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+The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Wye and Its Associations, by Leitch
+Ritchie
+
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere 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
+
+
+
+
+
+Title: The Wye and Its Associations
+       a picturesque ramble
+
+
+Author: Leitch Ritchie
+
+
+
+Release Date: June 10, 2011  [eBook #36367]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: UTF-8
+
+
+***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE WYE AND ITS ASSOCIATIONS***
+
+
+Transcribed from the 1841 Longman, Orme, Brown, Green, and Longmans
+edition by David Price, email ccx074@pglaf.org
+
+[Picture: Decorative title page, with Goodrich castle (followed by proper
+                               title page)]
+
+
+
+
+
+                                 THE WYE
+                           AND ITS ASSOCIATIONS
+
+
+                          A PICTURESQUE RAMBLE.
+
+                                * * * * *
+
+                         BY LEITCH RITCHIE, ESQ.
+
+     AUTHOR OF “WANDERINGS BY THE LOIRE,” “WANDERINGS BY THE SEINE,”
+                           “THE MAGICIAN,” ETC.
+
+                                * * * * *
+
+                                 LONDON:
+
+                     LONGMAN, ORME, BROWN, GREEN, AND
+                                LONGMANS.
+
+                                  1841.
+
+                                * * * * *
+
+                                 LONDON:
+              PRINTED BY J. HADDON, CASTLE STREET, FINSBURY.
+
+
+
+
+ADVERTISEMENT,
+
+
+A portion of the lower part of the Wye has been described by Gilpin,
+Archdeacon Coxe, and some others; and the same portion has been touched
+upon, with greater or less minuteness, by Prince Puckler Muscau, and
+various Welsh tourists, as well as by Whateley in his Essay on Modern
+Gardening.  It seemed, however, to the writer of the present sketch, that
+something more was due to the most celebrated river in England; and that
+another book (not too large for the pocket, and yet aspiring to a place
+in the library) which should point out the beauties of the Wye, and
+connect them with their historical and romantic associations—beginning at
+the source of the stream on Plinlimmon, and ending only at its confluence
+with the Severn—might still be reckoned an acceptable service by the
+lovers of the picturesque.  Hence this little work, which may be
+consulted at will either as a finger-post by the traveller, or as a
+companion by the reading lounger at home.
+
+_London_, _November_ 28_th_, 1840.
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS.
+
+                              CHAPTER I.
+                                                                 Page.
+Philosophy of the picturesque—Peculiarities of English               1
+scenery—Worcester—Immigration of peasant girls—The
+Devils’ Garden—The Rest on the
+Stones—Plinlimmon—Inhabitants of the summit—The
+Inn—Source of the Wye
+                             CHAPTER II.
+Descent of Plinlimmon—Singular                                      17
+illusion—Llangerrig—Commencement of the picturesque—The
+Fall of the Wye—Black Mountain—Course of the
+river—Builth—Peculiarity of the scenery—Approach to the
+English border—Castle of the Hay—First series of the
+beauties of the Wye
+                             CHAPTER III.
+Clifford Castle—Lords-marchers—Fair Rosamond—Ruins of the           31
+Castle—The silent cottage—Approach to
+Hereford—Castle—Cathedral—Nell Gwynn—Cider—Salmon—Wolves
+                             CHAPTER IV.
+Beauty and tameness—The travelling hill—Ross—The silver             45
+tankard—The Man of Ross—The sympathetic trees—Penyard
+Castle—Vicissitudes of the river—Wilton Castle—A voyage
+to sea in a basket—Pencraig Hill
+                              CHAPTER V.
+Roman passes of the Wye—Goodrich                                    58
+Castle—Keep—Fortifications—Apartments—Its
+history—Goodrich Court—Forest of Dean—Laws of the
+Miners—Military exploit—Wines of Gloucestershire
+                             CHAPTER VI.
+Iron furnaces of the Wye—Lidbroke—Nurse of Henry                    74
+V—Coldwell Rocks—Symond’s Yat—New Weir—Monmouth
+                             CHAPTER VII.
+Monmouth—History of the Castle—Apartment of Henry of                87
+Monmouth—Ecclesiastical remains—Benedictine priory—Church
+of St. Mary—Church of St. Thomas—Monnow Bridge—Modern
+town—Monmouth caps—The beneficent parvenu
+                            CHAPTER VIII.
+Welsh pedigree of queen Victoria—A poet’s                          100
+flattery—Castles of Monmouthshire—Geoffrey of
+Monmouth—Henry of Monmouth—The Kymin—Subsidiary tour—Sir
+David Gam—White Castle—Scenfrith—The Castle
+spectres—Grosmont—Lanthony Abbey
+                             CHAPTER IX.
+Raglan Castle—Description of the ruins—History of the              121
+Castle—The old lord of Raglan—Surrender of the
+fortress—Charles I. and his host—Royal weakness—The
+pigeons of Raglan—Death of the old lord—Origin of the
+steam engine
+                              CHAPTER X.
+Troy House—Anecdote—Antique custom—Village churches of             140
+Monmouthshire—White-washing—The bard—Strewing graves with
+flowers—St. Briavels’ Castle—Llandogo—Change in the
+character of the river—The Druid of the Wye—Wordsworth’s
+“Lines composed above Tintern Abbey”
+                             CHAPTER XI.
+Vales of the Wye—Valley of Tintern—Tintern                         156
+Abbey—History—Church—Character of the ruin—Site—Coxe’s
+description—Monmouth—Insecurity of sepulchral
+fame—Churchyarde on Tombs—Opinions on Tintern—Battle of
+Tintern
+                             CHAPTER XII.
+The Wye below Tintern—Benagor Crags—Lancaut—Piercefield            174
+Bay—Chepstow—Ancient and modern bridge—Chepstow
+Castle—Roger de Britolio—Romance of History—Chepstow in
+the civil wars—Marten the regicide
+                            CHAPTER XIII.
+Piercefield—Points of view—Curious appearance—Scenic               192
+character of the place—View from Wyndcliff—Account of
+Valentine Morris—Anecdotes—The Wye below Chepstow—Aust
+Ferry—Black Rock Ferry—St. Theodoric—Conclusion
+
+
+
+ENGRAVINGS.
+
+                                         Page.
+GOODRICH CASTLE                VIGNETTE TITLE.
+LLANGERRIG                                  19
+RHAIADYR                                    21
+NEAR RHAIADYR                               22
+CLIFFORD CASTLE                             35
+HEREFORD                                    44
+ROSS                                        48
+THE NEW WEIR                                81
+TINTERN                                    158
+TINTERN ABBEY                              160
+CHEPSTOW                                   177
+VIEW FROM WYNDCLIFF                        198
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+
+Philosophy of the picturesque—Peculiarities of English
+scenery—Worcester—Immigration of peasant girls—The Devils’ Garden—The
+Rest on the Stones—Plinlimmon—Inhabitants of the summit—The Inn—Source of
+the Wye.
+
+Foreigners have often expressed their surprise that the English should
+travel so far in search of picturesque scenery, when they have abundance
+at home: but the remark is conceived in an unphilosophical spirit.  We do
+not travel for the mere scenery.  We do not leave the Wye unexplored, and
+go abroad in search of some other river of its own identical character.
+What we gaze at in strange lands is not wood, and water, and rock, but
+all these seen through a new medium—accompanied by adjuncts which array
+universal nature herself in a foreign costume.  A tree peculiar to the
+country—a peasant in an un-English garb—a cottage of unaccustomed
+form—the slightest peculiarity in national manners—even the traces of a
+different system of agriculture—all contribute to the impression of
+novelty in which consists the excitement of foreign travel.
+
+The proof of this is our keener perception of the beauties of English
+scenery after returning from abroad.  We are then capable of instituting
+a comparison; and our national manners are no longer the sole medium, but
+one of various media through which nature is viewed.  An untravelled
+Englishman is ignorant of his own country.  He must cross the seas before
+he can become acquainted with home.  He must admire the romance of the
+Rhine—the sublimity of the (mountain) Rhone—the beauty of the Seine and
+the Loire—before he can tell what is the rank of the Wye, in picturesque
+character, among the rivers of Europe.
+
+The journey from London to Worcester, which is the direct route to the
+Upper part of the Wye, discloses many of the peculiarities of English
+scenery and character—peculiarities which to the natives are of so every
+day a kind, that it is only by reflection and comparison they learn to
+appreciate them.  The country seats of the great land proprietors, with
+their accompaniments of lawn and plantation, extending as far as the eye
+can reach, form a part of the picture; and so do the cottages of the
+village peasantry, with their little gardens before the door, admitting a
+peep into the interior of the humble abode.  In the aristocratical
+dwellings, half hidden in that paradise of groves and glades, we find
+every refinement that gold can purchase, or taste produce: in the huts,
+comfort, and its inseparable adjunct cleanliness, are the most striking
+characteristics.
+
+The former speak of wealth, and the happiness that depends on wealth; the
+latter of comparative poverty, and the home pleasures that are compatible
+with poverty.  On the continent, there is always something out of keeping
+in the picture.  In the great chateaux and their grounds, there is always
+some meanness, some make-shift observable; while in the great country
+seats of England, on the contrary, all is uniform.  In the cottages
+abroad, even those of a higher order, there are always dirt and
+slovenliness—inattention to the minute comforts of humble life—meals
+snatched anyhow and anywhere—sleep taken without an idea of the luxuries
+of sleep.  In England, on the other hand, notwithstanding the
+irregularities of fortune, we find an absolute identity in the various
+classes of the population.  The labourer—returned, perhaps, from mending
+the highway, sits down in state to dinner, with a clean white
+table-cloth, and the coarse ware nicely arranged before him.  The floor
+is swept, perhaps washed, to do honour to the occasion; and his wife, who
+is at once the mistress and the servant of the feast, prides herself on
+making her husband (whom she calls her “master”)—_comfortable_.
+
+We need not be told that this is not a universal picture.  We need not be
+reminded of the want and misery which exist in numerous parts of the
+country, for with these we are well acquainted.  The _foreigner_,
+however, to whom such scenes are new, will meet with them frequently
+enough, and especially on the road we are now travelling, to induce him
+to set them down as one of the grand characteristics of England.
+
+The road presents, also, at various turnings, that truly English scene, a
+well-known specimen of which is viewed from Richmond Hill.  A level
+country lies a few hundred feet below us, and extends in front, and on
+either side, till it is lost in the distance, or bound in by low and
+filmy hills which just mark the horizon with their waving line of shadow.
+This expanse is studded with towns, and villages, and seats, and
+cottages, and square towers, and tapering spires, rising amidst woods and
+groves, and surrounded by green fields and meadows.  A great part of the
+peculiar character of the landscape is due to the enclosures of various
+kinds of foliage which separate one field from another.  In most parts of
+the continent—and more especially in France—these are of very rare
+occurrence; and thus the beauty of the picture, when it has any beauty at
+all, depends upon the colours of the different kinds of grain or other
+productions, which make the vast expanse of vegetation resemble an
+immense and richly variegated carpet.  In spring, therefore, before these
+colours have been fairly brought out, it may easily be conceived that
+France is one of the least interesting countries in Europe.  With us, on
+the other hand, the face of the earth resembles a garden, and more
+especially in one of those flat landscapes we have alluded to.  The
+changes of the seasons diversify without diminishing the beauty; and even
+winter presents, instead of a uniform and dreary waste, a varied picture
+executed in hoar frost and snow.
+
+Worcester is one of the most aristocratic looking towns in England, and
+presents every token of being a wealthy and flourishing place.  Its
+cathedral, an edifice of the beginning of the thirteenth century, has
+drawn hither many a pilgrim foot even from foreign countries.  Our
+present business, however, is with the works of nature, or with those of
+art fallen into decay, and their fragments standing amidst the eternal
+youth of the hills and rivers, like monuments of the insignificance of
+man.
+
+Worcester is famous for its manufactures of porcelain and gloves; but our
+attention was more strongly attracted to exports of another kind, of
+which it appeared to be at least the entrepôt, if it was not the original
+market.  At a little distance from the town, several waggons had halted
+near a public house, and their freight, a numerous party of peasant
+girls, were breakfasting by the road side.  They were eating and drinking
+as joyously as if their laps had been filled with far more enticing food
+than bread and ale.  They were on their way to some greater mart—perhaps
+to the all-devouring metropolis; and when breakfast was over, they
+resumed their slow journey, some few who had mounted the waggons singing
+in parts, and the rest, walking by the side, joining in the chorus.  They
+had no fears, poor girls, of the result of their adventure—or rather, no
+forethought.
+
+But it is not till after we pass the little town of Kington, on the
+eastern borders of Herefordshire, that the picturesque commences, and we
+must hasten on to our more immediate task.  Between Kington and New
+Radnor, are the Stanner Rocks, with the Devil’s Garden on their summit,
+luxuriously planted—of course by no human hand—with wild flowers.  Beyond
+New Radnor (formerly the county town, but now a paltry village,) opens
+the Vale of Radnor on one side, and on the other, a rude mountain scene,
+distinguished by a waterfall of some celebrity, called
+Water-break-its-neck.  The stream rushes down a precipitous descent of
+seventy feet, into a hollow with craggy and unequal sides.  The spot of
+the cascade is marked by an insulated rock, eighteen or twenty feet high,
+standing erect above it like a monument.
+
+After passing the village of Penybont, the Llanbadarn Vawr, or great
+church of Badarn, is to the left of the road, an edifice which dates from
+the time of the Conqueror; and nothing else of interest is observable
+till we reach Rhaiadyr, on the Banks of the Wye.  As it will be more
+convenient, however, to examine the river in descending with the stream,
+we shall only say here, that the journey from Rhaiadyr to the summit of
+Plinlimmon lies through woods, and hill passes, becoming ruder and wilder
+at every step we advance.  The character of the population seems to
+change in conformity with their physical circumstances.  The want of
+tidiness which marks the British mountaineer is the more conspicuous from
+the contrast it presents to the opposite quality we have admired in the
+plains; and already the women have assumed the round hat of the ruder
+sex, and destroyed with its masculine associations the charms peculiar to
+their own.  Against this absurdity we must protest, whether we meet with
+it in the Welsh girl, or the fair equestrian of Hyde Park.  It betrays
+not only the most pitiful taste, but the most profound ignorance of
+nature, on which is founded the theory of female beauty.
+
+Stedva Gerrig, or “the Rest on the Stones” now commonly called by the
+name of the mountain, is a hamlet of three or four houses situated on a
+stream which separates the counties of Montgomeryshire and Cardiganshire,
+in a nook of comparatively level land, into which abut several of the
+lower ridges of Plinlimmon.  The spot has little of the wildness of
+mountain scenery, but its extreme solitude; for being here near the top
+of the mountainous group, and surrounded by its remaining elevations, we
+are insensible of our real altitude above the level of the country.
+These elevations, besides, have none of the ruggedness of character we
+usually find in such places.  They are, in general, smoothly-swelling
+eminences, which if rising from the plain would receive the name of
+hills; they are wholly naked of trees, or even brushwood; and being
+covered with green herbage, they at first sight give one the idea of an
+extensive grass farm, rather than a sterile mountain.  It is the altitude
+of the spot, however, and the nipping blasts to which it is exposed, that
+render it naked of the larger kinds of vegetation; and there is only a
+nook here and there capable of bearing even a scanty crop of oats.  This
+region, therefore, excepting a few fields around Stedva Gerrig, supplies
+subsistence only to sheep; and the greater number even of these we found
+had been withdrawn to situations less exposed to the Welsh winds.
+
+Of the few inhabitants of the hamlet, the principal man of course is the
+innkeeper; and the other fathers of families are shepherds.  The latter
+class of men have wages amounting to twelve pounds a year, and enjoy
+their houses and little fields of corn and potatoes, with as much
+pasturage as they have use for free of rent.  The husband, assisted by
+his sons, when young, tends the sheep on the mountain; the wife makes
+flannel, and knits stockings; and the daughters go out to service at an
+early age.  Their little menage is comfortable.  Their bread is barley
+cakes; they sometimes salt a pig; they provide themselves with a quarter
+of beef at one time, and, like their betters, “live at home, and kill
+their own mutton.”  Nay, one of these flourishing shepherds is a rival of
+_the_ innkeeper; his hut being duly licensed to sell ale, cyder, &c., and
+the sign-board having the following intimation:—“The notorious hill of
+Plinlimmon is on these premises, and it will be shown with pleasure to
+any gentlemen travellers who wishes to see it.”  And this intimation
+(letting grammar alone) is correct; for although the notorious article in
+question, viz., the loftiest part of Plinlimmon is not entirely in the
+garden, curtained off, like the balloon at the Yorkshire Stingo, from the
+gaze of all who do not pay a shilling to see it, yet it is actually on
+the premises, about three or four miles—only a sheep walk—distant.
+
+The Plinlimmon inn, undoubtedly, is the place for our money.  It is
+now—although its character was very different only two years ago—neat,
+clean, and comfortable.  We do not say that it affords the accommodation
+of a city on the top of a Welsh mountain, but yet to the traveller who
+has seen more of the world than the plains of England, it will make a
+very desirable resting-place.  Such traveller, on dismounting from the
+Aberystwith mail, will be right glad to sit down by a clean and bright
+fire-side, and if the turf should not be lighted in the parlour, he will
+be proud of the privilege of the kitchen.  There, if he has our own good
+fortune, he will find the landlady, a frank, cheerful, and kindly woman,
+with the table drawn in quite to the hearth, and reading “Elegant
+Extracts.”  Materials of another kind will speedily grace the board,
+viz., bread, butter, cheese, eggs, and excellent home-brewed ale.  Do you
+sneer at this bill of fare?  A fico for thy travellership!  Then will
+mine host enter in the midst, a bold, intelligent, yet modest fellow;
+and, bustling through the various parts of the scene, will “come, like a
+shadow, so depart” the substantial form of the serving maiden, her cheeks
+round, and flushed, her eye beaming with innocent gaiety, and her full
+and swelling chest seeming as if it were with difficulty withheld from
+bursting the corsage.  These three, by the way, are the only inhabitants
+of the hamlet who speak English.
+
+After supper, the traveller, if he be not of the heathen sect of
+Tee-totallers, takes a glass of brandy and water, for the reason assigned
+by St. Paul in his Epistle to Timothy, or any other orthodox reason; and
+finally, he will enter into a clean and comfortable bed, and sleep, not
+the less soundly it is to be presumed, that his meal had not involved the
+murder of a chicken, or of any other of his fellow creatures of the
+earth.
+
+The next morning the landlord walked with us to the source of the Wye,
+about three miles distant.  We ascended and descended several of the
+rounded summits already mentioned; and upon the whole, the little
+excursion is somewhat trying to the lungs.  A rill flowed between every
+two eminences, destined soon or late to unite with the Wye, and at length
+the latter stream appeared, bubbling down the side of a slope in a volume
+which might be comprised in the circumference of a teacup.  Higher up, a
+few rushes seem to hide the fountain from which it springs; but following
+for a brief space a line of damp, plashy earth above, we reach a tiny
+pool, little more than a hand-breadth across, supplied by droppings
+rather than gushes from a bank of black earth—and this is the source of
+the Wye.  Looking down its tortuous valley, the view is majestic from the
+massive forms of the objects which surround it; but the solitude, the
+dreariness, the utter desolation of the scene, form the distinctive
+features of the picture.
+
+Plinlimmon, or Pumlumon, is not, correctly speaking, a single mountain,
+but several distinct mountains rising from one base.  Each of these
+distinct mountains, again, is subdivided into several others; but in the
+aggregate, there is little of the variety which might be expected from so
+extraordinary an assemblage.  It is entirely destitute of wood.  There
+are none of the craggy peaks and precipices which usually form the
+picturesque of mountain scenery.  All is smooth but blackened turf,
+frequently undulating over fathomless bogs, the mysteries of which the
+traveller who ventures into this desolate region without a guide has a
+fair chance of exploring.  The summit, of which the highest point is two
+thousand four hundred and sixty-three feet above the level of the sea,
+forms a plateau of several miles; whence the hills of Cardiganshire are
+seen to the south; Cardigan bay and Saint George’s channel to the west;
+to the north, the perpendicular brow of Cader Idris; to the north-west,
+the three-peaked Breidden hills; and to the east, the fertile plains of
+Herefordshire and Shropshire.
+
+Besides the Wye, there are several other rivers which have their source
+on Plinlimmon, the most distinguished of which is the Severn.  About two
+miles distant from where we now stand, this stream issues from a little
+bog-hole, in a volume which might be stepped across by a child.  The
+whole mountain, in fact, seems a reservoir of water; and it is not
+surprising that Owen Glendwr should have been able to maintain himself
+here, as he did in 1401, even with so small a force as a hundred and
+twenty men.  The entrenchments made by the hero may still be traced; and
+brazen spearheads, and other instruments of war, have been found within
+them in our own day.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+
+Descent of Plinlimmon—Singular illusion—Llangerrig—Commencement of the
+Picturesque—The Fall of the Wye—Black Mountain—Course of the
+river—Builth—Peculiarity of the scenery—Approach to the English
+border—Castle of the Hay—First series of the beauties of the Wye.
+
+Leaving Stedva Gerrig, the road runs by the side of the stream before
+mentioned, through a succession of mountain valleys, which, being without
+the grandiose forms of the view from Plinlimmon, are uninteresting from
+the want of trees.  On the left there was a wreath of grey smoke flying
+backward on the wind, from the brow of the steep which forms the side of
+the valley; and we speculated within ourselves as to whether this was the
+ensign of some unlawful still.  It proved, however, to be the foam of a
+little mountain torrent, caught suddenly by the gust ere it reached the
+edge of the precipice; and so complete was the illusion, that it was not
+till we had climbed to the spot, that we were convinced of the phenomenon
+being the production of water instead of fire.
+
+The valley here was wide, and the vista backwards towards Stedva Gerrig
+of considerable length.  A very remarkable effect was produced by the
+light of the early sun streaming through masses of grey clouds, and
+flashed back again not only by the stream, but by the entire surface of
+the soil which was completely saturated by torrents of rain that had
+fallen during the night.  Just after this, and nearly three miles from
+the inn, the Wye suddenly burst into the valley from the left, and
+rushing beneath a bridge, flung itself into the little river.  The
+latter, conscious that although its volume was greater, its strength and
+impetuosity were less than those of the marauder, quietly resigned itself
+to its fate, receiving the name and acknowledging the authority of its
+lord and spouse; and thenceforth, we found ourselves wandering along the
+banks, less known than those less renowned, of the classic Vaga.
+
+                          [Picture: Llangerrig]
+
+The sameness of the scenery continued for five miles further, till on
+entering the hamlet of Llangerrig, consisting of a few huts of the
+meanest description, and an old church, of which a view is annexed, trees
+began to add their interest to the picture.  The valley, however, was
+wide, the trees small, and the river, notwithstanding its receiving here
+another accession, was still insignificant.  By degrees, however, as we
+proceeded, the hills became closer, and the massiveness of their forms
+lent a certain degree of grandeur to the scene.  These again disappeared;
+and the hills returned: and the Wye as before ran brawling through a
+commonplace valley.  A series of vicissitudes went on till the hills,
+assuming the character without the magnitude of mountains, threw
+themselves wildly together, and we found ourselves in a savage pass, the
+steep abutting masses of which were in some cases formed of grey and
+naked rock.
+
+The river here is occasionally almost choked up with stones and fragments
+of rocks, which must either have rolled from the heights into the bottom
+of the valley, or been uncovered in their original beds by the action of
+the water.  Here opens (in our judgment) the first of the numerous
+picturesque views presented by the Wye.  The spot is marked by the
+accession of a tributary stream, which is crossed by means of a bridge.
+
+After getting out of this gorge, the scenery becomes softer and more
+commonplace; and at three miles nearer, the vista is terminated by the
+little church tower of Rhaiadyr, painted against a misty hill at some
+distance beyond.
+
+In the time of the Welsh princes, there was here a fortress of some
+importance, of which no vestiges remain.  It was erected, we are told, by
+Rhys, prince of South Wales, in the time of Richard II., and burnt down
+in 1231, by Llewellin ap Jorwerth.  The little town itself is modern, and
+consists principally of two streets intersecting each other at right
+angles.  The name, which is in full _Rhaiadyr Pwy_, means the Fall of the
+Wye, but is no longer applicable, the cataract having been almost
+levelled in 1780, when the bridge was erected.  From this bridge the view
+of the river is exceedingly fine, as will be seen by the annexed
+engraving; although all the remnant of the waterfall is the plunging of
+the stream over a low ledge of rocks.  The town itself has a good deal of
+character.  It is decidedly a Welsh town; and notwithstanding the
+commingling that must have taken place in the races, it possesses that
+foreign aspect which is so exciting to the curiosity.
+
+                           [Picture: Rhaiadyr]
+
+This appearance, however, is still more evident in the next place at
+which we arrive, Builth; but the traveller must not be in a hurry to get
+there.  The valley of the Wye, during the fourteen miles which intervene,
+presents a continuous series of picturesque views, sufficient of
+themselves to make the reputation of the river.  The stream rushes the
+whole way through a singularly rocky and winding bed, bound in by lofty
+and fantastic banks, and these by hills, naked or wooded, barren or
+fertile, of every variety of form.  One of the most remarkable of the
+latter is the Black Mountain, which is posted directly in front, and
+fills up the valley, as if to guard the pass from the further progress of
+the Wye: but our wandering stream sweeps abruptly round its base, and
+escaping by a narrow defile, pursues its triumphant way towards Builth.
+One of those pictures is imitated in the annexed engraving, and it will
+not be difficult to find the identical spot chosen by the artist.
+
+                         [Picture: Near Rhaiadyr]
+
+For more than half the distance the road runs close by the side of the
+river; but on reaching a few houses called Newbridge, we diverge a
+little, and do not come near again till we have travelled a distance of
+nearly five miles and approached the town of Builth.  The pedestrian,
+however, cares little for roads; and, rejoining the river at will, he
+finds the series of views continued—sometimes grand, sometimes beautiful,
+sometimes picturesque, sometimes absolute gems of pastoral repose.  The
+river increases visibly before our eyes; and at length, when near Builth,
+it rolls along, still foaming, still brawling, but in a stream of
+considerable volume.  Its principal tributaries between Rhaiadyr and this
+place, are the Elian, the Ithon, and the Yrfon; the last of which is
+celebrated by the defeat of Llewellin in 1282, which took place at the
+spot where the little river is crossed by a bridge, just before it falls
+into the Wye, above Builth.
+
+This part of the country, however, is completely secluded.  There never
+was, so far as we know, a public conveyance between Rhaiadyr and Builth;
+and at the latter town, at this season of the year—although it is still
+early in October—the traveller will find no means of communication with
+the rest of the world, except for those who journey with post horses, and
+those who make use of the locomotive powers of their own limbs.
+
+Builth is finely situated, its narrow streets rising in irregular
+terraces on the side of a hill on the right bank of the Wye.  The houses
+are as Welsh as can be, and have a primitive, old world look, that has a
+great charm in our eyes.  The town is approached by a stone bridge of
+considerable length; at the end of which, on the left hand, are some
+mounds of grass and ivy, which conceal the remains of a castle supposed
+to date from the eleventh century.  All, however, is conjecture as
+regards this castle, which was a small fortress, with a keep of forty
+yards in circumference, surrounded by a ditch, and defended towards the
+south by two trenches.  It was repaired in 1209, by Gilbert, Earl of
+Gloucester; after the death of Llewellin, it became an English fortress;
+and in 1690, was accidentally destroyed by a fire, which at the same time
+consumed the greater part of the town.  Builth, however, is older than
+its castle.  It is set down by the learned as the Bullæum Silurum of the
+Romans; and various druidical remains in the neighbourhood carry back the
+ken of the antiquarian to a still more remote epoch, which is lost in
+shadows.
+
+It was in this neighbourhood, as we have said, that Llewellin, the last
+of the Welsh princes, was defeated and slain in 1282.  Tradition relates,
+that while at Aberedw, a short distance down the river, on the opposite
+bank, he was surprised by the English, and escaped so narrowly, that he
+had only just time to pass the drawbridge of Builth, before his pursuers
+came up.  The English, however, succeeded in cutting him off from his
+army, by getting between the town and a village on the right bank of the
+Wye where it was posted.  Llewellin, upon this, attempted to conceal
+himself in the woods, but he was discovered, and beheaded, and his body
+buried at a place called Cern y Bedd.
+
+The air of Builth is supposed to be very salubrious, and for this reason
+many respectable families have chosen it for their residence.  The
+abundance of game in its woods and hills, and of trout, salmon, and
+grayling in its streams is another inducement, and probably the _cause_
+of the good health of its visitors.  In this neighbourhood are mineral
+springs of three kinds,—saline, sulphurous, and chalybeate,—and a
+pump-room, frequently attended by a numerous company.
+
+From a hill above the town is obtained a fine view of the Llynsyraddon,
+the largest lake in Wales except Bala.  The country people believe that
+its bed was formerly the site of a city; and, as in Ireland, Brittany,
+and other places where a similar tradition prevails, they still see the
+towers of old “’neath the calm, cold wave reclining.”  Giraldus calls the
+lake _Clamosam_, from the “terrible thundering noise it makes upon the
+breaking up of the ice in winter.”
+
+The valley of the Wye is less wild after passing Builth, but more
+beautiful.  After the fourth milestone, there is a magnificent specimen
+of a formation of the hills which may be said to be the grand peculiarity
+of this district.  It consists of a massive range on the opposite bank,
+laid out in square terraces, such as Martin delights to heap on each
+other in his pictures.  But here, where Nature is the builder, these
+masses of architecture are of rough, disjointed stones, hoary with age,
+and sometimes overgrown with moss and lichens.  On the right bank where
+we stood, a small house is built just above the road, as if to enjoy the
+picture; and, a little further on, another of more aristocratic
+pretensions.  A view, including a portion of the latter—the green,
+smooth-shaven pastures which answer for a lawn and extend to the water’s
+edge—the Wye foaming and brawling at the bottom, half hidden by trees of
+the deepest shadow—with the castellated mount beyond, and the sweep of
+the valley closed in by hills to the left—would form a whole, which
+Gilpin, with the dogmatism of art, might call “correctly picturesque.”
+
+A little further on, we had an opportunity of inspecting these rocks more
+closely, which are only remarkable from the forms they assume.  In the
+instance before us, they were two immense cubes of stone, as precise as
+if ruled by the square, and cut with the chisel.  They stood exactly
+horizontal with the ground, and the upper was of smaller proportions than
+the lower.  No other rock or even stone was near.  At some distance
+another entirely insulated mass presented itself, as large as a cottage
+of two stories, with walls as perpendicular, and secluded like a cottage
+by trees.
+
+The small village of Glasbury presents a view well worth notice.  This is
+particularly the case at Maeslough Hall, where Gilpin characterises the
+scenery as “wonderfully amusing,” declaring that the situation is one of
+the finest in Wales.  On passing the seventh milestone, the valley
+spreads out into a wide plain bounded by an amphitheatre of hills; and as
+we proceed, numerous villas peeping through the trees, show that we have
+now left entirely behind us the peculiarities of Welsh scenery, and are
+again on the borders of merry England.  As we approach the Hay, the
+aristocratical buildings become more numerous, and the romance of the
+scene diminishes, till at length we enter a small, but neat and
+comfortable-looking town.
+
+The Hay has some historical associations of the doings of Llewellin and
+King John, by the latter of whom its castle was destroyed in 1216; but
+with the exception of a Gothic gateway there are no remains to interest
+the antiquarian.  There are said, indeed, to be the fragments of some
+Roman fortifications; but we are something like Sir Walter Scott in this
+respect, who had seen so many ghosts, that at last he found it difficult
+to believe in them.  Tradition relates that the castle was built in one
+night by the celebrated Maud de Saint Wallery, alias Maud de Hain, alias
+Moll Walbee.  “She built (say the gossips),” as we find in Jones’s
+Brecknock, “the castle of Hay in one night: the stones for which she
+carried in her apron.  While she was thus employed, a small pebble, of
+about nine feet long, and one foot thick, dropped into her shoe.  This
+she did not at first regard; but in a short time, finding it troublesome,
+she indignantly threw it over the river Wye into Llowes churchyard in
+Radnorshire (about three miles off), where it remains to this day,
+precisely in the position it fell, a stubborn memorial of the historical
+fact, to the utter confusion of all sceptics and unbelievers.”
+
+Between Builth and the Hay ends one series of the beauties of the Wye.
+The stream hitherto is a mountain rivulet, sometimes almost a torrent,
+and its characteristics are wildness and simplicity.  Its course is
+impeded by rocks, amidst which it runs brawling and foaming; and,
+generally speaking, it depends upon itself, and upon the nature of its
+own bed for the picturesque, the hills around forming only the back
+ground.  We shall see, as we get on, the manner in which this will
+change, till the banks become the objects of admiration, and the stream
+itself, although much increased in volume, is considered a mere adjunct,
+and its bosom a convenient site from which to view them.
+
+Gilpin’s observations on this point are very judicious, although he had
+not the advantage of seeing with his own eyes the upper part of the Wye.
+“It is possible, I think,” says he, “the Wye may in this place (alluding
+to the country between Builth and the Hay) be more beautiful than in any
+other part of its course.  Between Ross and Chepstow, the grandeur and
+beauty of its banks are its chief praise.  The river itself has no other
+merit than that of a winding surface of smooth water.  But here, added to
+the same decoration from its banks, the Wye itself assumes a more
+beautiful character; pouring over shelving rocks, and forming itself into
+eddies and cascades, which a solemn parading stream through a flat
+channel cannot exhibit.  An additional merit also accrues to such a river
+from the different forms it assumes according to the fulness or emptiness
+of the stream.  There are rocks of all shapes and sizes, which
+continually vary the appearance of the water, as it rushes over or plays
+among them; so that such a river, to a picturesque eye, is a continued
+fund of new entertainment.”
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+
+Clifford Castle—Lords-marchers—Fair Rosamond—Ruins of the Castle—The
+silent cottage—Approach to Hereford—Castle—Cathedral—Nell
+Gwynn—Cider—Salmon—Wolves.
+
+Leaving Hay, the valley widens, the background softens, and the whole
+scene assumes the character of an English vale, where the hills on each
+side are cultivated to the summit.  On the right, as we proceed, a deep
+umbrageous wood comes in to give effect, just where effect was wanting;
+and, surmounting a conical eminence above the road, near the second
+milestone, the hoary ruins of Clifford Castle intermix with the monotony
+of modern life the associations of the olden time.
+
+Clifford Castle was built by William Fitzosborne, earl of Hereford, but
+was held at the time of the Domesday Survey by Rudolphus de Totenie.  It
+was obtained by the Cliffords by the marriage of Walter Fitz-Richard with
+Margaret, daughter of Ralph de Cundy.  Walter Fitz-Richard—a descendant
+of Richard II., duke of Normandy—whose father accompanied the Conqueror
+into England, having married the heiress of Ralph de Cundy, of Clifford
+Castle, took the name of De Clifford, and the place remained the baronial
+seat of the family for two centuries.
+
+The nobles of that age were not merely required to do military service
+for their lands, but other imposts were laid upon them by the feudal
+custom, which had the effect of a true property tax.  At the marriage of
+Matilda, daughter of Henry I., with Charles V. of Germany, the king
+collected a sum equal to about £135,000 of our money from the land, at a
+fixed rate per hide; and the returns (_certificationes_) show very
+clearly the distribution of property at the time.  We find Walter de
+Clifford set down for one hide in Herefordshire in Wales.  It may be
+noted, in passing, that Henry was not only generous in granting lands to
+his own and his father’s followers, but the same request being made to
+him by some Flemings, whose share of terra firma had been wrested from
+them by an incursion of the sea, he made no scruple to comply.  “Being
+very liberall,” say the Welsh chronicles, “of that which was not his
+owne, he gave them the land of _Ros_, in West Wales, or Dynet, where
+Pembroke, Haverford, and Tenby are now built; and they there remain to
+this day, as may well be perceived by their speech and conditions being
+farre differing from the rest of the countrye.”
+
+The Norman knights who settled on the Welsh borders acquired the name of
+Lords Marchers, being styled Marchiones Walliæ in the Red Book of the
+Exchequer; although the title of nobility derived from this, _Marquis_,
+was not introduced till the reign of Richard II.  These lords marchers,
+of whom were the Cliffords and other families in Hereford, had each a law
+for his own barony, and determined of their own authority all suits
+between their tenants.  They were entitled to the goods and chattels of
+such of their tenants as died intestate.  This power, in fact, was such
+as could only be continued by violence; and hence the coolness or
+treachery of some of them when any serious attempt was made by the
+sovereign to introduce the laws and customs of the English into Wales.
+After the death of Llewellin, the last prince of Wales, this was at
+length effected by Edward I.; but still, the Marches, not being included
+in the division of the land into counties became a scene of such anarchy,
+that it was found necessary to institute a court of judicature for that
+district alone.  This court continued till the first year of William and
+Mary, when it was dissolved by an act of Parliament, in consequence, as
+the preamble states, of its having become “a great grievance to the
+subject.”  Previous to this, however, in the time of Henry VIII., the
+Marches of Wales were definitely united to England; when Clifford and
+other places, which were before a debatable land of bloodshed and
+confusion, became a part of Herefordshire.
+
+But Clifford Castle is not associated merely with ideas of war and
+rapine, but with those of love and beauty.  Here was born that too
+celebrated lady, of whom Dryden says—
+
+    “Jane Clifford was her name, as books aver,
+    Fair Rosamond was but her _nom de guerre_.”
+
+                        [Picture: Clifford Castle]
+
+She was the daughter of one of the earls of Clifford, and became
+celebrated for her amour with Henry II.; who built her a bower in
+Woodstock Park, which he defended from his jealous wife by the classical
+device of a labyrinth.  Queen Eleanor, however, who was as well read in
+ancient history as her spouse, was not slow in hitting upon the expedient
+of the clue of thread; and, on reaching her rival, the historical
+romancers add, she compelled her to swallow poison.  Whatever may have
+been her fate, Fair Rosamond was buried at Godstow, and a Latin epitaph
+inscribed on her tomb to this effect:
+
+    “Here lies not Rose the Chaste, but Rose the Fair,
+    Whose breath perfumes no more, but taints the air.”
+
+The ruins of the castle, completely covered with ivy, look down solemn
+and sad upon the Wye:
+
+    “Clifford has fallen—howe’er sublime,
+    Mere fragments wrestle still with time;
+    Yet as they perish, sure and slow,
+    And rolling dash the stream below,
+    They raise tradition’s glowing scene,—
+    The clue of silk, the wrathful queen;
+    And link in memory’s firmest bond
+    The love-lorn tale of Rosamond.”
+
+We carried away with us for a considerable distance the dreamy repose of
+Clifford Castle; but this was at length broken by repose of another
+character.  The scene was a little wayside hut, purporting to be an inn,
+where the weary pedestrian might obtain shade or shelter, if no
+refreshment.  An old man, and an old woman, occupied the two fireside
+corners, the one reading, the other sewing, in profound silence.  Around
+the hearth, there was a semi-circle of five cats, in various attitudes of
+rest, but not one breaking the stillness of the place even by a pur.  A
+dog, apparently kept in proper order by his feline associates, lay
+outside the semicircle, and shared in the tranquillity of the scene.  We
+paused for a moment at the door, feeling that our presence was an
+intrusion; but, after a brief question, and a brief reply, the good wife
+dropped her eyes again upon her work, and the dog, who had himself raised
+his head, returned to his slumber with a sigh.  As for the other
+inhabitants, our presence had produced no effect upon them at all, and we
+withdrew to proceed upon our wanderings, unconsciously taking care to
+tread without noise.
+
+From this place to Hereford, the road runs through a rich and well
+cultivated country, dotted here and there with houses and villages, but
+not thickly enough to disturb the idea of pastoral repose.  Approaching
+Bradwardine, where the old castle said to have been the residence of the
+family of that name is _not_, the soil swells into wooded eminences, one
+of which is called Mirebeck Hill; and Brobury’s Scar, a picturesque cliff
+rising from the bank of the river, adds still further to the diversity of
+the prospect.  Then came the various villas which usually adorn the
+neighbourhood of a large town—and which here are true embellishments to
+the landscape; and finally we enter the ancient, sober, quiet cathedral
+city of Hereford.
+
+Hereford was a principal town of Mercia under the Heptarchy, the palace
+of Offa, the most powerful of the Mercian princes, being within three
+miles of it on the north-eastern side.  Its church, in the time of Offa,
+was probably nothing more than a wooden building; but to the rise of that
+church in wealth and reputation was owing, according to the usual
+sequence of events at the period, the prosperity of the town.  Offa had
+treacherously inveigled to his court Ethelbert, prince of the East
+Angles, when he murdered him, and usurped his crown.  The body of the
+victim was buried in the church, where by working of miracles it
+attracted so much attention to the spot, that a new church of stone was
+constructed on the site of the wooden edifice, and dedicated to _Saint
+Ethelbert_.  Multitudes of course flocked to visit the martyr’s tomb; the
+church was richly endowed by the remorse or hypocrisy of the assassin;
+and Hereford speedily rose from its comparative obscurity.
+
+About the year 939, the city was first enclosed by walls, the fragments
+of which now existing are supposed to stand upon the original
+foundations.  They were eighteen hundred yards in extent, enclosing the
+town on all sides except towards the south, where it has the defence of
+the Wye.  There were six gates, and fifteen embattled watch-towers.  The
+castle, concerning the date of which antiquarians are not agreed, stood
+on the south and east sides of the city, with the Wye on the south and
+the cathedral on the west.  Leland describes the keep as having been
+“high and very strong, having in the outer wall ten semicircular towers,
+and one great tower within.”  He adds, that “it hath been one of the
+largest, fayrest, and strongest castels in England.”  In the time of the
+civil wars, Hereford was the scene of some strife, but since then nothing
+has occurred—not even the introduction of manufactures—to disturb its
+repose.
+
+With the exception of the cathedral, a grand view of which is to be had
+from the Castle Green Promenade—a fine public walk on a small scale—there
+is nothing to detain the traveller.  Some fragments of the city walls,
+however, and of an old priory, may be visited by the antiquary; together
+with an old house, a “brotherless hermit,” the last of a race demolished
+for the purpose of widening the street where the town hall stands—or
+rather sits—resting uneasily on some thin columns.  The house, adorned
+with grotesque faces, bears its date, 1621.
+
+The traveller may also go, if he will, to Pipe Lane, formerly called Pipe
+Well Street, leading from the bridge to the cathedral, to see the house
+where Nell Gwynn was not born, and the bedchamber where she did not
+sleep.  These curiosities will be shown for a trifle, and they must now
+suffice: the dwelling which really had the distinction of giving birth to
+Mistress Eleanor having been pulled down more than twenty years ago.
+
+After the removal of this celebrated lady to London, she made her first
+appearance in Drury Lane Theatre, in the character of a fruit-girl, not
+on the stage, but in the lobby.  Mr. Hart, the manager, however, was
+induced to notice her by her natural humour and vivacity, and he produced
+her upon the boards about the year 1667.  Here she became a favorite of
+Dryden, who wrote some of his prologues and epilogues expressly for her.
+“The immediate cause of her becoming the object of the king’s affection
+is thus represented.  At the duke’s theatre, under Killegrew’s patent,
+the celebrated Nokes appeared in a hat larger than that usually assigned
+to Pistol, which diverted the audience so much as to help off a bad play.
