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diff --git a/old/51765-0.txt b/old/51765-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index be548dd..0000000 --- a/old/51765-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,10009 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of A Book of North Wales, by Sabine Baring-Gould - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: A Book of North Wales - -Author: Sabine Baring-Gould - -Release Date: April 15, 2016 [EBook #51765] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A BOOK OF NORTH WALES *** - - - - -Produced by Giovanni Fini and The Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was -produced from images generously made available by The -Internet Archive) - - - - - - - - TRANSCRIBER’S NOTE: - -—Obvious print and punctuation errors were corrected. - - - - - A BOOK OF - NORTH WALES - - - - - UNIFORM WITH THIS VOLUME - - - BY S. BARING-GOULD - - A BOOK OF DARTMOOR - - A BOOK OF THE WEST--TWO VOLUMES - VOL. I. DEVON - VOL. II. CORNWALL - - A BOOK OF BRITTANY - - - BY F. J. SNELL - - A BOOK OF EXMOOR - -[Illustration: CONWAY CASTLE] - - - - - A BOOK OF - NORTH WALES - - BY S. BARING-GOULD - - - WITH FORTY-NINE ILLUSTRATIONS - - - METHUEN & CO. - 36 ESSEX STREET W.C. - LONDON - 1903 - - - - -PREFACE - - -CONCERNING the purpose and scope of this little book I have but to -repeat what I have said in the prefaces to my other works of the -same nature--_A Book of the West_, _A Book of Dartmoor_, _A Book -of Brittany_--that it is not intended as a Guide, but merely as an -introduction to North Wales, for the use of intending visitors, that -they may know something of the history of that delightful land they are -about to see. - -Welsh history is a puzzle to most Englishmen; accordingly I have made -an attempt to simplify it sufficiently for the visitor to grasp its -outlines. Without a knowledge of the history of a country in which one -travels more than half its interest is lost. - -I have to return my warmest thanks to kind friends who have helped -me with information, notably the Rev. J. Fisher, B.D., of Cefn, S. -Asaph; Mr. J. E. Griffith, of Bryn Dinas, Bangor; the Rev. E. Evans, -of Llansadwrn; Mr. C. H. Jones, of the Public Library, Welshpool; Mr. -A. Foulkes-Roberts, of Denbigh; Mr. D. R. Daniel, of Four Crosses, -Chwilog; and Mr. R. Williams, of Celynog, Newtown. I am also much -indebted to Mr. R. J. Lloyd Price, of Rhiwlas, for kindly allowing me -to reproduce the portrait of Catherine of Berain in his possession; -and to Mr. Prys-Jones, of Bryn-Tegid, Pontypridd, for sending me a -photograph of the painting. But, indeed, everywhere in Wales I have -met with general kindness and hospitality; and if I have failed to -interest readers in the country and people the fault is all mine. It is -a glorious country, and its people delightful. - - S. BARING-GOULD - - LEW TRENCHARD, N. DEVON - _May 17th, 1903_ - - - - - CONTENTS - - - CHAPTER PAGE - - I. THE WELSH PEOPLE 1 - - II. THE ENGLISH CONQUEST 12 - - III. ANGLESEY 22 - - IV. HOLYHEAD 46 - - V. BANGOR AND CARNARVON 63 - - VI. SNOWDON 90 - - VII. LLEYN 106 - - VIII. CONWAY 125 - - IX. S. ASAPH 145 - - X. DENBIGH 163 - - XI. LLANGOLLEN 183 - - XII. DOLGELLEY 205 - - XIII. HARLECH 231 - - XIV. WELSHPOOL 244 - - XV. NEWTOWN 271 - - XVI. MACHYNLLETH 291 - - - - - ILLUSTRATIONS - - - FULL PAGE - - CONWAY CASTLE _Frontispiece_ - From a photograph by Messrs. F. Frith and Co. - - WELSH WOMEN _To face page_ 8 - From a photograph by Messrs. F. Frith and Co. - - HOLYHEAD AT RHOSCOLYN ” 22 - From a photograph by Messrs. F. Frith and Co. - - SOUTH STACK LIGHT, HOLYHEAD ” 46 - From a photograph by Messrs. F. Frith and Co. - - SOUTH STACK BRIDGE ” 59 - From a photograph by Messrs. Valentine and Sons, Ltd. - - CARNARVON CASTLE ” 74 - From a photograph by Messrs. Valentine and Sons, Ltd. - - NANT BRIDGE, CARNARVON ” 80 - From a photograph by Messrs. Valentine and Sons, Ltd. - - BETHESDA ” 85 - From a photograph by Messrs. F. Frith and Co. - - SNOWDON ” 90 - From a photograph by Messrs. Valentine and Sons, Ltd. - - ABERGLASLYN PASS ” 95 - From a photograph by Messrs. Valentine and Sons, Ltd. - - LLANBERIS ” 99 - From a photograph by Messrs. Valentine and Sons, Ltd. - - BEDDGELERT ” 102 - From a photograph by Messrs. Valentine and Sons, Ltd. - - CAPEL CURIG ” 105 - From a photograph by Messrs. Valentine and Sons, Ltd. - - CONWAY CASTLE ” 125 - From a photograph by Messrs. Valentine and Sons, Ltd. - - PLAS MAWR, EXTERIOR ” 129 - From a photograph by Messrs. F. Frith and Co. - - PLAS MAWR, COURT ” 130 - From a photograph by Messrs. F. Frith and Co. - - CATHERINE OF BERAIN ” 146 - From a painting. - - RUTHIN CASTLE ” 163 - From a photograph by Messrs. Valentine and Sons, Ltd. - - LLANGOLLEN BRIDGE ” 183 - From a photograph by Messrs. Valentine and Sons, Ltd. - - BERWYN ” 184 - From a photograph by Messrs. Valentine and Sons, Ltd. - - BERWYN, FROM CASTELL DINAS BRAN ” 187 - From a photograph by Messrs. F. Frith and Co. - - THE LADIES OF LLANGOLLEN ” 188 - From an old print. - - THE PILLAR OF ELISEG ” 190 - From a photograph by Messrs. Valentine and Sons, Ltd. - - VALE CRUCIS ABBEY ” 191 - From a photograph by Messrs. Valentine and Sons, Ltd. - - VALE CRUCIS ABBEY FROM WITHIN ” 195 - From a photograph by Messrs. Valentine and Sons, Ltd. - - CADER IDRIS ” 205 - From a photograph by Messrs. F. Frith and Co. - - CADER IDRIS ” 206 - From a photograph by Messrs. F. Frith and Co. - - TORRENT WALK, DOLGELLEY ” 208 - From a photograph by Messrs. Valentine and Sons, Ltd. - - NULL, TORRENT WALK ” 209 - From a photograph by Messrs. Valentine and Sons, Ltd. - - CADER IDRIS ” 210 - From a photograph by Messrs. F. Frith and Co. - - PISTYLL-Y-CAIN ” 216 - From a photograph by Messrs. Valentine and Sons, Ltd. - - LYN-Y-GROES, DOLGELLEY ” 224 - From a photograph by Messrs. Valentine and Sons, Ltd. - - HALFWAY HOUSE, DOLGELLEY ” 226 - From a photograph by Messrs. Valentine and Sons, Ltd. - - HARLECH CASTLE ” 231 - From a photograph by Messrs. Valentine and Sons, Ltd. - - CHURCH, MONTGOMERY ” 246 - From a photograph by F. Bligh Bond, Esq., F.R.I.B.A. - - POWIS CASTLE ” 256 - From a photograph by Messrs. Valentine and Sons, Ltd. - - OWEN GLYNDWR’S PARLIAMENT HOUSE, MACHYNLLETH ” 291 - From a photograph by Messrs. Valentine and Sons, Ltd. - - OLD BRIDGE, DINAS MAWDDWY ” 300 - From a photograph by Messrs. F. Frith and Co. - - LLANEGRYN ” 308 - From a photograph by F. Bligh Bond, Esq., F.R.I.B.A. - - - IN THE TEXT - - PAGE - - SERIGI. A STATUE AT CAERGYBI 25 - - S. SEIRIOL. STAINED GLASS, PENMON 31 - - HOLY WELL, PENMON 35 - - BASE OF SHRINE, LLANEILIAN 39 - - CROSS AT LLANBADRIG 41 - - S. CYBI. STATUE, SOUTH DOORWAY, CAERGYBI 53 - - DOORWAY, S. CYBI’S WELL 111 - - BRONWEN’S URN 235 - - TYSSILIO’S RING AT SAINT-SULIAC 264 - - GILDAS. A SIXTEENTH-CENTURY STATUE AT LOCMINÉ 279 - - - - -NORTH WALES - - - - -CHAPTER I - -THE WELSH PEOPLE - - General characteristics--The Iberian race--Linguistic - survivals--Brython and Goidel--Roman conquest--Irish occupation of - Wales--Their expulsion by Cunedda--Saxon occupation of Britain--Causes - of subjection of the Celtic races--The Celt in the Englishman of - to-day--Divisions of Wales. - - -IT cannot be said that the Welsh have any very marked external -characteristics to distinguish them from the English. But there is -certainly among them a greater prevalence of dark hair and eyes, and -they are smaller in build. This is due to the Iberian blood flowing -in the stock which occupied the mountain land from a time before -history began, at least in these isles. It is a stock so enduring, that -although successive waves of conquest and migration have passed over -the land, and there has been an immense infiltration of foreign blood, -yet it asserts itself as one of predominant and indestructible vitality. - -Moreover, although the language is Celtic, that is to say, the -vocabulary is so, yet the grammar reveals the fact that it is an -acquired tongue. It is a comparatively easy matter for a subjugated -people to adopt the language of its masters, so far as to accept the -words they employ, but it is another matter altogether to acquire their -construction of sentences. The primeval population belonged to what is -called the Hamitic stock, represented by ancient Egyptian and modern -Berber. This people at a vastly remote period spread over all Western -Europe, and it forms the subsoil of the French nation at the present -day. - -The constant relations that existed between the Hebrews and the -Egyptians had the effect of carrying into the language of the former a -number of Hamitic words. Moreover, the Sons of Israel were brought into -daily contact with races of the same stock on their confines in Gilead -and Moab, and the consequence is that sundry words of this race are -found in both Hebrew and Welsh. This was noticed by the Welsh scholar -Dr. John Davies, of Mallwyd, who in 1621 drew up a Welsh Grammar, and -it is repeated by Thomas Richards in his _Welsh-English Dictionary_ in -1753. He says: “It hath been observed, that our Language hath not a -great many Marks of the original Simplicity of the Hebrew, but that a -vast Number of Words are found therein, that either exactly agree with, -or may be very naturally derived from, that Mother-language of Mankind.” - -The fact is that these words, common to both, belong radically to -neither, but are borrowed from the tongue of the Hamitic people. - -This original people, which for convenience we will call Iberian, -migrated at some unknown period from Asia, and swept round Europe, -whilst a second branch colonised the Nile basin and Northern Africa, -and a third streamed east and occupied China and Japan. - -The master idea in the religion of this people was the cult of -ancestors, and the rude stone monuments, menhirs, cromlechs, and -kistvaens they have left everywhere, where they have been, all refer to -commemoration of the sacred dead. The obelisk in Egypt is the highly -refined menhir, and the elaborate, ornamented tombs of the Nile valley -are the expression of the same veneration for the dead, and belief -in the after life connected with the tomb, that are revealed in the -construction of the dolmen and kistvaen. - -This same people occupied Ireland. It was a dusky, short-statured race, -with long heads, and was mild and unwarlike in character. - -Then came rushing from the East great hordes of fair-haired, -round-headed men, with blue eyes. Their original homes were perhaps -the Alps, but more probably Siberia. This new race was the Celt. It -was divided into two branches, the Goidels and the Brythons, and the -Goidels came first. Considerable difference as well as affinity exists -between the dialects spoken by each. Where a Brython or Britton would -speak of his head as “pen,” the Goidel or Gael would call it “ceann,” -pronouncing the _c_ hard, as _k_. So “five” in Manx is “queig,” but in -Welsh “pump.” A like difference was found in Italy, where the Roman -would name a man Quinctius (Fifth), but a Samnite would call him -Pontius. - -The Gael is now represented by the Irish, the Manx, and the -Highlander: the Britton, so far as language goes, by the Welsh and -Breton. - -Where such names are found as Penmon in Anglesey, Pentire in Cornwall, -Pen-y-gent in Yorkshire, there we know that the Britton lived long -enough to give names to places. But where we find Kenmare, Kentire, -Kinnoul, there we know that the Gael was at home. - -Now we find it asserted that the Goidels overran Wales before they -swept into Ireland, and that the Brittons penetrated as a wedge into -Powys between two masses of Goidels. - -But the place-names in North and South Wales are purely British, and -not Gaelic. That the latter were at one time in both North and South -Wales is indubitable, but they were not there long enough to stamp the -mountains and rivers, the headlands and lakes, with names in their -tongue. That was done by the Brittons who overflowed the whole of Wales -from north to south. - -Owing to the weakness of Britain, that had been in part Romanised, and -which was ill-defended by a few legions, the island became a prey to -invaders. It was fallen upon from all sides. - -The Irish or Scots, as they were then called, poured down upon the -western coast; the Picts broke over the wall from the north, and the -Scandinavians and Germans invaded the east and north-east. - -In 240 the Irish king Cormac MacAirt invaded Britain and assumed a -nominal sovereignty over it. It was probably about this time that the -Irish Gaels effected a lodgment on the coast of Wales and occupied -Anglesey and all the northern fringe of the fair lands by the sea and -the whole of Southern Wales. - -That they were in the land we know, not only from the testimony of -Welsh ancient writers, but from the number of inscribed stones they -have left behind them, some with the Ogam script, bearing distinctly -Irish names. All these inscribed stones belong to the period after the -occupation from Ireland, and none go back to an earlier date, and give -any grounds for supposing that the original population of North and -South Wales were Gaels. The Scots or Irish held these parts till an -event took place which led to their expulsion. - -The incursions of the Picts had made residence in the land between -the Roman walls, _i.e._ from the Clyde to Solway Firth, altogether -unendurable, and a chief there named Cunedda, with his sons and a great -host of followers, descended on North Wales to wrest it from the Irish. -This they succeeded in doing. Cunedda and his sons were Brittons. After -a series of contests they drove the Irish first out of Gwynedd, and -then out of Anglesey. Finally they turned them bag and baggage out -of South Wales as well. Thenceforth the Gaels never again obtained a -foothold for any length of time in Wales. - -Ceredig, son of Cunedda, gave his name to Ceredigion or Cardigan; -Meirion, grandson of Cunedda, has bequeathed his to Merioneth. - -The contest began between 400 and 450, and the complete sweeping out -of the Gael was not accomplished till the beginning of the following -century. But by this time the invasion of Britain by the Jute, Angle, -and Saxon had begun on a large scale, and as the Teutonic warriors -advanced, burning and slaying, they rolled back the unfortunate -Brittons westward. - -After the whole of Eastern Britain had been taken and occupied, the -line of demarcation between Celt and Teuton ran from the Firth of Forth -along the backbone of the Pennine Range to the Forest of Arden, and -thence to Salisbury and to the sea by Christchurch. But the invaders -pressed on. In 577 the Brittons were defeated at Deorham, near Bath, -and those of Wales were cut off from their brethren in Devon and -Cornwall. In 607 they met with a signal reverse at Chester, and they -thenceforth were separated from the Brittons in Strathclyde. Still the -unsatiated Anglo-Saxons pressed on, and the Brittons finally retained -only the mountains of Wales as their last refuge. Many, indeed, fled -over the sea and occupied and colonised Armorica, to which they gave -the name of Lesser Britain or Brittany. - -The borderland was the scene of bloody skirmishes for centuries. Till -784 Shrewsbury had been accounted the capital of the British kingdom of -Powys, but then Offa took the city and advanced the English frontier to -the Wye. He then constructed a dyke or bank with a moat that ran from -the estuary of the Dee to the mouth of the Wye, as a limit beyond which -no Welshman might pass. - -Mona received an English colony under Egbert, and acquired its new name -of Anglesey. Some time after the battles of Deorham and Chester the -refugees began to call themselves Cymry. - -The name implies “compatriots,” and well describes those of the same -blood from all parts of Britain, now united in a common overthrow, and -in a common resolution to hold for ever their mountain fastnesses to -which they had been driven. - -We may halt to inquire how it was that this great and heroic people, -to which belong some of the finest qualities that are found in man, -a people in some respects more gifted than that which dispossessed -it, should have been so completely routed by invaders from across the -stormy North Sea. The Gaul had been of precisely the same Brythonic -stock, and he had allowed himself to be buffeted by Cæsar and brought -to his knees. Cæsar was sharp-witted enough to detect at a glance -the defects in character and in political organisation of the Gauls, -and to take advantage of them. Cæsar could always reckon on tribal -jealousies, and consequently on setting one clan against another; and -there was not a tribe in which there were not traitors, who, offended -in their self-esteem, were ready to betray those of their own race -and household, to wipe off some petty slight, to avenge some personal -grudge. Precisely the same cause led to the ruin of the Brittons when -opposed to Germanic invaders, and, as we shall see in the sequel, the -same cause again acted throughout the long struggle with the English -kings. - -The divisions in Wales opened the door for Norman and English -adventurers to come in and possess the land, and for the monarch to -obtain an ever-strengthening grip on the land. - -A brother was always ready to go over to the foe to gain some mean -advantage; one sept was ever prepared to side with the national foe if -it thought thereby to humble another sept, or to acquire through this -means a few more cows and a little more pasture. - -When Jute, Angle, or Saxon crossed the North Sea they were in the -same political condition as were the Welsh; they also were tribally -organised. But they quickly learned the lesson never to be taken to -heart and acted on by the Britton, that of subordination of individual -interests to the common good. The English kingdoms became consolidated -into one; the British chieftains remained to the end disunited. - -In feudal France province was opposed to province, in much the same -way, till the strong hand of Richelieu consolidated the monarchy. - -Even in Armorica, Lesser Britain, to which crowds of refugees had -escaped, the lesson was not acquired. Attacked from the east by the -Franks, ravaged along the sea-coast by the Northmen, they could not -combine. The princes turned their swords against each other in the face -of the common foe. - -Alan Barbetorte, godson of Athelstan, had not been fostered in -England without having drunk in that which made England strong. When -he returned to Armorica he succeeded in forcing his countrymen to -combine in a supreme effort to hurl the pirates back into the sea, -and naturally enough succeeded, by so doing, in freeing the land from -them. But after his death all went back into the same condition of -internal jealousies and strife. Throughout the Middle Ages Brittany was -a battlefield, the dukes and counts flying at each other’s throat, some -calling themselves partisans of the English, some of the French, but -all seeking personal aggrandisement only. - -[Illustration: WELSH WOMEN] - -Not till 1490 did peace and unity reign in Brittany, just five years -after Henry Tudor became King of England, and put a stop to the strife -in Wales. The late Mr. Green, in his _The Making of England_, laid -stress on the important part that the Latin Church played in promoting -the unity of the English race. But neither in France nor in Germany, -there least of all, did it serve this end, and it was probably less the -work of the Church that England became one than the peculiar genius of -the Anglo-Saxon race. For a while we see it divided into three great -forces--the Northumbrian, the Mercian, and the West Saxon--contending -for the mastery, but each actuated by the dominating belief that so -only could England thrive and shake off her enemies. - -Mr. Green perhaps overrates the Anglo-Saxon, and thinks that the -Britton disappeared from the soil before him as he advanced. At first, -indeed, those who landed from their German keels proceeded to ruthless -extermination. But as they advanced they ceased to do so; they were not -themselves inclined to till the soil, they were content to spare their -captives on condition that they became their slaves, and they certainly -kept the women for themselves. Gildas, a contemporary, says that “some, -being taken in the mountains, were murdered in great numbers; others, -constrained by famine, yielded themselves up to be enthralled by their -foes; others, again, escaped beyond the seas.” - -The English of to-day are a mixed race, and there is certainly a great -deal more of British and Iberian blood in our veins than some have -supposed. The Anglo-Saxon possessed rare qualities, perseverance, -tenacity, and power of organisation; yet some of the higher qualities -of our race, the searching intellect, the bright imagination, and -idealism, are due to the spark of living fire entering into the -somewhat heavy lump of the Germanic nature through contact with the -Celt. - -Wales was formed into three main divisions--Gwynedd, Powys, and -Deheubarth--but in this volume we have only to do with the two former. -Each had its independent prince, but as according to Welsh custom every -principality was divided up among all the sons of a prince on his -death, this led to endless subdivisions, to fraternal quarrels, and -fratricides. Moreover, the boundaries were incessantly shifting. The -king of Gwynedd was recognised as the Gwledig, or Over-King, and the -supremacy remained in the family of Maelgwn till 817, when it died out -with Cynon Tyndaethwy. His daughter Esyllt married Mervyn Vrych, king -of Powys, who by this means united both portions of North Wales under -his sceptre. - -Rhodri the Great, son and successor of Mervyn, moreover, acquired -South Wales by his marriage with Angharad, daughter of Meurig, king of -Ceredigion. Thus by a series of marriages all Wales was united under -one sovereign and an unrivalled opportunity offered for consolidation, -and sturdy united opposition to encroachment from England. Unhappily -the chance was allowed to slip. On the death of Rhodri, Wales was -divided among his three sons (877): Anarawd obtained Gwynedd, Cadell -became king of Deheubarth, and Mervyn was placed in possession of -Powys. In 1229 Powys was subdivided into Powys Vadog and Powys -Wenwynwyn. In addition to the main divisions there were a number of -small principalities, whose princes were engaged in incessant strife -with one another and with the sovereign who claimed supreme rule -over them. They sided now with the English, then those in Gwynedd -would throw in their lot with the princes of the south. It was these -intestine divisions, never appeased, that exhausted the strength of the -country and made way for the conquest by the English. - - - - -CHAPTER II - -THE ENGLISH CONQUEST - - The contest with the Saxons--William the Conqueror--The Norman - invasion of Wales--The castles--The Welsh kingdoms--Rhodri the - Great--Llewelyn the Great--The last Llewelyn--Edward I.’s treatment of - the Welsh. - - -THROUGHOUT the reigns of the Saxon kings the Welsh had to maintain a -contest, on the one hand with the English, and on the other with the -Danes and Northmen hovering round the coast. - -The Vikings, who carried devastation through England, did not overlook -Wales. Wherever we find camps of a certain description, there we know -that either Saxon or Dane has been. - -These camps consist of earthen tumps or bell-shaped mounds, usually -hollowed out in the middle, and with base-courts attached, protected -by a palisade, and the top of the tump was crowned with a tower-like -structure of timber. - -At times the Welsh were in league with one of the kings of the -Heptarchy against another; at others they were in league with the Danes -against the English, and when not so engaged were fighting one another. - -When William the Conqueror had subjugated England he was determined -not to leave Wales to its independence. - -But the conquest of Wales was not executed by one master mind. Wales -was given over to a number of Norman adventurers to carry out the -conquest in their own way, under no control, with the result that it -was conducted with barbarity, lawlessness, wanton destruction, and -spasmodically. In England, after the battle of Hastings, the Conqueror -set to work to consolidate the kingdom under his sceptre, and blood -ceased to flow. In Wales, in the north, the Earl of Chester and Robert -of Rhuddlan fought and conquered for themselves in Gwynedd. In like -manner the Earl of Shrewsbury raided in Powys from his fortress at -Montgomery. In the south the Earl of Hereford carried sword and fire -into Deheubarth. Frightful cruelties were committed. Ordericus Vitalis, -as he records the glory of “the warlike marquess,” or Lord Marcher, -Robert of Rhuddlan, is forced to admit with honest indignation that his -deeds were such as no Christian warrior ought to commit against his -fellow-Christians. - -Seeing the importance of Shrewsbury, William built a strong castle -there. Chester, Worcester, Hereford, and Gloucester were made into -fortresses, and everything was prepared for advance. - -In the reign of William Rufus, Deganwy, the old residence of the kings -of Gwynedd, above the mouth of the Conway, was seized and fortified, -and the Welsh king had to remove to Aberffraw, in Anglesey. - - “The conquest which now began,” says Mr. Freeman, “that which we call - either the English or Norman conquest of Britain, differed from - the Norman conquest of England. It wrought far less change than the - landing at Ebbfleet; it wrought far more change than the landing at - Pevensey. - - “The Britton of these lands, which in the Red King’s day were still - British, was gradually conquered; he was brought gradually under - English rule and English law, but he was neither exterminated nor - enslaved, nor wholly assimilated. He still abides in his ancient land, - still speaking his ancient tongue. - - “The English or Norman conquest of Wales was not due to a national - migration like the English conquest of Britain, nor was it a conquest - wrought under the guise of an elaborate legal fiction, like the Norman - conquest of England.” - -The process pursued was this. The Norman barons advanced with their -armed men along the shore, and up the basins of the rivers, till they -gained some point of vantage controlling the neighbourhood, and there -they erected castles of stone. This was an art they had acquired in -Normandy, where stone was abundant and easily quarried. It was one -to which the Brittons were strange. By degrees they forced their way -further; they seized the whole sea-board. They strangled the valleys -by gripping them where they opened out; they controlled the fertile -pasture and arable land from their strongholds. Towns sprang up under -the shelter of the castles, and English mechanics and traders were -encouraged to settle in them. - -The Welsh had never been city builders or dwellers in cities. They had -suffered the old Roman towns to fall into decay, the walls to crumble -into shapeless heaps of ruins. They lived in scattered farms, and -every farmer had his _hafod_, or summer residence, as well as his -_hendre_, or winter and principal home. Only the retainers of a prince -dwelt about him in his palace, or _caer_. And now they saw strongly -walled and fortified towns starting up at commanding points on the -roads and beside all harbours. The arteries of traffic, the very pores -of the land, were occupied by foreigners. - -As Freeman further observes:-- - - “Wales is, as everyone knows, pre-eminently the land of castles. - Through those districts with which we are specially concerned, castles - great and small, or the ruins or traces of castles, meet us at every - step. The churches, mostly small and plain, might themselves, with - their fortified towers, almost count as castles. The towns, almost all - of English foundation, were mostly small; they were military colonies - rather than seats of commerce. As Wales had no immemorial cities like - Exeter and Lincoln, so she had no towns which sprung up into greatness - in later times, like Bristol, Norwich, and Coventry. Every memorial of - former days which we see in the British land reminds us of how long - warfare remained the daily business alike of the men in that land and - of the strangers who had made their way into it at the sword’s point.” - -Through the reigns of the Plantagenet kings the oppression and -cruelties to which the Welsh were subjected drove them repeatedly to -reprisals. At times they were successful. - -During the commotions caused by the misrule of King John and the -incapacity of Henry III. the Welsh took occasion to stretch their limbs -and recover some of the lands that had been wrested from them, and to -throw down the castles that were an incubus upon them. - -There were three Welsh kingdoms, or principalities. Gwynedd, roughly -conterminous with the counties of Anglesey, Carnarvon, Merioneth, and -parts of Denbigh and Flint. Powys, sadly shrunken, still comprised -Montgomeryshire and Radnor and a portion of Denbigh. The third -principality, Deheubarth or Dynevor, composed of Pembrokeshire, -Cardiganshire, Carmarthenshire, and Glamorgan. Brecknock was claimed -as part of it, but was an enclave in which the Normans had firmly -established themselves. Monmouthshire also belonged to Deheubarth. - -The king of Gwynedd claimed supremacy as head over the rest, and -although this was allowed as a theory, if practically asserted it -always met with armed resistance. But this was not all that went to -weaken the Welsh opposition. Each prince who left sons carved up his -principality into portions for each, and as the brothers were mutually -jealous and desirous of acquiring each other’s land, this led to -incessant strife and intrigue with the enemy in the heart of each of -the three principalities. A great opportunity had offered. Rhodri the -Great had united all Wales in his own hands, as mentioned already. But -the union lasted only for his life; all flew apart once more at his -death in 877, and that just at the moment when unity was of paramount -importance. - -Llewelyn ab Iorwerth, surnamed “the Great,” was king of Gwynedd at the -beginning of the thirteenth century, and he had sufficient wit to see -that the only salvation for Wales was to be found in its reunion, and -he attempted to achieve this. As Powys was obstructive, he had to fight -Gwenwynwyn its king, then to subject Lleyn and Merioneth. - -In 1202 Llewelyn was firmly established in Gwynedd, and he married -Joan, the daughter of King John, who proceeded to reinstate Gwenwynwyn -in Powys. In 1211 this prince sided with Llewelyn against John, who, -furious at this act of ingratitude, hanged twenty-eight Welsh hostages -at Nottingham. - -Llewelyn now turned his attention to the conquest of South Wales. He -stormed one castle after another, and obtained recognition as prince -of Dynevor. But in 1216 the false and fickle Gwenwynwyn abandoned the -Welsh side and went over to that of the English. After some fighting -Llewelyn submitted to Henry III. at Worcester in 1218. - -His grandson, another Llewelyn, was also an able man, but he lacked -just that essential faculty of being able to detect the changes of the -sky and the signs of the times, and that ruined him. - -In 1256 Llewelyn was engaged in war against the English. He had done -homage to Henry III. in 1247, but the unrest in England caused by the -feeble rule and favouritism of Henry had resulted in the revolt of the -barons. Llewelyn took advantage of this condition of affairs to recover -Deganwy Castle and to subdue Ceredigion. Then he drove the unpatriotic -son of Gwenwynwyn out of Powys. The same year he entered South Wales, -and was everywhere victorious. Brecon was brought under his rule, and -the castles held by the English were taken and burned. But Llewelyn’s -great difficulty lay with his own people, though his power was used for -the recovery of Wales from English domination. - -In 1265 he had received the oaths of fealty throughout Wales, which was -now once more an independent principality. But he made at this point -a fatal mistake. He did not appreciate the strength and determination -of Edward I., the son of the feeble Henry, and in place of making -favourable terms with him he intrigued against him with some revolted -barons. - -But Edward was a man of different metal from his father, and he -declared war against Llewelyn, and in 1277 invaded Wales. - -Three formidable armies poured in, and Llewelyn was driven to -take refuge among the wilds of Snowdon, where he was starved into -submission. All might have gone smoothly thenceforth had Edward been -just. But he was ungenerous and harsh. He suffered his officials -to treat the Welsh with such brutality that their condition became -intolerable. Appeals for redress that were made to him were -contemptuously set aside, and the Welsh princes and people felt that it -would be better to die with honour than to be treated as slaves. - -A general revolt broke out. In 1282 Llewelyn took the castles of Flint, -Rhuddlan, and Hawarden in the north, and Prince Gruffydd rose against -the English in the south. - -Edward I. resolved on completely and irretrievably crushing Wales under -his heel. He entered it with a large army, and again drove Llewelyn -into the fastnesses of Snowdon. Llewelyn thence moved south to join -forces with the Welsh of Dyved, leaving his brother David to hold the -king back in North Wales. - -The place appointed for the junction was near Builth, in Brecknock, but -he was betrayed into a trap and was surrounded and slain, and his head -sent to Edward, who was at Conway. - -Edward ordered that his gallant adversary’s body should be denied a -Christian burial, and forwarded the head to London, where, crowned -in mockery with ivy leaves, it was set in the pillory in Cheapside. -Nor was that all: he succeeded in securing the person of David, had -him tried for high treason, hanged, drawn, and quartered. Llewelyn’s -daughter was forced to assume the veil. Thus ended the line of Cunedda, -and Llewelyn is regarded as the last of the kings of Wales. - -Edward was at Carnarvon when his second son Edward was born, 1301, and -soon after he proclaimed him Prince of Wales. - -It has been fondly supposed that this was a tactful and gracious act of -the king to reconcile the Welsh to the English Crown. It was nothing of -the kind. His object was to assure the Crown lands of Gwynedd to his -son. - - “Edward’s brutal treatment of the remains of Llewelyn, who, though - a rebel according to the laws of the king’s nation, was slain in - honourable war, and his utter want of magnanimity in dealing with - David were long remembered among the Cymry, and helped to keep - alive the hatred with which the Welsh-speaking people for several - generations more regarded the English.”[1] - -The principality of Wales indeed remained, but in a new and alien form, -and all was over for ever with the royal Cymric line. - -PEDIGREE OF THE PRINCES OF GWYNEDD AND OF POWYS - - Rhodri the Great = Angharad - +877 | heiress of Ceredigion - | - GWYNEDD | POWYS DEHEUBARTH - +-------------------------------------+------+------------+ - | | | - Anarawd. +918 Mervyn. +901 Cadell. +907 - | | | - Idwal Voel. +948 Llewelyn Howell Dda. - | | | - +----------+------------+ | +--+ - | | | | | - Iago. +978 Ievan +967 Meurig. +972 Angharad = Owen. +987 - | | | - +----------+ | +-----------+ - | | | | Einion ancestor of - | | | | the kings of Dynevor - | | | | princes ofCardigan - | | | | - Howel Cadwallon Idwal. +995 Meredydd. +998 - | +984 +985 | | - | | | - Cynan. +1003 Iago. +1039 Angharad = Cynvyn - | | ab Gwerystan - | +------+ - | | - Cynan. +1005 Bleddyn. +1072 - | | - +----------------------+ | - | | - Gruffydd. +1137 Meredydd. +1129 - | | - | POWYS VADOG | POWYS WENWYNWYN - Owen Gwynedd. +1169 | - | +-------+-------------+ - +---------+--------------+ | | - | | | | | - Howel. +1171 David. +1204 Iorwerth Madog. +1159 Gruffydd. +1125 - | | | - +------------------------+ Gruffydd. +1191 Owen Cyveiliog. +1197 - | | | - Llewelyn. +1240 Madog. +1236 Gwenwynwyn. +1216 - | | | - +------------+ | | - | | Gruffydd. +1270 Gruffydd. +1274 - David Gruffydd. +1244 | | - | +-----------------+ | - +------------+-------+ | | Owen. +1282 - | | | | | - | | | Madog. +1278 Gruffydd Vychan - Owen Goch Llewelyn David | ancestor of - +1254 +1282 +1283 Gruffydd. +1282 Owen Glyndwr - - - - -CHAPTER III - -ANGLESEY - - The “Mother of Wales”--Agricola--Invades Môn--Mines--Caswallon - Long-hand--Drives out the Irish--Conquest by - Edwin--Aberffraw--Characteristics of Anglesey--Plas - Llanfair--Llandyssilio--Llansadwrn--Inscribed stone of - Sadwrn--Prophecy--Beaumaris--Bulkeley monuments--Penmon--Church of - S. Seiriol--Old gallows--Puffin Isle--Maelgwn Gwynedd--Gildas--Loss - of the _Rothesay Castle_--Tin Sylwy--English and Welsh - inscriptions--Monument of Iestyn--His story--The Three - Leaps--Amlwch--Llaneilian--John Jones--Llanbadrig--The witches of - Llanddona--Goronwy Owen--Lewis Morris. - - -ANGLESEY is called the “Mother of Wales,” apparently because of its -fertility and as supplying the mountain districts of the Principality -with corn. - -It has not the rugged beauty of the greater portion of Wales--there -is, however, some bold coast scenery on the north and the west--but it -possesses one great charm, the magnificent prospects it affords of the -Snowdon chain and group and of the heights of Lleyn. Its Welsh name -is Môn, which was Latinised into Mona, and it did not acquire that of -Anglesey till this was given to it by King Egbert in 828. We first hear -of it in A.D. 78, when the Roman general Cn. Julius Agricola was sent -into Britain. He at once marched against the Ordovices, who occupied -Powys. - -[Illustration: HOLYHEAD, AT RHOSCOLYN] - -As represented by Tacitus, Agricola was a Roman of the purest type, a -man sincere, faithful, and affectionate in his domestic relations, and -gracious in his behaviour to all men. He was upright in his dealings, -a fine soldier, an able general, but inflexible in his dealings with -the enemies of Rome. The ancient Roman was filled with the conviction -that the gods had predestined the City on the Seven Hills to rule all -nations and languages, and that such as resisted were to be treated as -the enemies of the gods. No mercy was to be accorded to them. Much of -the same principle actuated the generals of the Republic and the Empire -as did the followers of the Prophet. With one it was Rome, with the -other Islam, or the sword. - -The Ordovices had been most stubborn in their opposition, and most -difficult to restrain within bounds. In a short but decisive campaign -Agricola so severely chastised them that his biographer says that he -almost literally exterminated them. This is certainly an exaggeration, -but it implies the hewing to pieces of the chiefs and free men capable -of bearing the sword who fell into his hands. Cæsar had treated the -Cadurci, after their gallant stand at Uxellodunum, in the same way, -and again the Veneti of Armorica, without a shadow of compunction. -Whatsoever people opposed Rome was guilty of a capital crime, and must -be dealt with accordingly. Agricola now pushed on to the Menai Straits, -beyond which he could see the undulating land of Mona, the shore lined -with Britons in paint, and brandishing their weapons, whilst behind -them were ranged the Druids and bards inciting them to victory with -their incantations and songs. - -We can determine with some confidence the spot where Agricola stood -contemplating the last stronghold of the Briton and its defenders. It -was at Dinorwic, where now plies a ferry. - -He waited till the strong current of the tide had run to exhaustion and -left a long stretch of sand on the further side. The Britons seeing -that he was without ships feared nothing. - -But they were speedily convinced of their mistake. Agricola’s -auxiliaries, probably natives of the low lands at the mouth of the -Rhine, had no fear of the water, plunged in, and gallantly swam across -the channel. - -A massacre ensued; the island was subjugated, and Roman remains found -on it in several places testify that the conquerors of the world -planted troops there in camp to keep Mona in complete control. They -worked the copper mines near Amlwch. - -[Illustration: SERIGI. A STATUE AT CAERGYBI] - -As the Roman power failed in Britain, Mona became the stronghold of the -invading Gwyddyl or Irish; they held it, and erected on its commanding -heights their stone-walled fortresses, and it was not till the time of -Caswallon Long-hand, grandson of Cunedda, that they were dislodged. -He fought them in a series of battles, drove them from their strong -castles faced with immense slabs of granite, such as Tin Sylwy, swept -them together into Holy Island, then broke in on their last remaining -fortress. According to legend, Caswallon was obliged to fasten his -Britons together with horse-hobbles, to constrain them to fight by -taking away from them the chance of escape by running away. With his -own hand he slew Serigi, the Irish chief, near the entrance to the -camp, and those of the Gwyddyl who did not escape in their boats were -put to the sword. By an odd freak much like ours in glorifying De Wet -and Lucas Meyer, the Welsh agreed to consider their late enemy as a -martyr, and a chapel was erected where he fell, and he is figured, very -shock-headed and bearing the short sword wherewith he was killed, in a -niche of the doorway of the church which now stands in the midst of the -old Gwyddyl fortress. - -Caswallon set up his residence on the hill above Llaneilian, where the -foundations may still be traced--a spot whence in the declining day the -mountains of Wicklow may be seen, the Isle of Man stands out to the -north, and in clear weather Helvellyn may be distinguished on the rim -of the blue sea. - -Edwin, king of Northumbria, conquered both Mona and the Isle of Man in -625. The place of his landing is still pointed out at Lleiniog, near -Beaumaris, and a mound of the Anglo-Saxon type remains to show where -was his first camp. Here also Hugh the Fat, Earl of Chester, was killed -by the arrow of Magnus Barefoot. But of this more presently. Driven -from Deganwy, on the Conway, the kings of Gwynedd made their residence -at Aberffraw, in Mona. Of that palace there are but scanty traces. - -There is something remarkable in the character of Anglesey. The bold -mountains of Wales come to an abrupt fall at the Menai Straits, and -thence the island stretches west in low undulation rising nowhere to -any considerable elevation, and scored across with depressions from -north to south, feeble and imperfect replicas of the Menai Straits. One -is the furrow occupied by the Malldraeth morass and sands, but this -does not cut completely across the island. The other is more thorough; -it severs Holy Island from the main body of Môn, but it is so narrow -that it has been bridged at Penybont and the railway crosses it on a -causeway at Valley. - -Anglesey does not impress the visitor as being so fertile as has been -supposed. There are long stretches of morass and moor strewn with -pools. But perhaps Môn was first called the “Mother of Wales” because -to it, as to a mother’s lap, retreated the Cymry when beaten, wounded, -and sore before their oppressors. If so, it soon ceased to be their -place of refuge, but formed a _point d’appui_ for their enemies, whence -to strike at them from the rear. - -Mona, as already said, does not present us with very striking scenery, -except on the coast, but it teems with interest in other ways. It -is dotted with monuments of the primeval inhabitants--cromlechs and -meini-hirion (the plural of maen-hir). It possesses very well preserved -camps of the Gwyddyl invaders. It was first the sanctuary and school of -the Druids, and after that, of their spiritual successors, the Saints. -The slope of Mona towards the east is well timbered and studded with -mansions, the park of Plas Newydd, the residence of the Marquess of -Anglesey, Plas Llanfair, and the palace of the Bishop of Bangor. This -prelate had his residence near the Cathedral, but this has been sold, -and a lordly mansion has been given to him on the Straits, where he can -turn his back on his Anglesey clergy, and say to the rest, “Between us -and you there is a great gulf fixed.” The beautiful suspension bridge -erected by Telford crosses the Straits at their sweetest spot. Here -the channel is broken by a little island occupied by the graveyard and -church of Llandyssilio. The church is of no architectural interest. It -was founded by Tyssilio, one of the sons of Brochwel Ysgythrog, prince -of Powys, when he ran away from Meifod to escape the blandishment of an -over-affectionate sister-in-law. - -Llansadwrn Church, beautifully situated and carefully restored, -contains the tombstone of its patron saint. This is a small block, -now broken, that was found under the wall of the north transept, and -is now let into the side of the chancel. It bears the inscription: -_Hic Beatu(s) Saturninus Se(pultus I)acit. Et Sua Sa(ncta) Coniux. -P(ax)_. The knight was an Armorican prince, and the brother of S. -Illtyd, founder of Llantwit Major, in Glamorganshire. Sadwrn and his -wife Canna, who was his cousin, left Armorica, owing probably to some -family unpleasantness. After his death she married again, and became -the mother of Elian the Pilgrim, of whom we shall have something to say -presently. In the very interesting church of Beaumaris is a tomb the -sides of which are decorated with delicately carved figures of Anglesey -saints, and among these are two that may be taken to represent Sadwrn -and his wife. He is shown in armour, his sword sheathed, and holding a -pilgrim’s staff in his left hand, whilst giving a benediction with the -right. - -When the tubular bridge for the railway was built it was considered -that a prophecy made by a Welsh bard had been fulfilled, wherein he -spoke of rising from his bed in Mona, of breakfasting in Chester, -of lunching in Ireland, and of returning to sup in Mona. But the -required speed to Ireland has not yet been attained. Another meaning or -interpretation has been put on the words of Robyn Ddu. He was living -at Holyhead when he wrote the lines in question, and there were two -boats by the quay, one from Chester and the other from Dublin, and -he breakfasted with the captain at his table in the first boat, took -his midday meal in the cabin of the second, and returned to his own -quarters to sup and sleep. - -Beaumaris is a sleepy little place, only waking to life when the -bathing season sets in. The castle was erected by Edward I., and took -its name from its situation on the Fair Marsh. It is not a particularly -striking building, and is far gone in ruin. - -The church, however, which is of the same period, and due to Edward -I., is worth a visit. The side aisles contain five two-light Decorated -windows. The chancel is Late Perpendicular, with a very poor east -window containing some fragments of stained glass. The arcade of the -church is Perpendicular. In the vestry are Bulkeley monuments, removed -at the Dissolution from Penmon. From Beaumaris a delightful excursion -may be made to Penmon, which was a great nursery of saints for Gwynedd. -It would be hard to find anywhere a sweeter or sunnier spot. The hills -fold around the little dell in which lies the church, shutting off the -gales from north and east and west, and open only to the south to let -in the sun. - -Unhappily a marble quarry is close by, and is eating into one of the -arms that is wrapped lovingly about the old site, and will in time eat -its way through. - -In the combe, among ancient walnut and chestnut trees and flowering -elder, are some relics of the monastery and its Norman priory church. -The foundation of the cloister may be traced. The church is cruciform, -and is aisleless. The south transept contains rich Norman arcades, -and the arch into this transept is of the same period and of equal -richness. A square font in the nave, covered with interlaced and key -work, is the base of an old Celtic cross. A Norman doorway on the south -side gives admission to the nave. This has knotwork and a monster -biting its tail in the tympanum. The chancel is three steps below the -level of the nave. A fine cross is in the south transept, taken out of -the ruins of the priory, where it had served as lintel to a mediæval -window. - -S. Seiriol, the founder, is represented in stained glass of the -fifteenth century in a window of the south transept, and a bishop, -probably S. Elian, in one of the north transept. Near the church is the -holy well of the saint, gushing forth from under a rock, and filling -what was once the priory fishpond. The well is now in request mainly by -such as desire to know what is in store for them in their love affairs, -by dropping in pins and forming wishes. - -About a mile distant, on a height where the rock comes to the surface, -are four holes--the sockets for a pair of gallows, as the Prior of -Penmon had seigneurial rights, and could hang misdoers. - -Just off the coast is Ynys Seiriol, or Puffin Island, with the tower -and ruins of a church on it. Hither retreated the monks of the first -Celtic monastery to die and to be buried, and the soil is dense with -their bones. The rabbits turn them up when burrowing. Here, according -to tradition, Maelgwn, king of Gwynedd, was buried in 547. He was -son of Caswallon, who drove the Irish out of Anglesey. Maelgwn was -a remarkable man, tall and noble of countenance, and a masterful -prince. He incurred the wrath of the ecclesiastics because he had once -been a monk and had thrown aside the cowl. He was not particularly -scrupulous about the rights of sanctuary claimed by the saints, and he -was imperious in requisitioning meals of them when hunting in their -neighbourhood. - -[Illustration: S. SEIRIOL. STAINED GLASS, PENMON] - -He was, however, large-hearted and liberal, and when Caw, a prince of -Strathclyde, and his sons came helter-skelter into Gwynedd, flying from -the Picts, he generously received them and gave them lands in Anglesey. - -Somewhat later, Gildas the historian, one of the sons of Caw, when -himself safe in Brittany, wrote his venomous letter on the _Destruction -of Britain_, and thus indecently and ungratefully attacked Maelgwn, the -protector of his family:-- - - “Thou island dragon, first in wickedness, exceeding others in power - and in malice, _liberal in giving_, but more prompt in sin, strong in - arms, but stronger in what destroys the soul, why dost thou wallow in - such a black pool of crimes? Why dost thou lade thy neck with such - loads of heavy crimes? Thy conversion once on a time brought as much - joy as now thy accursed reversion to thy disgusting vomit, like a sick - dog, has caused sorrow. Thy ears are not given to listen to sacred - hymns, but to the bawling of a rascally crew howling out lies and - frothing phlegm, bespattering everyone round about.” - -Probably Maelgwn was not a good man, but the family of Gildas owed -every yard of land it possessed to his munificence. By a word only -does Gildas allude to their indebtedness to him; not an indication -appears of loving pity--all is scurrilous abuse of the most insulting -description. He was a sixth-century counterpart of Mr. Cutcliffe Hyne’s -Captain Owen Kettle, a curious combination of narrow religiousness and -foulmouthedness. No wonder that in Brittany his symbol is a snarling -cur. And the meanness of the man is conspicuous throughout. So long as -his own skin was safe from the lash it deserved, he gave no thought to -his kinsmen living under the protection of Maelgwn and other princes -against whom he inveighed--with what unpleasant consequences to them we -shall see presently. - -At Ruys, in the Morbihan, is a very beautiful marble statue of him, set -up by his tomb a few years ago. It represents a young monk with angelic -face, and a mouth in which butter would not melt. It is too funny for -words to look at that idealised portrait and read the _Destruction of -Britain_. - -And now the bones of Maelgwn lie in Ynys Seiriol. In 1897 some -excavations were made on the island by Mr. Harold Hughes, who says:-- - - “On removing the debris of centuries”--near the ruined church--“with - the aid of pick and shovel we have succeeded in making a considerable - clearing immediately to the east of the structure. We discovered at - about four feet from the surface an ancient tomb. Beneath the rough - clay, worn slabs, and covered with shingle from the shore, lay within - a narrow inclosure, with feet to the east, the skeleton of a man. - Although portions of the skeleton had crumbled away, many fragments - remained, and these, after much difficulty, I pieced together.” - -Was this, one may ask, the tomb of the famous Maelgwn Gwynedd? - -From the island a reef runs into the sea, called the Causeway of -Seiriol, and it is supposed that it was constructed by the saint as -a means of communication with Penmaen Mawr. It disappears under the -Dutchman’s Bank, a sandy stretch that obstructs the entrance to the -Menai Straits. Hereon, in 1831, the _Rothesay Castle_ was cast, when a -hundred lives were lost. Miss Martineau, in her _History of the Thirty -Years’ Peace_, tells a striking story of this wreck:-- - - “Two men, strangers to each other, found themselves holding on to the - same plank, which, it soon appeared, would support only one. Each - desired the other to hold on, the one because his companion was old, - the other because his companion was young, and they quitted their - grasp at the same moment. By extraordinary accidents both were saved, - each without the knowledge of the other, and they met on the shore in - great surprise. Few greetings in the course of human life can be so - sweet and moving as must have been that of these two heroes.” - -The country for some distance west of Penmon is commanded by Tin Sylwy -or Bwrdd Arthur as it is also called. It rises 500 feet above the -sea and is crowned by a fortification. The wall is of stone unset in -mortar, faced within and without with slabs set on end, and within the -area are faint traces of _cytiau_ or circular huts of stone, such as -are traditionally attributed to the Irish. Some excavations have been -made here, but not on an extensive scale, and Roman coins and Samian -ware have been found; but the extant walling assuredly belongs to -the Gwyddyl invasion and occupation. Below the camp, between it and -the church of Llanfihangel, is a holy well. In the graveyard may be -noticed a token of a change of feeling towards the Welsh tongue. To the -date 1860, or thereabouts, the inscriptions on the tombstones are in -English, after that date in Welsh. - -There is nothing in the church of Llaniestyn but the very curious -carved slab with a full-length figure of the saint who founded the -church. One very similar and of the same period, the reign of Edward -III., is in Llanbabo Church. Iestyn was a son of Geraint, the heroic -king of Devon and Cornwall, who fell at Langport, in Somersetshire, -fighting against invaders, about the year 522. Iestyn was buried here. -He seems to have travelled, and it is probably of him that a pretty -story is told. - -[Illustration: HOLY WELL, PENMON] - -He had gone to Brittany, and had found a deserted habitation at -Plestin, of which he took possession. The hut had been constructed -by an Irish settler named Efflam, who had departed on a pilgrimage. -On his return Efflam found his cell in the occupation of a stranger. -The question arose as to which should have it. This they decided to -determine in the following manner. Both seated themselves in the cabin. -The day was overcast, but the clouds were breaking, and the sun was -nearing its setting. He on whom it first shone should retain the hovel. -Presently the clouds parted, and a golden ray shot in through the -little window and blazed on Efflam’s upturned face. Then Iestyn rose, -bowed, and withdrew, and ended his days in Mona. It is by an artist’s -licence that on the monument Iestyn is represented wearing a crown. He -was, indeed, a king’s son, but he never bore the royal circlet. - -The somewhat similar monument is at Llanbabo, in the north-west of -the island. Pabo, after long and stubborn fighting against the Picts -in North Britain, was driven to take refuge in Wales, and was kindly -received by the prince of Powys. He bears the title of “The Pillar of -Britain.” - -On the north coast is Pentraeth, at the head of Red Wharf Bay, and here -may be seen the Three Leaps, by which hangs a tale. - -Einion, son of Gwalchmai, was lord of Trefeilir. Now there was a -young lady named Angharad, daughter of Ednyfed Fychan, who was so -beautiful, and was an heiress of so much, that she had many suitors. -As she professed herself unable to decide among such an _embarras de -richesses_ of nice young men, her father proposed that she should -marry the youth who could jump the furthest. She agreed. When the -suitors came to try their powers, Einion surpassed the rest, for with -a hop, skip, and a jump he covered fifty feet. The hop, skip, and jump -are marked by three stones, which remain to this day in the dingle of -Plas Gwyn. So Einion became the husband of Angharad. - -His happiness was of short duration, for he was summoned by Owen -Gwynedd to assist in driving the Flemings out of South Wales, who had -been settled there by Henry I. This was in 1137. Einion was away for a -good many years, constantly engaged in fighting, and when he did return -to Trefeilir he found that on that day his wife had given her hand to -another suitor, supposing that Einion was dead. Einion remained without -and sent a servant within to summon her to come forth, and then, -striking his harp, he sang a lay of reproach that has been preserved. -Then he entered the house and ejected the gentleman who had presumed to -invade his premises. - -The Parys Mountain rises to the height of 420 feet, and is pretty -completely honeycombed with mines, as it is an almost solid lump of -copper. It has been worked continually since the times of the Romans, -and had probably been quarried at in the Bronze Age before that. - -The little town of Amlwch is dominated by this mountain. It consists of -two parts, the town proper and the port, and a considerable manufacture -of chemical manures is carried on in it. Altogether Amlwch is in itself -not a particularly attractive place. It has many spots of interest -about it, and from it can be reached Bull Bay, where there are good -sands, and the place is growing in favour. To the east the adjoining -parish is Llaneilian, that possesses a quaint and interesting church, -which, however, has suffered cruelly from unintelligent “restoration.” -Like the majority of Welsh village churches, it has no side aisles; it -is a cross church, with battlements and a western tower, covered from -top to bottom in a panoply of slates. At the “restoration” the old oak -seats were cast forth to make room for deal benches in preference, and -the fine rood-screen with its loft had all the dainty tracery stripped -from its panels and openings and destroyed, so that now it is a mere -skeleton. - -There is a curious little chapel at the south-east end of the church, -differently orientated, and with a covered passage to it from the -chancel. - -This chapel has a well-preserved and good carved oak roof, which the -present rector has saved from destruction by damp. Here is the base of -the shrine of S. Elian. It is of wood, and the panels were formerly -carved, but the tracery is gone. Into this people crawled, and if they -succeeded in turning themselves about within, believed that they would -get cured of any disease they might have, or, according to another -version, would have their lives extended by five years. - -A painting of S. Elian by an Italian artist of the seventeenth -century is kept in the church, but it is devoid of merit and is in -bad preservation. There is also a pair of wooden _gefail gwn_, or -dog-tongs, bearing the date 1748. - -Above Llaneilian rises the hill on which was Caswallon’s _llys_, or -court. The story goes that Caswallon promised to Elian as much land -as a stag he was hunting could run round in the day, and the deer’s -spring, a leap over a rent in the rocks, is shown to this day, but it -is not any longer in the parish of the saint. - -[Illustration: BASE OF SHRINE, LLANEILIAN] - -A late rector of Llaneilian, John Jones, who died in 1870, and had -been curate of the parish for twenty years and after that rector for -thirty-three, kept his harper and also a pack of hounds. - -To the west of Amlwch, in a bold situation, is Llanbadrig. The church -was founded, not by the Apostle of the Irish, but by a namesake who -lived later and was a member of S. Cybi’s monastery at Holyhead. -According to legend, when he was on his way back from Iona, where he -had visited S. Columba, his frail boat was wrecked on Ynys Badrig, or -the Middle Mouse, an islet off the coast. Patrick succeeded in making -his way to the land, drank of a fountain near the shore, and scrambled -up the rock, in which the marks of his feet are still to be seen, to -where is the church which he planted on the edge of the precipice in -commemoration of his providential escape. - -Within the church is a very rude cross that may well date from the -time of S. Patrick. The niche at the east end of the chancel that now -contains a representation of “Salvator Mundi” has twisted serpents on -the pedestal, and formerly contained a figure of the patron saint, who -was confounded with the Apostle of Ireland. - -The parish of Llanddona is in evil repute, as a nest of witches. The -story goes that a boat came ashore in Red Wharf Bay without rudder or -oars, containing women and men in a condition of great destitution. -They were Irish. Now it was a common custom in Ireland to punish -malefactors by putting them in a wicker-work coracle, covered by a -single hide, without allowing them oars or rudder. So when S. Patrick -converted Maughold, the robber, he bade him drift oarless on the sea, -his feet chained together. He was swept by the winds and waves to the -Isle of Man, and eventually became bishop there. Now when the good -people of Llanddona saw this boat come ashore thus unprovided with -the necessary apparatus for its guidance, they concluded that those -on board were criminals, and would have nothing to do with them. They -would have sent them adrift again had not a spring of clear water burst -forth on the sands where the coracle had come ashore. The spring still -flows. This was decisive as a token that Heaven accepted the punishment -of the crew, and desired them to rest where they had landed. - -[Illustration: CROSS AT LLANBADRIG] - -So these strangers remained, and were suffered to build cottages, but -for generations they continued apart from the Welsh inhabitants, and -they maintained their evil propensities. The men lived by smuggling, -and the women supported themselves by the exercise of witchcraft. It -was not possible to overcome the smugglers in a fray, for they carried -about with them a black fly tied in a knot of their kerchief, and the -moment that the knot was undone the fly flew at the eyes of their -opponents and blinded them. The women, old and young, were dreaded for -the power they possessed of cursing those who refused them whatsoever -they asked--a fowl, a loaf of bread, eggs, part of a pig. If this were -denied them, they would imprecate the most awful curses, of which here -is one:-- - - “May he wander for ages - And find at each step a stile, - And at every stile find a fall, - And at every fall a broken bone; - Not the largest, nor the least bone, - But the chief neck bone, each time.” - -If the Llanddona witches attended a market, and bid for anything, -no one ventured to bid against them. But are not most Welsh girls -witches?