anthony, 470-1 Wern Llhwynwith, 500 Wyndham, Thomas, Efq, M, P. 526 X. Xantus, Prince of Cardigan, vol. ii. 246 I Y, "Yftradowen, vol. 1. 53. 113 Yftradyvodwg, 83, 84, 95, &c. chap. vii. paflim Yftradvelltau, 320, &c. Yalden, vol. ii. 15. 16 Yftwith, 39. 4-5.7,51. 3.5. 8. 9. 6 '-7 95. 154 Yfpitty Kenwyn, 43, 103 . r~ Yftwith., 69, 103 INDEX. Yftrad Fflur Abbey, 97. 126. 129 Yftrad Meiric, 118. 122 Young, 369. 370 Mr. Arthur, 413 Yftrad, Ffin, 419. 465 Ynys y Gerwn, 502 THE END. T. Ben slky, Printer, Bolt Court, Fleet Street,, L ^ndon NEW WORKS PRINTED FOR LONGMAN, HURST, REES, AND ORME, PATERNOSTER ROW. l. A FATHER'S MEMOIRS OF HIS CHILD, By BENJAMIN HEATH MALKIN, Esq. M.A. F.A.S. -In royal 8vo. illustrated with Plates, 10s. 6d. in boards 2. ALMAHIDE and HAMET, a Tragedy in five Acts; to which i§ prefixed a Letter to John Philip Kemble, Esq. on Dramatic Composition. %vBy BENJAMIN HEATH MALKIN, Esq. M.A. F.A.S. Handsomely printed by Bensley. Royal svo. price (is. in boards. 3. SIR JOHN FROISSART'S CHRONICLES of ENGLAND, FRANCE, SPAIN, and the adjoining Countries, from the latter Part of the Reign of Edward II. to the Coronation of Henry IV. 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