+Dryden, in return, caused a hat to be made of the circumference of a
+large coach wheel, and made Mrs. Gwynn speak an epilogue under the
+umbrella of it, with the brim stretched out in its utmost horizontal
+extension, not unlike a mushroom of that size.  No sooner did she appear
+in this strange dress, than the house was in convulsions of laughter.
+Amongst the rest, the king gave the fullest marks of approbation, by
+going behind the scenes after the play, and taking her home in his own
+coach to sup with him.” {41}  Her son, born in 1670, was afterwards
+created duke of St. Albans; and her grandson became a prelate of the
+church, and the denizen of the episcopal palace nearly adjoining the
+humble house in Pipe Lane, where his maternal ancestor was born.  Mrs.
+Gwynne was one of the few royal favorites who have not abused their
+power, otherwise than in spending money which should have been under the
+control of the nation.  She was munificent in her charities, and may be
+considered, if not the founder of Chelsea Hospital, the cause of its
+having been founded.  “Her stature was short, her hair inclined to red;
+her eyes were small and lively, and she possessed what the French term
+embonpoint.  Her feet were of the most diminutive size, and as such were
+the subject of frequent mirth to the merry monarch.”
+
+The staple commodity of Hereford is cider; but the reputation of the
+county for this production dates backward only to the reign of Charles
+I., when, according to Evelyn, it became “in a manner one entire
+orchard.”  The apples are merely a variety of the crab, as the pears are
+descended from the common wild pear.  The plantations are found in every
+aspect, and on every soil; but in general the west winds, so much praised
+by the Roman poets, and after them by Philips the bard of cider, are
+unwholesome to the plant, from the circumstance of their blowing over the
+Welsh mountains, which are capped with snow even in the spring.  The best
+colours for cider fruits are red and yellow, the juice of the green being
+harsh and poor.  The pulp should be yellow, but this part of the apple is
+not so important as the rind and kernel, in which the strength and
+flavour of the liquid reside; and for this reason the smaller the apple
+is the better.  From twenty-four to thirty gallons are required to fill
+the provincial hogshead of one hundred and ten gallons.
+
+The cider-mill used even at this moment is a rude and imperfect
+contrivance, consisting of a circular stone, about twelve hundred weight,
+set on its edge in a shallow circular trough, and drawn round by a horse.
+The apples are gradually introduced into the trough, and a quantity may
+be thus mashed equal to a hogshead of cider in the day.  The expressed
+juice is put into casks, not quite filled, and in the open air; and as
+soon as the vinous fermentation takes place, it is racked.  When two
+years old it may be bottled, after which it will become rich and
+sparkling, and so remain for twenty or thirty years.  Perry is made with
+pears pretty nearly in the same way.
+
+The salmon is still the principal fish taken in the Wye, though far less
+plentiful than formerly.  It was at one time a common clause in the
+indentures of apprentices that they should not be compelled to live on
+salmon more than two days in the week.  Wolves were formerly so numerous
+in this district, that in 1234 a proclamation was issued commanding them
+to be destroyed, and calling upon “all the king’s liege people to assist
+therein.”  A wolf would now be an extraordinary spectacle indeed on the
+sunny slopes, or prowling among the apple orchards of Hereford!  But the
+Wye has seen changes more remarkable than this.
+
+                           [Picture: Hereford]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+
+Beauty and tameness—The travelling hill—Ross—The silver tankard—The Man
+of Ross—The sympathetic trees—Penyard Castle—Vicissitudes of the
+river—Wilton Castle—A voyage to sea in a basket—Pencraig Hill.
+
+Comparatively speaking, there is little worthy of remark between Hereford
+and Ross; and yet Gilpin’s charge of _tameness_ is unjust.  What it wants
+is excitement.  The valley of the Wye is here beautiful—neither more, nor
+less; but its beauty is similar to that of the portion we have just
+traversed between the Hay and Hereford, and we therefore call it tame.
+Why did we not apply the word before?  Because the contrast presented by
+the valley after leaving Hay with the wilder or grander features we had
+passed formed one of the _vicissitudes_ of the river.  This will be
+understood by a traveller who journeys up the stream.  On reaching Ross,
+after emerging from the tumult, or sublimity, of the lower passage, he
+will gaze with delight on one of the most quietly beautiful landscapes in
+England—whose smooth green eminences, gentle groves, orchards and hop
+plantations (the latter far finer objects than the vineyards of the
+continent), white cottages, villages, and village spires, give an endless
+and yet simple variety to the picture.  After passing Hereford, in quest
+of new excitement, the scene-hunter will pronounce a similar character of
+landscape _tame_.
+
+Six miles from Hereford, the Lay adds its waters to the Wye, and near the
+confluence we remark an abrupt elevation, which being wholly different in
+character from the rest of the soil conveys the idea of an accident of
+nature.  And such it actually is.
+
+Marclay Hill—for so the elevation is called—in the time of Elizabeth,
+according to Camden, “rose as it were from sleep, and for three days
+moved on its vast body with an horrible noise, driving everything before
+it to an higher ground.”  Fuller states that the ascent gained by the
+surprising traveller was eleven fathoms, that its bulk was twenty acres,
+and that the time it took to perform the feat was fourteen hours.  Sir
+Richard Baker, in the “Chronicles of England,” is still more minute.  “In
+the thirteenth year of Queen Elizabeth,” says he, “a prodigious
+earthquake happened in the east parts of Herefordshire, at a little town
+called Kinnaston.  On the seventeenth of February, at six o’clock in the
+evening, the earth began to open, and a hill, with a rock under it,
+making at first a great hollowing noise, which was heard a great way off,
+lifted itself up, and began to travel, bearing along with it the trees
+that grew upon it, the sheepfolds and flocks of sheep abiding there at
+the same time.  In the place from whence it was first moved it left a
+gaping distance forty foot broad, and fourscore ells long: the whole
+field was about twenty acres.  Passing along it overthrew a chapel
+standing in the way, removed a yew tree planted in the churchyard from
+the west to the east: with the like force it thrust before it highways,
+sheepfolds, hedges, and trees; made tilled ground pasture, and again
+turned pasture into tillage.  Having walked in this sort from Saturday
+evening till Monday noon, it then stood still.”  The yew tree still
+exists as a witness of the fact, and the church bell was dug up not many
+years ago.
+
+                             [Picture: Ross]
+
+The traces of a Roman camp on Woldbury Hill, and on Eaton Hill those of
+an ancient fortification, forming a link in the chain of defences which
+formerly ran along this part of the country, may be inspected with
+advantage by the pedestrian who is read in antiquarian lore; but to
+others there will appear nothing which should detain their steps before
+the little town of Ross.  Here commences the tour of the lower Wye—of
+that part of the river which is known to fame as _the_ Wye.  As for the
+town itself, it is neat and prim-looking, sitting quietly upon an
+eminence above the river.  It is full of memories of the Man of Ross,
+which sanctify it from the boisterous vulgarities of a town.  The
+“heaven-directed spire” which he taught to rise is its prominent feature;
+and this object keeps the lines of Pope ringing in our ears like the
+church bell, and with a little of its monotony.
+
+This bell, by the way, is something more than an ordinary bell.  It bears
+the name of John Kyrle, and was cast at Gloucester, in 1695, at his own
+expense.  Nay, it possesses a relic more valuable than his name, for
+there is incorporated with its substance his favorite silver tankard.  He
+attended himself at the casting, and, drinking solemnly the orthodox
+toast of “Church and King,” he threw the cup into the molten mass.  In a
+local guide-book, we find several little particulars of this fine old
+fellow, which are interesting from their naïveté.
+
+It appears he was entered a gentleman commoner, of Baliol College,
+Oxford, in 1654, and that he was intended for the bar but soon
+relinquished all thoughts of that profession, and returning to Ross gave
+himself up to agriculture and building, and the improvement of his native
+town.
+
+An old maiden cousin, of the euphonous name of Bubb, kept house for him
+many years.  In his person, John was tall, thin, and well-shaped; his
+health was remarkably good, and he scarcely knew any of the frailties of
+old age until within a very short time of his death.  His usual dress was
+a suit of brown _dittos_, and a king William’s wig, all in the costume of
+his day.  He disliked crowds and routs, but was exceedingly fond of snug,
+social parties, and “of dinnering his friends upon the market and fair
+days.”  He was also exceedingly pleased with his neighbours dropping in
+without ceremony, loved to make a good long evening of it, enjoyed a
+merry story, and always seemed sorry when it was time to break up.  His
+dishes were generally plain and according to the season, but he dearly
+loved a goose, and was vain of his dexterity in carving it.  During the
+operation, which he invariably took upon himself, he always repeated one
+of those old sayings and standing witticisms that seem to attach
+themselves with peculiar preference to the cooked goose.  He never had
+roast beef on his table save and except on Christmas day; and malt liquor
+and good Herefordshire cider were the only beverages ever introduced.  At
+his kitchen fire there was a large block of wood, in lieu of a bench, for
+poor people to sit upon; and a piece of boiled beef, and three pecks of
+flower, made into loaves, were given to the poor every Sunday.  The
+number he chose at his “invitation dinners,” were nine, eleven, or
+_thirteen_, including himself and his kinswoman, Miss Bubb; and he never
+cared to sit down to table until he had as many as made one of these
+numbers.  He not only superintended the labours of the road makers,
+planters, and gardeners, but commonly took an active part in them
+himself, delighting above all things to carry a huge watering-pot to
+water the trees he had newly set in the earth.  “With a spade on his
+shoulder and a glass bottle of liquor in his hand, he used to walk from
+his house to the fields and back again several times during the day.”
+
+Without the trees planted by John Kyrle, Ross would be nothing, so far as
+the picturesque is concerned; and a delightful tradition, the truth of
+which is vouched by undeniable evidence, proves that the trees were not
+ungrateful to their founder.  A rector, as the story goes, had the
+impiety to cut down some of these living monuments of the taste of John
+Kyrle, which shaded the wall of the church beside his own pew; but the
+roots threw out fresh shoots, and these, penetrating into the interior,
+grew into two graceful elms, that occupied his seat with their foliage.
+If any one doubt the fact, let him go and see.  The trees are still
+there; their branches curtain the tall window that opens upon the pew;
+and their beautiful leaves cluster above the seat,
+
+    “And still keep his memory green in our souls.”
+
+Besides the elms in the churchyard and neighbourhood, there is a fine
+avenue, planted by John Kyrle, called the Prospect, or the Man of Ross’s
+Walk.  It is on the ridge of a hill behind the church, and commands a
+view of the valley of the Wye, about which there is some difference of
+opinion.  In King’s anecdotes the planter’s taste for prospects is
+commended; and it is said that “by a vast plantation of elms, which he
+disposed of in a fine manner, he has made one of the most _entertaining_
+scenes the county of Hereford affords.”  Gilpin, on the other hand, who
+travelled with an easel before his mind’s eye, cannot make a picture of
+it; and Gray the poet asserts, in reference to the spot in question, that
+“all points that are much elevated spoil the beauty of the valley, and
+make its parts, which are not large, look poor and diminutive.”
+
+The only other relic shown at Ross is a fragment of an oak bedstead, on
+which Charles I. slept, on his way from Ragland Castle.  A house in
+Church Lane, called Gabriel Hill’s Great Inn, contains the chamber so
+distinguished.
+
+Here the traveller may hire a boat, if he choose, for the remainder of
+his journey.  The Wye, however, is navigable to Hereford in barges of
+from eighteen to forty tons; and sometimes in lighter boats even to the
+Hay, but the shoals in summer and the floods in winter frequently
+interrupt the navigation.  In 1795 the river rose fifteen feet at the
+former place within twenty-four hours, and carried away bridges, cattle,
+sheep, timber, and everything that stood in its way.
+
+But even if he determine afterwards to proceed by the river, the
+traveller will do well to walk from Ross to the ruins of Penyard Castle;
+not that these ruins are in themselves worthy of his attention, but the
+road is beautiful throughout, and from the summit, Penyard Chace, he will
+see the little town he has left, and our wandering Wye in a new phasis.
+The country is diversified with hills and valleys, and wooded spaces
+between; and more especially when the shadows of evening are stealing
+over the landscape, the whole is a scene of enchantment.
+
+Although the lower passage of the river commences at Ross, we do not, for
+two or three miles further, get fairly into its peculiarities.  From the
+gentle, the graceful, the gay, it glides almost insensibly into the
+picturesque, the bold, and the grand.  The tranquillity of its course
+from the Hay—a tranquillity dearly purchased by the labours of its wild
+career during the upper passage—has prepared it for new vicissitudes, and
+new struggles.  The following description, by archdeacon Coxe, applies to
+a great part of the portion we are now entering upon, and cannot be
+improved either in fidelity or style.
+
+    “The effects of these numerous windings are various and striking; the
+    same objects present themselves, are lost and recovered with
+    different accompaniments, and in different points of view: thus the
+    ruins of a castle, hamlets embosomed in trees, the spire of a church
+    bursting from the wood, figures impending over the water, and broken
+    masses of rock fringed with herbage, sometimes are seen on one side,
+    sometimes on the other, and form the fore-ground or background of a
+    landscape.  Thus also the river itself here stretches in a continuous
+    line, there moves in a curve, between gentle slopes and fertile
+    meadows, or is suddenly concealed in a deep abyss, under the gloom of
+    impending woods.”  “The banks for the most part rise abruptly from
+    the edge of the water, and are clothed with forests, or are broken
+    into cliffs.  In some places they approach so near that the river
+    occupies the whole intermediate space, and nothing is seen but woods,
+    rocks, and water; in others, they alternately recede, and the eye
+    catches an occasional glimpse of hamlets, ruins, and detached
+    buildings, partly seated on the margin of the stream, and partly
+    scattered on the rising grounds.  The general character of the
+    scenery, however, is wildness and solitude; and if we except the
+    populous district of Monmouth, no river perhaps flows for so long a
+    course in a well cultivated country, the banks of which exhibit so
+    few habitations.”
+
+A little below Ross, on the right bank of the river, are the ruins of
+Wilton Castle, which was for several centuries the baronial residence of
+the Greys of the south, and was destroyed by the Hereford royalists in
+the time of Charles I.  Let us relate, however, as a circumstance of
+still more interest, that it was left, with the adjoining lands, by
+Thomas Guy, to the admirable charity in London which he founded, known by
+the name of Guy’s Hospital.
+
+The Wye here passes under Wilton bridge, a construction of rather a
+curious kind, which dates from the close of the sixteenth century.
+Coracles are seldom seen so high up the river as this; but we mention
+them here because the hero of Gilpin’s often repeated anecdote was an
+inhabitant of Wilton.  This man, it seems, ventured into the British
+Channel in a coracle, as far as the isle of Lundy; a very remarkable
+voyage to be made in a canvass tub, the navigation of the estuary of the
+Severn being quite as trying as that of any part of the British seas.
+Previously, however, to this exploit, the very same feat was performed by
+an itinerant stage-doctor of Mitchel Dean in the Forest.  The coracles
+are a sort of basket made of willow twigs, covered with pitched canvass
+or raw hide, and resembling in form the section of a walnut-shell.
+Similar rude contrivances are in use among the Esquimaux and other savage
+tribes, and were employed by the ancient Britons for the navigation of
+rivers.  They are now the fishing-boats of the rivers of South Wales; and
+when the day’s work is done are carried home on the shoulders of their
+owners, disposed in such a way as to serve for a hood in case of rain.
+The early ships of Britain are described by Cæsar and Pliny as being
+merely larger coracles—clumsy frames of rough timber, ribbed with hurdles
+and lined with hides.  According to Claudian they had masts and sails,
+although they were generally rowed, the rowers singing to the harp.
+
+At the farm of Weir End, the river takes a sudden bend, and rolls along
+the steep sides of Pencraig Hill, which are clothed with wood to the
+water’s edge.  Soon the ruined turrets of Goodrich Castle present
+themselves, crowning the summit of a wooded eminence on the right bank,
+and as they vanish and reappear with the turnings of the river the effect
+is magnificent.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+
+Roman passes of the Wye—Goodrich
+Castle—Keep—Fortifications—Apartments—Its history—Goodrich Court—Forest
+of Dean—Laws of the Miners—Military exploit—Wines of Gloucestershire.
+
+If the conjecture of antiquaries be correct, that the great Roman road
+from Blestium to Gloucester, by Ariconium, proceeded by the ford of the
+Wye at Goodrich Castle, it is possible that this spot may have been of
+some consequence before the period when history takes any cognizance of
+the fortress.  Blestium is supposed to be Monmouth, from which the road
+probably led along the line of the present turnpike, between an
+entrenchment to the left, opposite Dixon Church, and an encampment on the
+Little Doward, to the right, supposed by some to be Roman, but usually
+described in the road books as British.  The name of Whitchurch Street,
+applied to a portion of this route further on, favours the supposition of
+a Roman origin.  Ariconium, the next station from Blestium, is Rosebury
+Hill, near Ross, according to those who identify Monmouth with Blestium.
+There was another Roman way which led from Blestium to Glevum
+(Gloucester) by a more direct route; crossing the Wye at the former
+place, and leading up the Kymin from the left bank of the river.  At
+Stanton, a little further on, the vestiges of a Roman settlement are
+indubitable, not only in the name of the place itself, but in the
+entrenchments that may be observed near the church, and the Roman cinders
+scattered about the fields.  At Monmouth and Goodrich Castle, therefore,
+were the two great passes of the Wye used by the Romans.  At the latter
+the river is crossed by a ferry.
+
+“The awe and admiration could not be enhanced with which I wandered
+through the dark passages and the spacious courts, and climbed the
+crumbling staircase of Goodrich Castle.”  So says the German prince:
+although the time of his visit was winter, when the Wye and its ruins are
+stripped of the adjunct of foliage, which in the imagination of common
+travellers is inseparably connected with ideas of the picturesque or
+beautiful in natural scenery.
+
+Goodrich Castle forms a parallelogram, with a round tower at each angle,
+and a square keep in the south-west part of the enclosure.  A minute
+account of this remarkable ruin is given in the “Antiqua Monumenta;” and
+Mr. Bonner introduces his brief description, in illustration of his
+perspective views, with the remark that “the fortification (although not
+of large dimensions) contains all the different works which constitute a
+complete ancient baronial castle.”  For this reason, if for no other, it
+would demand special observation; but the tourist of the Wye, even if
+ignorant of the interest which thus attaches to Goodrich Castle, will
+acknowledge that it forms one of the finest objects hitherto presented by
+the banks of the river.  It stands on the summit of a wooded hill, in the
+position of one of the castles of the Rhine, and in the midst of a scene
+of solemn grandeur which Mason may have had in view when he wrote his
+spirited description of the sacred grove of Mona, in “Caractacus.”
+
+    “Here, Romans, pause, and let the eye of wonder
+    Gaze on the solemn scene: behold yon oak
+    How stem it frowns, and with its broad brown arms
+    Chills the pale plains beneath him: mark yon altar,
+    The dark stream brawling round its rugged base,
+    These cliffs, these yawning caverns, this wide circus,
+    Skirted with unhewn stone: they awe my soul
+    As if the very genius of the place
+    Himself appeared, and with terrific tread
+    Stalked through his drear domain.”
+
+             “Yonder grots,
+    Are tenanted by bards, who nightly thence,
+    Robed in their flowing vests of innocent white,
+    Descend, with harps that glitter to the moon,
+    Hymning immortal strains.  The spirits of the air,
+    Of earth, of water, nay of heav’n itself,
+    Do listen to their lay: and oft, ’tis said,
+    In visible shapes dance they a magic round
+    To the high minstrelsy.”
+
+The keep is the most ancient remains of the castle, and presents, on a
+small scale, all the usual features of this part of a fortification of
+the olden times.  It was composed of three stories, being intended to
+overlook the works, and had no windows on the landward side.  Each of
+these stories consisted of a single small room, the lowest being the
+prison, without even a loophole to admit air or light.  “The original
+windows,” says King, “are the most truly Saxon that can be.”  This
+applies more particularly to the one in the middle of the upper story,
+which appears to have remained without any alteration; while, in the one
+beneath, a stone frame for glass seems to have been inserted.  The style
+of this addition points to the time of Henry VI., and we may believe that
+it was made by the celebrated Earl Talbot, who tenanted one of these
+small chambers.  Besides the glass window, this apartment boasts a hearth
+for fire; and, as is usual in such buildings, the communication with the
+floor above is by a circular staircase in an angle of the massive wall.
+“To this staircase is a most remarkable door-way; it was one large
+transom-stone, as if to aid the arch to support the wall above, and in
+this respect resembles several other Saxon structures, in which this
+strange kind of fashion seems to have been uniformly adopted; until it
+became gradually altered by the introduction of a flattish _under-arch_,
+instituted in the room of the transom-stone.” {63}
+
+The entrance to the keep was by a flight of steps, leading to the above
+apartment; but the dungeon had an entrance of its own, of a construction
+which leads antiquarians to conjecture, that it was added in the reign of
+Edward III., when Richard Talbot obtained the royal license for making
+his dungeon a state prison.
+
+The fortifications to be surmounted before an enemy could arrive at the
+keep, were numerous and complete.  Independently of the fosse, there was
+a deep pit, hewn out of the solid rock, to be crossed by a drawbridge,
+and then commenced a dark vaulted passage between two semicircular
+towers.  Eleven feet within the passage was a massive gate, defended (as
+likewise the drawbridge) by loopholes in the sides of the vault, and
+machicolations in the roof, for pouring down molten lead or boiling water
+on the assailants.  A few feet farther on was a portcullis, and then a
+second, the space between protected by loopholes and machicolations.
+Presently there was another strong gate, and finally a stone projection
+on both sides, intended for the insertion of beams of timber, to act as a
+barricade.  If we add that the passage thus defended was less than ten
+feet wide, and that the exterior walls of the whole building were in
+general seven feet thick, an idea may be formed of the strength of
+Goodrich Castle.
+
+Within the ballium, or enclosed space, entered with such difficulty, were
+the keep here described, the state apartments, chapel, &c.; but the whole
+of these are in so ruinous a state, as to be nearly unintelligible except
+to antiquaries.  The great hall was sixty-five feet long and twenty-eight
+broad, and appears to have been a magnificent apartment of the time of
+Edward I., as its windows indicate.  The fire-place is still
+distinguishable in the great kitchen.  Communicating with the hall is a
+smaller room, from which a passage led into another room of state,
+fifty-five feet by twenty; and this opened into the ladies’ tower,
+standing upon the brow of a lofty precipice, and commanding a delightful
+view over the country.
+
+It is curious that so remarkable a structure should be almost destitute
+of authentic history, till the very period when it ceased to exist but as
+a ruin.  All that is known of its origin is, that a fort, held by a
+doomsday proprietor, of the name of Godric, commanded the ford of the
+river at this place before the Conquest.  The fort consisted, in all
+probability, of little more than the keep; to which, at later periods,
+additions were made, cognisable by their style, till Goodrich Castle
+became a regular fortress.  In 1165 it was the property of the earl of
+Pembroke, then lord of the whole district from Ross to Chepstow; and,
+subsequently, it was a seat of the Talbot family, who, in 1347, founded a
+priory of black canons at Flanesford, which is now a barn, about a
+quarter of a mile below the castle.  During the civil wars this fortress
+played a conspicuous part, being taken and retaken by the opposing
+parties.  In the first instance it held for the parliament; but was
+afterwards seized by Sir Richard Lingen, who, in 1646, defended it with
+great gallantry against Colonel Birch for nearly five months, and thus
+conferred upon it the distinction of being the last castle in England,
+excepting Pendennis, which held out for the king.  In the following year
+it was ordered by the parliament to be “totally disgarrisoned and
+_slighted_,” which sentence was just sufficiently carried into effect to
+give the Wye a magnificent ruin at the very spot where taste would have
+placed it.  “Here,” says Mr. Gilpin, “a grand view presented itself, and
+we rested on our oars to examine it.  A reach of the river, forming a
+noble bay, is spread before the eye.  The bank on the right is steep, and
+covered with wood, beyond which a bold promontory shoots out, crowned
+with a castle rising among trees.  This view, which is one of the
+grandest on the river, I should not scruple to call correctly
+picturesque.”
+
+Near the spot where Mr. Gilpin must have been is the ferry where Henry
+IV., who was waiting to be taken across, received intelligence of his
+queen’s being delivered of a prince at Monmouth Castle.  The king,
+according to tradition, was so overjoyed at the news, that he presented
+the ferry and boat, which at this time belonged to the crown, to the
+ferryman.  On the left bank, nearly opposite, are the church and village
+of Walford, in the former of which is buried Colonel Kyrle, who deserted
+the service of Charles I. for that of the parliament.
+
+Goodrich Court, to which a winding path leads from the castle, is
+somewhat nearer Ross.  It is the seat of Sir Samuel Meyrick, the well
+known antiquary, and presents, in the architecture, an exact imitation of
+a mansion of the middle of the fourteenth century.  In this respect, as
+well as in the arrangement of its proprietor’s valuable collection of old
+armour, the house may be said to be absolutely perfect.  It forms in
+itself and its contents, one of the most interesting museums in Europe;
+and it is open, with very little ceremony, to the inspection of the
+traveller, as all such things are, when they do not happen to be the
+property of persons unworthy to possess them.
+
+The river sweeps boldly round the wooded headland on which Goodrich
+Castle stands; and the ruin is thus presented again and again, in new
+phases (but none so interesting as the first), to the voyager, as he
+glides down the now varied and romantic river.  A steep ridge on the
+right bank is called Coppet, or Copped Wood Hill, where the stream makes
+a sweep of five miles, to perform the actual advance of one.  The mass of
+foliage on the opposite bank is a part of the Forest of Dean, variegated,
+by rocks, hamlets, and village spires.  Bishop’s Brook here enters the
+Wye, and serves as a boundary between the counties of Hereford and
+Gloucester, and between the parishes of Walford and Ruerdean.  “The view
+at Ruerdean church,” says Mr. Gilpin, “is a scene of great grandeur.
+Here both sides of the river are steep, and both woody; but on one
+(meaning the left bank), the woods are interspersed with rocks.  The deep
+umbrage of the Forest of Dean occupies the front, and the spire of the
+church rises among the trees.  The reach of the river which exhibits this
+scene is long; and of course the view, which is a noble piece of natural
+perspective, continues some time before the eye; but when the spire comes
+directly in front, the grandeur of the landscape is gone.”
+
+The famous Forest of Dean is in the space which here lies between the
+Severn and the Wye.  “In former ages,” as Camden tells us, “by the
+irregular tracks and horrid shades,” it was so dark and dreary as to
+render its inhabitants more audacious in robberies.  In the time of
+Edward I. there were seventy-two furnaces here for melting iron; and it
+is related, that the miners of those days were very industrious in
+seeking after the beds of cinders, where the Romans of Britain had been
+at work before them, which remains, when burnt over again, were supposed
+to make the best iron.  The privileges of these miners were, no doubt,
+for the most part assumed, but some granted by law are highly curious.
+The following are specimens:—
+
+    “Also, if any smith holder, or any other be debtor, for mine to a
+    miner, the which smith holder or other be within, then the miner is
+    bailiff in every place (except his own close), to take the horse of
+    the debtor, if he be saddled with a work saddle, and with no other
+    saddle; and be it that the horse be half within the door of the
+    smith, so that the miner may take the tail of the horse, the debtor
+    shall deliver the horse to the miner.  And if he so do not, the miner
+    shall make and levy hue and cry upon the said horse, and then the
+    horse shall be forfeit to the king for the hue and cry made and
+    levied, and yet the miner shall present the debtor in the Mind Law,
+    which is the court for the mine.”
+
+    “And the debtor before the constable and his clerk, the gaveler and
+    the miners, and none other folk to plead the right, only the
+    ministers shall be there, and hold a stick of holly, and the said
+    miner demanding the debt, shall put his hand upon the said stick, and
+    none other with him, and he shall swear by his faith, that the said
+    debt is to him due; and the prove made, the debtor, in the same
+    place, shall pay the miner all the debt proved, or else he shall be
+    brought to the castle of St. Briavells till grace be made, and also
+    he shall be amerced to the king in two shillings.
+
+    “Also the miner hath such franchises to inquire the mine in every
+    soil of the king’s of which it may be named, and also of all other
+    folk, without withsaying of any man.
+
+    “And also if any be that denieth any soil, whatsoever it be, be it
+    sound or no, or of what degree it may be named, then the gaveler, by
+    the strength of the king, shall deliver the soil to the miners, with
+    a convenient way, next stretching to the king’s highway, by the which
+    mine may be carried to all places and waters that lean convenient to
+    the said mine, without withsaying of any man.”
+
+The Forest of Dean plays a conspicuous part in the wars of Monmouthshire,
+serving as a natural outwork for the county.  The following transaction
+is described by Sanderson, the historian of Charles I.:—“After Sir
+William Waller,” says he, “had refreshed his men, he advanced towards
+Monmouthshire, invited by some gentlemen to reduce these parts.  At his
+coming to the town of Monmouth, the garrison of the lord Herbert retired,
+leaving a naked place to Sir William; where he found small success of his
+parties, sent abroad for supplies of money.  He marches to Usk, and
+spending some time to no purpose in that county, he returns, the stream
+of the people affording him no welcome, being all universal tenants of
+that county to the earl of Worcester.
+
+“In this time Prince Maurice enters Teuxbury, with a brigade of horse and
+foot added to the lord Grandeson, resolving to make after Waller, or to
+meet his return out of Wales.  A bridge of boats wafts him over the
+Severn, with a body of two thousand horse and foot.  Waller was nimble in
+his retreat, not to be catcht in a noose or neck of Wales; but, by a
+bridge of boats, came back at Chepstow, with his foot and artillery, and
+himself, with his horse and dragoons, passed through the lowest part of
+the Forest of Dean, near the river side of Severn; and ere the prince had
+notice, sends forth two parties to fall upon two of the Prince’s
+quarters, which was performed, while Waller’s main body slipped between
+both, and a party was left also to face them, and make good the retreat,
+which came off but disorderly, with loss of some soldiers.  It was held a
+handsome conveyance, and unexpected, to bring himself out of the snare by
+uncouth ways.”
+
+Gloucestershire, of which the Forest of Dean forms a part, although still
+boasting one of the richest soils in England, is no longer a _wine
+country_.  “The ground,” according to William of Malmesbury,
+“spontaneously produces fruit in taste and colour far exceeding others,
+many of which will keep the year round, so as to serve their owners till
+others come in again.  No county in England has more or richer vineyards,
+or which yield greater plenty of grapes, and of a more agreeable flavour.
+The wine has not a disagreeable sharpness to the taste, as it is little
+inferior to that of France in sweetness.”  On this Camden remarks, that
+it is more owing to “the indolence of the inhabitants than to the
+alteration in the climate,” that in his time wine was no longer a
+production of the county.
+
+Vines were introduced into Britain by the Romans, and the hills of South
+Wales became more especially famous for their vineyards.  They were
+mentioned in the Domesday Book, before the time of William of Malmesbury;
+and tithes of wines are frequently alluded to in the records of
+cathedrals.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+
+Iron furnaces of the Wye—Lidbroke—Nurse of Henry V.—Coldwell
+Rocks—Symond’s Yat—New Weir—Monmouth.
+
+The woods rising amphitheatrically on the left bank, just before reaching
+Ruerdean, are called Bishop’s Wood; and there will be observed, for the
+first time of their presenting themselves conspicuously, the iron
+furnaces, which form a very striking characteristic of the river.
+
+The iron furnaces on the Wye rather add to than diminish the effect of
+the scenery.  This is caused by the abundance of wood in the furnace
+districts, which conceals the details, while it permits the smoke to
+ascend in wreaths through the trees, and float like a veil around the
+hills.  These works, however, are merely a modern revival of a species of
+industry which extends backwards beyond the reach of history.  The heaps
+of cinders which are discovered on the hills of Monmouthshire are the
+production either of bloomeries, the most ancient mode of fusing iron, or
+of furnaces of a very antique construction.  The operation of smelting
+was performed in both of these by means of charcoal; and after the lands
+were cleared, the want of fuel led to the decline of the iron works.
+About eighty years ago, in consequence of the discovery of the mode of
+making pig iron, and subsequently even bar iron, with coal instead of
+charcoal, this branch of industry suddenly revived; although on the Wye
+charcoal is still burnt, and made upon the spot, where, instead of
+vulgarising the district, it adds a very remarkable feature to the
+picturesque.
+
+At Lidbroke, on the same side, the commoner sympathies of life come into
+play, and the vulgar occupations of men serve at once to diversify the
+scene, and even to give it a new character of the picturesque.  The lower
+passage has hitherto been chiefly distinguished by a romantic grandeur,
+both in the forms of nature, and the associations of history; and even
+the iron furnaces, from the circumstances we have mentioned, have added a
+charm congenial to the character of the picture.  At Lidbroke, the new
+adjunct is nothing more than a _wharf_, with little vessels lying near
+it,—boats passing and repassing,—horses, carts, men, women, and children
+stirring along the banks: but the whole, in such a spot, forms an
+assemblage which adds, by contrast, to the general effect.
+
+On the opposite bank the district of Monmouthshire, called Welsh Bicknor,
+commences—for we have hitherto been in Hereford—and Courtfield claims our
+attention for a moment, as the place where Henry V. is said to have been
+nursed, under the care of the countess of Salisbury.  The remains of a
+bed, and an old cradle, were formerly shown as relics of the Monmouth
+hero.  Half a mile further down the river is Welsh Bicknor Church, which
+has puzzled the antiquarians by its sepulchral effigy, representing a
+recumbent female figure in stone, not ungracefully dressed in a loose
+robe, but without inscription or coat of arms.  Tradition will have it
+that this is _the_ countess of Salisbury; and it is perhaps correct in
+the person, though wrong in the name, for the lady who nursed Henry at
+Courtfield (supposing him to have been there at all) was, in all
+probability, Lady Montacute, who married a second son of the first earl
+of Salisbury, but was no countess herself.  Her son, however, Sir John de
+Montacute, who possessed the manor of Welsh Bicknor, succeeded to the
+earldom, and became earl-marshal of England.  It was he who was chief of
+the Lollards, and was murdered in 1400 by the populace of Cirencester.
+The manor, although falling to the crown on account of his supposed
+treason, was afterwards restored to the family, and became the property
+of his descendant Richard, the great earl of Warwick and Salisbury.
+Dugdale traces this ominous heirloom to Margaret, grand-daughter of the
+great earl, daughter of the duke of Clarence, and wife of Lord Montague.
+This lady, after witnessing the execution of her brother Edward, earl of
+Warwick, and her son Henry Lord Montague, was herself beheaded in 1541.
+The manor of Welsh Bicknor, and the mansion of Courtfield, passed
+subsequently into the ancient family of Vaughan.  We may mention here,
+however, although the circumstance is of no great consequence, that Sir
+Samuel Meyrick assigns the costume of the figure in Welsh Bicknor Church
+to the era of Edward I., about a century before that of Henry V.
+
+A short distance below the church this abutment of Monmouthshire
+terminates, and the right bank of the river lies as before in Hereford,
+the left in Gloucester.  At Coldwell, the view is closed in by a
+magnificent rock scene, differing entirely in character from any yet
+afforded by the Wye.  To suffer this to appear—supposing the traveller to
+be descending the river—a wooded hill, called Rosemary Topping, one of
+the common features of the stream, shifts like a scene in a theatre, and
+becomes a side-screen; so that the almost naked cliff remains the
+principal object, and confers its character upon the view, to which the
+river and its banks to the right and left are only adjuncts.
+
+The first grand mass of rock is nearly insulated, and reminds one at
+first sight of the keep of some ruined castle.  But the Coldwell rocks
+want no associations of the kind: they are fragments of the temples of
+nature, and have nothing to do with the history of man.  To our judgment,
+the shadowy hollows scooped out of the sides of the precipices, and
+overhung by foliage, which are nothing more than the sites of _lime
+kilns_, are more advantageous to the picture than the finest ruins
+imaginable.  They come in without pretence; they make no effort at
+rivalry; but present the idea of human nature in an attitude of befitting
+humility and simplicity.  “These,” says the German prince, “are craggy
+and weatherbeaten walls of sandstone, of gigantic dimension,
+perpendicular or overhanging, projecting abruptly from amid oaks, and
+hung with rich festoons of ivy.  The rain and storms of ages have beaten
+and washed them into such fantastic forms, that they appear like some
+caprice of human art.  Castles and towers, amphitheatres and
+fortifications, battlements and obelisks mock the wanderer, who fancies
+himself transported into the ruins of a city of some extinct race.  Some
+of these picturesque masses are at times loosened by the action of the
+weather, and fall thundering from rock to rock, with a terrific plunge
+into the river.”
+
+From Symond’s Yat to the New Weir, this _kind_ of scenery continues;
+although the masses of cliff of course change their form and situation.
+The river, in a portion of its course, washes their base, at one time an
+almost perpendicular wall, at another clothed in woods till near the
+summit, which is seen rising out of the foliage, and tracing its
+battlemented outline upon the sky.  From these two points the distance is
+only six hundred yards by land, and not less than four miles by water;
+and the shorter route is in this case the better.  On the river, we soon
+lose the magnificence of the picture; while on shore, there is superadded
+to this a view of the extravagant mazes of the Wye on either side of the
+neck of land on which the spectator stands.  If it be added that the
+point of view, Symond’s Yat, appeared to Mr. Coxe to be two thousand feet
+high (although this is an evident mistake), it will readily be imagined
+that this scene is of itself worth a pilgrimage to the Wye.  The
+prospect, comprehending portions of Herefordshire, Gloucestershire, and
+Monmouthshire, embraces the following objects, according to those who are
+versed in the local names.  To the north is seen Coppet Wood Hill,
+interspersed with rock and common;—to the north-west appear the spire and
+village of Goodrich, and, at the foot of the hill, Rocklands and
+Huntsholm Ferry;—to the west, Hunthsolm, behind which is Whitchurch, and,
+in the distance, the Welsh hills;—to the south-west, the mountainous side
+of the Great Doward;—to the south, Staunton Church, and the Buck-stone,
+upon a promontory; and below, Highmeadow Woods and the river; on the
+left, the rock of the New Weir, and on the right, the rocky wall of the
+east side of the Doward;—to the south-east, the village of English
+Bicknor, a side view of Coldwell Rocks, and Rosemary Topping;—and, to the
+east, Ruerdean Wood, with the church in the distance, Bishop’s Wood, and
+Courtfield, with the woody ridges of Hawkwood and Puckwood completing the
+panorama.
+
+                         [Picture: The New Weir]
+
+Gilpin calls the New Weir the second grand scene on the Wye.
+
+    “The river,” says he, “is wider than usual in this part, and takes a
+    sweep round a towering promontory of rock, which forms the
+    side-screen on the left, and is the grand feature of the view.  It is
+    not a broad, fractured piece of rock, but rather a woody hill, from
+    which large projections in two or three places burst out, rudely hung
+    with twisting branches, and shaggy furniture; which, like the mane
+    round the lion’s head, gives a more savage air to these wild
+    exhibitions of nature.  Near the top a pointed fragment of solitary
+    rock, rising above the rest, has rather a fantastic appearance—but it
+    is not without its effect in marking the scene . . . On the right
+    side of the river, the bank forms a woody amphitheatre, following the
+    course of the stream round the promontory.  Its lower skirts are
+    adorned with a hamlet, in the midst of which volumes of thick smoke,
+    thrown up at intervals from an iron forge, as its fires receive fresh
+    fuel, add double grandeur to the scene. . . .
+
+    “But what peculiarly marks this view, is a circumstance on the water.
+    The whole river at this place makes a precipitate fall—of no great
+    height indeed, but enough to merit the name of a cascade, though to
+    the eye above the stream it is an object of no consequence.  In all
+    the scenes we had yet passed, the water moving with a slow and solemn
+    pace, the objects around kept time, as it were, with it; and every
+    steep, and every rock which hung over the river, was solemn,
+    tranquil, and majestic.  But here the violence of the stream, and the
+    roaring of the waters, impressed a new character on the scene: all
+    was agitation and uproar, and every steep and every rock stared with
+    wildness and terror.”
+
+Let us add the testimony of another great authority on the picturesque;
+more especially as his remarks serve to corroborate our own on the effect
+received by the river from objects which elsewhere are mean and common.
+
+    “A scene at the New Weir on the Wye, which in itself is truly great
+    and awful, so far from being disturbed, becomes more interesting and
+    important by the business to which it is destined.  It is a chasm
+    between two high ranges of hills, that rise almost perpendicularly
+    from the water: the rocks on the sides are mostly heavy masses, and
+    their colour is generally brown; but here and there a pale craggy
+    shape starts up to a vast height above the rest, unconnected, broken,
+    and bare: large trees frequently force out their way amongst them;
+    and many of these stand far back in the covert, where their natural
+    dusky hue is heightened by the shadow that overhangs them.  The river
+    too, as it retires, loses itself in the woods, which close
+    immediately above, then rise thick and high, and darken the water.
+    In the midst of all this gloom is an _iron forge_, covered with a
+    black cloud of smoke, and surrounded with half-burnt ore, with coal,
+    and with cinders: the fuel for it is brought down a path, worn into
+    steps narrow and steep, and winding among precipices; and near it is
+    an open space of barren moor, about which are scattered the huts of
+    the workmen.  It stands close to the cascade of the Weir, where the
+    agitation of the current is increased by large fragments of rocks,
+    which have been swept down by floods from the banks, or shivered by
+    tempests from the brow; and the sullen sound, at stated intervals, of
+    the strokes from the great hammer in the forge, deadens the roar of
+    the waterfall.  Just below it, while the rapidity of the stream still
+    continues, a ferry is carried across it; and lower down the fishermen
+    use little round boats called truckles (coracles), the remains
+    perhaps of the ancient British navigation, which the least motion
+    will overset, and the slightest touch may destroy.  All the
+    employments of the people seem to require either exertion or caution;
+    and the ideas of fear or danger which attend them give to the scene
+    an animation unknown to the solitary, though perfectly compatible
+    with the wildest romantic situation.” {85}
+
+To this, however, we must add as a note, that both Weir and forge have
+now vanished.  The more headlong rush and louder roar of the river mark
+the place where the former stood; and some limekilns contribute the smoke
+of the latter without its noise.
+
+During the whole of this part of the passage, the stream is interrupted
+by fragments of rock, around which the water rushes tumultuously; but at
+the New Weir these interruptions, above noticed, acquire a character of
+sublimity, when taken in conjunction with the rest of the picture.  The
+river, roaring and foaming, is in haste to escape, and at length is lost
+to the eye, as it seems to plunge for ever into sepulchral woods.
+
+Beyond this, there are several other rock scenes, but none that will bear
+description after the foregoing; although to the traveller wearied with
+excitement, they come in with good effect.  Below New Weir, the river
+stretches with a curve between Highmeadows Wood on the left bank, and the
+precipitous cliffs of the Great Doward on the right.  Then the Little
+Doward peeps over a screen of rocks and shrubs.  These two hills are
+called King Arthur’s Plain, and between these is King Arthur’s Hall, the
+level of an exhausted iron mine.  Then we pass a cluster of rocks called
+St. Martin’s or the Three Sisters, and a pool of the river named St.
+Martin’s Well, where the water is said to be seventy feet deep.  Various
+seats and cottages give variety to the picture, situated in the midst of
+rich woods and undulating eminences; and at length the landscape sinks
+calmly down, and Monmouth—“delightsome Monmouth”—is seen in long
+perspective, terminating a reach of the river.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+
+Monmouth—History of the Castle—Apartment of Henry of
+Monmouth—Ecclesiastical remains—Benedictine priory—Church of St.