--witches, however, that win and do not revolt like those of -Llanddona. - -On the further side of Red Wharf Bay, where, by the way, there is an -hotel, and where lodgings may be had, is Llanfair Mathafarn Eithaf. -There are three parishes of the name of Llanfair in the island. -Llanfair means the Llan or Church of S. Mary, the _M_ in combination -becoming _f_, as Llanfihangel signifies the Church of Mi[chael] the -Angel. - -This Llanfair Mathafarn was the birthplace of Goronwy Owen, the poet. -He was born in 1722 of extremely poor parents, went to Oxford through -help of Edward Wynne, of Bodewryd. Subsequently Mr. Wynne despatched -him to Jesus College, Oxford, and maintained him there. From an early -age he gave indications of poetic genius, and he proved himself to be a -ripe scholar in the classic tongues. - -He was ordained in 1745, and his great ambition was to obtain a Welsh -curacy and settle down in it. Lewis Morris did his best for him, but -all he could get was a temporary appointment to his native parish -Llanfair, where the curacy chanced to be vacant. But he had been there -only three weeks when he received notice from the Bishop of Bangor that -he must turn out to make way for a young clergyman of large independent -fortune; so Goronwy was obliged to depart. He sought curacies in Wales, -but could get no bishop to touch him with the ends of his fingers, -as he had no connections and no fortune. That he was deeply pious, -earnest, a scholar, an eloquent Welsh preacher, and a poet of singular -merit counted as nothing. Unhappily, though Goronwy was a genius, he -was given to drink, and could never remain long anywhere. At length -he obtained a curacy at Oswestry, and there he married. From Oswestry -he was removed to Donnington, in Shropshire, where his rector was a -Scotchman and an absentee, but being a Douglas, rich and with the means -of pushing himself, having neglected his duties as parish priest, he -managed to get himself nominated and consecrated Bishop of Salisbury. -Lewis Morris did his best to save the poet from his unfortunate vice, -but failed. - -At Donnington poor Goronwy Owen not only acted as curate to the great -absentee rector, but also as master of the grammar school, and received -twenty-six pounds as his stipend. Thence he shifted, first into -Cheshire and then to Northolt, near London. In 1756 he was living in a -garret in town vainly soliciting employment in his sacred calling, and -undergoing with his family the utmost privations. His Welsh accent in -English stood in his way, and his brilliant Welsh qualifications were -not wanted in Wales. But, indeed, poor Goronwy, with all his gifts, was -not the man to do much spiritual work. - -At length Lewis Morris obtained for Goronwy Owen the mastership of a -Government school at Williamsburg, in Virginia. Thither he went, and -there he died about the year 1770. - -As Lewis Morris has been mentioned in connection with poor Goronwy -Owen, a few words must be devoted to him. - - “Lewis Morris,” says George Borrow, “was born at a place called Trev - y Beirdd, in Anglesey, in the year 1700. Anglesey, or Mona, has given - birth to many illustrious men, but few, upon the whole, entitled to - more honourable mention than himself. From a humble situation in life, - for he served an apprenticeship to a cooper at Holyhead, he raised - himself by his industry and talents to affluence and distinction, - became a landed proprietor in the county of Cardigan, and inspector - of the royal domains and mines in Wales. Perhaps a man more generally - accomplished never existed; he was a first-rate mechanic, an expert - navigator, a great musician, both in theory and practice, and a poet - of singular excellence. Of him it was said, and with truth, that he - could build a ship and sail it, frame a harp and make it speak, write - an ode and set it to music. Though self-taught, he was confessedly the - best Welsh scholar of his age, and was well versed in those cognate - dialects of the Welsh--the Cornish, Armoric, Highland Gaelic, and - Irish.... It was he who first told his countrymen that there was a - youth in Anglesey whose genius, if properly encouraged, promised fair - to rival that of Milton; one of the most eloquent letters ever written - is one by him, in which he discants upon the beauties of certain poems - of Goronwy Owen, the latent genius of whose boyhood he had observed, - whom he had clothed, educated, and assisted up to the period when he - was ordained a minister of the Church, and whom he finally rescued - from a state bordering on starvation in London, procuring for him an - honourable appointment in the New World.” - -Lewis Morris made a collection of Welsh MSS., consisting of about -eighty volumes, which are now in the British Museum. He died in 1765 -and was buried at Llanbadarn Vawr, in Cardiganshire. - - - - -CHAPTER IV - -HOLYHEAD - - The Menai Straits to Holyhead--Llangadwaladr--The story of - Cadwallon--Cadwaladr--Plague in 664--Ruskin on Holyhead--The - old caer--Chapel of the Irishman--Story of S. Cybi--The menhir - of Clorach--Cybi and Elian--Church of Caergybi--Chapel of - Llochwyd--Holy well--Chapel of S. Brigid--Breakwater--The - South Stack--Sea-birds--Their eggs--Cytiau’r Gwyddelod--Old - villages--Camp--Construction of the huts--A conservative people that - votes Liberal. - - -THE line from Bangor to Holyhead, after crossing the Menai Straits, -runs through country that does not impress the traveller with an -opinion that it is fertile or beautiful. The land is for the most part -flat, or slightly undulating; there are no trees, much waste land, no -mountains--only hills, and these away to the north. The surface of the -island is speckled with little white houses with whitewashed roofs, as -though a giant’s wedding had taken place there, and it was sprinkled -over with the rice cast at the bride. - -[Illustration: SOUTH STACK LIGHT, HOLYHEAD] - -The line traverses the Malldraeth Marsh, and beyond Bodorgan station -skirts Llyn Coron, a tarn with no picturesque surroundings, through -which trickles the River Ffraw, that flows to the Aber, where once -stood the residence, probably of timber, of the kings of Gwynedd. - -Near the Llyn is Llangadwaladr, that takes its name from the last -British prince who bore the title of King of All Britain. He was the -son of Cadwallon ab Cadfan, and in the church is preserved the stone -that bears the sententious inscription to inform the world that King -Cadfan was “the wisest, the most renowned of all kings.” - -The screen at Llaneilian has been already spoken of. It was delivered -over to a joiner, who restored it by daubing over the paintings that -decorated it, by hacking away the tracery that enriched it. Critics -treat history in much the same fashion. They efface all the warm -colouring that fancy has laid on, and eliminate all the detail which -adorns it, leaving us but the naked scaffolding of fact. - -If we deal in this way with the story of Cadfan and his grandson -Cadwaladr, we arrive at very meagre and uninteresting outlines. We -will therefore take the story much as we find it. Ethelfrid was king -of Northumbria, and he sent away his wife, probably a British woman, -and she took refuge with King Cadfan in Môn. There, shortly after her -arrival at the court of Cadfan, the discarded queen became a mother, -and bore a son to whom she gave the name of Edwin. About the same time -the queen of Gwynedd bore one also, who was named Cadwallon. - -The two boys were sent to be fostered in Brittany to King Solomon -(there happened to be no king there of that name till two centuries -later, but we will not be hypercritical). - -In due course, when they were grown to man’s estate, the youths -returned to Mona, and remained either there or at Deganwy till Cadfan -died. Then Cadwallon assumed the crown of Gwynedd and the title of -King of All Britain. Edwin went to Northumbria, where he was chosen -king, and first of all the invading Angles and Saxons adopted a circlet -of gold as symbol of sovereignty. Now one day Cadwallon was with his -nephew Brian by the River Dulas when, overcome with the heat of the -day, he laid himself down to sleep, with his head on Brian’s lap. - -As he slept, Brian’s mind turned to the wrongs and sorrows that his -countrymen had endured at the hands of the Teutonic invaders, and his -tears ran down, and fell on Cadwallon’s face. The king was disturbed -in his sleep by the falling drops, and, half asleep and half awake, he -said, “It rains! It rains!” - -Then he opened his eyes and saw that the sky above was blue as a -corn-flower, and he remarked, “It is strange. There has been a shower, -and the sun is shining. But where is the rainbow?” - -Then Brian said, “Uncle, on the head of Edwin.” Cadwallon looked in his -nephew’s face and saw that his eye-lashes were heavy with tears, and he -asked the reason. - -Thereupon Brian told him all that was in his heart, and Cadwallon rose -up and vowed that he would make a desperate effort to recover the land -for the British people. - -So he made war on Edwin, but met with defeat after defeat, and was -finally obliged to escape into Ireland. - -There he resolved on seeking the assistance of the Armoricans, so he -took ship and sailed for Brittany, but encountered a storm and was -wrecked on an island, probably Ouessant, and all on board were lost -save only Cadwallon and Brian. - -Through distress at the death of his followers, and dearth of food, the -king fell into a fit of profound dejection. - -Brian was troubled for his uncle, whose heart seemed to be broken. He -went about the island seeking for food, but could find naught. The -sea-fowl had been disturbed by the gale, and the season was not that -for eggs. He endeavoured to collect shell-fish, but the waters still -boiled and tumbled on the rocks, and he could obtain none. Then he -cut a slice from his own thigh, lighted a fire, roasted the flesh, -and brought it to the king, and said that it was venison. Cadwallon, -believing this, ate, and his spirit revived within him, and he -determined on making an effort to reach the mainland. The wind fell, -and he and Brian were able to get their battered ship afloat, and in it -they were wafted over to the coast of Brittany. They went before King -Solomon, who received them kindly and promised his aid. - -So it was resolved that Cadwallon should return to Wales with a -thousand men of Armorica, and that Brian should make his way in -disguise to the court of Edwin and spy out how matters stood there. - -Brian landed at Southampton, and assuming the rags of a beggar, but -armed with a spiked staff, made his way to York, where was King Edwin. -Brian, in a mendicant’s garb, went to the palace and stood outside -among the beggars who waited daily for alms. As he thus stood his -sister came forth. She had been taken captive, and had been placed -in the household of the queen. She bore a pitcher, and was on her -way to the well to fetch water when Brian addressed her in a whining -tone. Nevertheless, she at once recognised him, and they carried on -a conversation together with caution, lest he should be discovered. -What he particularly desired was that a certain counsellor of Edwin -should be pointed out to him by whose advice the king was principally -governed, and whom the Britons regarded as a specially dangerous -adversary. - -Brian’s sister did so as the man issued from the door with alms for -the beggars. Thereupon Brian pressed through the crowd, and, raising -his staff, struck him in the breast and transfixed him there. Then he -stepped back and disappeared among the beggars. - -Brian now fled to Exeter, where he roused the Western Britons, and they -held the city. - -Meanwhile Cadwallon had arrived, and through Brian entered into a -league with Penda, king of the Mercians, against Edwin. Both forces -marched into Northumbria, and a battle was fought at a place called -Heathfield, and Edwin was slain and his Northern Angles routed. - -Then, for a while, Cadwallon reigned over all the British peoples in -Wales, Strathclyde, and Devon and Cornwall. - -He was succeeded by his son Cadwaladr, whose mother was a sister of -Penda the Mercian. He was a good and peace-loving prince, not made of -the same stuff as his father, and although he gained some victories his -reign was marked by loss of ground on all sides. - -He wore the crown for twelve years. In 664 a terrible plague broke out -which spread desolation over Britain and Ireland, and in the latter -swept away two-thirds of the inhabitants. Cadwaladr was one of the -victims, and was buried in the church that bears his name by Llyn -Coron. The church has an east window to the chancel of a flamboyant -character, with some old stained glass in it representing the -Crucifixion and saints. - -The line to Holyhead passes a cluster of lakes of not much beauty--that -of Llyn Penllyn has a little island in it--then it crosses a causeway -into Holy Isle, and draws up at the terminus of Holyhead, under Pen -Caergybi, the highest elevation in Anglesey. - -Ruskin says:-- - - “Just on the other side of the Mersey you have your Snowdon and your - Menai Straits, and that mighty granite rock beyond the moors of - Anglesey, splendid in its heathery crest, and foot planted in the deep - sea, once thought of as sacred--a divine promontory, looking westward, - the Holy Head or Headland, still not without awe when its red light - glares first through the gloom.” - -The cliff scenery here is of the finest quality, and Holyhead well -merits a prolonged visit, what with the stimulating air rushing through -one’s lungs charged with sparkles, the look-out on the green sea -flecked with foam and skimmed by gulls as flakes of froth that have -been detached from the waves and become alive, the plunging water on -the beach, the purple folds of the hills, and the abrupt cliffs, their -feet ever bitten into and worried by the angry waves. - -The town is as busy as Beaumaris is inert. It lives on the Irish trade, -whereas Beaumaris picks up subsistence during a few short months only -from bathers. - -The one object of antiquarian interest in the town is the church, -planted in the midst of an old _caer_, or fortress, the walls of which -still stand in places 16 feet high, and are over 6 feet thick. The -enclosure is quadrangular, and measures 220 feet by 130 feet. To what -period the walls belong is hard to determine. They are constructed of -unshaped blocks of granite rounded by the action of wind and rain, -and are set in mortar made of sea-shells. In places they are arranged -herring-bone fashion. The construction is too uncouth to be Roman, and -the round towers at the angles are not Irish. It is certainly prior -to the English conquest. A Norman builder would have disdained to put -forth such work, and it is probably a unique specimen of a _caer_ of -late British erection. The two entrances are much more modern. This -fortress was held by the Gwyddyl against Caswallon Long-hand. Then the -walls were of stones set up without mortar, and probably faced with -huge granite slabs. Caswallon forced his way in, and slew the Irish -king Serigi with his own hand, where now stands Llan-y-Gwyddel in the -churchyard. - -The chapel had a chancel, which has been pulled down, and it was -converted into a grammar school in 1748, but is now disused. After the -expulsion of the Irish the enclosure became a royal _caer_, and was -occasionally occupied by Maelgwn Gwynedd, who made it over to S. Cybi. - -[Illustration: S. CYBI. STATUE, SOUTH DOORWAY, CAERGYBI] - -The story of the saint is as follows. Cybi was the son of Solomon, -king of Cornwall, and Gwen, the aunt of S. David. He was born between -the Lynher and Tamar at Callington, and was sent to school when aged -seven. Till he was twenty-seven years old Cybi remained in Cornwall, -and then he started on his travels on the Continent. There he made -the acquaintance of S. Elian the Pilgrim, and a friendship was formed -that was to last through life, though little did both suppose at the -time that they would be neighbours in their old age. From his travels -Cybi returned to Cornwall, where he became involved in a political -disturbance. - -His father had died whilst he was away, and his uncle Cataw, or -Cado, had assumed the rule, but he was succeeded by the turbulent -Constantine. The arrival in Cornwall of Cybi gave occasion to an -insurrection, and an attempt was made to displace Constantine, and -elevate Cybi to the throne. It failed, and Cybi was obliged to fly for -his life. He took with him a party of attached disciples and his uncle -Cyngar. After a brief stay in Glamorgan he crossed into Ireland, and -visited S. Enda in Aran, and remained with him for four years. - -Cyngar was so decrepit with age that he could eat no solid food, and -Cybi bought a cow with its calf to supply the old uncle with milk. This -led to ructions. The calf strayed into the meadow of a monk of the name -of Fintan, who impounded it. The consequence was angry altercation and -so much unpleasantness that Cybi had to leave. He crossed to Ireland, -took boat in Dublin Bay, and landed in Lleyn, the rocky promontory of -Carnarvon, where his wicker-work coracle got on a reef that tore the -leather covering. However, all reached the shore in safety, and Cybi -founded a church where is now Llangybi, near Pwllheli. - -Maelgwn, king of Gwynedd, was hunting in Lleyn one day, when a goat he -was following fled for refuge to Cybi’s cell, and this led to the king -meeting the saint. He was so impressed with his goodness and dignity -that he made him a present of the _caer_ at Holyhead, and to this day -the Welsh name for the town is Caergybi. - -Shortly after this “Magna et verbosa epistola venit e Capreis,” the -violent tirade of Gildas was launched at the heads of the British -princes. Now one of the companions of Cybi was Caffo, a brother of -Gildas. Maelgwn insisted on his dismissal, and Cybi reluctantly obeyed. -Caffo left and got as far as Rhosyr, now Newborough, in Anglesey, when -some shepherds of Maelgwn’s queen, incensed at the indignity put on -their master, fell on him and killed him. The church of Llangaffo marks -the site of the murder. This took place about 545, and Maelgwn died of -the yellow plague in 547. Cybi survived him to about 554. - -There is a menhir at Clorach, near Llanerchymedd, with a curious hunch -on it, popularly called “Tyfrydog’s Thief.” The story goes that a thief -got into the church of Llandyfrydog and stole the Bible, put his spoil -on his back, and ran away, but was turned to stone with the Bible he -had carried off. - -Not far from this prehistoric monument were two wells called after -S. Cybi and S. Seiriol. Here they were wont to meet at midday, Cybi -walking from the west and Seiriol from the east. - -Cybi would start in early morning along the old Roman road, and he -had the sun in his face all the way, and in like manner Seiriol had -it behind him. They met at noon, and lunched together and drank from -their respective wells. Then Cybi turned west to retrace his steps, so -also did Seiriol; and consequently Cybi had the evening sun blazing on -his face for his homeward walk, and Seiriol was still in dusk, with his -shadow running before him. The result was that Cybi was tanned, whereas -Seiriol remained fair, and the former on this account obtained the name -of Cybi the Tawny and his comrade from Penmon that of Seiriol the Fair. - -Matthew Arnold wrote a poem on the meeting at Clorach, but not knowing -the place, and not knowing the directions taken, missed the point of -the story. - -The church of Caergybi is fine. The chancel is Early English, with -a Decorated east window. There was intended to have been a central -tower, and the church was a cross church originally. The tower was -never completed. The porch and side aisle are rich Perpendicular, -and there is some quaint carving outside the south transept; and the -south doorway within the porch is peculiarly rich, though the figure -sculpture is poor. Over the door in a niche is the Trinity, popularly -mistaken for a representation of Maelgwn Gwynedd. A south chapel, -in excellent taste, from the designs of Mr. Harold Hughes, has been -erected, with niches containing statuettes of Cybi and Seiriol. It -contains a recumbent figure of the Hon. William Owen Stanley, good, but -wrongly placed. - -The nave has internally on each side an arcade of three Tudor arches. -On the north, the piers are octagonal; on the south, clustered of -four shafts, with general capitals. The arrangement of the transepts -is clumsy, like other Welsh examples, running from north to south, -uninterrupted by arches, and giving the effect of one church set at -right angles to another. - -Capel y Llochwyd is on the mountain. Bishop Stanley, in 1830, thus -describes it:-- - - “A singular fissure, cleaved in a direct line from the summit to the - base, forms, or rather did form, a passage of communication of no - small celebrity in ancient days, and retaining its odour of sanctity - till very recent date. It is known by the name of Ogof Lochwyd, - _ogof_ signifying a cave. A spring of crystal water filtering through - the deep strata formed a deep well at the bottom of this chasm. - Situated just at the higher opening of the gorge was a chapel for - the accommodation of pilgrims called Capel y Llochwyd, of which a - considerable remnant in ruins at the head of this gorge still remains. - Till within sixty years the lonely chapel with its well were from - time unknown the resort of lads and lassies of the island, who, at a - certain annual festival called Suliau y Creiriau, the Sundays of the - Relics, and held during three successive Sundays in July, assembled in - troops to ascertain the contingencies awaiting them. Each diviner into - futurity descended the chasm to the well, and there, if after having - taken a mouthful of holy water and grasped two handfuls of sand from - the charmed font, he or she could accomplish the re-ascent with them - safely, each would obtain the wish of their heart before the close - of the year. About sixty years ago (1770) the chapel was reduced to - ruins, and the well was concealed by filling it with rubbish; but till - twenty years ago the walls, to the height of seven or eight feet, - remained sufficiently entire to convey a tolerable idea of the perfect - building, which is represented to have been a substantial though - rude and primitive edifice, composed of unhewn stones cemented with - mortar, the windows and doorways excepted, which were well wrought by - the chisel with considerable labour from some obdurated material, the - whole apparently consisting of one oblong chamber not exceeding a few - yards in length. - - “Of the well, however, not a trace was left, though its existence was - proved beyond a shadow of doubt a few years ago by a party who landed - and at length succeeded in detecting the spot, from whence, after - removing a quantity of sand and loose stone, again gushed the fountain - of water in its pristine vigour and doubtless inherent virtues.” - -There was at one time a chapel of S. Ffraid or Brigid on an islet where -according to legend she disembarked from Ireland. This was not the -Brigid of Kildare, but a namesake. The story goes that being unable to -find a boat to serve her purpose, she cut a sod of turf, threw it into -the sea, stepped on it, and was carried across. The turf lodged on this -hump of rock, and became fast there. But the wintry waves have eaten -away the isle, chewed up the turf, and torn down the chapel walls. - -The breakwater of Holyhead is a stupendous achievement. It is about a -mile and a half long, and has a lighthouse at the extremity. On the -Skerries also, some seven miles north, is another lighthouse, and the -Government had to buy it from the owner, a Mr. Jones, for the sum of -£444,984. - -The old Government pier had already cost a million and a half of money, -but it was abandoned when the London and North Western Railway Company -undertook the construction of the new pier. The new harbour has a water -area of twenty-four acres. - -[Illustration: SOUTH STACK BRIDGE] - -Every visitor to Holyhead makes a point of going to the South Stack, -just under four miles from the town. Cliffe thus describes it:-- - - “At first you feel disappointed, and it is not until you descend that - you become impressed with the grandeur of the scenery. At the foot of - the formidable stairs, 380 in number, you arrive at the entrance of - a light suspension bridge. For some years after the lighthouse was - erected (1809) the only means of access across the chasm was by a - rope and basket; then a bridge of ropes was made, but the risk was so - great that a chain bridge became necessary. After crossing the bridge - you can descend to look at a vast fissure in the islet, and wonder, - if the day be stormy, how the boats fared that conveyed the materials - for the lighthouse to that rugged and perilous spot, where the surge - of the sea is awe-inspiring. The sea in south-westerly gales often - dashes over the dwellings of the lightkeepers, when the scene is truly - sublime.” - -The coast is alive with sea-birds, kittiwakes, razorbills, guillemots, -solan geese, puffin, shag, cormorant, and tern; and collections of -these birds’ eggs can be obtained at a very small cost in the town. -An ingenious provision of Nature saves the eggs from being carried by -the raging winds from the ledges of rock on which they are laid, when -the mother-bird is not sitting. If, for instance, a guillemot’s egg -be looked at, it will be seen that it is so balanced that the wind, -catching it, spins it round on its centre of gravity, and does not -obtain sufficient resistance to carry it away bodily, and precipitate -it into the sea. - -There are objects of considerable archæological interest in Holy -Island, and these are the Cytiau’r Gwyddelod, or habitations of the -Irish. There are several collections, and some were explored by the -Hon. W. O. Stanley in 1871. - -They are strewn over the side of Holyhead mountain, but there are -others by Porth Dafarch and Mynydd Celyn. - -The sites of ancient habitations have been selected for shelter from -the prevailing winds, and the huts are usually grouped together forming -villages of from twelve to fifty huts. They are always protected from -hostile attack by rude walls of dry masonry or by precipitous rocks. -They are circular, and have slabs of granite set on end to face them -within and without. The entrances are to the south. The roofs were -constructed of poles resting on the low walls, brought together in -the middle, and thatched or covered with turf. The walls of the huts -enclose a space of from fifteen to twenty feet in diameter, and the -doorway is formed of two upright stones of about four feet high, upon -which formerly rested a stone lintel. - -Some of these huts were dwelling-houses, others served merely as -kitchens, and some were sweating or bathing chambers, by the production -of steam by throwing water over heated stones. - -Mr. Stanley found bronze weapons, jet necklaces, ornamented -spindle-whorls, stone lamps, and moulds for bronze buttons. The -abundance of articles discovered in these dwellings is very unusual and -seems to point to their having been left in a hurry. - -There is a strong camp, Caer-y-Twr, on Holyhead mountain, facing east, -and about two-thirds of the way up to the summit from the town. It is -surrounded by a rude wall of dry masonry, following the ridge of the -rock, which in places is almost perpendicular. The entrance is steep -and seems to have been defended by hornwork. - -There is a narrow cleft in the face of the mountain to the west, above -débris of rock that has fallen in some convulsion of nature, leaving a -perpendicular face of rock two hundred feet in height. This gap forms a -passage through which only one person could pass at a time, and a steep -path winds to it between rock faces. It may have served as a postern to -the camp. - -The construction of huts in the fashion described was derived by the -Irish from the original population of the isle, the people who erected -the rude stone monuments. - -A traveller in Gilead and Moab will find precisely similar collections -of hovels, similarly surrounded with walls of unhewn blocks, and -associated, as in Ireland, with cromlechs and cairns and menhirs, the -relics of the same prehistoric race which through long centuries, and -after long journeys to new lands, continued to build houses, erect -camps, and set up monuments to their dead in Ireland, Wales, Scotland, -Cornwall, and Northern Africa precisely as they did in Central Asia and -in Palestine. A mysterious people that never advanced in the art of -building, but clung tenaciously, as the bee, the bird, the spider, and -the ant, to traditional usage in the structure of their dwellings, and -which clung with like tenacity to the cult of ancestors. It came out of -Asia with polished stone weapons, and only slowly accepted, as foreign -importations, axes and swords and personal ornaments, made of bronze. - -Certainly these were the most conservative people that ever overran -Europe; and possibly that clinging to old institutions, that aversion -to change, which brought ruin on the Welsh cause, may have been due to -the large admixture of Iberian blood in the Cymric veins. - -Take the Welshman of the present day. In his politics he is a Liberal, -but in his bent of mind, in his mode of life, in his social relations, -he is the most conservative of men. - -This tenacity to what is old and customary is a valuable asset; it -counterbalances the volatile and experimental tendency to adopt every -novelty, and wreck every institution to supplant it with what is new -and untried, but which is loud in promise. - -It may be, it probably is the case, that there is much of this -immobility in the English race. It is because of this that the American -and German are beating us in manufacture and commerce, and if we are -ever routed in the field, it will be due to the clot of it that has -settled in our War Office not having been expelled. - - - - -CHAPTER V - -BANGOR AND CARNARVON - - Foundation of Bangor--Madog the Fox--The cathedral--Owen - Gwynedd--Visit of Archbishop Baldwin--“Lazy-tongs”--Llanidan--Shrine - of S. Nidan--Curious phenomenon of the filling stoup--Bust - of Edwen--Llanfair--Owen Tudor--The fable of the Welsh - pot-girl--Carnarvon--Elen the Road-maker--Maximus--Edward - of Carnarvon--Hugh the Fat and Hugh the Wolf--Plas - Newydd--Cromlechs--Destruction of prehistoric monuments--The cult of - the dead--Llanddwyn--Story of Dwynwen--The holy well--Curious offering - in the porch--Penrhyn quarries--Names of slates--Albert Davies--The - Hirlas Horn--Lakes--Marchlyn. - - -BANGOR, pleasantly situated in a green valley, near the sea, sheltered -from every rough blast, communicating with Beaumaris by a steamer, -or with a ferry across the Menai Straits at Garth, backed by the -glorious heathery mountains of Carnedd Dafydd, Elidyr Fawr, and Carnedd -Llewelyn, with easy access by the London and North Western line on the -one side with the thronged watering-places on the north coast, and with -the Snowdon district on the other, serves as a convenient and cheerful -centre for excursions, and is preferable on the whole to Carnarvon. -Bangor was founded by S. Deiniol in the sixth century. Deiniol was -grandson of Pabo Post Prydain, whose monument is at Llanbabo, in -Anglesey. His father was Dunawd, prince in North Britain, who, to his -lasting disgrace, instead of uniting with his fellow-Britons against -the Picts, attacked the sons of Urien, king of Rheged or Moray, and -met with his deserts, for the Picts drove him from his principality, -and he and his sons fled helter-skelter to Wales, where he entered -the ecclesiastical estate, as the secular life was closed to him, and -became Abbot of Bangor on the Dee, in Flintshire. - -Then came the massacre of the monks there by Ethelfrid in 607, and -that Bangor came to an end for ever. Those who had escaped took refuge -with Deiniol, who had already settled in Arfon on lands granted him by -Caswallon Long-hand. Maelgwn made this new Bangor the seat of a bishop, -and Deiniol was the first of the series. - -Bangor had a bishop in the eleventh century who was a great scoundrel. -This was Madog Min, or the Fox. He was grandson of the king of -Tegeingyl. He entered into a conspiracy with the sons of Edwyn ab -Einion, and by his treachery obtained the assassination, in 1021, of -Llewelyn ab Seisyll, king of Powys and Deheubarth and Gwynedd, a noble -and just prince, under whose good government Wales flourished. Then -Madog betrayed Gruffydd, son of Llewelyn, for three hundred head of -cattle promised him for his treachery by Harold, king of the Saxons. -After the deed was done, however, Harold refused to pay the price of -blood, upon which Madog, execrated by his people, fled to Ireland, but -the ship in which he was foundered, and of all who were in it he alone -was drowned. - -The cathedral lies in a hollow, and though small, is dignified. It -has been repeatedly destroyed, first by the Saxons in 1071 and then -again laid in ashes by Owen Glyndwr in 1402. It remained in ruins for -nearly a century. Then it was patched up, and all the new work was in -the Perpendicular style. It has been restored, and a good deal has -been added to bring out the earlier work, which was Early English. The -Welsh seem never to have developed an independent architectural school -or style of their own as have the Bretons. The builders of their great -churches were imported from England, and were not usually first-class -designers. The western tower, which was added in 1532, is as poor and -insipid as may be, the work not even of a second-class architect. All -that remains of the pre-Norman cathedral is a stone with plait-work, -now lying on the floor at the west end of the north aisle, which has -been used as a sharpener for weapons, and most of the sculptured work -has been by this means worn away. - -Of the Norman cathedral also little remains. It was a cross church with -an apse to the choir, but the foundations are buried beneath the floor -of the later chancel. A Norman buttress and rude round-headed windows -in the south wall of the chancel are all above ground that recall the -church destroyed in 1071. - -At the instigation of King John the city was burnt in 1212, and Bishop -Robert was taken prisoner before the high altar, but ransomed for two -hundred marks. - -The structure underwent extensive alterations in the latter half of the -thirteenth century under Bishop Anian, who christened the infant son -of Edward I. When Sir Gilbert Scott undertook the restoration of the -cathedral, he preserved and used up in the work much of the earlier -sculptured stone that he found. He says: “This exhuming and restoring -to their places the fragments of the beautiful work of the thirteenth -century, reduced to ruin by Owen Glyndwr, used as mere rough material -by Henry VII., and rediscovered by us four and a half centuries after -their reduction to ruins, is one of the most interesting facts I have -met with in the course of my experience.” - -In the south wall of the south transept is a tomb with a niche beside -it that is supposed to be that of Owen Gwynedd, who died in 1169, -but from the style it might be later by a century. Owen had died -excommunicated for marrying his cousin Christiana. Thomas à Becket, -from Canterbury, had fulminated a sentence of excommunication against -him, but Owen refused to put away his wife, and preferred dying under -the ban. He was, however, buried before the high altar. - -In 1188 Baldwin, Archbishop of Canterbury, made a tour through Wales, -preaching the crusade, and used this as an excuse for gaining access -to the churches of Wales and asserting therein his ecclesiastical -supremacy. When he arrived at Bangor he was in a very bad temper. -He had found everywhere that the Welsh princes and ecclesiastics -were unmoved by his appeals, and the few who took the cross had the -intention of slipping out of their obligation as soon as his back was -turned. Having crossed the Menai Straits he was met by Rhodri, son -of Owen Gwynedd and the fair Christiana, and the archbishop harangued -the prince and people on the shore. Some of the congregation accepted -the cross, but the youths of Rhodri’s family sat through the discourse -on a rock, swinging their legs, wholly unmoved by his eloquence; and -although Rhodri, out of courtesy to the archbishop, advised them to -take the pledge, they shrugged their shoulders and refused. - -On entering Bangor, Archbishop Baldwin was a disappointed and offended -man, and seeing the tomb of Owen, Rhodri’s father, before the altar, -immediately gave orders that the body of the late king should be -removed from its resting-place and put in unconsecrated ground. Bishop -Guy of Bangor was forced to promise compliance. Perhaps he did as -bidden, perhaps not; but certain it is that the tomb, if it be that of -the excommunicated king, was not erected till later. - -Another opinion is that this is the tomb of Bishop Anian, as there is -no sword cut beside the incised cross upon it. But if it had been that -of the prelate, we might have expected his pastoral staff to be figured -along with the cross. - -In the cathedral is preserved a pair of “lazy-tongs,” used for catching -intrusive dogs by the neck and marching them forth without danger to -the sexton. At Clynnog there are also dog-tongs, with the date 1815 on -them. Indeed, dogs seem to have been a nuisance in churches for a long -time. One main reason for Archbishop Laud’s ordering the erection of -communion rails was to keep these animals away from the altar and from -defiling it. - -The churchwardens’ accounts of Llanfair Talhaiarn, in Denbighshire, -show that the dog annoyance had grown to such a pass that in 1747 the -parishioners, in vestry assembled, passed a resolution to inflict a -fine of one shilling on the person who brought his dog to church during -divine service. It does not seem that this order remedied the nuisance, -for other resolutions were passed in 1749 on the same matter, and the -sexton was granted a quarterly payment “for keeping the Church clear of -’em”; and the vestry provided a stool for the convenience of the sexton -by the church door, that he might be ready to pounce on any dog that -put its nose in, and drive it out. - -The plague of dogs in church was not confined to Wales. It would seem -that in 1644 they found their way into Canterbury Cathedral, for -Richard Culmer, in his _Cathedral Newes from Canterbury_, relates how -“one of the great canons or prebends there, in the very act of his -low congying (congé-ing) towards the Altar, as he went up to it in -prayer-time, was not long since assaulted by a huge mastiffe dog, which -leapt upright on him once and againe, and pawed him in his ducking, -saluting progresse and posture to the Altar, so that he was fain to -call out aloud, ‘Take away the dog! Take away the dog!’” - -A pleasant excursion may be made from Bangor to Llanidan, in Anglesey, -by taking the ferry-boat across at Dinorwic. - -Llanidan old church is for the most part in ruins, a new church having -been erected in a more convenient situation. The church consisted of a -nave and south aisle separated by an arcade. All but the two western -bays and the porches are roofless. In the portion still covered is -preserved the sandstone shrine of S. Nidan, who was confessor to the -monks of Penmon. It still contains what are believed to be his skull -and some of his bones. At the Reformation it was not destroyed, as it -was in the possession of a hereditary keeper of the relics, and it was -retained at a farmhouse in the parish by the family till recently, when -it was surrendered to the church, and now the fleshless bones of the -founder are in the dismantled church he founded. - -The Celtic mode of dedicating a church was this, as described at -length by Bede. The founder, having selected the spot, remained on it -in constant prayer and fast for forty days and nights, eating only a -little after set of sun, and on the Sundays, when he consumed a small -piece of bread, one egg, and a little milk and water. At the end of -that period the place became his, and was called thenceforth after his -name. It is a touching thought, looking on the bones of old Nidan, to -think that there he rests who fourteen hundred years ago, by prayer and -fasting on this very spot, dedicated it to the service of God. - -The south porch is curious. It is overgrown with moss and fern, and -contains a stoup that is ever full of water. If sponged out, it -rapidly fills again. It has been conjectured that there is a spring -underground, and that the stones of the porch suck up the water by -capillary attraction, and so supply the stoup. But the church and -graveyard are quite dry. - -A similar phenomenon existed at Llangelynin, in the old church, between -Barmouth and Towyn, but when the roof fell in the stoup became dry. The -explanation is that the drip of the roof fell on the porch, saturated -it, and thus the water drained into the stoup. And this may be the true -explanation of the phenomenon at Llanidan. - -In the church by the shrine is preserved a bust, not ill carved, of a -female wearing a crown. It is possible that this may have been intended -as the head of S. Edwen, patroness of the daughter parish. She is said -to have been a daughter or niece of Edwin, king of Northumbria, who, as -has been already related, spent his youth in Anglesey. - -From Bangor the train may be taken to Llanfair, and thence it is a walk -to Penmynydd, where is the Plas, the cradle of the House of Tudor. - -The handsome Owen Tudor caught the fancy of Catherine, widow of Henry -V.; but before she would marry this Welsh knight she sent a deputation -to his ancestral home to inquire into the respectability of his family, -its antiquity, and its dignity. - -The commissioners arrived at the little mansion and found Owen’s mother -shelling peas, and surrounded by goats, to which she cast the pods, -and pigeons that pounced on the peas that escaped her fingers. As to -the pedigree, that was soon disposed of; the old lady could recite -the _Aps_ back to Anna, the cousin of the Virgin Mary, an Egyptian -princess. The deputation returned with its report, pulling long faces. -The Tudors were petty Anglesey squires and nothing more, not largely -estated, nor with a great retinue. But Queen Catherine was very much in -love and very eager to lay aside her widow’s weeds. “Make the most of -the pedigree,” she said, “but cook the rest of the report; write down -the goats as serving-men and the pigeons as ladies-in-waiting.” - -They did so. The King’s Council was satisfied, and Catherine married -Owen, and became, by him, the mother of Edmund “of Hadham,” who was -created Earl of Richmond by Henry VI. in 1453. - -His son, Edmund Tudor, married Margaret, daughter of John Beaufort, -Duke of Somerset, and great-granddaughter of “old John of Gaunt, -time-honoured Lancaster,” and so became the father of Henry VII. - -Queen Catherine died in 1437, leaving, beside Edmund, a son Jasper, and -another Owen, who embraced a monastic life and died early. - -As soon as the queen was dead bad times ensued for Owen. The marriage -had been winked at, but not relished, and he was seized and committed -to Newgate, and the three sons were given into the custody of the -Abbess of Barking. - -Aided by his chaplain and a servant, Owen effected his escape, but -he was retaken and delivered to the Earl of Suffolk to be kept in -Wallingford Castle; but he was transferred to Newgate. He made his -escape a second time. - -In the year 1453 his sons were both made earls--Edmund was created Earl -of Richmond and Jasper Earl of Pembroke. Owen had an illegitimate son, -named David, who was knighted by his nephew, Henry VII. - -Owen remained unnoticed till 1459, when his own son Jasper graciously -conferred knighthood on him. Henry VI. granted him some lands and a -revenue, but a law was passed that henceforth no commoner, under severe -penalties, should presume to marry a queen dowager of England without -special licence from the king. - -In 1461 he fought under the banner of his son Jasper at the battle of -Mortimer’s Cross, and would not quit the field, but was taken with -several other Welsh gentlemen, and was beheaded soon after at Hereford. - -Jones, in his _Relicks of the Welsh Bards_, 1794, gives a duet which -purports to be translated from the Welsh, and which is based on the -wooing of Owen Tudor and Catherine. He does not give the original -Welsh. The air as well as the words has a very modern smack. - -The duet begins:-- - - “_Owen._ I salute thee, sweet Princess, with title of grace, - For Cupid commands me in heart to embrace - Thy honours, thy virtues, thy favour, thy beauty, - With all my true service, my love, and my duty. - - _Catherine._ Courteous, kind gentleman, let me request, - How comes it that Cupid hath wounded thy breast? - And chanc’d thy heart’s liking my servant to prove, - That am but a stranger to this, thy kind love?” - -And it all winds up with their saying together:-- - - “Then mark how the notes of our merry town bells, - Our ding-dong of pleasure most cheerfully tells. - Then ding-dong, fair ladies, and ladies all true, - This ding-dong of pleasure may satisfy you.” - -Actually it would seem that the spooning was on the side of the Queen -and not of Owen. - -The house of Penmynydd dates from 1370, and is consequently the same as -that visited by the commission. The kitchen is intact, and the Tudor -arms are carved about the building, and there still is the courtyard in -which the ancestress of King Edward VII. sat shelling peas into a bowl -when the deputation arrived. - -Wales is supposed to have provided a grandmother to queens Mary and -Anne, a pot-girl, who married the brewer whose tubs she scoured, so -soon as his wife died. But the story is as apocryphal as that of the -smuggling into the palace of James II. of a surreptitious Prince of -Wales in a warming-pan. - -The Protestant party got up this latter scandalous fable, and Mary of -Modena and the Roman Catholic faction retaliated with the tale of the -Welsh pot-girl. - -The story was this. It was confidently asserted that the wife of the -celebrated Lord Clarendon was a bare-footed Welsh lass who had gone to -London for service and found employment as a “tub-woman” to a brewer -and publican there, who subsequently married her, and on his death -bequeathed to her a large fortune. As the succession was disputed by -his relations, she sought the professional assistance of the lawyer -Edward Hyde, who introduced her to his family, and his son Edward -married her. She became the mother of Anne, whom James Duke of York -married. Her granddaughters Mary and Anne wore the crown. - -But the story is contradicted by facts. Edward Hyde, who became Earl -of Clarendon and High Chancellor of England, married Anne, daughter -of Sir George Ayliffe, knight. Six months afterwards she died of -small-pox, and childless. Then he married Frances, daughter of Sir -Thomas Aylesbury, knight, and by her became the father of Mary and Anne. - -Burke, in his _Romance of the Aristocracy_, tells the story somewhat -differently. He makes the pot-girl marry Sir Thomas Aylesbury, by whom -she had a daughter Frances, who married Edward Hyde. - -But this story also breaks down. For it is certain that the wife of Sir -Thomas Aylesbury was the daughter of Francis Denman, rector of West -Retford, and widow of William Darell. - -As far as can be ascertained there is not even a substratum of truth in -the story. - -Carnarvon lies at a little distance from the old Roman town of -Segontium, or Caersaint, as the British called it. The river that flows -into the sea beneath the castle walls is the Seiont, or Saint. It was -here that resided Elen the Road-maker, daughter of Eudaf, chieftain -of Erging and Ewyas, who married the usurper Maximus, called by the -Welsh Maxen Wledig. This Roman general was raised to the purple by the -legions in Britain in 383. He was by birth a Spaniard, and had acquired -a reputation under the elder Theodosius in a campaign against the Picts -and Scots in 368. - -[Illustration: CARNARVON CASTLE] - -According to Welsh tradition he was a humane ruler, who showed favour -to the native British. Unfortunately for himself and for Britain, -Maximus did not content himself with recognition as king in Britain, -but aspired to be emperor in Rome. He assembled a large army of native -levies, prepared a fleet, crossed the Channel. His wife’s brother or -cousin, Cynan Meiriadog, a ruler whose home was near S. Asaph, threw in -his lot with him, and led to his assistance the flower of the youth of -Britain. - -Maximus established himself at Trèves, and his wife, who was a pious -woman, gave up the imperial palace there to be made into a church. At -Trèves she has been confounded with Helena, mother of Constantine, who -never was there at all. This misconception has been made to serve as -a basis for the myth of the “Holy Coat,” the seamless robe of Christ, -which she is supposed to have brought from Jerusalem and to have given -to the church of Trèves, where it is preserved as an inestimable relic -and exposed at long intervals. Maximus was finally defeated and killed -at Aquileia in 388. His followers dispersed, and Cynan Meiriadog -and his young bucks never saw again their native land. “Britain,” -says Gildas, “was thus robbed of her armed soldiery, of her military -supplies, of her rulers, of her vigorous youth who had followed the -footsteps of the above-mentioned military tyrant, and who never -returned.” - -What became of Elen after the death of Maximus can only be inferred. -Probably she escaped from Trèves and came back to her native Wales. She -has been credited by the Welsh with the great paved roads that traverse -the Principality in all directions, and they bear her name as Sarnau -Helen. - -The noble castle of Carnarvon was begun by Edward I., and is -picturesque, but not equal to Conway. In it Edward “of Carnarvon,” -who succeeded to the throne, was born. He was invested with the -Principality of Wales after the extinction of the race of Cunedda in -blood. - -Visitors are shown a room in the Eagle Tower as that in which Edward -first saw the light; but this tower was not erected till later, though -the castle itself was begun in 1284. It was not completed till 1322. -There had, however, been a fortress here before, erected by Hugh the -Wolf, or the Fat, Earl of Chester. This Hugh and his namesake, the -Earl of Shrewsbury, were unsparing in their cruelties to the Welsh. If -Hugh of Chester was a wolf in his ferocity, he was a fox in guile. He -inveigled the king of Gwynedd into a conference, then treacherously -imprisoned him, and the king languished in a dungeon for twelve years, -to 1098. Hugh was sister’s son to William the Conqueror, who delivered -over Wales to him to rifle at an annual rental of £40. - -Gruffydd, king of Gwynedd, escaped in 1098, and at once threw himself -into Anglesey. The two Hughs marched against him from Carnarvon as -their base, and entered Mona. What had happened before, and was to -happen again and yet again, occurred now. At the supreme moment -Gruffydd flew to Ireland, and Anglesey was at the mercy of the two -Hughs. They set to work to destroy the crops, burn the houses, and -slaughter the inhabitants in cold blood, after all resistance had come -to an end. When weary of killing, they tore out the tongues, scooped -out the eyes, and hacked off the feet and hands of the peasantry, out -of mere lust of torture. - -It so chanced that at this juncture a Viking fleet appeared off the -coast, under Magnus Barefeet of Norway, and Hugh the Fat of Chester -and Hugh the Proud of Shrewsbury advanced to the coast to oppose the -landing of the Northmen. On board the king’s ship was Magnus of Orkney, -a pious, feeble youth. The Norse king bade him arm for the fight. - -“No,” replied the young man, “I will not hurt those who have not hurt -me.” - -“Then go down, coward, into the hold,” said Magnus Barefeet wrathfully. -The young prig took his psalter and obeyed. And as the battle raged -above him, his voice could be heard above the din of arms repeating the -psalms. - -The two earls were on the coast near Beaumaris, where it shelves into -the sea, riding up and down urging on their men. - -“Then,” says the Icelandic Saga writer, “King Magnus shot with his bow, -but Hugh was clad in armour, and nothing was bare about him save one -eye. King Magnus let fly an arrow at him, as did also a Halogolander at -his side. They both shot at once, one arrow struck the nose-screen of -the helm and glanced aside, but the other entered the earl’s eye and -penetrated his head, and that was afterwards recognised as the king’s -arrow.” - -When the shaft struck him, Earl Hugh leaped into the air. “Ah, ha!” -shouted King Magnus, “let him skip.” - -The Hugh who fell was Hugh of Shrewsbury. - -The Norsemen came ashore, but finding Anglesey already ravaged, -re-entered their boats and spread sail. - -The Magnus who would not fight, but sat in the hold singing psalms, is -he to whom the cathedral of Kirkwall, in Orkney, is dedicated. - -From Bangor, Plas Newydd, the seat of the Marquess of Anglesey, may be -visited. The grounds are fine, and there is good timber in the park, -but the house is naught. More interesting is Plas Côch, a fine example -of an Elizabethan house, built by Hugh Hughes, Attorney-General in the -sixteenth century. - -In the grounds of Plas Newydd are two cromlechs, or rather what the -French would call _allées couvertes_. They are prehistoric tribal -mausoleums, and are perhaps the finest in the Principality. The cap -stone of one is 14 feet long by 13 feet broad, and from 3 to 4 feet -thick. There are vast numbers of cromlechs in Anglesey, but year by -year sees the number decrease. By the Highway Act of William IV. -(1835) the road surveyor may enter on any waste or common and dig and -search for stone and remove the same. He may also take stones from -any river. He may go into another parish and do as above, provided he -leaves sufficient stone for the said parish. He may enter enclosed -land, with the consent of the owner, and remove stone, paying nothing -for the same, but paying for any damage caused by transportation of -the stone. If the owner refuses consent, the surveyor may apply to the -nearest justice, who may authorise him to enter the enclosed land and -remove any stone he requires. Farmers are only too delighted to have -cromlechs and other prehistoric stone monuments blown up with dynamite -and cleared off. Then visitors will not trespass to see them, and all -obstruction to cultivation will be removed. Recently a number have been -destroyed in Anglesey and elsewhere. They are being used up for roads. -The cromlech, kistvaen, and _allée couverte_ were tombs. Usually a -stone was left to be removed, or a plug was inserted in a holed stone, -that could be taken out at pleasure, to enable the living to enter -the tomb and thrust back the skeletons that were old to make room for -new interments. Perhaps also food for the dead was passed in to them -through these holes. - -On a day in the year, we know not what day it was, but probably at -Samhain, the Feast of the Underground Spirits, corresponding to -our All Souls’ Day, a great banquet was held in commemoration of -dead ancestors, and then the bones of the resurrected parents and -grandparents were brought out, fondled, scraped, and cleaned up, and -then reconsigned to the family tomb. The family or tribal mausoleum was -the centre round which the family or tribe revolved. All the religion -of these Neolithic and Bronze Age people centred in their dead and in -the world of spirits. We find among the Welsh, that all their tribal -rights depended on the preservation of their pedigrees. It