+Mary—Church of St. Thomas—Monnow Bridge—Modern town—Monmouth caps—The
+beneficent parvenu.
+
+Monmouth lies embowered among gentle hills, only diversified by wood,
+corn, and pasture; but to view it either from the Wye, or any of the
+neighbouring eminences, one would be far from supposing it to have so
+tame, or at least so quiet a site.  From one point, its spire is seen
+passing through a deep and mysterious wood; from another, it hangs
+perched on a precipitous ridge; and from the Wye it rises with
+considerable stateliness in the form of an amphitheatre.  It stands at
+the confluence of the Wye and the Monnow, from which it derives its
+English name.
+
+A royal fortress existed here before the conquest, a circumstance which
+renders its early history full of fearful vicissitudes, although these
+are but very imperfectly traced.  In the time of Henry III., the castle,
+after changing hands repeatedly, was taken and rased to the ground.
+“Thus the glorie of Monmouth,” says Lambarde, “had clean perished, ne had
+it pleased God longe after in that place to give life to the noble King
+Henry V., who of the same is called Henry of Monmouth.”  It was a
+favourite residence of the father of this prince, King Henry IV., and
+also of his father, John of Gaunt, “time honoured Lancaster,” to whom it
+came by his marriage with Blanch, daughter and heiress of Henry, duke of
+Lancaster, whose title he was afterwards granted.  Henry V. was born here
+in 1387, and from this circumstance is styled Henry of Monmouth.  This
+prince enlarged the duchy of Lancaster with his maternal inheritance, and
+obtained an act of parliament that all grants of offices and estates
+should pass under the seal of the duchy.  Henry VI. and VII. possessed
+the castle of Monmouth, as part of the duchy, by right of inheritance;
+but between these reigns it was given by Edward IV. to Lord Herbert,
+afterwards earl of Pembroke.  Although the duchy, however, continued in
+the crown, the castle, together with other possessions in Monmouthshire,
+was alienated, and became private property, but at what period does not
+clearly appear.  In the reign of Elizabeth, it is ascertained, by
+different grants, to have been still parcel of the duchy, and also in
+that of James I., by the following presentment made under a commission:
+“Item, wee present that his majestie hath one ancient castell, called
+Monmouth Castell, situated within the liberties of the said towne, which
+is nowe, and hath been for a long time, ruinous and in decaye, but by
+whom it hath byn decayed wee knowe not, nor to what value, in regarde it
+was before our rememberment, savinge one greate hall which is covered and
+mayntayned for the judges of the assise to sitt in.  And for and
+concerning any demean lands belonginge to the same castell, wee knowe not
+of any more save only the castell hill, wherein divers have gardens, and
+the castell green, which is inclosed within the walls of the said
+castell.”
+
+Before the end of the seventeenth century, we find the castle in the
+hands of the first duke of Beaufort, if the following anecdote,
+indicative either of an ambitious or a fantastic spirit, can be believed.
+“The marchioness of Worcester,” says the author of the Secret Memoirs of
+Monmouthshire, “was ordered by her grandfather, the late duke of
+Beaufort, to lie in of her first child in a house lately built within the
+castle of Monmouth, near that spot of ground and space of air, where our
+great hero Henry V. was born.”
+
+Whatever mutilations this castle may have undergone since the days of its
+royal magnificence, by whomever it may have been at length “decayed,” or
+at whatever period it came into the hands of the Beauforts, this at least
+is certain, that there is now not more than enough left to indicate its
+site.  “The transmutations of time,” says Gilpin, “are often ludicrous.
+Monmouth Castle was formerly the palace of a king, and the birthplace of
+a mighty prince; it is now converted into a yard for fattening ducks.”
+The ruins, however, must have been concealed from his view by the stables
+and other outhouses that had risen from the fragments, so as completely
+to hide them from the townward side.  Coxe, a much more correct observer,
+although less learned in the laws of the picturesque, describes them in
+1800 as presenting, when viewed from the right bank of the Monnow, “an
+appearance of dilapidated grandeur which recalls to memory the times of
+feudal magnificence.”
+
+Although the roof and great part of the walls had already fallen, the
+site of two remarkable apartments could be traced distinctly; that in
+which Henry was born, and another adjoining which had been used, even
+within the memory of some of the inhabitants, for the assizes.  The
+latter was sixty-three feet in length and forty-six in breadth, and was
+no doubt the “greate hall” mentioned in the presentment quoted above as
+being “mayntayned for the judges of the assise to sitt in.”
+
+The apartment of Henry of Monmouth is thus described by the archdeacon:
+
+    “The apartment which gave birth to the Gwentonian hero was an upper
+    story, and the beams that supported the floor still project from the
+    side walls; it was fifty-eight feet long, and twenty-four broad, and
+    was decorated with gothic windows, of which some are still remaining,
+    and seem to be of the age of Henry III.  The walls of this part are
+    not less than ten feet in thickness.  About fifty years ago, a
+    considerable part of the southern wall fell down with a tremendous
+    crash, which alarmed the whole town, leaving a breach not less than
+    forty feet in length.  On the ground floor beneath are three circular
+    arches terminating in chinks, which have a very ancient appearance;
+    at the north-eastern angle, within a stable, may be seen a round
+    tower six feet in diameter, which was once a staircase leading to the
+    grand apartment.”
+
+To the right of this apartment, the same author traced the vestige of the
+original walls in a private house built within the ancient site.  They
+were from six to ten feet, formed of pebbles and mortar, and is so
+compact a mass as not to yield in hardness to solid stone.
+
+Next to the ruined castle of an ancient town, come the ecclesiastical
+remains; for the stronghold of the chief, and the cell of the monk, were
+usually the nucleus round which the town was gathered.  The principal
+relics of the latter kind in Monmouth are those of a benedictine priory
+of black monks, dedicated to St. Mary, which was founded as a cell to the
+monastery of St. Florence, near Saumur in Anjou, by Wikenoc, lord of
+Monmouth in the reign of Henry I.  The ruins are small, but interesting;
+and not the less so from containing an apartment distinguished by a rich
+gothic bay window, pointed out by tradition as the study of that
+mysterious personage, Geoffry of Monmouth.  The church of the priory
+stood on the site of the present parish church of St. Mary, of which the
+tower and the lower part of the spire are the only remains of the
+original.  This spire, which is “lofty, and light, and small,” is the
+grand scenic feature of the town when viewed from a distance; and in
+return, it affords to the traveller who will take the trouble to ascend
+it a point from which to view the country to most advantage.  The
+beautiful vale in which the town stands, with its undulating eminences,
+among which wander the Wye, the Monnow, and the Trothy, is seen in an
+almost circular form, enclosed from the vulgar world, by a line of hills
+mantled with woods and forests.
+
+The ancient church of St. Thomas stands near the bridge of the Monnow,
+and from its circular arches, and extreme simplicity of appearance, is
+probably older than the conquest.  This does not apply, however, to the
+entire building, the western window, and some other morçeaux, displaying
+the ornamented Gothic of a late period.  The antiquity of the building,
+it should be said, is rendered the more probable by its standing beyond
+the bridge, where the suburbs of the modern town are supposed to occupy
+the site of the British town during the Saxon era.
+
+The bridge, of which a view is given in Grose’s Antiquities, is itself an
+object of interest, containing, on its centre, the Monnow Gate, the only
+one of the four original gates, mentioned by Leland, that remains entire.
+Both bridge and gate bear evidence of very high antiquity, and were
+probably erected by the Saxons as a barrier against the Welsh.  The town
+was farther fortified by a wall and moat, of which the latter was entire
+in the time of Leland, and some fragments of the former remaining.  But
+all vestiges of those defences have now vanished, with the exception of
+the Monnow Gate, and some pieces of a tower.
+
+Of the modern town, it can be said that it is neat and clean, with one
+broad and well-built street.  It is neither mean nor elegant, and
+presents no offensive contrast to the beautiful scenery by which it is
+surrounded.  The navigation of the Wye is its principal support, for at
+the present day at least it has no manufactories, although celebrated in
+that of its own Henry for _caps_.  “If your majestie is remembered of it,
+the Welchmen did goot service in a garden where leeks did grow, wearing
+leeks in their Monmouth caps.”  The account given of this staple article
+by Fuller, in his Worthies, is worth quoting.
+
+    “These,” says he, “were the most ancient, general, warm, and
+    profitable coverings of men’s heads in this island.  It is worth our
+    pains to observe the tenderness of our kings to preserve the trade of
+    cap-making, and what long and strong struggling our state had to keep
+    up the using thereof, so many thousands of people being thereby
+    maintained in the land, especially before the invention of
+    fulling-mills, all caps before that time being wrought, beaten, and
+    thickened, by the hands and feet of men, till those mills, as they
+    eased many of their labour, outed more of their livelihood.  Capping
+    anciently set fifteen distinct callings on work, as they are reckoned
+    up in the statute: 1. carders, 2. spinners; 3. knitters; 4. parters
+    of wool; 5. forfers; 6. thickeners; 7. dressers; 8. walkers; 9.
+    dyers; 10. battelers; 11. shearers; 12. pressers; 13. edgers; 14.
+    liners; 15. band-makers, and other exercises.  No wonder then that so
+    many statutes were enacted in parliament to encourage this
+    handicraft.”  * * * * “Lastly; to keep up the usage of caps, it was
+    enacted, in the 13th of Queen Eliz. cap. 19, that they should be
+    worne by all persons (some of worship and quality excepted) on
+    sabbath and holy days, on the pain of forfeiting ten groats for the
+    omission thereof.
+
+    “But it seems that nothing but hats would fit the heads (or humours
+    rather) of the English, as fancied by them fitter to fence their fair
+    faces from the injury of wind and weather, so that the 39th of Queen
+    Elizabeth this statute was repealed; yea, the cap, accounted by the
+    Romans an emblem of liberty, is esteemed by the English (falconers
+    and hunters excepted) a badge of servitude, though very useful in
+    themselves, and the ensign of constancy, because not discomposed, but
+    retaining their fashion, in what form soever they may be crouded.
+
+    “The best caps were formerly made at Monmouth, where the capper’s
+    chapel doth still remain, being better carved and gilded than any
+    other part of the church.  But on the occasion of a great plague
+    happening in this town, the trade was some years since removed hence
+    to Beaudley, in Worcestershire, yet so that they are called Monmouth
+    caps unto this day.  Thus this town retains, though not the profit,
+    the credit of capping, and seeing the child keeps the mother’s name,
+    there is some hope in due time she may return to her.”
+
+Monmouth appears also to have dealt largely in ale, if we may judge by a
+grant of Henry IV. as lord of the manor, to its burgesses.  “That the
+brewers of ale there, who were anciently held to pay the king’s ancestors
+and progenitors eight gallons of ale at every brewing, in the name of
+Castlecoule, during the time the king, or his heirs, were dwelling in the
+said town, should now pay in lieu thereof 10d. each brewing, except when
+the king, his heirs or his councils, holding his sessions there, were
+present in the said town, in which case the ancient custom of
+Castlecoules should be observed.”
+
+We must not omit an anecdote connected with the history of a free-school,
+founded here in the reign of James I.  William Jones, born at Monmouth,
+as Burton tells us in his History of Wales, was forced to quit the place
+for not being able to pay ten groats.  He removed to the great field for
+adventurers, London, and became first a porter, then a factor, and
+afterwards went over to Hamburgh, where he found such sale for his Welsh
+cottons, that in a very short time he realised a handsome fortune.  He
+founded a school in his native place, allowing fifty pounds a year to the
+master, and a hundred pounds salary to a lecturer, together with an
+almshouse for twenty poor people, each having two rooms and a garden, and
+two shillings and sixpence a week.  It is said, however, by other
+authorities, that Jones was a native of Newland, in Gloucestershire; and
+after having made his fortune in London, that he returned thither in the
+assumed character of a beggar, to try the liberality of his townsmen.  In
+this he found them wanting, for they tauntingly told him to go and ask
+relief at Monmouth, where he had lived at service.  He took their advice,
+and being better received there, founded the above charities in token of
+his gratitude.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+
+Welsh pedigree of queen Victoria—A poet’s flattery—Castles of
+Monmouthshire—Geoffrey of Monmouth—Henry of Monmouth—The Kymin—Subsidiary
+tour—Sir David Gam—White Castle—Scenfrith—The Castle
+spectres—Grosmont—Lanthony Abbey.
+
+“Monmouthshire,” as has been well observed, “though now an English
+county, may be justly considered the connecting link between England and
+Wales, as it unites the scenery, manners, and language of both.”  In
+ancient times, it was a debatable land of another kind, when Romans,
+Saxons, and Normans, strove by turns against the aboriginal Britons.
+During the Roman invasion it was a part of the territory of the Silures,
+who inhabited the eastern division of South Wales, and were one of the
+three great Welsh tribes; but in the conflict of the Saxons, Gwent (its
+British name) played the most distinguished part of all, under its
+sovereign Utha Pendragon and the renowned king Arthur.  To Gwent,
+moreover, if chronicles say true, we are indebted for our present
+sovereign lady, who is descended collaterally from its princes.  Merrich,
+the son of Ithel, king or prince of Gwent, died without issue male,
+leaving one daughter, Morvyth, who espoused Gwno, great grandson to Rees
+ap Theodore, prince of South Wales, and lineal ancestor of Sir Owen
+Tudor, grandfather of Henry VII.  “So that it appears,” say the Secret
+Memoirs of Monmouthshire, “that the kings of Scotland and England are
+originally descended from Morvyth, this Gwentonian prince’s daughter, and
+heir to Meyrick, last king of Gwent, who, according to several authentic
+British pedigrees, was lineally descended from Cadwalladar, the last king
+of Britain, and as our historians do testify, did prognosticate, fifteen
+hundred years past, that the heirs descended of his loins should be
+restored again to the kingdom of Britain, which was partly accomplished
+in king Henry VII., and more by the accession of James I. to the British
+throne, but wholly fulfilled in the happy union of all Britain by the
+glorious queen Anne; whom God long preserved of his great goodness, and
+the succession of the Protestant line.”
+
+We know not what value may be attached to this illustrious ancestry by
+Queen Victoria; but her predecessor, Queen Elizabeth, was fond of tracing
+her descent from the ancient kings of her country—a predilection which
+the courtly Spenser does not omit to flatter in his Faerie Queene.
+
+    “Thy name, O soveraine Queene, thy realme and race,
+    From this renowned prince derived arre,
+    Who mightily upheld that royal mace
+    Which thou now bear’st, to thee descended farre
+    From mighty kings and couquerors in warre,
+    Thy fathers and thy grandfathers of old,
+    Whose noble deeds above the northern starre,
+    Immortall fame for ever hath enrold;
+    As in that _old man’s booke_ they were in order told.”
+
+The _old man_ have referred to is Geoffrey of Monmouth, of whom more
+anon.
+
+It is to the Norman invasion that Monmouthshire owes its castles; for the
+great barons were not employed by the state, as had been the case with
+the Saxons, to conquer the territory, but were invited to enter upon
+adventures at their own cost, and for their own gain.  The lands they
+subdued became their own; they were created lords-barons over them; and
+castles speedily bristled up all over the territory to maintain the
+authority so acquired.  Pennant states the number for Wales at a hundred
+and forty-three, of which Monmouthshire, as the frontier region between
+the belligerents, had of course the greatest proportion, amounting, it is
+said, to at least twenty-five.  In these baronial lands, the writs of
+ordinary justices of the royal courts were not current.  The barons
+marchers, as they were called, had recourse to their feudal lord the king
+in person; and the same abuses and confusion were the result which we
+have noticed in Herefordshire, till Henry VIII. abolished this anomalous
+government, divided Wales into twelve shires, and withdrew Monmouthshire
+into the list of the English counties.  It is interesting to trace the
+chain of fortresses thus destined to become, still earlier than in the
+natural course of time, a series of ruins.  They extend, in this county,
+along the banks of the Monnow, the Wye, and the Severn, and from
+Grosmont, diagonally, to the banks of the Rumney; while castellated
+mansions, such as Raglan, which we shall notice presently (at first only
+a rude fortress), arose in all quarters to keep the natives in due
+respect.
+
+King Arthur, mentioned above as prince of Gwent, did not reign at
+Monmouth, but at Caerleon; although he is closely associated with the
+former place, inasmuch as the gothic room in the priory which we have
+pointed out, on the authority of tradition, as the study of Geoffrey of
+Monmouth, was in all probability the birthplace of his most heroic
+achievements.  Geoffrey, in fact, for it is needless to attempt to
+conceal the fact from our readers, was an historical romancer rather than
+an historian.  The groundwork of his celebrated performance was Brut y
+Breninodd, or the Chronicle of the Kings of Britain, written by Tyssilio,
+or St. Telian, bishop of St. Asaph, in the seventh century; but Geoffrey
+owns himself, that he made various additions to his original,
+particularly of Merlin’s prophecies.  After all, however, if we may
+venture to express our private opinion on so recondite a subject, it
+seems to us that a monkish history, of the seventh century, must have
+been reasonably fertile in itself in wonderful incidents and legendary
+tales, and that in all probability Geoffrey of Monmouth deserves less
+credit as a romancer than he has received from one party, as well as less
+credit as an historian than he has received from the other.
+
+However this may be, the work has served as a valuable storehouse for our
+poets and romancers.  It has even supplied the story of King Lear to
+Shakspeare, who deepened the pathos by making Cordelia die before her
+father; whereas, in the original story, Lear is restored to his kingdom,
+and Cordelia to life.  Milton drew from it his fiction of Sabrina in the
+Mask of Comus; and in early life he had formed the design of writing an
+epic poem on the subject taken up from Geoffrey by Spenser, in the second
+book of the Faerie Queene—
+
+    “A chronicle of Briton kings,
+    From Brute to Arthur’s reign.”
+
+Dryden, also, intended to produce an epic poem on the subject of king
+Arthur, but he contented himself with an opera, in which he has sublimely
+described the British worthy
+
+             “in battle brave,
+    But still serene in all the stormy war,
+    Like heaven above the clouds; and after fight
+    As merciful and kind to vanquished foe
+    As a forgiving God.”
+
+Pope followed, in like manner, with plentiful materials for the pavement
+of a certain place—good intentions; but after all, our national history
+has been left to the muse of Blackmore. {106}
+
+Geoffrey was born in Monmouth, and is supposed to have been educated in
+the monastery, although the room pointed out as his study is evidently of
+a more modern date.  He became archdeacon of his native town, and in 1152
+was consecrated bishop of St. Asaph.  This is all that is known of his
+history; and his works, with the exception of his great romance adverted
+to above, are confined to a treatise on the Holy Sacraments, and some
+verses on the enchanter Merlin.
+
+Perhaps a word may not be amiss on the other worthy connected by birth
+with the fame and the ruins of Monmouth.  Henry V. passed some of his
+earliest years in this county; but in his youth was transferred to
+Oxford, where he studied under his uncle Cardinal Beaufort, then
+chancellor of the university, and where, as Stowe relates, he “delighted
+in songs, meeters, and musical instruments.”  He is thus described by the
+chronicler, on the authority of John of Elmham:
+
+    “This prince exceeded the meane stature of men, he was beautiful of
+    visage, his necke long, body long and leane, and his bones small;
+    neverthelesse he was of great marvellous strength, and passing swift
+    in running, insomuch that he with two other of his lords, without
+    hounds, bow, or other engine, would take a wild buck or doe in a
+    large parke.”
+
+Henry is usually treated as a mere warrior; and it is the custom to sneer
+at him as such, by those who are unable to judge of the minds of men by
+the spirit of the age in which they live.  He was remarkable, however,
+for more than his military prowess, and exhibited many traits of a truly
+great character.  Some of these are very agreeably detailed by Mr. Coxe,
+who relates also, from Speed, that “every day after dinner, for the space
+of an hour, his custom was to lean on a cushion set by his cupboard, and
+there he himselfe received petitions of the oppressed, which with great
+equitie he did redresse.”  His sudden change from the wild licentiousness
+of his youth is described by his contemporary, Thomas de Elmham, as
+having taken place at the bedside of his dying father; and we need not
+remark that in that age, the religious feeling he exhibited on the
+occasion was not inconsistent with the ferocity of the hero.
+
+    “The courses of his youth promis’d it not;
+    The breath no sooner left his father’s body,
+    But that his wildness, mortified in him,
+    Seem’d to die too: yea, at that very moment,
+    Consideration like an angel came,
+    And whipped the offending Adam out of him;
+    Leaving his body as a paradise,
+    To envellop, and contain celestial spirits.
+    Never was such a sudden scholar made;
+    Never came reformation in a flood,
+    With such a heady current, scouring faults;
+    Nor ever hydra-headed wilfulness,
+    So soon did lose his seat, and all at once,
+    As in this king.”
+
+Monmouth, as the half-way station between Ross and Chepstow for the
+tourists of the Wye, usually claims a large portion of their attention;
+and, independently of its historical associations, the delightful walks
+in the neighbourhood abundantly repay it.  The views from numerous points
+are very beautiful; and one more especially, independently of the nearer
+parts of the picture, commands on all sides an expanse of country which
+seems absolutely unlimited.
+
+“If among these views,” says the historical tourist, “one can be selected
+surpassing the rest, it is perhaps that from the summit of the Kymin,
+which rises from the left bank of the Wye, and is situated partly in
+Monmouthshire, and partly in Gloucestershire.  On the centre of this
+eminence overhanging the river and town, a pavilion has been lately
+erected by subscription, to which is carried a walk, gently winding up
+the acclivity. . . .
+
+“I shall not attempt to describe the unbounded expanse of country around
+and beneath, which embraces an extent of nearly three hundred miles.  The
+eye, satiated with the distant prospect, reposes at length on the near
+views, dwells on the country immediately beneath and around, is attracted
+with the pleasing position of Monmouth, here seen to singular advantage,
+admires the elegant bend and silvery current of the Monnow, glistening
+through meads, in its way to the Wye, and the junction of the two rivers,
+which forms an assemblage of beautiful objects.
+
+“The level summit of the Kymin is crowned with a beautiful wood, called
+Beaulieu Grove, through which walks are made, terminating in seats,
+placed at the edge of abrupt declivities, and presenting in perspective,
+through openings in the trees, portions of the unbounded expanse seen
+from the pavilion.  There are six of these openings, three of which
+comprehend perspective views of Monmouth, stretching between the Wye and
+the Monnow, in different positions.  At one of these seats, placed on a
+ledge of impending rocks, I looked down on a hanging wood, clothing the
+sides of the declivities, and sloping gradually to the Wye, which sweeps
+in a beautiful curve, from Dixon Church to the mouth of the Monnow; the
+town appears seated on its banks, and beyond the luxuriant and undulating
+swells of Monmouthshire, terminated by the Great and Little Skyrrid, the
+Black Mountains, and the Sugar Loaf, in all the variety of sublime and
+contrasted forms.”
+
+It is not our intention to notice any of the numerous seats and mansions
+with which this delightful region abounds; but, leaving the tourist to
+make such easy discoveries for himself, we would hint to him that, while
+at Monmouth, he has an opportunity, without great expense of time or
+labour, of making himself acquainted with many interesting objects which
+ought to be considered as adjuncts of the tour of the Wye.  Between this
+place and the Hay the river describes an irregular semicircle, of which
+the Monnow, for about half way, may be said to be the cord; and this
+latter stream, as the most important and beautiful tributary of the Wye,
+has a claim upon the pilgrim which should not be set aside.
+
+This minor excursion, however, will not be complete without diverging a
+little to the left at the outset for the purpose of visiting White
+Castle; for this ruin is inseparably associated with the other reliques
+of baronial power presented by the route.  It is within a short distance
+of Landeilo Cresseney on the Abergavenny road, where a farm will be
+pointed out to the traveller, called the Park, belonging to the duke of
+Beaufort, as the site of Old Court, formerly the residence of the valiant
+Sir David Gam, who, before the battle of Agincourt, reported to Henry V.
+that there were “enough of the enemy to be killed, enough to run away,
+and enough to be taken prisoners.”  It is said that the children of this
+Welsh worthy were so numerous as to form a line extending from his house
+to the church.  From Gladys, one of these children, the dukes of Beaufort
+and earls of Pembroke are descended.  The farm alluded to was formerly
+the red deer park of Raglan Castle.
+
+White Castle must have been constructed in the earliest period of the
+Norman era, if not before the conquest; and the massive ruins that still
+remain attest that it must have kept the country side in awe, as the
+abode of one of those fierce barons who were the prototypes of the giants
+and dragons of the romancers.  This fortress, with those of Scenfrith and
+Grosmont on the banks of the Monnow, belonged to Brien Fitz Count, the
+Norman conqueror of the tract called Overwent, stretching from the Wye to
+Abergavenny; and they were afterwards seized by Henry III., and given by
+him to the celebrated Herbert de Burgh.  Herbert resigned them anew to
+the crown, after being imprisoned and almost famished to death.  Henry
+granted them to his son Edward Crouchback, and they afterwards fell to
+John of Gaunt, in the way we have related of Monmouth Castle, and became
+parcel of the duchy of Lancaster.
+
+The ruins stand on the ridge of an eminence, surrounded by a moat.  The
+walls, which are very massive, describe nearly an oval, and are defended
+by six round towers, not dividing the courtine in the usual way, but
+altogether extramural, and capable, therefore, of acting as independent
+fortresses, even after the inner court had been taken.  The principal
+entrance was protected by a portcullis and drawbridge, and by an immense
+barbican, greatly disproportioned to the size of the castle, on the
+opposite site of the moat.  The name of the place was Castell Gwyn, White
+Castle, or Castell Blanch, all which mean the same thing in British,
+Saxon, and Norman.
+
+In the time of James I., it is presented as “ruinous and in decay time
+out of mind,” and yet, during the reign of his immediate predecessor
+Elizabeth, it is described in the Worthines of Wales as “a loftie
+princely place.”
+
+    “Three castles fayre are in a goodly ground,
+    Grosmont is one, on hill it builded was;
+    Skenfrith the next, in valley it is found,
+    The soyle about for pleasure there doth passe;
+    Whit Castle is the third of worthy fame,
+    The county there doth bear Whit Castle’s name,
+    A stately seate, a loftie princely place,
+    Whose beauties give the simple soyle some grace.”
+
+Scenfrith is not more than five miles from White Castle, but the access
+to it is only fit for pedestrians.  The ruin stands on a secluded spot in
+the midst of hills, and overlooks the placid Monnow, the passage of which
+it was no doubt its duty to guard.  It is a small fortress severely
+simple, and exhibiting all the marks of high antiquity.  There are no
+traces of outworks; but the walls are flanked by five circular towers.
+About the middle of the area is a round tower, which was the keep or
+citadel.  Scenfrith seems to have no history peculiarly its own; it was
+one of “the three castles,” changing hands with them apparently as a
+matter of course, and that was enough for its ambition.
+
+The road from Scenfrith to Grosmont leads through Newcastle; but the
+remains of the fortress, from which this place derived its name, are
+barely discernible, and its history has for ever perished.  In the
+absence of human associations, however, it is well provided with those of
+another kind.  The mount, or barrow, under which its fragments are
+hidden, is the haunt of spirits; and an oak tree in the neighbourhood is
+so completely protected by such means, that an attempt even to lop a
+branch is sure to be punished by supernatural power.
+
+The ruins of Grosmont Castle stand on an eminence near the Monnow,
+surrounded by a dry moat, with barbican and other outworks.  Its pointed
+arches declare it by far the youngest of the three sisters.  The remains
+now left enclose only a small area; but walls and foundations may be
+traced, which show that its original size was really considerable, and
+this is confirmed by the presence of a spacious apartment, which no doubt
+formed the great baronial hall.  In the reign of Henry III. it was
+invested by Llewellin, and the siege raised by the king; and, on another
+occasion, Henry retreated to Grosmont, where his troops were surprised by
+the Welsh as they slept in the trenches, and lost five hundred horses,
+besides baggage and treasure.  The banks of the Monnow, from which the
+ruins rise, are precipitous, and tufted with oaks, and the whole scene is
+singularly picturesque.  The hero of the village tradition is here John
+of Kent, or Guent, who built a bridge over the Monnow in a single night,
+by means of one of his familiar spirits.  Many other stories as wonderful
+are related of him by the inhabitants; some say he was a monk, versed in
+the black art; others that he was a disciple of Owen Glendowr; and others
+that he was the great magician himself.
+
+At Grosmont the line of the Monnow turns away to the west, towards its
+source among the Black Mountains; but the traveller who eschews more
+fatigue than is necessary will take the route by Craig-gate and
+Crickhowell, and so get into a road which will lead him along the Honddy,
+a tributary of the Monnow, to the magnificent ruins of Lanthony Abbey,
+the furthest object we propose to him in this subsidiary tour.
+
+    “Here it was, stranger, that the patron saint
+    Of Cambria passed his age of penitence—
+    A solitary man; and here he made
+    His hermitage; the roots his food, his drink
+    Of Honddy’s mountain-stream.  Perchance thy youth
+    Has read with eager wonder how the knight
+    Of Wales, in Ormandine’s enchanted bowers,
+    Slept the long sleep: and if that in thy veins
+    Flows the pure blood of Britain, sure that blood
+    Has flowed with quicker impulse at the tale
+    Of Dafydd’s deeds, when through the press of war
+    His gallant comrades followed his green crest
+    To conquests.  Stranger! Hatterel’s mountain heights,
+    And this fair vale of Cwias, and the stream
+    Of Honddy, to thine after thoughts will rise
+    More grateful, thus associate with the name
+    Of Dafydd and the deeds of other days.”
+
+“After catching a transient view of the Honddy,” says archdeacon Coxe,
+“winding through a deep glen, at the foot of hills overspread with wood
+and sprinkled with white cottages, we proceeded along a hollow way, which
+deepened as we advanced, and was scarcely broad enough to admit the
+carriage.  In this road, which, with more propriety might be termed a
+ditch, we heard the roar of the torrent beneath, but seldom enjoyed a
+view of the circumjacent scenery.  We passed under a bridge thrown across
+the chasm, to preserve the communication with the fields on each side:
+this bridge was framed of the trunks of trees, and secured with side
+rails, to prevent the tottering passenger from falling in the abyss
+beneath.  It brought to my recollection several bridges of similar
+construction, which I observed in Norway, which are likewise occasionally
+used as aqueducts, for the purposes of irrigation.  Emerging from this
+gloomy way, we were struck with the romantic village of Cwnyoy, on the
+opposite bank of the Honddy, hanging on the sides of the abrupt cliff,
+under a perpendicular rock, broken into enormous fissures.  We continued
+for some way between the torrent and the Gaer, and again plunged into a
+hollow road, where we were enclosed, and saw nothing but the overhanging
+hedgerows. . . . The abbey was built like a cathedral, in the shape of
+Roman crosses, and though of small dimensions, was well proportioned.
+The length, from the western door to the eastern extremity, is 210 feet;
+and the breadth, including two aisles, 50; the length of the transept,
+from north to south, 100.  It was constructed soon after the introduction
+of the Gothic architecture, and before the disuse of the Norman, and is a
+regular composition of both styles.  The whole roof, excepting a small
+fragment of the north aisle, is fallen down, and the building is
+extremely dilapidated.  The nave alone exhibits a complete specimen of
+the original plan, and is separated on each side by the two aisles, by
+eight pointed arches, resting on piers of the simplest construction,
+which are divided from the upper tier of Norman arches by a straight band
+of _fascia_.  From the small fragment in the northern aisle, the roofs
+seem to have been vaulted and engroined, and the springing columns, by
+which it was supported, are still visible on the wall.  Four bold arches,
+in the centre of the church, supported a square tower, two sides of which
+only remain.  The ornamental arch in the eastern window, which appears in
+the engraving of Mr. Wyndham’s Tour, and in that published by Hearne, has
+now fallen.  The only vestiges of the choir are a part of the south wall,
+with a Norman door, that led into the side aisle, and the east end of the
+south wall; a bold Norman arch, leading from the transept into the
+southern aisle of the choir, still exists.  The walls of the southern
+aisle are wholly dilapidated; and the side view of the two ranges of
+Gothic arches, stretching along the nave, is singularly picturesque; the
+outside wall of the northern aisle is entire, excepting a small portion
+of the western extremity; the windows of this part are wholly Norman, and
+make a grand appearance.  In a word, the western side is most elegant;
+the northern side is most entire; the southern the most picturesque; the
+eastern the most magnificent.”
+
+The abbey originated in a small chapel, built here as a hermitage by St.
+David, the titular saint of Wales; but for the account of its foundation
+and history, we must refer the reader to Mr. Coxe’s Tour, Dugdale’s
+Monasticon, or the History of Gloucestershire.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+
+Raglan Castle—Description of the ruins—History of the Castle—The old lord
+of Raglan—Surrender of the fortress—Charles I. and his host—Royal
+weakness—The pigeons of Raglan—Death of the old lord—Origin of the steam
+Engine.
+
+That magnificent specimen of what is called a castellated mansion, Raglan
+castle, is so interesting in itself, and at so convenient a distance from
+the river, that it forms an indispensable part of the tour of the Wye.
+The ruins stand upon an eminence, near the village of the same name,
+eight miles from Monmouth, and cover, with their massive forms, an area
+of one-third part of a mile in circumference.  This includes the citadel,
+which was not contained within the fortress as usual, but formed a
+separate building, connected with it by a drawbridge.  It was called
+Melyn y Gwent, or the Yellow Tower of Gwent.  It was of a hexagon form,
+five stories high, defended by bastions and a moat, and surrounded with
+raised walks or terraces.  The building was faced with hewn stone, of a
+greyish colour, and from its smoothness resembling polished marble.
+
+The earliest style of this edifice dates only from the reign of Henry V.;
+but the greater part was probably added afterwards, when, by the marriage
+of Sir Charles Somerset into the house of Herbert, and the acquisition
+then of the lordships of Raglan, Chepstow, and Gower, the house of
+Beaufort became one of the greatest in the county.  The building is of a
+description peculiar to that period in the history of Monmouthshire, when
+the barons had superadded to their warlike habits those of modern luxury
+and magnificence.  Externally, the place has evidently been a strong
+fortress; internally a splendid mansion.  The ascent to the state
+apartment is both noble and well contrived; while the circular staircase
+in the hexagon citadel, the windows of the great hall, and the
+chimney-pieces, with their light and elegant cornices, are in the style
+of modern edifices.  The kitchen and butlery were connected with the
+hall, and indicate, by their construction, the princely hospitality of
+the lords of Raglan.  All the rooms had chimneys, those of each floor
+distinct from the rest.  The cellars were extensive—so were the
+subterranean passages and dungeons.  The architecture is various, some
+parts of the most elegant gothic, some heavy and unwieldy, representing
+at once the two distinct characters of luxury and war.  The southern
+declivity, towards the village, was laid out in fish-ponds; three parks
+of considerable extent supplied game and recreation; and the proprietor
+of this unique mansion was able, through the fertility of his surrounding
+estates, to maintain a garrison of eight hundred men.
+
+    “Of these noble ruins,” says Mr. Coxe, “the grand entrance is the
+    most magnificent; it is formed by a gothic portal, flanked with two
+    massive towers: the one beautifully tufted with ivy, the second so
+    entirely covered, that not a single stone is visible.  At a small
+    distance, on the right, appears a third tower, lower in height,
+    almost wholly ivyless, and with its machicolated summit, presenting a
+    highly picturesque appearance.  The porch, which still contains the
+    grooves for two portcullises, leads into the first court, once paved,
+    but now covered with turf, and sprinkled with shrubs.  The eastern
+    and northern sides contained a range of culinary offices, of which
+    the kitchen is remarkable for the size of the fire-place; the
+    southern side seems to have formed a grand suite of apartments, and
+    the great bow window of the hall, at the south-western extremity of
+    the court, is finely canopied with ivy.  The stately hall which
+    divides the two courts, and seems to have been built in the days of
+    queen Elizabeth, contains the vestiges of ancient hospitality and
+    splendour: the ceiling is fallen down, but the walls still remain; it
+    is sixty feet in length, twenty-seven in breadth, and was the great
+    banqueting-room of the castle.  At the extremity are placed the arms
+    of the first marquis of Worcester, sculptured in stone, and
+    surrounded with the garter: underneath is the family motto, which
+    fully marks the character of the noble proprietor, who defended the
+    castle with such spirit from the parliamentary army: ‘Mutare vel
+    timere sperno;’ ‘I scorn either to change or to fear.’  The
+    fire-place deserves to be noticed for its remarkable size, and the
+    singular structure of the chimney.  The hall is occasionally used as
+    a fives court.
+
+    “To the north of the hall are ranges of offices, which appear to have
+    been butteries; beyond are the traces of splendid apartments.  In the
+    walls above I observed two chimney-pieces, in high preservation,
+    neatly ornamented with a light frieze and cornice: the stone frames
+    of the windows are likewise in many parts, particularly in the south
+    front, distinguished with mouldings and other decorations, which Mr.
+    Windham justly observes, would not be considered inelegant, even at
+    present.
+
+    “The western door of the hall led into the chapel, which is now
+    dilapidated; but its situation is marked by some of the flying
+    columns, rising from grotesque heads, which supported the roof.  At
+    the upper end are two rude whole-length figures, in stone, several
+    yards above the ground, recently discovered by Mr. Heath, under the
+    thick clusters of ivy.  Beyond the foundations of the chapel is the
+    area of the second court, skirted with a range of buildings, which,
+    at the time of the siege, formed the barracks of the garrison.  Not
+    the smallest traces remain of the marble fountain, which once
+    occupied the centre of the area, and was ornamented with the statue
+    of a white horse.
+
+    “Most of the apartments of this splendid abode were of grand
+    dimensions, and the communications easy and convenient.  The strength
+    of the walls is still so great, that if the parts still standing were
+    roofed and floored, it might even now be formed into a magnificent
+    and commodious habitation.”
+
+The fountain mentioned above was called the White Horse, from the figure
+from which the water played.  In a note supplied by Dr. Griffin to
+Williams’s History of Monmouthshire, it is said that the people who
+showed the ruins used to exhibit part of the body of a _black_ horse
+which stood in the middle of the water which supplied the castle.  The
+cause of the change of colour was that during the siege the
+parliamentarians poisoned the fountain!  The horse, it seems, absorbed
+the fatal drug, and not only became black, but when struck by any hard
+substance, emitted a fetid smell.  It is difficult to trace the early
+history of the castle, from the contradictory accounts given of it by
+Dugdale; but in the time of Henry V. the proprietor was Sir William ap
+Thomas, second son of Sir Thomas ap Guillim, from whom the earls of
+Pembroke, Powis, and Caernarvon are descended in the male, and the dukes
+of Beaufort in the female line.  William, the eldest son of this Sir
+William, was created by Edward IV. lord of Raglan, Chepstow, and Gower;
+and, in obedience to the royal command, he discontinued the Welsh custom
+of changing the surname at every descent, and took Herbert as his family
+name, in honour of his ancestor Herbert Fitzhenry, chamberlain to Henry
+I.  Richard was for some time detained at Raglan in the custody of lord
+Herbert, who was a distinguished partisan of the house of York, and who
+at length died on the scaffold, at Banbury, in this cause, having
+previously been created earl of Pembroke.  His son, by the desire of
+Edward IV., yielded this title to the Prince of Wales; and, dying without
+male issue, the castle of Raglan, and many other noble possessions
+devolved upon his daughter Elizabeth.  The heiress married Sir Charles
+Somerset, natural son of the duke of Somerset, who lost his head in 1463
+for his devotion to the house of Lancaster; and he, a brave soldier, a
+prudent statesman, and an accomplished courtier, was created by Henry
+VIII., for his services, earl of Worcester.
+
+It is probable that the castle of Raglan, owed a great part of its
+magnificence to him.  In the following reign, it is thus mentioned in the
+Worthines of Wales.
+
+    “Not far from thence, a famous castle fine,
+    That Raggland hight, stands moted almost round,
+    Made of freestone, upright, straight as line,
+    Whose workmanship in beauty doth abound.
+
+    “The curious knots, wrought all with edged toole,
+    The stately tower that looks ore pond and poole,
+    The fountain trim, that runs both day and night,
+    Doth yield in showe a rare and noble sight.”
+
+Four earls of Worcester held almost royal state in this princely abode;
+but the fifth earl and first marquis was destined to witness its fall.
+He was one of the most devoted friends of Charles I.; and may be said to
+have defended not only his own mansion but all Monmouthshire from the
+parliamentary arms.
+
+The defeat of the royal army at Marston Moor was the signal for the fall
+of Monmouth and of Raglan Castle.  Prince Rupert immediately directed his
+attention to the marches of Wales, and ordered colonel Gerard to force
+his way through Gloucestershire by the Aust passage: but the latter was
+opposed by Massey, and defeated.  Monmouth soon after fell into the hands
+of Massey by the treachery of Kirle, lieutenant-colonel to Holtby,
+governor of the town for Charles; and lord Worcester at Raglan, in great
+alarm, demanded the assistance of prince Rupert’s cavalry.
+
+Throgmorton, on whom the command of Monmouth devolved, set out with a
+party of three hundred horse to surprise the castle of Chepstow, and in
+his absence the following brilliant exploit was performed by the
+royalists, which we give in the words of Sanderson.  “The cavaliers from
+Ragland and Godridg, about break of day, lodg themselves undiscovered
+behind a rising ground near Monmouth, and viewing all advantages, fourty
+of them come up to the higher side of the town towards Hereford, having a
+sloping bank cast up of good height, with a ditch, over which they pass,
+mount the bank, and climbed over, and so got to the next part, fell upon
+the guard, some killed, other fled, and with an iron bar break the post
+chain, force the gate, and open it to the horse, who ride up with full
+career to the main guard, seized them, and took the rest in their beds,
+with colonel Broughton, four captains, as many lieutenants and ensigns,
+the committee, all the common souldiers, two hundred prisoners, two
+sakers, a drake, nine hammerguns, ammunition and provision, and five
+hundred muskets.”
+
+But the fate of the war was now determined, and after the battle of
+Naseby Charles was unable to meet the parliamentarians in a general
+engagement, and retired to the castle of Raglan.  Thence he secretly
+departed to commit himself to the Scottish army; and the marquis of
+Worcester was besieged at Raglan for six months.  The old lord, who was
+then eighty-four years of age, on hearing of the landing of his son lord
+Glamorgan with some Irish forces, sent the following bold letter to the
+parliamentarian committee at Chepstow.
+
+    “Having notice that you are not ignorant of my son’s landing with the
+    Irish forces, I am so much of a father, and tender of the whole
+    country’s ruin, that if this coming to this place be hasted by the
+    occasion of your answer, you and not I will be the occasion of the
+    country’s curse.  You have taken from me my rents and livelihood, for
+    which if you give unbelied reparations, I shall be glad to live a
+    quiet neighbour amongst you; if otherwise, you will force me to what
+    my own nature hath no liking of, and yet justifiable by the word of
+    God, and law of nature.  I expect your answer by the messenger, as
+    you give occasion.
+
+                                                            “H. WORCESTER.
+
+    “Raglan, May 29, 1646.”
+
+This brought on a long and fruitless negotiation.  The old lord saw that
+even the master of Raglan was not the master of circumstances; and, at
+length, it was agreed that the castle should be delivered up.  “Nobly
+done,” says Sanderson, “to hold out the last garrison for the king in
+England or Wales.”  In the articles of surrender, however, the soldierly
+honour of the marquis was spared as much as possible, it being agreed
+“that all the officers, gentlemen, and soldiers, with all other persons
+there, should march out with their horses and arms, colours flying, drums
+beating, trumpets sounding, matches lighted at both ends, bullets in
+mouth, each soldier twelve charges of powder, matches and bullets
+proportionable, bag and baggage, to any place within two miles of any
+garrison where the marquis shall mention.”