was the same -idea in another form. - -We, in our matter-of-fact and of to-day world, think nothing of our -forbears. I believe it was Swedenborg who said that Europe had still -a great lesson to learn--he did not specify it--and that this lesson -would be taught it by the Turanian race. Perhaps the Chinaman will play -his part in the future, and he will bring to us Westerns the doctrine -of the reverence due to the old people from whose lives we derive our -physical and spiritual and mental powers. - -Monier-Williams, in his _Brahminism and Hinduism_ (1887), says:-- - - “The neglect of our ancestors, which seems to spring not so much from - any want of sympathy with the departed as from an utter disbelief in - any interconnexion between the world and the world of spirits, is by - some regarded as a defect in our religious character and practice.” - -We have lost a great tie to those who have gone before in the neglect -of commemoration of the dead and realisation of the Article of the -Faith, the Communion of Saints. Our modern civilisation, our culture, -our manliness, our refinement, we owe to the straining after an ideal, -not always attained, but seen and sought by those who have predeceased -us. We do not make ourselves, we have been made and moulded into what -we are by the good old folk who are to us only names in our pedigree. -If the sins of fathers are visited on their children, and of this there -can be no doubt, so also do their virtues descend, and we owe them -something, some recognition, some kindly thought, some remembrance in -our commune with God, on that account. - -So these cromlechs and kistvaens may teach us something. Anglesey and -Carnarvonshire abound in these monuments, and Mr. J. E. Griffith, of -Bangor, has published a splendid work on them, with photographic plates -representing such as remain. - -[Illustration: NANT BRIDGE, CARNARVON] - -From Carnarvon Llanddwyn may best be visited. To the south-east of -Anglesey is a tract of blown sand from Newborough--in Welsh Rhosyr. A -spit of land runs out into the sea, and bears a lighthouse that sheds -its warning ray over the southern entrance to the Menai Straits. It -encloses a bay, and the sands extend thence to the Straits. - -On this tongue of land stand the ruins of a church founded by S. Dwyn -or Dwynwen, daughter of Brychan, the Irish king of Brecknock. The place -is not easily reached from Newborough without a guide, as the sands are -over ankle, and in places half-way up the calf, deep, and the labour -of reaching it is great to anyone who does not know the track. Yet the -place was at one time greatly resorted to. Dwynwen was the Venus of -Wales. She and one Maelor Dafodril fell desperately in love with each -other, but when he paid her his addresses, in a spirit of caprice or -levity she flouted him, and he retired deeply offended. She constantly -expected him to return, but he did not; instead, he published libels -about her. She was miserable, partly because of these slanders, partly -because she loved him still. Then in her distress she prayed to be -relieved of her passion, and an angel appeared and administered to her -some drops of a heavenly liquid, and at once her heart was cured of -love-sickness. - -Next the angel administered the same medicine to Maelor, and he was -congealed to ice. God now gave to Dwynwen three requests which He -undertook to fulfil. So she asked to have Maelor thawed, and he was -so; then she asked that all lovers who invoked her aid might obtain -the object of their desires, or become indifferent; then, lastly, she -asked that she might never again hanker after the married estate. - -At Llanddwyn was a holy well that is now choked by sand, but till -it was smothered up was in much resort for its oracular answers to -questions put to it. The following is an account of the ceremony from -the pen of William Williams, of Llandegai, written about 1800:-- - - “There was a spring of clear water, now choked up by the sand, at - which an old woman from Newborough always attended and prognosticated - the lover’s success from the movements of some small eels, which waved - out of the sides of the well on spreading the lover’s handkerchief on - the surface of the water. I remember an old woman saying that when she - was a girl she consulted the woman at the well about her destiny with - respect to a husband. On spreading her handkerchief, out popped an eel - from the north side of the well, and soon after another crawled from - the south side, and they both met on the bottom of the well. Then the - woman told her that her husband would be a stranger from the south - part of Carnarvonshire. Soon after, it happened that three brothers - came from that part and settled in the neighbourhood where this young - woman was, one of whom made his addresses to her, and in a little time - married her. So much of the prophecy I remember. This couple was my - father and mother.” - -A maxim attributed to the saint is, “There is no amiability like -cheerfulness”; _i.e._ Nothing is so attractive as a cheerful spirit. S. -Dwynwen was also regarded as patroness of the cattle in Anglesey. The -same writer adds:-- - - “I remember hearing an instance which happened, I believe, about one - hundred and fifty years ago. The ploughing oxen at Bodeon, on April - 25th, took fright when at work, and ran over a steep rock and perished - in the sea. This being S. Mark the Evangelist’s Day, it was considered - that having done work on it was a transgression of a divine ordinance, - and to prevent such accident for the future the proprietor of the - farm ordered that this festival of S. Mark should be for the future - invariably kept a holy day, and that two wax candles should annually - on that day be kept burning in the church porch of Llanddwyn, which - was the only part of the building that was covered in, as an offering - and memorial of this transgression and accident, and as a token - that S. Dwynwen’s aid and protection was solicited to prevent such - catastrophe any more. This was only discontinued about eighty years - ago, _i.e._ 1720.” - -The Penrhyn slate quarries are reached by a branch line from Bangor -to Bethesda. The quarrying is carried on upon a vast scale, and the -place is interesting to the geologist on account of the presence, in -the midst of a great dyke of greenstone, of an eruptive rock which has -traversed the beds, and which has been left untouched. - -The slates are cut to various sizes. Duchesses are the largest; then -come Countesses and Ladies. About the beginning of last century a slate -merchant of the name of Docer, going through the quarry with Lord -Penrhyn, advised him that the slates should be made of such-and-such -a size, and this is the origin of the name of “Docer.” By this time -the skill of the quarryman and of the slater found some new plan -continually. One wanted to do this, and another that. His lordship -failed to please everybody. His lady, seeing him in this plight, and in -continual trouble, advised him to call the slates after the names of -the degrees in the aristocracy. He took up the suggestion, and called -the 24 by 12 slate a Duchess, the 20 by 10 a Countess, and the 16 by 8 -a Lady. - -This has given occasion to some witty verses by an old Welsh judge, -Mr. Leycester, and I venture to quote a few of them, though they have -already been enshrined in that most delightful of all handbooks, _The -Gossiping Guide_. - - “It has truly been said, as we all must deplore, - That Grenville and Pitt have made peers by the score; - But now, ’tis asserted, unless I have blundered, - There’s a man who makes peeresses here by the hundred. - By the stroke of a hammer, without the King’s aid, - A Lady, or Countess, or Duchess is made. - And where’er they are seen, in a palace or shop, - Their rank they preserve, they are still at the top. - This Countess or Lady, though crowds may be present, - Submits to be dressed by the hands of a peasant, - And you’ll see, when Her Grace is but once in his clutches, - With how little respect he will handle a Duchess.” - -An interesting example has been observed in the quarries of the -direction in which a seismic wave passes. The slates are arranged in a -long series. When a shock of earthquake comes it has been noticed that -the slates click, click, click in succession, showing the course taken -by the vibration of the earth, from east to west or from north to south. - -The quarry presents a busy scene. A horn gives the signal for the -blasting. When it sounds, at once the workmen disappear under sheds, -till the explosion is over with its consequent rush and rattle of -débris. - -[Illustration: BETHESDA] - -At Penrhyn died quite recently an old workman, Albert Davies, whose -life’s story may be told, as it illustrates the intellectual and -especially the theological bent of the Welsh mind. This mind is -speculative and disputative, and it exercises itself by choice in -political and theologic fields. - -Albert Davies in his early years was a collier in South Wales, a member -of a Calvinistic Methodist family, and could speak no other tongue -but Welsh. From boyhood his great craving was for books, and, above -all, for books that treated of sacred matters. In the dinner-hour it -is very general for miners, quarrymen, and labourers to argue points -of divinity, and Davies became a strong controversialist against the -Unitarian and Socinian notions which were gaining ground among his -associates. By degrees an idea germinated in his brain that as Calvin, -Wesley, Luther, and other great founders had created organisations -to maintain and propagate their opinions, so, in all probability, -the great Founder of Christianity had formed a corporate body to -carry on His teaching unto the end of time. He had never been brought -into direct contact with the Church of England, and had an inherited -prejudice against it, as purely English, and as representing Saxon -domination over Wales, and he could think of no Body that would answer -his requirements but the Roman Church. He accordingly took up the study -of its teaching and claims, and became convinced that if Christ did -found a community, it must be the Catholic Church, which the Roman Body -asserted itself to be; and Davies was received into that communion. - -After some years, however, his confidence gave way; he found, as he -thought, too much credulity, too great demands made on faith; and he -took to a study of the Fathers. - -Then his faith gave way; he separated from the Roman Communion, and for -a while was adrift in his convictions. He left the colliery in which -hitherto he had worked, and wandered from place to place in bitterness -of spirit, taking up occasional work here and there, unsettled in every -way, spiritually as well as temporally. - -After a while he settled as a quarryman at Penrhyn, and here for -the first time came in contact with Anglican clergy, and found that -the Church of England, while not pretending to be the whole Church, -considered herself to be part and parcel of the One Body, with the -sacred deposit of faith, orders, and sacraments. This gave him what he -wanted, and Albert Davies now found his feet on what he thought was -solid ground, and the old argumentative spirit reawoke in him, and the -dinner-hour was once more the time for theological dialectics. - -So years passed, and old age and ill-health crept on. The quarry work -that he could do was ill-paid and precarious. He lived in chronic -hunger, and often was too poor to afford himself a fire in winter; for -every penny he could spare was spent in the purchase of books. He would -read none but such as dealt with theology. - -At length he became so ill that he had to be taken into the workhouse. -He struggled against the necessity as long as he could, and then -submitted, saying, “It is God’s will, and I must accept what He -desires.” - -In the workhouse he received better food, and comforts such as he had -not been accustomed to as a poor and failing quarryman. Any little -gratuity offered him he accepted to spend on his beloved books, and in -time his library was by no means inconsiderable. After his death, by -his express wish, they have been divided between Bangor and Beaumaris -libraries. - -In the workhouse he died peacefully, and content with his solitary lot. -He was a man of rugged exterior, with a head and face singularly like -those attributed to Socrates. - -Such is the story of one man of the people; it is characteristic of the -Welshman, with strong theologic bent, that leads one in this direction, -another in that; the mind is active, inquiring, especially in the -direction of abstruse studies. - -In Penrhyn Castle is preserved the so-called Hirlas Horn. It was -discovered among the rubbish, during some alterations and rebuilding -of the castle, and had probably fallen from the top of one of the -towers from which it had been blown. It bears the arms of Sir Piers -Griffiths, Sheriff of Carnarvonshire in 1566, and was used for both -drinking and blowing. The name given to it is from the Hirlas horn -celebrated by Owen Cyfeiliog, prince of Powys in the twelfth century, -in a poem famous wherever the Welsh language is spoken. It was composed -immediately after a great victory gained over the English in Maelor. - - “Up rose the ruddy dawn of day; - The armies met in dread array, - On Maelor Drefred’s field; - Loud the British clarions sound, - The Saxons gasping on the ground, - The bloody conflict yield. - - “Fill, fill the Hirlas horn, my boy! - Nor let the tuneful lips be dry - That warble Owen’s praise, - Whose walls with warlike spoils are hung, - And open wide his gates are flung - In Cambria’s peaceful days. - - “This hour we dedicate to joy; - Then fill the Hirlas horn, my boy, - That shineth like the sea! - Whose azure handles, tipt with gold, - Invite the grasp of Britons bold, - The Sons of Liberty.” - -The scene is the night after the battle, and the prince passes the horn -round to each of his chiefs, and reckons up their gallant deeds. Then, -turning to the empty seats of those who have fallen, the princely bard, -who does not fail to blow his own trumpet, drinks to the memory of the -dead:-- - - “Pour out the horn, tho’ he desire it not, - And heave a sigh o’er Morgan’s early grave; - Doomed in his clay-cold tenement to rot, - While we revere the memory of the brave.” - -From Bethesda a road leads across the mountains to Bettws-y-Coed (the -Bead-house in the Wood) by the pretty lake Ogwen. There are a number -of picturesque tarns in the neighbourhood--the wildly beautiful Llyn -Idwal, Llyn Bochlwyd, Marchlyn Mawr (the Great Lake of the Horse), -Ffynnon Llugwy, Llyn Cowlyd, Llyn Eigiau--and several days may well -be spent in exploring the beauties of this mountain region, but the -explorer must be prepared for vast solitudes and for steep scrambles, -and he must take refreshments with him. - -A word of caution to anyone visiting Marchlyn. Should he see a horse, -however quiet and staid, browsing near, let him not venture to mount -it, although the beast seems to invite the weary traveller through -the heather to take a seat on its back. No sooner is he in his seat -than all its want of spirit is at an end. It flies away with its rider -towards the lake, plunges in, and will never be seen again. It is the -Ceffyl y Dwfr, the Water-horse, a spirit that lives in the depths, with -a special taste for human flesh, which it will munch below when it has -its victim at the bottom of the blue water. - - - - -CHAPTER VI - -SNOWDON - - Beauty of shape of Snowdon--Vortigern retreated to it--Story of his - castle--Merlin--S. Germanus--The last Llewelyn--Dolbadarn--Owen - and David--Treachery--David Gam--Topography of the Snowdon - district--Glacial action--The great red sea--Llanberis--Church - rights a family matter--Married clergy--Beddgelert--The legend of - the hound--Whence it came and how it grew--Capel Curig--Curig visits - Brittany. - - -SNOWDON is a topic to be approached with hesitation and reluctance, -because it has been so much and so well written about that it is not -easy to describe the mountain without a sense of falling behind others -who have done the work superlatively well. It is therefore advisable to -touch only on such topics as have been passed over by other writers, or -not dealt with fully by them. - -Snowdon compared with the Alps is of course inconsiderable, so far as -altitude goes; so is Pilatus, but Snowdon shares with this latter the -supreme beauty of shape, and it surpasses Pilatus in that it does not -stand near giants as those of the Oberland. And hugeness is not of the -essence of beauty. No one looking on Snowdon can deny that it is a -mountain in its majesty, and that in form it is absolutely perfect. - -[Illustration: SNOWDEN, FROM BWLCH GLAS] - -Snowdon, or Eryri as it is called by the Welsh, has served as a -fastness to which the hard-pressed princes of Gwynedd could retreat -before the overwhelming power of England. It was an impregnable -stronghold, and the Norman or English could not penetrate to it, and -could only hope to starve into surrender those who took refuge there. -It could not be approached through broad valleys. It is reached only -by ravines. It was possible at any time for those sheltering in its -recesses to collect unobserved and swoop down on a town or castle where -the defenders were few. To Snowdon Gwrtheyrn Gwrtheneu, or Vortigern, -retreated before the angry and resentful British, who laid upon him the -blame of calling in the aid of the Jutes and Saxons, although he had -only so done as the mouthpiece of their general council. - -Nennius tells a strange story of the founding by him of a castle in -Snowdon. - -The _History of the Britons_ that passes under the name of Nennius was -composed in Alclud, or Dumbarton, about the year 679. It was re-edited -by one Nennius in or about 796, and it underwent a second redaction by -Samuel in Buallt, or Builth, later again, about 810. - -The story of Vortigern and his castle in Snowdon is compounded of two -distinct legends that have been clumsily put together. It is to this -effect. Vortigern desired to erect a residence for himself in Eryri, -but met with difficulties over the foundations. He consulted his -Druids, and they recommended him to bury under the wall a fatherless -child whose parentage was unknown. The laying of the foundations with -a human victim was a common form of pagan superstition. The reason -for selecting a child of unknown parentage was to avoid the risk of -a blood-feud, should one be taken from a tribe of which he was an -acknowledged member. After some seeking, a brat was discovered that -answered the requirements, and he was brought before Vortigern, where -he announced to the king that the real reason why his foundations gave -way was that they were laid in a swamp, and that in the swamp were two -reptiles engaged in incessant conflict. Then he proceeded to declare -that these creatures symbolised the Briton and the Saxon, that although -the latter seemed to prevail, in the end the Briton would obtain the -mastery and expel the other from the land. - -The story goes on, with curious inconsequence, to relate that the -boy informed Vortigern that he was named Ambrose, and was the son of -a Roman consul; and then taking a high hand he ordered the king to -depart and leave the fortress and the better portion of his kingdom -to himself, and Vortigern meekly submitted. But the story gets still -further tangled up, for Ambrose is made to be one with Merlin the -prophet and enchanter. - -Now, although the story as it reads is in a muddle, it is possible to -disentangle the threads, and, moreover, to restore a substratum of -truth that has been disturbed by the importation of foreign matter. -The incident of the reptiles and the prophecy must be eliminated as -belonging to a legend of Merlin. Vortigern, it would seem, after -popular feeling had turned against him, fell back on the pagan party, -which was still strong in country places, whereas the Romano-British -towns were wholly Christian. That he actually did have recourse to the -pagan practice of burying a child alive under the foundations of his -castle, or of sprinkling them with its blood, is probable enough under -the circumstances. The practice did not die out for some time. From -this fortress Vortigern was obliged to withdraw through the defection -of his followers, and it was seized by Ambrose, who was at the head -of the opposed faction. He had been raised to lead the revolt because -descended from one of the Roman emperors--in fact, from Maximus, who -had married Elen. - -Ambrose was supported by S. Germanus, who excommunicated Vortigern and -called down the vengeance of Heaven on his head. - -The palace of Vortigern is now called Dinas Emrys, or that of Ambrose, -and it rises above Llyn Dinas--some mounds indicate the site--on the -summit of an insulated hill surrounded by woods. It would be most -interesting to explore this spot with pick and spade--not in quest of -the child’s bones under the foundation-stone, nor of the reptiles, but -in the hopes of finding personal ornaments and weapons of the period of -Vortigern and Ambrose, for such are most scanty and rare in our museums. - -Merlin, or, as the Welsh call him, Myrddin or Merddin, was the son -of Morfryn, and he was actually engaged in conflict against his own -brother-in-law Rhydderch Hael in the north of Britain; Rhydderch being -the leader of the Christian Britons, Merlin threw himself into the -opposed party, which was pagan, headed by Gwenddolew, and was defeated -in a great battle at Arderydd, now Arthuret, in 573. - -To Snowdon twice retreated Llewelyn, the last Prince of Wales of the -House of Cunedda. - -If it served the Welsh princes as a refuge, it was also of use to them -as a prison, in which they could hold their most dangerous adversaries, -and the tower of Dolbadarn at the foot of Llyn Peris was their gaol. -The most noted of those who were there confined was Owen the Red, -brother of Llewelyn ab Gruffydd. On the death of David, son of Llewelyn -the Great, in 1246, the Welsh of Gwynedd chose the brothers Owen -and Llewelyn as joint kings to rule over them and lead them against -the English. It was an injudicious choice, for in Wales in a royal -family a man’s worst foes were those of his own household, and the -electors might have foreseen that these brothers would ere long fly -at each other’s throat. The two princes had a brother David, who was -dissatisfied at being left out in the cold, and he hasted to the court -of King Henry III. to obtain his assistance against his successful -brothers. The King was delighted to have an excuse for fomenting -fratricidal war in Wales, and he flattered and encouraged David, who -began to intrigue with Owen against Llewelyn. Suddenly, in 1255, these -two brothers raised the standard of revolt, but Llewelyn was on his -guard, and he captured both of them and slew many of their followers. - -Owen, as the more dangerous, was sent to Dolbadarn, and was immured -there for twenty years; but David was liberated in 1258, as he feigned -the profoundest contrition. - -[Illustration: ABERGLASLYN PASS] - -But David only waited his opportunity, and he entered into a secret -arrangement with Owen, prince of Powys, to murder his brother Llewelyn, -so that he might secure the crown of Gwynedd. In order to further this -plot, David recommended Llewelyn to invite the prince of Powys to a -great banquet at Aberffraw, to be followed by hunting parties in Môn. -This was in 1275. Llewelyn, unsuspecting treachery, agreed. Prince Owen -arrived, but his retinue, on which he relied for obtaining the mastery -of the palace, in the confusion consequent on the murder, was detained -by bad weather and the impassability of the roads. David was alarmed. -He suspected that Owen of Powys purposed betraying him, and he took to -flight. - -Llewelyn, perplexed at the disappearance of David, questioned Owen, -who made full confession of the plot. The conspirators intended to -have surrounded the bedroom of Llewelyn in the night, and to have -assassinated him in his sleep. - -The Prince of Wales, on learning all particulars, cited David to -appear before him and answer to the charge of high treason; but David -declined to attend, and, collecting a body of armed men, fell on and -ravaged portions of his brother’s territory, and when Llewelyn marched -to chastise him he fled to the court of Edward I., who received him -favourably. - -In 1277 Edward invaded Wales, and was greatly assisted by David, who -knew the country and the people, and was able to foment jealousies -among the Welsh chieftains, and cripple Llewelyn in his resistance to -the advance of the invader, by detaching them from his allegiance. Owen -the Red from his prison contrived to send to Edward his best wishes for -his success. - -Llewelyn was now obliged to take refuge in Snowdon, and was forced -to come to terms with Edward, and by these terms he was compelled to -release Owen. After this we hear little more of this red-haired fox, -and it is probable that his long captivity had broken his health. - -Now the false and fickle David deserted Edward, and went over to the -side of Llewelyn, actuated, not by patriotism, but by self-interest. - -In 1282 King Edward again invaded Wales, but his advance was checked -at Conway. He accordingly sent a fleet to effect the subjugation of -Anglesey, and to form that a base for operations against Llewelyn in -Snowdon. Having succeeded in this, Edward exclaimed exultantly, “Now I -have plucked the finest feather out of Llewelyn’s tail.” - -Llewelyn, hard pressed in Snowdon, left that stronghold to be defended -by David, whilst he hastened south to rally the Welsh under the prince -of Dynevor. He fell into an ambush, as has been already related, and -was killed. David was captured, and hanged, drawn, and quartered. -Another prisoner detained in Dolbadarn was David Gam of Brecon, who -tried to assassinate Owen Glyndwr. But about him more when we come to -Machynlleth. - -To understand the topography of the Snowdon district we must conceive -of Snowdon itself as shaped much like a star-fish with the radiating -arms curved, and little lakes lying in the hollows between the ridges. -The entire mass, however, forms a rude triangle with its base at Llyn -Dinas and Llyn Gwynant and the pass of Bwlch-y-Gwyddel, the neck that -attaches Snowdon to the stately mountain mass of Moel Siabod. North of -Llyn Padarn and Llanberis is again a great mountain bulk. - -The geology of Snowdon is too complicated for the unscientific eye to -understand and unravel, but broadly it may be described as eruptive -matter breaking through the Cambrian slates. These slates are the best -in England, though their purple tinge is unpleasant to the eye, and the -silvery grey is far more grateful. The slate quarries find employment -for armies of workmen, but are detrimental to the beauty of the -scenery, the mountain-sides being sliced and hacked and hewn into, and -over the hideous piles of débris it will take thousands of years for -the grass to grow. - -Even the uninitiated eye will soon be able to detect the traces of -glacial action in scored rocks as the great ice rivers moved over them, -scratching them with the stones embodied in the frozen stream, in the -fragmentary moraines, and in the eratic blocks. - -Once, in that cold remote age, the sea, a red sea, swept from the mouth -of the Dee over Cheshire, Staffordshire, Herefordshire, to the estuary -of the Severn. Wales was a great mountainous island with glaciers -rolling down the valleys, discharging their mighty rivers of ice into -it. The Wrekin stood up above the waters, and the waves leaped about -it. The great rollers from the north plunged and shivered into foam -against Wenlock Edge. The swirls formed the pools that are now still -basins full of carp around Ellesmere; it deposited its salt in the -beds whence the brine is pumped at Droitwich and in Cheshire. Rafts of -ice broken off from the glacier, descending the valleys of the Dee, -the Severn, and the Wye, drifted about till they melted, tilted, and -discharged their burdens of stone, brought from the Welsh mountains, -over the sea bed, so that now these are found strewn around Birmingham -and Bromley, scattered over the Clent and Lickey Hills. - -Snowdon, unhappily, is fond of wearing his cloud-cap, that Tarn-Kappe -of Northern mythology which was supposed to make him invisible who -donned it. In the _Niebelungen Lied_, one of the four greatest epic -poems the world has produced, when Gunther, the Burgundian king, goes -to court, Brunehild of Iceland, the virago, informs him she will -have none but such as can overmaster her in hurling and in leaping. -Siegfried dons the mist-cap, and puts his hand behind that of Gunther -to assist him in casting the spear and pitching the stone, and he -takes him in his arms to leap, and so wins the bride for Gunther. And -dear old Snowdon with his mist-cap on has baffled the forces of Norman -and English again and again as he hugged to his heart the gallant but -outnumbered Welsh. It was not the rugged heights or the impenetrable -ravines alone that bewildered and held back the invader, but the cap of -cloud which Snowdon drew over the refugees who clung to him for safety. -Standing forward, and looking over the western sea, Snowdon attracts -the vapours, and they are fortunate who, ascending it, can see from its -summit the glorious panorama of tossed mountain ridges and jewelled -lakes surrounding it. - -[Illustration: LLANBERIS] - -And now a few words relative to those places whence the visitor to -Snowdon will explore this beautiful neighbourhood. - -Llanberis, much given over to slate quarrying, takes its name from -a certain Peris, “Cardinal of Rome,” of whom scarcely anything but -the name is known, not even his pedigree,[2] and that means a great -deal, or rather did so, till the Normans came into Wales and upset the -ecclesiastical order there. - -_Achau y Saint_ was the _Who’s Who_ of the Welsh Church. Now when -an ecclesiastic founded a church and obtained land around it, -constituting what we may call his parish, that church and parish became -the hereditary property of his family. It was accordingly of first -importance to establish who he was, and who were his blood relations. -Thenceforth every pater-familias of his family had rights to land -in the benefice, be he layman or cleric. All the land in the parish -belonged to the family of the saint. To establish a right to land in -it a man had to prove his descent; consequently, next to fixing the -pedigree of the founder came the preservation of the genealogies of the -descendants. - -It did not in the least matter whether they were in Holy Orders or not, -they had hereditary rights in the benefice. If among them there were -one, two, or even a dozen, who were clerics, all these clerics were -co-rectors--that is to say, they had their rights to land in the parish -as kinsmen of the saintly founder. What they received in their clerical -capacity were surplice dues. Gerald the Welshman, who lived in the -twelfth century, speaks of it as an “infamous custom.” No doubt it did -not work well. There was no responsible priest with the cure of souls. -Some one or other of the tribe who was in sacred orders celebrated -divine service and administered the sacraments, but all went on in a -hugger-mugger way. Gerald speaks of parishes with several rectors. -Even bishoprics passed from father to son. Archbishop Peckham, in his -visitation in 1284, complained that this custom was ruinous to the -well-being of the Church. As all the householders of an ecclesiastical -tribe lived on the proceeds of the benefice, there was scarcely enough -coming in to the share of the actual priest who ministered, to support -him. The principle of co-ownership in land prevailed in the secular -tribes, and it extended to the ecclesiastical tribes as well, that is -to say, to those of the saint’s kin living about the church on Church -lands. Gerald says:-- - - “The Church has almost as many parsons or parties as there are - principal men in the parish, and the sons, after the decease of their - fathers, succeed to the ecclesiastical benefices, not by election, but - by hereditary right; and if a bishop should dare to presume to appoint - or to institute anyone else, the people would most certainly revenge - the injury on the institution or the instituted.” - -It was probably to get rid of this mischievous custom that the Norman -conquerors and the English barons who occupied castles in Wales turned -such benefices as they could lay their hands on into vicarages under -monasteries. Then the abbots or priors appointed some of their monks -to minister in these parishes, and these men were entirely detached -from all family ties in the place, and could attend to its spiritual -charge and to that only. But till this new order of things came in--and -it came in slowly and by degrees, and was forced on a reluctant -people--the genealogies of the saints and of their kin were preserved -with the utmost care. People were much more anxious to remember their -pedigrees than the stories of the lives of the founders. The pedigrees -were the title deeds to the enjoyment of valuable rights to land and -other endowments. - -In the Latin Church a saint was remembered for what he had done, for -his holy life; in the Celtic Church all that was nothing--he was valued -for the land he had acquired, and which he transmitted to his posterity. - -In the Welsh Church, saints, bishops, abbots, clergy, as a rule, were -married, and took care to transmit their benefices parcelled up among -their sons. When the Latin ecclesiastics condescended to write the -lives of the Celtic saints they suppressed this fact. Thus Gildas the -historian, Abbot of Ruys, and a reformer of the Irish Church after the -reaction to paganism that followed the death of Patrick and his devoted -band, was a married man, and the father of some half a dozen children. -He had two biographers. Neither says a word about this; each asserts -that from boyhood he was “crucified to the world and the world to -him”; that he “scorned transitory things,” and lived a life of severe -self-abnegation. His son Cenydd, or Keneth, was a hermit in Gower, -and he also had wife and family. But those terrible genealogies, so -carefully preserved by the Welsh, tell us facts not quite in harmony -with the statements of these “Lives,” just as parish registers and the -wills in probate courts make sad havoc of some of the pedigrees of our -gentle families as given in “Burke” and in county histories. - -Beddgelert is visited annually by a crowd of tourists, who drop a tear -on the grave of Llewelyn’s faithful hound. Who Celer was, who has given -a name to the place, is not known. Llewelyn may have had a dog called -Kill-hart, as we shall see presently, that was true and dear to him, -and the beast may have been buried here--that is possible enough; but -the story of the death of Gelert, killed by his master in mistake, -is not true--it is an importation. The full legend as connected with -Beddgelert appears first of all in Jones’s _Musical Relicks of the -Welsh Bards_ (ed. 1794, p. 75) about a dog, Cylart, at Beddgelert. Then -came Spencer’s poem, _Beth-Gelert, or the Grave of the Greyhound_, -which was first printed privately as a broadsheet in 1800, when it -was composed. He says: “The story of this ballad is traditionary in a -village at the foot of Snowdon, where Llewelyn the Great had a house. -The greyhound named Gelert was given him by his father-in-law, King -John, in the year 1205.” This is taken straight out of the note of -Jones, date and all. We may well inquire what was Jones’s authority. -The legend had found its way into Wales at least in the sixteenth -century, for there is an _englyn_, in a MS. written in that century, -to Llewelyn’s hound, Kilhart, “when it was buried at Beddgelert”; and -the legend occurs as one of the pseudonymous _Allegories_, or _Fables -of Catwg Ddoeth_, in the Iolo MSS., written about the same century, -and, as all the other documents there, in the South Welsh dialect. -It is there entitled, “The Man who killed his Greyhound.” It is -therein connected with a man “who formerly lived at Abergarwan.” The -tale--infant in cradle, a greyhound, a wolf--is given complete, and one -of the popular sayings it gave currency to--“As sorry as the man who -killed his greyhound”--is found in most collections of Welsh proverbs. -As to the allegories of Catwg Ddoeth, the collection was itself an -importation from the popular mediæval volume _The Sayings of Cato the -Wise_, and it was foisted on S. Cadog of Llancarfan. - -[Illustration: BEDDGELERT] - -With respect to the grave of the greyhound at Beddgelert, Professor -Rhys says that there are still alive old men there who remember and can -testify to having seen the cairn erected by the landlord of the Goat -Inn. - -We have, then, the story traced so far. It was brought into Wales in -one of the popular collections of tales that circulated in the Middle -Ages; then it was applied to some man, nameless, at Abergarwan, in -South Wales. Then it attached itself to Llewelyn; Jones took the -_englyn_, invented the date and the fable that it was presented by King -John to Llewelyn. Next, Spencer composed the ballad which at once -became popular, and finally the innkeeper at Beddgelert manufactured -the grave of the dog. But let us go a little further back, and track -the still earlier history of the tale. - -It appears first of all in the _Pantschatantra_, a collection of -stories made in Sanskrit (in India) some centuries before the Christian -era. It was translated into Syriac under the title of _Kalilah and -Dimna_. This was rendered into Arabic under the Calif Almansor -(754-775), and by this means spread and became a popular story-book -throughout the Mussulman world. It was translated into Persian in or -about 1150, and into Greek by Simon Seth about 1080, and by John of -Capua into Latin about 1270. In Spain it had been rendered out of -Arabic by Raymond of Beziers in 1255, and it became a source of many -collections of tales, as that of the _Seven Wise Masters_ and the -_Gesta Romanorum_, that circulated in the Middle Ages throughout the -Western world. - -The story of the faithful beast slain by its master through a hasty -conclusion that it had devoured his son is found in Thibet, in -Russia--almost everywhere in Asia and in Europe. - -In its original form in the _Pantschatantra_ it stands thus:-- - - “The wife of a Brahmin had an ichneumon in the house, as well as a - child. One day she was about to go to the well to draw water, and she - said to her husband, ‘Look sharply after the baby whilst I am away, - lest the ichneumon do it a mischief.’ But the man went off begging, - and neglected his charge. In the meanwhile a venomous black serpent - approached the crib, and the ichneumon flew at it and killed it. Then - the creature ran out, with its mouth bloody, to meet the woman as she - returned from the well. When she saw the animal with its jaws dripping - with gore she rushed to the conclusion that it had killed her son, and - threw the pail at it and crushed the life out of it.” - -[Illustration: CAPEL CURIG] - -An ichneumon was not an animal known in Europe, and so the translators -changed it into any beast that they thought would serve--as a cat, a -weasel, or a dog--and some vaguely describe it as a “domestic beast.” -The oldest form of the local legend is found in a MS. dated 1592. This -relates that the Princess Joan, natural daughter of King John, and wife -of Llewelyn the Great, brought a noble staghound with her from England, -and that the dog was one day fatally wounded by a horn-thrust when on a -chase. In another MS. of the same period the dog is called Kilhart, and -this seems to have been its real, an English, name, “Kill-hart.” - -Capel Curig takes its designation from S. Curig; he departed by -Cornwall to Brittany. In Cornwall and Wales the Latin clergy speedily -displaced him from the churches he had founded, and put Cyriacus, a boy -martyr of Tarsus, into his room. - -But he has been better respected in his adopted land. At Perros-Guirec -is his oratory on a rock in the bay, to which he was wont to retire -from visitors and troublesome distractions, to read, meditate, and -pray. The tide flows around the rock, so that Curig was cut off from -interference by dancing waves. The wonderful spire of Kreisker at -S. Pol de Léon is attached to a chapel that he is reported to have -founded, and it is regarded as the finest in Brittany. - - - - -CHAPTER VII - -LLEYN - - The promontory of Lleyn--Resemblance to - Cornwall--Watering-places--Irish camps--Tre’r Ceiri--Nant - Gwrtheyrn--End of Vortigern--Madryn--Holy wells of Llanaelhaiarn and - Llangybi--Castell March--The story of King March--Irddw and the wild - fowl--The tarn of Glasfryn--“Old Morgan”--Screen at Llanengan--Chest - of King Einion--Bardsey Isle--What a saint meant--Canonisation--Isle - of S. Tudwal--Love of the old saints for an isle--Avallon the Isle of - the Blessed--Madog’s supposed discovery of America--Celtic settlers in - Iceland--Iolo Goch--The meeting at Aberdaron--Clynnog--The story of S. - Beuno--Beuno’s mark--How to raise money for charities. - - -LLEYN is the promontory of Carnarvon that serves, with the -Pembrokeshire headlands of Strumble and S. David’s, to form the -Cardigan Bay. It bears a curious resemblance in outline to Cornwall. -It has its Land’s End at Braich-y-pwll, its Mount’s Bay, Porth Nigel, -and its Lizard Point at Pencilan. Bardsey may also be assumed as -representing the Scilly group. The general aspect of Lleyn is also like -that of Cornwall, no trees except in combes, heathery moors, and little -ports between rocky crags. - -Curiously enough, a number of Cornish saints settled here. But Cornwall -can show no such bold heights as Yr Eifl (the Rivals) and Carn Fadryn. -Their elevation is not great. Yr Eifl, rising into three peaks, is -only 1,850 feet and Carn Fadryn less--1,200 feet--but their shapes are -finer than those of the tors of the Cornish moors. - -Lleyn has several watering-places on the south coast, as Portmadoc, -Criccieth, and Pwllheli, and those preferring the more bracing air on -the north coast find what they desire at Nevin. - -The peninsula was a stronghold of the Irish, who tyrannised over the -British as the Roman’s grip on Britain relaxed. Their camps remain at -Tre’r Ceiri, Pen-y-gaer, and Carn Bentyrch. The first of these occupied -one of the summits of Yr Eifl, and is the finest specimen in Wales. -From being situated so high and so far from building sites, it has not -been molested, and the walls are in places fifteen feet high. It stands -1,500 feet above the sea, and towers precipitously above the village -of Llanaelhaiarn in a valley below. There was a walk around the wall -on the top protected by a parapet, which is perfect in several parts. -The enclosure is of an oblong shape with outer defences where the side -of the mountain was least steep, and the interior is crowded with -_cytiau_, or hut-circles. The entrance is well defended, and is quite -distinct, as is also a sally-port. - -The situation is extremely wild and picturesque. The camp cries out -to be scientifically and laboriously explored. It is now menaced -by the terrible tripper coming over in char-à-bancs from Criccieth -and Pwllheli, who respects nothing, and may amuse his empty mind by -throwing down the venerable walls that are set up without mortar, the -stones kept in position by their own weight alone. - -What has stood in the way of the work of exploration has been the -solitude and height at which stands the stone castle. Those undertaking -the excavation would have to camp in it, and snatch the chances of -bright days. - -Below Yr Eifl is Nant Gwrtheyrn, the Valley of Vortigern, with some -mounds indicating the site of the wooden hall of this unfortunate king. -Hither he retired as his last place of refuge. - -Unable effectively to resist the incursions of the Picts and Scots, -he invited the Germans to come to his aid. But he did not venture on -this upon his own initiative. He summoned a great national council to -devise a remedy for the distress of Britain when an appeal to Rome had -failed. The unanimous voice of the assembly authorised Vortigern to -call to his assistance the Teutonic rovers. Hengest and his brother -Horsa, with three tribes of Jutes and Angles, were accordingly invited -over, and they landed in the Isle of Thanet in 449. With their aid -Vortigern successfully rolled back the tide of northern barbarians, -and then assigned Thanet to his new auxiliaries, in the fond belief -that this would content them. He further undertook to furnish them with -provisions in proportion to their numbers. Tempted by the alluring -reports sent home by these adventurers, fresh tribes of Angles now -poured in, and on the plea of insufficient remuneration, Hengest and -Horsa led their countrymen to plunder the neighbouring Kent. - -At the same time the beautiful Rowena, daughter of Hengest, arrived, -and Vortigern, who met her at a banquet, was so fascinated by her -charms that to gain her hand he consented to assign Kent to Hengest. - -The Angles still pressed on; several battles were fought with various -success. In one of these Vortimer, the gallant son of the king, was -wounded, and, when he died, the exasperated Britons declared that he -had been poisoned by Rowena. Still the invaders advanced, and the -Britons met with a crushing defeat at Ebbsfleet. - -Vortigern was doubtless incapable, vacillating, and weak. The anger -of the Britons, now in deadly alarm, was concentrated on him. A -general revolt against him ensued, and, headed by Ambrosius Aurelius -and encouraged by S. Germanus--not he of Auxerre, but a nephew of S. -Patrick--he was driven from his throne, and took refuge under the old -Irish fortress of Tre’r Ceiri. Germanus pursued him, and the wooden -structure was set on fire. Tradition varies as to what became of him. -Some supposed that he perished in the flames, others asserted that he -managed to escape and wandered about with a few followers from place -to place, and finally died of a broken heart. In the palace at the -time was his granddaughter Madryn, wife of Ynyr, king of Gwent, with -her little son. She was allowed to pass out of the fire, and she fled -to the fortified hilltop that now bears her name--Carn Fadryn. Thence -at the earliest opportunity she took boat, and found a home for the -rest of her days in Cornwall. Her son embraced the ecclesiastical -profession, and built himself a church under the shadow of the mountain -to which his mother had fled for refuge. - -In Madryn Hall, the seat of the Jones-Parry family, is a beautiful -marble statue of her by an Italian artist, representing her flying from -the burning palace with her babe in her arms. - -Below Tre’r Ceiri, as already mentioned, is the village of -Llanaelhaiarn, with a remarkable spring. It consists of a tank with -stone seats about it for the bathers who awaited the “troubling of the -waters.” This troubling consists in the sudden welling up of a gush of -water charged with sparkling bubbles, first in one place and then in -another. - -The well has been closed and locked, as it adjoins the highway and -is liable to contamination. To this was attributed an outbreak of -diphtheria in the village a few years ago, when an order was made for -the closing of the well doors, and the water is now conducted into the -village by a pipe. - -Aelhaiarn, “the Iron Brow,” was, according to the legend, an -over-curious servant of S. Beuno. The saint was wont to go in the dead -of night from Clynnog to Llanaelhaiarn to say his prayers on a stone in -the midst of the river. Aelhaiarn one night, to gratify his curiosity, -followed him, and was rewarded by being torn to pieces by wild beasts. -Beuno picked up the poor fellow’s bones, and pieced them together, but -“part of the bone under the eyebrow was wanting.” This he supplied with -the iron on his pikestaff. - -Llangybi was the foundation of S. Cybi when he escaped from the wreck -of his boat, after crossing over from Ireland. His holy well and bath -are in good preservation. This latter is also a tank, and there are -niches in the wall for the seats of those who desired to bathe in -the salutary waters. On the rocky height above is shown his chair, a -natural throne in the rock, where he is supposed to have sat whilst -instructing his disciples, who crouched among the fern and against the -oak trees around. - -[Illustration: DOORWAY, S. CYBI’S WELL] - -There are several cromlechs about Criccieth, but not of any great size. -Criccieth Castle was erected by Edward I. on the site of a prehistoric -_caer_. It is now in the last condition of ruin. - -Llanarmon must have been founded by, or in commemoration of, S. -Germanus when he smoked Vortigern out of his last place of refuge. - -At Castell March it is fabled that King March, one of Arthur’s -warriors, resided, who had horse’s ears. The same story is told of him -as of Midas. In order to conceal the fact, he killed every barber who -trimmed his hair, and then buried him in a swamp. A piper happened to -cut the reeds that grew there, but the pipe would play but one tune, -“Mae clustiau march i Farch ab Meirchion,” and the attendants on the -king, regarding this as an insult, fell on the piper and killed him. -But when one of them put the pipe to his lips, again it would play no -other tune. It was then discovered where the reed had been cut, and the -whole story came out. - -March was the husband of the fair Iseult, who eloped with Tristan, his -nephew. Twenty-eight knights were sent in pursuit, but failed to catch -the runaways. However, at last they were taken and brought before King -Arthur, who decided that Iseult should spend half the year with Tristan -and half with March, and it was left to the latter to decide whether he -should have his wife with him whilst foliage was on the trees or when -they were bare. - -He chose the latter, whereupon Iseult exultantly exclaimed, “Blessed -be the judgment of Arthur, for the holly and the ivy never drop their -leaves, but are ever green; so farewell for ever to King March.” - -An odd story is told of Irddw, great-grandson of March. He amused -himself with taming wild fowl, by holding meat in the air, and they -came for it to his hand, and he taught them to carry it off in pairs. -He went to the Holy Land to fight the infidels, and was taken prisoner, -but was allowed by the Sultan to walk in the open air, and he offered -to show how he fed the wild birds. So meat was given to him, and he -called, and multitudes of birds came, and he caught them by means of -the meat, and they in their efforts to escape soared into the air, -carrying Irddw along with them, and they flew over land and sea, and -did not drop him till they reached his native Wales. In commemoration -of his escape he added a flying griffin to his arms. - -The little tarn of Glasfryn has a story connected with it that is found -in connection with other sheets of water in Wales, in Ireland, and -Brittany. - -There was once a well there, but no lake, called Ffynnon Grassi, or -Grace’s Well, that was walled about, and had several holes in the wall -for the overflow to issue thence. Over the well was a door always kept -shut, and it was placed under the charge of Grassi, who was bidden -never leave the door open, but shut it down after drawing from it the -supply required for domestic purposes. But one day she forgot to do -this, and the well overflowed, and the water spread and formed a lake. - -So as punishment for neglect she was changed into a swan, and in that -form she continued to swim on the lake for successive years. Then, at -length, she died; but still it is reported that at times her plaintive -cry may be heard over the water that has swallowed up her home and its -fair fields. - -It is also reported that a mysterious Morgan, a monster, dwells at the -bottom of the lake, and naughty children are threatened with being -given to “Old Morgan” unless they amend their ways. - -At Llanengan is a fine screen with rood-loft. The carving is coarse but -effective. It is remarkable that in Wales it is the exception to find -a screen without a loft, whereas among the hundred and fifty screens -in Devon there are only two with the ancient loft left undemolished. -The reason is this. The Devon rood-galleries were supported on fan -vaulting, which, if beautiful, is not overstrong to support much -weight. In Wales it is sustained by three, in some cases four, parallel -rows of posts. - -In the church is a huge oak chest, supposed to have been the coffin -of Einion, king of Lleyn, but actually it was the chest for receiving -the offerings made by pilgrims. Over the tower door is still to be -seen an inscription, which reads “Eneanus Rex Walliae fabricavit;” it -is, however, very much weather-worn. The present church was erected -many centuries subsequent to his time. It was this prince who founded -Penmon, and placed his brother Seiriol there. He also gave up the Isle -of Enlli or Bardsey to S. Cadfan. - -Bardsey became the Holy Isle of Wales, and the saints thought it -profitable to retire to it for death and burial. It is said that so -many as twenty thousand repose in it. - -The island belonged to the late Lord Newborough, who erected a cross -upon it, with the following inscriptions on three sides:-- - - [_a_] “Safe in this Island - Where each saint would be, - How wilt thou smile - Upon Life’s stormy sea.” - - [_b_] “Respect - the Remains of 20,000 Saints - buried near this spot.” - - [_c_] “In hoc loco requiescant in pace.” - -When the Bollandist Fathers undertook to write their great work on the -Saints of Christendom, they were staggered when they found that Ireland -and Wales claimed to have had as many as all the rest of Christendom -put together. They say of the Irish, “They would not have been so -liberal in canonising dead men in troops whenever they seemed to be -somewhat better than usual, if they had adhered to the custom of the -Universal Church throughout the world.” - -The total number of Welsh saints whose names are known as founders -is about five hundred, but there are the twenty thousand whose bones -lie in Bardsey, and Bishop Gerald of Mayo is said to have had three -thousand three hundred saints under him. - -But the fact is, a saint in the Celtic mind was something very -different from one as conceived in the Latin Church. He was one who -had entered the ecclesiastical profession, and was counted a saint, -whatever his moral qualities were. Piro, Abbot of Caldey, tumbled -into a well when drunk, and was drowned, but he was regarded as a -saint all the same. The title of saint has changed its significance. -S. Paul addressed the “saints” at Corinth, but he lets us understand -that a good many of them were very disreputable characters, and a -scandal even to the heathen. They were saints by vocation, but not by -manner of life. In precisely the same way the Welsh called all those -saints who took up the religious profession. Whether they were decent, -well-conducted saints, that was another matter. - -Not one of the old Irish saints was canonised, not even S. Patrick. -None of the Welsh saints have been canonised except S. David. - -Canonisation is of comparatively recent introduction. Originally the -names of the dead, good and moderately good, were read out by the -priest at the altar. Then the bishops took it on them to decide what -names were to be read. Next the metropolitans claimed to determine -this; and lastly, the sole right to canonise, that is to say, to -include a name in the canon of the Mass was reserved to themselves by -the popes. - -Bardsey is not very easy of access, as a strong current runs between it -and the mainland. A boat has to be taken at Aberdaron, but now it is -best to go by steamer, which occasionally takes an excursion party from -Pwllheli. - -Another isle is that of S. Tudwal. To this a Roman Catholic priest -retired a few years ago, and lived there the life of a solitary. It -would seem to have been part of the pre-Celtic religion to believe in -a spirit-land beyond the waters of the west; and this belief was taken -up by Brython and Goidel alike. They looked west and saw the sun go -down in a blaze of glory into the sea. Whither went it? What mysterious -land did it go to illumine? Hy Brasil the Irish call the wondrous land -to the present day, and the fishermen on the Galway and Clare coast -imagine that at times they can see it above the rim of the ocean. - -This it was which induced the Celtic saints to hasten, as death -approached, to some isle that commanded an unbroken view of the sea to -the sunset; they could die in peace looking over the waste of waters -to the land of delight whither angels would transport their souls. -That was the true Avallon to which the mysterious barge conveyed King -Arthur-- - - “Where falls not hail, or rain, or any snow, - Nor ever wind blows loudly; but it lies - Deep-meadow’d, happy, fair with orchard-lawns - And bowery hollows crown’d with summer sea, - Where I shall heal me of my grievous wound.” - -It was in quest of this land that Brendan, the Navigator, set forth on -his seven years’ voyage; and Madog, the Welshman, sailed in quest of -it, when life at home became too troubled for his peace-loving spirit. - -Dafydd ab Owen Gwynedd had obtained the throne in 1171 by killing his -brother Hywel, but fearing every kinsman lest he should become a rival, -he set himself to pick quarrels with his surviving brothers and cousins -on one plea or other, and to crush or expel them. - -Madog is described by the poet Llywarch ab Llewelyn as “the placid -one.” He was a brother of the ambitious and unscrupulous Dafydd. He -embarked with a picked crew of faithful followers in Cardigan Bay, and -in the year 1170 started on an exploring excursion to the far west, far -beyond Ireland, “in trouble great and immeasurable.” - -Dafydd was alarmed; he feared that his brother had gone to obtain -assistance in Ireland, and knowing that the bard, Llywarch, was his -intimate friend, he tortured him with hot irons to wring from him the -secret as to whither and for what purpose Madog had departed. Llywarch -composed a poem whilst undergoing the ordeal, which is extant. - -It was said that after a year Madog returned, and gathered to him other -followers, to the number of three hundred men in ten ships, and again -departed in 1172 for the wondrous land beneath the sunset, from which -he never returned. Consequently he has been esteemed a forerunner of -Columbus. But nothing is certainly known about him more than that he -sailed away to the west. - -Southey’s delightful epic _Madoc_ is based on this story. The -expeditions of Madog are spoken of by three contemporary poets, and -also by Meredydd ab Rhys, in a poem written before Columbus was heard -of. - -In 1790 a young Welshman, John Evans, a native of Carnarvonshire, -fired with these allusions and traditions of the extensive discoveries -of Madog, made an expedition to America in the hopes of discovering -traces there of the colony from Wales settled in the twelfth century. -He ascended the Missouri for some 1,300 miles, but without success, -and returned to S. Louis on the Mississippi to organise another -expedition. However, he was prostrated by a fever, and died without -accomplishing his object in 1797. - -Catlin, in his _Manners and Condition of the North-American Indians_, -convinced himself that he had found the descendants of the Welsh -colony in the Mandans, but he has convinced no one else; and no other -travellers have found a trace of Madog and his settlers from Wales. - -The Celtic saints were children of light, and they followed the light. -It was this that took them to Iceland in their wicker-work coracles, -pursuing the summer sun. - -When, in 870, the Norse refugees, deserting Norway rather than submit -to Harold Fairfair, colonised Iceland, they found Irish and perhaps -Welsh monks there, and the new-comers called them Papar. These -eventually abandoned the island, as they did not care to live among -heathen; but left behind them bells, croziers, and books. - -Aberdaron, the little port whence pilgrims started for Bardsey, has a -church of some interest that was ruinous, but has been recently put in -order, and is empty, swept, but not garnished. - -Here, at this harbour, in the house of the Dean of Bangor, David Daron, -took place that meeting which has been represented by Shakespeare, -where those united against Henry IV. contrived the partition of the -land between them that they had, as yet, not conquered. - -Shakespeare was not historically correct. Harry Hotspur had fallen at -Shrewsbury in 1403, and the meeting did not take place till 1406. -Those who met were the fugitive Earl of Northumberland, the father of -Hotspur, Owen Glyndwr, and Edmund Mortimer. - -Northumberland had, in fact, twice revolted against Henry IV., and had -escaped to Scotland; he had lost nerve, as he saw tokens, or suspected -them, of an inclination on the part of the Scots to exchange him with -the English king for Lord Douglas, and he took ship and fled for -France, but put in at the headland of Lleyn on his way, for conference -with Glyndwr, who doubtless desired to send messages to France through -the earl. The assembly took place on February 28th, 1406, and at it the -Indenture of Assent was signed by the three contracting parties. - -Owen had his bard with him, Iolo Goch, and the harper sang the prophecy -of Merlin, which declared that the “mole accursed of God” should come -to destruction, that a dragon and a wolf should have their tails -plaited together and prevail, and that with them should unite the lion, -and these three would divide the kingdom possessed by the mole. - -The three who met at Aberdaron applied the prophecy to themselves. Owen -was the dragon, Percy the lion, and Mortimer the wolf, and the mole was -none other than the burrowing, crafty Henry Bolingbroke. Little came of -this agreement. Percy after two years spent partly in France, partly in -Wales, played his last stake in 1408, was taken on Bramham Moor and was -executed. - -Clynnog possesses a fine and interesting church, in which is Beuno’s -chest. - -Beuno had been residing near Welshpool, but as he was walking on a -certain day near the Severn, where there was a ford, he heard some men -on the further side inciting dogs in pursuit of a hare, and he made -sure they were Englishmen, for one shouted “Kergia!” (Charge!) to the -hounds. When Beuno heard the voice of the Englishman he immediately -turned back, and said to his disciples, “My sons, put on your garments -and your shoes, and let us abandon this place, for the nation of the -man with the strange language, whose voice I heard beyond the river -inciting his dogs, will invade this place, and it will be theirs.” -Beuno left and went to Meifod, where he remained but forty days and -nights with Tyssilio, and then went on into the territory of Cadwallon, -king of Gwynedd, who gave him land on which to settle, far away from -the hated Saxon. And he and his monks began to enclose an area with a -mound and a moat. Whilst thus engaged, a woman came up with a child in -her arms, and asked Beuno to bless it. “Wait a while,” said the abbot, -“till we have done a bit of banking.” Then the child began to cry, so -that it distracted the monks, and Beuno bade her still it. - -“How can I do that,” said she, “when you are taking possession of the -land that belonged to my husband, and should be that of this little -one?” Beuno at once stopped the work to inquire into the matter, and -found that what the woman had said was true. Then, in great wrath, he -ordered his chariot, and drove to the palace of Cadwallon, and asked -him how he had dared to give him land which belonged to the widow and -orphan. - -Cadwallon answered contemptuously that he must take that or none at -all. So Beuno would not take it, and swarmed off with his disciples to -Clynnog, and settled there on land given him by the king’s cousin, and -there ended his days about the year 640. Leland, in his _Collectanea_ -(ii. p. 648), relates a curious account given him in 1589 of a custom -that prevailed at that period at Clynnog. John Anstiss, Esq., Garter, -wrote it. - - “Being occasioned the last yere to travaile into mine owne native - countrye, in North Wales, and having taryed ther but a while, I have - harde by dyvers, of great and abominable Idolatry committed in that - countrye, as that the People went on Pylgrymage to offer unto Idoles - far and nere, yea, and that they do offer in these daies not only - Money (and that liberally) but also Bullockes unto Idoles. And having - harde this of sundrye Persons while I was there--upon Whitsondaye - last, I went to the Place where it was reported that Bullockes were - offered, that I might be an eye witnesse of the same. And upon Mondaye - in Whitsonne Week there was a yonge Man that was carried thither the - Night before, with whome I had conference concerning the Maner of - the Offerings of Bullocks unto Saints, and the yonge man touled me - after the same Sort as I had hard of many before; then dyd I aske him - whether was ther any to be offered that Daye? He answered that ther - was One which he had brought to be offered; I demanded of him where it - was? he answered, that it was in a close hard by. And he called his - Hoste to goe with him to see the Bullocke, and as they went I followed - them into the close, and the yonge Man drove the Bullocke before him - (beinge about a yere oulde) and asked his Hoste what it was worth? His - Hoste answered that it was worth about a Crowne, the yonge Man said - that it was worth more, his Hoste answered and said that upon Sondaye - was senight Mr Viccar brought here a Bullocke about the Bigness of - your Bullocke for Sixteen Groats. Then the yonge Man said, How shall - I do for a Rope against even to tye the Bullocke with? His Hoste - answered, We will provide a rope; the yonge Man said againe, Shall I - drive him into the Church-yarde? His Hoste answered, You maye; then - they drove the Bullocke before them toward the Church-yard; And as - the Bullocke dyd enter through a litle Porche into the Church-yarde, - the yonge Man spake aloude, ‘The Halfe to God and to Beino.’ Then dyd - I aske his Hoste, Why he said the Halfe and not the Whole? His Hoste - answered in the yonge man’s hereing, He oweth me th’ other Halfe. This - was in the Parishe of Clynnog in the Bishopricke of Bangor, in the - yere of our Lord 1589--Ther be many other things in the Countrye that - are verye gross and superstitious; As that the People are of Opinion, - that Beyno his Cattell will prosper marvelous well; which maketh - the people more desyrous to buye them. Also, it is a common Report - amongest them, that ther be some Bullockes which have had Beyno his - Marke upon their Eares as soone as they are calved.” - -The indignation of the narrator seems to be very unreasonable. One -cannot see what difference there is between giving in money and in kind -for the keeping up of the church. - -But that this was the survival of a sacrifice of a horned animal is -possible enough. The custom at Clynnog spoken of fell into disuse -only in the nineteenth century; till a little over a hundred years -ago it was usual to make offerings of calves and lambs which happened -to be born with a slit in the ear, popularly called _Nôd Beuno_, or -Beuno’s mark. They were brought to church on Trinity Sunday, and -delivered to the churchwardens, who sold them and put the proceeds into -Beuno’s chest. Something of the same sort of thing continues to this -day at Carnac, in Brittany, on the feast of S. Cornelius (September -13th). After High Mass horned beasts are blessed at the door of the -church. These beasts, donations of the peasants to Cornelly, are then -conducted, with a banner borne before them, to the fair, where they are -sold for the profit of the church, and are eagerly purchased, for the -presence of one in a stable is thought to guarantee the health of the -rest for a twelvemonth. - -We have recourse to other expedients to raise money for church -expenses. I have heard of curates at a bazaar entering into washing -competitions, of exhibitions of babies, of beauty competitions as well, -of wags grinning through horse-collars, running races carrying eggs in -spoons, to raise a few shillings. - -A short time ago a bazaar in aid of the funds of a hospital was held -in a garrison town in one of the eastern counties. The rector of a -certain village not far distant appeared in the costume of an East -End costermonger, presided at a stall, and conducted an “auction -sale” in the “patter” of the street salesman, to the great disgust of -decent-minded people. - -At harvest festivals we have donations of fowls, butter, legs of -mutton, and hams, to be sold for the good of the church. The donation -of bullocks is to be ranked in the same category, and it was a more -decent exhibition for a good end than that of curates making tomfools -of themselves at bazaars. - -[Illustration: CONWAY CASTLE] - - - - -CHAPTER VIII - -CONWAY - - The town of Conway--The castle--Title of Prince of - Wales--Archbishop Williams--The church and its screen--Plas - Mawr--Caer Seiont--Deganwy--The Yellow Plague--The Sweating - Sickness--Llandudno--Overflow of the sea--Gwyddno and Seithenin--Cave - with prehistoric relics--The Steward’s Bench--New invasion of North - Wales--The tripper--The railway--The Cursing Well--Penmaenmawr--King - Helig--The Headland of Wailing--Similar stories--Submarine - forests--Chronology of the prehistoric ages--Conovium--Pen-y-Gaer--The - purposes of these camps--Underground retreats--Örvar Odd--The - salmon-weir of Gwyddno--Elphin--Taliessin. - - -CONWAY is an interesting and eminently picturesque town, surrounded, -as it still is, by its old walls, and possessing the ruins of the -finest castle in Wales--it may perhaps be said in England. This castle -occupies one point of the triangle that encloses the town, and has the -harbour on one side and the River Gyffin on the other. - -The castle was begun in 1283 by Edward I. on the site of a Cistercian -monastery, Aber Conwy, and was constructed after the designs of Henry -de Elreton, the architect of Carnarvon, and it is said that the workmen -employed upon it were brought from Rutlandshire, which produced the -best masons in England. It is an extensive structure, and possessed a -magnificent dining-hall, built on a curve, the roof formerly sustained -by eight stone arches, but of these only two remain. It was lighted by -nine Early English windows. At the east end is a chapel, with an apse -and a groined roof, lighted by three lancet windows. - -The castle was in a decayed condition in the reign of James I. However, -it was garrisoned for Charles in the Civil Wars by the warlike -Archbishop Williams of York, who, huffed at being superseded by Prince -Rupert, went over to the Parliamentary faction and assisted in the -attack on the town in 1646. General Mytton took the castle, which -was defended by Irish soldiers, and so great was the resentment felt -against these auxiliaries, that he had them all tied back to back and -flung into the river to drown. - -Charles II. granted the castle to the Earl of Conway, who, in 1665, -stripped the lead from the roofs and carried off the timbers to convert -them to his own use. If it had not been for this, what a residence it -would have made for the Princes of Wales, and how pleased the Welsh -people would have been to have their Prince living among them! - -The Welsh are a loyal people, which the Irish are not, and they are -sensitive to consideration. Why should not the Prince of Wales have a -stately residence in the Principality? Why should his title be a title -only recalling cruel injustice done to this people in the past? - -Conway Castle is indisputably finer than any on the Rhine, and its -situation and the grouping of the towers are eminently picturesque. -The crimson valerian has spread as a gorgeous mantle about the rock on -which it is built, and adheres as drops of blood to the crumbling walls. - -A short account of Archbishop Williams will not come amiss. John -Williams was born at Aberconwy in 1582, and was the second son of -William Williams of Cochwillan, in Carnarvonshire. At the age of -sixteen he entered S. John’s College, Cambridge. He was a young man -of good parts, robust constitution, and with a keen eye for the main -chance. It was said of him that he never required more than three hours -of sleep out of the twenty-four. He became fellow of his college in -1603. His method in study was this. If he desired to master a subject, -he put everything else on one side and concentrated his attention upon -it, grappled it to him, and did not let it go till he had thoroughly -got to know it in all its aspects. - -Having made the acquaintance of Archbishop Bancroft, he obtained -access to the King, who took particular notice of him, and when he -entered Holy Orders he obtained one preferment after another. In 1617 -he was made a prebendary of Lincoln, Peterborough, Hereford, and S. -David’s, in addition to a rectory in Northamptonshire and a sinecure -in North Wales. He was also chaplain to the King, and had to receive -and entertain that eccentric man Marco Antonio de Dominis, Archbishop -of Spalato, who had quarrelled with the Pope and came to England. In -1619, not satisfied with all his preferments, he obtained the deanery -of Salisbury, and the year following, that of Westminster. In 1621 he -was made Lord Keeper of the Great Seal of England, and was raised -to the bishopric of Lincoln, which he held along with the deanery of -Winchester and his Northamptonshire rectory. - -On the death of James I., whom he attended at the last, he fell out -with the Duke of Buckingham, and Charles I. took the Great Seal from -him in 1626. Afterwards, on some charges brought against him in the -Star Chamber, he was fined ten thousand pounds, suspended from all his -functions, dignities, and emoluments, and sent to prison in the Tower -for three years and a half. The King was, however, soon reconciled to -him, cancelled all orders that had been made against him, and in 1641 -he was advanced to the archbishopric of York. - -When war broke out between the King and the Parliament, he took the -side of the former, and had to fly from York, as the younger Hotham -was marching on York, and had sworn to capture and kill him for having -commented strongly on the manner in which Sir John Hotham had seized on -the King’s magazine of arms at Hull. - -Archbishop Williams hasted to Conway and fortified the castle for the -King, and Charles, by letter from Oxford, “heartily desired him to go -on with the work, assuring him that whatever moneys he should lay out -upon the fortification of the said castle should be repaid him before -the custody thereof should be put into any other hand than his own.” - -The good people of Conway town placed all their valuables in the castle -for security. - -[Illustration: PLAS MAWR, CONWAY] - -In 1645 Sir John Owen, a colonel in the King’s army, obtained from -Prince Rupert the appointment to the command of the castle. This the -archbishop angrily resented, as the King had assured the governorship -to him till the money he had dispensed should be repaid. Charles could -not raise the requisite sum, and the castle was too important not to -be placed under a soldier instead of a churchman. He accordingly went -over to the side of the Parliament, and with the assistance of Colonel -Mytton, the Parliamentarian officer, forced the gates and secured that -stronghold for the faction against which he had hitherto contended. - -Williams, in fact, had been keen-sighted enough to see that the -King’s affairs were falling into ruin in all quarters, and he -characteristically joined the winning side. - -But if Williams had reckoned on retaining his archbishopric and other -emoluments as the price of his treachery, he was mistaken. The rest -of his life was spent in seclusion, in vain regrets, and it is said -in sincere repentance, rising from his bed at midnight and praying -on his bare knees, with nothing on but his shirt and waistcoat. He -died at Gloddaith, near Conway, in 1650, and was buried in Llandegai -Church, where a monument was erected to him by his nephew, Sir Griffith -Williams. - -Conway Church is good, with a fine tower and an Early Decorated chancel -that has a Perpendicular east window inserted. But the greatest -treasure of the church is its magnificent rood-screen; and there are -good stalls in the choir. - -Plas Mawr is a specimen of a Welsh gentleman’s house of the sixteenth -century, with panelled rooms and quaint plaster ceilings. The house -has fifty-two doors, as many steps up the tower, and 365 windows. - -Rising above Conway is Caer Seiont, where are circles of stones and -embankments, the remains of a camp probably dating from the Irish -possession of Gwynedd. The railway is carried through a tunnel in a -spur of the hill. A glorious view is obtained from the summit, of the -sea, the Great Orme’s Head, and the valley of the Conway dotted with -houses. Near the mouth of the river on the further bank is Deganwy, -once the royal residence of Maelgwn, king of Gwynedd, a bold warrior, -but terribly nervous about his health, apparently, for when the Yellow -Plague, in 547, broke out he took to his heels. However, the plague -went after him, and he died of it. - -But Maelgwn was not the only one to run away. Teilo, Bishop of -Llandaff, fled, taking with him his clergy, and sheltered in Brittany -till the disorder had passed. The Yellow Plague would seem to have been -a very infectious sickness attacking the bilious glands and producing -jaundice. It spread to Ireland and committed frightful ravages both -there and in Britain. As neither Bede nor the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle -makes any allusion to it, the plague cannot have touched the English, -but was confined to the Celtic lands. It, however, broke out again in -664. - -[Illustration: PLAS MAWR, CONWAY] - -The plague of 547-50 created the liveliest panic. In Ireland it was -thought that the only escape from it was to put “seven waves” between -the soil of Erin and a place of refuge, and monks and princes fled to -the islands. Maelgwn, in a panic, assumed the habit of a monk, and -escaped to the church of Llanrhos, intending to go further, but died -there. It is curious that twice again a plague was thought to have -originated in Wales. The next was the Sweating Sickness, the germs -of which were carried to Bosworth by the army of Richmond, and which -after the victory there spread in a few weeks from Bosworth and the -Welsh mountains to London. Those afflicted with it had their powers -prostrated as by a blow; they suffered intense internal heat, yet every -refrigerant was certain death. Not one in a hundred who was attacked -escaped at first. The physicians were bewildered; they turned over the -pages of Galen and found that the disease was not described there, nor -were any remedies prescribed for any malady that at all resembled it. -Death came quickly; a day and a night after a man was attacked he was -a corpse. The battle of Bosworth was fought on August 22nd, 1485, and -Henry entered London on the 28th. Immediately the Sweating Sickness -began its ravages. The Lord Mayor and six aldermen died within a week. -The sickness struck at the most vigorous and robust men, and from -London it spread like wild-fire throughout the kingdom. The coronation -of the King had to be postponed, and did not take place till October -30th. - -As the physicians were quite at a loss how to deal with the malady, -the people looked to common sense, and found that the best of doctors. -Directly a man felt the fire in him, and the sweat began to stream -from every pore, he took to his bed, not even staying to take off his -clothes, and was given only liquids, and these hot. - -The plague broke out again in 1551, not exactly in Wales, but at -Shrewsbury. All the spring clammy fogs had hung over the Severn valley, -and suddenly, on April 15th, the Sweating Sickness again appeared. -The visitation was so general at Shrewsbury and in the basin of the -Severn that everyone believed that the air was poisoned. The disease -came unexpectedly and without warning--at table, during sleep, on -journeys, in the midst of amusement, and at all times of the day. Some -died within an hour of the attack; none who had it mortally survived -four-and-twenty hours. - -Crowds of fugitives escaped to Ireland and Scotland, some embarked -for France or the Netherlands, but it was remarked that the Sweating -Sickness struck down only the English, not foreigners in England, nor -did it spread from the refugees abroad. Within a few days nine hundred -and sixty of the inhabitants of Shrewsbury died. - -Thence it rapidly spread throughout England. The banks of the Severn -were, however, the focus of the malady, and a fetid mist was thought to -hang over the river, “which mist,” says a writer of the time, “in the -countrie wher it began, was sene flie from towne to towne, with such a -stincke in morninges and evenings, that men could scarcely abide it.” -It lasted from 15th April to 30th September. - -To return to Deganwy, from which we have wandered. It was struck by -lightning in 812, but was speedily restored. Hugh the Fat, Earl of -Chester, made it his stronghold, but it was taken and demolished by -Llewelyn ab Gruffydd in 1260. - -Llandudno, on the neck of land connecting the Great Orme’s Head, -or Pen y Gogarth, with the mainland, has grown into a fashionable -watering-place. The Head rises to the height of nearly 680 feet above -the sea; on the Conway side was an ancient monastic settlement at -Gogarth. In the first half of the sixth century a low-lying tract of -land, now overflowed by the sea, formed a hundred called Cantref y -Gwaelod, in Cardigan Bay. It was probably a portion of land that had -been reclaimed by the Romans from the waves by strong sea walls. This -district was ruled by two chiefs, Gwyddno and Seithenin. The story goes -that owing to the neglect of Seithenin, who was a drunkard, and whose -duty it was to see to the repairs of the walls, one stormy night the -rollers coming in with an unusually high tide and wind, the dykes were -overleaped, and the whole _cantref_ was covered with sea. - -With difficulty did the sons of Gwyddno escape with their lives, and -as they had lost their lands and tribal rights, nothing was open to -them save to enter religion and found ecclesiastical tribes. Among -the sons of the tipsy Seithenin was Tudno, who settled on the Orme’s -Head. But here also was a great inundation, as we shall see presently. -The church, which is of the twelfth century with a fifteenth-century -chancel, was for some time left in ruins, but it has been restored, -and service is now held in it in summer. In the interior is an early -circular font. - -In 1881 a cave in the limestone was discovered behind Mostyn Street in -Llandudno, which had been inhabited in prehistoric times, for beside -the bones of cave bears, were found skeletons of men, and a necklace -of pierced teeth of beasts. These were the relics of that primeval race -which began to settle in the land as the Ice Age came to an end and the -glaciers disappeared. - -There are many caves in the limestone rock of the Head, one fitted up -as a summer-house, by some of the Mostyn family, with stone seats and -tables. A small cromlech and some rude stone remains on the headland -may be seen, but the relics are sadly mutilated. - -Pen y Ddinas overhangs the town, and on it is a logan rock, the Maen -Sigl, which is also called S. Tudno’s cradle. - -A stony ledge runs out to sea, and is covered at high tide with about -two feet of water, and is named the Steward’s Bench. Here, according to -tradition, a steward of the Mostyn family, who had been convicted of -peculation, was compelled to sit naked during the flow and reflow of -two tides. - -The entire north coast of Wales, after having been invaded by the -Gwyddyl, and then by the Britons from Strathclyde, and next by the -Normans, has been invaded by a horde of trippers. It has been taken -possession of by them for the summer months. The horde derives from -Manchester, Liverpool, and Birmingham; and every vantage place is -laid out with piers, promenades, pavilions; and for the delectation -of the holiday-makers there are Ethiopian serenaders, dancing-dogs, -cheap-jacks, organ-grinders, and monkeys. - -The intelligent tourist, knowing that the chief study of mankind is -man, will find endless amusement in observing his fellow-Englishmen and -women when out on a spree. The bow must at times be relaxed, but when -it is, it does not invariably take a graceful form. - -How the North Welsh coast has changed within a century in its aspect -may be gathered from a letter of Mr. Gladstone, which describes it some -eighty years ago. - - “I remember,” he says, “paying my first visit to North Wales, - travelling along the North Wales coast as far as Bangor and Carnarvon, - when there was no such thing as a watering-place, no such thing as a - house to be hired for the purpose of those visits that are now paid - by thousands of people to such multitudes of points all along the - coast. It was supposed that if any body of gentlemen could be found - sufficiently energetic to make a railway to Holyhead, that railway - could not possibly pierce the country, and must be made along the - coast, and if carried along the coast, could not possibly be made - to pay. So firm was the conviction that--I very well recollect the - day--a large and important deputation of railway leaders went to - London and waited on Sir Robert Peel, who was then Prime Minister, in - order to demonstrate to him that it was totally impossible for them to - construct a paying line, and therefore to impress upon his mind the - necessity of his agreeing to give them a considerable grant out of the - consolidated fund. Sir Robert Peel was a very circumspect statesman, - and not least so in those matters in which the public purse was - concerned. He encouraged them to take a more sanguine view. Whether he - persuaded them into a more sanguine tone of mind I do not know. This - I know, the railway was made, and we now understand that this humble - railway, this impossible railway, as it was then conceived, is at the - present moment the most productive and remunerative part of the whole - vast system of the North-Western Company.” - -Prestatyn, Rhyl, Abergele, Colwyn, Llandudno, Penmaenmawr, Aber--what -a string it forms of bathing-places, ever extending and threatening in -time to run a continuous line of lodging-houses and hotels along the -entire coast! - -S. Elian’s Well is a little beyond Colwyn. It is now filled up, and the -structure over it has been destroyed, for the place was in bad repute, -and was resorted to for no good purpose. The spring was a Cursing Well, -and here from time immemorial a guardian ministered to the resentments -of the ill-disposed. Anyone who bore a grudge against another, and -believed himself to have been wronged, would resort to this well to -“throw in” his adversary. A writer of the beginning of last century -says:-- - - “The well of S. Elian lies in a dingle near the high road leading from - Llanelian to Groes yn Eirias. It was surrounded by a wall of 6 feet - high, and embosomed in a grove; but the trees have fallen and the wall - is thrown down. It was resorted to by the Welsh to call imprecations - and the vengeance of the saint on any who had done them an injury. - Mr. Pennant says that he was threatened by a person he had offended - with a journey to the well to curse him with effect. The ceremony was - performed by an old woman, who presided at the font, in the following - manner. After having received a fee, the name of the offender was - marked on a piece of lead; this she dropped into the water, and - mumbled imprecations, whilst taking from and returning into the water - a certain portion of it. It frequently happened that the offending - party who had been the subject of her imprecations sought through the - medium of a double fee to have the curse removed; and seldom was this - second offer refused by her. On this occasion she took water from the - well three times with the new moon, select verses of the psalms were - read on three successive Fridays, and a glass of the well water drunk - whilst reading them.” - -The well became such an occasion for ill-feeling that a former -incumbent of the parish had it destroyed. - -In 1818, at the Flintshire Great Sessions, the “priest” of the well -was sent to gaol for twelve months for obtaining money under false -pretences, by pretending to put some into the well, and to fetch some -out whom others had put in. - -The last “priest” of the well was John Evans, who died in 1858. Doctor -Bennion, of Oswestry, once said to him, “Publish it abroad that you -can raise the devil, and the country will believe you.” Evans took the -advice offered in jest, and confessed afterwards, “The people in a very -short time spoke much about me; their conduct when they thought I held -converse with the devil fairly frightened me.” - -In Ireland there are several cursing wells. There boulders are placed -on the low wall that surrounds the well, and he who wishes to call down -a curse upon another turns the stone against the sun thrice whilst -repeating the curse and the name of the person on whom he desires it to -fall. - -Penmaenmawr, to the west of Conway, is a favourite watering-place, and -takes its name from the hill, 1,180 feet high, that rises steeply from -the sea and commands a tract like Cantref y Gwaelod, that was about -the same time overflowed by the sea. The story told of this sunken land -is that King Helig was feasting with his lords and ladies where now -lies the sandbank bearing his name, when the cellarer, having gone down -to broach another cask, rushed up the steps in terror at finding the -cellar under water, and he shouted, “The sea! the sea is on us!” The -panic-stricken revellers fled for their lives, and as they issued from -the palace heard the roar of the waves and could see the gleam of the -manes of the white horses as they overleaped the sea wall. - -Half a mile from Penmaenmawr is Trwyn-y-wylfa, the Headland of Wailing, -for there the survivors congregated and looked over a tumbling sea that -covered what had once been fair pastures and quiet homesteads. Tyno -Helig, the lost land of Helig, stretched between Puffin Island and -Penmaenmawr; and the Lavan sandbank covers a portion of it. The story -reappears in many places with variations. In Brittany the same is told -of King Grallo. He was warned to fly from his palace by S. Winwaloe, as -the vengeance of Heaven would fall on it on account of the disorderly -life of his daughter Ahes, and there the sea encroached and overwhelmed -the palace and town. - -But the most curious instance of the reduplication of the story is -found in the marshes of Dol, in Brittany, where is a little lake which, -in popular belief, covers a great city, and it is called la Crevée de -Saint Guinou. Here we have actually the name of Gwyddno transferred -to Lesser Britain. The colonists must have carried the story with them -to their new home, and located it there. The morass was not formed -till an inundation that took place in 709. The whole of Mount’s Bay, -in Cornwall, was also at one time land, and William of Worcester, in -his _Itinerary_, wrote: “All this region was once covered with dense -forest, and extended six miles from the sea, a suitable place for wild -beasts, and in which at one time lived monks serving God.” - -The existence of submarine forests along this north coast of Wales and -in Cardigan Bay, as well as off the south coast of Cornwall, may have -originated the legend of the sunken land. In 1893, for instance, after -a gale, a submerged forest was disclosed at Rhyl, nearly a mile east of -the pier. But it is also quite possible that the tradition preserves -the memory of a real subsidence. - -In Brittany the sinking of the land is still going on. In an island of -the Morbihan are two circles of standing stones. One is already half -under water, and the other is completely submerged. At Locmariaquer -a Roman camp is almost wholly engulfed, and Roman constructions of a -villa that were observed and described in 1727 are now permanently -under water. - -But the submerged forests belong to a much earlier period than the -sixth century, though to a time when man lived on the land and hunted -in these forests. Gerald of Windsor, in the twelfth century, was -puzzled at the revelation of trees beneath the waters of S. Bride’s -Bay. He says:-- - - “The sandy shores of South Wales being laid bare by the extraordinary - violence of a storm, the surface of the earth which had been covered - for many ages reappeared, and discovered the trunks of trees cut off, - standing in the sea itself, the strokes of the hatchet appearing as if - only made yesterday; the soil was very black and the wood like ebony.” - -Among the bones found in these underwater forests are those of the -brown bear and the stag; the trees were Scotch firs, oaks, yews, -willows, and birches, and they show by the way they have fallen, with -their heads pointing to the east, that the prevailing wind, then as -now, was from the west. The size of the trees proves that they must -have grown at some considerable distance from the sea-board. Indeed, -the forest land can be pretty well made out. The whole of Cardigan Bay -was above the sea, and the promontory of Lleyn and Bardsey were heights -rising out of the woodland. The stretch of forest extended a long way -to the north of Wales, and the coasts of Lancashire and Cheshire were -many miles further out to sea than they are now. The men who chased in -this primeval forest used flint weapons; the age of metal had not then -dawned. - -According to Montelius of Stockholm an absolute chronology can now -be given for periods of prehistoric civilisation in Europe, because -Copper, Bronze, and Iron Ages are contemporaneous with an historic -period in Egypt and Western Asia, and also because numerous points of -connection are known between the different parts of Europe and the East -from the beginning of the Copper Age onwards. - -He fixes the periods as follows:-- - - B.C. 2500-2000 Copper and Stone. - B.C. 1900-900 Bronze. - B.C. 800 Iron Age. - -Now the Stone Age preceded that of Copper. So we must throw back the -period of this vast forest to something like three thousand years -before the Christian era. - -Those who are satiated with the study of the tripper and the -holiday-takers, and can wrench themselves from the contemplation of -their sportive gambols, will take the train to Tal-y-cafn and walk -thence to Caerhun, that occupies the site of the Roman town Conovium. -This town did not give its name to the Conway, but took its title from -it. - -The Dulyn is a tributary of the Conway at Tal-y-bont (the Head of the -Bridge), and it flows from the little lakes Llyn Dulyn (the Black Pool) -and Melynllyn (the Yellow Pool), the former under fine crags, and forms -a beautiful fall on its way. - -Another stream, Afon Porthlwyd, issues from a much larger lake, the -Llyn Eigiau, lying 1,220 feet above the sea under precipices of rock; -and another again, the Afon Ddu, or Black River, rises in a still -larger lake, the Llyn Cowlyd. - -At Pen-y-Gaer, above Afon Dulyn and the little church of -Llanbedr-y-Cennin, is a prehistoric camp of stone, with obstacles set -in the soil, stones planted on end on the glacis, so as to break up an -onrush of the enemy, in a manner seen in the Aran Isles off Ireland, -some castles in Scotland, and one in Brittany. Where upright stones -were not erected, sometimes the slope before the walls was purposely -strewn with rubble or slates, and the assailants had to stumble over -these slowly and with difficulty, exposed to volleys of arrows or -stones, before they could come to close quarters. In some of the camps -are great cairns of stones of a handy size piled up to serve as a store -of missiles for the besieged. - -It has often been remarked that these camps are away from springs and -watercourses; and one wonders how those who held them managed for -drink. But almost certainly they never were intended to stand long -sieges. They were places of refuge. When an enemy appeared or was -signalled by beacons, the inhabitants of the valleys and plains fled -to them, driving their cattle before them and carrying their poor -possessions on their backs. The foe came on and endeavoured to storm -the stronghold; if he failed to do this at once, he abandoned the -attempt, and did not sit down before it to reduce it by starvation. -In some camps there are underground storehouses rudely constructed of -stones set on end and roofed over, where the treasures of the tribe -were concealed. - -There is a story in the Norse Saga of Örvar Odd, of how he and other -northern Vikings came on just such a subterranean passage. A great -flat stone lay over it, but he chanced to pull it up, and found the -entrance. He went in, and found it full of women in hiding. One was -so pretty that he took hold of her and tried to drag her out, but the -other women, screaming, held her back. - -“You shall come with me,” said Odd. - -“Let me buy my freedom,” she pleaded. “I have gold and silver to pay -for it.” - -“I have plenty of that,” answered the Northman. - -“Then I have gay clothing I will give,” she said. - -“And of that I have abundance,” he replied. - -“Then,” said she, “I promise to embroider for you a beautiful kirtle -with gold thread in it, and so thick with the precious wire that no -sword will cut through it.” - -“That is something,” he said. “But when may I have it?” - -“Come next year, and the kirtle shall be done,” she answered. And he -agreed, and allowed the women to remain without further molestation. - -In the River Conway at Gored Wyddno was the salmon weir of Gwyddno, -who had lost his land through the inundation of the sea in Cardigan -Bay. He had a son called Elphin, who had so wasted his substance -that he was obliged to fall back on his father for help, and Gwyddno -consented to allow him for a while the profit of his salmon weir. -Coming one morning to it he found there a babe in a leather bag, -apparently a leather-covered coracle that had drifted down-stream. -“What a bright-browed little chap!” exclaimed Elphin, so Taliessin, -or Bright-brow, became his name, and he grew up to be a famous bard. -At Christmas, long after this, Elphin was at the court of Maelgwn at -Deganwy, and the bards then vied with one another in flattering the -king and his queen. He was the handsomest, the wisest, the mightiest -of monarchs, and she was the loveliest and most virtuous woman in the -world. Elphin had the indiscretion to demur to this, and say that his -wife was the chastest on earth. The story runs something like that -of Posthumus and Imogen, but there are differences. Maelgwn, highly -incensed, ordered Elphin to be cast into prison, and sent his son Rhun -to test the lady. But Elphin had time to forewarn her, and she dressed -her maid in her clothes, and put his ring on her finger. Rhun was -completely deceived; he returned to Deganwy, and cast a finger with a -ring on it upon the table, and declared that he had cut it off from the -false wife’s hand. Elphin was brought from prison, and was shown the -finger. “It is not that of my wife,” said he, “for the finger is larger -than hers, and the ring has not been put on it further than the middle -joint. The nail has not been cut for a month, whereas my lady trims her -nails every Saturday. She from whom this finger has been cut has been -recently baking rye bread--you may see the dough under the nail. That -is what my wife never does.” So the laugh was turned against Rhun. - - - - -CHAPTER IX - -S. ASAPH - - Situation of the city--The cathedral--Tomb of Bishop Barrow--Epitaph - of Dean Lloyd--The _Red Book of S. Asaph_--Dick of Aberdaron--Parish - church--Catherine of Berain--Meiriadog--The legend of Cynan, and - of the Eleven Thousand Virgins--Ffynnon Fair--Cefn caves--Plas - Newydd--Cawr Rhufoniog--Covered avenue--Rhuddlan--The air - “Morfa Rhuddlan”--Welsh airs--Need for careful examination and - discrimination--Stories connected with certain tunes--Welsh hymn - tunes--Gruffydd ab Llewelyn--Constitution of Rhuddlan--Edward “Prince - of Wales.” - - -THE city of S. Asaph is pleasantly planted, for the most part, on -rising ground above the River Elwy, in the vale of the Clwyd, which -unites with the Elwy below this miniature city. - -The cathedral is small and not particularly interesting, and the -interior effect is spoiled by the choir being moved under the central -tower, and the transepts being closed in to form vestries, chapter -house, consistory court, and library. The structural choir is a mere -chancel without aisles, and possibly the dean, canons, and choristers -may have felt cramped in it; but the alteration has robbed the interior -effect of its dignity. The clerestory windows are square-headed, and -the arches of the nave rise from pillars without capitals. The chancel -was restored by Sir Gilbert Scott in the Early English style, and -contains some good modern glass, and some that is execrable. - -Outside the cathedral, at the west end, is the tomb of Bishop Isaac -Barrow, who died in 1680, with the epitaph: “O vos transeuntes in -Domum Domini, domum orationis, orate pro conservo vestro ut inveniam -misericordiam in Die Domini.” - -In the cathedral yard is a cross, with eight figures about it, of -those who assisted in the translation of the Bible into Welsh, but -it commemorates especially the tercentenary of Bishop Morgan’s first -complete translation, published in 1588. - -One of the deans of S. Asaph, Dr. David Lloyd, who died in 1663, is -said to have made for himself the following epitaph:-- - - “This is the epitaph - Of the Dean of S. Asaph, - Who, by keeping a table - Better than he was able, - Ran much into debt - Which is not paid yet.” - -He was buried at Ruthin, of which he was once warden, but there is no -monument there to his memory. - -In the episcopal library is preserved the _Red Book of S. Asaph_, -originally compiled in the fourteenth century, containing a fragmentary -life of the saint who gives his name to the church and diocese, and -early charters and other documents connected with it. - -The site was granted to S. Kentigern, of Glasgow, when driven away -by the king of Strathclyde, Morcant, and he only returned after -the defeat, in 573, of Morcant by Rhydderch Hael. Then he left his -favourite disciple Asaph to take charge of the foundation he had made -on the banks of the Elwy. - -[Illustration: CATHERINE OF BERAIN] - -In the cathedral library is preserved the polyglot dictionary of Dick -of Aberdaron, a literary vagabond. He is reported to have acquired -thirty-four languages. He was a dirty, unkempt creature, who wandered -about the country, his pockets stuffed with books. His predominant -passion was the acquisition of languages. A dictionary or a grammar was -to him a more acceptable present than a meal or a suit of clothes. He -had no home, and was sometimes obliged to sleep in outhouses. - -Bishop Carey did what he was able for him, but his personal habits made -him unsuitable to have in a decent house, and he was impatient of every -restraint. He died in 1843, and was buried at S. Asaph. - -The little parish church consists of nave and aisle of equal -length--one dedicated to S. Kentigern and the other to S. Asaph. -It lies at the bottom of the hill, and has a somewhat original -Perpendicular east window. - -Not far from S. Asaph is Berain, the residence once of Catherine Tudor, -an heiress with royal blood in her veins, for she was descended from -Henry VII., who, when he was in Brittany collecting auxiliaries for his -descent on England to win the crown from Richard III., had an intrigue -with a Breton lady named Velville, and became the father of Sir Roland -Velville. Sir Roland’s daughter and heiress, Jane, married Tudor ab -Robert Vychan of Berain, and their only child was Catherine. She is -commonly spoken of as Mam Cymru, the Mother of Wales, as from her so -many of the Welsh families derive descent. - -She was first married to John Salusbury of Lleweni, and by him became -the mother of Sir John Salusbury, who was born with two thumbs on -each hand, and was noted for his prodigious strength. At the funeral -of her husband, Sir Richard Clough gave her his arm. Outside the -churchyard stood Maurice Wynn of Gwydir, awaiting a decent opportunity -for proposing to her. As she issued from the gate he did this. “Very -sorry,” replied Catherine, “but I have just accepted Sir Richard -Clough. Should I survive him I will remember you.” - -She did outlive Clough and married Wynn. She further survived Wynn, and -her fourth husband was Edward Thelwall of Plas-y-Ward. She died August -27th, and was buried at Llannefydd, September 1st, 1591, but without a -monument of any kind. - -Popular tradition will have it that she had six husbands in succession, -and that as she tired of them she poured molten lead into their ears -when they slept, and so killed them. Her last husband, seeing that her -affection towards him was cooling, and fearing lest he should meet -with the same fate as her former husbands, shut her up in a room that -is still shown at Berain, and starved her to death. There are several -supposed portraits of Catherine to be found in Wales, but not all are -genuine. One by Lucas de Heere, painted in 1568, is in the possession -of Mr. R. J. Ll. Price of Rhiwlas, near Bala, and shows her to have -been a very beautiful woman with hard, dark eyes. Another genuine -portrait is at Wygfair, in the possession of Colonel Howard, and this -was taken when Catherine was an old woman. The remorseless stony eye is -that of one quite capable of the trick of the molten lead. - -In a lovely situation on the Elwy is Meiriadog, whence came Cynan, -brother or cousin of the road-building Elen. When Maximus went to Gaul -to assert his claims to the purple, Cynan accompanied him and never -returned. Much fabulous matter has attached itself to this Cynan. It -was supposed that after the death of Maximus he retired to Brittany, -with all the gallant youths who had accompanied him to the war, and -as they were forbidden to return home they appealed for a shipload of -wives to be sent out to them. Accordingly Ursula, daughter of Dunawd, a -Welsh king, started with eleven thousand marriageable damsels, but they -were carried by adverse winds up the Rhine, and landing at Cologne were -there massacred by the Huns. The walls of a church there are covered -with little boxes containing their skulls. - -The earliest mention of these gay young wenches starting out -husband-hunting, and meeting instead with a gory death, is found in a -sermon preached between 752 and 839, but in it Ursula is not named. In -an addition to the chronicle of Sigebert of Gemblours, made by a later -hand, is an entry under 453:-- - - “The most famous of wars was that waged by the white-robed army of - 11,000 Holy Virgins under their leader, the holy Ursula. She was the - only daughter of Nothus (Dunawd), a most noble and rich prince of the - Britons.” - -She was sought in marriage, the writer goes on to say, by “a certain -most ferocious tyrant,” and her father wished her to marry him. But -Ursula had dedicated herself to celibacy, and the father was thrown -into great perplexity. Then she proposed to take with her ten virgins -of piety and beauty, and that to each, with herself, should be given -an escort of a thousand other girls, and that they might be suffered -to cruise about for three years and see the world. To this her father -consented. And the requisite number of damsels having been raked -together, Ursula sailed away with them in eleven elegantly furnished -galleys. For three years they went merrily cruising over the high seas, -but at the end of that time, having ventured up the Rhine to Cologne, -they were all put to the sword. - -Geoffrey of Monmouth, who died in 1154, gives another form to the -story. He relates that the Emperor Maximian (Maximus), having -depopulated Northern Gaul, sent to Britain for colonists wherewith -to repeople its waste places. Thus out of Armorica he made a second -Britain, which he put under the rule of Conan Meriadoc, who sent to -have a consignment of British girls forwarded to him. At this time -there reigned in Cornwall a king, Dinothus by name, and he listened -to the appeal and despatched his daughter Ursula with eleven thousand -young ladies, and sixty thousand others of lower rank. Unfavourable -winds drove the fleet to barbarous shores, where all were butchered. - -The story is, of course, devoid of a shred of historic truth, and is a -mere romance, and a silly and poor one. - -But there is something to be added. - -Conan Meriadoc has figured largely in fabulous Breton history. At -the beginning of the eighteenth century a priest of Lamballe, named -Gallet, wrote a history for the glorification of the dukes of Rohan, -and he spun a wonderful tale that imposed on later serious historians. -According to him, Conan or Cynan Meiriadog, disappointed at not getting -Ursula, married Darerca, the sister of S. Patrick, and from this -union descended the kings of Brittany and the dukes of Rohan. This he -achieved by identifying Cynan with Caw, the father of Gildas, entirely -regardless of chronology, for Gildas, son of Caw, king in Strathclyde, -died in 570, and Cynan was contemporary with Maximus, who was killed in -388, and Patrick was born about 410. - -Dom Morice, whose _History of Brittany_ was published in 1750, -reproduces this absurd and impossible pedigree, and further identifies -Conan with Cataw, son of Geraint, and uncle of S. Cybi, who died about -554. - -There is a holy well, Ffynnon Fair, in the parish of Cefn, in a -beautiful situation, once very famous, but the chapel is in ruins, -though the spring flows merrily still. It was the “Gretna Green” of -the district, for here clandestine marriages were wont to take place, -celebrated by one of the vicars choral of the cathedral, till all such -marriages were put a stop to by the Act of Lord Hardwicke in 1753. The -chapel was of the fifteenth century, and is now overgrown with ivy, -and in a clump of trees. Mrs. Hemans made this, “Our Lady’s Well,” the -subject of one of her poems. In the unpretending-looking house just -across the Elwy was written one of the earliest printed Welsh grammars -(1593). - -The Cefn caves are in an escarpment of mountain limestone high above -the river, and have been carefully explored. They yielded bones -of extinct animals--the cave bear, wolf, _elephas antiquus_, _bos -longifrons_, reindeer, the hyæna, and the rhinoceros--but very scanty -traces of man. The bones are preserved at Plas-yn-Cefn, the residence -of Mrs. Williams-Wynn, on whose property the caves are. The caves are -worth visiting more for the view from the rocks than for any intrinsic -interest in themselves. - -A quaint Elizabethan mansion, Plas Newydd, has in its wainscoted hall -an inscription to show that it was built by one Foulk ab Robert in 1583 -when he was aged forty-three. It is said to have been the first house -in the neighbourhood covered with slates. A giant, Cawr Rhufoniog, used -to visit there, and a crook is shown high up near the cornice, on which -he was wont to suspend his hat. Giants, it would appear, were in days -of yore pretty plentiful in this neighbourhood. The grave of one is -pointed out close by, and another, Edward Shôn Dafydd, otherwise called -Cawr y Ddôl, lived at an adjoining farm. His walking-stick was the -axle-tree of a cart, with a huge crowbar driven into one end and bent -for a handle. He and Sir John Salusbury (of the double thumbs) once -fell to testing their strength by uprooting forest trees. - -Between Plas Newydd and Plas-yn-Cefn, in a field, is a “covered -avenue,” only it has lost all its coverers. It was in a mound called -Carnedd Tyddyn Bleiddyn, with some trees on the top. When these were -blown down in a storm, a little over thirty years ago, the cromlech -within was exposed. It was found to contain several skeletons, in a -crouching position, of what have been called the Platycnemic Men of -Denbighshire. - -Between S. Asaph and Rhyl is Rhuddlan with its castle in ruins. -Formerly the tide washed its walls. The marsh, Morfa Rhuddlan, was the -scene of a great battle, fought against the Saxons in 796, in which the -Welsh, under their King Caradog, were defeated with great slaughter, -and the prisoners taken were all put to the sword. The beautiful melody -“Morfa Rhuddlan” has been supposed to pertain to a lament composed on -that occasion; but the character of the melody is not earlier than the -seventeenth century, and it apparently owes its name to the verses -adapted to it by Iean Glan Geirionydd, who lived a thousand years after -the event of this battle. - -Welsh melodies require to be taken in hand by some musical antiquary -and thoroughly investigated and sifted. It will be found that along -with many noble airs that are genuinely Welsh, a goodly number are -importations from England. This was inevitable, so mixed up were the -Welsh with English families in the great houses and castles. Edward -Jones published his _Musical and Poetical Relicks of the Welsh Bards_ -in 1784. He collected the tunes from harpers and singers, but he knew -nothing of old English music, and was incapable of discriminating what -was of home production from what was an importation; consequently, in -his collection, a goodly percentage consist of English melodies. - -He gives us a Welsh air, “Difyrwch Gwyr Dyfi,” as a bardic melody, but -it is found in Tom D’Urfey’s _Pills to purge Melancholy_, published in -1719-1720, and is the old English melody of “Greensleeves” spoiled. -The melody of “Cynwyd” is none other than the venerable English air -of “Dargason,” which may be traced back in England to the reign of -Elizabeth. A tune given by Jones as “Toriad y Dydd” is the old English -air “Windsor Terrace,” and “Y Brython” is a country dance published -in _The Dancing Master_ by Playford, 1696. Jones gives the “Monks’ -March” as probably the tune of the monks of Bangor when they marched -to Chester, about the year 603, and it is none other than “General -Monk’s March,” composed at the restoration of Charles II., and “The -King’s Note” is none other than King Henry VIII.’s “Pastyme with -good company.” The “Ash Grove” is doubtful. It first appears as a -popular song in Gay’s _Beggar’s Opera_, 1727, “Cease your funning.” -The _Beggar’s Opera_ became the rage in London, throughout England, -Scotland, and Ireland, and we know that it was performed also in Wales. -Edward Jones in his _Bardic Museum_, in the second series published in -1802, inserted a tune that seems to have been formed on it, but the -resemblance was confined to the first part. John Parry touched it up -and altered all the second part of the tune to what it is now. It is, -of course, possible that Gay may have heard a Welsh air and introduced -it into his opera, but it is far more probable that the _Beggar’s -Opera_, which was repeatedly performed in Wales, introduced the melody -into the Principality. One Welsh air Gay did insert in his play, “Of -noble race was Shenkin,” and he may have picked up another. - -Tunes are like birds of the air that fly from place to place and light -on every tree, and are at home everywhere. There is a popular melody -sung to very gross words by the peasantry in England. I picked it up -in Devon, and it has also been found in Yorkshire, and a lady sent it -me as heard in Wales, but without the words. Mr. Chappell has noted -sixteen in Jones’s collection that are certainly English, and he did -not exhaust the number. - -A curious instance of the manner in which melodies drift from their -original connections is that of the popular hymn tune “Helmsley,” to -which is sung “Lo! He comes with clouds descending.” - -Thomas Olivers was born in the village of Tregynon, in Montgomeryshire, -in 1725; his father was a small farmer, who died when Thomas was a -lad, and he was then committed to the charge of his father’s uncle -Thomas Tudor, a farmer at Forden. In his youth he was of a merry and -thoughtless disposition, and was dearly fond of dancing and all sorts -of amusements. In his autobiography he states “that out of sixteen -nights and days, he was fifteen of them without ever being in bed.” - -Some years after, when he was in Bristol, he was “converted” by -Whitefield, and he became a Wesleyan Methodist lay preacher, and in -1777 undertook the printing of Wesley’s _Arminian Magazine_. But his -lack of education stood in his way, and in 1789 Wesley had to take -the periodical out of his hands. In his _Journal_, Wesley enters his -reasons: “1. The errata are unsufferable. I have borne them for these -12 years, but can bear them no longer. 2. Several pieces are inserted -without my knowledge, both in prose and verse.” - -Olivers became noted, however, as a hymn writer, and especially for his -tune “Helmsley,” which he gave to the world, no doubt firmly convinced -that it was original. But this it was not; it was a reminiscence of his -old unregenerate days. In fact it is an opera air, and belongs to _The -Golden Pippin_, in which occurs the song:-- - - “Guardian angels now protect me, - Send to me the youth I love.” - -_The Golden Pippin_ appeared in 1773. - -Some of the stories connected with genuine Welsh airs are delightful. -David Owen, of the Garreg Wen, lay on his death-bed, and fell into a -trance. His mother, who was watching him at the time, supposed that he -was dead. But presently he roused, and said to her that he had been in -an ecstasy, and had seen heaven open, and the harpers about the throne -were playing a wondrous strain. He called for his harp, and, with a -radiance as of the world he had visited on his face, played the tune -“Dafydd y Garreg Wen.” As the last note died away the flame of life -passed from him. The air became fixed in his mother’s memory, and has -thus been preserved. - -Another story of the same musician is that he was returning home from -a feast in the early morning, and daybreak overtook him as he sat -on a stone--still pointed out at Portmadoc--and there, watching the -soaring skylark, he composed the air “The Rising of the Lark.” The -melody “Hoffedd merch Dafydd Manuel” (“The delight of David Manuel’s -daughter”) is associated with a member of a very remarkable family. -Dafydd Manuel was a poor cottager, born in Trefeglwys, Montgomeryshire, -in or about 1625. He became a poet, and lived to a very advanced age, -dying in 1726 at the age of a hundred and one. He left three children, -two daughters--also excellent poets--and a son David. The elder -daughter, Mary, noted for her wit and as a great harpist and singer, -is she whose tune is called “The delight of David Manuel’s daughter.” -Another member of the family, John, who fought in Egypt under Sir -Ralph Abercromby, was thoroughly conversant in English, French, and -Welsh. His daughter Sarah was quite illiterate till her thirtieth -year, when she learned to read fluently and became well acquainted -with the current literature of the day. Thomas Manuel, a sawyer, was -illiterate till he grew to manhood, but accidentally becoming possessed -of a French Testament, he resolved on mastering that language, which -he did very quickly. His son William was a very remarkable boy, who at -an early age--it is said at four, but this is hardly credible--could -read English, Welsh, Hebrew, Greek, and Latin. At the age of eight -he was placed in Christ’s Hospital, where he died of consumption on -attaining his twelfth year. This extraordinary child had two brothers -also possessed of great natural gifts. Thomas, the eldest, was an -excellent Welsh, Latin, Greek, and English scholar. He also died of -decline. Edward, the youngest, gave promise of even more extraordinary -abilities than William. It is asserted that he could read English, -Welsh, German, Latin, Greek, and Hebrew when only four years old, and -he died of consumption at the age of five. Precocious geniuses are like -candles that blaze away and gutter and are out quickly. The mother of -these remarkable children, perceiving the thirst for learning evinced -by them, taught herself to read and translate Latin and Greek, for the -sake of helping them in their studies. - -Some of the Welsh hymn tunes are magnificent, and one cannot but desire -that some had been taken into such popular collections as _Hymns -Ancient and Modern_, in place of the utterly insipid trash which has -found its place there. But some are quite impossible of transference, -as “Crug-y-bar,” one of the very best. The Welsh accent so differs from -that of English, that to render the words into English, or write others -to suit the melody that are not nonsense, is almost impossible. - -The Welsh melodies have a charm of their own, and they are harp tunes; -whereas a great many of the most popular of our English folk airs -are hornpipes. But, as already said, the thing needed is a critical -investigation and a sifting of Welsh melodies. - -Gruffydd ab Llewelyn, king of Gwynedd (1039-1069) and prince of Wales, -had a fortress at Rhuddlan. He was a notable man, and he played a -conspicuous part in Welsh history before the Norman Conquest. Under -him the Cymry developed an amount of military capacity that was -unusual. At the commencement of his reign he raided Mercia and defeated -the English forces under Edwin, the brother of Earl Leofric, and slew -him in battle. Then Gruffydd turned his attention to South Wales, and -defeated its prince, Howel, and forced him to take refuge in Ireland. -Two years after Howel returned at the head of Irish kerns, and was -defeated again. On this occasion Gruffydd captured Howel’s wife and -made her his mistress. But in the ensuing year Gruffydd was himself -defeated and made prisoner. He, however, escaped, and returned to -Gwynedd. Howel, with a fleet from Ireland, entered the Towy, but was -beaten and killed in battle by Gruffydd. - -Under Harold an English army assembled at Gloucester and marched -against the Welsh. Gruffydd made peace, but next year broke his -engagements and invaded Mercia, which was defended by the sheriff and -the Bishop of Hereford. They were, however, defeated, and both fell on -the field of battle. - -In 1063 Harold determined to crush his dangerous neighbour, and he -marched to Rhuddlan and surprised Gruffydd, who, however, escaped in a -boat. Unable to follow, and not strong enough to maintain his hold on -the land, Harold contented himself with destroying Rhuddlan, and then -retired to Gloucester, but only to concert a plan for a systematic -invasion and subjugation of Wales. He collected a fleet at Bristol, and -sailed along the coast ravaging it, whilst his brother Tostig, at the -head of an army, wasted Gwynedd. - -Hitherto the English had been accustomed to fight in close array, -heavily weighted with their armour. They now abandoned their old -methods, and adopted those of their foes, with the result that the -power of Gruffydd was broken, and some of his Welsh followers turned -against him and murdered him. “The shield and deliverer of the -Britons,” says the Brut, “the man who had hitherto been invincible, was -now left in the glens of desolation, after he had taken vast plunder, -and gained innumerable riches, and gathered treasures of gold and -silver, jewels, and purple raiment.” - -The castle of Rhuddlan was rebuilt under the Earl of Chester at the -same time as that of Montgomery, and these formed redoubtable outposts -whence the Welsh could be watched and worried. - -After the conquest of Wales by Edward I. a Constitution was drawn up at -Rhuddlan in 1284, which was included among the statutes of the realm. -English law was introduced. In the matter of succession to land, Welsh -custom was to be followed. Upon a death occurring, estates continued to -be divisible among all the children. - - “The general constitutional effect was that the Principality was - considered a distinct parcel of the Kingdom of England, ruled, - however, by English laws, save so far as these were not modified by - the provisions of the statute.”[3] - -I have already told the story of Llewelyn, the last of the Welsh -princes, and of his treacherous and unprincipled brother David, but I -may here enter into fuller particulars of the end of David. - -He had been a fugitive with his wife and children in the forests and -mountains, hunted from place to place, with a few tenants accompanying -him, grumbling at short commons and wretched quarters, casting sidelong -glances at the English, and wondering whether they would not secure -better meals and more comfortable lodgings if they turned against their -lord and prince. And this desire took effect; for their own base ends -they betrayed him to the English king. With the same measure with which -he had dealt with his brother Llewelyn, it was meted to him. Delivered -over to the hereditary enemies of his race by men of his own household, -tongue, and blood, he was brought before Edward at Rhuddlan, and with -him were handed over the crown of King Arthur and the rest of the -regalia of Wales. - -On the last day of September, 1283, Edward held a parliament at -Shrewsbury for the trial of David, who was condemned to be hanged, -cut down whilst still breathing, his belly sliced open, and his still -palpitating heart plucked out. Then his body was chopped in pieces, -and the parts distributed for exhibition in certain English towns. His -head, forwarded to London, was placed on a spike above the gatehouse of -the Tower. His steward, “faithful found, among the faithless faithful -only he,” was also convicted of high treason, and was condemned to be -torn to pieces by horses. - -Edward, the second son of the King, was born at Carnarvon on April -25th, 1284, and the story goes that King Edward, then at Rhuddlan, -having assembled there the principal men of Wales, announced to them -that as the royal race of Cunedda was extinct, he would give to them -a Prince of Wales who could speak no word of English, and who was a -native of the Principality. The chieftains replied that this they -would accept, and to him they would yield obedience. Thereupon Edward -presented to them his infant son, recently born at Carnarvon. - -By the death of Alphonso, Edward’s eldest son, at Windsor, this Prince -Edward became heir-apparent to the throne. - -Some of the jewels of the Welsh regalia were used for the decoration of -the shrine of Edward the Confessor at Westminster. - -In 1399 Richard II. was prisoner at Rhuddlan on his way to Flint. In -1646 it was captured by General Mytton from the Royalists, and was -dismantled by order of the Parliament, and has remained a ruin since. - -[Illustration: RUTHIN CASTLE] - - - - -CHAPTER X - -DENBIGH - - The colonisation of Denbigh from the north--Denbigh Castle--Sir - John o’ the two thumbs--Henry de Lacy--Projected transfer of - cathedral to Denbigh--The Goblin Tower--Thomas Plantagenet--Robert - Dudley--The bowling green--The Duke of Sussex and his - breeches--Sir Hugh Myddelton--Sir Thomas Myddelton--Mrs. - Jordan--Her last song--Llanrhaiadr--Anne Parry’s body--“The - Three Sisters”--Ruthin--Contest with Owen Glyndwr--Reginald de - Grey--Oppressive laws--Dean Gabriel Goodman--The Huail stone--The - church--Moel Fenlli--Story of Benlli--Llandegla--Oblations of cocks - and hens. - - -THE county of Denbigh, together with that of Flint, was at one time all -but permanently lost to the Celtic race. - -The Angles of Mercia had advanced steadily and irresistibly along the -broad level land from Chester, planting their stockaded forts where -later would arise the stone-walled castles of the Normans, following -the banks of the great estuary of the Dee, and supported by their -fleets. They reached the mouth of the Clwyd, and began to spread up its -fertile basin, driving back the Welsh before them. They had planted a -large colony at Conway, and Deganwy, the old palace of the kings of -Gwynedd, was in their hands. - -Anarawd, son of Rhodri the Great, was king in North Wales, paying -to the king of Wessex a reluctant tribute of gold and silver, and -the fleetest of Welsh hounds; but he could not roll back the tide of -Teutonic invasion, and he was forced to lurk in Snowdon and Anglesey, -and look down from the rocky heights and heather-flushed mountains on -the smoke of English farms that rose above the ruins of many a burned -_hendre_ of his people. - -Then an appeal came to him from the Britons of Strathclyde, in North -Lancashire and Cumberland, exhausted by the ravages of Danes and -Saxons, asking for help. Anarawd could not assist them with armed -hand, but he pointed to Flint and the vale of the Clwyd, and invited -them to turn out the English there settling themselves, and “not yet -warm in their seats.” They rose to the order, migrated in a mass, and -dislodged the Angle colonists. But sorely misdoubting their ability -to make good their hold, they entreated Anarawd to stand by them. He -did so, mustering all the strength of Gwynedd; he joined forces with -the Strathclyde immigrants, met the Mercian forces near Conway, and -in a pitched battle (878) drove them back to the Dee, with immense -slaughter, never to return. And thenceforth Flint and Denbighshire have -remained Welsh. - -Denbigh stands on a limestone height crowned by a castle, Din-bach, -the Little Fortress or Castle. But that is not the popular derivation -of the name. A monster, the _Bych_, occupied a cave in the face of the -rock, now almost choked up. Thence it issued to ravage the country, but -was killed by Syr Sion y Bodiau, the double-thumbed son of Catherine -of Berain. But as Sir John Salusbury lived in the reign of Elizabeth, -it is clear that some ancient myth has attached itself to him which -belonged originally to a primeval hero. The first certain account of -the castle is at the time of the final conquest of the Principality. -King Henry III. granted the custody of it to Dafydd ab Gruffydd, that -treacherous and unprincipled prince who was the brother of Llewelyn, -the last Prince of Wales of the native stock. After the execution of -David at Shrewsbury in 1283 the fortress was granted to Henry de Lacy, -Earl of Lincoln, who erected the present castle. - -Old Denbigh occupied the area in front of the castle, but this part -was abandoned about the reign of Elizabeth for New Denbigh, built at -the foot of the hill, either because there was lack of water on the -summit of the rock, or because the steepness of the ascent rendered a -residence more convenient lower down. Now the space within the walls -is unoccupied save by the little church of S. Hilary, and the ruins of -a cathedral begun by the Earl of Leicester, who proposed to transfer -thither the seat of the bishop from S. Asaph. But it was not completed. -This is to be regretted, as it would have been a most curious specimen -of Gothic in its last stage of decay. We have plenty of examples of -domestic architecture of the period, and very delightful they are, but -of ecclesiastical buildings none. It was a period of church gutting -and pulling down, and not of erection and decoration. Henry de Lacy -was engaged on building the castle when a fatal accident disheartened -him, and he left the work incomplete. He had erected a tower, now -called that of the Goblin, over a well with an unfailing spring in it, -that was to supply the castle. His son Edmund, a boy of fifteen, was -playing in the tower, scrambling among the scaffolding, when he lost -his footing, fell to the bottom, and was killed. - -The water has now been drawn off to a bath-house outside, at the -foot of the rock, and was at one time supposed to possess curative -properties. - -The dead boy’s spirit is thought still to haunt the tower, and his -white face to be seen peeping out of the ruined windows. - -Henry de Lacy’s daughter Alice was married to Thomas Plantagenet, Earl -of Lancaster, and he by right of his wife became Earl of Denbigh. -Edward of Carnarvon had received his father’s instructions before -Edward I. died. Of these the principal were: that he should persist in -the conquest of Scotland, and should not recall his favourite Piers de -Gaveston. These commands were violated by the young King. His first -act was to send for Gaveston, and to confer on him the royal earldom -of Cornwall; and when, at the coronation of Edward, Gaveston was given -precedence over all the great nobles of the realm, their wrath knew -no bounds. Three days after the ceremony they called upon the King to -dismiss his favourite. Edward was obliged to give way, and Gaveston -to swear that he would never return. The Pope, however, released the -favourite from his oath, and shortly after Edward recalled him. The -Earl of Lancaster and Denbigh refused to attend the next parliament -convoked by the King, and the barons, flying to arms, captured Gaveston -at Scarborough, and by order of Thomas of Lancaster cut off his head. - -The news affected the King with passionate grief, to which was quickly -added a fierce desire for revenge. - -Some time after the death of Gaveston, Edward found a new favourite, -Hugh le Despenser, whose harsh attempt to enforce feudal law to his -own advantage excited the marchers of Wales to arms against him. They -were joined by Thomas of Lancaster, but he was defeated and taken to -Pontefract Castle, where he was executed. Upon his death Denbigh was -conferred on Hugh le Despenser. - -The incapacity and favouritism of Edward occasioned a fresh outbreak, -and Hugh le Despenser fell into the hands of the barons, who hanged him -after a hasty trial. Then Denbigh Castle passed to another favourite, -Roger Mortimer, the paramour of Queen Isabella. He was taken at -Nottingham, arraigned in a Parliament summoned at Winchester, and -hanged at Tyburn. - -It really seemed that Denbigh was doomed to bring ill-luck on its -masters. That ill-luck did not end with the hanging of Mortimer. - -In 1566 Elizabeth granted it to her favourite, Robert Dudley, Earl of -Leicester, whom she created Earl of Denbigh. - -His conduct rendered him odious to the inhabitants, and his extortions -drove them to open rebellion against his authority. He raised rents -from £250 per annum to £800, he levied fines arbitrarily, encroached -on private estates, and enclosed commons. Two of the young Salusburys -of Lleweni pulled down the fences he had set up on the common land. -He had them arrested, taken to Shrewsbury, and hanged there. The -exasperation against Leicester became so great that the Queen was -compelled to interfere, and he, with a view to make some satisfaction -for the evils he had inflicted, began the erection of his cathedral, -of which he laid the first stone on March 1st, 1579. But now the fate -that had already fallen on three of the holders of Denbigh reached him. -He died of poison at the age of fifty-six, on September 5th, 1588. The -castle and lordship then reverted to the Crown, and from that time till -the commencement of the Civil War drops out of historical importance. - -The keep, grand entrance, and Goblin Tower are undoubtedly the work of -Henry de Lacy. The gateway is best preserved, and over the entrance in -a niche is a mutilated statue of Edward I., with lovely ball-pattern -sculpture in the mouldings of the niche enclosing it. - -The views from the castle over the Vale of Clwyd are most beautiful; -none finer than from the bowling green. That was inaugurated by the -Duke of Sussex in 1829. - -During the carouse on that occasion, that took place in the arbour, His -Royal Highness had the misfortune to spill a glass of punch over his -lap. As his breeches were white, and he had not another pair with him, -he was constrained to retire to bed till a local tailor could fit him -out afresh. When the august visitor to Denbigh re-emerged into the -streets, lo! already had the little tailor inscribed over his shop: “By -Special Appointment, Richard Price, Breeches-maker to his R.H. the Duke -of Sussex.” - -There are two modern churches in Denbigh. The old parish church, -S. Marchell’s, is at Whitchurch, about a mile out of the town. S. -Hilary’s, in Old Denbigh, was only the castle chapel. S. Marchell’s -is a good fifteenth-century building, and is now used as a mortuary -chapel. The roofs are specially fine. In it is the tomb of Sir John “of -the double thumbs.” He was a man of enormous strength, and is reported -to have killed a white lioness in the Tower by a blow of his fist. He -died in 1578. In the porch are two brasses of Richard Myddelton, of -Gwaenynog, Governor of Denbigh Castle in the reigns of Edward VI., -Mary, and Elizabeth, and of his wife Jane. Denbigh was the native place -of Hugh Myddelton, who, largely at his own expense, brought the New -River from Ware, twenty miles distant, to London. He was the sixth -son of the above-mentioned Richard, and was a goldsmith in Basinghall -Street. His elder brother Thomas was a grocer--so little in those -days was trade thought to be unsuitable for men of gentle birth and -good position. He represented Denbigh in Parliament several times, -and obtained a charter of incorporation for his native town. A proper -supply of pure water to the Metropolis had often been canvassed by the -corporation, and the wells were frequently contaminated and productive -of periodical outbreaks of fever. - -Myddelton declared himself ready to carry out the great work, and in -1609 “the dauntless Welshman” began his undertaking. The engineering -difficulties were not all he had to contend with, for he had to -overcome violent opposition from the landowners, who drew a harrowing -picture of the evils that would result were his scheme carried -through, as they contended, for his own private benefit. Worried by -this senseless but powerful party, with a vast and costly labour only -half completed, and with the probability of funds failing, most men -would have broken down in bankruptcy and despair. But James I. came -to his aid and agreed to furnish one half of the expense if he were -granted one half of the ultimate profits. This spirited act of the King -silenced opposition, the work went on, and in about fifteen months -after this new contract the water was brought into London. - -The popular story is that Myddelton ruined himself by this undertaking, -and had to apply for relief of his necessities to the citizens of -London, who, however, failed to unbutton their pockets for their -benefactor. He fell into poverty, and disguising himself under the name -of Raymond, laboured as a common pavior in Shropshire. - -This is, however, a myth. After the completion of his great achievement -for the benefit of London, Sir Hugh reclaimed Brading Harbour, in the -Isle of Wight, and undertook the working of Welsh mines, whose tin and -lead brought in a large revenue, but he sank much money unprofitably -in looking for coal near Denbigh. He died at the age of seventy-six, -leaving large sums to his children, and an ample provision to his -widow. When James I. created him a baronet he remitted the customary -fees, amounting to over a thousand pounds--a very large sum of money in -those days. - -But he was not the only Myddelton who was a benefactor. In 1595 his -brother Sir Thomas purchased Chirk Castle and Denbigh from the Crown. -He provided the Welsh “nation” (in 1630) with the first portable -edition of the Scriptures at his own expense. His brother William gave -the Welsh a metrical version of the Psalms. - -In Nantglyn, at Plas, five miles from Denbigh, was born Mrs. Jordan -the actress, if we may trust local authorities. She made her first -appearance at Drury Lane in 1785, and appeared as Peggy in _The -Country Girl_, driving her audience frantic with delight. How she -could act in serious parts Charles Lamb has described in one of the -most exquisite passages of the _Essays of Elia_. According to some -accounts, she was not Welsh, but Irish; but this opinion seems to be -due to her having made her début at Dublin. Her real name was Dorothy -Bland, but she assumed the name of Frances. To her we owe “The Blue -Bells of Scotland,” one of those rare instances of a woman composing -a melody that has taken hold and remained. It is curious that a Welsh -girl--or Irish, if the Waterford claims to her be maintained--should -have contributed a national air to Scotland. Mrs. Jordan was not really -beautiful, but she had a most engaging manner and expression of face. -Her voice was not only sweet, but her articulation was distinct. The -last song she sang in public on the stage was-- - - “Last night the dogs did bark, - I went to the gate to see, - And ev’ry lass has her spark, - But nobody’s coming for me. - O dear! what can the matter be? - O dear! what shall I do? - Nobody’s coming to marry me, - Nobody’s coming to woo!” - ---one of those delightful English airs that will never die. This was -shortly before her eldest son, George Fitzclarence, was born--January -29th, 1794. - -Mrs. Jordan acquired a good deal of money by her profession, and she -was not an extravagant person. She had a large family, and was a good -mother. A person who had married one of her daughters had involved -her in a debt of £2,000, and this so preyed on her spirits that it -shortened her days. She withdrew from England and settled at S. Cloud, -near Paris, and died there July 5th, 1816, aged fifty, and is buried at -S. Cloud. - -Llanrhaiadr is three miles from Denbigh. The church has some fine -old glass in the east window, representing a Jesse tree. There is a -wonderful genealogical tombstone in the churchyard to a certain John -ap Robert, ap David, ap Gruffydd, ap David Vaughan, and so on back to -Cadell Deyrnllwg, king of Powys. - -A curious story is connected with an interment in this churchyard. - - “Anne Parry had opened her house for the preaching of the Methodists - in this place, and originated a Sunday-school in the neighbouring - village. She ended a life of laborious benevolence by a peaceful - death, and forty-three years after her decease, on the occasion of - her son’s burial in the same tomb, her coffin was opened, and the - body of this excellent woman was found to be in a perfect state of - preservation, undecayed in the slightest degree, and her countenance - bearing the hues of living health. The very flowers which had been - strewed upon her body, it is said, were as fresh in colour, and as - fragrant in odour, as when they were first plucked from their native - boughs. The body of this lady was exhumed about three years afterwards - (in 1841), and was nearly in the same state of preservation. This was - corroborated by the mayor of Ruthin in 1841. The compiler of this - account received the same information on the very day the lady had - been re-interred, not only from the parish clerk and the mayor of - Ruthin, but from several other parties who saw the body.”[4] - -Some allowance must be made for exaggeration here. That a body in -certain undetermined circumstances may remain undecomposed is doubtless -true, but the statement relative to the flowers must be dismissed as -impossible. - -Between Denbigh and Ruthin, and three miles from the latter, is -Llanynys. Here, at Bachymbyd, an ancient mansion, are “The Three -Sisters,” noble chestnuts planted by the three daughters of Sir -William Salusbury. The property passed into the hands of Sir Walter -Bagot through a singular circumstance. He had been shooting in the -neighbourhood, and a favourite pointer strayed, and he could not -recover it. Some time after Sir William Salusbury found the dog, and -sent it to Sir Walter with his compliments. This led to an exchange of -compliments, and next time Sir Walter Bagot was in the neighbourhood -he called at Bachymbyd to express his gratitude. He there met the -daughters of Sir William, and fell in love with one of them, proposed, -and was accepted. Before the lady left for her new home she and her -sisters planted these trees. - -Ruthin is a pleasant little town, with its castle, but the latter is -not old, having been almost wholly rebuilt. Portions of the earlier -castle still remain. - -The castle was founded in 1281 by Edward I., and was granted to -Reginald de Grey. This man did his utmost to exasperate the Welsh to -fresh insurrection, and Peckham, Archbishop of Canterbury, made a -journey into Wales to mediate between the King and Llewelyn, and allay -the irritation. He complained to Edward, but in vain, of the rapacity -of Reginald, whom he accused of committing the most flagrant acts of -injustice, of depriving officers of the places they had purchased -and of commissions that had been granted to them, of revoking just -sentences when they jarred with his interests, and of compelling the -peasantry to plough his lands without wages. - -A contest about a common called Croesau, between Ruthin and -Glyndyfrdwy, led to the insurrection of Owen Glyndwr. - -During the reign of Richard II. a controversy had arisen relative to -rights over this common. Reginald de Grey, who held Ruthin Castle, -had claimed it. Owen disputed the claim, and gained his suit in a -court of law. But no sooner was the usurper Henry of Lancaster on the -throne than De Grey took possession of the common. Glyndwr appealed -to Parliament, but his appeal was dismissed. Not satisfied with this -infringement of his neighbour’s rights, De Grey resolved on utterly -ruining him. Henry had summoned Owen among his barons to attend him on -his expedition to Scotland, and had confided the summons to De Grey to -deliver. De Grey treacherously withheld it, and then represented Owen -as wilfully disobedient. Owen was accordingly sentenced, unheard, to be -deprived of his lands, and De Grey seized them. - -The Bishop of S. Asaph appealed to Parliament against this injustice, -but in vain; and he warned it against the imprudence of exasperating an -honourable and loyal man of extended influence, and driving him into -rebellion to maintain his just rights. But the Lords scoffingly replied -that “they had no fear of that pack of rascally, bare-footed scrubs.” - -De Grey surrounded Owen’s house, but failed to capture him. He had -attempted a most treacherous plan. He sent to Owen to offer to dine -with him and talk over matters for a reconciliation. Owen consented -on condition that De Grey came with only thirty followers, and these -unarmed. De Grey accepted the terms, but ordered a large force to -approach and surround the house while he was within. Glyndwr, however, -knew his man, and he had set his bard Iolo Goch to watch. Iolo saw the -approach of men-at-arms, so entering the hall he struck his harp and -sang:-- - - “Think of Lleweni’s chief, no slight - A murder on a Christmas night. - The blazing wrath of Shrewsbury keep, - The burning head’s avenging heap.” - -Owen took the hint; he escaped. - -Owen now proclaimed himself Prince of Wales, and called on all -true-hearted Welshmen to rally to his standard. His first exploit -was the capture of Ruthin in September, 1400. His men had concealed -themselves in the thickets of Coed Marchan, near the town, and when the -gates were thrown open for a fair, some made their way within disguised -as peasants, and kept the gates open for their confederates. Glyndwr’s -men rushed in, fired the town in four places, and slaughtered every -Englishman they met. Then, laden with booty, they retreated to the -mountains. Lord de Grey collected a force and marched against Glyndwr, -but fell into an ambush, and was taken and carried off to the wilds -of Snowdon, where Owen, before he would let him depart, forced him to -marry his daughter Jane and to pay for his ransom 10,000 marks, which -compelled him to sell his manor of Hadleigh, in Kent. - -It was in consequence of Glyndwr’s insurrection that the parliament of -1401 passed a series of the most oppressive and cruel ordinances ever -enacted against any people--prohibiting the Welsh from acquiring lands -by purchase, from holding any corporate offices, from bearing arms in -any town; ordering that in lawsuits between an Englishman and Welshman, -the former could only be convicted by English juries; disfranchising -every English citizen who should marry a Welshwoman, and forbidding -Welshmen to bring up their children to any liberal art, or apprentice -them to any trade in any town or borough of the realm. - -The barony of Grey de Ruthin was made out by patent to Reginald and -to his heirs, without specifying that these should be males; it is -therefore one of the few that devolve through heiresses. - -In S. Peter’s Square is the picturesque timber and plaster house in -which was born Gabriel Goodman, Dean of Westminster for nearly the -whole of Elizabeth’s reign, and one of Bishop Morgan’s helpers in the -translation of the Bible into Welsh. In front of it, built into the -platform, is the Maen Huail. On this stone, according to tradition, -King Arthur cut off the head of Huail, brother of Gildas. He was a -quarrelsome, turbulent man, who, instead of serving against the Saxons, -was engaged in broils against King Arthur. But his death was due to -another cause. - -Huail was imprudent enough to court a lady of whom Arthur was -enamoured. The king’s suspicions were aroused and his jealousy excited; -he armed himself secretly, and intercepted Huail on his way to the -lady’s house. Some angry words passed between them, and they fought. -After a sharp combat Huail wounded Arthur in the thigh, whereupon the -contest ceased, and reconciliation was made on the condition that Huail -should never reproach Arthur with the advantage he had obtained over -him. Arthur returned to his palace at Caerwys, in Flintshire, to be -cured of his wound. He recovered, but it caused him to limp slightly -ever after. A short time after his recovery Arthur fell in love with -a lady at Ruthin, and in order to enjoy her society disguised himself -in female attire, and so got among her companions. One day when this -lady and her maids and the disguised Arthur were dancing together, -Huail saw him. He recognised him at once, and with a sneer on his lips -said “the dancing might pass muster but for the stiff thigh.” Arthur -overheard the remark, and exasperated at the allusion, and at having -been detected in such an undignified disguise, withdrew from the dance, -and after having assumed his royal robes, summoned Huail before him, -and ordered his head to be struck off in the midst of Ruthin, on the -stone that now bears his name. - -Gildas was in Ireland at the time; he at once hasted to Wales, where he -raised such a storm, and roused so many enemies against Arthur, that -the king was obliged to compromise matters, and he made over to Gildas -and his family some lands in Denbighshire as blood-fine, after which -Gildas gave him the kiss of peace. - -Ruthin Church is puzzling at first sight. It was made collegiate in -1310 by John, son of Reginald de Grey. It consisted originally of two -churches, the parochial church of S. Peter, formed of one long nave and -tower, and beyond the tower the collegiate church. - - “The choir being destroyed,” says the late Professor Freeman, “the - tower forms the extreme eastern portion of the northern body. Though - the upper part has been rebuilt, the arches on which it rests - happily remain unaltered. In this lies the great singularity of the - church. There are not, and never could have been, any transepts, but - still arches, almost like those of a lantern, are thrown across the - north and south sides. These, however, are merely constructive or - decorative, as it is clear they never were open. This arrangement is - exceedingly rare.” - -The roof is said to have been given by Henry VII. when he bought the -lordship of Dyffryn Clwyd. On it are nearly five hundred different -devices. An aisle has been added to the church, much altering its -character. - -In the chancel is the tombstone of one John Parry, 1636, with the -inscription “Hic jacet et (sedes cum sua) jure jacet.” (“Here he lies, -and since the pew is his own, he lies here by right.”) - -The range of the Clwydian Hills to the east is in several places -surmounted by camps, that have been occupied by succeeding peoples, for -in some are found flint weapons, bronze, later Roman ware and coins, -and even mediæval pottery. - -The highest point is Moel Famma. Moel Fenlli is the nearest to Ruthin, -and takes its name from Benlli, king of Powys, who was supplanted by -Cadell Deyrnllwg. He is reported to have retired to this stronghold. -The story is this. - -Germanus--not, I hold, the Bishop of Auxerre, but his namesake, a -nephew of S. Patrick, and finally Bishop of Man--was in western -Britain. He came to Pengwern or Shrewsbury, and asked to be admitted. -But Benlli refused, and Germanus was forced to spend the night outside -the walls. A servant of Benlli, named Cadell, disregarding his master’s -orders, furnished the saint and his party with food. According to the -legend, fire fell from heaven and consumed the town, and Benlli escaped -with difficulty. Then Germanus set up Cadell to be king of Powys in his -room. - -What seems actually to have happened was that Benlli, with the pagan -party, clung to the side of Vortigern, and Germanus, stirred up Cadell, -a petty prince of Powys, against him, and that Pengwern was taken, and -Cadell elevated to be king in the room of Benlli. - -Legend has been busy with the deposed king. It is said that in his camp -he suffered tortures from rheumatism and wild-fire, and that he sought -relief from S. Cynhafal, patron of Llangynhafal hard by, who refused -it to him, as he was a renegade to paganism. Then Benlli in his pain -sought ease in the cooling waters of the River Alun, but the stream -likewise refused its aid, and dived underground. Again Benlli plunged -in, and the water dived again. He tried a third time, and the river a -third time retreated below the surface. The story has been invented to -explain the fact that the Alun actually does thrice disappear in its -bed. - -At Derwen, in the church, there is a good screen, but the finest of -all in this district is that of Llanrwst. In most of the Welsh screens -the openings are rectangular, with some dainty tracery introduced at -the top. But at Llanrwst the openings are pointed. In the Devon and -Cornish and Somersetshire screens these openings are mere Perpendicular -windows, and all in each screen are alike in tracery, and this tracery -is very much the same in all. But at Llanrwst the design in each window -of the screen is different; there are, however, no mullions. The face -of the rood-loft is also rich, and only needs the filling in of the -niches with figures to make it complete. - -Llandegla is interesting only on account of its spring, now all but -choked up, on Gwern Degla, about two hundred yards from the church. -Pennant in his _Tours_ writes:-- - - “The water is under the tutelage of the Saint (S. Tecla); and to - this day is held to be extremely beneficial in the _clwyf Tegla_, S. - Tecla’s disease, or the falling sickness. The patient washes his limbs - in the well, makes an offering into it of fourpence, walks round it - three times, and thrice repeats the Lord’s Prayer. These ceremonies - are never begun till after sunset. If the afflicted be of the male - sex, he makes an offering of a cock; if of the fair sex, of a hen. The - fowl is carried in a basket, first round the well, after that into the - churchyard, when the same orisons, and the same circumambulations are - performed round the church. The votary then enters the church, gets - under the Communion Table, lies down with the Bible under his or her - head, is covered with the carpet or cloth, and rests there till break - of day; departing after offering sixpence, and leaving the fowl in the - church. If the bird dies, the cure is supposed to have been effected, - and the disease transferred to the devoted victim.” - -This is now a thing of the past. But the oblation of cocks and hens -still goes on in Brittany. At Carnoet, near Carhaix, is a chapel of S. -Gildas. At his _pardon_ in January the peasants bring fowls, and in -the chapel are three ranges of hutches, in which they are placed, and -where they remain clucking and crowing during Mass, so that often the -voice of the celebrant is drowned. After service the fowls are sold by -auction, and the money obtained goes for the maintenance of the chapel. -On the floor of the chapel is a stone sarcophagus, in which sick -people were wont to lie in the hopes of thereby recovering. It was, one -would suppose, kill or cure. They also offered a cock or hen, but this -has gone out of use in Brittany as in Wales. No one now sleeps under -the altar at Llandegla, or in the stone coffin at Carnoet. - -[Illustration: LLANGOLLEN] - - - - -CHAPTER XI - -LLANGOLLEN - - The Vale of Llangollen--S. Collen--A Breton Llangollen--Dinas - Bran--Maelor--The old maids--The church--Vale Crucis--The - pillar of Eliseg--Plas Eliseg--Owen ab Cadwgan and Nest--End of - Owen--Corwen--Church rebuilt--English and French capitals to - pillars--Inscribed stones--Cup-markings--Caer Drewyn--Owen Gwynedd and - Henry II.--Rûg--Gruffydd ab Cynan--Image of Derfel Gadarn--Burning - of Friar Forest--Pennant Melangell--Patroness of hares--The Welsh - harper--Different kinds of harps--Satire on harpers. - - -THE Vale of Llangollen is proverbial for its beauty, and possibly -because it has been so spoken, written, and sung about, it disappoints -at first sight, but it is only at first sight that it does disappoint. -Its beauties grow on one. The really finest portion is at Berwyn, which -is the next station on the line to Bala, and not at the town that gives -its name to the vale. - -The mountains are not very lofty, rising only to 1,650 feet, but the -Eglwyseg rocks redeem them from being regarded as hills. Llangollen -owes its name to a founder named Collen in the seventh century. He -descended from Caradog Freichfras who drove the Irish out of Brecknock, -and whose wife, the beautiful and virtuous Tegau Eurfron, has been -made famous by the ballad of “The Boy and Mantle,” which is in Percy’s -_Reliques_. - -A wonderful Life of Collen exists in Welsh that has not as yet been -translated. It relates how that he went abroad and studied at Orleans, -then he returned to Britain and settled at Glastonbury, where he was -elected abbot. This post he soon resigned for another that was “heavier -and harder,” which consisted principally in going about preaching. He -again got tired of this, and returned to Glastonbury, where everything -went on smoothly for five years, when he happened to quarrel with the -monks, for he was a peppery Welshman; and cursing them, he left for -Glastonbury Tor, and made for himself a cell under a rock, where he -could grumble to himself unmolested. - -As he was in his cell one day, he heard two men talking about Gwyn -ab Nudd, and saying that he was king of the under-world and of the -fairies. Collen put his head out, and told them to hold their peace and -not speak about these beings as if they were deities, for in fact they -were only devils. - -“You had best not use any disrespectful words about Gwyn,” retorted -they, “or he will serve you out for doing so.” - -Now at dead of night Collen heard some raps at the door of his -habitation, and in answer to a call, “Who is there?” received the -reply, “It is I. Gwyn ab Nudd, king of the nether world, has sent me, -his messenger, to bid you meet him at the top of the hill.” - -“I won’t go,” retorted the saint. - -[Illustration: BERWYN] - -Again the messenger summoned him, and still Collen refused to be drawn. - -Then the messenger said, “If you don’t come, Collen, it will be the -worse for you.” - -This disconcerted him; so, taking some holy water with him, he went. -On reaching the top of the tor, Collen beheld the most beautiful -castle that he had ever seen, manned by the best-appointed soldiery. -A great many musicians, with all manner of instruments, made glorious -music. About the hill were young men riding horses; at the palace gate -handsome sprightly maidens--in fact, every element becoming the retinue -and appointments of a great monarch. - -Collen, carrying his pot of holy water, was invited to enter; he -obeyed, and was ushered into a banqueting hall where he saw the king -seated in a chair of pure gold. Gwyn very graciously invited Collen to -take a seat and refresh himself at the table, whereon were all kinds of -dainties. Collen replied churlishly, “Bah! I don’t browse on leaves.” - -“Hast thou ever seen,” said the king, “men better dressed than these my -servants in red and blue?” - -“The clothing--such as it is--is good enough.” - -“Such as it is!” repeated the king. “What do you mean?” - -“Red for fire, blue for cold,” replied Collen, and he dashed the pot of -holy water in the king’s face and the liquid was splashed about on all -sides. Instantly everything disappeared, and Collen was alone on the -tor and the stars were shining down on him out of a frosty sky. - -That is the story as he told it to the monks of Glastonbury, and it was -a dream and nothing more, but so vivid that he believed in its reality. - -Collen passed into Brittany, and there is a Llangollen there, near -Quimper, by no means as lovely a spot as his Llangollen in Wales. Long -before Collen settled here the conical hill that commands the vale, -called Dinas Bran, had been crowned by a fort, and a fort it remained -throughout the Middle Ages till the fifteenth century, when it was -demolished. - -Flintshire was the great doorway, or main gate, of entrance into North -Wales, watched from the strong fortress of Chester, but the postern -was the Vale of Dee, and to command this Dinas Bran must have been -all-important. On looking at the map it will be seen that there is -a portion of Flintshire detached from the rest, with no great town -in it, but including Overton and Hanmer and Penley. It is hardly ten -miles long by five miles broad; it forms a break between Shropshire and -Cheshire, and its Welsh name is Maelor Saesneg (Saxon Maelor), whereas -Welsh Maelor is on the west side of the Dee. - -This was placed by Edward I. under the jurisdiction of the Sheriff of -Flint by the Statute of Rhuddlan in 1284. Why this was done is hard to -understand, yet there must have been purpose in it. - -Mr. Godsal explains it thus:-- - - “Since Maelor Saesneg, as we find it to-day, originated in a time of - war, it is evident that military principles are likely to prove the - best guides to the answers to these questions. The chief, in fact the - dominating military feature on the eastern side of Maelor Saesneg, - is a morass more than four miles long, and a mile or more wide, that - is impassable to this day except by individuals on foot who know the - ways across. From this morass runs a brook down the Wych Valley which - protects the northern flank of Maelor, and which must have been very - difficult to pass before the days of roads and bridges. The morass - is called on the Maelor side the Fenns Moss; on the Shropshire side - Whixall Moss. In ancient times it was covered by a forest.” - -[Illustration: BERWYN FROM CASTELL DINAS BRAN] - -It had been a stronghold of the British protected by the fens. Yet we -do not see why it was not placed under the Earl of Shrewsbury instead -of under the Sheriff of Flint, unless it were, in the event of an -attack up the valley of the Dee, that the Sheriff might hold this -portion in check whilst the Dee valley was entered. - -To return to Dinas Bran. - -It had been a stronghold of the princes of Powys, and held to be -important as commanding this pass up the valley of the Dee. Perhaps -Collen got across with the men of Dinas Bran as he had with the monks -of Glastonbury, and in a huff packed up his duds and went away. - -As everyone has heard of the beauties of Llangollen, so has everyone -heard of its old maids. These were Lady Eleanor Butler, sister of John -Earl of Ormonde, and Miss Sarah Ponsonby, daughter of Chambre Brabazon -Ponsonby, Esquire, grandson of the first Lord Bessborough. They had -been friends from early girlhood, and their tastes coincided. Both -loved quietude, and neither felt any vocation for the married life. -Many and brilliant offers had been made to Lady Eleanor, but she -rejected every suitor, and in 1779 induced her friend to retire with -her to Llangollen, and there they spent the rest of their lives--full -half a century. They protested that not once for thirty hours -successively had they quitted their peaceful retreat since they entered -it. - -Miss Seward describes this house as it was during their lives:-- - - “It consists of four apartments--a kitchen, the lightsome little - dining-room, the drawing-room, and library. - - “This room (the parlour) is fitted up in the Gothic style, the door - and large sash-windows of that form, and the latter of painted glass. - Candles are seldom admitted into this apartment. The ingenious friends - have invented a prismatic lantern, which occupies the whole elliptic - arch of the Gothic door. The lantern is of cut glass, variously - coloured, enclosing two lamps. The light it imparts resembles that - of a volcano, sanguine and solemn. It is assisted by two glow-worm - lamps that, in little marble reservoirs, stand on the chimney-piece. A - large Æolian harp is fixed in one of the windows, and when the weather - permits them to be opened, it breathes its deep tones to the gale, - swelling and softening as that rises and falls. - - “This saloon of the Minervas contains the finest editions, superbly - bound, of the best authors; over them the portraits in miniature, and - some in larger ovals, of their favoured friends. The kitchen garden - is neatness itself. The fruit trees are all of the rarest and finest - sort, and luxuriant in their produce.” - -She further describes their personal appearance:-- - - “Lady Eleanor is of middle height, and somewhat beyond the - _embonpoint_ as to plumpness; the face round and fair, with the - glow of luxuriant health. She has not fine features, but they are - agreeable; enthusiasm in her eye, hilarity and benevolence in her - smile. Miss Ponsonby, somewhat taller than her friend, is neither - slender nor otherwise, but very graceful. A face rather long than - round, a complexion clear, but without bloom, with a countenance - which, from its soft melancholy, has peculiar interest.” - -[Illustration: THE LADIES OF LLANGOLLEN] - -Now compare this with the description given by Charles Mathews:-- - - “Oh! such curiosities! I was nearly convulsed. I could scarcely get on - for the first ten minutes after my eye caught them. As they are seated - there is not one point to distinguish them from men: the dressing and - powdering of the hair; their well-starched neck-cloths; the upper part - of their habits, which they always wear even at a dinner party, made - precisely like men’s coats; and regular beaver black hats. They looked - exactly like two respectable superannuated old clergymen.” - -They were a century before their time. The lamp so admired, with its -rosy light “like a volcano,” is now in every drawing-room; and as to -the dressing like men!--why, every girl now tries to rig herself out -like them and ape them in everything, even in bad manners. - -Llangollen Church has been much altered by rebuilding, but it retains -some points of interest. The south aisle and chancel are new, but the -very fine roof has been retained, supposed to have been brought at the -Dissolution from Vale Crucis Abbey. - -This abbey may possibly take its name from the pillar stone of Eliseg -that still stands after the abbey has been broken down. But the stone -itself has suffered. Originally it was twelve feet high; now it is -broken in half, and what remains is but a little over six feet in -height. It bears an inscription testifying that it was set up by one -Cyngen in memory of his great-grandfather Eliseg, a descendant of -Brochwel, king of Powys. - -The abbey was never very large. It was founded in 1200 by Madog ab -Gruffydd Maelor, prince of Powys, and the remains of the church belong -to the period when founded, or are but little subsequent. - -The church was exquisitely beautiful, and in the dearth of really fine -architectural specimens in Wales it is to be deeply deplored that it -was wrecked. The west end has in it three double-light windows, with -cusped circles enclosed within the arch, and below them is a beautiful -doorway. - -Some of the domestic offices remain, and in one of these is a Decorated -window of rich and original design. Three lights filled in with -flamboyant tracery are surmounted most strangely by bold, uncusped -tracery richly sculptured with foliage. - -Plas Eliseg is one of those delightful old timber-and-plaster houses of -which there are so many, and all so charming and so peculiarly English, -in Shropshire and Montgomeryshire; it is a gem of its style and quite -unspoiled, in an exquisite situation, and rich with oak panelling and -ancient furniture. It contains Lely’s portrait of Cromwell, mole and -all, as well as one of his mother. The house belonged to Colonel Jones, -the regicide, who was executed at the Restoration; it has passed out of -the possession of his descendants. - -[Illustration: THE PILLAR OF ELISEG] - -[Illustration: VALE CRUCIS ABBEY] - -The place has earlier associations. Hither Owen ab Cadwgan, a wild -blood of the twelfth century, carried off the Helen of Wales, Nest, -daughter of Rhys ab Tewdwr. Her story is worth recording. - -Cadwgan was king of Powys and lord of Ceredigion. His son Owen -“possessed the best and the worst characteristics of the Cymric -princely families.” On Christmas, 1108, Cadwgan held a great eisteddfod -at Cardigan, to which he invited all the kings, princes, and chiefs -of the three kingdoms of Wales. To this gathering came Nest, daughter -of Rhys, king of Deheubarth, who had been sent as a child as hostage -to the English court, and Henry I. had basely taken advantage of her -unprotected position to seduce her. He, however, quickly married her -to Gerald of Windsor, whom he appointed Governor of Dyfed, with his -residence at Pembroke. She was an extraordinarily beautiful woman, -and Owen, son of Cadwgan, seeing her at his father’s court, fell -desperately in love with her. - -Assembling some wild fellows, he went with them to Pembroke, attacked -the castle and set it on fire. Gerald had only time to escape by a -drain, and so save himself, but Nest and his two children were taken -by Owen, who carried them off to Plas Eliseg. This created a great -commotion. King Cadwgan, fearing for the consequences, went promptly -to his son and commanded him to restore at once the fair Nest to her -husband. But the turbulent and enamoured Owen refused to give back the -lady, and only reluctantly returned the children to their father. - -This outrage was the occasion of civil war. Gerald of Windsor, with -his followers, raged against the Welsh, destroying all around them with -fire and sword. Two uncles of Owen, Ithel and Madog, were goaded on by -the unscrupulous Bishop of London to take up arms and kill or capture -Owen and his father, the king of Powys, who was guiltless of connivance -in the abduction of Nest. Two other Welsh princes associated themselves -with Ithel and Madog, urged by revenge, as Owen had killed their -brothers; and these foes solemnly vowed to bring Owen and his father, -alive or dead, to the bishop, who was at Shrewsbury. They marched into -Ceredigion, laying waste the country as they went, and unless the -inhabitants had been forewarned all would have been butchered. The day -before these blood-thirsty human hunters reached the coast Owen had -fled to Ireland, and Ceredigion was devastated, every house and church -burnt, and every human being come across was massacred. - -Cadwgan appealed to King Henry, protesting his innocence, and at -last the English king consented to allow him to return to desolated -Ceredigion, but exacted from him a fine; however, he allowed Ithel and -Madog to keep possession of Powys. - -Owen, hearing that his father had made peace with King Henry, returned -from Ireland, but his father refused to see him. Owen went off into -Powys and managed to patch up a reconciliation with Madog, who had -lately sought his life as the murderer of his brothers. The recent -enemies met and swore a solemn oath of perpetual friendship and of -united hostility to the King of England. Owen, with a party of -ruffians who had come with him from Ireland, now entered his father’s -territories in Ceredigion, and thence made a series of marauding -visits into Dyfed, using for the purpose the ships in which he had -crossed from Ireland. In one of these he killed a Bishop William of the -Flemings, who was on his way to the English court. The news reached -King Henry whilst Cadwgan was with him on some business connected with -the settlement of Welsh affairs. The King, exasperated to the last -degree, bitterly reproached Cadwgan for not restraining this wild son -of his, and at once despatched troops to chastise Owen, who immediately -fled to Ireland. - -Cadwgan was suffered to return to Powys, but was there assassinated by -Madog, his son’s ally, who at once hastened to announce the news to the -Bishop of London, and was received with favour. - -Owen hurried back from Ireland; Madog was caught in an ambush, and Owen -put out his eyes with red-hot irons. - -Curiously enough, now King Henry received Owen into his favour, and -took him as a companion to Normandy, where he acquitted himself -gallantly, and was knighted by the King. On his return to England -Henry sent him into Wales with a commission and promises of favour -and assurances of confidence. But Gerald of Windsor was awaiting his -opportunity. Owen on entering Wales began to butcher and burn with the -utmost barbarity, and some peasants who escaped informed Gerald as to -his whereabouts. Gerald hastened to intercept him, surrounded him, and -Owen was pierced to the heart with an arrow. - -A run of half an hour by train takes us to Corwen, a dingy little town -at the junction of the line to Ruthin and Rhyl. Lying under steep -mountains to the south, it comes off scantily for sun in winter. - -Here the church has been rebuilt in very bad taste, with hideous -plate-tracery in the windows, and a cumbrous French “Gothic” arcade -within. The English and French architects of the Middle Ages started -with different conceptions as to how to deal with the arch and the -capital of the pillar on which it rested. The Frenchman made of his -arch a hole bored in slabs of stone with sharp angles. If he had to -sustain it on a circular drum of a pillar, he accommodated the capital -to the arch by taking the Ionic crown as his type and reproducing the -horns at the corners which serve as supports to the four angles of the -arch resting on it. - -But the English architect saw how crude and harsh and unpleasant to -the eye was the bald, sharp-angled arch, and he bevelled it away, -substituting delicate mouldings, and the section of the block of -masonry at the spring of the arch was now not a parallelogram, but a -hexagon. There was accordingly no need for the Ionic horns, and he -treated his capital as a basket of flowers or foliage, or as a bowl -wreathed round with leaves. This is infinitely more beautiful. - -But our architects fifty years ago, when taking a holiday, rushed off -to Normandy and filled their sketch-books with drawings made in French -churches, and on returning home used them up in “restoring” our English -sacred buildings, or in designing churches and town halls on foreign -lines. - -[Illustration: VALE CRUCIS ABBEY] - -And what excuse can be found for plate-tracery that consists in -drilling holes in slabs in Caen stone for windows, when exquisite -tracery and moulding can be wrought out of the same stone? I should -have liked to take Mr. Ferry, the perpetrator of the abominations at -Corwen, to Vale Crucis Abbey and shame him by the comparison. - -The only portions of the earlier church left at Corwen are the lancets -at the east end, and a bit of north wall of the chancel. - -Over the south porch door into the church is an early incised cross, -that is popularly supposed to be the impression of Owen Glyndwr’s -dagger, flung from the height above, and which left its mark on the -stone. Into the east side of the north porch is built the leaning -Carreg-y-Big-yn-y-Fach-Rewlyd (the Pointed Stone in the Frosty Corner). -It is about six feet high, and is a prehistoric menhir. The story goes -that the church was begun on another site, but every night the stones -were removed and brought here and heaped about this block. Accordingly -the builders accepted the intimation and erected the church where it -now stands. - -An old cross with interlaced Celtic work on it, and a short sword in -relief, stands in the churchyard. The Maen Llwyd, near Llandeilo, -has also a sword carved on it, and such stones probably indicate the -burial-place of a warrior. The base is indented with hollows, like -the cup-markings found in menhirs, dolmens, and flat rocks, which are -still a mystery to antiquaries, but which were perhaps intended as -receptacles for oil as oblations to the _manes_ of the dead, for some -councils and bishops denounced the superstitious anointings of standing -stones by the semi-Christianised peasantry. - -Beyond the river rises Caer Drewyn. The stone wall encloses a large -area on a steep slope. It does not occupy the summit of the hill, but -a spur near a spring from which flows a tiny rill. The walls were of -stone unset in mortar, and they have fallen and form a continuous mound -of débris. Within are a few ruined _cytiau_. The camp is of the type -of the Irish forts near the coast, but has been supposed to be earlier -and to belong to the Bronze Age, and without an exploration with pick -and shovel there is no determining its period, for much the same -construction belonged to both epochs. - -It was occupied at a much later time. Owen Gwynedd in 1164 rose in -revolt against Henry II. The English King collected a mixed force, -and from Oswestry ascended the Dee. Owen and his brother Cadwaladr of -Merioneth fought a battle with him at Crogen, near Chirk. The King’s -life was saved by the self-devotion of Hubert de Clare, who, seeing -an arrow hurtling through the air towards his master, interposed his -body, and received the missile in his breast. The Welsh retreated -across the Berwyn Mountains to Corwen, pursued by the English, and -Owen established himself and his forces within this venerable ring of -stones. They could obtain plenty of mutton from the mountains and moors -at their back, and there was water in the spring under the north wall. -Henry’s army camped on the opposite hill. The weather broke up, rain -poured down, and the ground of the English camp became a quagmire. The -English dared not venture far for fear of falling into ambushes among -the woods and rocks, and suffered for want of food. Men and horses -dwindled through sickness and privation. Military stores ran short, -and at length, in the mood of a baffled tiger, Henry was compelled to -withdraw without having accomplished the end aimed at in this campaign. -Raging at his discomfiture, he had the eyes torn out of the heads of -the sons of Owen Gwynedd and Rhys ab Tewdwr, whom he held as hostages. - -Rûg, near Corwen, is the scene of the treacherous seizure of Gruffydd -ab Cynan, king of Gwynedd, in 1080, by Hugh the Fat, Earl of