+
+Soon after this surrender, the castle was demolished, and the timber cut
+down in the parks, the loss to the family, in personal property, without
+including the forfeiture and an estate of twenty thousand pounds a year,
+being estimated at upwards of a hundred thousand pounds.  The Chase of
+Wentwood, including Chepstow Castle and Park, was immediately bestowed
+upon Oliver Cromwell; who appears also to refer, in the settlements upon
+his family to other estates in Monmouthshire, parcels of the noble
+property of the marquis of Worcester.
+
+In a publication of that day, entitled “Witty Apothegms delivered at
+several times, and on several occasions, by king James I., king Charles
+I., and the marquis of Worcester,” several anecdotes are given which
+throw a strong light upon the character of this fine old lord of Raglan.
+
+“In the midst of the civil commotions, Charles I. made several visits to
+Raglan Castle, and was entertained with becoming magnificence.  The
+marquis not only declined all offers of remuneration, but also advanced
+large sums; and when the king thanked him for the loans, replied, Sir, I
+had your word for the money, but I never thought I should be so soon
+repayed; for now you have given me thanks, I have all I looked for.”  At
+another time, the king, apprehensive lest the stores of the garrison
+should be consumed by his suite, empowered him to exact from the country
+such provisions as were necessary for his maintainance and recruit, “I
+humbly thank your majesty,” he said, “but my castle will not stand long
+if it leans on the country; I had rather be brought to a morsel of bread,
+than any morsels of bread should be brought me to entertain your
+majesty.”
+
+The following conversation shows the amiable weakness of Charles’s
+humanity.
+
+Sir Trevor Williams, and four other principal gentlemen of Monmouthshire,
+being arrested for disloyalty, and conducted to Abergavenny, the king was
+advised to order them to an immediate trial, which must have ended in
+their conviction; but Charles, moved by the tears and protestations of
+Trevor Williams, suffered him to be released, on bail, and committed the
+others only to a temporary confinement.  “The king told the marquess what
+he had done, and that when he saw them speak so honestly, he could not
+but give some credit to their words, so seconded by tears, and withal
+told the marquess that he had onely sent them to prison; whereupon the
+marquess said, what to do? to poyson that garrison?  Sir, you should have
+done well to have heard their accusations, and then to have shewn what
+mercy you pleased.  The king told him, that he heard that they were
+accused by some contrary faction, as to themselves, who, out of distaste
+they bore to one another on old grudges, would be apt to charge them more
+home than the nature of their offences had deserved; to whom the marquess
+made this return, Well, Sir, you may chance to gain the kingdom of heaven
+by such doings as these, but if you ever get the kingdom of England by
+such ways, I will be your bondman.”
+
+Another conversation between the marquis and Sir Thomas Fairfax is worth
+relating.
+
+“After much conference between the marquess and General Fairfax, wherein
+many things were requested of the general by the marquess, and being, as
+he thought himself, happy in the attainment, his lordship was pleased to
+make a merry petition to the general as he was taking his leave, viz. in
+behalf of a couple of pigeons, who were wont to come to his hand, and
+feed out of it constantly, in whose behalf he desired the general that he
+would be pleased to give him his protection for them, fearing the little
+command that he should have over his soldiers in that behalf.  To which
+the general said, I am glad to see your lordship so merry.  Oh, said the
+marquess, you have given me no other cause, and hasty as you are, you
+shall not go untill I have told you a story.
+
+“There were two men going up Holborn in a cart to be hanged; one of them
+being very merry and jocund, gave offence to the other who was sad and
+dejected, insomuch that the downcast man said unto the other, I wonder,
+brother, that you can be so frolic, considering the business we are going
+about.  Tush, answered the other, thou art a fool; thou wentest a
+thieving, and never thought what would become of thee, wherefore being on
+a sudden surprised, thou fallest into such a shaking fit, that I am
+ashamed to see thee in that condition: whereas I was resolved to be
+hanged, before ever I fell to stealing, which is the reason nothing
+happenning strange or unexpected, I go so composed unto my death.  So,
+said the marquess, I resolved to undergo whatsoever, even the worst of
+evils that you are able to lay upon me, before I took up arms for my
+sovereign, and therefore wonder not that I am so merry.”
+
+“In the correspondence with Fairfax,” says the author of the Historical
+Tour, “which preceded the capitulation, the marquis of Worcester seems to
+have strongly suspected that the parliament would not adhere to the
+conditions.  His apprehensions were not groundless, for on his arrival in
+London he was committed to the custody of the Black Rod.  He bitterly
+complained of this cruel usage, and deeply regretted that he had trusted
+himself to the mercy of the parliament.  A few hours before his death, he
+said to Dr. Bayley, If to seize upon all my goods, to pull down my house,
+to fell my estate, and send up for such a weak body as mine was, so
+enfeebled by disease, in the dead of winter, in the winter of mine age,
+be merciful, what are they whose mercies are so cruel?  Neither do I
+expect that they should stop at all this, for I fear they will persecute
+me after death.
+
+“Being informed, however, that parliament would permit him to be buried
+in his family vault, in Windsor Chapel; he cried out, with great
+sprightliness of manner, Why, God bless us all, why then I shall have a
+better castle when I am dead, than they took from me whilst I was alive.
+With so much cheerfulness and resignation did this hero expire, in the
+eighty-fifth year of his age.”
+
+The second marquis was the author of that puzzling “Century of the Names
+and Scantlings of such Inventions as I can at present call to mind to
+have tried and perfected.”
+
+“It appears,” we are told, “from a passage in the Experimental Philosophy
+of Dr. Desaguliers, that Captain Savary derived his invention of the fire
+engine, since called the steam engine, from the 68th article in the
+Century of Scantlings; and that to conceal his original he bought up all
+the marquis’s books, and burnt them.”  The following is the “scantling.”
+
+    “An admirable and most forcible way to drive up water by fire, not by
+    drawing or sucking it upwards, for that must be, as the philosopher
+    calleth it, _intra sphæram activitatis_, which is at but such a
+    distance.  But this way hath no bounder, if the vessels be strong
+    enough; for I have taken a piece of a whole cannon, whereof the end
+    was burst, and filled it three quarters full of water, stopping and
+    screwing up the broken end, as also the touch-hole, and making a
+    constant fire under it, within twenty-four hours it burst, and made a
+    great crack; so that having a way to make my vessels that they are
+    strengthened by the force within them, and the one to fill after the
+    other, I have seen the water run like a constant fountain stream
+    forty feet high; one vessel of water, rarified by fire, drives up
+    forty feet of cold water.  And a man that attends the work has but to
+    turn two cocks, that one vessel of water being consumed, another
+    begins to force and refit with cold water, and so successfully, the
+    fire being tended and kept constant, with the self-same person may
+    likewise abundantly perform in the interim between the necessity of
+    turning the said cocks.”
+
+We now renew our onward course, but with many a lingering look at
+“delightsome Monmouth.”
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+
+Troy House—Anecdote—Antique custom—Village Churches of
+Monmouthshire—White-washing—The bard—Strewing graves with flowers—St.
+Briavels’ Castle—Llandogo—Change in the character of the river—The Druid
+of the Wye—Wordsworth’s “Lines composed above Tintern Abbey.”
+
+Just below Monmouth the Wye forms a sharp curve, the apex of which is met
+by the Monnow and the Trothy, in such a way that these two streams,
+tending to nearly the same point, but coming from different directions,
+and the two sides of the Wye curve, make the place resemble the meeting
+of four roads.  We have already seen how interesting the Monnow is; the
+Trothy, which passes White Castle, and has its source in the mountains
+near the Great Skyrrid, is hardly less so; the Wye we have followed from
+the summit of Plinlimmon, through a tract of mingled beauty and grandeur,
+unrivalled in England; and we are now about to trace its course to the
+monastic ruins of Tintern, and through the fairy land of Piercefield to
+its destined bourne, the Severn.
+
+The banks are at first low, and the country laid out in level meadows,
+framed in at a short distance by swelling hills.  Troy House is the first
+object that arrests our attention in front by its sombre woods.  In the
+reign of James I. it was the property of Sir Charles Somerset, the
+brother of the gallant defender of Raglan Castle, between whom and
+Charles I. a conversation relating to Troy House took place, which is
+thus reported in the “Apothegms.”
+
+“Sir Thomas Somerset, brother to the marquis of Worcester, had a house
+which was called Troy, five miles from Ragland Castle.  This Sir Thomas,
+being a complete gentleman, delighted much in fine gardens and orchards,
+where, by the benefit of art, the earth was made so gratefull to him at
+the same time that the king (Charles the first) happened to be at his
+brother’s house, that it yielded him wherewithal to send him a present;
+and such a one as (the times and seasons considered) was able to make the
+king believe that the sovereign of the planets had now changed the poles,
+and that Wales (the refuse and outcast of the fair garden of England) had
+fairer and riper fruit than England’s bowels had on all her beds.  This
+present, given to the marquis, he would not suffer to be presented to the
+king by any other hand than his own.  ‘Here I present you, sir,’ said the
+marquis, (placing his dishes on the table) ‘with that which came not from
+Lincoln that was, nor from London that is, nor from York that is to be,
+but from Troy.’  Whereupon the king smiled, and answered the marquis,
+‘Truly, my lord, I have heard that corn grows where Troy town stood, but
+I never thought there had grown any apricots before.’”
+
+Some articles said to be relics of Henry V. are preserved here: the bed
+in which he was born, the cradle in which he was rocked, and the armour
+in which he fought at Agincourt.  There is also a carved oak
+chimney-piece from Raglan Castle.
+
+Soon the hills approach nearer, and, covered with rich foliage, sweep
+down more suddenly towards the river.  On the right bank is Penalt
+church, standing on a wooded eminence; and behind it, an extensive common
+distinguished for a superstitious custom, derived, as is supposed, from
+the days of the druids.  When a funeral passed that way, the cortege
+stopped at an oak tree, and placed the corpse on a stone seat at its
+foot.  The company than sang a psalm, and resumed their procession.  It
+may be remarked that wherever an old oak tree is found in this part of
+the country, in an insulated or otherwise remarkable situation, there is
+sure to be connected with it some religious tradition, or some observance
+whose origin is lost in antiquity.  The churches are usually an
+interesting feature in the landscape, for it would seem as if their
+founders had sought purposely out for them solitary places, by the banks
+of rivers or in the midst of groves or fields.  In general they are
+exceedingly simple in appearance, many having the marks of great
+antiquity, and almost all being whitewashed from top to bottom.  An
+antiquary has ingeniously accounted for this peculiarity, by the custom
+the Normans had of constructing even large buildings of pebbles and
+rag-stone, which obliged them to cover the inequalities, outside and
+inside, by a coat of lime and sand.  However this may be, the effect is
+not unpleasing; more especially when the rural temple, as is frequently
+the case, is shaped like a barn, and without a belfry.  Such churches,
+more especially in the mountainous districts, still present the rounded
+arches, and other peculiarities, which denote that their rude walls were
+raised by our Saxon ancestors, if not by the ancient Britons themselves.
+
+We find the white walls, so common in Wales, alluded to as a poetical
+circumstance by one of the bards of the fourteenth century, in a piece of
+considerable beauty; and in the succeeding paragraph there is an allusion
+to another Welsh custom, of more classical authority, that of strewing
+the graves of the dead with flowers.  The poem is an invocation to
+summer, to shed its blessings over the country of Gwent.  The following
+is the paragraph referred to, with the second allusion, terminating the
+ode by an abrupt and pathetic transition.
+
+    “If I obtain thee, O summer, in thy splendid hour, with thy fair
+    growth and thy sporting gems; thy serenity pleasantly bear, thou
+    golden messenger, to Morganoc.  With sunshine morn gladden thou the
+    place, and greet the whitened houses; give growth, give the first
+    fruits of the spring, and collect thou blossoms to the bushes; shine
+    proudly on the wall of lime, full as light and gaily bright; leave
+    there in the vale thy footsteps in juicy herbage, in fresh attire;
+    diffuse a load of delicious fruits, in bounteous course among its
+    woods; give thy crop like a stream over every lawn, the meadows, and
+    the land of wheat; clothe the orchard, the vineyard, and the garden,
+    with thy abundance and thy teeming harvest; and scatter over its fair
+    soil the lovely marks of thy glorious course!
+
+    “And oh! whilst thy season of flowers, and thy tender sprays thick of
+    leaves remain; I will pluck the roses from the branches; the
+    flowerets of the meads, and gems of the woods; the vivid trefoils,
+    beauties of the ground, and the gaily smiling bloom of the verdant
+    herbs, to be offered to the memory of a chief of favorite fame:
+    Humbly I will lay them on the grave of Ivor!”
+
+The Ivor here alluded to was Ivor Hael, or the Generons, an ancestor of
+the Tredgear family of Morgans, whose pedigree is traced, by the Welsh
+bards from the third son of Noah.  The poet David, ap Gwillim, styled the
+Welsh Ovid, loved a lady of the name of Morvid, in whose praise his
+prolific muse produced no fewer than a hundred and forty-seven poems.  A
+rich rival, however, gained the unwilling prize; and the son of song
+consoled himself by carrying off his lost mistress on two several
+occasions, when her husband, Rhys Gwgan, was with the army in France,
+where he served in the rank of captain at the battle of Crecy.  For both
+these offences he was fined and imprisoned, and in both instances
+liberated by the gentlemen of Gwent, who came forward in a body in favour
+of their darling bard.  The above extract is taken from one of two poems
+which he wrote in testimony of his gratitude.  It may be added, that when
+flowers are planted on graves, it was, and we believe is the custom to
+surround the area with stones, which are periodically _whitewashed_.
+
+On the bank opposite Penalt, or a little further down, is Redbrook, upper
+and lower, the one standing above the other on the hill side.  The stream
+from which they derive this name separates Monmouthshire from
+Gloucestershire, and the Wye then continues the boundary.  The brook,
+also, serves the purpose of turning the wheels of some iron and tin
+works; but without vulgarising any more than such accidents have done
+heretofore, the scenic romance of the river.  Wye Seal House comes next,
+on the same side of the river, with the hamlet of Whitebrook and its
+paper-mills on the opposite bank.  Then Pan-y-van hill, and the ruins of
+the old manor-house of Pilton—then an iron bridge over the Wye, and then
+Big’s-weir House, and its surrounding grove, with Hudknolls behind, and
+the ruins of St. Briavels’ Castle on their summit.
+
+This fortress stands in the forest of Dean, and dates from the reign of
+Henry I., when it was founded by Milo, earl of Hereford, for the
+residence and defence of some of the lords-marchers.  St. Briavels,
+formerly a place of some importance, is now a village.  Its inhabitants
+enjoyed several singular immunities which are now obsolete; but they have
+still a right of common in Hudknolls wood, a tract of land on the banks
+of the Wye seven miles long.  They are supposed to enjoy the privilege
+through the performance of a strange ceremony on Whit-sunday.  Each
+inhabitant pays twopence to the churchwardens, who buy bread and cheese
+with the fund, which they cut into small pieces, and distribute to the
+congregation immediately after the service is ended, in the midst of a
+general scramble.  They are also allowed to cut wood, but not timber, in
+any part of the forest.  It is said that a countess of Hereford procured
+for them their privileges by the performance of a feat similar to that of
+the Lady Godiva.
+
+St. Briavels’ Castle was erected by Milo St. Walter, earl of Hereford, in
+the time of Henry I., as a barrier against the Welsh.  Two circular
+towers alone remain entire with a narrow gateway between, composing the
+north-west front.  They contain several apartments, the walls of which
+are eight feet thick.  One is used as a prison for the hundred.  In the
+interior are two other similar gateways, on the right and left of which
+are the remains of spacious rooms.
+
+The governor of St. Briavels—for it became a royal fortress after the
+Hereford family had possessed it for about a century—had formerly
+jurisdiction over the forest of Dean; and it is recorded, that in his
+court the miners were sworn upon a branch of holly instead of the
+testament, lest the holy book should be defiled by their fingers.
+
+We now enter a long reach of the river, with Tiddenham Chase Hill rising
+boldly in front; till Llandogo appears, a beautiful little village on the
+right bank, seated on a hill side in the midst of gardens and orchards,
+and with its small church near the edge of the water, peeping through the
+trees.  This is a scene of quiet beauty, which after the massive forms we
+have passed, we term _prettyness_.  Whatever be its proper name, however,
+in the pedantry of taste, it is not surpassed on the Wye in its own kind.
+It is unfortunate, nevertheless, that at this spot an unfavourable change
+should be observed in the river—although only in the river considered as
+a volume of water, and not taken in conjunction with its scenery.  Here
+the Wye becomes a tide stream, acted upon by the ebb and flow of the
+Severn sea; and in consequence, it is henceforward habitually turbid, and
+no longer a current of pure element, subject only to the influence of
+rains and freshes.
+
+This circumstance has also its effect upon the moral character of the
+river.  Large barges are floated up by the tide to Brook Weir, a little
+lower down, which is midway between Monmouth and Chepstow, or nine miles
+from each; and there they receive the merchandise brought thither in
+small inland vessels from the upper part of the Wye.  Our romantic
+stream, therefore, whose outlines hitherto have been broken only by the
+smokes of furnaces hidden among the trees, and whose still life has been
+varied only by the corracles of the ancient Britons, and other inland
+craft that never dreamt of the breezes of the salt sea, becomes now a
+small highway of trade, a sort of water lane by which the corn, and
+hoops, and fagots, and other productions of the interior are conveyed to
+Bristol.  But even the coasting barge, with her blackened sails, and
+sixty tons of cargo, is not here “a jarring and a dissonant thing.”
+Creeping with the tide along those solemn banks, she acquires a portion
+of their solemnity; floating silently through those pastoral vales, she
+is invested, for the time being, with their simplicity.  Her
+characteristics are swallowed up in the character of the river—the spell
+of the Wye is upon her!
+
+If you doubt the fact, let us wander on but a little further; let us turn
+the point of Lyn Weir, and, looking along the reach beyond, inquire with
+what vulgarised ideas, with what broken associations, we find ourselves
+gliding into the region of Tintern!  Near this spot, the great Druid of
+the Wye, the poet of nature internal and external, produced a poem which
+in all probability will be read, either with tears or smiles of delight,
+long after the works of man shall have completely obliterated those
+features of the grand, the beautiful, the simple, and sublime, to which
+it is our humble task to point the finger.
+
+    “Five years have past, five summers, with the length
+    Of five long winters! and again I hear
+    These waters, rolling from their mountain-springs
+    With a sweet inland murmur.—Once again
+    Do I behold these steep and lofty cliffs,
+    That on a wild secluded scene impress
+    Thoughts of more deep seclusion; and connect
+    The landscape with the quiet of the sky.
+    The day is come when I again repose
+    Here, under this dark sycamore, and view
+    These plots of cottage ground, these orchard tufts,
+    Which, at this season, with their unripe fruits,
+    Are clad in one green hue, and lose themselves
+    Among the woods and copses, nor disturb
+    The wild green landscape.  Once again I see
+    These hedgerows, hardly hedgerows, little lines
+    Of sportive wood run wild: these pastoral farms,
+    Green to the very doors, and wreaths of smoke
+    Sent up, in silence, from among the trees;
+    With some uncertain notice, as might seem
+    Of vagrant dwellers in the houseless woods,
+    Or of some hermit’s cave, where, by his fire,
+    The hermit sits alone.
+
+          “These beauteous forms,
+    Through a long absence, have not been to me
+    As is a landscape to a blind man’s eye:
+    But oft, in lonely rooms, and ’mid the din
+    Of towns and cities, I have owed to them,
+    In hours of weariness, sensations sweet,
+    Felt in the blood, and felt along the heart;
+    And passing even into my purer mind,
+    With tranquil restoration:—feelings too
+    Of unremembered pleasure: such, perhaps,
+    As have no slight or trivial influence
+    On that best portion of a good man’s life,
+    His little, nameless, unremembered acts
+    Of kindness and of love.  Nor less, I trust,
+    To them I may have owed another gift,
+    Of aspect more sublime; that blessed mood
+    In which the burden of the mystery
+    In which the heavy and the weary weight
+    Of all this unintelligible world
+    Is lightened:—that serene and blessed mood,
+    In which the affections gently lead us on,
+    Until, the breath of this corporeal frame
+    And even the motion of our human blood
+    Almost suspended, we are laid asleep
+    In body, and become a living soul:
+    While with an eye made quiet by the power
+    Of harmony, and the deep power of joy,
+    We see into the life of things.
+
+          “If this
+    Be but a vain belief, yet, oh! how oft,
+    In darkness and amid the many shapes
+    Of joyless daylight, when the fretful stir
+    Unprofitable, and the fever of the world
+    Have hung upon the beatings of my heart;
+    How oft, in spirit, have I turned to thee,
+    O sylvan Wye!  Thou wanderer through the woods,
+    How often has my spirit turned to thee.
+
+    “And now with gleams of half extinguished thought,
+    With many recognitions dim and faint,
+    And somewhat of a sad perplexity,
+    The picture of the mind revives again,
+    While here I stand, not only with the sense
+    Of present pleasure, but with pleasing thoughts
+    That in this moment, there is life and food
+    For future years, and so I dare to hope,
+    Though changed, no doubt, from what I was when first
+    I came among these hills; when like a roe
+    I bounded o’er the mountains, by the sides
+    Of the deep rivers, and the lonely streams,
+    Wherever nature led: more like a man
+    Flying from something that he dreads, than one
+    Who sought the thing he loved.  For nature then
+    (The coarser pleasures of my boyish days,
+    And their glad animal movements all gone by)
+    To me was all in all.—I cannot paint
+    What then I was.  The sounding cataract
+    Haunted me like a passion: the tall rock,
+    The mountain, and the deep and gloomy wood,
+    Their colours and their forms, were then to me
+    An appetite; a feeling and a love
+    That had no need of a remoter charm,
+    By thought supplied, nor any interest
+    Unborrowed from the eye.—That time is past,
+    And all its aching joys are now no more,
+    And all its dizzy raptures.  Not for this
+    Faint I, nor mourn nor murmur; other gifts
+    Have followed; for such loss, I would believe,
+    Abundant recompense.  For I have learned
+    To look on nature, not as in the hour
+    Of thoughtless youth; but hearing oftentimes
+    The still, sad music of humanity
+    Nor harsh nor grating, though of ample power
+    To chasten and subdue.  And I have felt
+    A presence that disturbs me with the joy
+    Of elevated thoughts; a sense sublime
+    Of something far more deeply interfused,
+    Whose dwelling is the light of setting suns,
+    And the round ocean and the living air,
+    And the blue sky, and in the mind of man:
+    A motion and a spirit, that impels
+    All thinking things, all objects of all thought,
+    And rolls through all things.  Therefore am I still
+    A lover of the meadows, and the woods,
+    And mountains; and of all that we behold
+    From this green earth; of all the mighty world
+    Of eye, and ear,—both what they half create,
+    And what perceive; well pleased to recognise,
+    In nature and the language of the sense,
+    The anchor of my purest thoughts, the nurse,
+    The guide, the guardian of my heart, and soul
+    Of all my moral being.”
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+
+Vales of the Wye—Valley of Tintern—Tintern Abbey—History—Church—Character
+of the ruin—Site—Coxe’s description—Monuments—Insecurity of sepulchral
+fame—Churchyarde on tombs—Opinions on Tintern—Battle of Tintern.
+
+The “Lines composed a few miles above Tintern Abbey, on revisiting the
+banks of the Wye during a tour,” are justly esteemed one of the
+masterpieces of modern poetry; but independently of this, they belong so
+peculiarly to the river we are attempting to illustrate, and are
+associated so intimately with the character of its scenery, and its
+reputation as a fountain of high thoughts and beautiful feelings, that
+our volume would have been incomplete without them.  It is curious that
+this piece, which is dated in the concluding years of the last century,
+should be the only fruits as yet given to the world of the poetical
+inspiration of the Wye—for the effusions of Bloomfield are not to be
+named with those of Wordsworth.
+
+We have seen that where the picturesque character of the Wye is chiefly
+formed by its banks, which is the case from Goodrich Castle downwards,
+these embrace the stream with more or less straitness, rising in naked
+crags from the water’s edge, or throwing their waving woods over the
+current.  At intervals, however, they recede to some little distance from
+either side; picturesque hills forming the side-screens, and hills,
+rocks, and trees terminating the perspective in front, and enclosing the
+river like a lake.  In such cases, the bottom is formed by a green
+pastoral meadow, through which the stream wanders leisurely, as if
+reposing after former struggles, and preparing for new ones.  These
+lonely vales are not merely secluded from “the hum, the crowd, the shock
+of men,” but from all turbulent thoughts and unholy desires.  The world
+lives in them only in the recollections of dead things, and feelings, and
+persons.  They are spots, to use the fine but unappreciated image of
+Maturin,
+
+    “Where memory lingers o’er the grave of passion,
+    Watching its tranced sleep!”
+
+The admirable taste so unequivocally displayed by the monks of old, in
+the selection of sites for their ascetic retreats, could not have
+overlooked this characteristic of the Wye; and accordingly we find, in
+the most beautiful of these delightful nooks, standing on a gently
+swelling meadow, by the banks of the lake-like river, the finest
+conventual ruins in England.
+
+                            [Picture: Tintern]
+
+Tintern Abbey, though one of the oldest of the Cistercian communities in
+this country, was never famous either for its wealth, or the number of
+its brethren; and at the dissolution it contained only thirteen monks,
+supported by a rental of between two and three hundred pounds at the
+highest calculation. {158}  It was founded in 1131 by Walter de Clare,
+and dedicated to the Virgin Mary; but the endowments were greatly
+increased by Gilbert de Strongbow, lord of Striguil and Chepstow, and
+afterwards earl of Pembroke.  The religious colony consisted of
+Cistercians, otherwise called White Monks, introduced into England only
+three years before, where they formed an establishment at Waverley in
+Surrey.  These brethren spread so luxuriantly, however, that in the reign
+of Henry VIII. there were thirty-six greater, and thirty-nine lesser
+monasteries, and twenty-six nunneries, of their rule.
+
+The founder of the church was Roger Bigod, earl of Norfolk; and it would
+appear that the choir was finished and consecrated before the rest of the
+building was complete, a circumstance not unusual at that time.  The
+consecration took place in 1268; and in the body of the church the
+architecture is of a style long subsequent.  The remains of the church
+are now the only interesting parts of the ruin, at least as a picture:
+and they are in fact what is called “Tintern Abbey;” although there are
+still fragments remaining here and there of the other parts of the pile.
+The church was built in the regular cathedral form; with a nave, north
+and south aisles, transept and choir, and a tower which stood in the
+centre.
+
+Complete as the demolition is, there are at least vestiges, even in the
+most ruinous parts, which explain the original form, and even most of the
+details of the edifice.  The very effects of time, as may be well
+supposed, are here among the principal advantages.  The broken outlines,
+the isolated columns, the roofless walls, are all adjuncts of the
+picturesque; but added to these, there are the curtains, the canopies,
+the chaplets, coronals, festoons, of ivy, mosses and lichens, which give
+as much effect to a ruin, as rich draperies do to naked walls.
+
+                         [Picture: Tintern Abbey]
+
+The tiles which formed the flooring have been removed; and a carpet of
+smooth turf laid down, on which fragments of columns, monuments, statues,
+and sculptures are scattered.  This of course is not entirely the doing
+of time; but art is not displayed obtrusively enough to offend.  A ruined
+edifice, it should be observed, although this is frequently forgotten by
+critics, is a work of man and nature _conjointly_; and the traces,
+therefore, of taste or ingenuity are not to be condemned, as if these
+were exercised in shaping a cliff or amending a cataract.
+
+Gilpin describes Tintern Abbey as occupying “a great eminence, in the
+middle of a circular valley;” and another author declares its site,
+somewhat tautologically, to be a _flat plain_; to which some idle person
+has taken the liberty of appending this marginal note, in the copy of the
+work in the British Museum—“Flat plain indeed!  It is situated just at
+the brow of a richly wooded hill!”  The truth is, that the ruin itself is
+not to be entirely depended upon, as it contrives to assume a different
+appearance even in respect of position, at every turn.  Viewed from a
+short distance down the river, it actually looks as if standing on an
+eminence; but on a nearer approach, we find it in reality not greatly
+elevated above line of the water.  It is in fact built at the bottom of
+the valley, in a spot chosen apparently for solitude and meditation.  The
+solitude, however, it must be confessed is not now so complete as one
+would wish.  The inhabitants of the monastery, it is true, have vanished,
+but their places have been supplied by poor cottagers, who hide their
+misery in the very cells of the monks; and, if this were not enough,
+fragments of the ruin have been broken up, or unearthed, for the
+construction of other hovels.  In the following description will be found
+the opinions on this remarkable scene of archdeacon Coxe, who, together
+with the less correct, but more _artistical_ Gilpin, have been hitherto
+the only recognised authorities of the Wye.
+
+    “We disembarked about half a mile above the village of Tintern, and
+    followed the sinuous course of the Wye.  As we advanced to the
+    village, we passed some picturesque ruins hanging over the edge of
+    the water, which are supposed to have formed part of the abbot’s
+    villa, and other buildings occupied by the monks; some of these
+    remains are converted into dwellings and cottages, others are
+    interspersed among the iron founderies and habitations.
+
+    “The first appearance of the celebrated remains of the abbey church
+    did not equal my expectations, as they are half-concealed by mean
+    buildings, and the triangular shape of the gable ends has a formal
+    appearance.
+
+    “After passing a miserable row of cottages, and forcing our way
+    through a crowd of importunate beggars, we stopped to examine the
+    rich architecture of the west front; but the door being suddenly
+    opened, the inside perspective of the church called forth an
+    instantaneous burst of admiration, and filled me with delight, such
+    as I scarcely ever before experienced on a similar occasion.  The eye
+    passes rapidly along a range of elegant gothic pillars, and, glancing
+    under the sublime arches which supported the tower, fixes itself on
+    the splendid relics of the eastern window, the grand termination of
+    the choir.
+
+    “From the length of the nave, the height of the walls, the aspiring
+    form of the pointed arches, and the size of the east window, which
+    closes the perspective, the first impressions are those of grandeur
+    and sublimity.  But as these emotions subside, and we descend from
+    the contemplation of the whole to the examination of the parts, we
+    are no less struck with the regularity of the plan, the lightness of
+    the architecture, and the delicacy of the ornaments; we feel that
+    elegance is its characteristic no less than grandeur, and that the
+    whole is a combination of the beautiful and the sublime.
+
+    “The church was constructed in the shape of a cathedral, and is an
+    excellent specimen of gothic architecture in its greatest purity.
+    The roof is fallen in, and the whole ruin open to the sky, but the
+    shell is entire; all the pillars are standing, except those which
+    divided the nave from the northern aisle, and their situation is
+    marked by the remains of the bases.  The four lofty arches which
+    supported the tower spring high in the air, reduced to narrow rims of
+    stone, yet still preserving their original form.  The arched pillars
+    of the choir and transept are complete; the shapes of all the windows
+    may be still discriminated, and the frame of the west window is in
+    perfect preservation; the design of the tracery is extremely elegant,
+    and when decorated with painted glass must have produced a fine
+    effect.  Critics who censure this window as too broad for its height,
+    do not consider that it was not intended for a particular object, but
+    to harmonise with the general plan; and had the architect diminished
+    the breadth, in proportion to the height, the grand effect of the
+    perspective would have been considerably lessened.
+
+    “The general form of the east window is entire, but the frame is much
+    dilapidated; it occupies the whole breadth of the choir, and is
+    divided into two large and equal compartments, by a slender shaft,
+    not less than fifty feet in height, which has an appearance of
+    singular lightness, and in particular points of view seems suspended
+    in the air.
+
+    “Nature has added her ornaments to the decorations of art; some of
+    the windows are wholly obscured, others partially shaded with tufts
+    of ivy, or edged with lighter foliage; the tendrils creep along the
+    walls, wind round the pillars, wreath the capitals, or, hanging down
+    in clusters, obscure the space beneath.
+
+    “Instead of dilapidated fragments overspread with weeds and choked
+    with brambles, the floor is covered with a smooth turf, which, by
+    keeping the original level of the church, exhibits the beauty of its
+    proportions, heightens the effect of the gray stone, gives a relief
+    to the clustered pillars, and affords an easy access to every part.
+    Ornamented fragments of the roof, remains of cornices and columns,
+    rich pieces of sculpture, sepulchral stones, and mutilated figures of
+    monks and heroes, whose ashes repose within these walls, are
+    scattered on the green sward, and contrast present desolation with
+    former splendour.
+
+    “Although the exterior appearance of the ruins is not equal to the
+    inside view, yet in some positions, particularly to the east, they
+    present themselves with considerable effect.  While Sir Richard Hoare
+    was employed in sketching the north-western side, I crossed the
+    ferry, and walked down the stream about half a mile.  From this
+    point, the ruins, assuming a new character, seem to occupy a gentle
+    eminence, and impend over the river without the intervention of a
+    single cottage to obstruct the view.  The grand east window, wholly
+    covered with shrubs, and half mantled with ivy, rises like the portal
+    of a majestic edifice embowered in wood.  Through this opening and
+    along the vista of the church, the clusters of ivy, which twine round
+    the pillars or hang suspended from the arches, resemble tufts of
+    trees; while the thick mantle of foliage, seen through the tracery of
+    the west window, forms a continuation of the perspective, and appears
+    like an interminable forest.”
+
+The reputation of Tintern Abbey depends upon no historical associations.
+The romance of its situation is heightened by no romance of incident.  It
+is simply a part of a picture, and might be entitled in the catalogue of
+a gallery “an abbey.”  The sepulchral remains it holds retain neither
+name nor date; and one of the most entire of the figures (supposed to be
+the effigies of the founder of the monastery, which, however, must be
+looked for at Gloucester, where according to Leland he was buried) is
+disputed the possession of the usual number of fingers on the right hand;
+one antiquary, hesitating between four and five, and another according to
+it, more generously, five fingers—and a thumb!  In no part of the country
+has this means of prolonging fame been more constantly resorted to than
+in Monmouthshire; but unfortunately, owing to its geographical position
+as a frontier district, in no part of the country has the object been
+more frequently defeated.  As a solitary instance of this among
+thousands, we are tempted to quote a fragment which just now catches our
+eye, from the rhymes of _Churchyarde_ (a most suitable name), and the
+rather that it exhibits the poet of the “Worthines of Wales” in a more
+poetical light than usual.  He is describing the tombs in the church of
+Abergavenny; and after noting the arms and other particulars, proceeds—
+
+    “But note a greater matter now,
+    Upon his tomb in stone,
+    Were fourteene lords that knees did bow
+    Unto this lord alone.
+    Of this rare work a porch is made,
+    The barrons there remaine
+    In good old stone, and auncient trade,
+    To show all ages plaine,
+    What honour wass to Hastings due,
+    What honour he did win:
+    What armes he gave, and so to blaze
+    What lord had Hastings bin.”
+
+But alas for the frailty of fame even so secured!  The dilapidated
+monument laughed in the unconscious rhymer’s face through the rents of
+time; the principal effigies had been removed to a window, and several of
+the “fourteene lords” placed in a porch; and the very name of him whose
+memory the whole had been intended to perpetuate, had become a matter of
+doubt and controversy!  “Some say this great lord was called Bruce and
+not Hastings, but most do hold opinion he was called Hastings!”
+
+It may seem almost superfluous to give any further evidence respecting
+the picturesque character of Tintern Abbey; but as we design this volume
+not merely to act the part of a sign-post, but to save the common reader
+the trouble of reference, we shall add two other quotations.
+
+    “It would be difficult to imagine a more favourable situation, or a
+    more sublime ruin.  The entrance to it seems as if contrived by the
+    hand of some skilful scene-painter to produce the most striking
+    effect.  The church, which is large, is still almost perfect; the
+    roof alone, and a few of the pillars, are wanting.  The ruins have
+    received just that degree of care which is consistent with the full
+    preservation of their character; all unpicturesque rubbish which
+    could obstruct the view is removed, without any attempt at repair or
+    embellishment.  A beautiful smooth turf covers the ground, and
+    luxuriant creeping plants grow amid the stones.  The fallen ornaments
+    are laid in picturesque confusion, and a perfect avenue of thick
+    ivy-stems climb up the pillars, and form a roof over head.  The
+    better to secure the ruin, a new gate of antique workmanship, with
+    iron ornaments, is put up.  When this is suddenly opened, the effect
+    is most striking and surprising.  You suddenly look down the avenue
+    of ivy-clad pillars, and see their grand perspective lines closed, at
+    a distance of three hundred feet, by a magnificent window eighty feet
+    high and thirty broad: through its intricate and beautiful tracery
+    you see a wooded mountain, from whose side project abrupt masses of
+    rock.  Over head the wind plays in the garlands of ivy, and the
+    clouds pass swiftly across the deep blue sky.  When you reach the
+    centre of the church, whence you look to the four extremities of its
+    cross, you see the two transept windows nearly as large and beautiful
+    as the principal one; through each you command a picture totally
+    different, but each in the wild and sublime style which harmonises so
+    perfectly with the building.  Immediately round the ruin is a
+    luxuriant orchard.  In spring, how exquisite must be the effect of
+    these grey venerable walls rising out of that sea of fragrance and
+    beauty!”
+
+The other extract belongs to the class sentimental, and is not a
+description of Tintern Abbey, but of the mood of mind to which it
+disposes.
+
+    “The great tree, or vegetable rock, or emperor of the oaks (if you
+    please), before which I bowed with a sort of reverence in the fields
+    of Tintern, and which for so many ages has borne all the blasts and
+    bolts of heaven, I should deem it a gratification of a superior kind,
+    to approach again with ‘unsandaled feet’ to pay the same homage, and
+    to kindle with the same devotion.  But I should find amidst the
+    magnificent ruins of the adjoining abbey, something of a sublime
+    cast, to give poignancy to my feelings.  I must be alone.  My mind
+    must be calm and pensive.  It must be midnight.  The moon, half
+    veiled in clouds, must be just emerging from behind the neighbouring
+    hills.  All must be silent, except the winds gently rushing among the
+    ivy of the ruins.  I should then invoke the ghosts of the abbey; and
+    fancy, with one stroke of her magic wand, would rouse them from their
+    dusty beds, and lead them into the centre of the ruin.  I should
+    approach their shadowy existences with reverence, make inquiries
+    respecting the manners and customs, and genius and fate of antiquity,
+    desire to have a glimpse of the destiny of future ages, and enter in
+    conversations which would be too sacred, and even dangerous to
+    communicate.”
+
+The only event unconnected with the monastery which is assigned to this
+locality is a _battle_.  Whether it was fought on the hills above, or
+whether the demon of war actually intruded within the charmed circle of
+Tintern—or whether the whole is a fable, invented for the express purpose
+of desecrating the very idea of the place—we cannot tell.  But however
+this may be, the fact, or the falsehood, is commemorated in the following
+epitaph, which is placed on the north side of the chancel of the church
+of Mathern.
+
+    Here lyeth entombed the body of
+    Frederic, King of Morganoch or
+    Glamorgan, commonly called
+    St. Thewdrick, and accounted a martyr,
+    because he was slain in a battle against
+    the Saxons, being then Pagans, and in
+    defence of the Christian religion.  The
+    battle was fought at Tintern, when he
+    obtained a great victory.  He died here
+    being in his way homeward, three
+    days after the battle, having taken
+    order with Maurice his son, who suc-
+    ceeded him in the kingdom, that in the
+    same place he should happen to decease, a
+    church should be built, and his body buri-
+    ed in ye same, which was accordingly performed
+             in the year 1601.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+
+The Wye below Tintern—Banagor Crags—Lancaut—Piercefield
+Bay—Chepstow—Ancient and modern bridge—Chepstow Castle—Roger de
+Britolio—Romance of history—Chepstow in the civil wars—Marten the
+regicide.
+
+The Wye being now a tide river, time requires to be studied by the
+traveller who would see it in its beauty or grandeur.  The shores must be
+hidden by the full stream, and the overhanging woods fling their shadow
+as before over the glancing waters.  Some bargain for the moon, to silver
+the tree tops, and send her angel-visitings through the vistas of
+foliage.  But the truth is, before reaching this point we have become the
+spoiled children of nature; we have grown fastidious in our admiration,
+and would criticise perfection itself.
+
+With the one drawback of the sludginess of the shores at ebb water, the
+Wye below Tintern is as worthy of our homage as ever.  But it may be,
+that the romance of its rocks and woods impending over the current, and
+the deep stillness of the scene, broken only by the rippling sound of its
+flow, may harmonize _too_ closely with the holy solitude we have left.
+Our sensations are uninterrupted; we carry with us the ruins and their
+associations; the mouldering abbey glides upon the stream before us; and
+the recesses of the rocks, and deep paths of the woods, are peopled with
+the spectres of the monastery.  Thus we have no new impressions to mark
+our progress, and one of the finest parts of the river escapes almost
+without notice.
+
+There is notwithstanding much variety in this part of our course.  The
+reaches are short; the banks steep, sometimes overhanging in naked
+precipices, sometimes waving with romantic woods; while numerous narrow
+promontories intercept the view, and cut the scene into separate
+pictures.  Banagor Crags, on the left, form a stupendous wall of cliff,
+extending for a considerable distance, without presenting anything in
+themselves to relieve the eye, except here and there some recesses or
+small shrubs, painting their interstices.  But, as if aware of the
+disadvantage even of a sublime uniformity, nature has spread upon the
+opposite side a scene incomparable for richness and variety.  A bright
+green sward, broken into narrow patches, swells upwards from the water’s
+edge, till it is lost in acclivities mantled with woods; and rising from
+the ridge of these, a mass of perpendicular rock towers aloft to the
+height, as it is computed, of eight hundred feet, overhung with shaggy
+thickets.
+
+We now turn the peninsula of Lancaut, which comes sloping down from
+Tiddenham Chase, till it terminates in fertile meadows; and, on the
+right, rise from the water’s edge, with a kind of fantastic majesty, the
+Piercefield cliffs, capped with magnificent woods.  Twelve projecting
+masses of these rocks have received the names of the twelve apostles, and
+a thirteenth is called St. Peter’s Thumb.  While wondering where this
+will end, we sweep round another point, and find ourselves in Piercefield
+Bay.  To the right a line of perpendicular cliffs is still seen, but
+crowned instead of trees with an embattled fortress; which, for a moment,
+might seem to have been cut out of the rock.  The view is closed by a
+range of red cliffs, with the magnificent iron bridge of Chepstow
+spanning the river.  This is the last of the great views _on_ the Wye;
+and if seen under favorable circumstances of time and tide, it is one of
+the finest.