Chester. -He invited the king to come unattended and unarmed to a friendly -conference here, and when he arrived had him loaded with chains and -carried off to Chester, where he remained a prisoner for twelve years. -He owed his release to a young man of Corwen, who on some plea obtained -access to him in prison, and carried him forth on his back, chains and -all, on a night when the garrison was keeping high revel and his guards -were drunk. On his return into Gwynedd, he lurked for some time among -the mountains till he had rallied sufficient men about him, when he -swooped down on castle after castle of the Normans, took and burnt them -and drove the invaders out of his lands. - -Llandderfel is noted as having been a foundation of Derfel Gadarn, -son of Hywel ab Emyr of Brittany. Before the Reformation there was a -huge wooden image of him in the church, which was held in so great -esteem that hundreds resorted to it daily with their offerings of cows, -horses, and money. It was believed to have power to fetch souls out of -Purgatory. Dr. Ellis Price was sent by Cromwell as Commissary to get -rid of it. He found that on the day when he visited Llandderfel between -five and six hundred pilgrims had been there. Price was ordered to send -the image to London; the people were angry, and offered £40 to have it -left. When the image arrived in London it was resolved to turn it to a -signal purpose. - -Friar Forest, a Franciscan, had been chaplain and confessor to -Catherine of Aragon, and he declared that he “owed a double obedience, -first to the King by the law of God, and secondly to the Bishop of Rome -by his rule and profession.” - -He was ordered to be burnt at the stake in 1538, and Latimer was -appointed to preach before him on the occasion. The letter in which -the Reformer accepted this commission is not pleasant reading. He -was ready, since Cromwell desired it, “to play the fool after his -customable manner when Forest should suffer,” and he complained that -the unfortunate man was treated with too great leniency by his gaolers, -and that he was even suffered to hear Mass and receive the Sacrament. - -In Smithfield the pyre was built up, and the wooden statue of Derfel -Gadarn placed on it; above all was a pair of gallows from which Forest -was suspended in chains to be slowly burnt to death, whilst Latimer was -haranguing from his pulpit, which at Latimer’s own request was placed -close to the pyre. - -In the church still remains a portion of a wooden horse, or rather -stag, popularly called _Ceffyl Derfel_, and a wooden crozier, his -_Ffon_, that formed part of the subject. “The common people used to -resort from all parts at Easter in order to have a ride on Derfel’s -horse. The horse was fixed to a pole, which was placed in a horizontal -position, and attached to another, which stood perpendicularly and -rested on a pivot. The rider, taking hold of the crozier, which was -fastened to the horse, was wheeled round and round, as children are -wheeled when they mount a wooden horse at a fair.” - -From Llandderfel the old Sarn Helen, or Elen’s Road, runs to -Llandrillo; and with a visit to this place may be combined one to the -Pennant of Melangell, who was descended from this Elen and her husband -Maximus. Her mother was an Irishwoman. - -The story goes that her father desired to marry her to a chief under -him, but either she disliked the man or the thought of marriage, and -determined to run away. Accordingly she found an opportunity to escape, -and secreted herself at Pennant, a lonely and lovely spot at the head -of the Tanat. Her story is represented on the cornice of the carved oak -screen of the church. - -In this spot, sleeping on bare rock, she remained for fifteen years. -One day Brochwel, prince of Powys, was hunting and in pursuit of a -hare, when puss escaped into a thicket and took refuge under the robe -of a virgin of great beauty, whom the huntsman discovered. She faced -and drove back the hounds. The huntsman then put his horn to his lips, -and there it stuck as if glued. Upon this, up came the prince, and he -at once granted a parcel of land to the saint, to serve as a sanctuary, -and bade her found there a convent. This she did, and she lived in a -cell, which still remains, though somewhat altered, at the east end of -the church. - -She was buried there, and fragments of her beautiful shrine, as it -is believed, remain built into the walls, sufficient to allow of its -reconstruction. The cell of S. Melangell is, as said, to the east of -the church, and has no communication with it. It goes by the name of -Cell-y-Bedd, or Cell of the Grave, and has a door and a window, and in -this cell formerly stood her shrine. - -Melangell is considered the patroness of hares, which are termed her -lambs. Until the eighteenth century so strong was the superstition that -no one in the parish would kill a hare, and even now, when a hare is -pursued by hounds, boys will shout after it, “God and Melangell be with -thee!” and it is held that it will escape. - -Her _gwely_, or bed, lies on the side of the valley opposite to the -church, a quarter of a mile further south. It is a recess in the rocks, -overgrown with a bush, above the road. - -In the churchyard is a sculptured stone, on which is represented a man -in armour, with the inscription “HIC JACET EDWART.” This is believed -to be the tombstone of Iorwerth (Edward) with the Broken Nose. He was -the eldest son of Owen Gwynedd, prince of North Wales. Because of the -blemish he was set aside, and the crown accorded to his brother David, -and he was granted a few hundreds in Carnarvonshire and Merionethshire -for his lordship. But David grudged him even these, and he had to -fly from him to Pennant Melangell, as to a sanctuary. He was pursued -thither, and there murdered at his brother’s instigation. - -At Llangollen the Welsh harper may still be heard. He frequents the -hotels and plays for sixpences and threepenny-bits given him by the -visitors. What a delightful instrument the harp is! Its resonant chords -thrill those in the human heart in a manner that the wires of the -harpsichord and piano that have superseded it cannot do. The latter -are mere mechanical instruments compared with harp and violin and the -ancient lute. The harp was adopted, in the reign of James I., as the -arms of Ireland, to be quartered with those of England and Scotland. -When this was proposed, then said the Earl of Northampton, “Very -suitable symbol for Ireland, costing more to keep in tune than it is -worth.” - -But Wales would have had as much right to the harp as symbol as -has Ireland; it had, however, its own ancient arms--the four lions -quarterly. According to the Triads there were formerly in use three -harps--that of the king, that of the bard, and that of the gentleman. -The first two were valued at 120 pence, and the last at 60 pence; but -we do not know in what consisted the distinction. - -The performers let their nails grow to claws, and the strings were -twanged with them. In the _Romance of Prince Horn_:-- - - “The King came into hall - Among his knights all - He calleth Adhelberus - His steward and him said thus: - ‘Steward, take thou here - My foundling him to lere (learn) - To play upon the harp - With his nails sharp.’” - -And Chaucer, in his _House of Fame_, says:-- - - “For though that the best harper upon live - Would on the beste sounid jolly harpe - That ever was, with his fingers five - Touch all one string, or aie one warble harpe, - Were his nails pointed never so sharp,” etc. - -The most ancient harp had but a single row of strings, then a second -row was introduced, and, lastly, a third; and the final improvement was -the addition of pedals. The number of strings varied from 54, 56, 58 -to 60. Formerly the Welsh harp was rested by the performer on the left -shoulder--the treble was played with the left hand, and the bass with -the right--but now the position is reversed. - -That Edward I. ordered a massacre of the Welsh bards and minstrels is a -mere fiction. - - “That Edward did this,” says Sharon Turner, “seems rather a vindictive - tradition of an irritated nation than an historical fact. The - destruction of the independent sovereignties of Wales abolished the - patronage of the bards, and in the cessation of internal warfare, - and of external ravages, they lost their favourite subjects and - most familiar imagery. They declined because they were no longer - encouraged.” - -The early Welsh harps seem to have been strung with hair. Dafydd ab -Gwilym, a contemporary of Chaucer, boasts that his harp had not “one -string from a dead sheep” in it, but “hair glossy black.” The Irish -harp was strung with wire. Some of the Welsh harps of an inferior kind -were of leather, and Dafydd pours scorn on such:-- - - “The din of the leathern harp” (presupposes it shall not be played - with a horny nail), “of unpleasing form, only the graceless bears it, - and I love not its button-covered trough, nor its music, nor its guts, - sounding disgustingly, nor its yellow colour ... nor its bent column; - only the vile love it. Under the touch of the eight fingers, ugly is - the bulge of its belly, with the canvas cover; its hoarse sound is - only fit for an aged Saxon.” - -The bards, according to Taliessin, himself one of them, do not seem to -have had a high character, although, according to the Triad, the bard -is equal to the king. - -Taliessin is supposed to have lived in the time of Maelgwn Gwynedd, in -the first half of the sixth century, and is credited with a satire on -the king’s bards; but the poem was actually composed in the thirteenth -century, and satirises the bards of the writer’s own day:-- - - “Minstrels persevere in their false custom, - Immoral ditties are their delight; - Vain and tasteless praises theirs. - At all times falsehood they utter. - Innocent people they turn to jest, - Married women’s character they take away - And destroy the innocence of maids. - They drink all night; they sleep all day, - The Church they hate, and the tavern they haunt. - Tithes and offerings to God they do not pay, - Nor worship Him Sunday or Holyday. - Everything travails to obtain its food, - Save the minstrel and the lazy thief.” - -It was the degradation of the minstrel that led to such severe Acts -being passed to put him down. But the harper and minstrel remained -attached to the household of a gentleman as a matter of course in Wales -till the eighteenth century, and, as we have seen, so late as in the -first half of the nineteenth century an Anglesey parson had his harper -as one of his household. - -[Illustration: CADER IDRIS] - - - - -CHAPTER XII - -DOLGELLEY - - The Lake of Bala--Estuary of the Mawddach--Barmouth--Cader Idris--The - Torrent and Precipice Walks--“Welsh web”--Numerous lakes--Fishing - in Wales--Treachery of David ab Llewelyn--Gruffydd’s attempt to - escape--“The Spirit’s Blasted Tree”--John Thomas--Characteristics - of the Welsh people--Intelligence great--None of the coarseness - characterising the Anglo-Saxon bumpkin--Long-heads and short-heads--A - Welsh courtship--Untruthfulness a product of servitude--Religiousness - of the Welsh--The theatre discountenanced--Old Interludes--Richard - Malvine--Twm o’r Nant--Poetry in Wales--Welsh Nonconformity--The - squirearchy--The Seiet--The old Welsh preachers--Embellishments--The - Hwyl--Reviving the spirit--How the Church was treated--The Methodist - Revival--The Church in Wales. - - -ONLY as one reaches the head of the Bala Lake, coming from Ruabon, does -the beauty of form of the Welsh mountains begin to impress one. Then -ensues the rapid descent of the valley of the Wnion, down which the -train gallops, and as Dolgelley is approached, Cader Idris breaks on -the sight. - -Beyond Dolgelley expands the estuary of the Mawddach, and when the -tide is in it is hard to match it for loveliness in the British Isles, -especially when the heather is in bloom. Then the flush is on the -mountains above that mirror, and it is like the glow of glad surprise -on the young girl’s cheek when she contemplates herself in a glass and -for the first time realises how beautiful she is. - -Dolgelley and Barmouth are two delightful places at which to halt and -whence to explore the glorious surrounding scenery. To the former -belongs Cader Idris, and to the latter Llawllech and Diphwys. To the -first the vale of the Mawddach, and to the second that of the Arthog. - -Cader Idris is the throne of the great father of Welsh song. Who Idris -was we hardly know. He is veiled in mystery, as his throne is wrapped -in mist. But some dim traditions of him have come down to us. - -The Triads celebrate him as Idris Gawr, or the Giant, one of the three -primitive bards of the Isle of Britain, the inventor of the harp, and -withal great in the knowledge of the stars. It was said that whosoever -should pass a night on Cader Idris would descend in the morning -inspired with the spirit of poetry or a frenzied madman. - -I said to my guide in Iceland one day, pointing to a glittering jökull, -“Oh, Grimr! would you not like to stand on the top?” “I can see the top -very well from down here”, was his reply. - -A good many of us with old bones, and breath coming short, will be -content to look on Cader Idris from below, or only to mount the glens -to the lakes that lie around it, and leave the ultimate climb to the -young bloods. - -The Town Council of Dolgelley has done its best to make the place -attractive to visitors who have not this climbing passion on them, by -laying out walks such as those of the Torrent and the Precipice, to -facilitate the easy reach of striking points of view. - -[Illustration: CADER IDRIS] - -Of the town itself not much can be said. “You see this decanter?” said -an old gentleman after dinner. “That is the church”; and, taking a -handful of nutshells and strewing them about the decanter, he added, -“there are the houses.” - -Dolgelley does a little business. It has long been noted for the -manufacture of the “Welsh web,” and it is a famous resort of fishermen, -though the well-whipped streams do not abound in finny denizens as -they did at one time; moreover, the fish have grown uncommonly wary. -The neighbourhood has within reach many lakes more or less deserving -of the angler’s attention, and all meriting a visit by anyone who has -an eye for the beautiful. To the fisherman comes the choice between -stream and tarn, between following up the brawling torrent to its -source, lingering by the pools in which the trout glide like shadows, -and dreaming in a boat on one of the lakelets, whilst a gentle breeze -ruffles its surface. Some clever lines were written by the late Major -George Cecil Gooch, some years ago, contrasting the fishing in England -with that in Scotland. They apply equally to the contrast between -angling in England and in Wales. - - “Oh! yon angler in Kennet and Itchen! - How he creeps and he crawls on his knees. - How he casteth a fly a deep ditch in, - Or on high hangs it up in the trees! - How he stalks a poor trout that is rising, - How he chucks a fly into its mouth! - Then vows that his skill is surprising, - For they manage things so in the South. - - “Let him boast of his fine fishing tackle, - Of his lines and his casts and all that, - Of his quills and his cluns let him cackle, - Let him tie a cork band round his hat; - The reward of his toil, do you ask it? - While he grovels all day on his face, - After all, when he reckons his basket, - He must count all his spoils by the brace. - - “Leave the country of hedgerows and meadows, - Where the yellow marsh-marigold grows, - Where the oak and the elm cast their shadows, - Bid adieu to the Land of the Rose. - Come with me to the Land of the Thistle, - Where the waters run rugged and fleet, - To the hills where the wild curlews whistle, - Where a man may stand up on his feet. - - “Come with me where the bright sunbeams flicker, - Through the larches above on the brae, - Where the streams by the boulder stones bicker, - And wavelets around are at play. - Throw your line straight across over yonder, - Down, down let it gradually swing, - By the swirl near the rock let it wander, - And you’ll hook a trout fit for a king. - - “There he comes! now just hit him and hold him! - Let him rage up and down through the pool! - There are no wretched weeds to enfold him, - He’s yours if you only keep cool. - So you have him! Now try for his cousins, - For his uncles and aunts and so forth. - Never fear but you’ll get ’em by dozens, - That’s the way that we fish in the North.” - -Aye! and in Wales also! - -The Precipice Walk is that which will probably be first taken by the -visitor to Dolgelley, carried round Moel Cynwch, which rises to the -height of 1,068 feet, and has on its lower head a prehistoric camp. -The way from Dolgelley leads past Cymmer Abbey, that was founded by -Llewelyn ab Iorwerth the Great, who died in 1240. - -[Illustration: THE TORRENT WALK, DOLGELLEY] - -[Illustration: MILL, TORRENT WALK, DULGELLEY] - -His son Gruffydd, a man of noble stature and majestic beauty, won the -hearts of the men of Gwynedd, and he was preferred by them to his -brother David, whose mother was English; and from the moment that the -breath was out of the body of Llewelyn a fierce and sanguinary war -broke out between the half-brothers. At length, by the interposition -of the Bishop of Bangor, a meeting was arranged to take place between -the rival princes, but David treacherously waylaid his brother, and his -eldest son Owen, on their way to the appointed place of conference, and -shut them up in the castle of Criccieth. - -The bishop, indignant with David for his treachery, hasted to King -Henry and invoked his intervention. The King accordingly ordered David -to release his prisoners, and when he refused to do so marched into -North Wales. Senena, the wife of Gruffydd, met the King at Shrewsbury, -and concluded a treaty with him, acting on behalf of her husband. - -Henry now marched into Gwynedd and brought David to his knees. He -surrendered Gruffydd and Owen, but the King, violating his promises, -sent both to the Tower of London. - -The Bishop of Bangor, distressed at the perfidy of the King, in vain -pleaded for the liberation of the captives, as did also the unhappy -Senena, who went to London to plead her cause in person, but all in -vain. - -As time passed, and Henry showed no inclination to release them, -Gruffydd became desperate, and contrived a plan of escape along with -his devoted wife, who had obtained a reluctantly granted permission -to visit her husband and son in prison. He cut up the tapestry of his -chamber, as also his sheets and table-cloths, into strips, which he -twisted and plaited into a rope, and one night, by means of this frail -cable, attempted to descend from his window, assisted from above by his -son Owen, whilst Senena waited below. But the great weight of Gruffydd -strained and ravelled out the cable; it broke, and he fell from so -great a height that his head, striking the ground, was driven to the -chin into his breast, and he was killed on the spot. - -Owen was thenceforth kept in closer durance than before. - -The lovely Llyn Cynwch is under the mountains, and reflects Cader -Idris on its glassy surface. Nannau, the old residence of the Vaughan -family, is near the Precipice Walk, and in the grounds, where now -stands a sundial, was formerly the “Spirit’s Blasted Tree,” alluded to -in _Marmion_. Nannau was the seat of Howel Sele, a cousin of Glyndwr; -he had rendered himself obnoxious to his relative by the zeal with -which he had espoused the cause of King Henry IV. The Abbot of Cymmer, -desirous of effecting a reconciliation, contrived that the cousins -should meet. Howel had the reputation of being an excellent archer, -and as he and Glyndwr were walking in the grounds of Nannau the latter -pointed out a deer for the purpose of trying his kinsman’s dexterity. -Howel bent his bow, adjusted the arrow, but abruptly turned its point -on Glyndwr and discharged it at his breast. Happily the latter wore a -suit of chain mail under his kirtle, and the purpose of the assassin -was foiled. Howel was instantly seized by the followers of his intended -victim and thrown into the hollow trunk of an oak that stood by, and -was there left to perish. His skeleton was not discovered till forty -years later. Glyndwr burnt the house of Nannau, and committed other -devastations on the domain of his treacherous relative. - -[Illustration: CADER IDRIS] - -The tree fell on the night of July 13th, 1813. Out of it has been -fashioned a table now at Hengwrt. - -Hengwrt is an interesting old house, and stands in woods that are -famous among entomologists as the haunt of many rare moths; and the -traces of these latter may be noted on the trees, where they have been -smeared with ale and sugar; and the lanterns of these eager scientists -wander about the shades of the oaks at night like wills-o’-the-wisp. - -Dolgelley was the native place of John Thomas, Bishop of Salisbury. -He was born in 1681, and was the son of a porter in the service of a -brewer. His father’s employer, seeing that he was a bright, clever -boy, paid the expenses of his education at school and college. He -was ordained and went as chaplain to the English factory at Hamburg, -and owing to the fluency with which he could speak German, acquired -during his residence in the capacity of chaplain at that seaport, he -attracted the notice of King George II., who took Thomas along with -him whenever he visited his electorate of Hanover. Thomas married a -Danish woman, and on her death married a niece of Bishop Sherlock of -Salisbury. He was made rector of S. Vedast’s, Foster Lane, London, -and then prebendary of Westminster and canon of S. Paul’s. In 1743 -he was nominated to the bishopric of S. Asaph, but before he was -consecrated he was offered and accepted the bishopric of Lincoln, and -was consecrated in 1744. He was translated to Salisbury in 1761, and -died there in 1766. - - “He is,” says Cole, who wrote during his lifetime, “a very worthy and - honest man, a most facetious and pleasant companion, and remarkably - good-tempered. He has a peculiar cast in his eyes, and is not a little - deaf. I thought it rather an odd jumble, when I dined with him in - 1753; his lordship squinting the most I ever saw anyone; Mrs. Thomas, - the bishop’s wife, squinting not a little; and a Dane, the brother - of his first wife, being so short-sighted as hardly to be able to - know whether he had anything on his plate or no. Mrs. Thomas was his - _fourth_ wife, granddaughter, as I take it, of Bishop Patrick, a very - worthy man. It is generally said that the bishop put this poesy to the - wedding ring when he married her: ‘If I survive, I will have five’; - and she dying in 1757, he kept his word.” - -It is not my intention to describe scenery, perhaps because as I have -not slept on Cader Idris I lack the proper _afflatus_, but also because -that of Cader Idris and of the Mawddach valley has exercised better -pens than mine. - -Instead of dilating on the scenery I will here give a few remarks on -the characteristics of the Welsh people, for whom I entertain a great -liking. - -The Englishman accustomed to life in country districts cannot fail to -be impressed with the intellectual superiority of the Welsh peasant -to the English country bumpkin. The Welsh of the labourer and small -farmer class are brighter, quicker, keener than those occupying the -same position in Saxon land. The working man has an intellect higher -developed than the little farmer in England. This, in a measure, is due -to his being bilingual. The acquisition of a second tongue undoubtedly -gives flexibility to his mind. No English labourer dreams of learning -another language than his own, but the Welsh peasant must do this, -and this fact gives to his mind aptitude for fresh acquisitions, and -affords a spur to learning. He reads more, above all, thinks more. He -leads an inner life of thought and feeling; he is more impulsive and -more sensitive. He is more susceptible to culture, more appreciative -of what is poetical and beautiful, and does not find in buffoonery the -supreme delight of life. - -The horse-play, the boisterous revelry that characterise the enjoyment -of country Hodge and Polly, as well as town-bred ’Arry and ’Arriet, -when taking a holiday, are never present on a similar occasion among -the Welsh. The great gatherings of the latter are their Eisteddfods, -and not races and football matches. They assemble in thousands to -hear music and poetry, and such gatherings are entirely free from -the vulgarities and riot of a collection of Anglo-Saxons out for a -junketing. - -A friend of mine, an incumbent for many years in a purely Welsh parish, -who was transferred at length to one that was more than half English, -remarked on the difference to me. - -There had been an entertainment in a neighbouring place, and the -English performers had given music-hall songs of a vulgar type, not -without _double entendres_, which were rapturously applauded by those -of the audience who were of English blood, whereas the Welsh sat -mute and disgusted. And my friend said to me, “Such an entertainment -would have been impossible in a purely Welsh village. The Welshman -has a sense of decorum and a higher standard of taste, which would -make him shrink from such an exhibition. But possibly it may be this -coarseness and animality that have made the Englishman so masterful -and so successful. It is the outward token of the tremendous vital -force within, that makes him carry everything before him, undeterred by -shyness, unhampered by sensitiveness, the qualities which hold back the -Celt from the rough-and-tumble struggle of life.” - -It is the old story of the round-heads and the long-heads, as revealed -to us by the barrows on our wolds and moors. The most ancient -inhabitants of Britain had well-developed skulls, with plenty of -brains in them; had delicate chins and finely formed jaws, every token -that the race was one of a gentle, highly strung quality. But it was -trampled under foot by an invasion of round-heads, bullet-shaped -skulls, with beetling brows, and jaws that speak of brute force. - -That the Welsh are more moral than the English cannot be maintained. -The Celtic idea of marriage was not that of the German, and woman in -Celtic lands did not stand so high in dignity and in popular esteem as -Tacitus shows us was the case among the Teutons. The Welsh laws allowed -a man to divorce his wife and marry another if she were unfruitful, and -for other reasons that seem to us frivolous. - -A Welsh courtship is not conducted in the same manner as in England. -There is not, or rather was not till recently, any walking-out of -couples together; that was denounced from the chapel pulpits as -indecorous. But with the consent or connivance of the parents of a -young woman the suitor would come at night to the window of the damsel -he affected, and scratch at it with a stick or throw at it a little -gravel. Then she would descend, open the door, and the pair would spend -the greater part of the night together on the sofa in the parlour, -with, as a young man who had gone through the experience informed me, a -bottle of whisky, a Bible, and a currant cake on the table before them. -Some deny the whisky, some the Bible, but all allow that refreshment -is necessary when the session is carried on to the small hours of the -morning. - -The Welsh are given the character of being untruthful, but with -injustice. They are not more so than the Anglo-Saxon of the lower -class. Untruthfulness is a product of oppression and injustice, and -doubtless the long martyrdom undergone by the Welsh people forced them -to equivocate and seek all manner of subterfuges, but this has passed -away--both the occasion and the consequence. The consequence does not -always become extinguished when the cause has been removed--not at -once--but it tends rapidly to disappear. - -Mistresses complain in England that their domestics are untruthful. Of -course they are, if the authority over them is unjust. Plautus shows us -Davus as a liar through every fibre of his soul, but Davus was a slave. -If mistresses will treat their servants as part of their family, and -trust them, they, in turn, will be true. - -Unfortunately, athletic sports are discountenanced by the preachers in -the chapels as well as the walking-out of sweethearts; consequently -the discipline of the cricket field and the struggle of the football -are not for the Welsh, except in a mining district. Football, however, -was formerly a favourite pastime among the Welsh, but as it was -principally played on Sundays it was put down with stern severity by -the Nonconformist preachers. - -[Illustration: PISTYLL-Y-CAIN, DOLGELLEY] - -Religion is an integral part of the life of the Welshman. There is -hardly any of that indifference to it which everywhere prevails in -England. With us, in a country place, one quarter of the population -goes to church, another quarter to chapel, and a half goes nowhere. -That half may live, and does live, a respectable, but it is a godless -life. That is not the case in Wales. There two-thirds of its population -go to the chapels, one-third to church, and an infinitesimal proportion -holds aloof from either. Religion enfolds the Welsh man and woman from -infancy. It does much to develop in him the faculty of self-government; -it moulds his opinions from the earliest age. But the form of religion -he has adopted has its disadvantages. It narrows his view, it cuts him -off from much that is wholesome and harmless, and limits his world -to his sect. The theatre is taboo. I was in a little town of some -1,200 inhabitants, to which came a strolling company of players, with -a programme of perfectly wholesome and, indeed, edifying pieces. It -expected to reap a harvest of sixpences and shillings, and announced -performances for four consecutive evenings. But no sooner were the -placards up than in all the seven chapels the ministers denounced “the -play” as a snare of the devil, and warned their congregations to eschew -it as a step to damnation. One told an anecdote. A young man with whom -he was acquainted went to the theatre, resolved to see a play; but, -raising his eyes, he saw written up, “This way to the pit.” Then, -conscience-stricken, he withdrew. “But,” said the preacher, “every -way--gallery, and stall, and box--lead alike to the bottomless pit.” - -The result was that no Dissenters went, no Churchmen either, lest they -should offend their “weaker brethren” of the chapel, and the poor -players departed not having pocketed enough to pay their expenses for a -single night. - -The Welsh are, however, a people with the dramatic instinct in them, -as is the case with all high-strung, sensitive races. In former times -they had their “Interludes,” just as the Cornish had their Miracle -and secular plays. In Cornwall there exist still the “Rounds”--great -amphitheatres of artificial construction, in which plays were wont -to be performed in the open air to crowds of spectators. The Wesleyan -Revival killed these plays, and the Rounds are now only employed for -great preaching bouts. - -The Welsh Interludes were poetic compositions, calling forth the -abilities of the village composers. A great many of these still exist, -not perhaps excellent in dramatic situations, but some of them of no -mean poetic value. The Interlude was the direct offspring of the old -Morality, and it was allegorical rather than directly dramatic. We -have in English, among our peasantry, still a few of these, such as -the “Dialogue between the Serving-man and the Gardener,” and a score -of altercations in verse, very generally sung, in Cornwall, between -a youth and a damsel, who begin by quarrelling, or with the maiden -flouting the young man, and end in reconciliation and a trot off -hand-in-hand to be married. There is another, once popular in Cornwall, -in which the ghost of a maiden appears to her lover and sets him hard -riddles, which he answers. Unless he could answer them she would have -drawn him to the grave. Another, again, is that of “Richard Malvine,” -where the plot consists in an intrigue carried on between a parson -and the miller’s wife. The wife pretends to be ill, and sends for her -husband. - - “O Richard Malvine, O Richard Malvine! - Good husband, I’m like to die, - And medicine alone can me restore - As here on my bed I lie. - I would drink of the Well of Absalom, - Its water I fain would try, - And oh! for a bottle of ale!” - -The husband departs in quest of the Well of Absalom, and the wife -complacently says:-- - - “Pray God send him a hard journey, - And never to come home.” - -No sooner is Richard Malvine gone than the wife sends for the parson, -and to him she says:-- - - “Pray feast with me; - I have good ale, bread fresh and bread stale, - And withal a venison pasty. - And merry we’ll drink and eat and dance, - Right merry I trow we’ll be.” - -Now Richard Malvine had a man who was trusty. And so soon as the miller -went forth, the man pursued him, caught him up, and said:-- - - “O master, good Richard Malvine, - Thou art not gone far from here. - The priest and thy wife are right merrie, - Are having good sport and cheer. - Get into the sack, that I bear on my back, - And what they shall say, thou’lt hear. - - “O Richard Malvine, O Richard Malvine! - Thy wife is false to thee. - I’ll stand the sack in the chimney-back, - Where thou canst hear and see. - And thou shalt find, when thou hast a mind - To call, I am near to thee.” - -The parson arrives, and the table is spread--all this was acted in -farm-houses. The wife says:-- - - “My husband, Richard Malvine, is forth, - A journey afar doth roam, - A bottle to fetch of the water fresh - Of the Well of Absalom.” - -Then the parson sits down and eats with the wife, and there is much -fun, somewhat broad--when out of the sack in the chimney-back jumps -Richard Malvine, and he shouts:-- - - “‘Now into the sack, as I’m Richard Malvine, - Or thy blood, Sir Priest, I will take! - O good my lady and gentleman, - I heard what you both did say, - The parson I’ll dip in the mill-pond quick - Before that I let him away, - And my wife with a rope about her neck - I’ll sell next market-day.’” - -The waggoner then hoists the sack with the parson in it on his back, -and carries him forth to be ducked in the mill-pond. - -Another such an Interlude was one, not more edifying, in which occur -snatches of a song:-- - - “Oh the wind and the rain, - They have sent him back again, - So you cannot have a lodging here!” - -and:-- - - “Oh, the wind is in the west, - And the cuckoo’s in his nest, - So you cannot have a lodging here!” - -and finally:-- - - “Oh, the devil is in the man, - That he cannot understan’ - That he cannot have a lodging here!” - -The half play half game of “Jenny-Jan” is common in the West of England -and in Scotland, alike. - -A young man enters the room, when a woman acting the mother asks:-- - - “Come to see Jenny, Jan? Jenny, Jan? Jenny Jan? - Come to see Jenny?” - - _He._ “Can I see her now?” - _She._ “Jenny is washing, washing, washing, Jan. - Jenny is washing, Jan, you can’t see her now.” - - _Then all say_:-- - - “Morning, ladies and gentlemen, too! - Morning, ladies and gentlemen, too! - Come to see Jenny, Jan? Jenny, Jan? Jenny, Jan? - Come to see Jenny, and can’t see her now.” - -Next the youth is informed that Jenny is married, then that she is -dead, then that she is buried, and lastly that her grave is green. -“Jenny’s grave is green with the tears that flow.” The principal -performer has to simulate various emotions at the information given to -him. - -Now the first of these trifles is certainly derived from the old prose -romance of _Friar Rush_, the earliest English printed copy of which is -dated 1620, but which was taken from the German, and this was printed -at Strasburg in 1515. The story, however, dates, in all probability, -from a much earlier period. - -The second is remarkable because the music is almost note for note as -sung not very many years ago, with the air to the same words as given -in Queen Elizabeth’s _Virginal Book_. That Jenny-Jan must have been -common all over England seems to be implied by the fact of its existing -in Devon as well as in Scotland, though to different melodies. - -We can hardly doubt that these plays, in which three, at the most five, -but usually three persons took part, were common in Wales in the Middle -Ages, and, indeed, down to the Methodist Revival, when all such things -were set aside as of the devil, devilish. Of all the Welsh composers of -interludes, Twm o’r Nant, or Tom o’ the Dingle, was the most famous. -He wrote an interlude on John Bunyan’s “Spiritual Courtship,” on -Naaman’s Leprosy, and an allegorical piece on Hypocrisy. He was born -in 1739, and was married in 1763. His biography is extant and is very -entertaining. His other interludes were “Riches and Poverty,” “The -Three Associates of Man--the World, Nature, Conscience,” and “The King, -the Justice, the Bishop, and the Husbandman,” and he was wont to act in -them himself. - -These were all composed in verse, and were not without poetic fire, but -the allegorical character of the pieces was against them. - -One great cause of the refinement of mind, as well as of manner, in -the Welshman of the lower classes, is the traditional passion for -poetry. The Welsh have had their native poets from time immemorial. -The earlier poets are hard to be read, often from a habit they had of -introducing words, wholly regardless of sense, to pad out their lines, -or to produce a pleasant effect on the ear. But all this drops away in -the later poets, and Wales has never failed to produce a crop of these, -and their productions are read, acquired by heart, and go to mould the -taste. - -Now look at the English bumpkin. What poetic faculty is there in him? -Take the broadside ballads of England. Unless you stumble on an ancient -ballad, all is the veriest balderdash. - - “To hear the sweet birds whistle - And the nightingales to sing,” - -or again:-- - - “As I went forth one May morning - To scent the morning air,” - -the final line of which is capable of a double interpretation--the -bucolic mind rises to no poetic conception. It looks at Nature with -dull, dazed eyes, and sees nothing in it. It does not distinguish one -plant from another, its only idea of a sensation is a young woman -dressing as a sailor or a soldier to run after her young man, and its -only idea of humour is grossness. - -But the moment you come in contact with Celtic blood a ripple of living -fire runs through the veins, the eyes are open and they see, the ears -are touched and they hear, the tongue is unloosed and it sings. - -The sole conception that the vulgar English mind has of poetry is -rhyme, and the rhyme often execrably bad. In my time I have come upon -many a village poet--but never a poetic idea from their minds, never a -spark of divine fire in their doggerel. - -But to return to Welsh Nonconformity. That it was the revolt of the -Conscience against the deadness of the Church, which had left out of -view all its glorious Catholic heritage, and offered stones in place -of bread, and put wolves in place of pastors over the sheep, does not -admit of question. Nor can it be doubted that Nonconformity has done an -amazing deal for the development--if one-sided, yet a development--of -the Welsh mind. It has stunted some of its faculties, but it has -expanded the mind in other directions. Nonconformity exercises a most -controlling force upon the Welshman. He no more dares to think or -worship or have an aspiration beyond his sect, than has a Mussulman -outside his religion. So long as he is in Wales, by a thousand ties he -is bound to his sect. He would wreck his social, his moral influence, -his position, his worldly prospects if he left it. - -The bicycle, however, is making a breach in the bonds that restrain -the young people, much as in France it is emancipating the demoiselle -from the severe tutelage in which the French girl is held. It is taking -those who use the “wheel” beyond the little area over which their -religious community exercises influence. - -We talk of the Irish peasantry as priest-ridden, but the Welsh are in -almost as strict subjection to the opinion of their chapel body. The -emancipation the bicycle produces has its good effects, but also those -which are evil. The chapel opinion makes for godliness and a decent -life. - -The _Sciet_, or Society, comprises every member of the denomination, -and is a miniature democracy, in which the affairs of the community -are discussed, and its working is arranged, its religious tenets are -shaped, and its code of morals is fixed. The greatest excitement -allowed is the _Diwygiad_, or Revival, which may or may not leave good -moral results. Sometimes it awakens the indifferent, sometimes deepens -the religious life, but it also occasionally leads to lapses from -virtue. - -Revivalism is a two-edged weapon that may cut the hand that holds it. - -The Church is supported principally by the squirearchy and the -dependants on the squirearchy. And, as a rule, the squirearchy likes -to have a religion that does not make great demands on its time, does -not exact self-denial, does not require exalted spirituality. And it -is ready enough to pay for a jog-trot religion, but will button up the -pocket against a too exacting zeal. - -[Illustration: TYN-Y-GROES, DOLGELLEY] - -Some of the old Welsh preachers at the outburst of the revolt against -the deadness and worldliness of the Church were very remarkable men, -and their eloquence was great. It would not pass muster at the present -day in their own communities, but it served its purpose at the time. - -There was one, for instance, reminiscences of whose sermons have -survived--Stephen Jenkins, born 1815, died 1892. - -On one occasion he was preaching upon prayer, and he suddenly broke -forth into a graphic description of the animals entering the ark. -After having seen the lion, the bear, the ape, and the snail enter, -all whose progresses were graphically described, he went on to speak -of the elephant, and he drew a lively picture of the monstrous beast -ascending the plank that led to the entrance to the house-boat. “But -how is this?” exclaimed the preacher. “The elephant is higher than the -door. By no means can he walk in. Of no avail for Noah and his sons to -prog him with goads. He cannot enter. The door is low, and his head is -held too high. Then says Noah, ‘Go down on your knees, beast!’ and the -elephant obeys. Then, Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth thrusting behind, -they managed to get the elephant into the ark. And you, if you will -enter the kingdom of heaven, must go down on your knees. Strait is the -gate and narrow is the way.” - -The story is told differently in a little memoir of Stephen Jenkins -that has been published recently (Tonypandy, 1902), but I give it as it -reached me some years ago; probably the preacher used Noah’s ark more -than once, and to enforce different maxims. - -The following is, however, from the book:-- - - “When Peter went to Cæsarea to his publication [_i.e._ preaching - to which invited], ha took Mrs. Peter with him. And ha was putting - up at a farmhouse. And the farmer took Peter around the farm with - him, to show his stock to ’n. On the way home the bull roared at ’n, - but ha didn’t notice that. When ha cam’ to the farm-yard, the ould - gander cam’ hissing after ’n, but he didn’t mind that either. But, - all of a sudden, the ould cock cam’ up to ’n quite bould, and sang - _Cock-a-doodle-doo_, and he turned quite pale, and begged the farmer - to let ’n go into the house. And when ha went into the house, Mrs. - Peter asked, ‘What is the matter, Peter _bach_?’ ‘Oh, that ould bird - again!’ he said.... Ah, my dear people, ould Conscience will remind - you some way or other, of your past sins, even after you’re forgiven.” - -This may be absurd, but it served its purpose. Whether a preacher is -justified in drawing so freely on his imagination is a question I do -not enter upon. The sermon recalls to me one heard in a little Cornish -chapel a few years ago. I believe that I give the preacher’s words -without exaggeration. The text was from Psalm lvii. 8: “Awake up, my -glory; awake, psaltery and harp.” And this was the opening of the -discourse:-- - - “My brethren! King David awoke early in the morning, just as the sun - was rising. There had been wretched bad times, rain, rain, rain, all - day and night, and the sheep were cawed [diseased], and the harvest - was not got in, the shocks of corn were standing, the grain was - sprouting in the ears. You know what sort of bread comes of that! - David had been sore at heart, for he knew the farmers were in a bad - way, and the labouring people were also not well off. So he got out of - bed, and opened his window, and looked out, and smelt the beautiful - fresh morning air. Then he saw the sun come a-peeping up over the - eastern hills, like a spark of gold. So says David, ‘There he comes, - and not a cloud in the sky, and there’s every promise of a good day. - Wake up, my glory! wake up, my beautiful shining luminary, and give - us a long fine day, for we want it sore before the corn is utterly - spoiled and done for.’ And then, brethren, he made another remark, and - that he addressed to his Possle-tree [psaltery]. Now, I don’t pretend - to know exactly what sort of a tree a Possle-tree is, but travellers - who have been in Palestine, and learned commentators, do assert that - it is a plant that turns her face to the sun, whichever way the sun - be. In short she is a sort of convolvulus. Now David saw this here - possle-tree drooping, with her blossom heavy with rain, and says he, - with a great shout, ‘Possle-tree!’ says he, ‘Possle-tree, my hearty, - wake up! The glorious sun is up and shining, and it becomes you also - to wake up, and look the glorious sun in the face, as is your nature - and your duty too.’” - -[Illustration: HALFWAY HOUSE, DOLGELLEY] - -How completely Celtic both these addresses were! To the dull Saxon -mind there would be unreality and trifling in such rich embroidery of -sacred facts, and it would repel, not edify. But the Celtic taste is -not squeamish; it allows a broad margin for imaginary decoration, and -so long as the moral enforced is satisfactory, it does not regard the -means whereby it is reached. - -Of course this sort of address would be impossible now in Wales, but in -Cornwall the level of culture is a century in arrear of Wales. - -A Welshman is like an Irishman, naturally an orator, and his highest -climax is reached in the _hwyl_, the Welsh howl. This consists in a -rhythmic musical intonation, rising to a high pitch. It was at one -time general in extempore preaching, but has fallen into disuse, as -it showed a tendency to become a mechanical trick, a striving after -effect, when the orator felt that his matter ceased to interest and -arouse. - -An amusing story was told me of a religious revival effected by an old -woman and a mendicant. - -Said Sheena to Shone, “How is it at Bethesda now?” - -“Ah, Sheena, dead as ditchwater!” - -“That is a pity,” said she. “Let us revive the spirit.” - -So they went together to the chapel, and during an eminently prosy -sermon began to rock on their seats, to moan and utter exclamations. -The influence spread, and presently the whole congregation swayed and -cried out, “Glory be to God!” at the preacher’s platitudes. Then, -little by little, the agitation of spirits affected him--his voice -rose to a cry, and sank and thrilled; he flamed, he flung about his -arms; finally, he howled. Thenceforth all was animation and unction in -Bethesda. - -We may doubt whether the Catholic Church ever gained as firm a hold -over the Welsh people as it did over the English. The best benefices -were generally given to English or to foreign ecclesiastics who did -not understand a word of the vernacular of the people, and the poor -cures were cast to hedge-priests who were both ignorant and immoral; -such livings as were in Welsh hands were very indifferently served, as -the churches belonged to several people, in or out of Orders, as has -been already shown. - -The Reformation did not at all mend matters. During the Tudor period, -it is true, the Church did hold the affection of the Welsh people, and -was, for upwards of a century, ruled by bishops who were Welsh in name -and tongue. But evil days followed. Bishoprics and livings were given -to Englishmen who did not know Welsh, and who often were nonresident. -The revenues of the Church were drained into the pockets of English -pluralists and men who ostentatiously neglected their duties. - -With the Methodist Revival the Welsh found themselves masters of their -own religion; they could form communities for themselves, invent their -own creeds, and accommodate the worship to their own idiosyncrasies. - -Although the Welsh are an emotional people, they are a clear and -hard-headed people as well. They have passed through the period of -hysterical religion, and a preacher who is acceptable must be one who -is worth listening to because he has something to say. He must be, not -a man of frothy eloquence, but one who has read and thought. One of -the drawbacks of the Church in Wales is that ministers who have proved -themselves to be more or less failures in their sects have been too -much in the habit of coming over to the Church and seeking ordination, -in the hopes of being coddled and applauded as “‘verts,” and being put -into benefices; and the bishops have shown too ready a disposition to -receive them. - -Such converts are often no gain to the Church and no loss to Dissent. -In _Don Giovanni_ Figaro struts up and down the stage unrolling a -list of his conquests in the field of love, and it is not edifying -or pleasing to see some of the more vigorous defenders of the -“Establishment” parade in like manner the captures from Nonconformity. -The Church in Wales, except at Cardiff, has been hardly touched as -yet by the breath of the revival which has transformed the Church in -England. If the Church is to regain her hold over the Welsh people, -it will be by supplying them with what they cannot have in the sects. -They can obtain Christianity attenuated into the most vaporous -condition, thrown into the most varied nebular forms, in the several -denominations. But if the Welshman joins the Church, it will not be, -like Ixion, to embrace a cloud, but for a definite creed and apostolic -order. - -[Illustration: HARLECH CASTLE] - - - - -CHAPTER XIII - -HARLECH - - Situation--The castle--Bronwen--Bronwen’s tomb--Dafydd ab Ifan--“March - of the Men of Harlech”--Prehistoric remains--Llanfair--Ellis - Wynne--_Visions of the Sleeping Bard_--Sam Badrig--The drowned - land--Ardudwy--Fight of the men--Roman Steps--Owen Pughe--Fires and - destruction of Welsh MSS. - - -THE situation of Harlech is fine--a rock rising almost vertically from -the level tract of sandy flats that fringes the sea, surmounted by a -castle, and with the little town clustering behind it and slipping down -the sides. - -The castle consists of a rude quadrangle, with round towers at each -angle, and to the east a gateway flanked by two more. It is not a -particularly picturesque ruin, and before it fell into ruin must have -been positively ugly. It is not comparable to Conway in size or in -beauty of outline, but Henry de Elreton, the architect, built for use, -and looked to make it an impregnable stronghold, and did not consider -the picturesque. - -The castle occupies the site of Twr Bronwen. - -Bran the Blessed was king of Britain, and he had a beautiful sister -called Bronwen. - -One day he was in his fortress at Harlech when, looking west, he saw a -fleet approach. It was that of Matholwch, king of Ireland, who came to -ask for Bronwen to be his wife. He was well received, and the wedding -was appointed to be kept at Aberffraw, in Anglesey. So Bran and all -his warriors went thither by land, and the Irish king by sea, and at -Aberffraw a great marriage feast was held. - -Now Bran and Bronwen had a half-brother named Evnyssien, who had not -been consulted in the matter, and out of spite during the night he went -to the horses brought over by the Irish king and “cut off their lips to -the teeth, and their ears close to their heads, and their tails close -to their backs, and their eyelids to the very bone.” - -Matholwch was furious at the insult, and was with difficulty appeased -by Bran giving him a silver rod as tall as himself and a plate of gold -as wide as his face, and by assuring him that the outrage had been -committed without his knowledge and against his wishes. - -Then Matholwch sailed away with his bride. In the course of a year she -bore him a son, whom she called Gwern. Now the story of the insult -offered to their king circulated in Ireland, and this produced very -bitter feeling against the queen, and Matholwch was himself so turned -against her that he degraded her to be cook in his palace. - -Bronwen reared a starling in the cover of the kneading trough, and -wrote a letter telling her woes, and tied it to a feather of the bird’s -wing, and let it fly. The bird departed and reached Caer Seiont, or -Carnarvon, where King Bran then was, lighted on his shoulder and -ruffled its plumes, and, discovering the letter, he detached and read -it. Then, in great wrath, he collected a force and manned a fleet, and -sailed to Ireland to revenge the wrongs offered to his sister. - -Matholwch, unprepared to resist, invited him to a conference and a -banquet, and in compensation for the wrongs offered to raise his own -son Gwern to the throne, and to abdicate. - -Now at the banquet the boy Gwern entered the hall, and for his beauty -and courtesy was by all admired and fondled save by the malevolent -Evnyssien, who, when the lad came before him, suddenly grasped him by -head and feet and flung him into the fire that burned before them. When -Bronwen saw her child in the flames she endeavoured to spring in after -him, but was restrained by her brother Bran and another, between whom -she was seated. - -This shocking act of violence caused a general fight between the Welsh -and the Irish. Evnyssien fell and many others on the side of Bran, who -was obliged to retreat to his ships and escape over the sea to Britain, -wounded in the foot in the fray by a poisoned dart. - -On reaching Wales Bran felt that he was death-struck, and he commanded -that his head should be cut off and taken to London, and buried on the -White Mount, where is now the Tower, and that the face should be set -towards France. Bronwen, who had escaped, soon after died of a broken -heart. “Woe is me!” she said, “that ever I was born; for two islands -have been destroyed because of me!” - -She was buried in Anglesey, in a spot since called Ynys Bronwen. In -1813 the traditional grave was opened. - - “A farmer, living on the banks of the Alaw, having occasion for stones - to make some addition to his farm-buildings, and having observed a - stone or two peeping through the turf of a circular elevation on a - flat not far from the river, was induced to examine it, where, after - paring off the turf, he came to a considerable heap of stones, or - _carnedd_, covered with earth, which he removed with some degree of - caution, and got to a _cist_ formed of coarse flags canted and covered - over. On removing the lid, he found it contained an urn placed with - its mouth downwards, full of ashes and half-calcined fragments of - bone.” - -In the _Mabinogion_ the grave is thus described:-- - - “A square grave was made for Bonwen, the daughter of Llyr, on the - banks of the Alaw, and there she was buried.” - -The urn that contained the ashes and bones was of the well-known Bronze -Age type. - -According to the traditional pedigrees of the Welsh, Bronwen was the -aunt of the celebrated Caractacus who so gallantly resisted the Romans, -and who was taken prisoner and conveyed to Rome. But these very early -pedigrees are untrustworthy. - -The Bronwen Tower of Harlech Castle is that on the left of the -sea-front as we enter the courtyard. - -In 1404 Owen Glyndwr got possession of the castle and held a parliament -in it. - -During the Wars of the Roses, the Earl of Pembroke and his brother, Sir -Richard Herbert, laid siege to the fortress. It was defended by the -governor, Davydd ab Ifan, who there offered an honourable asylum to -Margaret of Anjou, queen of Henry VI., and the Prince of Wales, after -the battle of Northampton. When summoned to surrender, he replied that -he had held a fortress in France till all the old women in Wales had -heard of it, and he now purposed holding out in Harlech till all the -old women in France heard of it. - -[Illustration: BRONWEN’S URN] - -According to a contemporary bard, there was great slaughter; he says -that six thousand men fell, but this shows him to have been able to -draw the long-bow as well as to finger the lyre. Eventually, after a -blockade, Harlech was forced to capitulate, and the whole district was -then subjected to Edward IV. The famous air, “The March of the Men -of Harlech,” is said to have been composed during this siege, more -probably long after, in commemoration of it. - -Harlech is not a good watering-place, as the sea is at some distance -from the town, separated from it by tedious sand-flats. But it commands -a magnificent view of the promontory of Lleyn, with Yr Eifl--in English -the Rivals--rising from it, then Moel Siabod, Snowdon, and the Glyders; -and many pleasant excursions may be made from it. The view is blocked -before the principal hotel by the huge bulk of the castle. - -The railroad to Barmouth runs under what were sea-cliffs, but the sea -has retreated, and at the mouth of the Nant Col and Artro, and between -that of the mouth of the brook Afon Ysgethin, is an exclusive stretch -of Morfa, or sand-dune. So also between Harlech and the estuary of the -Afon Glaslyn. - -Near Harlech are several of the Cytiau’r Gwyddelod, circular stone -habitations dating back from the Irish occupation of the country, if -not more ancient still. But a more interesting monument of prehistoric -antiquity is the Caer on Moel Goedog, standing 1,210 feet above the -sea, where is a stone fort, and there also are stone circles. Other -relics of a remote antiquity lie to the south, about Llyn Irddyn, to -be reached by ascending the valley of the Ysgethin. Here are camps, -remains of a prehistoric village, and cairns. - -At Llanfair, in the church, is a stained-glass window to the memory of -Ellis Wynne, and his birthplace, Glasynys, is about a mile and a half -from Harlech. Ellis Wynne was born there in 1671. Some twenty-five -years before he saw the light Harlech Castle had been the scene of many -a fray between Roundheads and Cavaliers, and of the last stand made by -the Welsh for King Charles. The remembrance of these events must have -been fresh as he grew up. - -In 1703 he published _The Visions of the Sleeping Bard_, which has -ever since been regarded as a classic work in Welsh prose. It was not -original in its inception. In 1668 Sir Robert l’Estrange had published -his translations of Gomez de Quevedo’s _Dreams_, and this must have -fallen into the hands of Ellis Wynne. Quevedo had his visions of the -World, of Death, and Hell, and Wynne followed in having the same. - -The same characters are represented in both, the same classes are -satirised, and the same punishments are meted out. - -Wynne had also composed a _Vision of Heaven_, but when it was detected -that he was a plagiarist, he was so annoyed that he threw his -manuscript into the fire. - -Nevertheless, _The Visions of the Sleeping Bard_ remains, and ever will -remain, a Welsh classic. - - “No better model exists of the pure idiomatic Welsh of the last - century, before writers became influenced by English style and method. - Vigorous, fluent, crisp, and clear, it shows how well our language is - adapted to description and narration. It is written for the people, - and in the picturesque and poetic strain which is always certain to - fascinate the Celtic mind.”