+
+                           [Picture: Chepstow]
+
+Chepstow stands on the side of an acclivity, overlooked itself on all
+sides by loftier hills, so that from every part of the town a different
+view is obtained.  Approaching it from the road which leads from the New
+Passage, this position, owing to the singularity of a part of the higher
+ground, gives the scene a very peculiar appearance.  Nothing is seen but
+the red cliffs of the Wye, and the tall masts of the shipping rising
+among them; and it is not till close at hand that the houses appear,
+shelving down to the river.  Archdeacon Coxe observes, that he has seldom
+visited any town whose picturesque situation surpassed that of Chepstow;
+and according to Mr. Wyndham, another traveller in this district, “the
+beauties are so uncommonly excellent, that the most exact critic in
+landscape would scarcely wish to alter a position in the assemblage of
+woods, cliffs, ruins, and water.”  Among these features, the Wye and its
+banks are conspicuous.  The ridge of cliff on the left bank below the
+bridge is remarkable both for its form and variety of colouring; while,
+on the opposite bank above, the gigantic remains of the castle,
+stretching along the brink of the precipice, give an air of romance to
+the picture, not frequently found in one of the crowded haunts of men.
+
+The bridge is of cast iron, and was completed only in 1816.  There are
+five arches, resting on stone piers; but although in reality a massive
+structure, it has the air of lightness, when viewed from the river, which
+iron bridges usually possess.  The old bridge was formerly composed of a
+level floor, carried along wooden piers, except in the centre, where a
+massive pillar of stone, dividing Gloucester and Monmouth, was the
+support.  Afterwards, however, stone piers were substituted for those on
+the Monmouth side, before the two counties joined in the erection of the
+present noble structure.
+
+“According to tradition,” says Mr. Coxe, “the bridge of the Wye was
+formerly half a mile above the present bridge, at a place called Eddis,
+nearly opposite to the alcove in Piercefield grounds, and seemingly in a
+direction leading towards an ancient encampment which encircles the
+grotto.  The remains of the abutments are said to have been visible in
+the memory of some of the present generation; and the vestiges of a
+pitched road were recently found in digging near the spot.  I walked to
+the spot, but could not discern the smallest traces of the ancient
+bridge, and the ground on which the pitched road was discovered was
+planted with potatoes.  I was, however, amply gratified for my
+disappointment by the pleasantness of the walk by the side of the river,
+the beauty of the hanging woods of Piercefield, and the picturesque
+appearance of the castle.”
+
+The castle of Chepstow is said by some antiquaries, to have been built
+originally by Julius Cæsar; which is denied by others, on the reasonable
+grounds, that Julius Cæsar never was there, and that Roman reliques,
+although abundant in the neighbourhood, have never been discovered in the
+town.  However this may be, the name by which it is at present known, is
+Saxon, and denotes a place of traffic; and Leland traces at least its
+prosperity to its situation being favourable for commerce.  “The towne of
+Chepstowe,” says he, “hath been very strongly walled, as yet well doth
+appere.  The walles began at the grete bridge, over the Wy, and so came
+to the castel; the which yet standeth fayer and strong, not far from the
+ruin of the bridge.  A grete lykelyhood ys, that when Carguen began to
+decay, then began Chepstow to flourish, for yt standeth far better, as
+upon Wy there ebbing and flowing, by the Rage coming out of the Severn,
+so that to Chepstowe may come grete shippes.”
+
+The castle, as we have said, crowns the brow of a precipice, forming here
+the right bank of the Wye; and its walls, on the northern side, are so
+close to the edge as to seem nothing more than a prolongation of the
+rock.  The rest of the fortress was defended by a moat and its own lofty
+towers.
+
+The area was divided into four courts.  The first, which is entered by a
+Norman gateway, contained the grand hall, the kitchen, and other
+apartments, on a scale of considerable grandeur.  At the south-eastern
+angle of this court is the keep, or citadel, now called Harry Marten’s
+Tower.  The second court contains no architectural remains, except the
+walls; but in the third is a remarkable building, usually designated as
+the chapel.  It seems to have formed one magnificent apartment, probably
+with a gallery running along the sides.  The fourth court was separated
+from the rest by a moat, which was crossed by a drawbridge.  Whether a
+former building stood here or not, William Fitzosborn, earl of Hereford,
+is said in Domesday Book to have built the castle of Chepstow.  It was
+inherited by his third son Roger de Britolio, who was deprived of his
+estates, and condemned to perpetual imprisonment for rebellion.  The
+fierce character of this Norman baron is well illustrated in the
+following anecdote preserved by Dugdale.
+
+    “Though he frequently used many scornful and contumelious expressions
+    towards the king, yet he was pleased, at the celebration of the feast
+    of Easter in a solemn manner (as was then used), to send to this earl
+    Rodger, at that time in prison, his royal robes, who so disdained the
+    favour, that he forthwith caused a great fire to be made, and the
+    mantle, the inner surcoat of silk, and the upper garment, lined with
+    precious furs, to be suddenly burnt.  Which being made known to the
+    king, he became not a little displeased, and said, ‘_Certainly he is
+    a very proud man who has thus abused me_; _but_, _by the brightness
+    of God_, _he shall never come out of prison as long as I live_.’
+    Which expression was fulfilled to the utmost, for he never was
+    released during the king’s life, nor after, but died in prison.”
+
+In the reign of Henry I., we find Chepstow in the possession of the Clare
+family; of whom Richard de Clare, surnamed, like his father, Strongbow,
+is famous for his Irish adventures.  ‘At the solicitation of Dermot
+Macnagh, king of Leinster, who had been dethroned by his rival Roderic
+the Great, king of Connaught (for there were then five kings in Ireland),
+he proceeded to that country with twelve hundred men, to espouse the
+cause of the unfortunate potentate: being offered, in the spirit of the
+age, his daughter for a wife, and his kingdom for an inheritance.
+Strongbow landed at Waterford in 1171; married the princess; and his
+father-in-law dying at the very moment demanded by poetical justice,
+conquered his promised kingdom, and took possession of Dublin the
+capital.  The romance, however, was spoiled by Henry II., who, in high
+dudgeon at this presumption of a subject, confiscated his estates, and
+carried an army over to Ireland, with the purpose of annexing Leinster to
+the English crown.  Strongbow submitted; abandoned Waterford and Dublin
+to his feudal master; was restored to his estates, and made constable of
+Ireland.  His character is thus described by Giraldus Cambrensis:
+
+    “This earle was somewhat ruddie and of sanguine complexion and
+    freckle face, his eyes greie, his face feminine, his voice small, and
+    his necke little, but somewhat of high stature: he was verie
+    liberall, corteous, and gentle; what he could not compass or bring to
+    passe in deed, he would win by good word and gentle speeches.  In
+    time of peace he was more redie to yield and obeie than rule and
+    beare swaie.  Out of the campe he was more like to a souldier
+    companion than a captaine or ruler; but in the camp and in the warres
+    he carried with him the state and countenance of a valiante captaine.
+    Of himselfe he would not adventure anie thing; but being advised and
+    set on, he refused no attempts; but for himselfe he would not rashlie
+    adventure or presumptuouslie take anie thing in hand.  In the fighte
+    and battell he was a most assured token and signe to the whole
+    companie, either to stand valiante to the fight, or for policie to
+    retire.  In all chances of warre he was still one and the same manner
+    of man, being neither dismaied with adversitie, or puffed up with
+    prosperitie.”
+
+By the marriage of a daughter of Richard Strongbow (who had no male
+issue) our castle next came into the hands of one of the greatest men of
+his time, William, marshal of England, lord protector of the kingdom; and
+by the marriage of his daughter (for although he had five sons they all
+died without issue), it fell to Hugh Bigod, earl of Norfolk.  This
+daughter was Maud, remarkable for having been in her widowhood created
+_marshal_ in virtue of her descent, the king himself, Henry III.,
+solemnly giving the truncheon into her hands.  She was buried in Tintern
+Abbey in 1248, her body being carried into the choir by her four sons.
+
+After changing hands several times, Chepstow Castle appears to have been
+_sold_ to the earl of Pembroke; whose heiress Elizabeth conveyed it by
+marriage, as we have already had occasion to relate, to Sir Charles
+Somerset, afterwards earl of Worcester.  Churchyarde mentions the fact of
+the sale in his uncouth rhymes.
+
+    “To Chepstowe yet, my pen agayne must passe,
+    When Strongbow once (an earl of rare renown),
+    A long time since, the lord and maister was
+    (In princly sort) of casle and of towne.
+    Then after that, to Mowbray it befell,
+    Of Norfolke duke, a worthie known full well;
+    Who sold the same to William Harbert, knight,
+    That was the earle of Pembroke then by right.”
+
+During the civil wars, this place was considered of great importance.
+
+    “At first, Chepstow was garrisoned for the king, until in 1645,
+    Colonel Morgan, governor of Gloucester, at the head of three hundred
+    horse and four hundred foot, and assisted by the mountaineers, with
+    little difficulty made himself master of the town, and in a few days
+    compelled the governor, Colonel Fitzmorris, to surrender the castle.
+    But the castle was afterwards surprised by the loyalists, under Sir
+    Nicholas Hemeys, who, in the absence of the governor, by means of a
+    secret correspondence, obtained possession of the western gate, and
+    made the garrison prisoners of war.  On this event Cromwell marched
+    against it in person, took possession of the town, but assailed the
+    castle without success, though garrisoned only by a hundred and sixty
+    men.  He then left Colonel Ewer, with a train of artillery, seven
+    companies of foot, and four troops of horse, to prosecute the siege.
+    But the garrison defended themselves valiantly, until the provisions
+    were exhausted, and even then refused to surrender under promise of
+    quarter, hoping to escape by means of a boat, which they had provided
+    for that purpose.  A soldier of the parliamentary army, however, swam
+    across the river, with a knife between his teeth, cut the cable of
+    the boat, and brought it away; the castle was at length forced, and
+    Sir Nicholas Hemys and forty slain in the assault.  This event was
+    considered by the parliament so important, that the captain who
+    brought the news was rewarded with fifty pounds, and a letter of
+    thanks was sent to Colonel Ewer and the officers and soldiers engaged
+    in that service.”
+
+In 1645, the castle, with the other estates belonging to the marquis of
+Worcester, were settled upon Oliver Cromwell, but were given back to the
+family at the restoration.
+
+    “For thirty years secluded from mankind,
+    Here Marten lingered.  Often have these walls
+    Echoed his footsteps, as with even tread
+    He paced around his prison.  Not to him
+    Did nature’s fair varieties exist:
+    He never saw the sun’s delightful beams,
+    Save when thro’ yon high bars he pour’d a sad
+    And broken splendor.”
+
+All this, it now appears, is a poetical exaggeration, and the thirty
+years’ captivity (diminished to twenty years) passed away as easily as
+the sense of captivity would permit.  The regicide was permitted to spend
+his property as he pleased, to enjoy the association of his wife, to
+receive visits, and even to return them in the neighbourhood, accompanied
+by a guard.
+
+Marten was one of the most zealous of those men who cast down the statue
+of royalty from a pedestal, upon which, although re-erected, it can never
+again stand securely of its own strength unsupported by public opinion.
+He does not appear to have been himself of irreproachable character, but
+he was honest at least in theory, and true to his principles, such as
+they were.
+
+“Being authorised,” says Anthony Wood, “by parliament, about 1642, he
+forced open a great iron chest, within the college of Westminster, and
+thence took the crown, robes, sword, and sceptre belonging anciently to
+king Edward the Confessor, and used by all our kings at their
+inaugurations; and with a scorn greater than his lusts and the rest of
+his vices, he openly declared that there should be no farther use of
+those toys and trifles, and in the jolity of that humour he invested
+George Wither (an old puritan satyrist) in the royal habiliments; who
+being crowned and royally arrayed (as well right became him) did first
+march about the room, with a stately garb, and afterwards with a thousand
+apish and ridiculous actions exposed those sacred ornaments to contempt
+and laughter.”
+
+Marten was a member of the high court of justice, regularly attended the
+trial, was present when sentence was pronounced, and signed the warrant
+of death.  It is added, that when Cromwell took up the pen to sign, he
+spattered some ink upon Marten; and Marten, when his turn came, returned
+the frolic!  The two friends, however, were enemies at last.  Cromwell
+would have made himself king if he had been able, but Marten said, “If
+they must have a king, he had rather have had the last than any gentleman
+in England; he found no fault in his person, but in his office.”  When
+the regicides who surrendered to the king’s proclamation were condemned,
+they claimed mercy on the score of having given themselves up in order to
+save their lives; and Marten, always forward and fearless, added, “that
+he had never obeyed any proclamation before this, and hoped that he
+should not be hanged for taking the king’s word now.”  He was at length
+condemned to perpetual imprisonment, but both in the Tower and in
+Chepstow Castle he was treated with great lenity.  He died of apoplexy in
+the twentieth year of his confinement, and seventy-eighth of his age.  He
+was buried in the chancel of the parish church at Chepstow, and a stone,
+with an inscription written by himself placed over his body.  This was
+removed, however, to another part of the church, by the pious loyalty of
+a succeeding vicar; but the stone being defaced, a new one was
+substituted, by order of the churchwardens, in 1812, with the original
+epitaph.
+
+                      Here,
+    September the 9, in the year of our Lord 1680,
+    Was buried a true Englishman,
+    Who in Berkshire was well known
+    To love his country’s freedom ’bove his own,
+    But living immured full twenty year,
+    Had time to write, as does appear,
+
+                                 HIS EPITAPH.
+
+    H ere, or elsewhere (all’s one to you, to me),
+    E arth, air, or water, gripes my ghostly dust;
+    N o one knows how soon to be by fire set free.
+    R eader, if you an oft-tried rule will trust,
+    Y ou will gladly do and suffer what you must.
+
+    M y life was spent in serving you,
+    A nd death’s my pay (it seems), and welcome too;
+    R evenge destroying but itself, while I
+    T o birds of prey leave my old cage and fly.
+    E xamples preach to th’ eye, care then (mine says)
+    N ot how you end, but how you spend your days.
+
+The church was part of the chapel of a priory of Benedictine monks,
+founded here soon after the Conquest; and is interesting from its
+architecture, being for the greater part in the early Norman style, but
+with ornamented gothic windows—and a tower adorned by the taste of the
+present age with Greek pilasters!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+
+Piercefield—Points of view—Curious appearance—Scenic character of the
+place—View from Wyndcliff—Account of Valentine Morris—Anecdotes—The Wye
+below Chepstow—Aust Ferry—Black Rock Ferry—St. Theodric—Conclusion.
+
+The romantic region of Piercefield, extending from Chepstow to
+Wyndcliff—a distance of about three miles by the sinuous walk, is one of
+the grand attractions of this place.  It is nothing more, it is true,
+than a gentleman’s park; but then the landscape gardener by whom this
+park was laid out is Nature herself, who has lavished here her beauty,
+her grandeur, and her romance, in the wildest profusion.  Art is entirely
+subservient to her purposes, opening the view where it was shut in, and
+forming paths for the pilgrim foot that would approach to worship.
+
+“In the composition of the scenery,” says the historical tourist, “the
+meandering Wye, the steep cliffs, and the fertile peninsula of Lancaut,
+form the striking characteristics.
+
+“The Wye, which is everywhere seen from a great elevation, passes between
+Wyndcliff and the Bangor rocks, winds round the peninsula of Lancaut,
+under a semicircular chain of stupendous cliffs, is lost in its sinuous
+course, and again appears in a straight line at the foot of the Lancaut
+rocks, and flows under the majestic ruins of Chepstow Castle towards the
+Severn.
+
+“The rocks are broken into a variety of fantastic shapes, and scattered
+at different heights and different positions: they start abruptly from
+the river, swell into gentle acclivities, or hang on the summits of the
+hills; here they form a perpendicular rampart, these jet into enormous
+projections, and impend over the water.
+
+“But their dizzy heights and abrupt precipices are softened by the woods
+which form a no less conspicuous feature in the romantic scenery; they
+are not meagre plantations placed by art, but a tract of forests
+scattered by the hand of nature.  In one place they expand into open
+groves of large oak, elm, and beech; in another form a shade of timber
+trees, copses, and underwood, hiding all external objects, and wholly
+impervious to the rays of the sun, they start from the crevices of the
+rocks, feather their edges, crown their summits, clothe their sides, and
+fill the intermediate hollows with a luxuriant mass of foliage, bring to
+recollection of the border
+
+    “‘Of Eden, where delicious paradise,
+    Now nearer, crowns with her enclosure green,
+    As with a rural mound, the champaign head
+    Of a steep wilderness, whose hairy sides,
+    With thicket o’ergrown, grotesque and wild,
+    Access denied, and over head up grew
+    Insuperable height of loftiest shade,
+
+                                 * * * * * *
+
+    A sylvan scene and as the banks ascend
+    Shade above shade, a woody theatre
+    Of stateliest view.’”
+
+And this grandeur is heightened, not diminished, by the view presented in
+the midst of fertile fields, and the simple details of rural occupation.
+The peninsula of Laucaut, on the opposite bank of the Wye, is a
+comparatively extensive farm, cultivated to the highest perfection, and
+rich with the gifts of Ceres.  It is dotted with trees, and a range of
+elms fringes it on the side of the river.  Towards the middle of its
+pear-shaped area, or rather approaching the isthmus, stands the farm
+house, with rocks and woods behind.  The principal points of view are the
+following:
+
+1. The Lover’s Leap.  2. A seat near two beeches on the edge of the
+precipice.  3. The Giant’s Cave, which occupies the centre of the
+amphitheatre and overlooks Lancaut peninsula.  4. The halfway seat under
+a large beech tree.  5. The double view.  6. Above Piercewood.  7. The
+grotto.  8. The platform.  9. The alcove.
+
+But other portions of the grounds not so frequently visited are noticed
+by an observant traveller.  “From the Giant’s cave, a road winds
+beautifully along the brow of the cliff to a grove of lofty oak, beech,
+and sycamore, which is cleared from underwood, in the centre of the
+extensive forest which spreads beneath the Lover’s Leap.  In this
+charming and sequestered spot is a cold bath supplied by a copious and
+transparent rill, which springs at the foot of the winding cliff, and
+ripples down the side of the declivity.  The road then descends to
+Malridge meadow, on the bank of the Wye, where the river appears like a
+lake, and the fertile peninsula of Lancaut rises in a gentle declivity
+from the margin of the stream to the isthmus.
+
+“A beautiful walk, two miles in length, skirts this meadow, at the foot
+of the stupendous range of Piercefield cliffs, and then mounts to the
+house by steps, cut in a steep rock.  As the house stands several hundred
+feet above the river, the ascent is long and difficult, but the toil is
+amply repaid by the beauty and sublimity of the scene.”
+
+From some of these points, it may be observed, the Severn, seen _beyond_
+the Wye, appears to be considerably _above_ it; and, however easily
+explained the phenomenon may be, an indescribably puzzling effect is
+produced by the idea that the latter river, a few miles lower down, runs
+into the former.  The fact is noticed by Mr. Coxe, whose description is
+truly excellent.
+
+“From the Lover’s Leap the walk is carried through a thick mantle of
+forests, with occasional openings, which seem not the result of art or
+design, but the effect of chance or nature, and seats placed where the
+spectator may repose and view at leisure the scenery above, beneath, and
+around.  This
+
+             Bowery walk
+    Of covert close, where scarce a speck of day
+    Falls on the lengthened gloom,
+
+is conformant to the genius of Piercefield; the screen of wood prevents
+the uniformity of a bird’s eye view, and the imperceptible bend of the
+amphitheatre conveys the spectator from one part of the fairy region to
+the other without perceiving the gradation.  Hence the Wye is sometimes
+concealed or half-obscured by overhanging foliage, at others, wholly
+expanding to view, is seen sweeping beneath in a broad and circuitous
+channel; hence in one place the Severn spreads in the midst of a
+boundless expanse of country, and on the opposite side to the Wye; at
+another both rivers appear on the same side, and the Severn seems
+supported on the summit of the cliffs which form the bank of the Wye.
+Hence the same objects present themselves in different aspects, with
+varied accompaniments; hence the magic transition from the impervious
+gloom of the forest to open groves; from meadows and lawns, to rocks and
+precipices, and from the beauties of English landscape, to the wildness
+of Alpine scenery.
+
+                      [Picture: View from Wyndcliff]
+
+“The summit of Wind Cliff, which towers above the northern extremity of
+the grounds, commands, in one point of view, the whole extent of this
+interesting scenery: as I stood on the brow of this precipice, I looked
+down on the fertile peninsula of Lancaut, surrounded with rocks and
+forests, contemplated the hanging wood, rich lawns, and romantic cliffs
+of Piercefield, the castle and town of Chepstow, and traced the Wye,
+sweeping in the true outline of beauty, from the Bangor crags to its
+junction with the Severn, which spreads into an estuary, and is lost in
+the distant ocean.
+
+“A boundless extent of country is seen in every direction from this
+commanding eminence, comprehending not less than nine counties.  In the
+midst of this expanse, I principally directed my attention to the subject
+of my tour, which now drew to a conclusion.  I traced, with pleasing
+satisfaction, not unmixed with regret, the luxuriant vallies and romantic
+hills of this interesting country, which I had traversed in various
+directions, but I dwelt with peculiar admiration on the majestic rampart
+which forms its boundary to the west, and extends in one grand and
+unbroken outline, from the banks of the Severn to the Black Mountains,
+
+          “‘Where the broken landscape, by degrees
+    Ascending, roughens into rigid hills;
+    O’er which the Cambrian mountains, like far clouds
+    That skirt the blue horizon, dusky rise.’”
+
+Till Piercefield was inherited by Valentine Morris, whose father had
+obtained it by purchase, the capabilities of the place were unknown,
+principally, we should think, from the view being hidden by a deep veil
+of forest.  Morris saw everything, however, with the eye of taste; and
+without officiously intermeddling with nature, he contrived, by merely
+displaying the treasures that before were concealed, and by opening out
+paths through the woods to enable visiters to enjoy them, to render
+Piercefield the fairy-land it now appears.  He seems to have been a man
+of a princely mind, but a thoughtless, unreflecting disposition.  His
+beautiful property was nothing to him without admirers; and he was so
+grateful for admiration, that he caused his servants to wait upon and
+feast, gratuitously, even the vagrant stranger, as soon as his foot had
+entered the magic circle.  It is hardly necessary to add, therefore, that
+by the time the beauties of Piercefield had become extensively known,
+their master was ruined.  Various other circumstances, however, concurred
+to dissipate a large fortune, and at length he retired to the West
+Indies, where he had inherited considerable property.  The following
+anecdote is told of his adieu to Piercefield:—
+
+    “Before his final departure from England, he indulged himself with
+    bidding adieu to Piercefield.  In company with a friend he surveyed
+    his own creation, for the last time, with apparent composure and
+    manly resignation.  On his return to Chepstow he was surrounded by
+    the poor; who, throwing themselves on their knees, thanked him for
+    the numerous instances of his bounty, and implored the blessing of
+    Heaven on their generous benefactor.  Even this affecting spectacle
+    he bore with silent fortitude, and entered the chaise which conveyed
+    him to London.  But he no sooner reached the Gloucestershire side of
+    the bridge, than his ear was struck with the mournful peal of bells,
+    muffled, as is usual on the loss of departed friends; deeply affected
+    with this mark of esteem and regret, he could no longer control his
+    emotions, and burst into tears.”
+
+He was made lieutenant-governor, and afterwards governor in chief, of St.
+Vincent’s; where his affairs prospered so much that he had almost
+recovered his fortune, when the island was attacked by the French.  With
+his usual nobility of spirit, he advanced large sums out of his private
+funds towards the defence, but all in vain: St. Vincent’s was taken, and
+Morris Piercefield never could obtain from government either his outlay
+or arrears.  He returned to England to seek redress; was arrested by his
+creditors, and himself a creditor of the country to a large extent,
+languished in a debtor’s prison for seven years.  His books, movables,
+trifles, everything were sold for bread; and his wife sunk under the
+horrors of their situation, and became insane.  Morris at length
+recovered his liberty, and Lord North determined to shame his
+predecessors in the ministry, by performing an act of common honesty.  A
+minister, however, is seldom honest from choice, because the outlay of
+money curtails his resources, and because the wilful withholding, even of
+a just debt, does not involve his character in society as a man of
+honour.  Lord North accordingly delayed the restitution as long as he
+could; and poor Valentine Morris in 1789, was indebted to his
+brother-in-law for a bed on which to die.
+
+We cannot refrain from adding an anecdote relating to one of the family
+of Walters, to whom the estate of Piercefield formerly belonged.
+
+    “Holding one day a conversation with Mr. Knowles, whom he employed in
+    building the alcove, he made inquiries concerning the family of
+    Walters, and asked if any of them were yet living.  Knowles replied
+    that William, the brother of John who sold the estate, was still
+    alive and in great distress.  ‘Bring him to Piercefield,’ said
+    Morris, ‘and I will make him welcome.’  ‘If you would give him your
+    whole estate he could not walk, he is so much affected with the gout
+    in his feet, and earns a precarious livelihood by fishing.’  ‘If he
+    then cannot come to me, I will take the first opportunity of calling
+    on him.’  Being some time afterwards engaged with Knowles in forming
+    an opening in the wood, he saw two men in a boat; ‘Stay here,’ he
+    said to Knowles, ‘I will cross the river in that boat, and examine
+    whether the objects I want to show can be seen from hence.’
+    Descending hastily he hailed the watermen, leaped into the boat, was
+    ferried over, and on his return entered into conversation with the
+    men, and inquired their names and condition.  ‘My name,’ said one of
+    them, ‘is * * * * *, I am a native of Chepstow; and that man,
+    pointing to his companion, is William Walters.’  ‘What, Walters of
+    Piercefield!’ exclaimed Morris.  ‘Yes, please your honour, I am the
+    brother of John, who sold the estate that you now enjoy.’  Morris
+    made no reply; but giving a gratuity to each of the men, leaped on
+    shore, rapidly ascended the hill, and rejoining Knowles, cried, ‘I
+    have been talking with Walters:’ taking out several guineas, he
+    added, ‘carry these to him, and tell him that he shall never want
+    while it is in my power to assist him.’  Knowles suggested, that as
+    the man was much addicted to liquor, he would render him more service
+    by a weekly allowance.  The next market-day one of Morris’s servants
+    carried to Walters a joint of meat, and a small sum of money, which
+    was continued weekly until his death.  Morris defrayed the expenses
+    of his funeral, and his carriage conveyed the corpse to St. Arvans,
+    where it was interred in the family vault.” {204}
+
+From Chepstow to the confluence of the Wye with the Severn, the distance
+is three miles; but although the banks are in general lofty, they possess
+no features of interest to the descending traveller.  It may be
+sufficient merely to name the Red Rocks, the Hardwick Cliffs, and
+Thornwell Woods.  After these St. Ewan’s Rocks appear on the left bank;
+and we glide gradually into the wide expanse of the Severn.  A
+prolongation, however, of the left bank continues for some time after we
+are fairly out of the Wye; the peninsula of Beachley, extending almost
+half way across the Severn.  From this is the ferry of the Aust Passage,
+supposed to have been named after one of the Roman generals.  A
+steam-packet now plies instead of an open boat, and lands passengers at a
+handsome pier at all hours of the tide.
+
+On the Monmouthshire coast, a little way beyond the mouth of the Wye, is
+the Black Rock Inn of the New Passage ferry, supposed, notwithstanding
+its name, to be as ancient as the other.  This ferry was suppressed by
+Oliver Cromwell, on account of a catastrophe which took place here of a
+very interesting description.  When the king was pursued by his enemies,
+he crossed the Severn to Chiswell Pill on the opposite side; but when the
+boatmen returned to the Black Rock, they found a party of sixty armed
+republicans, waiting to follow the royal fugitive.  The ferrymen were
+royalists, but there was no resisting commands enforced by so many drawn
+swords, and reluctantly they took the enemies of their prince on board,
+and pulled across the Severn.  They landed their unwelcome freight upon
+the English Stones, which appeared to be a part of the shore, but was in
+reality separated by water, fordable only at low tide.  The tide had just
+turned.  Some moments, no doubt, were lost in dismay, and some in
+shouting to the treacherous boatmen, who lay upon their oars to watch the
+event.  The English Stones disappeared with a suddenness customary in the
+flow of that river; and the cries of sixty drowning men were lost in the
+rush of the wild waters of the Severn.
+
+Before the Black Rock Inn, and near the mouth of the Wye, is Mathern,
+formerly the episcopal residence of the bishops of Llandaff.  The church
+close by is the one pointed to by tradition as having been raised over
+the ashes of Theodoric, the hermit-king, who desecrated the holy solitude
+of Tintern with the sounds of battle.
+
+    “The manor of Matherne, where there is now a palace, was given to the
+    bishops of Llandaff by Maurice, king of Glamorganshire, about the
+    year 560, on the following occasion:—His father, St. Theodoric, as he
+    is usually called, having resigned his crown to this son, embraced
+    the life of a hermit.  The Saxons invading the country, Theodoric was
+    reluctantly called from his hermitage to take the command of the
+    army; he defeated them near Tintern upon the Wye.  Being mortally
+    wounded in the engagement, he precipitated his return, that he might
+    die among his friends, and desired his son to erect a church, and
+    bury him on the spot where he breathed his last: but scarcely had he
+    proceeded five miles, when he expired at a place near the conflux of
+    the Wye and Severn.  Hence, according to his desire, a chapel being
+    erected, his body was placed in a stone coffin.  As I was giving
+    orders to repair this coffin, which was either broken by chance or
+    decayed by age, I discovered his bones, not in the smallest degree
+    changed, though after a period of a thousand years, the skull
+    retaining the aperture of a large wound, which appeared as if it had
+    been recently inflicted.  Maurice gave the contiguous estate to the
+    church, and assigned to the place the name of Merthur Tewdrick, or
+    _the martyrdom of Theodorick_; who, because he perished in battle
+    against the enemies of the christian name, is esteemed a martyr.”
+
+Our task is now finished: we turn away to seek “fresh fields and pastures
+new,” but the murmur of the Wye will remain long in our ear.
+
+
+
+
+DISTANCES IN THE TOUR OF THE WYE.
+
+From the source of the Wye to       miles.
+Stedva Gerrig                       2½
+Rhaiader                            17½
+Builth                              14
+Hay                                 15¼
+Clifford Castle                     2½
+Hereford                            16½
+Ross                                14¼
+
+FROM ROSS TO MONMOTH AND CHEPSTOW.
+
+                              _By Land_.
+                                                _m_.     _f_.     _p_.
+From Ross by the turnpike to Monmouth             10        0        0
+In a straight line, or as the crow flies           9        0       10
+From Ross to Chepstow by the turnpike             24        0        0
+By Coleford                                       21        0        0
+In a straight line                                16        4        0
+
+The base or supposed tunnel of the hill, between Coldwell and the New
+Weir, is six hundred yards; the circuit of the river is four miles two
+furlongs.
+
+                       _By Water_.
+                                    _m_.     _f_.     _p_.
+From Ross to Goodrich Castle           4        4        0
+To Coldwell                            7        0        0
+To New Weir                            4        2        0
+To Monmouth                            5        1        0
+From Ross to Monmouth                 20        7        0
+To Tintern                            10        4        0
+To Chepstow                            6        4       60
+From Ross to Chepstow                 37        7       60
+
+
+NAMES OF PLACES AS THEY OCCUR IN DESCENDING THE RIVER FROM ROSS.
+
+           RIGHT BANK.                      LEFT BANK.
+Wilton Bridge and Castle
+Weir End                            Hill or New Hill Court
+Pencraig House and Wood
+GOODRICH Court
+   Castle
+   Priory or Haverford              Walford Church
+North side of Coppet Wood Hill      Lays Hill
+                                    Bishop’s Wood
+                                    Ruerdean Church
+Court Field                         Lidbrook
+Welsh Bicknor                       Rosemary Topping
+Mr. Warren’s Monument               COLDWELL ROCKS
+South side of Coppet Wood Hill      SYMOND’S YAT
+Goodrich Church
+Whitchurch                          NEW WEIR
+Great Doward                        Highmeadow Woods
+Arthur’s Vale
+Little Doward and Lays House        Table Mount
+Dixton Church
+MONMOUTH
+Troy House                          Halfway House
+Penalt                              Redbrook
+Whitebrook
+Pen-y-van Hill and Maypole          Wye Seal-house
+Paper Mills
+Pilstone House                      Big’s Weir House
+LLANDOGO                            St. Briavels
+Coedithal Weir                      Hudknolls
+Llyn Weir                           Brook Weir
+Tintern
+Fielding’s House
+TINTERN ABBEY
+                                    Bennagor Crags
+WYNDCLIFF and Moss Cottage          Fryer’s Rocks
+Lover’s Leap                        Lancaut
+PIERCEFIELD                         Piercefield Bay
+Twelve Apostles                     Tiddenham Rocks
+CHEPSTOW                            Tutshill
+
+
+FROM MONMOUTH TO CHEPSTOW BY THE NEW ROAD.
+
+Upper Redbrook                   2¼ miles.
+Lower Redbrook                   ¼
+Florence College                 3
+Big’s Weir                       ½
+Llandogo                         1
+Tintern                          2¾
+Tintern Abbey                    ¾
+Wyndcliff and Moss Cottage       2
+St. Arvans                       1
+Crossway Green                   1½
+Chepstow                         ½
+                                 15½
+
+The distance from Chepstow to the embouchure of the Wye about three
+miles.
+
+                                * * * * *
+
+                                * * * * *
+
+                   J. Haddon, Castle Street, Finsbury.
+
+
+
+
+Footnotes
+
+
+{41}  Duncomb’s Collections.
+
+{63}  Monumenta Antiqua.
+
+{85}  Whateley’s Observations on Modern Gardening.
+
+{106}  Of late years, Mr. Pennie attempted to revive a taste for such
+subjects in his “Britain’s Historical Drama,” but without effect.  It a
+work, however, of considerable merit.  Southey’s Madoc has only a slender
+groundwork in British history.
+
+{158}  According to Dugdale, £132. 1s. 4d.; and Speed, £256. 11s. 6d.
+
+{204}  Historical Tour.
+
+
+
+
+***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE WYE AND ITS ASSOCIATIONS***
+
+
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+<title>The Wye and Its Associations, by Leitch Ritchie</title>
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+<pre>
+
+The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Wye and Its Associations, by Leitch
+Ritchie
+
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere 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
+
+
+
+
+
+Title: The Wye and Its Associations
+       a picturesque ramble
+
+
+Author: Leitch Ritchie
+
+
+
+Release Date: June 10, 2011  [eBook #36367]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII)
+
+
+***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE WYE AND ITS ASSOCIATIONS***
+</pre>
+<p>Transcribed from the 1841 Longman, Orme, Brown, Green, and
+Longmans edition by David Price, email ccx074@pglaf.org</p>
+<p style="text-align: center">
+<a href="images/p0b.jpg">
+<img alt=
+"Decorative title page, with Goodrich castle (followed by proper
+title page)"
+title=
+"Decorative title page, with Goodrich castle (followed by proper
+title page)"
+src="images/p0s.jpg" />
+</a></p>
+<h1>THE WYE<br />
+<span class="GutSmall">AND ITS ASSOCIATIONS</span></h1>
+<p style="text-align: center">A PICTURESQUE RAMBLE.</p>
+<div class="gapspace">&nbsp;</div>
+<p style="text-align: center"><span class="smcap">By LEITCH
+RITCHIE, Esq.</span></p>
+<p style="text-align: center"><span class="GutSmall">AUTHOR OF
+&ldquo;WANDERINGS BY THE LOIRE,&rdquo; &ldquo;WANDERINGS BY THE
+SEINE,&rdquo;</span><br />
+<span class="GutSmall">&ldquo;THE MAGICIAN,&rdquo;
+ETC.</span></p>
+<div class="gapspace">&nbsp;</div>
+<div class="gapshortline">&nbsp;</div>
+<div class="gapspace">&nbsp;</div>
+<p style="text-align: center">LONDON:</p>
+<p style="text-align: center"><span class="GutSmall">LONGMAN,
+ORME, BROWN, GREEN, AND</span><br />
+<span class="GutSmall">LONGMANS</span>.</p>
+<p style="text-align: center">1841.</p>
+<div class="gapspace">&nbsp;</div>
+<p style="text-align: center"><a name="pagei"></a><span
+class="pagenum">p. i</span><span
+class="GutSmall">LONDON:</span><br />
+<span class="GutSmall">PRINTED BY J. HADDON, CASTLE STREET,
+FINSBURY.</span></p>
+<h2><a name="pageii"></a><span class="pagenum">p.
+ii</span>ADVERTISEMENT,</h2>
+<p>A portion of the lower part of the Wye has been described by
+Gilpin, Archdeacon Coxe, and some others; and the same portion
+has been touched upon, with greater or less minuteness, by Prince
+Puckler Muscau, and various Welsh tourists, as well as by
+Whateley in his Essay on Modern Gardening.&nbsp; It seemed,
+however, to the writer of the present sketch, that something more
+was due to the most celebrated river in England; and that another
+book (not too large for the pocket, and yet aspiring to a place
+in the library) which should point out the beauties of the Wye,
+and connect them <a name="pageiv"></a><span class="pagenum">p.
+iv</span>with their historical and romantic
+associations&mdash;beginning at the source of the stream on
+Plinlimmon, and ending only at its confluence with the
+Severn&mdash;might still be reckoned an acceptable service by the
+lovers of the picturesque.&nbsp; Hence this little work, which
+may be consulted at will either as a finger-post by the
+traveller, or as a companion by the reading lounger at home.</p>
+<p><i>London</i>, <i>November</i> 28<i>th</i>, 1840.</p>
+<h2><a name="pagev"></a><span class="pagenum">p.
+v</span>CONTENTS.</h2>
+<table>
+<tr>
+<td colspan="2"><p style="text-align: center">CHAPTER I.</p>
+</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td><p>&nbsp;</p>
+</td>
+<td><p style="text-align: right">Page.</p>
+</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td><p>Philosophy of the picturesque&mdash;Peculiarities of
+English scenery&mdash;Worcester&mdash;Immigration of peasant
+girls&mdash;The Devils&rsquo; Garden&mdash;The Rest on the
+Stones&mdash;Plinlimmon&mdash;Inhabitants of the summit&mdash;The
+Inn&mdash;Source of the Wye</p>
+</td>
+<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a
+href="#page1">1</a></span></p>
+</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td colspan="2"><p style="text-align: center">CHAPTER II.</p>
+</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td><p>Descent of Plinlimmon&mdash;Singular
+illusion&mdash;Llangerrig&mdash;Commencement of the
+picturesque&mdash;The Fall of the Wye&mdash;Black
+Mountain&mdash;Course of the river&mdash;Builth&mdash;Peculiarity
+of the scenery&mdash;Approach to the English border&mdash;Castle
+of the Hay&mdash;First series of the beauties of the Wye</p>
+</td>
+<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a
+href="#page17">17</a></span></p>
+</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td colspan="2"><p style="text-align: center">CHAPTER III.</p>
+</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td><p>Clifford Castle&mdash;Lords-marchers&mdash;Fair
+Rosamond&mdash;Ruins of the Castle&mdash;The silent
+cottage&mdash;Approach to
+Hereford&mdash;Castle&mdash;Cathedral&mdash;Nell
+Gwynn&mdash;Cider&mdash;Salmon&mdash;Wolves</p>
+</td>
+<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a
+href="#page31">31</a></span></p>
+</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td colspan="2"><p style="text-align: center">CHAPTER IV.</p>
+</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td><p>Beauty and tameness&mdash;The travelling
+hill&mdash;Ross&mdash;The silver tankard&mdash;The Man of
+Ross&mdash;The sympathetic trees&mdash;Penyard
+Castle&mdash;Vicissitudes of the river&mdash;Wilton
+Castle&mdash;A voyage to sea in a basket&mdash;Pencraig Hill</p>
+</td>
+<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a
+href="#page45">45</a></span></p>
+</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td colspan="2"><p style="text-align: center"><a
+name="pagevi"></a><span class="pagenum">p. vi</span>CHAPTER
+V.</p>
+</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td><p>Roman passes of the Wye&mdash;Goodrich
+Castle&mdash;Keep&mdash;Fortifications&mdash;Apartments&mdash;Its
+history&mdash;Goodrich Court&mdash;Forest of Dean&mdash;Laws of
+the Miners&mdash;Military exploit&mdash;Wines of
+Gloucestershire</p>
+</td>
+<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a
+href="#page58">58</a></span></p>
+</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td colspan="2"><p style="text-align: center">CHAPTER VI.</p>
+</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td><p>Iron furnaces of the Wye&mdash;Lidbroke&mdash;Nurse of
+Henry V&mdash;Coldwell Rocks&mdash;Symond&rsquo;s Yat&mdash;New
+Weir&mdash;Monmouth</p>
+</td>
+<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a
+href="#page74">74</a></span></p>
+</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td colspan="2"><p style="text-align: center">CHAPTER VII.</p>
+</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td><p>Monmouth&mdash;History of the Castle&mdash;Apartment of
+Henry of Monmouth&mdash;Ecclesiastical remains&mdash;Benedictine
+priory&mdash;Church of St. Mary&mdash;Church of St.
+Thomas&mdash;Monnow Bridge&mdash;Modern town&mdash;Monmouth
+caps&mdash;The beneficent parvenu</p>
+</td>
+<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a
+href="#page87">87</a></span></p>
+</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td colspan="2"><p style="text-align: center">CHAPTER VIII.</p>
+</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td><p>Welsh pedigree of queen Victoria&mdash;A poet&rsquo;s
+flattery&mdash;Castles of Monmouthshire&mdash;Geoffrey of
+Monmouth&mdash;Henry of Monmouth&mdash;The Kymin&mdash;Subsidiary
+tour&mdash;Sir David Gam&mdash;White
+Castle&mdash;Scenfrith&mdash;The Castle
+spectres&mdash;Grosmont&mdash;Lanthony Abbey</p>
+</td>
+<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a
+href="#page100">100</a></span></p>
+</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td colspan="2"><p style="text-align: center">CHAPTER IX.</p>
+</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td><p>Raglan Castle&mdash;Description of the ruins&mdash;History
+of the Castle&mdash;The old lord of Raglan&mdash;Surrender of the
+fortress&mdash;Charles I. and his host&mdash;Royal
+weakness&mdash;The pigeons of Raglan&mdash;Death of the old
+lord&mdash;Origin of the steam engine</p>
+</td>
+<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a
+href="#page121">121</a></span></p>
+</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td colspan="2"><p style="text-align: center">CHAPTER X.</p>
+</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td><p>Troy House&mdash;Anecdote&mdash;Antique
+custom&mdash;Village churches of
+Monmouthshire&mdash;White-washing&mdash;The bard&mdash;Strewing
+graves with flowers&mdash;St. Briavels&rsquo;
+Castle&mdash;Llandogo&mdash;Change in the character of the
+river&mdash;The Druid of the Wye&mdash;Wordsworth&rsquo;s
+&ldquo;Lines composed above Tintern Abbey&rdquo;</p>
+</td>
+<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a
+href="#page140">140</a></span></p>
+</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td colspan="2"><p style="text-align: center"><a
+name="pagevii"></a><span class="pagenum">p. vii</span>CHAPTER
+XI.</p>
+</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td><p>Vales of the Wye&mdash;Valley of Tintern&mdash;Tintern
+Abbey&mdash;History&mdash;Church&mdash;Character of the
+ruin&mdash;Site&mdash;Coxe&rsquo;s
+description&mdash;Monmouth&mdash;Insecurity of sepulchral
+fame&mdash;Churchyarde on Tombs&mdash;Opinions on
+Tintern&mdash;Battle of Tintern</p>
+</td>
+<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a
+href="#page156">156</a></span></p>
+</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td colspan="2"><p style="text-align: center">CHAPTER XII.</p>
+</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td><p>The Wye below Tintern&mdash;Benagor
+Crags&mdash;Lancaut&mdash;Piercefield
+Bay&mdash;Chepstow&mdash;Ancient and modern bridge&mdash;Chepstow
+Castle&mdash;Roger de Britolio&mdash;Romance of
+History&mdash;Chepstow in the civil wars&mdash;Marten the
+regicide</p>
+</td>
+<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a
+href="#page174">174</a></span></p>
+</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td colspan="2"><p style="text-align: center">CHAPTER XIII.</p>
+</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td><p>Piercefield&mdash;Points of view&mdash;Curious
+appearance&mdash;Scenic character of the place&mdash;View from
+Wyndcliff&mdash;Account of Valentine
+Morris&mdash;Anecdotes&mdash;The Wye below Chepstow&mdash;Aust
+Ferry&mdash;Black Rock Ferry&mdash;St.
+Theodoric&mdash;Conclusion</p>
+</td>
+<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a
+href="#page192">192</a></span></p>
+</td>
+</tr>
+</table>
+<h2><a name="pageviii"></a><span class="pagenum">p.
+viii</span>ENGRAVINGS.</h2>
+<table>
+<tr>
+<td><p>&nbsp;</p>
+</td>
+<td><p style="text-align: right">Page.</p>
+</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td><p>GOODRICH CASTLE</p>
+</td>
+<td><p style="text-align: right">VIGNETTE TITLE.</p>
+</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td><p>LLANGERRIG</p>
+</td>
+<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a
+href="#page19">19</a></span></p>
+</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td><p>RHAIADYR</p>
+</td>
+<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a
+href="#page21">21</a></span></p>
+</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td><p>NEAR RHAIADYR</p>
+</td>
+<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a
+href="#page22">22</a></span></p>
+</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td><p>CLIFFORD CASTLE</p>
+</td>
+<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a
+href="#page35">35</a></span></p>
+</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td><p>HEREFORD</p>
+</td>
+<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a
+href="#page44">44</a></span></p>
+</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td><p>ROSS</p>
+</td>
+<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a
+href="#page48">48</a></span></p>
+</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td><p>THE NEW WEIR</p>
+</td>
+<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a
+href="#page81">81</a></span></p>
+</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td><p>TINTERN</p>
+</td>
+<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a
+href="#page158">158</a></span></p>
+</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td><p>TINTERN ABBEY</p>
+</td>
+<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a
+href="#page160">160</a></span></p>
+</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td><p>CHEPSTOW</p>
+</td>
+<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a
+href="#page177">177</a></span></p>
+</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td><p>VIEW FROM WYNDCLIFF</p>
+</td>
+<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a
+href="#page198">198</a></span></p>
+</td>
+</tr>
+</table>
+<h2><a name="page1"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 1</span>CHAPTER
+I.</h2>
+<p class="gutsumm">Philosophy of the
+picturesque&mdash;Peculiarities of English
+scenery&mdash;Worcester&mdash;Immigration of peasant
+girls&mdash;The Devils&rsquo; Garden&mdash;The Rest on the
+Stones&mdash;Plinlimmon&mdash;Inhabitants of the summit&mdash;The
+Inn&mdash;Source of the Wye.</p>
+<p>Foreigners have often expressed their surprise that the
+English should travel so far in search of picturesque scenery,
+when they have abundance at home: but the remark is conceived in
+an unphilosophical spirit.&nbsp; We do not travel for the mere
+scenery.&nbsp; We do not leave the Wye unexplored, and go abroad
+in search of some other river of its own identical
+character.&nbsp; <a name="page2"></a><span class="pagenum">p.
+2</span>What we gaze at in strange lands is not wood, and water,
+and rock, but all these seen through a new
+medium&mdash;accompanied by adjuncts which array universal nature
+herself in a foreign costume.&nbsp; A tree peculiar to the
+country&mdash;a peasant in an un-English garb&mdash;a cottage of
+unaccustomed form&mdash;the slightest peculiarity in national
+manners&mdash;even the traces of a different system of
+agriculture&mdash;all contribute to the impression of novelty in
+which consists the excitement of foreign travel.</p>
+<p>The proof of this is our keener perception of the beauties of
+English scenery after returning from abroad.&nbsp; We are then
+capable of instituting a comparison; and our national manners are
+no longer the sole medium, but one of various media through which
+nature is viewed.&nbsp; An untravelled Englishman is ignorant of
+his own country.&nbsp; He must cross the seas before he can
+become acquainted with home.&nbsp; He must admire the romance of
+the Rhine&mdash;the sublimity of the (mountain) Rhone&mdash;the
+beauty of the Seine and the Loire&mdash;before he can tell what
+is the rank of the Wye, in picturesque character, among the
+rivers of Europe.</p>
+<p><a name="page3"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 3</span>The
+journey from London to Worcester, which is the direct route to
+the Upper part of the Wye, discloses many of the peculiarities of
+English scenery and character&mdash;peculiarities which to the
+natives are of so every day a kind, that it is only by reflection
+and comparison they learn to appreciate them.&nbsp; The country
+seats of the great land proprietors, with their accompaniments of
+lawn and plantation, extending as far as the eye can reach, form
+a part of the picture; and so do the cottages of the village
+peasantry, with their little gardens before the door, admitting a
+peep into the interior of the humble abode.&nbsp; In the
+aristocratical dwellings, half hidden in that paradise of groves
+and glades, we find every refinement that gold can purchase, or
+taste produce: in the huts, comfort, and its inseparable adjunct
+cleanliness, are the most striking characteristics.</p>
+<p>The former speak of wealth, and the happiness that depends on
+wealth; the latter of comparative poverty, and the home pleasures
+that are compatible with poverty.&nbsp; On the continent, there
+is always something out of keeping in the picture.&nbsp; In the
+great chateaux <a name="page4"></a><span class="pagenum">p.
+4</span>and their grounds, there is always some meanness, some
+make-shift observable; while in the great country seats of
+England, on the contrary, all is uniform.&nbsp; In the cottages
+abroad, even those of a higher order, there are always dirt and
+slovenliness&mdash;inattention to the minute comforts of humble
+life&mdash;meals snatched anyhow and anywhere&mdash;sleep taken
+without an idea of the luxuries of sleep.&nbsp; In England, on
+the other hand, notwithstanding the irregularities of fortune, we
+find an absolute identity in the various classes of the
+population.&nbsp; The labourer&mdash;returned, perhaps, from
+mending the highway, sits down in state to dinner, with a clean
+white table-cloth, and the coarse ware nicely arranged before
+him.&nbsp; The floor is swept, perhaps washed, to do honour to
+the occasion; and his wife, who is at once the mistress and the
+servant of the feast, prides herself on making her husband (whom
+she calls her &ldquo;master&rdquo;)&mdash;<i>comfortable</i>.</p>
+<p>We need not be told that this is not a universal
+picture.&nbsp; We need not be reminded of the want and misery
+which exist in numerous parts of the country, for with these we
+are well acquainted.&nbsp; The <i>foreigner</i>, however, to whom
+<a name="page5"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 5</span>such scenes
+are new, will meet with them frequently enough, and especially on
+the road we are now travelling, to induce him to set them down as
+one of the grand characteristics of England.</p>
+<p>The road presents, also, at various turnings, that truly
+English scene, a well-known specimen of which is viewed from
+Richmond Hill.&nbsp; A level country lies a few hundred feet
+below us, and extends in front, and on either side, till it is
+lost in the distance, or bound in by low and filmy hills which
+just mark the horizon with their waving line of shadow.&nbsp;
+This expanse is studded with towns, and villages, and seats, and
+cottages, and square towers, and tapering spires, rising amidst
+woods and groves, and surrounded by green fields and
+meadows.&nbsp; A great part of the peculiar character of the
+landscape is due to the enclosures of various kinds of foliage
+which separate one field from another.&nbsp; In most parts of the
+continent&mdash;and more especially in France&mdash;these are of
+very rare occurrence; and thus the beauty of the picture, when it
+has any beauty at all, depends upon the colours of the different
+kinds of grain <a name="page6"></a><span class="pagenum">p.
+6</span>or other productions, which make the vast expanse of
+vegetation resemble an immense and richly variegated
+carpet.&nbsp; In spring, therefore, before these colours have
+been fairly brought out, it may easily be conceived that France
+is one of the least interesting countries in Europe.&nbsp; With
+us, on the other hand, the face of the earth resembles a garden,
+and more especially in one of those flat landscapes we have
+alluded to.&nbsp; The changes of the seasons diversify without
+diminishing the beauty; and even winter presents, instead of a
+uniform and dreary waste, a varied picture executed in hoar frost
+and snow.</p>
+<p>Worcester is one of the most aristocratic looking towns in
+England, and presents every token of being a wealthy and
+flourishing place.&nbsp; Its cathedral, an edifice of the
+beginning of the thirteenth century, has drawn hither many a
+pilgrim foot even from foreign countries.&nbsp; Our present
+business, however, is with the works of nature, or with those of
+art fallen into decay, and their fragments standing amidst the
+eternal youth of the hills and rivers, like monuments of the
+insignificance of man.</p>
+<p><a name="page7"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 7</span>Worcester
+is famous for its manufactures of porcelain and gloves; but our
+attention was more strongly attracted to exports of another kind,
+of which it appeared to be at least the entrep&ocirc;t, if it was
+not the original market.&nbsp; At a little distance from the
+town, several waggons had halted near a public house, and their
+freight, a numerous party of peasant girls, were breakfasting by
+the road side.&nbsp; They were eating and drinking as joyously as
+if their laps had been filled with far more enticing food than
+bread and ale.&nbsp; They were on their way to some greater
+mart&mdash;perhaps to the all-devouring metropolis; and when
+breakfast was over, they resumed their slow journey, some few who
+had mounted the waggons singing in parts, and the rest, walking
+by the side, joining in the chorus.&nbsp; They had no fears, poor
+girls, of the result of their adventure&mdash;or rather, no
+forethought.</p>
+<p>But it is not till after we pass the little town of Kington,
+on the eastern borders of Herefordshire, that the picturesque
+commences, and we must hasten on to our more immediate
+task.&nbsp; Between Kington and New Radnor, <a
+name="page8"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 8</span>are the Stanner
+Rocks, with the Devil&rsquo;s Garden on their summit, luxuriously
+planted&mdash;of course by no human hand&mdash;with wild
+flowers.&nbsp; Beyond New Radnor (formerly the county town, but
+now a paltry village,) opens the Vale of Radnor on one side, and
+on the other, a rude mountain scene, distinguished by a waterfall
+of some celebrity, called Water-break-its-neck.&nbsp; The stream
+rushes down a precipitous descent of seventy feet, into a hollow
+with craggy and unequal sides.&nbsp; The spot of the cascade is
+marked by an insulated rock, eighteen or twenty feet high,
+standing erect above it like a monument.</p>
+<p>After passing the village of Penybont, the Llanbadarn Vawr, or
+great church of Badarn, is to the left of the road, an edifice
+which dates from the time of the Conqueror; and nothing else of
+interest is observable till we reach Rhaiadyr, on the Banks of
+the Wye.&nbsp; As it will be more convenient, however, to examine
+the river in descending with the stream, we shall only say here,
+that the journey from Rhaiadyr to the summit of Plinlimmon lies
+through woods, and hill passes, becoming ruder <a
+name="page9"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 9</span>and wilder at
+every step we advance.&nbsp; The character of the population
+seems to change in conformity with their physical
+circumstances.&nbsp; The want of tidiness which marks the British
+mountaineer is the more conspicuous from the contrast it presents
+to the opposite quality we have admired in the plains; and
+already the women have assumed the round hat of the ruder sex,
+and destroyed with its masculine associations the charms peculiar
+to their own.&nbsp; Against this absurdity we must protest,
+whether we meet with it in the Welsh girl, or the fair equestrian
+of Hyde Park.&nbsp; It betrays not only the most pitiful taste,
+but the most profound ignorance of nature, on which is founded
+the theory of female beauty.</p>
+<p>Stedva Gerrig, or &ldquo;the Rest on the Stones&rdquo; now
+commonly called by the name of the mountain, is a hamlet of three
+or four houses situated on a stream which separates the counties
+of Montgomeryshire and Cardiganshire, in a nook of comparatively
+level land, into which abut several of the lower ridges of
+Plinlimmon.&nbsp; The spot has little of the wildness of mountain
+scenery, but its extreme solitude; for being here <a
+name="page10"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 10</span>near the top
+of the mountainous group, and surrounded by its remaining
+elevations, we are insensible of our real altitude above the
+level of the country.&nbsp; These elevations, besides, have none
+of the ruggedness of character we usually find in such
+places.&nbsp; They are, in general, smoothly-swelling eminences,
+which if rising from the plain would receive the name of hills;
+they are wholly naked of trees, or even brushwood; and being
+covered with green herbage, they at first sight give one the idea
+of an extensive grass farm, rather than a sterile mountain.&nbsp;
+It is the altitude of the spot, however, and the nipping blasts
+to which it is exposed, that render it naked of the larger kinds
+of vegetation; and there is only a nook here and there capable of
+bearing even a scanty crop of oats.&nbsp; This region, therefore,
+excepting a few fields around Stedva Gerrig, supplies subsistence
+only to sheep; and the greater number even of these we found had
+been withdrawn to situations less exposed to the Welsh winds.</p>
+<p>Of the few inhabitants of the hamlet, the principal man of
+course is the innkeeper; and the other fathers of families are
+shepherds.&nbsp; <a name="page11"></a><span class="pagenum">p.
+11</span>The latter class of men have wages amounting to twelve
+pounds a year, and enjoy their houses and little fields of corn
+and potatoes, with as much pasturage as they have use for free of
+rent.&nbsp; The husband, assisted by his sons, when young, tends
+the sheep on the mountain; the wife makes flannel, and knits
+stockings; and the daughters go out to service at an early
+age.&nbsp; Their little menage is comfortable.&nbsp; Their bread
+is barley cakes; they sometimes salt a pig; they provide
+themselves with a quarter of beef at one time, and, like their
+betters, &ldquo;live at home, and kill their own
+mutton.&rdquo;&nbsp; Nay, one of these flourishing shepherds is a
+rival of <i>the</i> innkeeper; his hut being duly licensed to
+sell ale, cyder, &amp;c., and the sign-board having the following
+intimation:&mdash;&ldquo;The notorious hill of Plinlimmon is on
+these premises, and it will be shown with pleasure to any
+gentlemen travellers who wishes to see it.&rdquo;&nbsp; And this
+intimation (letting grammar alone) is correct; for although the
+notorious article in question, viz., the loftiest part of
+Plinlimmon is not entirely in the garden, curtained off, like the
+balloon at the Yorkshire Stingo, from the gaze <a
+name="page12"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 12</span>of all who do
+not pay a shilling to see it, yet it is actually on the premises,
+about three or four miles&mdash;only a sheep
+walk&mdash;distant.</p>
+<p>The Plinlimmon inn, undoubtedly, is the place for our
+money.&nbsp; It is now&mdash;although its character was very
+different only two years ago&mdash;neat, clean, and
+comfortable.&nbsp; We do not say that it affords the
+accommodation of a city on the top of a Welsh mountain, but yet
+to the traveller who has seen more of the world than the plains
+of England, it will make a very desirable resting-place.&nbsp;
+Such traveller, on dismounting from the Aberystwith mail, will be
+right glad to sit down by a clean and bright fire-side, and if
+the turf should not be lighted in the parlour, he will be proud
+of the privilege of the kitchen.&nbsp; There, if he has our own
+good fortune, he will find the landlady, a frank, cheerful, and
+kindly woman, with the table drawn in quite to the hearth, and
+reading &ldquo;Elegant Extracts.&rdquo;&nbsp; Materials of
+another kind will speedily grace the board, viz., bread, butter,
+cheese, eggs, and excellent home-brewed ale.&nbsp; Do you sneer
+at this bill of fare?&nbsp; A fico for thy travellership!&nbsp;
+Then will mine host enter in the midst, a bold, <a
+name="page13"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 13</span>intelligent,
+yet modest fellow; and, bustling through the various parts of the
+scene, will &ldquo;come, like a shadow, so depart&rdquo; the
+substantial form of the serving maiden, her cheeks round, and
+flushed, her eye beaming with innocent gaiety, and her full and
+swelling chest seeming as if it were with difficulty withheld
+from bursting the corsage.&nbsp; These three, by the way, are the
+only inhabitants of the hamlet who speak English.</p>
+<p>After supper, the traveller, if he be not of the heathen sect
+of Tee-totallers, takes a glass of brandy and water, for the
+reason assigned by St. Paul in his Epistle to Timothy, or any
+other orthodox reason; and finally, he will enter into a clean
+and comfortable bed, and sleep, not the less soundly it is to be
+presumed, that his meal had not involved the murder of a chicken,
+or of any other of his fellow creatures of the earth.</p>
+<p>The next morning the landlord walked with us to the source of
+the Wye, about three miles distant.&nbsp; We ascended and
+descended several of the rounded summits already mentioned; and
+upon the whole, the little excursion is somewhat trying to the
+lungs.&nbsp; A rill flowed between <a name="page14"></a><span
+class="pagenum">p. 14</span>every two eminences, destined soon or
+late to unite with the Wye, and at length the latter stream
+appeared, bubbling down the side of a slope in a volume which
+might be comprised in the circumference of a teacup.&nbsp; Higher
+up, a few rushes seem to hide the fountain from which it springs;
+but following for a brief space a line of damp, plashy earth
+above, we reach a tiny pool, little more than a hand-breadth
+across, supplied by droppings rather than gushes from a bank of
+black earth&mdash;and this is the source of the Wye.&nbsp;
+Looking down its tortuous valley, the view is majestic from the
+massive forms of the objects which surround it; but the solitude,
+the dreariness, the utter desolation of the scene, form the
+distinctive features of the picture.</p>
+<p>Plinlimmon, or Pumlumon, is not, correctly speaking, a single
+mountain, but several distinct mountains rising from one
+base.&nbsp; Each of these distinct mountains, again, is
+subdivided into several others; but in the aggregate, there is
+little of the variety which might be expected from so
+extraordinary an assemblage.&nbsp; It is entirely destitute of
+wood.&nbsp; There are none of <a name="page15"></a><span
+class="pagenum">p. 15</span>the craggy peaks and precipices which
+usually form the picturesque of mountain scenery.&nbsp; All is
+smooth but blackened turf, frequently undulating over fathomless
+bogs, the mysteries of which the traveller who ventures into this
+desolate region without a guide has a fair chance of
+exploring.&nbsp; The summit, of which the highest point is two
+thousand four hundred and sixty-three feet above the level of the
+sea, forms a plateau of several miles; whence the hills of
+Cardiganshire are seen to the south; Cardigan bay and Saint
+George&rsquo;s channel to the west; to the north, the
+perpendicular brow of Cader Idris; to the north-west, the
+three-peaked Breidden hills; and to the east, the fertile plains
+of Herefordshire and Shropshire.</p>
+<p>Besides the Wye, there are several other rivers which have
+their source on Plinlimmon, the most distinguished of which is
+the Severn.&nbsp; About two miles distant from where we now
+stand, this stream issues from a little bog-hole, in a volume
+which might be stepped across by a child.&nbsp; The whole
+mountain, in fact, seems a reservoir of water; and it is not
+surprising <a name="page16"></a><span class="pagenum">p.
+16</span>that Owen Glendwr should have been able to maintain
+himself here, as he did in 1401, even with so small a force as a
+hundred and twenty men.&nbsp; The entrenchments made by the hero
+may still be traced; and brazen spearheads, and other instruments
+of war, have been found within them in our own day.</p>
+<h2><a name="page17"></a><span class="pagenum">p.
+17</span>CHAPTER II.</h2>
+<p class="gutsumm">Descent of Plinlimmon&mdash;Singular
+illusion&mdash;Llangerrig&mdash;Commencement of the
+Picturesque&mdash;The Fall of the Wye&mdash;Black
+Mountain&mdash;Course of the river&mdash;Builth&mdash;Peculiarity
+of the scenery&mdash;Approach to the English border&mdash;Castle
+of the Hay&mdash;First series of the beauties of the Wye.</p>
+<p>Leaving Stedva Gerrig, the road runs by the side of the stream
+before mentioned, through a succession of mountain valleys,
+which, being without the grandiose forms of the view from
+Plinlimmon, are uninteresting from the want of trees.&nbsp; On
+the left there was a wreath of grey smoke flying backward on the
+wind, from the brow of the steep which forms the side of the
+valley; and we speculated within ourselves as to whether this was
+the ensign of <a name="page18"></a><span class="pagenum">p.
+18</span>some unlawful still.&nbsp; It proved, however, to be the
+foam of a little mountain torrent, caught suddenly by the gust
+ere it reached the edge of the precipice; and so complete was the
+illusion, that it was not till we had climbed to the spot, that
+we were convinced of the phenomenon being the production of water
+instead of fire.</p>
+<p>The valley here was wide, and the vista backwards towards
+Stedva Gerrig of considerable length.&nbsp; A very remarkable
+effect was produced by the light of the early sun streaming
+through masses of grey clouds, and flashed back again not only by
+the stream, but by the entire surface of the soil which was
+completely saturated by torrents of rain that had fallen during
+the night.&nbsp; Just after this, and nearly three miles from the
+inn, the Wye suddenly burst into the valley from the left, and
+rushing beneath a bridge, flung itself into the little
+river.&nbsp; The latter, conscious that although its volume was
+greater, its strength and impetuosity were less than those of the
+marauder, quietly resigned itself to its fate, receiving the name
+and acknowledging the authority of its lord and spouse; and
+thenceforth, we found ourselves <a name="page19"></a><span
+class="pagenum">p. 19</span>wandering along the banks, less known
+than those less renowned, of the classic Vaga.</p>
+<p style="text-align: center">
+<a href="images/p19b.jpg">
+<img alt=
+"Llangerrig"
+title=
+"Llangerrig"
+src="images/p19s.jpg" />
+</a></p>
+<p>The sameness of the scenery continued for five miles further,
+till on entering the hamlet of Llangerrig, consisting of a few
+huts of the meanest description, and an old church, of which a
+view is annexed, trees began to add their interest to the
+picture.&nbsp; The valley, however, was wide, the trees small,
+and the river, notwithstanding its receiving here another
+accession, was still insignificant.&nbsp; By degrees, however, as
+we proceeded, the hills became closer, and the massiveness of
+their forms lent a certain degree of grandeur to the scene.&nbsp;
+These again disappeared; and the hills returned: and the Wye as
+before ran brawling through a commonplace valley.&nbsp; A series
+of vicissitudes went on till the hills, assuming the character
+without the magnitude of mountains, threw themselves wildly
+together, and we found ourselves in a savage pass, the steep
+abutting masses of which were in some cases formed of grey and
+naked rock.</p>
+<p>The river here is occasionally almost choked up with stones
+and fragments of rocks, which <a name="page20"></a><span
+class="pagenum">p. 20</span>must either have rolled from the
+heights into the bottom of the valley, or been uncovered in their
+original beds by the action of the water.&nbsp; Here opens (in
+our judgment) the first of the numerous picturesque views
+presented by the Wye.&nbsp; The spot is marked by the accession
+of a tributary stream, which is crossed by means of a bridge.</p>
+<p>After getting out of this gorge, the scenery becomes softer
+and more commonplace; and at three miles nearer, the vista is
+terminated by the little church tower of Rhaiadyr, painted
+against a misty hill at some distance beyond.</p>
+<p>In the time of the Welsh princes, there was here a fortress of
+some importance, of which no vestiges remain.&nbsp; It was
+erected, we are told, by Rhys, prince of South Wales, in the time
+of Richard II., and burnt down in 1231, by Llewellin ap
+Jorwerth.&nbsp; The little town itself is modern, and consists
+principally of two streets intersecting each other at right
+angles.&nbsp; The name, which is in full <i>Rhaiadyr Pwy</i>,
+means the Fall of the Wye, but is no longer applicable, the
+cataract having been almost levelled in 1780, when the bridge was
+erected.&nbsp; From <a name="page21"></a><span class="pagenum">p.
+21</span>this bridge the view of the river is exceedingly fine,
+as will be seen by the annexed engraving; although all the
+remnant of the waterfall is the plunging of the stream over a low
+ledge of rocks.&nbsp; The town itself has a good deal of
+character.&nbsp; It is decidedly a Welsh town; and
+notwithstanding the commingling that must have taken place in the
+races, it possesses that foreign aspect which is so exciting to
+the curiosity.</p>
+<p style="text-align: center">
+<a href="images/p21b.jpg">
+<img alt=
+"Rhaiadyr"
+title=
+"Rhaiadyr"
+src="images/p21s.jpg" />
+</a></p>
+<p>This appearance, however, is still more evident in the next
+place at which we arrive, Builth; but the traveller must not be
+in a hurry to get there.&nbsp; The valley of the Wye, during the
+fourteen miles which intervene, presents a continuous series of
+picturesque views, sufficient of themselves to make the
+reputation of the river.&nbsp; The stream rushes the whole way
+through a singularly rocky and winding bed, bound in by lofty and
+fantastic banks, and these by hills, naked or wooded, barren or
+fertile, of every variety of form.&nbsp; One of the most
+remarkable of the latter is the Black Mountain, which is posted
+directly in front, and fills up the valley, as if to guard the
+pass from the <a name="page22"></a><span class="pagenum">p.
+22</span>further progress of the Wye: but our wandering stream
+sweeps abruptly round its base, and escaping by a narrow defile,
+pursues its triumphant way towards Builth.&nbsp; One of those
+pictures is imitated in the annexed engraving, and it will not be
+difficult to find the identical spot chosen by the artist.</p>
+<p style="text-align: center">
+<a href="images/p22b.jpg">
+<img alt=
+"Near Rhaiadyr"
+title=
+"Near Rhaiadyr"
+src="images/p22s.jpg" />
+</a></p>
+<p>For more than half the distance the road runs close by the
+side of the river; but on reaching a few houses called Newbridge,
+we diverge a little, and do not come near again till we have
+travelled a distance of nearly five miles and approached the town
+of Builth.&nbsp; The pedestrian, however, cares little for roads;
+and, rejoining the river at will, he finds the series of views
+continued&mdash;sometimes grand, sometimes beautiful, sometimes
+picturesque, sometimes absolute gems of pastoral repose.&nbsp;
+The river increases visibly before our eyes; and at length, when
+near Builth, it rolls along, still foaming, still brawling, but
+in a stream of considerable volume.&nbsp; Its principal
+tributaries between Rhaiadyr and this place, are the Elian, the
+Ithon, and the Yrfon; the last of which is celebrated by the
+defeat of Llewellin in 1282, which took <a
+name="page23"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 23</span>place at the
+spot where the little river is crossed by a bridge, just before
+it falls into the Wye, above Builth.</p>
+<p>This part of the country, however, is completely
+secluded.&nbsp; There never was, so far as we know, a public
+conveyance between Rhaiadyr and Builth; and at the latter town,
+at this season of the year&mdash;although it is still early in
+October&mdash;the traveller will find no means of communication
+with the rest of the world, except for those who journey with
+post horses, and those who make use of the locomotive powers of
+their own limbs.</p>
+<p>Builth is finely situated, its narrow streets rising in
+irregular terraces on the side of a hill on the right bank of the
+Wye.&nbsp; The houses are as Welsh as can be, and have a
+primitive, old world look, that has a great charm in our
+eyes.&nbsp; The town is approached by a stone bridge of
+considerable length; at the end of which, on the left hand, are
+some mounds of grass and ivy, which conceal the remains of a
+castle supposed to date from the eleventh century.&nbsp; All,
+however, is conjecture as regards this castle, which was a small
+fortress, with a keep of <a name="page24"></a><span
+class="pagenum">p. 24</span>forty yards in circumference,
+surrounded by a ditch, and defended towards the south by two
+trenches.&nbsp; It was repaired in 1209, by Gilbert, Earl of
+Gloucester; after the death of Llewellin, it became an English
+fortress; and in 1690, was accidentally destroyed by a fire,
+which at the same time consumed the greater part of the
+town.&nbsp; Builth, however, is older than its castle.&nbsp; It
+is set down by the learned as the Bull&aelig;um Silurum of the
+Romans; and various druidical remains in the neighbourhood carry
+back the ken of the antiquarian to a still more remote epoch,
+which is lost in shadows.</p>
+<p>It was in this neighbourhood, as we have said, that Llewellin,
+the last of the Welsh princes, was defeated and slain in
+1282.&nbsp; Tradition relates, that while at Aberedw, a short
+distance down the river, on the opposite bank, he was surprised
+by the English, and escaped so narrowly, that he had only just
+time to pass the drawbridge of Builth, before his pursuers came
+up.&nbsp; The English, however, succeeded in cutting him off from
+his army, by getting between the town and a village on the right
+bank of the Wye where it was posted.&nbsp; Llewellin, <a
+name="page25"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 25</span>upon this,
+attempted to conceal himself in the woods, but he was discovered,
+and beheaded, and his body buried at a place called Cern y
+Bedd.</p>
+<p>The air of Builth is supposed to be very salubrious, and for
+this reason many respectable families have chosen it for their
+residence.&nbsp; The abundance of game in its woods and hills,
+and of trout, salmon, and grayling in its streams is another
+inducement, and probably the <i>cause</i> of the good health of
+its visitors.&nbsp; In this neighbourhood are mineral springs of
+three kinds,&mdash;saline, sulphurous, and chalybeate,&mdash;and
+a pump-room, frequently attended by a numerous company.</p>
+<p>From a hill above the town is obtained a fine view of the
+Llynsyraddon, the largest lake in Wales except Bala.&nbsp; The
+country people believe that its bed was formerly the site of a
+city; and, as in Ireland, Brittany, and other places where a
+similar tradition prevails, they still see the towers of old
+&ldquo;&rsquo;neath the calm, cold wave reclining.&rdquo;&nbsp;
+Giraldus calls the lake <i>Clamosam</i>, from the &ldquo;terrible
+thundering noise it makes upon the breaking up of the ice in
+winter.&rdquo;</p>
+<p><a name="page26"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 26</span>The
+valley of the Wye is less wild after passing Builth, but more
+beautiful.&nbsp; After the fourth milestone, there is a
+magnificent specimen of a formation of the hills which may be
+said to be the grand peculiarity of this district.&nbsp; It
+consists of a massive range on the opposite bank, laid out in
+square terraces, such as Martin delights to heap on each other in
+his pictures.&nbsp; But here, where Nature is the builder, these
+masses of architecture are of rough, disjointed stones, hoary
+with age, and sometimes overgrown with moss and lichens.&nbsp; On
+the right bank where we stood, a small house is built just above
+the road, as if to enjoy the picture; and, a little further on,
+another of more aristocratic pretensions.&nbsp; A view, including
+a portion of the latter&mdash;the green, smooth-shaven pastures
+which answer for a lawn and extend to the water&rsquo;s
+edge&mdash;the Wye foaming and brawling at the bottom, half
+hidden by trees of the deepest shadow&mdash;with the castellated
+mount beyond, and the sweep of the valley closed in by hills to
+the left&mdash;would form a whole, which Gilpin, with the
+dogmatism of art, might call &ldquo;correctly
+picturesque.&rdquo;</p>
+<p><a name="page27"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 27</span>A
+little further on, we had an opportunity of inspecting these
+rocks more closely, which are only remarkable from the forms they
+assume.&nbsp; In the instance before us, they were two immense
+cubes of stone, as precise as if ruled by the square, and cut
+with the chisel.&nbsp; They stood exactly horizontal with the
+ground, and the upper was of smaller proportions than the
+lower.&nbsp; No other rock or even stone was near.&nbsp; At some
+distance another entirely insulated mass presented itself, as
+large as a cottage of two stories, with walls as perpendicular,
+and secluded like a cottage by trees.</p>
+<p>The small village of Glasbury presents a view well worth
+notice.&nbsp; This is particularly the case at Maeslough Hall,
+where Gilpin characterises the scenery as &ldquo;wonderfully
+amusing,&rdquo; declaring that the situation is one of the finest
+in Wales.&nbsp; On passing the seventh milestone, the valley
+spreads out into a wide plain bounded by an amphitheatre of
+hills; and as we proceed, numerous villas peeping through the
+trees, show that we have now left entirely behind us the
+peculiarities of Welsh scenery, and are again on the borders of
+merry England.&nbsp; As we <a name="page28"></a><span
+class="pagenum">p. 28</span>approach the Hay, the aristocratical
+buildings become more numerous, and the romance of the scene
+diminishes, till at length we enter a small, but neat and
+comfortable-looking town.</p>
+<p>The Hay has some historical associations of the doings of
+Llewellin and King John, by the latter of whom its castle was
+destroyed in 1216; but with the exception of a Gothic gateway
+there are no remains to interest the antiquarian.&nbsp; There are
+said, indeed, to be the fragments of some Roman fortifications;
+but we are something like Sir Walter Scott in this respect, who
+had seen so many ghosts, that at last he found it difficult to
+believe in them.&nbsp; Tradition relates that the castle was
+built in one night by the celebrated Maud de Saint Wallery, alias
+Maud de Hain, alias Moll Walbee.&nbsp; &ldquo;She built (say the
+gossips),&rdquo; as we find in Jones&rsquo;s Brecknock,
+&ldquo;the castle of Hay in one night: the stones for which she
+carried in her apron.&nbsp; While she was thus employed, a small
+pebble, of about nine feet long, and one foot thick, dropped into
+her shoe.&nbsp; This she did not at first regard; but in a short
+time, finding it troublesome, she indignantly threw it over the
+river Wye into Llowes <a name="page29"></a><span
+class="pagenum">p. 29</span>churchyard in Radnorshire (about
+three miles off), where it remains to this day, precisely in the
+position it fell, a stubborn memorial of the historical fact, to
+the utter confusion of all sceptics and unbelievers.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>Between Builth and the Hay ends one series of the beauties of
+the Wye.&nbsp; The stream hitherto is a mountain rivulet,
+sometimes almost a torrent, and its characteristics are wildness
+and simplicity.&nbsp; Its course is impeded by rocks, amidst
+which it runs brawling and foaming; and, generally speaking, it
+depends upon itself, and upon the nature of its own bed for the
+picturesque, the hills around forming only the back ground.&nbsp;
+We shall see, as we get on, the manner in which this will change,
+till the banks become the objects of admiration, and the stream
+itself, although much increased in volume, is considered a mere
+adjunct, and its bosom a convenient site from which to view
+them.</p>
+<p>Gilpin&rsquo;s observations on this point are very judicious,
+although he had not the advantage of seeing with his own eyes the
+upper part of the Wye.&nbsp; &ldquo;It is possible, I
+think,&rdquo; says he, &ldquo;the Wye may in this place (alluding
+to the country <a name="page30"></a><span class="pagenum">p.
+30</span>between Builth and the Hay) be more beautiful than in
+any other part of its course.&nbsp; Between Ross and Chepstow,
+the grandeur and beauty of its banks are its chief praise.&nbsp;
+The river itself has no other merit than that of a winding
+surface of smooth water.&nbsp; But here, added to the same
+decoration from its banks, the Wye itself assumes a more
+beautiful character; pouring over shelving rocks, and forming
+itself into eddies and cascades, which a solemn parading stream
+through a flat channel cannot exhibit.&nbsp; An additional merit
+also accrues to such a river from the different forms it assumes
+according to the fulness or emptiness of the stream.&nbsp; There
+are rocks of all shapes and sizes, which continually vary the
+appearance of the water, as it rushes over or plays among them;
+so that such a river, to a picturesque eye, is a continued fund
+of new entertainment.&rdquo;</p>
+<h2><a name="page31"></a><span class="pagenum">p.
+31</span>CHAPTER III.</h2>
+<p class="gutsumm">Clifford
+Castle&mdash;Lords-marchers&mdash;Fair Rosamond&mdash;Ruins of
+the Castle&mdash;The silent cottage&mdash;Approach to
+Hereford&mdash;Castle&mdash;Cathedral&mdash;Nell
+Gwynn&mdash;Cider&mdash;Salmon&mdash;Wolves.</p>
+<p>Leaving Hay, the valley widens, the background softens, and
+the whole scene assumes the character of an English vale, where
+the hills on each side are cultivated to the summit.&nbsp; On the
+right, as we proceed, a deep umbrageous wood comes in to give
+effect, just where effect was wanting; and, surmounting a conical
+eminence above the road, near the second milestone, the hoary
+ruins of Clifford Castle intermix with the monotony of modern
+life the associations of the olden time.</p>
+<p><a name="page32"></a><span class="pagenum">p.
+32</span>Clifford Castle was built by William Fitzosborne, earl
+of Hereford, but was held at the time of the Domesday Survey by
+Rudolphus de Totenie.&nbsp; It was obtained by the Cliffords by
+the marriage of Walter Fitz-Richard with Margaret, daughter of
+Ralph de Cundy.&nbsp; Walter Fitz-Richard&mdash;a descendant of
+Richard II., duke of Normandy&mdash;whose father accompanied the
+Conqueror into England, having married the heiress of Ralph de
+Cundy, of Clifford Castle, took the name of De Clifford, and the
+place remained the baronial seat of the family for two
+centuries.</p>
+<p>The nobles of that age were not merely required to do military
+service for their lands, but other imposts were laid upon them by
+the feudal custom, which had the effect of a true property
+tax.&nbsp; At the marriage of Matilda, daughter of Henry I., with
+Charles V. of Germany, the king collected a sum equal to about
+&pound;135,000 of our money from the land, at a fixed rate per
+hide; and the returns (<i>certificationes</i>) show very clearly
+the distribution of property at the time.&nbsp; We find Walter de
+Clifford set down for one hide in Herefordshire in Wales.&nbsp;
+It may be noted, in <a name="page33"></a><span class="pagenum">p.
+33</span>passing, that Henry was not only generous in granting
+lands to his own and his father&rsquo;s followers, but the same
+request being made to him by some Flemings, whose share of terra
+firma had been wrested from them by an incursion of the sea, he
+made no scruple to comply.&nbsp; &ldquo;Being very
+liberall,&rdquo; say the Welsh chronicles, &ldquo;of that which
+was not his owne, he gave them the land of <i>Ros</i>, in West
+Wales, or Dynet, where Pembroke, Haverford, and Tenby are now
+built; and they there remain to this day, as may well be
+perceived by their speech and conditions being farre differing
+from the rest of the countrye.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>The Norman knights who settled on the Welsh borders acquired
+the name of Lords Marchers, being styled Marchiones Walli&aelig;
+in the Red Book of the Exchequer; although the title of nobility
+derived from this, <i>Marquis</i>, was not introduced till the
+reign of Richard II.&nbsp; These lords marchers, of whom were the
+Cliffords and other families in Hereford, had each a law for his
+own barony, and determined of their own authority all suits
+between their tenants.&nbsp; They were entitled to the goods and
+chattels of such of their tenants as died intestate.&nbsp; This
+<a name="page34"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 34</span>power, in
+fact, was such as could only be continued by violence; and hence
+the coolness or treachery of some of them when any serious
+attempt was made by the sovereign to introduce the laws and
+customs of the English into Wales.&nbsp; After the death of
+Llewellin, the last prince of Wales, this was at length effected
+by Edward I.; but still, the Marches, not being included in the
+division of the land into counties became a scene of such
+anarchy, that it was found necessary to institute a court of
+judicature for that district alone.&nbsp; This court continued
+till the first year of William and Mary, when it was dissolved by
+an act of Parliament, in consequence, as the preamble states, of
+its having become &ldquo;a great grievance to the
+subject.&rdquo;&nbsp; Previous to this, however, in the time of
+Henry VIII., the Marches of Wales were definitely united to
+England; when Clifford and other places, which were before a
+debatable land of bloodshed and confusion, became a part of
+Herefordshire.</p>
+<p>But Clifford Castle is not associated merely with ideas of war
+and rapine, but with those of love and beauty.&nbsp; Here was
+born that too celebrated lady, of whom Dryden says&mdash;</p>
+<blockquote><p><a name="page35"></a><span class="pagenum">p.
+35</span>&ldquo;Jane Clifford was her name, as books aver,<br />
+Fair Rosamond was but her <i>nom de guerre</i>.&rdquo;</p>
+</blockquote>
+<p style="text-align: center">
+<a href="images/p35b.jpg">
+<img alt=
+"Clifford Castle"
+title=
+"Clifford Castle"
+src="images/p35s.jpg" />
+</a></p>
+<p>She was the daughter of one of the earls of Clifford, and
+became celebrated for her amour with Henry II.; who built her a
+bower in Woodstock Park, which he defended from his jealous wife
+by the classical device of a labyrinth.&nbsp; Queen Eleanor,
+however, who was as well read in ancient history as her spouse,
+was not slow in hitting upon the expedient of the clue of thread;
+and, on reaching her rival, the historical romancers add, she
+compelled her to swallow poison.&nbsp; Whatever may have been her
+fate, Fair Rosamond was buried at Godstow, and a Latin epitaph
+inscribed on her tomb to this effect:</p>
+<blockquote><p>&ldquo;Here lies not Rose the Chaste, but Rose the
+Fair,<br />
+Whose breath perfumes no more, but taints the air.&rdquo;</p>
+</blockquote>
+<p>The ruins of the castle, completely covered with ivy, look
+down solemn and sad upon the Wye:</p>
+<blockquote><p>&ldquo;Clifford has fallen&mdash;howe&rsquo;er
+sublime,<br />
+Mere fragments wrestle still with time;<br />
+<a name="page36"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 36</span>Yet as
+they perish, sure and slow,<br />
+And rolling dash the stream below,<br />
+They raise tradition&rsquo;s glowing scene,&mdash;<br />
+The clue of silk, the wrathful queen;<br />
+And link in memory&rsquo;s firmest bond<br />
+The love-lorn tale of Rosamond.&rdquo;</p>
+</blockquote>
+<p>We carried away with us for a considerable distance the dreamy
+repose of Clifford Castle; but this was at length broken by
+repose of another character.&nbsp; The scene was a little wayside
+hut, purporting to be an inn, where the weary pedestrian might
+obtain shade or shelter, if no refreshment.&nbsp; An old man, and
+an old woman, occupied the two fireside corners, the one reading,
+the other sewing, in profound silence.&nbsp; Around the hearth,
+there was a semi-circle of five cats, in various attitudes of
+rest, but not one breaking the stillness of the place even by a
+pur.&nbsp; A dog, apparently kept in proper order by his feline
+associates, lay outside the semicircle, and shared in the
+tranquillity of the scene.&nbsp; We paused for a moment at the
+door, feeling that our presence was an intrusion; but, after a
+brief question, and a brief reply, the good wife dropped her eyes
+again upon her work, and the dog, who had himself raised his
+head, returned to his <a name="page37"></a><span
+class="pagenum">p. 37</span>slumber with a sigh.&nbsp; As for the
+other inhabitants, our presence had produced no effect upon them
+at all, and we withdrew to proceed upon our wanderings,
+unconsciously taking care to tread without noise.</p>
+<p>From this place to Hereford, the road runs through a rich and
+well cultivated country, dotted here and there with houses and
+villages, but not thickly enough to disturb the idea of pastoral
+repose.&nbsp; Approaching Bradwardine, where the old castle said
+to have been the residence of the family of that name is
+<i>not</i>, the soil swells into wooded eminences, one of which
+is called Mirebeck Hill; and Brobury&rsquo;s Scar, a picturesque
+cliff rising from the bank of the river, adds still further to
+the diversity of the prospect.&nbsp; Then came the various villas
+which usually adorn the neighbourhood of a large town&mdash;and
+which here are true embellishments to the landscape; and finally
+we enter the ancient, sober, quiet cathedral city of
+Hereford.</p>
+<p>Hereford was a principal town of Mercia under the Heptarchy,
+the palace of Offa, the most powerful of the Mercian princes,
+being within three miles of it on the north-eastern side.&nbsp;
+Its <a name="page38"></a><span class="pagenum">p.