[5] - -On a summer day the bard ascends one of the Welsh mountains “spy-glass -in hand. Through the clear, tenuous air and the calm, shimmering heat, -I beheld far, far away over the Irish Sea many a fair scene.” So he -falls asleep, dreams, and finds himself among the fairies, whom he -approaches, and of whom he requests permission to join their society. -They snatch him up forthwith and fly away with him over lands and seas, -till they reach the Castle Delusive, where an Angel of light appears, -and delivers him from their hands. - -With the angel as his guide he visits the City of Destruction, and its -streets, Pride, Lucre, Pleasure. Then he soars to the City of Emmanuel. - -The whole is allegorical and far-fetched, and absolutely intolerable -to modern taste; but there was a time, and that not far distant, -when allegory was much appreciated in Wales. In England also, Bishop -Wilberforce, with his _Agathos_, and Munro, with his _Dark River_ and -other tales of like character, were the last of a school that has, -happily, passed away for ever. - -Ellis Wynne and his guide traverse the Well of Repentance and come -to the Catholic Church, on the roof of which sit various princes -brandishing their swords as her protectors. - -Over the transept of the Church of England sits Queen Anne, holding the -Sword of Justice in the left hand, and the Sword of the Spirit in the -right. “Beneath the left sword lay the Statute Book of England, and -beneath the other a big Bible. At her right hand I observed throngs -clad in black--archbishops, bishops, and learned men upholding with -her the Sword of the Spirit, whilst soldiers and officials, with a few -lawyers, supported the other sword.” - -He does not paint the Welsh Church as in a satisfactory condition in -his day. The angel seats him in the rood-loft of one of them, “and we -saw some persons whispering, some laughing, some staring at pretty -women, others prying at their neighbours’ dress from top to toe, others -showing their teeth at one another, others dozing, others assiduous at -their devotion, but many of these latter dissimulating”; and he points -out the irreverence and sacrilege caused by the law that required a man -to be a communicant before he could receive office. - -Ellis Wynne died in 1734, and is buried under the altar at Llanfair. - -Mochras Spit, a grand field for finding shells, is the starting-point -of the Sarn Badrig, a reef that runs for something like twenty miles -into the Cardigan Bay, and is about four yards wide. At ebb tide about -nine miles are exposed, but the foam about the rest can be traced far -out to sea. Traditionally it was one of the embankments that enclosed -the Cantref y Gwaelod, the low-lying hundred, well peopled, that -contained twelve fortified towns, but which was submerged in the fifth -century through the folly of the drunken Seithenin, who neglected to -keep up the sea-wall. The story has been told already. - -A short poem attributed to Gwyddno, whose territory was overwhelmed, -has been preserved, in which he laments:-- - - “Stand forth, Seithenyn, and behold the dwelling of heroes, - the plain of Gwyddno is whelmed in the sea, - Accursed be the sea-warden, who, after his carousal, - let loose the destroying fountain of the raging deep. - Accursed be the watcher, who, after drunken revelry, let loose - the fountain of the desolating sea. - A cry from the sea rises above the ramparts; to heaven does - it mount,--after fierce excess comes a long lull. - A cry from the sea arouses me in the night season. - A cry from the sea rises above the winds. - A cry from the sea drives me from my bed at night.” - -Llanaber Church, which has been restored, deserves a visit from either -Harlech or Barmouth. It was built in the thirteenth century, and is in -the pure Early English style. In the east end is a single lancet. The -nave has a clerestory. The exterior is plain, and all the enrichment is -within. An inscribed stone is inside that was rescued from serving as a -footbridge over the Ceilwart. It bears on it, “Cælexti Monedorigi.” - -All the district from Barmouth to the Aber Glaslyn comprises Ardudwy, -and the mountains are of Cambrian grit, “an immense block of mountains -running from Maentwrog to Barmouth, and separating the Harlech country -from all the eastern portion of Merionethshire. Although they all -constitute the same group without a single break, they are called by -different names according to the most prominent points” (Murray). They -are strewn with small tarns that are interesting, though not enclosed -by craggy walls, and abound in fish. - -The story goes that the men of Ardudwy, like the early Romans, finding -themselves short of women, made an incursion into the Vale of Clwyd -and brought away a number of the fairest damsels, whom they conveyed -into their own country. They were pursued and overtaken at a place -called Beddau Gwyr Ardudwy, where a fight ensued. Instead of the women -acting as did the Sabine damsels, rushing between the combatants and -separating them, the maidens, seeing their ravishers get the worst of -it, precipitated themselves into the lake that now bears the name of -Llyn-y-Morwynion, where they were drowned, rather than return to their -homes. - -The mountains are traversed by an ancient paved road, called the Roman -Steps, that comes from the valley of the Afon Erbu at Pont Grible, and -strikes past the Llyn-y-Morwynion to Llyn Cwm Bychan, and thence to -Talsarnau (the Head of the Roads), whence passage was made across the -Traeth Bach to Mynffordd. It would seem to have been a branch from the -Sarn Helen, which followed very nearly the course of the modern road, -as straight as an arrow, from Dolgelley to Maentwrog. - -At Egryn, between Llanaber and Llanddwywe, was formerly an abbey, but -of that nothing now remains, and its site is occupied by a farmhouse. -Here lived in his early days William Owen Pughe, an enthusiastic -antiquary and lover of all things Celtic. In 1785 he laid the -foundation of his great work, a Welsh-English Dictionary, which was -printed and published in London in 1803. Some idea of the richness of -the Welsh language may be gained from the fact that, whereas Johnson’s -English Dictionary, as enlarged by Todd, contains about 61,000 words, -the first edition of Dr. Pughe’s Welsh Dictionary contained as many as -100,000 words. - -Another great work in which he was engaged was the transcription and -editing of the three volumes of the _Myvyrian Archæology of Wales_, a -mine of information on the early history of Wales. It was published in -1801-7. - -As a number of the MSS. printed have been since destroyed by the fires -that have consumed so many Welsh houses and their libraries, we may -well be thankful that the publication was then made. - -One of the most disastrous of the fires which have caused so much of -Welsh literature to perish was that of Llwyd’s collection. Edward -Llwyd, born in 1660, devoted his life to the accumulation of materials -relative to Wales. He visited Ireland, Cornwall, Brittany, and Scotland -in quest of MSS., and formed a compilation of his collections in forty -volumes in folio, ten in quarto, and above a hundred in smaller size. -These were offered, after his death, to Jesus College, Oxford, but -owing to Dr. Wynne, then Fellow of Jesus, having been on bad terms with -Llwyd, the college, by his advice, refused the offer. - -They were then purchased by Sir Thomas Seabright, of Beechwood, in -Hertfordshire, in whose library they remained till 1807, when they -were sold to Sir Watkyn Williams Wynn, Bart. Some years afterwards the -greater and more valuable portion of these priceless documents was -transmitted to London to a binder. His premises caught fire, and the -result of Llwyd’s life-labours was consumed. - -Another disastrous fire was that of Hafod, near Aberystwyth. This -was a residence of the Johnes family, and in the library was a large -collection of Welsh manuscripts on various subjects--history, medicine, -poetry, and romance. The house and library were both destroyed in a -conflagration that broke out. - - “The fire,” says George Borrow, “is generally called the great fire of - Hafod, and some of those who witnessed it have been heard to say that - its violence was so great that the burning rafters mixed with flaming - books were hurled high above the summits of the hills. The loss of the - house was a matter of triviality compared with that of the library. - The house was soon rebuilt--but the library could never be restored.” - -Again, in 1858, the fine collection of Welsh MSS. at Wynnstay was -destroyed by fire. Thus a literature perishes, and every effort should -be made to print what remains. - - - - -CHAPTER XIV - -WELSHPOOL - - Montgomery--Offa’s Dyke--The castle--George Herbert--The church and - its screen--The “Robber’s Grave”--Story of John Newton--Situation - of Welshpool--The Severn Valley--Buttington--Parish church of - Welshpool--Cottage of Grace Evans--Escape of Lord Nithsdale from the - Tower--Powysland Museum--Castell Coch--Cadwgan ab Bleddyn--Iorwerth - ab Bleddyn--Ghost story--Guilsfield--The church--Old yews--Holy - wells--Meifod--Charles Lloyd--S. Tyssilio--His story--His cook and the - conger--Mathrafal--Meifod Church--Lake Vyrnwy--Anne Griffiths--The - spirit-stone--The wishing-stone. - - -THE luckless town of Montgomery has taken a back seat. The railway runs -at a distance of two miles from it, and it is uncertain whether at the -station a visitor will find a conveyance to take him to it. And at that -station there is no hotel at which a trap can be hired. A bus does, I -believe, make an occasional trip to it, but as it only now and then -finds anyone there wanting to go to Montgomery it is discouraged and -reluctant to go again. - -Montgomery is out of the question as a centre, but it would be a -delightful corner into which to creep from the swirl of business, curl -up, and go to sleep. - -The active, vigorous life of the county has been drawn away to Newtown -and to Welshpool, and the condition of Montgomery, to all appearances, -is hopeless, unless the line be continued from Minsterley, in which -case it will be put into direct communication with Shrewsbury. It lies -very close to the English frontier, and Offa’s Dyke runs along the edge -of Long Mountains, and through Lymore, close to it, and that was the -boundary set in the eighth century, beyond which no Welshman was to -pass. It is a pity it was not to be a line of demarcation which every -Norman-English ruffian was forbidden to transgress. - -Curiously enough, when Offa, king of Mercia, drew this line he did -not appreciate the importance of Montgomery, and so left it to the -Welsh; but the Normans perceived the advantages of such a position in -a moment, seized it, and constructed a formidable castle therein. The -ridge on which the castle stands dominated the country round and must -have had an oppidum on it, or camp of refuge, from the earliest time. -Whether the earthworks to the west of the ruins belong to a prehistoric -camp, or to the structure built by Baldwin de Bollers in 1121, is -uncertain; they go by the name of Ffridd Faldwyn, bear his name, but -have the look of having been old when he was born. The castle had been -accorded before him by the Conqueror to Earl Roger de Montgomeri. It -has undergone siege after siege, has changed hands, been demolished and -rebuilt, and was finally destroyed by the Roundheads after the siege in -1644, when it had been held for the King by Lord Herbert. - -The ridge rises steeply from the town clothed in woods; the ruins -themselves are inconsiderable. In this castle, not then in ruins, -according to Izaak Walton, was born the saintly George Herbert, in -1593. He was the fifth son of Richard Herbert, a younger brother of -the celebrated Lord Herbert of Cherbury. In his fourth year his father -died, so that, with his brothers and sisters, he was left under the -sole charge of that excellent woman his mother, who subsequently -married Sir John Danvers. He grew up to be a good scholar, and became -an attendant at court, in expectation of preferment. But at length, -weary of such dancing attendance on court favour, he retired into -Kent, “where,” says his biographer, “he lived very privately. In this -time he had many conflicts with himself, whether he should return to -the painted pleasures of a Court life or betake himself to a study of -divinity and enter into sacred orders, to which his dear mother had -often persuaded him. At last God inclined him to put on a resolution to -serve at His altar.” He was offered the prebend of Layton Ecclesia, in -the diocese of Lincoln, whilst still a layman. - -In 1628 he married Jane, daughter of Mr. Charles Danvers, a near -relative of his stepfather. - - “Mr. Danvers having known him long and familiarly did so much affect - him that he often declared a desire that Mr. Herbert would marry any - of his nine daughters, but rather his daughter Jane, because Jane was - his beloved daughter. Mr. Danvers had so much commended Mr. Herbert to - her, that Jane became so much a Platonick as to fall in love with Mr. - Herbert unseen. This was a fair preparation for a marriage; but, alas! - her father dyed before Mr. Herbert’s retirement; yet some friends to - both parties procured their meeting, at which time a mutual affection - entered both their hearts, and love having got such possession - governed, insomuch that she changed her name into Herbert the third - day after this first interview.” - -[Illustration: CHURCH, MONTGOMERY] - -A few months after the marriage, the Earl of Pembroke obtained for him -from the King the living of Bemerton, whilst he was still in deacon’s -orders, but he was speedily ordained priest. - - “When, at his induction he was shut into Bemerton Church, being left - there to toll the bell, as the law requires him, he staid so much - longer than an ordinary time before he returned to his friends, that - staid expecting him at the church door, that his friend Mr. Woodnot - looked in at the church window, and saw him lie prostrate on the - ground before the altar; at which time and place (as he after told Mr. - Woodnot) he set rules to himself for the future manage of his life; - and then and there made a vow to labour to keep them.” - -He died of consumption in 1632, aged 39. - -It is remarkable that Wales should have given to England two of her -sweetest sacred singers, George Herbert and Henry Vaughan. - -The church of Montgomery, an interesting building with Early English -arcade, is cruciform with a modern tower at the extremity of the -northern transept. It possesses a superb carved-oak screen with -rood-loft and good stalls, but the quaint misereres have been badly -mutilated. The church contains a good deal of Early English work, but -the east and west windows are Perpendicular. - -In the graveyard, in a remote corner, is “The Robber’s Grave,” a bare -space even with the surrounding ground, and it remains bare, although -the grass grows luxuriantly about it. - -Fresh soil has been frequently spread over it, and seeds of various -kinds have been sown, but not a blade for many years was known to -spring there--the soil remained sterile. Until recently the bare patch -was of the size and shape of a coffin, but of late the surrounding -grass has somewhat encroached; nevertheless the coffin-shape remains. -The date of the grave is 1821. - -The story relating to it is this. A widow named Morris and her -daughter occupied a farm called Oakfield in the parish. The farmer, -James Morris, had been a dissipated, neglectful man, and had left his -wife and child in distressed circumstances. The little estate had -formerly belonged to a yeoman farmer named Pearce, and Thomas, who now -represented this family, hoped with his savings to be able, when the -Morrises were down, to recover Oakfield. - -Jane Morris, the daughter, was a comely wench, and a farmer of the -neighbourhood named Robert Parker had taken a fancy to her, but as -he was much her senior, she did not receive his addresses cordially. -Shortly before the death of James Morris, a young man named John Newton -had been taken into service at Oakfield. He was a shy, reserved man, -but honest and hardworking, and with his energetic help the widow’s -affairs began to mend, and the prospect of a sale of the property -became remote. Moreover, Jane and John Newton fell in love with each -other, and the mother considered that the match would be altogether -what was best for the farm. Both Parker and Pearce were incensed and -disappointed, and determined upon being revenged on John Newton. - -An opportunity for accomplishing this purpose occurred. Newton had -been attending a fair in the neighbourhood, and had been detained by -business to a late hour. He did not leave till six in the evening, -and the night was one in November. At some little distance from the -town Pearce and Parker awaited him, and after a struggle overmastered -him, brought him back into the town, and took him before a magistrate, -charging him with an attempt to rob them on the highway. Newton was -committed and tried. - -At the assizes he employed no counsel for his defence, did not -cross-question the witnesses, but contented himself with solemnly -protesting his innocence. However, the testimony of the two men -Pearce and Parker was clear, positive, and unshaken. They were men of -respectability and repute, and he was pronounced “Guilty.” - -When Newton was asked if he had anything to say why sentence of death -should not be pronounced upon him, he repeated his assertion that -he was guiltless. “But, my lord,” he said, “if it be true that I am -guiltless in this matter, I am not so in another with which I am not -charged, and of which none know but myself. And I ask of Almighty God -to bear testimony to my innocence of the crime wherewith I am charged, -by not suffering the grass, for one generation at least, to cover my -grave.” - -Newton was executed and buried in this corner of the churchyard, and -his grave is the blank spot spoken of. - -Parker soon after left the neighbourhood, became a dissolute and -drinking man, and was killed by the blasting of the rock in the -limeworks in which he had found employment. Pearce became low, -dissipated, and gradually wasted away. - -Curiously enough, the English county border of Shropshire does not -follow Offa’s Dyke south of Montgomery, but stretches inwards a mile -and three-quarters in length, forming a tongue half a mile across. - -A chain of camps extends north and south from Montgomery above the -Severn Valley. - -The towns where there is real activity in Montgomeryshire are Welshpool -and Newtown. - -Welshpool is a pleasantly situated little place among the hills, about -half a mile from the Severn. It takes its name from the Llyndu, in -the park of Powis Castle; but the Welsh name for it is Trallwng, or -Trallwm, “across the vortex”--that is to say, the llyn, which tradition -says will some day burst its bounds and overwhelm the town. - -On the west are the wooded slopes of Bron y Buckley and Gungrog. The -little stream that waters the town is the Lledau. - -The Severn for some miles above and below Welshpool flows through a -broad valley that is a dead level, and stretches to the bases of two -ranges of flanking hills which start abruptly from the broad expanse -of river flat. That beyond the river is the Long Mynd and then comes -the Breidden. This stretch of level is caused by the overflow of -the Severn, which floods it all at times, giving to the basin the -appearance of a tidal estuary. - -North-east of Welshpool is the quaintly shaped Rallt, with the steep -side towards the Severn, and dividing that valley from the basin in -which stands Guilsfield. - -Below the town by Buttington was the scene of a complete overthrow -of the Danes by the allied English and Welsh forces, in 894, under -Ethelred, Ethelm, and Ethelnoth, eorldermen, whilst King Alfred was -engaged in fighting another body of them in Devon. The Danes had -formed a camp near the river on low ground, and the Anglo-Welsh army -surrounded it. The Danes were in such distress that they ate their -horses. Then they burst forth from their camp and fought desperately. -Several thanes were slain, “and of the Danishmen was made great -slaughter.” - -The parish church of Welshpool stands on high ground, and was built -about the year 1275. But very little remains of the original church; -the lower stages of the tower, with its archway into the nave, and an -Early English window in the north gable behind the organ are all. At -the beginning of the sixteenth century the nave was rebuilt, with a -north and a south aisle; but in the eighteenth century the arcade on -the south was removed, and the outer walls rebuilt. - -This gives to the church a lop-sided appearance internally, as the -chancel arch is thrown on one side of the unusually broad nave. The -fine rood-screen was destroyed in or about 1738, when the parishioners -appealed to the bishop for permission to remove it, because “a great -number of the very common sorte of people sit in it (under pretence -of psalm-singing), who run up and down there; some of them spitting -upon the people’s heads below.” Hanoverian windows and galleries were -added, and the church made as ugly as well could be. It has, however, -been taken in hand since, and made more decent. It still retains a -fine carved-oak roof in the chancel, supposed to have come from Strata -Marcella Abbey. - -The key of the church--in Wales nearly every church is kept locked--is -kept at a picturesque little black and white cottage at the east -end, in which once lived Grace Evans, who assisted Lady Nithsdale, a -daughter of the Duke of Powis, in effecting her husband’s escape from -the Tower of London. - -Lady Nithsdale wrote an account of the whole affair to her sister, and -in it she always speaks of the humble Welsh girl Grace as “My dear -Evans.” - -William Maxwell, fifth Earl of Nithsdale, had been involved in the -Jacobite cause, was taken prisoner, and committed to the Tower. “As -a Roman Catholic upon the frontiers of Scotland, who headed a very -considerable party, a man whose family had signalised itself by -its loyalty to the royal house of Stuart would become an agreeable -sacrifice to the opposite party,” wrote Lady Nithsdale. - -But one day was left before the execution. She appealed to Parliament -for permission to intercede with the King for a pardon, and this was -granted. She flew to the Tower, and “I told the guards as I passed by -that the petition had passed the House--I gave them some money to -drink to the Lords and to His Majesty.” - -But she had doubts that a pardon would be granted. - - “I then sent for Mrs. Mills, with whom I lodged, and acquainted - her with my design of attempting my lord’s escape, as there was no - prospect of his being pardoned, and that this was the last night - before the execution. I told her that I had everything in readiness, - and that I trusted she would not refuse to accompany me, that my - lord might pass for her. At the same time I sent to Mrs. Morgan, to - whose acquaintance my dear Evans had introduced me, and I immediately - communicated my resolutions to her. She was of a very tall slender - make, so I begged her to put under her own riding-hood one that I had - prepared for Mrs. Mills, as she was to lend hers to my lord, that - in coming out he might be taken for her. When we were in the coach, - I never ceased talking, that they might have no leisure to reflect. - On our arrival at the Tower, the first that I introduced was Mrs. - Morgan (for I was only allowed to take in one at a time). She brought - in the clothes that were to cover Mrs. Mills when she left her own - behind her. When Mrs. Morgan had taken off what she had brought for - the purpose, I conducted her back to the staircase, and, in going, I - begged her to send me my maid to dress me; that I was afraid of being - too late to present my last petition that night if she did not come - immediately. I despatched her safe, and went downstairs to meet Mrs. - Mills, who had the precaution to hold her handkerchief to her face, - as is natural for a woman to do when she is going to take her last - farewell of a friend on the eve of his execution. Her eyebrows were - inclined to be sandy, my lord’s were very dark and thick; however, I - had prepared some paint of the colour of hers to disguise his with; - I also brought an artificial head-dress (wig) of the same coloured - hair as hers; and I painted his face with white, and his cheeks with - rouge, to hide his beard, which he had not time to shave. The guards, - whom my slight liberality the day before had endeared me to, let me - go quietly out with my companion, and were not so strictly on the - watch as they had been. I made Mrs. Mills take off her own hood, and - put on that which I had brought for her; I then took her by the hand, - and led her out of my lord’s chamber, and in passing through the next - room, in which were several people, I said, ‘My dear Mrs. Catherine, - go in all haste, and send me my waiting-maid. I am to present my - petition to-night, and if I let slip this opportunity I am undone, - for to-morrow will be too late.’ Everybody in the room, chiefly the - guards’ wives and daughters, seemed to compassionate me exceedingly, - and the sentinel officiously opened me the door. When I had seen her - safe out, I returned to my lord, and finished dressing him. When I had - almost finished dressing my lord in all my petticoats except one, I - perceived it was growing dark, and was afraid that the light of the - candles might betray us, so I resolved to set off. I went out leading - him by the hand, whilst he held his handkerchief to his eyes. I spoke - to him in the most piteous tone of voice, bewailing the negligence - of Evans, who had ruined me by her delay. Then I said, ‘My dear Mrs. - Betty, for the love of God, run quickly and bring her with you; I am - distracted with this disappointment.’ The guards opened the door, and - I went downstairs with him, still conjuring him to make all possible - despatch. At the bottom of the stairs I met my dear Evans, into whose - hands I confided him.” - -Grace Evans managed a place of concealment for Lord Nithsdale till he -could be smuggled to the Venetian ambassador’s, and thence to Dover, -dressed as a lacquey, behind the ambassador’s coach and six. There he -was put on board a boat and conveyed to Calais. - -The Powysland Museum deserves a visit. It contains many objects -connected with local history and antiquities, among others a bronze -bell of Celtic character from Llangystennin Church, Roman remains from -Caersws, and mediæval from Strata Marcella. - -But the chief object of interest in the district is Castell Coch, the -Red Castle of Powys. - -This stands boldly out on a rock that has been hewn into terraces. It -is a stately Elizabethan mansion, but underwent injudicious handling -by Sir Robert Smirke, the architect, at a period when the true -characteristics of mediæval architecture and that of the Tudor period -were not grasped. The walls are older than the Elizabethan period, when -it was remodelled. It contains much that is worth seeing--tapestries, -old furniture, and paintings. - -James II. raised William Lord Powis to a dukedom after his flight -from England in 1689. The second Duke of Powis was implicated in the -rebellion of 1715, and was sent to the Tower. The dukedom became -extinct in 1748. - -Cadwgan ab Bleddyn, prince of Powys, began to build a castle here in -1110. He and his brothers Madog and Rhirid ruled in the three portions -of Powys. Filled with ambition, they combined to attack South Wales, -and drove away King Rhys, who fled to Ireland, but returned, and in a -battle with the sons of Bleddyn the brothers of Cadwgan were killed. He -had, however, two more--Iorwerth and Meredydd. - -In 1102 Robert de Belesme, Earl of Shrewsbury, rebelled against Henry -I., and induced Cadwgan and his brothers to make common cause with him. -King Henry, however, opened secret communications with Iorwerth, and -by large promises bribed him to arrest and deliver over his brother -Meredydd to him. Iorwerth did this, but when he appealed to Henry for -his stipulated reward the King contemptuously refused to ratify his -engagement, and had Iorwerth seized and imprisoned. - -In 1103 Meredydd found means of escaping, and returned to Wales. Then -ensued the troubles with Owen, son of Cadwgan, who carried off Nest, -wife of Gerald of Windsor, as has been related elsewhere. - -The wily Bishop of Hereford entered into negotiations with Ithel -and Madog, sons of the deceased Rhirid, and nephews of Cadwgan and -Iorwerth, to stir up civil war in Powys and Ceredigion. - -Iorwerth had by this time also left his prison, and had returned to -Powys, and from Mathrafal issued a proclamation against these turbulent -princes. But Madog, hearing that his uncle Iorwerth was at Caereinion, -near Welshpool, with few attendants, stealthily surrounded the building -and set fire to it. Iorwerth attempted to escape from the flames, but -was thrust back into them by the spears of his nephew’s followers, and -perished. - -Not long after, Cadwgan was looking at the works in progress at Castell -Coch, when Madog, with his attendants, crept through the woods, fell on -him, and murdered him also. - -[Illustration: POWIS CASTLE] - -In reward for having done to death his two uncles Henry I. received him -favourably, and invested him with lands and paid him a large sum of -money. But Meredydd, another uncle, remained, and in 1111 he entered -the lands of his nephew Madog, discovered his whereabouts by torturing -one of his servants, captured him, and handed him over to Owen, son of -Cadwgan, who put out his eyes. - -Owen would have killed him but that he and Madog had previously sworn -friendship and fidelity to each other. - -A rather curious ghost story attaches to Powis Castle. It occurs in -the autobiography of the grandfather of the late Mr. Thomas Wright, a -well-known antiquary. It was told to Mr. Wright in 1780 by Mr. John -Hampson, a Methodist preacher. - -Mr. Hampson, having heard rumours that a poor unmarried woman who had -attended on his ministry had conversed with a spirit, sent for her and -took down her deposition. It was to this effect. She was accustomed to -get her livelihood by spinning hemp and flax, and she was wont to go -from farm to farm to inquire for work, and whilst employed was given -meat, drink, and lodging. - -One day she called at Castell Coch for this purpose, and was received -by the steward and his wife, who set before her a heap of material that -would occupy her some days to spin. - -The earl and family were at that time away in London. - -When bed-time arrived two or three of the servants, each with a lighted -candle, conducted the woman to her bedroom, which was on the ground -floor, and handsomely furnished. They gave her a good fire, and left a -candle alight on the table, and then wished her good night. - -She was somewhat surprised at so many servants attending her, as also -at being accorded so grand a room. Before retiring to bed, she pulled -out of her pocket a Welsh Bible, and began to read a chapter. Whilst -thus engaged she heard the room door open, and turning her head, saw -a gentleman enter in a gold-laced hat and waistcoat; he walked to one -of the windows, and resting his elbow on the sill, stood in a leaning -posture with his head in his palm. - -Not knowing what to make of this, she watched the apparition for some -time, and then kneeling said her prayers. Presently the figure turned -and left the room. - -After the lapse of a short time, he again appeared and walked across -the room. Then the woman said, “Pray, sir, who are you, and what do you -want?” He raised his finger and said, “Follow me.” She at once took the -candle and obeyed. He led her through a long panelled passage to the -door of a chamber, which he opened and entered. - - “As the room was small, and I believed him to be a spirit,” she said, - “I halted at the door. He turned and said, ‘Walk in; I will not hurt - you.’ So I walked in. He said, ‘Observe what I do.’ I said, ‘I will.’ - He stooped and tore up one of the boards of the floor, and there - appeared under it a box with an iron handle in the lid. ‘Do you see - that box?’ I said, ‘Yes, I do.’ He then stepped to one side of the - room and showed me a crevice in the wall, where, said he, a key was - hid that would open it. He said, ‘This box and key must be taken out, - and sent to the Earl in London. Will you see it done?’ I said, ‘I will - do my best to get it done.’ He said, ‘Do, and I will trouble this - house no more.’ He then walked out of the room and left me. I stepped - to the door and set up a shout. The steward and his wife and the other - servants came in to me immediately, all clung together, with a number - of lights in their hands. They asked me what was the matter. I told - them the foregoing circumstances, and showed them the box. The steward - durst not meddle with it, but his wife had more courage, and with the - help of the other servants lugged it out, and found the key.” - -The box was afterwards forwarded to the earl in London, and he sent -down orders to his steward to inform the hemp-spinner that he would -provide for her during the rest of her days. And Mr. Hampson said it -was a well-known fact that she had been so provided for, and was still -so at the time she gave him the account. - -The country around Welshpool is marvellously rich and is splendidly -timbered, and the black-and-white old mansions and farms nestling -among the foliage are most picturesque. But one wonders, among the -gentlemen’s seats adjoining one another, where is room for farmers and -cottiers to come in? - -Guilsfield, or Cegidfa, the Hemlock field, is situated in a basin, rich -and fertile, and on the way to it the delightful timber-and-plaster -house of Old Garth is passed on the right. - -The church dedicated to S. Aelhaiarn is Decorated, with a Perpendicular -east window, and a fine carved ceiling in the chancel. The modern -pitch-pine roofing of the nave and aisles is mean and out of character -with the old work, as is also the modern screen, which is not only -coarse in design, but has been carried half-way up the doorway that -gave access to the ancient loft. - -In the churchyard are some fine yews. By one is a tombstone with the -inscription:-- - - “Under this yew tree - Buried would he be, - For his father and he - Planted this yew tree,” - -and the monument is to Richard Jones, who died, aged ninety years, on -December 10th, 1707. - -The font has on it some curious carving, and in the porch is an oak -chest hewn out of a single trunk. - -A holy well a mile and a half distant is in a pretty dingle; it is -frequented on Trinity Sunday, when its water is drunk with sugar, and -is still regarded as possessing curative properties. - -A more interesting holy well is at Llanerfyl. Under a grand old yew -tree in the churchyard, said to be the staff of the saint which rooted -itself there, is the only Romano-British inscribed stone in the county. -Some fragments of the saint’s shrine remain. - -The well, Pistyll y Cefn, Bedwog, lies in a field a quarter of a mile -distant from the village. It is in fair preservation, built up and -covered with large granite slabs, but the water has been drained away. -Formerly people assembled there on Whit Sunday and Trinity Sunday to -drink sugar and water at the well. - -Meifod, in the valley of the Vyrnwy, is also in a fertile -neighbourhood. Above the village rises the mountain called the Hill of -the Anchorite, with a bald head, blushing with heather, and crowned -with ancient earthworks. - -Meifod was the summer residence of the kings of Powys, but was given by -Brochwel to his son Tyssilio when he entered religion, and he founded -here an abbey which became important. - -His mother was Arddun, daughter of Pabo Post Prydain, whose monument we -have seen in Anglesey. He was great-grandson of Cadell Deyrnllwg, who -founded the dynasty of the kings of Powys after the expulsion of Benlli -by S. Germanus. - -The first Abbot of Meifod was Gwyddfarch. Tyssilio found the old man -one day full of the project of going to Rome. But he was too advanced -in age for such a journey, and Tyssilio said to him, “I know what this -journey to Rome means; you want to see the palaces and churches there. -Dream of them instead of going.” Then he took the abbot a long mountain -trudge, till he was thoroughly exhausted and declared that he could go -no further. So Tyssilio bade him lie down on a grassy bank and rest. -And there Gwyddfarch fell asleep. - -When he awoke, Tyssilio asked how he could endure a journey to Rome if -such a country stroll tired him. And then the abbot informed him that -he had dreamed of seeing a magnificent city, and that sufficed him. - -Some time after this Gwyddfarch died, and Tyssilio succeeded him as -abbot. - -On the death of Brochwel this prince was succeeded by a son, who, -however, died two years later without issue. This son’s widow was a -strong and determined character, and after consulting with the chief -men of Powys, resolved on withdrawing Tyssilio from his monastery, -marrying him, and making him king of Powys. - -The times were full of peril, and a strong and able man was necessary -for the post. But Tyssilio was not the right person for the occasion; -he hated war, knew nothing of its practice, and, above all, objected to -marrying his deceased brother’s wife, and she such a masterful woman. -So he refused. His sister-in-law took this as a personal affront. She -was incapable of understanding that Tyssilio had a vocation for the -monastic life, could not believe that he was intellectually and morally -unfit for a life of war, and assumed that his refusal was due to -personal dislike of herself. Therefore, as an offended woman, she did -all in her power to injure and annoy the monks of Meifod. - -The position of Tyssilio, close to Mathrafal, where the slighted widow -resided, became intolerable. She seized the revenues of the abbey; and -Tyssilio, to free his monks from persecution, fled with a few attached -to his person and left Wales, crossed the sea, and entered the estuary -of the Rance, near where now stands S. Malo. The river forms a broad -estuary of blue glittering water, up which the mighty tides heave -gently, the waves broken and torn by a natural breakwater. Ascending -this river for four miles, he found a point of high land with a long -creek on the north, making of it a narrow peninsula. On this point of -land Tyssilio drew up his boat, and there resolved on settling. - -Tyssilio, like a prudent man, had not left Wales without taking his -_chef de cuisine_ with him, and this master of the kitchen, monk though -he was, had an amour with a girl on the opposite side of the Rance. He -was wont, Leander-like, to swim across and visit her. On one occasion -as he was crossing, a monstrous conger eel curled itself about him, and -the poor cook was in dire alarm. He invoked all the saints to come to -his aid--Samson, Malo, his own master Tyssilio--none could deliver him -till he thought on Maglorius of Sark, and called on him for assistance. -At the same moment it occurred to him that he had his knife attached to -his girdle, and unsheathing that, he hacked and sliced at the conger -till it relaxed its hold, and so the poor fellow got across alive, and -vowed he would never again go a-courting. - -Whilst Tyssilio was in Brittany, news reached him that his -sister-in-law was dead, and his monks wished him to return to Meifod. -However, he was content to remain where he was, and he declined the -invitation. The name by which he is known in Brittany is Suliau, or -Suliac. His statue is over the high altar of his church on the Rance, -and represents him as a monk in a white habit, a bald head, and holding -his staff. It is a popular belief that as the staff is turned so is -changed the direction of the wind. The old woman who cleans the church -informed me that her husband, a fisherman, was returning, but could -not enter the harbour owing to contrary winds. She turned the crozier -in the hand of the saint, and at once the wind shifted, and the boat -arrived with full sails in the harbour. Tyssilio’s ring is preserved in -the church. - -[Illustration: TYSSILIO’S RING AT SAINT-SULIAC] - -About three miles up the valley above the junction of the Banw and -Vyrnwy, but on the former, are the mounds that mark the site of -Mathrafal, the former palace of the kings of Powys after they were -driven from Shrewsbury. They form a quadrangle with a tump at one angle -immediately above the river, and there are indications of more extended -earthworks cut through by the road and mostly levelled. - -Meifod Church stands in an extensive yard, planted with avenues of -fine trees. It has been much altered by rebuilding, but on the south -side are round-headed arches, very rude, of early Norman work. The -east window of the south aisle is Decorated, but that of the chancel -is Perpendicular. Within the church is a richly carved late Celtic -pillar with figures on it. The screen has been removed; it was late in -character, and is now stuck as a decoration against the wall of the -chancel, and portions are worked into a partition shutting off the -vestry from the church. This vestry occupies the site of the original -church of S. Tyssilio. - -Here is buried Madog, eldest son of Meredydd ab Bleddyn, prince of -Powys, from whom is named one of the two divisions of Powys--Powys -Fadog. He is not a man for whom one can feel any respect. He sided -with Henry II. against his own countrymen, and took the command of the -English fleet in the invasion of Anglesey, and was defeated with great -loss. His second wife was Matilda Verdun, an Englishwoman; she had a -temper, and he was of an amorous complexion, and they led a cat-and-dog -life. At last he deserted her. She appealed to the English king, who -ordered each party to appear at Winchester before him, and it was -stipulated that each should have as retinue no more than twenty-four -horses. Madog arrived with his horses and one man on each, but the lady -with twenty-four horses and two men riding on each horse. The result -was that she overbore him, and he was ordered to entail the lordships -of Oswestry upon her and her heirs male, _by whomsoever_ begotten; and -he was thrown into prison, where he was murdered at her instigation. -Thereupon she married John Fitz-Alan, Earl of Arundel, and carried the -lordship of Oswestry to the English house. Madog died in 1161. His body -was transported to Meifod. - -Meifod is the parish whence came Charles Lloyd, the founder of Lloyd’s -Bank. He was born in 1637, and was a member of a very ancient family -that was estated at Meifod, and his father was a county magistrate. -Whilst a student at Oxford he took up with the new notions promulgated -by George Fox, and became a Quaker. In 1662 he was arrested and -required to take the oath of allegiance. As he refused, the oppressive -laws against sectaries were enforced against him with the utmost -rigour. For ten years he was detained in prison at Welshpool, his -possessions were placed under præmunire, his cattle sold, and the -family mansion of Dolobran allowed to go to wreck and ruin. He was -confined in “a little smoky room, and did lie upon a little straw -himself for a considerable time.” His wife, who had been tenderly -nurtured, “was made willing to lie upon straw with her dear and tender -husband.” - -When released he made over the family property to his son, and removed -to Birmingham, where he became an ironmaster, realised much money, and -founded Lloyd’s Bank. - -William Penn is thought to have visited him at Dolobran, and portions -of the panels of oak have been removed as relics and carried to America. - -A contemporary thus describes Charles Lloyd:-- - - “He was a comely man in person, of an amiable countenance, quick of - understanding, of a sound mind, and would not be moved about on any - account to act contrary to his conscience, very merciful and tender, - apt to forgive and forget injuries (even to such as were his enemies), - and did good for evil, hated nothing but Satan, Sin, and Self.” - -He died in 1698. - -His brother Thomas accompanied William Penn to Pennsylvania; another -brother, John, was the ancestor of that very staunch Churchman, Bishop -Lloyd, of Oxford, who is regarded as the initiator of the Oxford or -Tractarian Movement. - -Dolobran is still in the possession of the Lloyd family. - -At Llangynyw, in the church, is a screen in position; there is no loft. -The old oak porch is fine. - -The adjoining parish is Llanfair Caereinion, the scene of the burning -of Iorwerth by his nephew Madog. - -The upper waters of the Vyrnwy have been dammed and converted into a -lake to supply Liverpool with water. Now it fell out that when the dam -was in course of construction there was a stone in the river called -Carreg yr Ysbryd, or the Ghost Rock, and it had to be removed. This was -supposed to cover an evil spirit that had been laid and banned beneath -it. The Welsh labourers engaged on the works would have nothing to -do with shifting the block; but the English navvies had no scruples, -and they blasted the rock, and with crowbars heaved out of place the -fragments that remained. - -Then was revealed a cavity with water in it; and, lo! the surface was -agitated, and something rose out of it. The Taffies took to their -heels. Then an old toad emerged, hopped on to a stone, yawned, and -passed its paws over its eyes, as though rousing itself after a long -sleep. - -“It’s nobbut a frog,” said the Yorkshire navvies. “It’s Cynon himself,” -retorted the Welshmen. “Look how he gapes and rubs his face. You may -see by that he has been in prison.” - -After that, whenever a Taffy was observed to yawn, “Ah, ha!” said his -mates; “clearly you have but recently come out of prison.” - -Lake Vyrnwy is nearly four miles long, and is fed not only by the river -that gives its name to the reservoir, but also by many torrents that -dance down the mountain-sides, forming pretty waterfalls. The work of -impounding this sheet of water was commenced in 1881, and the water -was stopped by closing the valves on November 28th, 1888. It has all -the appearance of a natural lake, except from the lower end, where -shows the magnificent dam, 161 feet high, but with 60 feet below of -foundation. - -Llanfyllin is the nearest station to Lake Vyrnwy. Near this is -Llanfihangel yn Nghwnfa, where was born and lived one of the sweetest -hymn-composers of Wales, Anne Griffiths. She first saw light at Dolwar -Fechan, a farmhouse in this parish, in 1776, and was the youngest -daughter of Mr. John Thomas, a farmer. She received such education as -was to be obtained in a country school at that period, and acquired a -smattering of English, some arithmetic, and a knowledge of reading and -writing Welsh. She grew up to be a fresh-faced, comely, dark-eyed, and -dark-haired young woman, and was fond of dancing and other innocent -pleasures. - -When aged about twenty she joined the Calvinistic Methodist sect, and -thenceforth her life was distinguished for its devotional character -and deep piety. In October, 1804, she married a Thomas Griffiths, of -Cefn-du, Guilsfield, who came to live with her at Dolwar. In July, -1808, she gave birth to a child, that lived but a fortnight, and she -survived it but another fortnight, dying at the age of thirty. - - “Thus living and dying in the seclusion and obscurity of a lonely - mountain farmhouse, Anne Griffiths composed some of the sweetest and - most precious hymns in the Welsh language, if not, indeed, in any - language. They are not numerous--all that have been preserved being - only about seventy-five verses--and they are too often marred by - faults of composition and the transgression of the simplest rules - of prosody, yet many of them are so rich in poetic fancy, sublime - imagery, holy sentiment, and seraphic fervour, that they can never be - forgotten so long as hymns are sung in the Welsh language. Mothers - teach their babes to lisp them, and many a pious Christian has been - heard faintly to whisper them in the hour of death.”[6] - -None of them were published during her life, and, indeed, it did not -occur to her that they would ever appear in print, or would be esteemed -beyond the circle of her own most intimate friends. She committed -very few of them to writing, but she recited them to Ruth Hughes, a -farm-servant with her, who treasured them in her memory; and they -were taken down from Ruth’s repetition some time after the death of -Anne Griffiths. They were first published at Bala in 1806. They have -recently been translated into English, but they do not bear rendering -out of the Welsh in which they were composed. - -In the churchyard of Welshpool is a stone--the Maen Llog. It is -shapeless, and is said formerly to have stood in the abbey of Strata -Marcella, and on it the abbots were installed. After the Dissolution -it was brought to S. Mary’s Church, and those who had to do penance -were required to stand on it in a white sheet with a candle in one -hand. During the Commonwealth the Puritan Vavasour Powell turned it -out of the church, as an object of superstition; but in the graveyard -it continued to be regarded with some respect, and was in request as -a Wishing Stone. Those very ardently desiring something mounted it, -and turning thrice sunways framed their wish; and so, before quitting -Welshpool, I took care to mount it, turned the right way about, and -wished prosperity to this cheerful little town and to its Powysland -Club. - - - - -CHAPTER XV - -NEWTOWN - - Manufacture of cloth and flannel--Fine screen and ugly modern - church--Sir John Pryce--Aberhafesp Church--S. Mark’s Eve--Bed - of an ancient lake--Caersws--Legend of Swsan--Obligations of a - chieftain--How a tribe would increase--How to reduce the difficulty - of providing land--Llanwnog--S. Gwynnog--Consequences to his - family of the publication of the letter of Gildas--View from - Llanwnog--Llanidloes Church--Richard Gwynn--Chartist riots--Poetical - description of them--Robert Owen--Henry Williams--Richard Davies. - - -NEWTOWN is new in every particular except in its manufacture, and that -of cloth and flannel was old enough in Wales, if we may judge by the -spindle-whorls and shuttles found in camp and cairn; but the business -once spread over the Principality is now concentrated at Newtown. - -The ugly white brick church has taken the place of one that was old, -and contained a magnificent screen. This has not been destroyed, but is -preserved in a barn at the rectory. There is some talk of placing it -once more in the church, where it would be like the proverbial jewel of -gold in a swine’s snout. - -Sir John Pryce, fifth baronet, of Newtown Hall, was born in 1698, and -succeeded to the title and estates on the death of his father in 1720. -He married first his first cousin Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Thomas -Powell. She died in 1731. - -One day Sir John was overtaken by a storm of rain whilst out shooting, -and took refuge under a tree, and to the same shelter ran a girl, Mary, -daughter of a small farmer of Berriew, named John Morris. As the rain -continued to fall, Sir John Pryce was given plenty of time to make the -girl’s acquaintance, to fall in love with her, and to propose. This led -to a second marriage. - -But the humble origin of Lady Pryce led to much spiteful comment, and -some people would assert that she had not been married to Sir John. -This was absolutely untrue, but falsehood is believed if venomous. -Whether it were this, or that she could not accommodate herself to -her new situation, or the fact that the first Lady Pryce was kept, -embalmed, by the bedside, or perhaps all together combined to weigh on -her spirits, and she died of despondency after two years of married -life. This was in 1739. - -In July, 1741, the Rev. W. Felton, curate of Newtown, was dying, when, -two days before his death, he received a long letter from Sir John -Pryce, from which a few passages may be extracted:-- - - “DEAR MR. FELTON,--I waited an opportunity yesterday of conferring - with you in private; but, not finding the room in which you sat clear - a minute, I am forced to communicate this way my thoughts. I have - abundant reason to believe that you will immediately enter upon a - happier state when you make an exchange, and I desire that you will do - me the favour to acquaint my two Dear Wives, that I retain the same - tender Affections and the same Honour and Esteem for their Memories - which I ever did for their persons, and to tell the latter, that I - earnestly desire, if she can obtain the Divine permission, that she - will appear to me, to discover the persons who have wronged her, and - put me into a proper method of vindicating those wrongs which robbed - her of her life and me of all my happiness in this world. - - “I heartily wish you the Divine protection and assistance, and am - - “Your Friend and Humble Servant, - “JON PRYCE. - - “P.S.--I have sent you a Bottle of Mint Water, which, if you find too - strong, you may dilute with Spring Water to what size you please.” - -Sir John wrote an elegy of a thousand lines on his second wife, in -which he affirmed that with his latest breath he would “lisp Maria’s -name.” - -Ere long, however, he fell in love again, and this time with a widow, -Eleanor Jones, and married her. - -But when the lady found the bodies of his two preceding wives embalmed, -one on each side of the matrimonial bed, she absolutely refused to -enter it, and ordered their burial “before she would supply their -vocation.” - -She also died, in 1748. Immediately Sir John wrote off to one Bridget -Bostock, “the Cheshire Pythoness,” who pretended to heal the sick by -the faith-cure and with her “fasting spittle,” which she supplied in -corked and sealed bottles:-- - - “MADAM,--Being very well informed by very creditable people that you - have done several wonderful cures, even when Physicians have failed - ... why may not God enable you to raise the Dead as well as to heal - the Sick, give sight to the Blind and hearing to the Deaf? Now I - have lost a wife whom I most dearly loved, and I entreat you for God - Almighty’s sake that you would be so good as to come here, if your - actual presence is absolutely requisite, to raise up my dear wife, - Dame Eleanor Pryce, from the Dead.... Pray let me know by return - of the Post, that I may send you a Coach and Six and Servants to - attend you here, with orders to defray your expenses in a manner most - suitable to your desires. - - “Your unfortunate afflicted petitioner & hble serv^t. - - “JOHN PRYCE.” - -In compliance with this invitation Mrs. Bostock visited Buckland, -in Brecknockshire, where Sir John then was, and exerted all her -miracle-working powers, but without effect. - -Sir John remained inconsolable--for a while. But from his will, dated -20th June, 1760, it appears that he was then meditating a fourth -marriage. He, however, died before it took place. In his will he speaks -of “that dearest object of my lawful and best and purest Worldly -affections, my most dear and most entirely beloved intended wife, -Margaret Harries, of the parish of S. Martin, Haverfordwest, spinster.” - -He died on October 28th, 1761, and was buried at Haverfordwest. - -His son, Sir John Powell Pryce, sixth baronet, was an unfortunate man. -Having by some accident injured his eyes, his wife applied to them a -strong acid by mistake for a lotion, which entirely blinded him. But -this was not all. Want of management, and wasteful living, obliged him -to part with one estate after another, and at last he was thrown as a -debtor into King’s Bench, where his faithful wife joined him, and spent -many years with him in the prison, till he died in 1776. With his son -Edward Manley the title expired. - -Three miles up the Severn above Newtown are two churches without -villages attached--Penstrowed and Aberhafesp--on opposite sides of the -Severn. - -A story is told of the latter, a modern church with very bad glass in -it. Two men, hearing that he who remains in the church porch on S. -Mark’s Eve will see or hear something concerning those who are to die -in the course of the year, resolved to keep watch there over midnight. -One of them, wearied with the day’s work, fell asleep. Presently, in -the dead of night, the one who was awake heard a voice from within the -church calling his fellow by name. He roused him, and said, “Let us -go--it is of no use waiting longer here.” - -In the course of a few weeks, there was a funeral from the opposite -parish of Penstrowed, and the departed was to be buried in Aberhafesp -churchyard. There is no bridge nearer than that which spans the river -at Caersws, and to take the body that way would mean a journey of over -five miles. It was determined, therefore, to ford the river opposite -Aberhafesp Church. The person who had fallen asleep in the porch -volunteered to carry the coffin across the river, and it was placed on -the saddle in front of him, and, to prevent it from falling, he was -obliged to grasp it with both arms. - -The deceased had died of an infectious fever, and the coffin-bearer -was stricken, and within a fortnight was a dead man, and was the first -parishioner who died in the parish of Aberhafesp that year. - -The hills fall back above the two churches and allow of a broad level -basin, once the bed of a fine lake, before it was silted up at the end -of the Glacial Period. Here the Afon Garno, Paranon, and Ceryst, meet -the Severn at Caersws, which was an important Roman station, at the -junction of several roads, and where now the Mid-Wales line falls into -the Cambrian Railway. - -Caersws derives its name from a traditional Queen Swsan, that carried -on a war with a prince who reigned over a tribe on the south of the -Severn. One day, seeing the enemy mustered on the Llandinam Hills, -she crossed the river with her forces to give battle to the foe. The -prince, occupying higher ground, was able to repel the attack; and the -queen, seeing that her men were routed and in full flight, rode up to -the prince and demanded to be put to death, that she might be buried in -a great cairn beside her braves who had fallen. The prince replied that -she was too gallant to be thus slain, and that he pardoned her; and -further committed himself to her hands. Thenceforth their quarrels were -fought out in private. - -The Roman castrum may still be traced--it covers about seven acres. -Excavations made here have given up coins of Vespasian, Domitian, and -of later emperors, also Samian ware. Roman soldiers must have been very -regardless as to the condition of their pockets, for wherever they -went they dropped their money. - -The plain would seem to have been a debatable ground from hoar -antiquity, for every height about it is entrenched. - -It was one of the first obligations of a chief of a Celtic tribe to -provide every married man who was subject to him with a farm, with -seven acres of arable land, seven of pasture, seven of woodland, and -a share in commons. Now as the tribe grew and multiplied he was put -to great straits, and the only way out of his difficulties, where all -the available land was appropriated, was for him to oust a neighbour -from his territories. This obligation weighed on a chief to the eighth -generation. Now suppose that a man started to found a tribe, and had -three sons, and each of these sons had three, and all married, and in -each generation had the same number. In the eighth, the tribe would -consist of 2,673 marriageable men clamouring to be provided with -farms of seven acres of arable, land, seven of forest, and seven of -pasture. What could the chief do to satisfy them but lead them against -a neighbour? - -One way out of the difficulty was the establishment of monasteries. -This explains the development of monachism on the steppes of Tartary, -as well as in Wales and Ireland. On that high and sterile plateau in -Central Asia, only a limited population can be maintained, and it is -to keep down the growth of the population, as a practical expedient, -that so large a portion of the males is consigned to celibacy. And it -was this practical necessity that provoked the ascetic and celibate -societies of the Druids first, and the Christian monks afterwards. When -no new lands were available for colonisation, when the three-field -system was the sole method of agriculture known, then the land which -would now maintain three families at least, would support but one. To -keep the equipoise there were migration, war, and compulsory celibacy -as alternatives. That this really was a difficulty confronting the old -Celtic communities we can see by a story of what occurred in Ireland -in 657. The population had so increased that the arable land proved -insufficient for the needs of the country. Accordingly an assembly -of clergy and laity was summoned by Dermot and Blaithmac, kings of -Ireland, to take the matter into consideration. It was decided that -the amount of land held by any one householder should be restricted; -and further the elders of the assembly directed that prayers should be -offered to the Almighty to send a pestilence “to reduce the number of -the lower class, that the rest might live in comfort.” - -S. Fechin of Fore, on being consulted, approved of this extraordinary -proposal. And the prayer was answered from heaven by a second -visitation of the terrible Yellow Plague; but the vengeance of God -caused the force of the pestilence to fall on the nobles and clergy, of -whom multitudes, including the kings and Fechin of Fore himself, were -carried off. - -To this day, in Tyrol, where the farms cannot be subdivided, owing to -the mountainous nature of the land, on the death of the father the sons -draw lots who shall marry and take the farm. The rest work under their -more fortunate brother, and remain single. - -[Illustration: GILDAS. A FIFTEENTH-CENTURY STATUE AT LOCMINÉ] - -Llanwnog lies under the rounded, heathy mountain of Ddifed, in rear -of which are some tarns lying high. The church has in it a very fine -and well-preserved screen and rood-loft, and an old stained-glass -representation of the patron saint and founder of the church. - -His name was Gwynnog, and he was a son of Gildas the historian. - -At an early age Gildas committed his son to S. Finnian to be educated. -Leaving his master when his education was complete, Gwynnog settled -in this spot above the plain of Caersws, but the scurrilous pamphlet -issued by his father from his safe retreat in Brittany seems to have -fallen like a bombshell among those of his family who were in Wales -and Cornwall, and obliged them to leave the territories of the princes -against whom Gildas had hurled invectives. Cuneglas (or Cynlas) was -prince of Powys at the time. Gildas called him “a bear, wallowing in -filth, a tawny butcher.” - -Cuneglas after this was not likely to deal tenderly with a son of the -pamphleteer, and Gwynnog fled for his life to Brittany, to his father. -It seems not improbable that he was elected Bishop of Vannes, where -there had been sorry doings and ecclesiastical scandals, and the Church -was looking out for a respectable ruler. - -The Frank historian Gregory of Tours calls him Eunius, and says that he -was over-fond of the bottle. Weroc II. was Count of Vannes at the time, -and he was engaged in hostilities with Chilperic, king of the Franks, -whom he defeated with great slaughter in 578. Chilperic made terms -with the Breton chief, who undertook to pay tribute, but afterwards -made difficulties about fulfilling his engagement, and sent Bishop -Gwynnog, or Eunius, to Chilperic with a list of complaints. Chilperic -was furious at this breach of engagements, and resented it against the -unoffending prelate, whom he sent into exile. Gwynnog died at Angers in -580, just ten years after his father. - -The view from Llanwnog across the basin of the Severn at the mountains -up the valleys of the Severn and the streams that pour into it is very -beautiful. - -A branch line from Moat Lane leads to Llanidloes at the junction of -the Clywedog and Afon Tylwch with the Severn. Although the mountains -here do not rise to a great height, they are broken and fine, and many -beautiful walks may be taken up the glens of the tributaries of the -Severn and over the heathy moors. The Afon Brochan may be ascended to -a tarn from which the stream flows, or to the pretty lake Llyn Ebyr, -three miles to the north. - -Llanidloes possesses one of the finest churches in North Wales, with a -richly carved oak roof, the hammer beams supported by angels bearing -shields. - -Richard Gwynn was a native of Llanidloes. He was educated at S. John’s -College, Cambridge, and must have been of poor parentage, for he was a -sizar there. He could not reconcile himself to the religious changes -in the reign of Edward VI., nor to the violence with which fanatics -wrecked the churches; nor would he accept the claim of Queen Elizabeth -to be “Supreme Governor” over the Church in England, the objectionable -title “Supreme Head” having been put aside. - -He lived quietly with his wife and children, keeping a school, at one -time at Overton Madog, then at Wrexham, Gresford, and again at Overton; -and had many scholars, as he led an exemplary life, and was well known -for his learning and scholarship. He does not seem to have been mixed -up with any seditious movements, or to have been associated with the -Jesuits. Nevertheless he was arrested in 1580 and cast into prison, -and kept there for four years; he was treated with great harshness, and -frequently tortured to force him to accept the Queen’s supremacy. After -several trials he was finally brought up at Wrexham Assizes in 1584 and -condemned to death for high treason. The sentence was as follows:-- - - “Richard White (_i.e._ Gwynn) shall be brought to prison from whence - he came, and thence drawn on a hurdle to the place of execution, where - he shall hang half dead, and so be cut down alive, his members cast - into the fire, his belly ripped into the breast, his bowels, liver, - lungs, heart, etc., thrown likewise into the fire, his head cut off, - his body be parted into four quarters.” - -“What is all this?” said Gwynn. “Is it any more than one death?” - -The sentence was carried out on October 15th, 1584. - -Llanidloes was the scene of a Chartist outbreak in 1839. The weavers -armed and requisitioned contributions from the neighbourhood. Lord John -Russell, who was Home Secretary, sent down three police officers to -cope with hundreds of rioters well armed with fowling-pieces, pistols, -and hand grenades. The magistrates then, unsupported properly, took -the matter into their own hands and swore in special constables. The -crisis came on April 30th. A man blowing a horn summoned the Chartists -to assemble on the Bridge, and three men were captured on their way -to the assembly, and were conveyed to the “Trewythen Arms.” The crowd -now rushed to attempt a rescue, but was held at bay by fifty special -constables. However, by weight and numbers, the rioters drove them -away after a struggle, entered the inn, and wrecked it; they liberated -the three men who had been taken, and caught the ex-mayor, who appealed -to the mob to spare his life, as he was a doctor who had brought many -of them into the world. They let him go, and he left the town to give -the alarm. For five days Llanidloes was ruled by mob law, but the -Chartist leaders saw that no gross outrages were committed. - -Matters had now become too serious to be dealt with in the mild manner -Lord John Russell had thought might suffice. Military aid was sent. An -old lady has recorded her reminiscences of the time. - - “The town,” she says, “was in an uproar. The Chartists had been - drilling in the Dingle. The news came that a regiment of soldiers - was coming to put down the riots, and I can remember watching their - arrival. I was standing in a crowd on the Bank, and the soldiers in - red coats and brass helmets came up the Pool road, the band playing - before them. I shall never forget the scene. The women and children - were crying like wild things, they thought everybody was going to be - slaughtered. The soldiers proceeded to Newtown Hall, followed by a - great and excited crowd. Here they were met by George Arthur Evors, - the chief magistrate, who gave instructions to fire. But the officer - in charge refused. ‘What,’ he said, ‘fire upon a lot of women and - children? Certainly not.’ The soldiers, after all, did no harm, but in - the course of a row one man was killed with clubs. After that we did - not hear much about the Chartists. Many of them left the country, and - never returned. Some were arrested and put into gaol, others managed - to hide till things had quieted down, and then came back. But poor - Frost, Jones, and Williams were transported.” - -A schoolmaster of Newtown named George Thomas wrote a Hudibrastic poem -on the riots, containing allusions and sly hits at local characters -that were much relished at the time. - -According to him-- - - “The rebels had a bullet mould, - A pistol rusty, crack’d and old, - Some bellows, pipes, and lucifers, - Tweezers, card-plates, and goose-oil cans, - With dust and other nameless pans, - Hot water, soapsuds, toasting prongs, - With cat-calls, horns, and women’s tongues.” - -All ended with much noise and little harm done. - - “When eggs were spent, tongues peace desir’d, - The spoils of war had brought no crust, - The rebels fled, the troops retir’d, - Covered with glory, sweat and dust.” - -In the old churchyard of Newtown may be seen the plain slab that covers -the body of Robert Owen, the Socialist. He was born in the place, but -his father was from Welshpool, and had set up business as saddler, -ironmonger, and postmaster. Robert was born in 1771, and was sent to -London to a situation in a haberdasher’s shop. Thence he removed to -Manchester, where he started cotton-spinning. His life is too well -known to be given in full here, but a few points may be mentioned. He -had imbibed very strong anti-religious ideas, and he was persuaded that -the whole social world was topsy-turvy, and required reorganising on -the new principles that he had excogitated. - -“Character,” said he, “is formed _for_ and not _by_ the individual, -and society now possesses the most ample means and power to well form -the character of everyone by reconstructing society on its own true -principles”--that is to say, on those devised by Robert Owen. - -In 1797 he started the “New Lanark Twist Company,” in which his -theories were to be carried out; but although the system was nominally -and theoretically democratic, Robert Owen ruled as an autocrat, and -having a splendid organising and business head he made the scheme into -a commercial success. Some of the partners could not agree to his -plans, so he bought them out, but took in others, who also declined to -let him rule despotically, and in disgust he went off to America to -found a Socialistic community there on the wreck of an attempted German -Communistic venture. This, however, failed, and when he returned to -Scotland the partners in the New Lanark Twist Company had increased in -number, and gave him to understand that they intended managing it in -their own and not in his way. - -Then he founded a Communistic Society at Orbiston, in Scotland, but -this also slipped from his control. He next started a weekly paper, -_The Crisis_, and an “Equitable Labour Exchange.” The latter came to a -disastrous end in 1833. After this little was heard of Robert Owen. - -One of his early theories was that the universe was one great -self-acting laboratory, and that all life, movement, thought, were -results of chemical action. - -His conception of the formation of character was bound to end in -disappointment. Minds are not mere bits of blank paper on which you may -write what you like; souls are not lumps of putty to be moulded to -what form you will. - -My dear father had been impressed with some of Robert Owen’s doctrines, -specially with this, and he set to work to shape my brothers and me -each for a special profession, and to give each a separate bent; and -the result was that we all went in clean opposite directions to what he -purposed, and adopted professions which he had intended the others to -enter. - -Owen finally took up with table-rapping and Spiritualism, and supposed -himself to be a medium through whom the Duke of Kent revealed the -mysteries of the other world. Finally, as his health failed, a great -longing came over him to return to his native place and die there. - - “And as a hare, when hounds and horns pursue, - Pants for the place from whence at first it flew,” - -so did he come back to Newtown, and there shortly after expired. - -A little way down the Severn below Newtown is Llanllwchaiarn, a church -founded by a brother of S. Aelhaiarn of Guilsfield. The parish is -not of interest in itself, except as having given birth to, and been -the residence of, a remarkable man, Henry Williams, of Ysgafell, one -of the sturdiest Nonconformists of the time of the Restoration. His -father owned the farm, which had belonged to the family for several -generations. - -The Conventicle Act, which came into force in 1664, imposed a penalty -of £5 or three months’ imprisonment on anyone frequenting a dissenting -meeting, for the first offence; £10 or six months’ imprisonment -for a second offence; and for a third offence a fine of £100 or -transportation beyond the seas. - -Henry Williams was in prison from time to time during nine years. On -one occasion a party of soldiers beset his house, and in the skirmish, -as they attempted to enter, his father was knocked down and killed. On -another the house was fired, and Mrs. Williams, taking one child in -her arms and leading another, attempted to cross the Severn from the -soldiery, when one of them cocked his pistol and vowed to shoot her. -However, the officer knocked the man down, and sent an escort to attend -her to a friend’s house. - -Another time when Henry Williams was preaching the soldiers fell on -him, beat, and nearly killed him. They seized his stock and devastated -his farm. There was, however, one field that had been sown with wheat, -not yet sprung up, which they could not or did not harm. That field -throve amazingly, and the crop next summer surpassed in yield every -other in the neighbourhood. Nothing like it had been seen, and at -harvest the produce was so abundant as to repay the family for all its -losses. There were six, seven, and eight full ears upon each stalk. Two -of these stalk-heads have been preserved to the present day; one has on -it seven ears, the other eight. The field where this marvellous crop -was grown is known to this day as Cae’r Fendith, the Field of Blessing. - -Some of the principal persecutors of Henry Williams died so strangely -that it was regarded as a judgment of heaven upon them. One dropped -suddenly from his chair dead whilst eating his dinner, a second was -drowned in the Severn when drunk, and a third fell from his horse and -broke his neck close to the house of Henry Williams, which he had -plundered. - -About half-way between Caersws and Machynlleth is Llanbrynmair, the -birthplace of Richard Davies, known in Wales by his bardic name of -Mynyddog, who is regarded as the Burns of his native land. He was -born in 1833, and his father was a farmer. At an early age the poetic -faculty displayed itself in him, and he wrote for several Welsh -magazines, and won prizes at local literary meetings. As his education -had been but scanty, he laboured hard as a young man to make up for -this deficiency. He was a tall, fine man, with an open, pleasant face, -was full of a kindly, never caustic, wit; and he speedily became one -of the most popular of Welsh poets. There is a freshness and flavour -of the soil in his compositions, like those of Burns, but none of -the coarseness of the Scotch poet. He died in 1877 at his residence, -Bronygân, in Cemmes. It is hard, almost impossible, to give anything of -the charm of his compositions in a translation, and I venture on one -with the utmost diffidence. - - -“BOXER.” - - “Full many a lusty horse I’ve viewed, - When following father’s team, - Would draw the plough, make furrow and ridge, - With the coulter’s after gleam. - Now, fair befall - Good horses all! - But never a one can I recall - That could compare, in my esteem, - With Boxer, my father’s horse. - - “If I to bet were a bit inclined, - One hundred pounds I’d lay - On every hoof old Boxer had, - The best that fed upon hay. - But he would scorn, - As one well born, - To be accounted not worth a thorn. - He’d toss his head and proudly neigh - Unless he were leading horse. - - “The chapel choir for a practice came, - It was upon Monday night, - To the glory of God an anthem sing - In harmony and might. - But each would lead, - And each decreed - That not a note would he proceed, - He’d hold it a purposed slur and slight - Unless he were leading horse. - - “A deacon to choose at Tal-y-Coed, - Most woeful discord wrought, - For every chapel-member declared - The office was that he sought. - And he would scorn, - For this thing born, - To be set back, as not worth a thorn, - By all the _sciet_, a thing of naught! - For he would be leading horse. - - “Our Boxer once was set in the shafts - When flow’ry June was gay, - And ordered to draw a wain, upheaped - With burden of balmy hay. - But he thought scorn - As one well born - To be accounted not worth a thorn, - In second place, and behind our bay, - For he would be leading horse. - - “He backed, as stubborn as mule could be, - And, backing over a rock, - Adown he tumbled, with load atop, - A frightful wreckage and shock. - He broke his back, - For he would not hack - As a common cart-horse; and thus, alack! - The haughty Boxer was dead as a stock - Because he’d be leading horse. - - “When folks see merit in any man, - That man will be thrust afore. - But he who elbows and pushes his way - Is surely esteemed a bore. - And I declare - Let all beware - Lest they the fall of Boxer share, - For that’s the fate for him in store - Who’ll only be leading horse.” - -[Illustration: OWEN GLYNDWR’S HOUSE, MACHYNLLETH] - - - - -CHAPTER XVI - -MACHYNLLETH - - Pronunciation of the name--Owen Glyndwr--His history--David - Gam--Fish--Lakes--Bugeilyn--Llyn Penrhaiadr--Towyn--Inscribed stone of - S. Cadvan--Who Cadvan was--Tal y Llyn--Bass fishing--Llanegryn and its - screen--Peniarth--The Wynn family--Welsh names--The Arms of Wales--The - Three Feathers. - - -THE pronunciation of this name demands a smattering of knowledge as to -how to speak it intelligibly to a Welshman; but the clerks at railway -stations delivering tickets to the place are prepared to accept every -laboured effort to pronounce and mispronounce it. To ensure being -understood, call the place “Măhúntleth.” - -The town, a cheerful little place, clean, but without anything of much -interest in it, is one of the six contributing boroughs of Montgomery. -It has not even an old parish church; the structure that serves for -the purpose is modern and poor in design. But it does retain a little -plaster-and-timber house, nearly opposite the gates of the grounds of -Plas Machynlleth, the place of the Marchioness of Londonderry, which -is traditionally held to have been the dwelling in which Owen Glyndwr -assembled a parliament to consult as to the best means of resisting -Henry IV., and the place also where an attempt was made to assassinate -him by David Gam. - -Owen Glyndwr was born about 1359 in South Wales, but descended from the -princes of Powys, and he takes his name from Glyndyfrdwy in Yale. He -first comes to notice as witness in a remarkable trial that lasted four -years between the houses of Grosvenor and Scrope relative to rights to -a certain coat-of-arms. - -The story of rights over a common, which originated the struggle -between Owen and Lord Grey of Ruthin, and brought on a contest with the -whole power of England, that lasted through Glyndwr’s life, has been -already told. - -The treachery of the unprincipled English baron led to the desolation -of Wales, to rivers of blood being shed, and to a good deal of -humiliation to his master, Henry IV. - -It may be remembered that when, in 1400, King Henry was preparing an -expedition against Scotland, he summoned Glyndwr to join his forces, -but confided the summons to Grey to deliver. Lord Grey purposely -suppressed it, and then represented Owen to the King as a malcontent -and a rebel; whereupon, without inquiry into the matter, Henry IV. -pronounced his estate forfeit. - -The Welsh had sympathised with Richard II., and they regarded -Bolingbroke as a usurper, but would have contented themselves with -singing dirges to the memory of Richard, had they not been exasperated -to revolt by the violence and injustice of the Marchers. Owen, enraged -against Grey de Ruthin, at first made a personal quarrel of his -wrongs; but this soon developed and extended until it involved the -whole of Wales, which rose against the English Crown. - -In 1401 King Henry marched into North Wales, but the natives, and all -those who held to Owen, retired into the mountains; and Henry returned -to England, having effected nothing. He left Henry Prince of Wales, -then a boy of thirteen, at Chester, to watch and control the Welsh, -with Henry Hotspur, eldest son of the Earl of Northumberland, as -Justice of North Wales and Constable of the Castles. Shakespeare has -considerably disturbed men’s minds relative to persons and events of -the period. He makes the fiery Percy but little older than Prince Hal, -whereas he was actually older than Henry IV. And Prince Hal was by no -means the roysterer at East Cheap as represented, but from early days -engaged in war, and carrying on a prolonged contest with Glyndwr, a -wily and able commander, in a country most difficult to hold. - -Owen, finding that Harry Percy and the young prince were too strong to -be attacked, now fell with all his force on South Wales, harrying the -land of the English and of such Welsh as would not join him. Then he -abruptly turned to the Severn valley, burnt Montgomery, and was only -stopped under the red walls of the castle of Percy at Welshpool. Now -all Wales was in insurrection, and everywhere Owen was regarded as one -who would deliver the Cymry from their hereditary oppressors. The rapid -progress of his army spread terror along the Marches, and messengers on -swift horses galloped to London to announce to the King that unless -succour were sent his castles would fall. - -In October, 1401, King Henry and the Prince of Wales entered the -Principality at the head of a huge army, and pushed on to Bangor, only -to find that the Welsh had retreated to the mountains, carrying off -with them all their goods. The King passed along the coast to the abbey -of Strata Florida in Cardiganshire, which he gave up to pillage and -fire. Having succeeded in capturing about a thousand Welsh children -without having fought a battle, Henry ingloriously withdrew. - -About this time, moreover, Owen succeeded in getting hold of his great -enemy Lord Grey de Ruthin, and sent him to his tower of Dolbadarn, -there to languish until he could raise the heavy ransom which Owen, who -was sorely in want of money, demanded for his release. - -Henry Percy, unable to obtain payment for his services in Wales, and -reimbursement for large sums laid out by himself in the King’s service, -threw up his charge and retired to Northumbria to fight the Scots. - -In May, 1402, Owen Glyndwr attacked the Welsh territories of young -Edmund Earl of March, who, with his younger brother Roger, was held -in custody by the King, on account of his having been acknowledged by -Parliament to be the lineal heir to King Richard. - -Sir Edmund Mortimer, their uncle and guardian, hastened to protect the -lands, assisted by the other Marchers. - -They met on the border in a narrow valley at Pilleth, near Knighton, -and during the battle the Welsh tenants went over in a body to the side -of Glyndwr. Eleven hundred men were killed, and Mortimer was captured. - -Then ensued the dispute between Harry Hotspur and King Henry which has -been immortalised by Shakespeare. Henry Percy’s wife was the sister -of Sir Edmund Mortimer, and he was urgent for the ransoming of the -captive. But King Henry was in sore straits for money, and he was, -moreover, not particularly desirous to have the uncle of the true heir -to the throne at large. What he did was to lead an army a third time -into Wales, whilst a second was placed under the command of the Prince -of Wales, and a third under that of the Earl of Warwick. - - “Never within man’s memory had there been such a September in the - Welsh mountains. The very heavens themselves seemed to descend in - sheets of water upon the heads of these magnificent and well-equipped - arrays. Dee, Usk, and Wye, with their boisterous tributaries that - crossed the English line of march, roared bank-high, and buried all - trace of the fords beneath volumes of brown tumbling water, while - bridges, homesteads, and such flocks as the Welsh had not driven - westward for safety were carried down to the sea.”[7] - -Numbers died of exposure; the King’s tent was blown over upon him; -and just a fortnight after having entered Wales in all the pomp and -circumstance of war, the armies had to retreat, baffled, draggled, and -dispirited, and fully persuaded that their great adversary was in -league with the Spirit of Evil. - -Meanwhile a friendship had sprung up between Mortimer and his captive, -quickened by resentment against Henry, who had refused to ransom him, -and this led to a closer tie, for he married Glyndwr’s fourth daughter, -Joan. - -Meantime, also, the anger of Harry Hotspur against the King had reached -a head. He allied himself with the Scots, and marched upon Shrewsbury, -unhappily for him without having concerted a plan of operations with -Owen, who was away in the South of Wales, and unaware that the fiery -Percy was about to engage the King. - -Tradition will have it that Glyndwr hastened towards Shrewsbury, and -watched the battle from a tall oak on the Welsh road from Shrewsbury, -and made no attempt to strike at Henry from the rear. But this is -false. Glyndwr, at the time, was in Carmarthen in total ignorance of -the movements of Harry Percy. - -The defeat of Shrewsbury was disastrous to the cause of the Welsh. -Owen, having lost the assistance of his northern ally, entered into -negotiations with the French, who sent him some aid, which was not very -effective, and from this time his power began to decline. Now it was -that Owen summoned a parliament of the Welsh to meet at Machynlleth, -consisting of four persons of consequence out of every Cantref in the -Principality. - -One of those attending it was David ab Llewelyn, nicknamed Gam, or the -“squint-eyed,” a little red-haired, long-armed, unprincipled man, who -had been in the household of John of Gaunt. He was a native of Brecon, -no relation to Owen, though he knew him intimately, and was trusted -by him. Whether at the instigation of King Henry, or moved thereto by -his own treacherous heart, we know not, but he framed a plot for the -assassination of Owen during the conclave. One of the conspirators -betrayed the design, and David Gam would have been executed but that -his Brecon friends and relations intervened. Owen Glyndwr consented to -remit the extreme penalty, and sent him for confinement in prison at -Dolbadarn. - -In 1405 Glyndwr’s forces met with a reverse at Monnow, where they -attacked Prince Henry, and a battle was fought in which no quarter was -given on either side, and again at Pwll Melyn, in Brecon, where fifteen -hundred Welshmen fell, and among the slain was Owen’s brother. - -The King, emboldened by these successes, himself marched against Owen, -but Glyndwr was too cautious to risk another pitched battle, and Henry -had to retire without having effected anything. - -Little is known of Owen’s movements for some while, but his power was -certainly on the decline. The King offered free pardon to all his -adherents, excepting, however, Owen himself, and the Welsh wavered and -many deserted him. - -However, in 1407 he met with a notable though not far-reaching success. - -Aberystwyth Castle was held for him, and Prince Henry determined to -take it. At the head of a large force he invested the fortress, and -was supplied with cannons sent from Yorkshire to Bristol, and thence -transported by sea. Great stores of bows, arrows, stone shot, and -sulphur were collected at Hereford. Woods on the banks of the Severn -were cut down to furnish siege machinery, and a troop of carpenters was -despatched from Bristol to erect scaffoldings and towers for the taking -of the formidable castle. But all failed. The King’s particular cannon, -weighing four and a half tons, that was discharged once in the hour, -and made great noise but did little harm, did not frighten the besieged -into surrender. - -Prince Henry found the castle impregnable, and sat down before it to -reduce it by starvation. Provisions began to fail within, and Glyndwr’s -commander, Rhys ab Gruffydd, was constrained to open negotiations with -the besiegers. It was agreed that unless the fortress were relieved by -All Saints’ Day (November 1st) the Welsh garrison should surrender. - -So confident was the Prince that Glyndwr could not throw any force into -it, that he left Wales, and only an inconsiderable portion of his army -remained to watch the castle. - -Owen seized his opportunity, slipped unexpectedly into Aberystwyth with -fresh forces, and defied the English once more. - -In 1408 Owen’s dearly loved and faithful wife and Sir Edmund Mortimer’s -children fell into the King’s hands when he captured Harlech, and they -were sent to London. - -Owen’s fortunes dwindled more and more; he was accompanied by a -small band only, and was engaged in a guerilla warfare alone. What -eventually became of him is unknown. It was said that finally, deserted -by all, he wandered about the country in the disguise of a shepherd. It -is supposed, with some good reason, that he found a refuge in the house -of his married daughter at Monnington. - -Prince Henry, when he ascended the throne, sent a special message of -pardon to his brave old antagonist. At Monnington is a tower that bears -Glyndwr’s name, and it is deemed to have been that he occupied, and in -the churchyard is a stone without any name upon it, beneath which he is -thought to lie. - -Above Machynlleth, in the parish of Llanwrin, is Mathafarn, where lived -a great poet and soothsayer, David Llwyd, who was a bitter opponent of -Richard III., and a partisan of James Earl of Pembroke. He subsequently -threw himself into the party of Henry Earl of Richmond, who is said -to have stayed a night at Mathafarn on his way to Bosworth field in -August, 1485. David Llwyd was regarded by his countrymen as invested -with prophetic powers; and he had a tame sea-gull that perched on his -shoulder, and was supposed to communicate the secrets of the future in -his ear. - -On the occasion of the visit of Henry of Richmond that prince asked him -as to what would be the event of his contest with Richard. David begged -to be allowed the night for consideration. He tossed in bed, unable to -sleep, and his gull afforded him no counsel. Then his wife asked him -why he was so restless. He told her what his difficulty was. “Fool,” -said she; “prophesy success. If he succeeds, your future is made. If -he fails, he will never return from the battlefield to reproach you.” - -This satisfied the seer. - -This adventure has given rise to a Welsh proverb: “Take a wife’s advice -unasked.” - -The story goes on to say that Henry heard what had occasioned the -prophecy of good event, and he said, “Llwyd, as I shall win, lend me -your grey horse.” David could not refuse. The earl rode the grey horse -to Bosworth, but the grey mare remained at Mathafarn. - -Some verses composed on Richard III. by the poet have been preserved. -They have been thus rendered in English:-- - - “King Henry hath fought and bravely done, - Our friend the golden circlet hath won, - The bards re-echo the gladsome strain - For the good of the world crooked R is slain. - That straddling letter, so pale and sad, - In England’s realm no honour had. - For ne’er could R in the place of I - Rule England’s nation royally.” - -The “R” so crooked stands for Richard, and the “I” so upright stands -for Iorwerth, or Edward IV. - -Above Mathafarn is Cemmes Road Station, and hence a branch line runs up -the Dyfi to Mallwyd and Dinas Mawddwy. The lower portion of the valley, -though pleasing, lacks grandeur, but the scenery improves as we ascend. -George Borrow thus describes it:-- - - “Scenery of the wildest and most picturesque description was rife and - plentiful to a degree; hills were here, hills were there; some tall - and sharp, others huge and humpy; hills were on every side; only a - slight opening to the west seemed to present itself. What a valley! - I exclaimed. But on passing through the opening I found myself in - another, wilder and stranger, if possible. Full to the west was a long - hill rising up like the roof of a barn, an enormous round hill on its - north-east side, and on its south-east the tail of the range which - I had long had on my left--there were trees and groves and running - waters, but all in deep shadow, for night was now close at hand.” - -[Illustration: OLD BRIDGE, DINAS MAWDDWY] - -A stream enters the valley of the Dyfi at Mallwyd, and a capital road -ascends it, crosses a shoulder, and descends into the valley of the -Banw, leading ultimately to Welshpool. It was in the Cwm that opens -upon Mallwyd and its ramifications that lurked the “Red-haired Banditti -of Mawddwy.” - -After the cessation of the Wars of the Roses many lawless men, bred to -deeds of violence, found time hang heavy on their hands, and lacking -employment, a certain number of outlaws or felons gravitated to this -wild region, and made their headquarters in this valley, whence they -sallied forth, marauding, cattle-lifting, and murdering. Robert -Vaughan, the Welsh antiquary, who flourished shortly after, says that -they never tired of - - “robbing, burning of houses, and murthering of people, in soe much - that being very numerous, they did often drive great droves of cattell - somtymes to the number of a hundred or more from one countrey to - another at middle day, as in tyme of warre, without feare, shame, - pittie, or punishment, to the utter undoing of the poorer sort.” - -The occupants of manor- and farm-houses had to fix scythes and spiked -bars in their chimneys to prevent the marauders entering their houses -by descending the wide chimneys at night. And within the memory of man -many such have been removed. - -At last a commission was issued to Lewis Owen, Baron of the Exchequer -of Wales, and Sheriff of Merionethshire, to clear the country of them. - -In pursuance of his orders, Owen raised a body of sturdy men, and -stealing up the valley on Christmas Eve, 1554, when the robbers were -keeping high revel, he fell on them and secured eighty, whom he tried -and hanged on the spot. - -The mother of two of the worst scoundrels vowed vengeance on Owen, and -“baring her breasts” before him, shrieked in his face, “These yellow -breasts have given suck to those who shall wash their hands in your -blood.” - -The headquarters of the band were at Dugoed Mawr on the Cann Office -Road, and the place of the execution, a mound about thirty feet high, -now overgrown with trees, on the Collfryn Farm estate. - -On All Hallows’ Eve, 1555, hardly a year after the summary execution, -Baron Owen was returning from the Montgomery Assizes with his -brother-in-law and two servants, when he found the road blocked at a -spot, since called Llidiart-y-Barwn, by fallen trees. They had been -felled by some of the survivors of the band, who had waited for an -opportunity to revenge the death of their fellows. The spot is two -miles from Mallwyd on the Welshpool road. - -As Owen drew up at the barrier, and his servants proceeded to remove -the logs, a shower of arrows was discharged at him from the dense -coppice. One struck him in the face, but he plucked it out and broke -it. Then the ruffians sprang into the road and attacked him with bills -and spears. His son-in-law, John Lloyd of Ceiswyn, defended him to the -last, but his attendants fled at the first onset. Owen fell, covered -with thirty wounds, and whilst he was still breathing, the brothers of -the slain sons of the hag who had threatened him ripped the murdered -man open, and actually washed their hands in his blood, so as to fulfil -the curse cast at him by their mother. - -From Dinas Mawddwy Aran may be ascended (2,972 feet), the highest -mountain in Wales next to Snowdon, and perhaps commanding a finer view. -It is one vast sponge, and he who attempts to climb it must be careful -to avoid the bogs. - -A good road follows the River Dyfi to the pass of Bwlch y Groes and -thence to the head of Bala Lake. - -About four miles above Dinas Mawddwy is Llan-y-Mawddwy, where the -church is buried in yew trees. The church was founded by S. Tydecho. He -led an eremitical life in this sequestered valley, and according to the -legend made the Saethnant run with milk. - -The report of his sanctity reached Maelgwn Gwynedd, and to make -unpleasantness for him he sent him a stud of white horses and bade him -pasture them for him. Tydecho turned them out on the mountains, where -they fed on heather, and ran wild and were ungroomed. When the king -sent for them they had turned yellow, at which he was very angry, and -seized on the saint’s oxen as reprisal. Thereupon stags came from the -forest and allowed themselves to be yoked to the plough, and a grey -wolf lost its wildness and drew the harrow for him. Maelgwn came to -hunt in the neighbourhood, and being wearied seated himself on a rock, -and adhered to it, and could not leave till Tydecho released him; but -as a token of the miracle left the impression of his person on the rock. - -Cynan, prince of Powys, carried off Tegfedd, sister of Tydecho, who, -however, struck the ravisher with blindness, and obliged him to restore -the damsel unhurt, and to make over some lands in compensation for the -rape. - -The land of Tydecho was granted many privileges; amongst these was -that of Gobr Merched. By Welsh laws, for every damsel who had been -outraged the ravisher was required to pay a heavy fine. Tydecho’s land -was granted the very questionable privilege of exemption from the law; -in other words, that on it no girl was under the protection of the law -from assault. - -On a rock are shown four holes in the shape of a cross, said to mark -the spot where the saint was wont to kneel in prayer. - -It is possible that it was due to his father’s abusive epistle, -which attacked Maelgwn of Gwynedd and Cuneglas or Cynlas of Powys so -fiercely, that Tydecho had to leave North Wales. Apparently he retired -to the same part of Brittany as his father and his brother Cennydd or -Kenneth, and took up his abode in the Isle de Groix, where he is known -as S. Tudy, and where he is held to have died. - -Some delightful mountain expeditions may be made from Machynlleth, -as up the River Castell to the two tarns whence it springs, Glaslyn -and Bugeilyn, “The Shepherd’s Pool.” This latter and Llyn Morwynion, -“The Fair Maids’ Tarn,” are about the only two in North Wales that -produce “trout of an exceptionally fine quality--short, thick, strong -fish, that fight hard when you hook them, and cut red as salmon and -creamy as curd should you be lucky enough to induce a few to face the -cucumber. I would rather waste my time and energies on making the -acquaintance of half a dozen from either pool than I would in courting -the problematical attentions of a Dovey sewin.”[8] - -Moreover, the walk to the sources of the River Castell will amply -reward the lover of scenery. - -Then there is the ascent of the River Dulas, and the branch from the -valley by a good road to Tal-y-Llyn under red crags, Graig Goch. - -Another delightful walk of about five miles is to Llyn Penrhaiadr, and -one can drive to about two miles from the lake. A little beyond the -point where the carriage is quitted, Pistyll-y-Llyn, the waterfall from -the lake, is reached. The water shoots over a tremendous shelf of rock -and plunges into a dark pool below. It is one of the finest falls in -Wales, and only lacks more trees about it to make it most impressive. -Waterfalls are liable to pall on one. They are either of the type of -the falls of the Rhine, of the Giesbach, or of the Staubbach, and when -one has seen these, one does not particularly care for such as are -inferior. Waterfalls cease to interest, but, to my mind, lakes never -do. They are infinitely more varied, and lend themselves to finer -pictures in a way that cascades do not. There are two other tarns -near, lying rather higher than Llyn Penrhaiadr. A walker will do well -to strike across to the head of the River Hengwm, where is another -waterfall, and to follow the stream down under the splendid crags of -Bwlch Hyddgen, then turn to the left by the Rhyd Wen, and Machynlleth -is reached again. - -From Machynlleth a short run by rail takes us to Towyn, a rising -watering-place, with a noble Norman cross-church. The central tower -fell in 1696, and a western tower was erected in 1736, encroaching on -two bays of the nave. This was pulled down in 1884, and the central -tower rebuilt, but the nave is short of its two westernmost bays. - -In the churchyard are four upright stones enclosing a quadrangular -space, within which no burials are made, and in the church is an -inscribed stone, that apparently stood originally by these four -“marks.” On it is an inscription most puzzling to antiquaries, -supposed to be couched in Early Welsh, and to record that this was the -burial-place of S. Cadvan, and that his great patron Cyngen, prince -of Powys and this portion of Merioneth, lies by him. It has been thus -translated by Professor Westwood:-- - - “Beneath the mound of Cynvael lies Cadvan, - Where the earth extols his praise. Let him rest without a blemish. - The Body of Cyngen, and between them will be the marks.” - -Professor Rhys, however, disputes the reading. Cadvan was a son of -Gwen of the Three Breasts by her first husband, Æneas of Armorica. -Owing to some dynastic revolution he fled with sundry of his cousins -and followers to Wales, in the fifth century, and was well received -by Cyngen, who gave him lands. Gwen afterwards married one Fragan or -Brychan, and went with him to Brittany, where she became the mother of -S. Winwalloe, Abbot of Landevennec. - -Near the church is S. Cadvan’s Holy Well, now in the yard of a -soda-water manufactory, and covered over and disregarded. Formerly it -was much resorted to for baths. - -From Towyn the Dysynni valley should be ascended to Tal-y-Llyn. The -lake occupies the trough of a valley, and is a mile and a quarter long -and a quarter of a mile wide, and is one of the most fished lakes in -Wales. Although the Dysynni is full of salmon and sewin, these fish do -not enter the lake, or, if they do, lose all their sporting instincts. -The brooks that feed the lake absolutely swarm with trout, very small, -but very delicious; and so the cormorants find them who sit on Craig -Aderyn, a magnificent projecting rock down the valley, and dream off -their last meal till appetite wakes them and they wing their way, now -to fish in the sea and then to go inland for the trout in the lake and -its tributaries. - -At Towyn there is sea-fishing for others beside cormorants. Good -bass angling with a fly can be had where the river enters the sea, -and “these somewhat ungainly productions,” says that enthusiastic -sportsman Mr. Lloyd Price, “supposed to be the most useful adjuncts to -the art, with their red bodies, white and yellow wings, ephemeræ of -scorn to the salmon-fishers, display their crude and vulgar proportions -in the windows of almost every shop in the town.” - -The ascent of Cader Idris can be made from the head of Tal-y-Llyn Lake, -and thence the _cirque_ of Cwm Cowarch should be visited, and the -wondrous tarn Llyn Caer lying, as it were, at the bottom of a crater. - -Near Towyn is Llanegryn, on a height commanding a glorious view, and -the church contains a magnificent rood-screen and loft in excellent -preservation. In this parish is Peniarth, the house of the Wynns, with -its precious legacy of Welsh MSS. The church is crowded with Wynn -monuments. - -The Wynns are of Irish extraction, deriving from one Osborn Wyddel (the -Irishman), who came over in the thirteenth century, and obtained by -marriage an estate in Merioneth. He is supposed to have been a junior -of the House of the Geraldines, but the evidence is not satisfactory. -The family soon became thoroughly Welsh, as far as names go, bearing -those of Llewelyn, Gruffydd, Einion, Iorwerth, and quartering the arms -of Owen Gwynedd. - -Peniarth came to them through marriage with an heiress of the Williams -family, whose arms, two foxes counter-salient, form a sign and give a -name to many an inn in the Williams-Wynn country, which extends over a -large portion of North Wales. - -[Illustration: LLANEGRYN] - -The name of Wynn was not adopted till the sixteenth century. Before -that the sons were all _aps_. The adoption of surnames in Wales that -became fixed and hereditary began in single instances with Welshmen -who had become familiar with English customs, but it was not general -until Rowland Lee, Bishop of Lichfield and President of Wales and -the Marches, when calling over the panel of a jury one day, became -weary of the repetition of the _ap_, and directed that “the ancient -and worshipful gentleman “Thomas ap William ap Thomas ap Richard ap -Howel ap Iefan Fychan, etc., of Mostyn, and the rest of the jury, -should thenceforth severally assume as a surname either their last -genealogical name or that of their residence. Lee died in 1543. Many of -the names one meets with in Wales are thus derived: Bowen is ab Owen, -Price is ap Rhys, Pritchard is ap Richard, Bevan is ab Evan, etc.; and -John Jones is John son of Jones, and Thomas Evans is Thomas the son of -Evan. - -When the Welshmen took to giving themselves surnames, very few adopted -place-names; but there are some--as Glynne, Trevor, Mostyn. Fewer still -assumed such as were descriptive--as Gwyn (White), Llwyd, or Lloyd -(Gray). - -The majority took patronymic names, and thus we have such swarms of -Joneses, Williamses, Davieses, Evanses, Robertses, and Thomases. It has -become a real nuisance. “It is impossible,” says a recent writer, “to -estimate the inconveniences, the annoyance, and even the suffering, -occasioned by this unnecessary dearth of Welsh surnames, and the -continued multiplication of the comparatively few in popular use. -Indeed, our surnames are so few in number that they almost swamp the -population of England in the statistics compiled to show which are the -most numerous family names in use among us.”[9] - -To obviate the inconvenience, in Wales it is usual to distinguish one -Jones or Williams from another by appending the name of his home or his -profession, or a descriptive epithet; but this serves its purpose only -when he is in his native country. - -Four of the Welsh members of Parliament bear the name of Thomas; and -while all share a common initial, two have no other. - -“What tales of infinite trouble and everlasting worry our Post Office -officials in Wales could tell! How often have our local postmasters -to implore persons of the same name, or of the same name and like -initials, in the postal districts, to come to some amicable arrangement -as to the delivery of their letters and telegrams!” - -In a Carnarvonshire will case, heard in July, 1894, the number of -Joneses and Robertses called as witnesses during the two days that the -action lasted threw judges and counsel engaged into a condition of -absolute bewilderment, and turned the court into a patronymical Bedlam. - -Sometimes parents, with national enthusiasm, have their sons christened -with a truly Welsh name, and are not always careful to select such as -will pass smoothly over English tongues, should these sons, on growing -up, go out of the Principality. Such was the case with a Rev. T. Mydir -Evans, who in England became “Passon Murder Evans.” And what stumbling -has been caused over the name of Dr. Gwenogfryn Evans at Oxford! - -It was at Bishop Lee’s suggestion, and in the year of his death, that -the shires of Wales were formally constituted, though earlier, in 1535, -the counties of Denbigh, Montgomery, Merioneth, Glamorgan, Brecon, and -Radnor had been constructed out of the old Marches of Wales. - -In conclusion, a word must be added relative to the arms of Wales and -the three feathers of its Prince’s crest. - -Coats-of-arms were assumed and changed very arbitrarily in early days, -and there does not seem to have been any fixed rule as to those borne -by the several princes. Owen Gwynedd is said to have had on his shield -vert, three eagles in fess or, membered and beaked gules, and these are -quartered by the Wynns of Peniarth. - -But Rhodri the Great had four banners carried before him on which were -depicted lions, to represent the principalities of Gwynedd, Powys, -Deheubarth, and the Isle of Man, over which his rule extended. Yet the -red dragon was the symbol and ensign of the Pendragon, or chief king. - -A lion rampant appears to have been the favourite bearing of the -princes of Powys. Gruffydd ab Cynan of Gwynedd bore three lions passant -gardant in pale argent incensed azure. - -Lewis Dwnn, in his _Heraldic Visitations of Wales_, says that “the -recognised arms of the Principality were four lions passant gardant -quarterly, and that is the coat now accepted for Wales.” - -The red dragon was used by Henry VII. as his crest, and as a supporter -on the dexter side, and on the sinister, the greyhound of York. - -Henry VIII. retained the dragon, but discarded the greyhound for a -lion. The unicorn supplanted the dragon in the reign of James I. The -ostrich feather was not properly a Welsh crest at all, but was employed -as a badge by Edward III. It was not till the reign of Henry VII. that -the three plumes, to represent the three principalities of Wales, in -a circlet or coronet, were adopted as a cognisance of the Prince of -Wales, and since then have remained as an appropriate symbol; for, -indeed, Gwynedd, Powys, and Deheubarth are feathers in the cap of our -princes of which they may well be proud. - - - - - INDEX - - - Aberdaron, 116, 119. - - ---- Dick of, 147. - - Aberffraw, 13, 46. - - Aberhafesp, 275-6. - - Aberystwyth, 297-8. - - Achau y Saint, 99. - - Aelhaiarn, Saint, 110, 259, 286. - - Agricola, 22-4. - - Alan Barbetorte, 8. - - Albert Davies, 85-7. - - Allée couverte, 78. - - Alun river, 180. - - Ambrose, 92-3. - - Amlwch, 37. - - Anarawd, 164. - - Anglesey, 5, 6, 22-45, 76-81. - - Anne Griffiths, 268-9. - - Aran, 302. - - Arderydd, 94. - - Ardudwy, 240. - - Armorica, 8. - - Asaph, Saint, 145-53. - - - Baldwin, Archbishop, 66-7. - - Bangor, 63-70. - - Bards, 202-9. - - Bardsey, 114-6. - - Barmouth, 206, 236. - - Beaumaris, 29. - - Beddgelert, 102. - - Benefices, hereditary, 100-1. - - Benlli, 179, 180. - - Berain, 147. - - Breakwater, 58. - - Beuno, Saint, 120-3. - - Boxer, 288-90. - - Bran, 232-3. - - Bronwen, 232-4. - - Brython, 3. - - Buttington, 251. - - - Cadell Deyrnllwg, 179-80. - - Cader Idris, 206, 208. - - Cadvan, Saint, 306-7. - - Cadwaladr, 47, 50-1. - - Cadwallon, 47-50. - - Cadwgan ab Bleddyn, 253-6. - - Caer, 15. - - Caergybi, 51. - - Caersws, 276-7. - - Camps, 60, 107, 141-2, 196, 250. - - Canonisation, 116. - - Cantref y Gwaelod, 133, 138, 239-40. - - Capel Curig, 105. - - Capel y Llochwyd, 57. - - Carnarvon, 74. - - Cam Fadryn, 109. - - Castles, 15. - - Caswallon Long-hand, 24-6. - - Catherine of Berain, 147-9. - - Cefn, 152. - - Celibacy, 277-8. - - Ceredig, 5. - - Chartists, 282-4. - - Chester, 6. - - Church lands, 100. - - Clynnog, 120. - - Collen, Saint, 184-6. - - Colwyn, 136-7. - - Conan Meiriadog, 149-51. - - Conger eel, 263. - - Conway, 96, 125-30. - - Cormac MacAirt, 4. - - Corwen, 195. - - Criccieth, 107, 111. - - Cromlech, 3. - - Cuneglas, 280, 304. - - Cursing well, 136-7. - - Cybi, Saint, 53-6, 110-11. - - Cymmer Abbey, 209. - - Cymri, 7. - - Cytiau’r Gwyddelod, 60, 196, 236. - - - David ap Gruffydd, 94-5, 160-1. - - ---- Gam, 292, 296-7. - - ---- Llwyd, 294-300. - - ---- Manuel, 157. - - ---- Owen, 156. - - Deganwy, 13, 17, 130, 132, 143. - - Deheubarth, 15, 16. - - Deiniol, Saint, 63. - - Denbigh, 163-72. - - Deorham, 6. - - Derwen, 180. - - Dick of Aberdaron, 147. - - Dinas Bran, 186-7. - - ---- Mawddwy, 300, 303. - - Divisions of Wales, 10. - - Dog-tongs, 67-8. - - Dolbadarn, 94. - - Dolgelley, 205-9. - - Dolobran, 266. - - Dudley, Earl of Leicester, 167-8. - - Dwynwen, Saint, 81-2. - - Dysynni valley, 307. - - - Edward I., 18, 19, 95, 125, 160. - - ---- II., 161-2, 166-7. - - Edwen, Saint, 70. - - Edwin, 26, 47-9. - - Efflam, 36. - - Egryn, 241. - - Einion, 36-7, 114. - - Elen, 74-5, 149. - - Elian, Saint, 38-9. - - Eliseg, 189, 190. - - Ellis Wynne, 236-9. - - Elphin, 143. - - English race, 10. - - - Fires, 242-3. - - Fishing, 207-8, 305-8. - - Forest, Friar, 198-9. - - Frog, 268. - - - Gabriel Goodman, 177. - - Gam, David, 292, 296-7. - - Gelert, 102-5. - - George Herbert, 246-7. - - Germanus, Saint, 93, 179. - - Ghost story, 257-9. - - Giants, 152. - - Gildas, 9, 32-3, 55, 101-2, 178, 278-80. - - Glasfryn, 113. - - Goblin Tower, 166. - - Goidels, 3-4. - - Goronwy Owen, 42-4. - - Grace Evans, 252-4. - - Green, Mr., 9. - - Grey de Ruthin, 176-7, 292. - - Gruffydd ab Llewelyn, 229-10. - - Guilsfield, 259. - - Gwenwynwyn, 17. - - Gwyddfarch, 261. - - Gwyddno, 133, 143, 239. - - Gwynedd, 10, 16. - - Gwynog, Saint, 279-80. - - - Hafod, 15. - - Harlech, 231, 234-6. - - Harold, 64, 159. - - Harp, 201-2. - - Hebrew affinities, 2. - - Helmsley, 155. - - Hendre, 15. - - Hengwrt, 211. - - Henry I., 191-3. - - ---- IV., 292-8. - - ---- VII., 299. - - Henry Williams, 286-8. - - Hirlas Horn, 87-8. - - Holyhead, 51-62. - - Holy wells, 30, 35, 81-2, 110, 136, 151, 260, 307. - - Hugh, Earl of Chester, 26, 76, 132, 197. - - ---- ---- Shrewsbury, 77. - - Hwyl, 278. - - - Iberian, 2. - - Interludes, 218-22. - - Iolo Goch, 120, 175. - - Irddw, 113. - - - John Williams, 211-12. - - Jordan, Mrs., 171-2. - - - Language, Welsh, 2. - - Latimer, Hugh, 198-9. - - Lazy tongs, 67-8. - - Lewis Morris, 40-1. - - ---- Owen, 202-3. - - Llanaber, 240. - - Llanbabo, 35. - - Llanbadrig, 39-40. - - Llanberis, 99. - - Llandegla, 181. - - Llanddona, 40. - - Llandderfel, 197-9. - - Llandrillo, 199. - - Llandudno, 133. - - Llandyssilio, 27. - - Llanegryn, 308. - - Llanaelhaiarn, 110. - - Llaneilian, 38-40. - - Llanfihangel, 34. - - Llanfyllin, 309. - - Llangadwaladr, 47. - - Llangollen, 183-9, 201. - - Llangybi, 110-11. - - Llangynyw, 267. - - Llanidan, 68, 70. - - Llanidloes, 281-4. - - Llaniestyn, 35. - - Llanllwchaiarn, 286. - - Llanrhaiadr, 172. - - Llansadwrn, 28. - - Llanwnog, 279-80. - - Llanwrwst, 180. - - Llanymawddwy, 303. - - Llanynys, 173. - - Llewelyn ab Gruffydd, 17-19, 94-6. - - ---- ab Iorwerth, 16-17, 105. - - Lleyn, 106-24. - - Lloyd family, 265-6. - - - Machynlleth, 291-9, 305. - - Madog ab Meredydd, 264-5. - - ---- Min, Bishop, 64. - - ---- the Navigator, 117-18. - - Madryn, Saint, 109. - - Maelgwn Gwynedd, 31-3, 54-5, 130-1, 143-4, 303. - - Maelor, 186-7. - - Maen Llog, 269. - - Mallwyd, 301. - - March, King, 112-13. - - Marchlyn, 89. - - Married clergy, 101. - - Mathafarn, 299-300. - - Mathrafal, 262. - - Maximus, 74-5. - - Meifod, 161-4. - - Meiriadog, 149. - - Meirion ab Cunedda, 5. - - Melangell, Saint, 199-200. - - Melodies, Welsh, 153-8, 235. - - Menai Straits, 26, 46. - - Menhir, 3, 55. - - Mona, 37. - - Monnington, 299. - - Montgomery, 244-7. - - Morgan, 114. - - Myddelton, Sir Hugh, 169-71. - - - Nannau, 210-11. - - Nant Gwrtheyrn, 108. - - Nevin, 107. - - Newtown, 250, 271-5, 284. - - Nithsdale, Lady, 252-4. - - Nonconformity, 227-30. - - - Offa, 6, 245. - - Ogam, 5. - - Oliver Thomas, 155. - - Ordovices, 23. - - Owen ab Cadwgan, 191-3. - - ---- Glyndwr, 65, 120, 174-6, 195, 234, 291-8. - - ---- Goch, 94. - - ---- Gwynedd, 66, 196. - - ---- Tudor, 70-2. - - - Pabo post Prydain, 36. - - Parry, Anne, 172. - - Peniarth, 308. - - Penmaenmawr, 137-8. - - Penmon, 26-31. - - Penmynydd, 73. - - Pennant Melangell, 199-200. - - Penrhyn, 83-7. - - Penstrowed, 275. - - Piers de Gaveston, 166. - - Piro, 115. - - Plague, 130-2. - - Plas Eliseg, 190. - - Plas Newydd, 78. - - Plate-tracery, 194. - - Porch, dripping, 70. - - Port Madoc, 107. - - Pot-girl, 73-4. - - Powys, 10-11, 16. - - ---- Castle, 256-9. - - ---- Land Club, 270. - - Prehistoric periods, 141. - - Prince of Wales, 161. - - Pryce, Sir John, 271-4. - - Puffin Island, 30-1. - - Pwllheli, 107, 116. - - - Red Wharf Bay, 36. - - Red-haired Banditti, 301-2. - - Reformation, 229. - - Rhodri the Great, 10, 16, 312. - - Rhuddlan, 153, 158, 161-2. - - Richard II., 162. - - Richard Gwynn, 281-2. - - ---- Malvine, 219-30. - - Robber’s Grave, 247-50. - - Robert Davies, 288-9. - - ---- Owen, 284-6. - - Roman Steps, 241. - - Rothesay Castle, 34. - - Ruthin, 174-9. - - - Sadwrn, Saint, 28. - - Screens, rood, 38, 114, 180, 247, 271, 308. - - Sea-birds, 59. - - Seiriol, Saint, 30, 55-6. - - Serigi, 25, 52. - - Shrewsbury, 296. - - Shrine, 69. - - Snowdon, 90. - - South Stack, 59. - - Strata Marcella, 252, 269. - - Submerged forests, 139. - - - Taliessin, 143-4, 203. - - Towyn, 306-7. - - Tre’r Ceiri, 107. - - Tudor family, 71. - - Tydecho, Saint, 303-4. - - Tyfrydog’s Thief, 55. - - Tyssilio, Saint, 27, 261-4. - - - Ursula, Saint, 149-50. - - - Vale Crucis, 189, 190. - - Vikings, 12. - - Vortigern, 91-3, 108-9. - - Vyrnwy, Lake, 267-8. - - - Welsh arms, 311-12. - - ---- characteristics, 213-17. - - ---- courtships, 215. - - ---- names, 311-12. - - ---- preachers, 225-7. - - Welshpool, 250-8, 269-70. - - William Owen Pugh, 241-2. - - William the Conqueror, 12-13. - - Williams, Archbishop, 126-9. - - Wynn family, 308-9. - - - Yews, 260. - - - - - PLYMOUTH - WILLIAM BRENDON AND SON - PRINTERS - - - - - FOOTNOTES: - -[1] RHYS and BRYNMOR JONES, _The Welsh People_, p. 342. - -[2] A Peris is, however, given as son of Helig ab Glannog (Iolo MSS. p. -124), but is this the same? - -[3] RHYS and BRYNMOR JONES, _The Welsh People_, p. 356. - -[4] _The Vale of Clwyd_, by W. DAVIS. Ruthin, 1856. - -[5] R. G. DAVIES, _The Visions of the Sleeping Bard_, translated. -London, 1897. - -[6] WILLIAMS (R.), _Montgomeryshire Worthies_, p. 79. Newtown, 1894. - -[7] BRADLEY, _Owen Glyndwr_, p. 178. - -[8] LLOYD PRICE (R. J.), _Walks in Wales_, 1893, p. 44. - -[9] _Transactions of the Cymmrodorion Society_, 1903. - - - - - -End of Project Gutenberg's A Book of North Wales, by Sabine Baring-Gould - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A BOOK OF NORTH WALES *** - -***** This file should be named 51765-0.txt or 51765-0.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/5/1/7/6/51765/ - -Produced by Giovanni Fini and The Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was -produced from images generously made available by The -Internet Archive) - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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