+38</span>church, in the time of Offa, was probably nothing more
+than a wooden building; but to the rise of that church in wealth
+and reputation was owing, according to the usual sequence of
+events at the period, the prosperity of the town.&nbsp; Offa had
+treacherously inveigled to his court Ethelbert, prince of the
+East Angles, when he murdered him, and usurped his crown.&nbsp;
+The body of the victim was buried in the church, where by working
+of miracles it attracted so much attention to the spot, that a
+new church of stone was constructed on the site of the wooden
+edifice, and dedicated to <i>Saint Ethelbert</i>.&nbsp;
+Multitudes of course flocked to visit the martyr&rsquo;s tomb;
+the church was richly endowed by the remorse or hypocrisy of the
+assassin; and Hereford speedily rose from its comparative
+obscurity.</p>
+<p>About the year 939, the city was first enclosed by walls, the
+fragments of which now existing are supposed to stand upon the
+original foundations.&nbsp; They were eighteen hundred yards in
+extent, enclosing the town on all sides except towards the south,
+where it has the defence of the Wye.&nbsp; There were six gates,
+and fifteen embattled watch-towers.&nbsp; The castle, concerning
+<a name="page39"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 39</span>the date
+of which antiquarians are not agreed, stood on the south and east
+sides of the city, with the Wye on the south and the cathedral on
+the west.&nbsp; Leland describes the keep as having been
+&ldquo;high and very strong, having in the outer wall ten
+semicircular towers, and one great tower within.&rdquo;&nbsp; He
+adds, that &ldquo;it hath been one of the largest, fayrest, and
+strongest castels in England.&rdquo;&nbsp; In the time of the
+civil wars, Hereford was the scene of some strife, but since then
+nothing has occurred&mdash;not even the introduction of
+manufactures&mdash;to disturb its repose.</p>
+<p>With the exception of the cathedral, a grand view of which is
+to be had from the Castle Green Promenade&mdash;a fine public
+walk on a small scale&mdash;there is nothing to detain the
+traveller.&nbsp; Some fragments of the city walls, however, and
+of an old priory, may be visited by the antiquary; together with
+an old house, a &ldquo;brotherless hermit,&rdquo; the last of a
+race demolished for the purpose of widening the street where the
+town hall stands&mdash;or rather sits&mdash;resting uneasily on
+some thin columns.&nbsp; The house, adorned with grotesque faces,
+bears its date, 1621.</p>
+<p>The traveller may also go, if he will, to Pipe <a
+name="page40"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 40</span>Lane,
+formerly called Pipe Well Street, leading from the bridge to the
+cathedral, to see the house where Nell Gwynn was not born, and
+the bedchamber where she did not sleep.&nbsp; These curiosities
+will be shown for a trifle, and they must now suffice: the
+dwelling which really had the distinction of giving birth to
+Mistress Eleanor having been pulled down more than twenty years
+ago.</p>
+<p>After the removal of this celebrated lady to London, she made
+her first appearance in Drury Lane Theatre, in the character of a
+fruit-girl, not on the stage, but in the lobby.&nbsp; Mr. Hart,
+the manager, however, was induced to notice her by her natural
+humour and vivacity, and he produced her upon the boards about
+the year 1667.&nbsp; Here she became a favorite of Dryden, who
+wrote some of his prologues and epilogues expressly for
+her.&nbsp; &ldquo;The immediate cause of her becoming the object
+of the king&rsquo;s affection is thus represented.&nbsp; At the
+duke&rsquo;s theatre, under Killegrew&rsquo;s patent, the
+celebrated Nokes appeared in a hat larger than that usually
+assigned to Pistol, which diverted the audience so much as to
+help off a bad play.&nbsp; Dryden, in return, caused a hat to <a
+name="page41"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 41</span>be made of
+the circumference of a large coach wheel, and made Mrs. Gwynn
+speak an epilogue under the umbrella of it, with the brim
+stretched out in its utmost horizontal extension, not unlike a
+mushroom of that size.&nbsp; No sooner did she appear in this
+strange dress, than the house was in convulsions of
+laughter.&nbsp; Amongst the rest, the king gave the fullest marks
+of approbation, by going behind the scenes after the play, and
+taking her home in his own coach to sup with him.&rdquo; <a
+name="citation41"></a><a href="#footnote41"
+class="citation">[41]</a>&nbsp; Her son, born in 1670, was
+afterwards created duke of St. Albans; and her grandson became a
+prelate of the church, and the denizen of the episcopal palace
+nearly adjoining the humble house in Pipe Lane, where his
+maternal ancestor was born.&nbsp; Mrs. Gwynne was one of the few
+royal favorites who have not abused their power, otherwise than
+in spending money which should have been under the control of the
+nation.&nbsp; She was munificent in her charities, and may be
+considered, if not the founder of Chelsea Hospital, the cause of
+its having been founded.&nbsp; &ldquo;Her stature was short, <a
+name="page42"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 42</span>her hair
+inclined to red; her eyes were small and lively, and she
+possessed what the French term embonpoint.&nbsp; Her feet were of
+the most diminutive size, and as such were the subject of
+frequent mirth to the merry monarch.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>The staple commodity of Hereford is cider; but the reputation
+of the county for this production dates backward only to the
+reign of Charles I., when, according to Evelyn, it became
+&ldquo;in a manner one entire orchard.&rdquo;&nbsp; The apples
+are merely a variety of the crab, as the pears are descended from
+the common wild pear.&nbsp; The plantations are found in every
+aspect, and on every soil; but in general the west winds, so much
+praised by the Roman poets, and after them by Philips the bard of
+cider, are unwholesome to the plant, from the circumstance of
+their blowing over the Welsh mountains, which are capped with
+snow even in the spring.&nbsp; The best colours for cider fruits
+are red and yellow, the juice of the green being harsh and
+poor.&nbsp; The pulp should be yellow, but this part of the apple
+is not so important as the rind and kernel, in which the strength
+and flavour of the liquid reside; and for this reason the smaller
+the apple <a name="page43"></a><span class="pagenum">p.
+43</span>is the better.&nbsp; From twenty-four to thirty gallons
+are required to fill the provincial hogshead of one hundred and
+ten gallons.</p>
+<p>The cider-mill used even at this moment is a rude and
+imperfect contrivance, consisting of a circular stone, about
+twelve hundred weight, set on its edge in a shallow circular
+trough, and drawn round by a horse.&nbsp; The apples are
+gradually introduced into the trough, and a quantity may be thus
+mashed equal to a hogshead of cider in the day.&nbsp; The
+expressed juice is put into casks, not quite filled, and in the
+open air; and as soon as the vinous fermentation takes place, it
+is racked.&nbsp; When two years old it may be bottled, after
+which it will become rich and sparkling, and so remain for twenty
+or thirty years.&nbsp; Perry is made with pears pretty nearly in
+the same way.</p>
+<p>The salmon is still the principal fish taken in the Wye,
+though far less plentiful than formerly.&nbsp; It was at one time
+a common clause in the indentures of apprentices that they should
+not be compelled to live on salmon more than two days in the
+week.&nbsp; Wolves were formerly so numerous in this district,
+that in 1234 a proclamation <a name="page44"></a><span
+class="pagenum">p. 44</span>was issued commanding them to be
+destroyed, and calling upon &ldquo;all the king&rsquo;s liege
+people to assist therein.&rdquo;&nbsp; A wolf would now be an
+extraordinary spectacle indeed on the sunny slopes, or prowling
+among the apple orchards of Hereford!&nbsp; But the Wye has seen
+changes more remarkable than this.</p>
+<p style="text-align: center">
+<a href="images/p44b.jpg">
+<img alt=
+"Hereford"
+title=
+"Hereford"
+src="images/p44s.jpg" />
+</a></p>
+<h2><a name="page45"></a><span class="pagenum">p.
+45</span>CHAPTER IV</h2>
+<p class="gutsumm">Beauty and tameness&mdash;The travelling
+hill&mdash;Ross&mdash;The silver tankard&mdash;The Man of
+Ross&mdash;The sympathetic trees&mdash;Penyard
+Castle&mdash;Vicissitudes of the river&mdash;Wilton
+Castle&mdash;A voyage to sea in a basket&mdash;Pencraig Hill.</p>
+<p>Comparatively speaking, there is little worthy of remark
+between Hereford and Ross; and yet Gilpin&rsquo;s charge of
+<i>tameness</i> is unjust.&nbsp; What it wants is
+excitement.&nbsp; The valley of the Wye is here
+beautiful&mdash;neither more, nor less; but its beauty is similar
+to that of the portion we have just traversed between the Hay and
+Hereford, and we therefore call it tame.&nbsp; Why did we not
+apply the word before?&nbsp; Because the contrast presented by
+the valley after leaving Hay with the wilder or grander features
+we had passed <a name="page46"></a><span class="pagenum">p.
+46</span>formed one of the <i>vicissitudes</i> of the
+river.&nbsp; This will be understood by a traveller who journeys
+up the stream.&nbsp; On reaching Ross, after emerging from the
+tumult, or sublimity, of the lower passage, he will gaze with
+delight on one of the most quietly beautiful landscapes in
+England&mdash;whose smooth green eminences, gentle groves,
+orchards and hop plantations (the latter far finer objects than
+the vineyards of the continent), white cottages, villages, and
+village spires, give an endless and yet simple variety to the
+picture.&nbsp; After passing Hereford, in quest of new
+excitement, the scene-hunter will pronounce a similar character
+of landscape <i>tame</i>.</p>
+<p>Six miles from Hereford, the Lay adds its waters to the Wye,
+and near the confluence we remark an abrupt elevation, which
+being wholly different in character from the rest of the soil
+conveys the idea of an accident of nature.&nbsp; And such it
+actually is.</p>
+<p>Marclay Hill&mdash;for so the elevation is called&mdash;in the
+time of Elizabeth, according to Camden, &ldquo;rose as it were
+from sleep, and for three days moved on its vast body with an
+horrible noise, driving everything before it to an higher
+ground.&rdquo;&nbsp; <a name="page47"></a><span
+class="pagenum">p. 47</span>Fuller states that the ascent gained
+by the surprising traveller was eleven fathoms, that its bulk was
+twenty acres, and that the time it took to perform the feat was
+fourteen hours.&nbsp; Sir Richard Baker, in the &ldquo;Chronicles
+of England,&rdquo; is still more minute.&nbsp; &ldquo;In the
+thirteenth year of Queen Elizabeth,&rdquo; says he, &ldquo;a
+prodigious earthquake happened in the east parts of
+Herefordshire, at a little town called Kinnaston.&nbsp; On the
+seventeenth of February, at six o&rsquo;clock in the evening, the
+earth began to open, and a hill, with a rock under it, making at
+first a great hollowing noise, which was heard a great way off,
+lifted itself up, and began to travel, bearing along with it the
+trees that grew upon it, the sheepfolds and flocks of sheep
+abiding there at the same time.&nbsp; In the place from whence it
+was first moved it left a gaping distance forty foot broad, and
+fourscore ells long: the whole field was about twenty
+acres.&nbsp; Passing along it overthrew a chapel standing in the
+way, removed a yew tree planted in the churchyard from the west
+to the east: with the like force it thrust before it highways,
+sheepfolds, hedges, and trees; made tilled ground pasture, and
+again turned pasture into tillage.&nbsp; <a
+name="page48"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 48</span>Having walked
+in this sort from Saturday evening till Monday noon, it then
+stood still.&rdquo;&nbsp; The yew tree still exists as a witness
+of the fact, and the church bell was dug up not many years
+ago.</p>
+<p style="text-align: center">
+<a href="images/p48b.jpg">
+<img alt=
+"Ross"
+title=
+"Ross"
+src="images/p48s.jpg" />
+</a></p>
+<p>The traces of a Roman camp on Woldbury Hill, and on Eaton Hill
+those of an ancient fortification, forming a link in the chain of
+defences which formerly ran along this part of the country, may
+be inspected with advantage by the pedestrian who is read in
+antiquarian lore; but to others there will appear nothing which
+should detain their steps before the little town of Ross.&nbsp;
+Here commences the tour of the lower Wye&mdash;of that part of
+the river which is known to fame as <i>the</i> Wye.&nbsp; As for
+the town itself, it is neat and prim-looking, sitting quietly
+upon an eminence above the river.&nbsp; It is full of memories of
+the Man of Ross, which sanctify it from the boisterous
+vulgarities of a town.&nbsp; The &ldquo;heaven-directed
+spire&rdquo; which he taught to rise is its prominent feature;
+and this object keeps the lines of Pope ringing in our ears like
+the church bell, and with a little of its monotony.</p>
+<p>This bell, by the way, is something more than <a
+name="page49"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 49</span>an ordinary
+bell.&nbsp; It bears the name of John Kyrle, and was cast at
+Gloucester, in 1695, at his own expense.&nbsp; Nay, it possesses
+a relic more valuable than his name, for there is incorporated
+with its substance his favorite silver tankard.&nbsp; He attended
+himself at the casting, and, drinking solemnly the orthodox toast
+of &ldquo;Church and King,&rdquo; he threw the cup into the
+molten mass.&nbsp; In a local guide-book, we find several little
+particulars of this fine old fellow, which are interesting from
+their na&iuml;vet&eacute;.</p>
+<p>It appears he was entered a gentleman commoner, of Baliol
+College, Oxford, in 1654, and that he was intended for the bar
+but soon relinquished all thoughts of that profession, and
+returning to Ross gave himself up to agriculture and building,
+and the improvement of his native town.</p>
+<p>An old maiden cousin, of the euphonous name of Bubb, kept
+house for him many years.&nbsp; In his person, John was tall,
+thin, and well-shaped; his health was remarkably good, and he
+scarcely knew any of the frailties of old age until within a very
+short time of his death.&nbsp; His usual dress was a suit of
+brown <i>dittos</i>, and a king William&rsquo;s <a
+name="page50"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 50</span>wig, all in
+the costume of his day.&nbsp; He disliked crowds and routs, but
+was exceedingly fond of snug, social parties, and &ldquo;of
+dinnering his friends upon the market and fair days.&rdquo;&nbsp;
+He was also exceedingly pleased with his neighbours dropping in
+without ceremony, loved to make a good long evening of it,
+enjoyed a merry story, and always seemed sorry when it was time
+to break up.&nbsp; His dishes were generally plain and according
+to the season, but he dearly loved a goose, and was vain of his
+dexterity in carving it.&nbsp; During the operation, which he
+invariably took upon himself, he always repeated one of those old
+sayings and standing witticisms that seem to attach themselves
+with peculiar preference to the cooked goose.&nbsp; He never had
+roast beef on his table save and except on Christmas day; and
+malt liquor and good Herefordshire cider were the only beverages
+ever introduced.&nbsp; At his kitchen fire there was a large
+block of wood, in lieu of a bench, for poor people to sit upon;
+and a piece of boiled beef, and three pecks of flower, made into
+loaves, were given to the poor every Sunday.&nbsp; The number he
+chose at his &ldquo;invitation dinners,&rdquo; were nine, eleven,
+<a name="page51"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 51</span>or
+<i>thirteen</i>, including himself and his kinswoman, Miss Bubb;
+and he never cared to sit down to table until he had as many as
+made one of these numbers.&nbsp; He not only superintended the
+labours of the road makers, planters, and gardeners, but commonly
+took an active part in them himself, delighting above all things
+to carry a huge watering-pot to water the trees he had newly set
+in the earth.&nbsp; &ldquo;With a spade on his shoulder and a
+glass bottle of liquor in his hand, he used to walk from his
+house to the fields and back again several times during the
+day.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>Without the trees planted by John Kyrle, Ross would be
+nothing, so far as the picturesque is concerned; and a delightful
+tradition, the truth of which is vouched by undeniable evidence,
+proves that the trees were not ungrateful to their founder.&nbsp;
+A rector, as the story goes, had the impiety to cut down some of
+these living monuments of the taste of John Kyrle, which shaded
+the wall of the church beside his own pew; but the roots threw
+out fresh shoots, and these, penetrating into the interior, grew
+into two graceful elms, that occupied his seat with their
+foliage.&nbsp; If any one doubt the fact, let him <a
+name="page52"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 52</span>go and
+see.&nbsp; The trees are still there; their branches curtain the
+tall window that opens upon the pew; and their beautiful leaves
+cluster above the seat,</p>
+<blockquote><p>&ldquo;And still keep his memory green in our
+souls.&rdquo;</p>
+</blockquote>
+<p>Besides the elms in the churchyard and neighbourhood, there is
+a fine avenue, planted by John Kyrle, called the Prospect, or the
+Man of Ross&rsquo;s Walk.&nbsp; It is on the ridge of a hill
+behind the church, and commands a view of the valley of the Wye,
+about which there is some difference of opinion.&nbsp; In
+King&rsquo;s anecdotes the planter&rsquo;s taste for prospects is
+commended; and it is said that &ldquo;by a vast plantation of
+elms, which he disposed of in a fine manner, he has made one of
+the most <i>entertaining</i> scenes the county of Hereford
+affords.&rdquo;&nbsp; Gilpin, on the other hand, who travelled
+with an easel before his mind&rsquo;s eye, cannot make a picture
+of it; and Gray the poet asserts, in reference to the spot in
+question, that &ldquo;all points that are much elevated spoil the
+beauty of the valley, and make its parts, which are not large,
+look poor and diminutive.&rdquo;</p>
+<p><a name="page53"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 53</span>The
+only other relic shown at Ross is a fragment of an oak bedstead,
+on which Charles I. slept, on his way from Ragland Castle.&nbsp;
+A house in Church Lane, called Gabriel Hill&rsquo;s Great Inn,
+contains the chamber so distinguished.</p>
+<p>Here the traveller may hire a boat, if he choose, for the
+remainder of his journey.&nbsp; The Wye, however, is navigable to
+Hereford in barges of from eighteen to forty tons; and sometimes
+in lighter boats even to the Hay, but the shoals in summer and
+the floods in winter frequently interrupt the navigation.&nbsp;
+In 1795 the river rose fifteen feet at the former place within
+twenty-four hours, and carried away bridges, cattle, sheep,
+timber, and everything that stood in its way.</p>
+<p>But even if he determine afterwards to proceed by the river,
+the traveller will do well to walk from Ross to the ruins of
+Penyard Castle; not that these ruins are in themselves worthy of
+his attention, but the road is beautiful throughout, and from the
+summit, Penyard Chace, he will see the little town he has left,
+and our wandering Wye in a new phasis.&nbsp; The country is
+diversified with hills and valleys, and wooded spaces between; <a
+name="page54"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 54</span>and more
+especially when the shadows of evening are stealing over the
+landscape, the whole is a scene of enchantment.</p>
+<p>Although the lower passage of the river commences at Ross, we
+do not, for two or three miles further, get fairly into its
+peculiarities.&nbsp; From the gentle, the graceful, the gay, it
+glides almost insensibly into the picturesque, the bold, and the
+grand.&nbsp; The tranquillity of its course from the Hay&mdash;a
+tranquillity dearly purchased by the labours of its wild career
+during the upper passage&mdash;has prepared it for new
+vicissitudes, and new struggles.&nbsp; The following description,
+by archdeacon Coxe, applies to a great part of the portion we are
+now entering upon, and cannot be improved either in fidelity or
+style.</p>
+<blockquote><p>&ldquo;The effects of these numerous windings are
+various and striking; the same objects present themselves, are
+lost and recovered with different accompaniments, and in
+different points of view: thus the ruins of a castle, hamlets
+embosomed in trees, the spire of a church bursting from the wood,
+figures impending over the water, and broken masses of rock
+fringed with herbage, sometimes are seen on one side, sometimes
+on <a name="page55"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 55</span>the
+other, and form the fore-ground or background of a
+landscape.&nbsp; Thus also the river itself here stretches in a
+continuous line, there moves in a curve, between gentle slopes
+and fertile meadows, or is suddenly concealed in a deep abyss,
+under the gloom of impending woods.&rdquo;&nbsp; &ldquo;The banks
+for the most part rise abruptly from the edge of the water, and
+are clothed with forests, or are broken into cliffs.&nbsp; In
+some places they approach so near that the river occupies the
+whole intermediate space, and nothing is seen but woods, rocks,
+and water; in others, they alternately recede, and the eye
+catches an occasional glimpse of hamlets, ruins, and detached
+buildings, partly seated on the margin of the stream, and partly
+scattered on the rising grounds.&nbsp; The general character of
+the scenery, however, is wildness and solitude; and if we except
+the populous district of Monmouth, no river perhaps flows for so
+long a course in a well cultivated country, the banks of which
+exhibit so few habitations.&rdquo;</p>
+</blockquote>
+<p>A little below Ross, on the right bank of the river, are the
+ruins of Wilton Castle, which was for several centuries the
+baronial residence of the <a name="page56"></a><span
+class="pagenum">p. 56</span>Greys of the south, and was destroyed
+by the Hereford royalists in the time of Charles I.&nbsp; Let us
+relate, however, as a circumstance of still more interest, that
+it was left, with the adjoining lands, by Thomas Guy, to the
+admirable charity in London which he founded, known by the name
+of Guy&rsquo;s Hospital.</p>
+<p>The Wye here passes under Wilton bridge, a construction of
+rather a curious kind, which dates from the close of the
+sixteenth century.&nbsp; Coracles are seldom seen so high up the
+river as this; but we mention them here because the hero of
+Gilpin&rsquo;s often repeated anecdote was an inhabitant of
+Wilton.&nbsp; This man, it seems, ventured into the British
+Channel in a coracle, as far as the isle of Lundy; a very
+remarkable voyage to be made in a canvass tub, the navigation of
+the estuary of the Severn being quite as trying as that of any
+part of the British seas.&nbsp; Previously, however, to this
+exploit, the very same feat was performed by an itinerant
+stage-doctor of Mitchel Dean in the Forest.&nbsp; The coracles
+are a sort of basket made of willow twigs, covered with pitched
+canvass or raw hide, and resembling in form the section of a
+walnut-shell.&nbsp; Similar <a name="page57"></a><span
+class="pagenum">p. 57</span>rude contrivances are in use among
+the Esquimaux and other savage tribes, and were employed by the
+ancient Britons for the navigation of rivers.&nbsp; They are now
+the fishing-boats of the rivers of South Wales; and when the
+day&rsquo;s work is done are carried home on the shoulders of
+their owners, disposed in such a way as to serve for a hood in
+case of rain.&nbsp; The early ships of Britain are described by
+C&aelig;sar and Pliny as being merely larger
+coracles&mdash;clumsy frames of rough timber, ribbed with hurdles
+and lined with hides.&nbsp; According to Claudian they had masts
+and sails, although they were generally rowed, the rowers singing
+to the harp.</p>
+<p>At the farm of Weir End, the river takes a sudden bend, and
+rolls along the steep sides of Pencraig Hill, which are clothed
+with wood to the water&rsquo;s edge.&nbsp; Soon the ruined
+turrets of Goodrich Castle present themselves, crowning the
+summit of a wooded eminence on the right bank, and as they vanish
+and reappear with the turnings of the river the effect is
+magnificent.</p>
+<h2><a name="page58"></a><span class="pagenum">p.
+58</span>CHAPTER V.</h2>
+<p class="gutsumm">Roman passes of the Wye&mdash;Goodrich
+Castle&mdash;Keep&mdash;Fortifications&mdash;Apartments&mdash;Its
+history&mdash;Goodrich Court&mdash;Forest of Dean&mdash;Laws of
+the Miners&mdash;Military exploit&mdash;Wines of
+Gloucestershire.</p>
+<p>If the conjecture of antiquaries be correct, that the great
+Roman road from Blestium to Gloucester, by Ariconium, proceeded
+by the ford of the Wye at Goodrich Castle, it is possible that
+this spot may have been of some consequence before the period
+when history takes any cognizance of the fortress.&nbsp; Blestium
+is supposed to be Monmouth, from which the road probably led
+along the line of the present turnpike, between an entrenchment
+to the left, opposite <a name="page59"></a><span
+class="pagenum">p. 59</span>Dixon Church, and an encampment on
+the Little Doward, to the right, supposed by some to be Roman,
+but usually described in the road books as British.&nbsp; The
+name of Whitchurch Street, applied to a portion of this route
+further on, favours the supposition of a Roman origin.&nbsp;
+Ariconium, the next station from Blestium, is Rosebury Hill, near
+Ross, according to those who identify Monmouth with
+Blestium.&nbsp; There was another Roman way which led from
+Blestium to Glevum (Gloucester) by a more direct route; crossing
+the Wye at the former place, and leading up the Kymin from the
+left bank of the river.&nbsp; At Stanton, a little further on,
+the vestiges of a Roman settlement are indubitable, not only in
+the name of the place itself, but in the entrenchments that may
+be observed near the church, and the Roman cinders scattered
+about the fields.&nbsp; At Monmouth and Goodrich Castle,
+therefore, were the two great passes of the Wye used by the
+Romans.&nbsp; At the latter the river is crossed by a ferry.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;The awe and admiration could not be enhanced with which
+I wandered through the dark passages and the spacious courts, and
+climbed <a name="page60"></a><span class="pagenum">p.
+60</span>the crumbling staircase of Goodrich Castle.&rdquo;&nbsp;
+So says the German prince: although the time of his visit was
+winter, when the Wye and its ruins are stripped of the adjunct of
+foliage, which in the imagination of common travellers is
+inseparably connected with ideas of the picturesque or beautiful
+in natural scenery.</p>
+<p>Goodrich Castle forms a parallelogram, with a round tower at
+each angle, and a square keep in the south-west part of the
+enclosure.&nbsp; A minute account of this remarkable ruin is
+given in the &ldquo;Antiqua Monumenta;&rdquo; and Mr. Bonner
+introduces his brief description, in illustration of his
+perspective views, with the remark that &ldquo;the fortification
+(although not of large dimensions) contains all the different
+works which constitute a complete ancient baronial
+castle.&rdquo;&nbsp; For this reason, if for no other, it would
+demand special observation; but the tourist of the Wye, even if
+ignorant of the interest which thus attaches to Goodrich Castle,
+will acknowledge that it forms one of the finest objects hitherto
+presented by the banks of the river.&nbsp; It stands on the
+summit of a wooded hill, in the position of one of the castles of
+the Rhine, and in the midst of <a name="page61"></a><span
+class="pagenum">p. 61</span>a scene of solemn grandeur which
+Mason may have had in view when he wrote his spirited description
+of the sacred grove of Mona, in &ldquo;Caractacus.&rdquo;</p>
+<blockquote><p>&ldquo;Here, Romans, pause, and let the eye of
+wonder<br />
+Gaze on the solemn scene: behold yon oak<br />
+How stem it frowns, and with its broad brown arms<br />
+Chills the pale plains beneath him: mark yon altar,<br />
+The dark stream brawling round its rugged base,<br />
+These cliffs, these yawning caverns, this wide circus,<br />
+Skirted with unhewn stone: they awe my soul<br />
+As if the very genius of the place<br />
+Himself appeared, and with terrific tread<br />
+Stalked through his drear domain.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&ldquo;Yonder
+grots,<br />
+Are tenanted by bards, who nightly thence,<br />
+Robed in their flowing vests of innocent white,<br />
+Descend, with harps that glitter to the moon,<br />
+Hymning immortal strains.&nbsp; The spirits of the air,<br />
+Of earth, of water, nay of heav&rsquo;n itself,<br />
+Do listen to their lay: and oft, &rsquo;tis said,<br />
+In visible shapes dance they a magic round<br />
+To the high minstrelsy.&rdquo;</p>
+</blockquote>
+<p>The keep is the most ancient remains of the castle, and
+presents, on a small scale, all the usual features of this part
+of a fortification of the olden times.&nbsp; It was composed of
+three stories, <a name="page62"></a><span class="pagenum">p.
+62</span>being intended to overlook the works, and had no windows
+on the landward side.&nbsp; Each of these stories consisted of a
+single small room, the lowest being the prison, without even a
+loophole to admit air or light.&nbsp; &ldquo;The original
+windows,&rdquo; says King, &ldquo;are the most truly Saxon that
+can be.&rdquo;&nbsp; This applies more particularly to the one in
+the middle of the upper story, which appears to have remained
+without any alteration; while, in the one beneath, a stone frame
+for glass seems to have been inserted.&nbsp; The style of this
+addition points to the time of Henry VI., and we may believe that
+it was made by the celebrated Earl Talbot, who tenanted one of
+these small chambers.&nbsp; Besides the glass window, this
+apartment boasts a hearth for fire; and, as is usual in such
+buildings, the communication with the floor above is by a
+circular staircase in an angle of the massive wall.&nbsp;
+&ldquo;To this staircase is a most remarkable door-way; it was
+one large transom-stone, as if to aid the arch to support the
+wall above, and in this respect resembles several other Saxon
+structures, in which this strange kind of fashion seems to have
+been uniformly adopted; until it became gradually altered <a
+name="page63"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 63</span>by the
+introduction of a flattish <i>under-arch</i>, instituted in the
+room of the transom-stone.&rdquo; <a name="citation63"></a><a
+href="#footnote63" class="citation">[63]</a></p>
+<p>The entrance to the keep was by a flight of steps, leading to
+the above apartment; but the dungeon had an entrance of its own,
+of a construction which leads antiquarians to conjecture, that it
+was added in the reign of Edward III., when Richard Talbot
+obtained the royal license for making his dungeon a state
+prison.</p>
+<p>The fortifications to be surmounted before an enemy could
+arrive at the keep, were numerous and complete.&nbsp;
+Independently of the fosse, there was a deep pit, hewn out of the
+solid rock, to be crossed by a drawbridge, and then commenced a
+dark vaulted passage between two semicircular towers.&nbsp;
+Eleven feet within the passage was a massive gate, defended (as
+likewise the drawbridge) by loopholes in the sides of the vault,
+and machicolations in the roof, for pouring down molten lead or
+boiling water on the assailants.&nbsp; A few feet farther on was
+a portcullis, and then a second, the space between protected by
+loopholes and machicolations.&nbsp; Presently there was <a
+name="page64"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 64</span>another
+strong gate, and finally a stone projection on both sides,
+intended for the insertion of beams of timber, to act as a
+barricade.&nbsp; If we add that the passage thus defended was
+less than ten feet wide, and that the exterior walls of the whole
+building were in general seven feet thick, an idea may be formed
+of the strength of Goodrich Castle.</p>
+<p>Within the ballium, or enclosed space, entered with such
+difficulty, were the keep here described, the state apartments,
+chapel, &amp;c.; but the whole of these are in so ruinous a
+state, as to be nearly unintelligible except to
+antiquaries.&nbsp; The great hall was sixty-five feet long and
+twenty-eight broad, and appears to have been a magnificent
+apartment of the time of Edward I., as its windows
+indicate.&nbsp; The fire-place is still distinguishable in the
+great kitchen.&nbsp; Communicating with the hall is a smaller
+room, from which a passage led into another room of state,
+fifty-five feet by twenty; and this opened into the ladies&rsquo;
+tower, standing upon the brow of a lofty precipice, and
+commanding a delightful view over the country.</p>
+<p>It is curious that so remarkable a structure <a
+name="page65"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 65</span>should be
+almost destitute of authentic history, till the very period when
+it ceased to exist but as a ruin.&nbsp; All that is known of its
+origin is, that a fort, held by a doomsday proprietor, of the
+name of Godric, commanded the ford of the river at this place
+before the Conquest.&nbsp; The fort consisted, in all
+probability, of little more than the keep; to which, at later
+periods, additions were made, cognisable by their style, till
+Goodrich Castle became a regular fortress.&nbsp; In 1165 it was
+the property of the earl of Pembroke, then lord of the whole
+district from Ross to Chepstow; and, subsequently, it was a seat
+of the Talbot family, who, in 1347, founded a priory of black
+canons at Flanesford, which is now a barn, about a quarter of a
+mile below the castle.&nbsp; During the civil wars this fortress
+played a conspicuous part, being taken and retaken by the
+opposing parties.&nbsp; In the first instance it held for the
+parliament; but was afterwards seized by Sir Richard Lingen, who,
+in 1646, defended it with great gallantry against Colonel Birch
+for nearly five months, and thus conferred upon it the
+distinction of being the last castle in England, excepting
+Pendennis, which held out <a name="page66"></a><span
+class="pagenum">p. 66</span>for the king.&nbsp; In the following
+year it was ordered by the parliament to be &ldquo;totally
+disgarrisoned and <i>slighted</i>,&rdquo; which sentence was just
+sufficiently carried into effect to give the Wye a magnificent
+ruin at the very spot where taste would have placed it.&nbsp;
+&ldquo;Here,&rdquo; says Mr. Gilpin, &ldquo;a grand view
+presented itself, and we rested on our oars to examine it.&nbsp;
+A reach of the river, forming a noble bay, is spread before the
+eye.&nbsp; The bank on the right is steep, and covered with wood,
+beyond which a bold promontory shoots out, crowned with a castle
+rising among trees.&nbsp; This view, which is one of the grandest
+on the river, I should not scruple to call correctly
+picturesque.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>Near the spot where Mr. Gilpin must have been is the ferry
+where Henry IV., who was waiting to be taken across, received
+intelligence of his queen&rsquo;s being delivered of a prince at
+Monmouth Castle.&nbsp; The king, according to tradition, was so
+overjoyed at the news, that he presented the ferry and boat,
+which at this time belonged to the crown, to the ferryman.&nbsp;
+On the left bank, nearly opposite, are the church and village of
+Walford, in the former of which is <a name="page67"></a><span
+class="pagenum">p. 67</span>buried Colonel Kyrle, who deserted
+the service of Charles I. for that of the parliament.</p>
+<p>Goodrich Court, to which a winding path leads from the castle,
+is somewhat nearer Ross.&nbsp; It is the seat of Sir Samuel
+Meyrick, the well known antiquary, and presents, in the
+architecture, an exact imitation of a mansion of the middle of
+the fourteenth century.&nbsp; In this respect, as well as in the
+arrangement of its proprietor&rsquo;s valuable collection of old
+armour, the house may be said to be absolutely perfect.&nbsp; It
+forms in itself and its contents, one of the most interesting
+museums in Europe; and it is open, with very little ceremony, to
+the inspection of the traveller, as all such things are, when
+they do not happen to be the property of persons unworthy to
+possess them.</p>
+<p>The river sweeps boldly round the wooded headland on which
+Goodrich Castle stands; and the ruin is thus presented again and
+again, in new phases (but none so interesting as the first), to
+the voyager, as he glides down the now varied and romantic
+river.&nbsp; A steep ridge on the right bank is called Coppet, or
+Copped Wood Hill, where the stream makes a sweep of five miles,
+<a name="page68"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 68</span>to perform
+the actual advance of one.&nbsp; The mass of foliage on the
+opposite bank is a part of the Forest of Dean, variegated, by
+rocks, hamlets, and village spires.&nbsp; Bishop&rsquo;s Brook
+here enters the Wye, and serves as a boundary between the
+counties of Hereford and Gloucester, and between the parishes of
+Walford and Ruerdean.&nbsp; &ldquo;The view at Ruerdean
+church,&rdquo; says Mr. Gilpin, &ldquo;is a scene of great
+grandeur.&nbsp; Here both sides of the river are steep, and both
+woody; but on one (meaning the left bank), the woods are
+interspersed with rocks.&nbsp; The deep umbrage of the Forest of
+Dean occupies the front, and the spire of the church rises among
+the trees.&nbsp; The reach of the river which exhibits this scene
+is long; and of course the view, which is a noble piece of
+natural perspective, continues some time before the eye; but when
+the spire comes directly in front, the grandeur of the landscape
+is gone.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>The famous Forest of Dean is in the space which here lies
+between the Severn and the Wye.&nbsp; &ldquo;In former
+ages,&rdquo; as Camden tells us, &ldquo;by the irregular tracks
+and horrid shades,&rdquo; it was so dark and dreary as to render
+its inhabitants <a name="page69"></a><span class="pagenum">p.
+69</span>more audacious in robberies.&nbsp; In the time of Edward
+I. there were seventy-two furnaces here for melting iron; and it
+is related, that the miners of those days were very industrious
+in seeking after the beds of cinders, where the Romans of Britain
+had been at work before them, which remains, when burnt over
+again, were supposed to make the best iron.&nbsp; The privileges
+of these miners were, no doubt, for the most part assumed, but
+some granted by law are highly curious.&nbsp; The following are
+specimens:&mdash;</p>
+<blockquote><p>&ldquo;Also, if any smith holder, or any other be
+debtor, for mine to a miner, the which smith holder or other be
+within, then the miner is bailiff in every place (except his own
+close), to take the horse of the debtor, if he be saddled with a
+work saddle, and with no other saddle; and be it that the horse
+be half within the door of the smith, so that the miner may take
+the tail of the horse, the debtor shall deliver the horse to the
+miner.&nbsp; And if he so do not, the miner shall make and levy
+hue and cry upon the said horse, and then the horse shall be
+forfeit to the king for the hue and cry made and levied, and <a
+name="page70"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 70</span>yet the miner
+shall present the debtor in the Mind Law, which is the court for
+the mine.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;And the debtor before the constable and his clerk, the
+gaveler and the miners, and none other folk to plead the right,
+only the ministers shall be there, and hold a stick of holly, and
+the said miner demanding the debt, shall put his hand upon the
+said stick, and none other with him, and he shall swear by his
+faith, that the said debt is to him due; and the prove made, the
+debtor, in the same place, shall pay the miner all the debt
+proved, or else he shall be brought to the castle of St.
+Briavells till grace be made, and also he shall be amerced to the
+king in two shillings.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Also the miner hath such franchises to inquire the mine
+in every soil of the king&rsquo;s of which it may be named, and
+also of all other folk, without withsaying of any man.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;And also if any be that denieth any soil, whatsoever it
+be, be it sound or no, or of what degree it may be named, then
+the gaveler, by the strength of the king, shall deliver the soil
+to the miners, with a convenient way, next stretching to the
+king&rsquo;s highway, by the which mine may <a
+name="page71"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 71</span>be carried to
+all places and waters that lean convenient to the said mine,
+without withsaying of any man.&rdquo;</p>
+</blockquote>
+<p>The Forest of Dean plays a conspicuous part in the wars of
+Monmouthshire, serving as a natural outwork for the county.&nbsp;
+The following transaction is described by Sanderson, the
+historian of Charles I.:&mdash;&ldquo;After Sir William
+Waller,&rdquo; says he, &ldquo;had refreshed his men, he advanced
+towards Monmouthshire, invited by some gentlemen to reduce these
+parts.&nbsp; At his coming to the town of Monmouth, the garrison
+of the lord Herbert retired, leaving a naked place to Sir
+William; where he found small success of his parties, sent abroad
+for supplies of money.&nbsp; He marches to Usk, and spending some
+time to no purpose in that county, he returns, the stream of the
+people affording him no welcome, being all universal tenants of
+that county to the earl of Worcester.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;In this time Prince Maurice enters Teuxbury, with a
+brigade of horse and foot added to the lord Grandeson, resolving
+to make after Waller, or to meet his return out of Wales.&nbsp; A
+bridge of boats wafts him over the Severn, with a body <a
+name="page72"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 72</span>of two
+thousand horse and foot.&nbsp; Waller was nimble in his retreat,
+not to be catcht in a noose or neck of Wales; but, by a bridge of
+boats, came back at Chepstow, with his foot and artillery, and
+himself, with his horse and dragoons, passed through the lowest
+part of the Forest of Dean, near the river side of Severn; and
+ere the prince had notice, sends forth two parties to fall upon
+two of the Prince&rsquo;s quarters, which was performed, while
+Waller&rsquo;s main body slipped between both, and a party was
+left also to face them, and make good the retreat, which came off
+but disorderly, with loss of some soldiers.&nbsp; It was held a
+handsome conveyance, and unexpected, to bring himself out of the
+snare by uncouth ways.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>Gloucestershire, of which the Forest of Dean forms a part,
+although still boasting one of the richest soils in England, is
+no longer a <i>wine country</i>.&nbsp; &ldquo;The ground,&rdquo;
+according to William of Malmesbury, &ldquo;spontaneously produces
+fruit in taste and colour far exceeding others, many of which
+will keep the year round, so as to serve their owners till others
+come in again.&nbsp; No county in England has more or richer
+vineyards, <a name="page73"></a><span class="pagenum">p.
+73</span>or which yield greater plenty of grapes, and of a more
+agreeable flavour.&nbsp; The wine has not a disagreeable
+sharpness to the taste, as it is little inferior to that of
+France in sweetness.&rdquo;&nbsp; On this Camden remarks, that it
+is more owing to &ldquo;the indolence of the inhabitants than to
+the alteration in the climate,&rdquo; that in his time wine was
+no longer a production of the county.</p>
+<p>Vines were introduced into Britain by the Romans, and the
+hills of South Wales became more especially famous for their
+vineyards.&nbsp; They were mentioned in the Domesday Book, before
+the time of William of Malmesbury; and tithes of wines are
+frequently alluded to in the records of cathedrals.</p>
+<h2><a name="page74"></a><span class="pagenum">p.
+74</span>CHAPTER VI.</h2>
+<p class="gutsumm">Iron furnaces of the
+Wye&mdash;Lidbroke&mdash;Nurse of Henry V.&mdash;Coldwell
+Rocks&mdash;Symond&rsquo;s Yat&mdash;New Weir&mdash;Monmouth.</p>
+<p>The woods rising amphitheatrically on the left bank, just
+before reaching Ruerdean, are called Bishop&rsquo;s Wood; and
+there will be observed, for the first time of their presenting
+themselves conspicuously, the iron furnaces, which form a very
+striking characteristic of the river.</p>
+<p>The iron furnaces on the Wye rather add to than diminish the
+effect of the scenery.&nbsp; This is caused by the abundance of
+wood in the furnace districts, which conceals the details, while
+it permits the smoke to ascend in wreaths through <a
+name="page75"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 75</span>the trees,
+and float like a veil around the hills.&nbsp; These works,
+however, are merely a modern revival of a species of industry
+which extends backwards beyond the reach of history.&nbsp; The
+heaps of cinders which are discovered on the hills of
+Monmouthshire are the production either of bloomeries, the most
+ancient mode of fusing iron, or of furnaces of a very antique
+construction.&nbsp; The operation of smelting was performed in
+both of these by means of charcoal; and after the lands were
+cleared, the want of fuel led to the decline of the iron
+works.&nbsp; About eighty years ago, in consequence of the
+discovery of the mode of making pig iron, and subsequently even
+bar iron, with coal instead of charcoal, this branch of industry
+suddenly revived; although on the Wye charcoal is still burnt,
+and made upon the spot, where, instead of vulgarising the
+district, it adds a very remarkable feature to the
+picturesque.</p>
+<p>At Lidbroke, on the same side, the commoner sympathies of life
+come into play, and the vulgar occupations of men serve at once
+to diversify the scene, and even to give it a new character of
+the picturesque.&nbsp; The lower passage has hitherto <a
+name="page76"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 76</span>been chiefly
+distinguished by a romantic grandeur, both in the forms of
+nature, and the associations of history; and even the iron
+furnaces, from the circumstances we have mentioned, have added a
+charm congenial to the character of the picture.&nbsp; At
+Lidbroke, the new adjunct is nothing more than a <i>wharf</i>,
+with little vessels lying near it,&mdash;boats passing and
+repassing,&mdash;horses, carts, men, women, and children stirring
+along the banks: but the whole, in such a spot, forms an
+assemblage which adds, by contrast, to the general effect.</p>
+<p>On the opposite bank the district of Monmouthshire, called
+Welsh Bicknor, commences&mdash;for we have hitherto been in
+Hereford&mdash;and Courtfield claims our attention for a moment,
+as the place where Henry V. is said to have been nursed, under
+the care of the countess of Salisbury.&nbsp; The remains of a
+bed, and an old cradle, were formerly shown as relics of the
+Monmouth hero.&nbsp; Half a mile further down the river is Welsh
+Bicknor Church, which has puzzled the antiquarians by its
+sepulchral effigy, representing a recumbent female figure in
+stone, not ungracefully dressed in a loose robe, but without
+inscription <a name="page77"></a><span class="pagenum">p.
+77</span>or coat of arms.&nbsp; Tradition will have it that this
+is <i>the</i> countess of Salisbury; and it is perhaps correct in
+the person, though wrong in the name, for the lady who nursed
+Henry at Courtfield (supposing him to have been there at all)
+was, in all probability, Lady Montacute, who married a second son
+of the first earl of Salisbury, but was no countess
+herself.&nbsp; Her son, however, Sir John de Montacute, who
+possessed the manor of Welsh Bicknor, succeeded to the earldom,
+and became earl-marshal of England.&nbsp; It was he who was chief
+of the Lollards, and was murdered in 1400 by the populace of
+Cirencester.&nbsp; The manor, although falling to the crown on
+account of his supposed treason, was afterwards restored to the
+family, and became the property of his descendant Richard, the
+great earl of Warwick and Salisbury.&nbsp; Dugdale traces this
+ominous heirloom to Margaret, grand-daughter of the great earl,
+daughter of the duke of Clarence, and wife of Lord
+Montague.&nbsp; This lady, after witnessing the execution of her
+brother Edward, earl of Warwick, and her son Henry Lord Montague,
+was herself beheaded in 1541.&nbsp; The manor of Welsh Bicknor,
+<a name="page78"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 78</span>and the
+mansion of Courtfield, passed subsequently into the ancient
+family of Vaughan.&nbsp; We may mention here, however, although
+the circumstance is of no great consequence, that Sir Samuel
+Meyrick assigns the costume of the figure in Welsh Bicknor Church
+to the era of Edward I., about a century before that of Henry
+V.</p>
+<p>A short distance below the church this abutment of
+Monmouthshire terminates, and the right bank of the river lies as
+before in Hereford, the left in Gloucester.&nbsp; At Coldwell,
+the view is closed in by a magnificent rock scene, differing
+entirely in character from any yet afforded by the Wye.&nbsp; To
+suffer this to appear&mdash;supposing the traveller to be
+descending the river&mdash;a wooded hill, called Rosemary
+Topping, one of the common features of the stream, shifts like a
+scene in a theatre, and becomes a side-screen; so that the almost
+naked cliff remains the principal object, and confers its
+character upon the view, to which the river and its banks to the
+right and left are only adjuncts.</p>
+<p>The first grand mass of rock is nearly insulated, and reminds
+one at first sight of the keep <a name="page79"></a><span
+class="pagenum">p. 79</span>of some ruined castle.&nbsp; But the
+Coldwell rocks want no associations of the kind: they are
+fragments of the temples of nature, and have nothing to do with
+the history of man.&nbsp; To our judgment, the shadowy hollows
+scooped out of the sides of the precipices, and overhung by
+foliage, which are nothing more than the sites of <i>lime
+kilns</i>, are more advantageous to the picture than the finest
+ruins imaginable.&nbsp; They come in without pretence; they make
+no effort at rivalry; but present the idea of human nature in an
+attitude of befitting humility and simplicity.&nbsp;
+&ldquo;These,&rdquo; says the German prince, &ldquo;are craggy
+and weatherbeaten walls of sandstone, of gigantic dimension,
+perpendicular or overhanging, projecting abruptly from amid oaks,
+and hung with rich festoons of ivy.&nbsp; The rain and storms of
+ages have beaten and washed them into such fantastic forms, that
+they appear like some caprice of human art.&nbsp; Castles and
+towers, amphitheatres and fortifications, battlements and
+obelisks mock the wanderer, who fancies himself transported into
+the ruins of a city of some extinct race.&nbsp; Some of these
+picturesque masses are at times loosened by the action of the
+weather, and <a name="page80"></a><span class="pagenum">p.
+80</span>fall thundering from rock to rock, with a terrific
+plunge into the river.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>From Symond&rsquo;s Yat to the New Weir, this <i>kind</i> of
+scenery continues; although the masses of cliff of course change
+their form and situation.&nbsp; The river, in a portion of its
+course, washes their base, at one time an almost perpendicular
+wall, at another clothed in woods till near the summit, which is
+seen rising out of the foliage, and tracing its battlemented
+outline upon the sky.&nbsp; From these two points the distance is
+only six hundred yards by land, and not less than four miles by
+water; and the shorter route is in this case the better.&nbsp; On
+the river, we soon lose the magnificence of the picture; while on
+shore, there is superadded to this a view of the extravagant
+mazes of the Wye on either side of the neck of land on which the
+spectator stands.&nbsp; If it be added that the point of view,
+Symond&rsquo;s Yat, appeared to Mr. Coxe to be two thousand feet
+high (although this is an evident mistake), it will readily be
+imagined that this scene is of itself worth a pilgrimage to the
+Wye.&nbsp; The prospect, comprehending portions of Herefordshire,
+Gloucestershire, and Monmouthshire, embraces the <a
+name="page81"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 81</span>following
+objects, according to those who are versed in the local
+names.&nbsp; To the north is seen Coppet Wood Hill, interspersed
+with rock and common;&mdash;to the north-west appear the spire
+and village of Goodrich, and, at the foot of the hill, Rocklands
+and Huntsholm Ferry;&mdash;to the west, Hunthsolm, behind which
+is Whitchurch, and, in the distance, the Welsh hills;&mdash;to
+the south-west, the mountainous side of the Great
+Doward;&mdash;to the south, Staunton Church, and the Buck-stone,
+upon a promontory; and below, Highmeadow Woods and the river; on
+the left, the rock of the New Weir, and on the right, the rocky
+wall of the east side of the Doward;&mdash;to the south-east, the
+village of English Bicknor, a side view of Coldwell Rocks, and
+Rosemary Topping;&mdash;and, to the east, Ruerdean Wood, with the
+church in the distance, Bishop&rsquo;s Wood, and Courtfield, with
+the woody ridges of Hawkwood and Puckwood completing the
+panorama.</p>
+<p style="text-align: center">
+<a href="images/p81b.jpg">
+<img alt=
+"The New Weir"
+title=
+"The New Weir"
+src="images/p81s.jpg" />
+</a></p>
+<p>Gilpin calls the New Weir the second grand scene on the
+Wye.</p>
+<blockquote><p>&ldquo;The river,&rdquo; says he, &ldquo;is wider
+than usual in this part, and takes a sweep round a towering
+promontory of rock, which forms the side-screen <a
+name="page82"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 82</span>on the left,
+and is the grand feature of the view.&nbsp; It is not a broad,
+fractured piece of rock, but rather a woody hill, from which
+large projections in two or three places burst out, rudely hung
+with twisting branches, and shaggy furniture; which, like the
+mane round the lion&rsquo;s head, gives a more savage air to
+these wild exhibitions of nature.&nbsp; Near the top a pointed
+fragment of solitary rock, rising above the rest, has rather a
+fantastic appearance&mdash;but it is not without its effect in
+marking the scene . . . On the right side of the river, the bank
+forms a woody amphitheatre, following the course of the stream
+round the promontory.&nbsp; Its lower skirts are adorned with a
+hamlet, in the midst of which volumes of thick smoke, thrown up
+at intervals from an iron forge, as its fires receive fresh fuel,
+add double grandeur to the scene. . . .</p>
+<p>&ldquo;But what peculiarly marks this view, is a circumstance
+on the water.&nbsp; The whole river at this place makes a
+precipitate fall&mdash;of no great height indeed, but enough to
+merit the name of a cascade, though to the eye above the stream
+it is an object of no consequence.&nbsp; In all the scenes we had
+yet passed, the water moving with a <a name="page83"></a><span
+class="pagenum">p. 83</span>slow and solemn pace, the objects
+around kept time, as it were, with it; and every steep, and every
+rock which hung over the river, was solemn, tranquil, and
+majestic.&nbsp; But here the violence of the stream, and the
+roaring of the waters, impressed a new character on the scene:
+all was agitation and uproar, and every steep and every rock
+stared with wildness and terror.&rdquo;</p>
+</blockquote>
+<p>Let us add the testimony of another great authority on the
+picturesque; more especially as his remarks serve to corroborate
+our own on the effect received by the river from objects which
+elsewhere are mean and common.</p>
+<blockquote><p>&ldquo;A scene at the New Weir on the Wye, which
+in itself is truly great and awful, so far from being disturbed,
+becomes more interesting and important by the business to which
+it is destined.&nbsp; It is a chasm between two high ranges of
+hills, that rise almost perpendicularly from the water: the rocks
+on the sides are mostly heavy masses, and their colour is
+generally brown; but here and there a pale craggy shape starts up
+to a vast height above the rest, unconnected, broken, and bare:
+large trees frequently force out their way amongst them; and many
+<a name="page84"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 84</span>of these
+stand far back in the covert, where their natural dusky hue is
+heightened by the shadow that overhangs them.&nbsp; The river
+too, as it retires, loses itself in the woods, which close
+immediately above, then rise thick and high, and darken the
+water.&nbsp; In the midst of all this gloom is an <i>iron
+forge</i>, covered with a black cloud of smoke, and surrounded
+with half-burnt ore, with coal, and with cinders: the fuel for it
+is brought down a path, worn into steps narrow and steep, and
+winding among precipices; and near it is an open space of barren
+moor, about which are scattered the huts of the workmen.&nbsp; It
+stands close to the cascade of the Weir, where the agitation of
+the current is increased by large fragments of rocks, which have
+been swept down by floods from the banks, or shivered by tempests
+from the brow; and the sullen sound, at stated intervals, of the
+strokes from the great hammer in the forge, deadens the roar of
+the waterfall.&nbsp; Just below it, while the rapidity of the
+stream still continues, a ferry is carried across it; and lower
+down the fishermen use little round boats called truckles
+(coracles), the remains perhaps of the ancient British
+navigation, which <a name="page85"></a><span class="pagenum">p.
+85</span>the least motion will overset, and the slightest touch
+may destroy.&nbsp; All the employments of the people seem to
+require either exertion or caution; and the ideas of fear or
+danger which attend them give to the scene an animation unknown
+to the solitary, though perfectly compatible with the wildest
+romantic situation.&rdquo; <a name="citation85"></a><a
+href="#footnote85" class="citation">[85]</a></p>
+</blockquote>
+<p>To this, however, we must add as a note, that both Weir and
+forge have now vanished.&nbsp; The more headlong rush and louder
+roar of the river mark the place where the former stood; and some
+limekilns contribute the smoke of the latter without its
+noise.</p>
+<p>During the whole of this part of the passage, the stream is
+interrupted by fragments of rock, around which the water rushes
+tumultuously; but at the New Weir these interruptions, above
+noticed, acquire a character of sublimity, when taken in
+conjunction with the rest of the picture.&nbsp; The river,
+roaring and foaming, is in haste to escape, and at length is lost
+to the eye, as it seems to plunge for ever into sepulchral
+woods.</p>
+<p>Beyond this, there are several other rock <a
+name="page86"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 86</span>scenes, but
+none that will bear description after the foregoing; although to
+the traveller wearied with excitement, they come in with good
+effect.&nbsp; Below New Weir, the river stretches with a curve
+between Highmeadows Wood on the left bank, and the precipitous
+cliffs of the Great Doward on the right.&nbsp; Then the Little
+Doward peeps over a screen of rocks and shrubs.&nbsp; These two
+hills are called King Arthur&rsquo;s Plain, and between these is
+King Arthur&rsquo;s Hall, the level of an exhausted iron
+mine.&nbsp; Then we pass a cluster of rocks called St.
+Martin&rsquo;s or the Three Sisters, and a pool of the river
+named St. Martin&rsquo;s Well, where the water is said to be
+seventy feet deep.&nbsp; Various seats and cottages give variety
+to the picture, situated in the midst of rich woods and
+undulating eminences; and at length the landscape sinks calmly
+down, and Monmouth&mdash;&ldquo;delightsome
+Monmouth&rdquo;&mdash;is seen in long perspective, terminating a
+reach of the river.</p>
+<h2><a name="page87"></a><span class="pagenum">p.
+87</span>CHAPTER VII.</h2>
+<p class="gutsumm">Monmouth&mdash;History of the
+Castle&mdash;Apartment of Henry of Monmouth&mdash;Ecclesiastical
+remains&mdash;Benedictine priory&mdash;Church of St.
+Mary&mdash;Church of St. Thomas&mdash;Monnow Bridge&mdash;Modern
+town&mdash;Monmouth caps&mdash;The beneficent parvenu.</p>
+<p>Monmouth lies embowered among gentle hills, only diversified
+by wood, corn, and pasture; but to view it either from the Wye,
+or any of the neighbouring eminences, one would be far from
+supposing it to have so tame, or at least so quiet a site.&nbsp;
+From one point, its spire is seen passing through a deep and
+mysterious wood; from another, it hangs perched on a precipitous
+ridge; and from the Wye it rises with considerable stateliness in
+the form of an amphitheatre.&nbsp; It stands at the confluence of
+the Wye and the <a name="page88"></a><span class="pagenum">p.
+88</span>Monnow, from which it derives its English name.</p>
+<p>A royal fortress existed here before the conquest, a
+circumstance which renders its early history full of fearful
+vicissitudes, although these are but very imperfectly
+traced.&nbsp; In the time of Henry III., the castle, after
+changing hands repeatedly, was taken and rased to the
+ground.&nbsp; &ldquo;Thus the glorie of Monmouth,&rdquo; says
+Lambarde, &ldquo;had clean perished, ne had it pleased God longe
+after in that place to give life to the noble King Henry V., who
+of the same is called Henry of Monmouth.&rdquo;&nbsp; It was a
+favourite residence of the father of this prince, King Henry IV.,
+and also of his father, John of Gaunt, &ldquo;time honoured
+Lancaster,&rdquo; to whom it came by his marriage with Blanch,
+daughter and heiress of Henry, duke of Lancaster, whose title he
+was afterwards granted.&nbsp; Henry V. was born here in 1387, and
+from this circumstance is styled Henry of Monmouth.&nbsp; This
+prince enlarged the duchy of Lancaster with his maternal
+inheritance, and obtained an act of parliament that all grants of
+offices and estates should pass under the seal of the
+duchy.&nbsp; Henry VI. and <a name="page89"></a><span
+class="pagenum">p. 89</span>VII. possessed the castle of
+Monmouth, as part of the duchy, by right of inheritance; but
+between these reigns it was given by Edward IV. to Lord Herbert,
+afterwards earl of Pembroke.&nbsp; Although the duchy, however,
+continued in the crown, the castle, together with other
+possessions in Monmouthshire, was alienated, and became private
+property, but at what period does not clearly appear.&nbsp; In
+the reign of Elizabeth, it is ascertained, by different grants,
+to have been still parcel of the duchy, and also in that of James
+I., by the following presentment made under a commission:
+&ldquo;Item, wee present that his majestie hath one ancient
+castell, called Monmouth Castell, situated within the liberties
+of the said towne, which is nowe, and hath been for a long time,
+ruinous and in decaye, but by whom it hath byn decayed wee knowe
+not, nor to what value, in regarde it was before our
+rememberment, savinge one greate hall which is covered and
+mayntayned for the judges of the assise to sitt in.&nbsp; And for
+and concerning any demean lands belonginge to the same castell,
+wee knowe not of any more save only the castell hill, wherein
+divers have gardens, and the castell green, <a
+name="page90"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 90</span>which is
+inclosed within the walls of the said castell.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>Before the end of the seventeenth century, we find the castle
+in the hands of the first duke of Beaufort, if the following
+anecdote, indicative either of an ambitious or a fantastic
+spirit, can be believed.&nbsp; &ldquo;The marchioness of
+Worcester,&rdquo; says the author of the Secret Memoirs of
+Monmouthshire, &ldquo;was ordered by her grandfather, the late
+duke of Beaufort, to lie in of her first child in a house lately
+built within the castle of Monmouth, near that spot of ground and
+space of air, where our great hero Henry V. was born.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>Whatever mutilations this castle may have undergone since the
+days of its royal magnificence, by whomever it may have been at
+length &ldquo;decayed,&rdquo; or at whatever period it came into
+the hands of the Beauforts, this at least is certain, that there
+is now not more than enough left to indicate its site.&nbsp;
+&ldquo;The transmutations of time,&rdquo; says Gilpin, &ldquo;are
+often ludicrous.&nbsp; Monmouth Castle was formerly the palace of
+a king, and the birthplace of a mighty prince; it is now
+converted into a yard for fattening ducks.&rdquo;&nbsp; The <a
+name="page91"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 91</span>ruins,
+however, must have been concealed from his view by the stables
+and other outhouses that had risen from the fragments, so as
+completely to hide them from the townward side.&nbsp; Coxe, a
+much more correct observer, although less learned in the laws of
+the picturesque, describes them in 1800 as presenting, when
+viewed from the right bank of the Monnow, &ldquo;an appearance of
+dilapidated grandeur which recalls to memory the times of feudal
+magnificence.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>Although the roof and great part of the walls had already
+fallen, the site of two remarkable apartments could be traced
+distinctly; that in which Henry was born, and another adjoining
+which had been used, even within the memory of some of the
+inhabitants, for the assizes.&nbsp; The latter was sixty-three
+feet in length and forty-six in breadth, and was no doubt the
+&ldquo;greate hall&rdquo; mentioned in the presentment quoted
+above as being &ldquo;mayntayned for the judges of the assise to
+sitt in.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>The apartment of Henry of Monmouth is thus described by the
+archdeacon:</p>
+<blockquote><p>&ldquo;The apartment which gave birth to the
+Gwentonian hero was an upper story, and the <a
+name="page92"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 92</span>beams that
+supported the floor still project from the side walls; it was
+fifty-eight feet long, and twenty-four broad, and was decorated
+with gothic windows, of which some are still remaining, and seem
+to be of the age of Henry III.&nbsp; The walls of this part are
+not less than ten feet in thickness.&nbsp; About fifty years ago,
+a considerable part of the southern wall fell down with a
+tremendous crash, which alarmed the whole town, leaving a breach
+not less than forty feet in length.&nbsp; On the ground floor
+beneath are three circular arches terminating in chinks, which
+have a very ancient appearance; at the north-eastern angle,
+within a stable, may be seen a round tower six feet in diameter,
+which was once a staircase leading to the grand
+apartment.&rdquo;</p>
+</blockquote>
+<p>To the right of this apartment, the same author traced the
+vestige of the original walls in a private house built within the
+ancient site.&nbsp; They were from six to ten feet, formed of
+pebbles and mortar, and is so compact a mass as not to yield in
+hardness to solid stone.</p>
+<p>Next to the ruined castle of an ancient town, come the
+ecclesiastical remains; for the stronghold of the chief, and the
+cell of the monk, were <a name="page93"></a><span
+class="pagenum">p. 93</span>usually the nucleus round which the
+town was gathered.&nbsp; The principal relics of the latter kind
+in Monmouth are those of a benedictine priory of black monks,
+dedicated to St. Mary, which was founded as a cell to the
+monastery of St. Florence, near Saumur in Anjou, by Wikenoc, lord
+of Monmouth in the reign of Henry I.&nbsp; The ruins are small,
+but interesting; and not the less so from containing an apartment
+distinguished by a rich gothic bay window, pointed out by
+tradition as the study of that mysterious personage, Geoffry of
+Monmouth.&nbsp; The church of the priory stood on the site of the
+present parish church of St. Mary, of which the tower and the
+lower part of the spire are the only remains of the
+original.&nbsp; This spire, which is &ldquo;lofty, and light, and
+small,&rdquo; is the grand scenic feature of the town when viewed
+from a distance; and in return, it affords to the traveller who
+will take the trouble to ascend it a point from which to view the
+country to most advantage.&nbsp; The beautiful vale in which the
+town stands, with its undulating eminences, among which wander
+the Wye, the Monnow, and the Trothy, is seen in an almost
+circular form, <a name="page94"></a><span class="pagenum">p.
+94</span>enclosed from the vulgar world, by a line of hills
+mantled with woods and forests.</p>
+<p>The ancient church of St. Thomas stands near the bridge of the
+Monnow, and from its circular arches, and extreme simplicity of
+appearance, is probably older than the conquest.&nbsp; This does
+not apply, however, to the entire building, the western window,
+and some other mor&ccedil;eaux, displaying the ornamented Gothic
+of a late period.&nbsp; The antiquity of the building, it should
+be said, is rendered the more probable by its standing beyond the
+bridge, where the suburbs of the modern town are supposed to
+occupy the site of the British town during the Saxon era.</p>
+<p>The bridge, of which a view is given in Grose&rsquo;s
+Antiquities, is itself an object of interest, containing, on its
+centre, the Monnow Gate, the only one of the four original gates,
+mentioned by Leland, that remains entire.&nbsp; Both bridge and
+gate bear evidence of very high antiquity, and were probably
+erected by the Saxons as a barrier against the Welsh.&nbsp; The
+town was farther fortified by a wall and moat, of which the
+latter was entire in the time of Leland, and some fragments of
+the former remaining.&nbsp; But all vestiges <a
+name="page95"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 95</span>of those
+defences have now vanished, with the exception of the Monnow
+Gate, and some pieces of a tower.</p>
+<p>Of the modern town, it can be said that it is neat and clean,
+with one broad and well-built street.&nbsp; It is neither mean
+nor elegant, and presents no offensive contrast to the beautiful
+scenery by which it is surrounded.&nbsp; The navigation of the
+Wye is its principal support, for at the present day at least it
+has no manufactories, although celebrated in that of its own
+Henry for <i>caps</i>.&nbsp; &ldquo;If your majestie is
+remembered of it, the Welchmen did goot service in a garden where
+leeks did grow, wearing leeks in their Monmouth
+caps.&rdquo;&nbsp; The account given of this staple article by
+Fuller, in his Worthies, is worth quoting.</p>
+<blockquote><p>&ldquo;These,&rdquo; says he, &ldquo;were the most
+ancient, general, warm, and profitable coverings of men&rsquo;s
+heads in this island.&nbsp; It is worth our pains to observe the
+tenderness of our kings to preserve the trade of cap-making, and
+what long and strong struggling our state had to keep up the
+using thereof, so many thousands of people being thereby
+maintained in the land, especially <a name="page96"></a><span
+class="pagenum">p. 96</span>before the invention of
+fulling-mills, all caps before that time being wrought, beaten,
+and thickened, by the hands and feet of men, till those mills, as
+they eased many of their labour, outed more of their
+livelihood.&nbsp; Capping anciently set fifteen distinct callings
+on work, as they are reckoned up in the statute: 1. carders, 2.
+spinners; 3. knitters; 4. parters of wool; 5. forfers; 6.
+thickeners; 7. dressers; 8. walkers; 9. dyers; 10. battelers; 11.
+shearers; 12. pressers; 13. edgers; 14. liners; 15. band-makers,
+and other exercises.&nbsp; No wonder then that so many statutes
+were enacted in parliament to encourage this
+handicraft.&rdquo;&nbsp; * * * * &ldquo;Lastly; to keep up the
+usage of caps, it was enacted, in the 13th of Queen Eliz. cap.
+19, that they should be worne by all persons (some of worship and
+quality excepted) on sabbath and holy days, on the pain of
+forfeiting ten groats for the omission thereof.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;But it seems that nothing but hats would fit the heads
+(or humours rather) of the English, as fancied by them fitter to
+fence their fair faces from the injury of wind and weather, so
+that the 39th of Queen Elizabeth this statute was repealed; <a
+name="page97"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 97</span>yea, the cap,
+accounted by the Romans an emblem of liberty, is esteemed by the
+English (falconers and hunters excepted) a badge of servitude,
+though very useful in themselves, and the ensign of constancy,
+because not discomposed, but retaining their fashion, in what
+form soever they may be crouded.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;The best caps were formerly made at Monmouth, where the
+capper&rsquo;s chapel doth still remain, being better carved and
+gilded than any other part of the church.&nbsp; But on the
+occasion of a great plague happening in this town, the trade was
+some years since removed hence to Beaudley, in Worcestershire,
+yet so that they are called Monmouth caps unto this day.&nbsp;
+Thus this town retains, though not the profit, the credit of
+capping, and seeing the child keeps the mother&rsquo;s name,
+there is some hope in due time she may return to her.&rdquo;</p>
+</blockquote>
+<p>Monmouth appears also to have dealt largely in ale, if we may
+judge by a grant of Henry IV. as lord of the manor, to its
+burgesses.&nbsp; &ldquo;That the brewers of ale there, who were
+anciently held to pay the king&rsquo;s ancestors and progenitors
+eight gallons of ale at every brewing, in the <a
+name="page98"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 98</span>name of
+Castlecoule, during the time the king, or his heirs, were
+dwelling in the said town, should now pay in lieu thereof 10d.
+each brewing, except when the king, his heirs or his councils,
+holding his sessions there, were present in the said town, in
+which case the ancient custom of Castlecoules should be
+observed.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>We must not omit an anecdote connected with the history of a
+free-school, founded here in the reign of James I.&nbsp; William
+Jones, born at Monmouth, as Burton tells us in his History of
+Wales, was forced to quit the place for not being able to pay ten
+groats.&nbsp; He removed to the great field for adventurers,
+London, and became first a porter, then a factor, and afterwards
+went over to Hamburgh, where he found such sale for his Welsh
+cottons, that in a very short time he realised a handsome
+fortune.&nbsp; He founded a school in his native place, allowing
+fifty pounds a year to the master, and a hundred pounds salary to
+a lecturer, together with an almshouse for twenty poor people,
+each having two rooms and a garden, and two shillings and
+sixpence a week.&nbsp; It is said, however, by other authorities,
+that Jones was a native of Newland, <a name="page99"></a><span
+class="pagenum">p. 99</span>in Gloucestershire; and after having
+made his fortune in London, that he returned thither in the
+assumed character of a beggar, to try the liberality of his
+townsmen.&nbsp; In this he found them wanting, for they
+tauntingly told him to go and ask relief at Monmouth, where he
+had lived at service.&nbsp; He took their advice, and being
+better received there, founded the above charities in token of
+his gratitude.</p>
+<h2><a name="page100"></a><span class="pagenum">p.
+100</span>CHAPTER VIII.</h2>
+<p class="gutsumm">Welsh pedigree of queen Victoria&mdash;A
+poet&rsquo;s flattery&mdash;Castles of
+Monmouthshire&mdash;Geoffrey of Monmouth&mdash;Henry of
+Monmouth&mdash;The Kymin&mdash;Subsidiary tour&mdash;Sir David
+Gam&mdash;White Castle&mdash;Scenfrith&mdash;The Castle
+spectres&mdash;Grosmont&mdash;Lanthony Abbey.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Monmouthshire,&rdquo; as has been well observed,
+&ldquo;though now an English county, may be justly considered the
+connecting link between England and Wales, as it unites the
+scenery, manners, and language of both.&rdquo;&nbsp; In ancient
+times, it was a debatable land of another kind, when Romans,
+Saxons, and Normans, strove by turns against the aboriginal
+Britons.&nbsp; During the Roman invasion it was a part of the
+territory of the Silures, who inhabited the eastern division of
+South Wales, and were one of the three great <a
+name="page101"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 101</span>Welsh
+tribes; but in the conflict of the Saxons, Gwent (its British
+name) played the most distinguished part of all, under its
+sovereign Utha Pendragon and the renowned king Arthur.&nbsp; To
+Gwent, moreover, if chronicles say true, we are indebted for our
+present sovereign lady, who is descended collaterally from its
+princes.&nbsp; Merrich, the son of Ithel, king or prince of
+Gwent, died without issue male, leaving one daughter, Morvyth,
+who espoused Gwno, great grandson to Rees ap Theodore, prince of
+South Wales, and lineal ancestor of Sir Owen Tudor, grandfather
+of Henry VII.&nbsp; &ldquo;So that it appears,&rdquo; say the
+Secret Memoirs of Monmouthshire, &ldquo;that the kings of
+Scotland and England are originally descended from Morvyth, this
+Gwentonian prince&rsquo;s daughter, and heir to Meyrick, last
+king of Gwent, who, according to several authentic British
+pedigrees, was lineally descended from Cadwalladar, the last king
+of Britain, and as our historians do testify, did prognosticate,
+fifteen hundred years past, that the heirs descended of his loins
+should be restored again to the kingdom of Britain, which was
+partly accomplished in king Henry VII., and more by the accession
+<a name="page102"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 102</span>of James
+I. to the British throne, but wholly fulfilled in the happy union
+of all Britain by the glorious queen Anne; whom God long
+preserved of his great goodness, and the succession of the
+Protestant line.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>We know not what value may be attached to this illustrious
+ancestry by Queen Victoria; but her predecessor, Queen Elizabeth,
+was fond of tracing her descent from the ancient kings of her
+country&mdash;a predilection which the courtly Spenser does not
+omit to flatter in his Faerie Queene.</p>
+<blockquote><p>&ldquo;Thy name, O soveraine Queene, thy realme
+and race,<br />
+From this renowned prince derived arre,<br />
+Who mightily upheld that royal mace<br />
+Which thou now bear&rsquo;st, to thee descended farre<br />
+From mighty kings and couquerors in warre,<br />
+Thy fathers and thy grandfathers of old,<br />
+Whose noble deeds above the northern starre,<br />
+Immortall fame for ever hath enrold;<br />
+As in that <i>old man&rsquo;s booke</i> they were in order
+told.&rdquo;</p>
+</blockquote>
+<p>The <i>old man</i> have referred to is Geoffrey of Monmouth,
+of whom more anon.</p>
+<p>It is to the Norman invasion that Monmouthshire <a
+name="page103"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 103</span>owes its
+castles; for the great barons were not employed by the state, as
+had been the case with the Saxons, to conquer the territory, but
+were invited to enter upon adventures at their own cost, and for
+their own gain.&nbsp; The lands they subdued became their own;
+they were created lords-barons over them; and castles speedily
+bristled up all over the territory to maintain the authority so
+acquired.&nbsp; Pennant states the number for Wales at a hundred
+and forty-three, of which Monmouthshire, as the frontier region
+between the belligerents, had of course the greatest proportion,
+amounting, it is said, to at least twenty-five.&nbsp; In these
+baronial lands, the writs of ordinary justices of the royal
+courts were not current.&nbsp; The barons marchers, as they were
+called, had recourse to their feudal lord the king in person; and
+the same abuses and confusion were the result which we have
+noticed in Herefordshire, till Henry VIII. abolished this
+anomalous government, divided Wales into twelve shires, and
+withdrew Monmouthshire into the list of the English
+counties.&nbsp; It is interesting to trace the chain of
+fortresses thus destined to become, still earlier than in the <a
+name="page104"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 104</span>natural
+course of time, a series of ruins.&nbsp; They extend, in this
+county, along the banks of the Monnow, the Wye, and the Severn,
+and from Grosmont, diagonally, to the banks of the Rumney; while
+castellated mansions, such as Raglan, which we shall notice
+presently (at first only a rude fortress), arose in all quarters
+to keep the natives in due respect.</p>
+<p>King Arthur, mentioned above as prince of Gwent, did not reign
+at Monmouth, but at Caerleon; although he is closely associated
+with the former place, inasmuch as the gothic room in the priory
+which we have pointed out, on the authority of tradition, as the
+study of Geoffrey of Monmouth, was in all probability the
+birthplace of his most heroic achievements.&nbsp; Geoffrey, in
+fact, for it is needless to attempt to conceal the fact from our
+readers, was an historical romancer rather than an
+historian.&nbsp; The groundwork of his celebrated performance was
+Brut y Breninodd, or the Chronicle of the Kings of Britain,
+written by Tyssilio, or St. Telian, bishop of St. Asaph, in the
+seventh century; but Geoffrey owns himself, that he made various
+additions to his original, particularly of Merlin&rsquo;s
+prophecies.&nbsp; <a name="page105"></a><span class="pagenum">p.
+105</span>After all, however, if we may venture to express our
+private opinion on so recondite a subject, it seems to us that a
+monkish history, of the seventh century, must have been
+reasonably fertile in itself in wonderful incidents and legendary
+tales, and that in all probability Geoffrey of Monmouth deserves
+less credit as a romancer than he has received from one party, as
+well as less credit as an historian than he has received from the
+other.</p>
+<p>However this may be, the work has served as a valuable
+storehouse for our poets and romancers.&nbsp; It has even
+supplied the story of King Lear to Shakspeare, who deepened the
+pathos by making Cordelia die before her father; whereas, in the
+original story, Lear is restored to his kingdom, and Cordelia to
+life.&nbsp; Milton drew from it his fiction of Sabrina in the
+Mask of Comus; and in early life he had formed the design of
+writing an epic poem on the subject taken up from Geoffrey by
+Spenser, in the second book of the Faerie Queene&mdash;</p>
+<blockquote><p>&ldquo;A chronicle of Briton kings,<br />
+From Brute to Arthur&rsquo;s reign.&rdquo;</p>
+</blockquote>
+<p><a name="page106"></a><span class="pagenum">p.
+106</span>Dryden, also, intended to produce an epic poem on the
+subject of king Arthur, but he contented himself with an opera,
+in which he has sublimely described the British worthy</p>
+
+<blockquote><p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&ldquo;in
+battle brave,<br />
+But still serene in all the stormy war,<br />
+Like heaven above the clouds; and after fight<br />
+As merciful and kind to vanquished foe<br />
+As a forgiving God.&rdquo;</p>
+</blockquote>
+<p>Pope followed, in like manner, with plentiful materials for
+the pavement of a certain place&mdash;good intentions; but after
+all, our national history has been left to the muse of Blackmore.
+<a name="citation106"></a><a href="#footnote106"
+class="citation">[106]</a></p>
+<p>Geoffrey was born in Monmouth, and is supposed to have been
+educated in the monastery, although the room pointed out as his
+study is evidently of a more modern date.&nbsp; He became
+archdeacon of his native town, and in 1152 was consecrated bishop
+of St. Asaph.&nbsp; This is all <a name="page107"></a><span
+class="pagenum">p. 107</span>that is known of his history; and
+his works, with the exception of his great romance adverted to
+above, are confined to a treatise on the Holy Sacraments, and
+some verses on the enchanter Merlin.</p>
+<p>Perhaps a word may not be amiss on the other worthy connected
+by birth with the fame and the ruins of Monmouth.&nbsp; Henry V.
+passed some of his earliest years in this county; but in his
+youth was transferred to Oxford, where he studied under his uncle
+Cardinal Beaufort, then chancellor of the university, and where,
+as Stowe relates, he &ldquo;delighted in songs, meeters, and
+musical instruments.&rdquo;&nbsp; He is thus described by the
+chronicler, on the authority of John of Elmham:</p>
+<blockquote><p>&ldquo;This prince exceeded the meane stature of
+men, he was beautiful of visage, his necke long, body long and
+leane, and his bones small; neverthelesse he was of great
+marvellous strength, and passing swift in running, insomuch that
+he with two other of his lords, without hounds, bow, or other
+engine, would take a wild buck or doe in a large
+parke.&rdquo;</p>
+</blockquote>
+<p>Henry is usually treated as a mere warrior; <a
+name="page108"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 108</span>and it is
+the custom to sneer at him as such, by those who are unable to
+judge of the minds of men by the spirit of the age in which they
+live.&nbsp; He was remarkable, however, for more than his
+military prowess, and exhibited many traits of a truly great
+character.&nbsp; Some of these are very agreeably detailed by Mr.
+Coxe, who relates also, from Speed, that &ldquo;every day after
+dinner, for the space of an hour, his custom was to lean on a
+cushion set by his cupboard, and there he himselfe received
+petitions of the oppressed, which with great equitie he did
+redresse.&rdquo;&nbsp; His sudden change from the wild
+licentiousness of his youth is described by his contemporary,
+Thomas de Elmham, as having taken place at the bedside of his
+dying father; and we need not remark that in that age, the
+religious feeling he exhibited on the occasion was not
+inconsistent with the ferocity of the hero.</p>
+<blockquote><p>&ldquo;The courses of his youth promis&rsquo;d it
+not;<br />
+The breath no sooner left his father&rsquo;s body,<br />
+But that his wildness, mortified in him,<br />
+Seem&rsquo;d to die too: yea, at that very moment,<br />
+Consideration like an angel came,<br />
+And whipped the offending Adam out of him;<br />
+<a name="page109"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 109</span>Leaving
+his body as a paradise,<br />
+To envellop, and contain celestial spirits.<br />
+Never was such a sudden scholar made;<br />
+Never came reformation in a flood,<br />
+With such a heady current, scouring faults;<br />
+Nor ever hydra-headed wilfulness,<br />
+So soon did lose his seat, and all at once,<br />
+As in this king.&rdquo;</p>
+</blockquote>
+<p>Monmouth, as the half-way station between Ross and Chepstow
+for the tourists of the Wye, usually claims a large portion of
+their attention; and, independently of its historical
+associations, the delightful walks in the neighbourhood
+abundantly repay it.&nbsp; The views from numerous points are
+very beautiful; and one more especially, independently of the
+nearer parts of the picture, commands on all sides an expanse of
+country which seems absolutely unlimited.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;If among these views,&rdquo; says the historical
+tourist, &ldquo;one can be selected surpassing the rest, it is
+perhaps that from the summit of the Kymin, which rises from the
+left bank of the Wye, and is situated partly in Monmouthshire,
+and partly in Gloucestershire.&nbsp; On the centre of this
+eminence overhanging the river and town, a pavilion has been
+lately erected by subscription, <a name="page110"></a><span
+class="pagenum">p. 110</span>to which is carried a walk, gently
+winding up the acclivity. . . .</p>
+<p>&ldquo;I shall not attempt to describe the unbounded expanse
+of country around and beneath, which embraces an extent of nearly
+three hundred miles.&nbsp; The eye, satiated with the distant
+prospect, reposes at length on the near views, dwells on the
+country immediately beneath and around, is attracted with the
+pleasing position of Monmouth, here seen to singular advantage,
+admires the elegant bend and silvery current of the Monnow,
+glistening through meads, in its way to the Wye, and the junction
+of the two rivers, which forms an assemblage of beautiful
+objects.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;The level summit of the Kymin is crowned with a
+beautiful wood, called Beaulieu Grove, through which walks are
+made, terminating in seats, placed at the edge of abrupt
+declivities, and presenting in perspective, through openings in
+the trees, portions of the unbounded expanse seen from the
+pavilion.&nbsp; There are six of these openings, three of which
+comprehend perspective views of Monmouth, stretching between the
+Wye and the Monnow, in different positions.&nbsp; At one <a
+name="page111"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 111</span>of these
+seats, placed on a ledge of impending rocks, I looked down on a
+hanging wood, clothing the sides of the declivities, and sloping
+gradually to the Wye, which sweeps in a beautiful curve, from
+Dixon Church to the mouth of the Monnow; the town appears seated
+on its banks, and beyond the luxuriant and undulating swells of
+Monmouthshire, terminated by the Great and Little Skyrrid, the
+Black Mountains, and the Sugar Loaf, in all the variety of
+sublime and contrasted forms.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>It is not our intention to notice any of the numerous seats
+and mansions with which this delightful region abounds; but,
+leaving the tourist to make such easy discoveries for himself, we
+would hint to him that, while at Monmouth, he has an opportunity,
+without great expense of time or labour, of making himself
+acquainted with many interesting objects which ought to be
+considered as adjuncts of the tour of the Wye.&nbsp; Between this
+place and the Hay the river describes an irregular semicircle, of
+which the Monnow, for about half way, may be said to be the cord;
+and this latter stream, as the most important and beautiful
+tributary of the Wye, <a name="page112"></a><span
+class="pagenum">p. 112</span>has a claim upon the pilgrim which
+should not be set aside.</p>
+<p>This minor excursion, however, will not be complete without
+diverging a little to the left at the outset for the purpose of
+visiting White Castle; for this ruin is inseparably associated
+with the other reliques of baronial power presented by the
+route.&nbsp; It is within a short distance of Landeilo Cresseney
+on the Abergavenny road, where a farm will be pointed out to the
+traveller, called the Park, belonging to the duke of Beaufort, as
+the site of Old Court, formerly the residence of the valiant Sir
+David Gam, who, before the battle of Agincourt, reported to Henry
+V. that there were &ldquo;enough of the enemy to be killed,
+enough to run away, and enough to be taken
+prisoners.&rdquo;&nbsp; It is said that the children of this
+Welsh worthy were so numerous as to form a line extending from
+his house to the church.&nbsp; From Gladys, one of these
+children, the dukes of Beaufort and earls of Pembroke are
+descended.&nbsp; The farm alluded to was formerly the red deer
+park of Raglan Castle.</p>
+<p>White Castle must have been constructed in the earliest period
+of the Norman era, if not before <a name="page113"></a><span
+class="pagenum">p. 113</span>the conquest; and the massive ruins
+that still remain attest that it must have kept the country side
+in awe, as the abode of one of those fierce barons who were the
+prototypes of the giants and dragons of the romancers.&nbsp; This
+fortress, with those of Scenfrith and Grosmont on the banks of
+the Monnow, belonged to Brien Fitz Count, the Norman conqueror of
+the tract called Overwent, stretching from the Wye to
+Abergavenny; and they were afterwards seized by Henry III., and
+given by him to the celebrated Herbert de Burgh.&nbsp; Herbert
+resigned them anew to the crown, after being imprisoned and
+almost famished to death.&nbsp; Henry granted them to his son
+Edward Crouchback, and they afterwards fell to John of Gaunt, in
+the way we have related of Monmouth Castle, and became parcel of
+the duchy of Lancaster.</p>
+<p>The ruins stand on the ridge of an eminence, surrounded by a
+moat.&nbsp; The walls, which are very massive, describe nearly an
+oval, and are defended by six round towers, not dividing the
+courtine in the usual way, but altogether extramural, and
+capable, therefore, of acting as independent fortresses, even
+after the inner court had <a name="page114"></a><span
+class="pagenum">p. 114</span>been taken.&nbsp; The principal
+entrance was protected by a portcullis and drawbridge, and by an
+immense barbican, greatly disproportioned to the size of the
+castle, on the opposite site of the moat.&nbsp; The name of the
+place was Castell Gwyn, White Castle, or Castell Blanch, all
+which mean the same thing in British, Saxon, and Norman.</p>
+<p>In the time of James I., it is presented as &ldquo;ruinous and
+in decay time out of mind,&rdquo; and yet, during the reign of
+his immediate predecessor Elizabeth, it is described in the
+Worthines of Wales as &ldquo;a loftie princely place.&rdquo;</p>
+<blockquote><p>&ldquo;Three castles fayre are in a goodly
+ground,<br />
+Grosmont is one, on hill it builded was;<br />
+Skenfrith the next, in valley it is found,<br />
+The soyle about for pleasure there doth passe;<br />
+Whit Castle is the third of worthy fame,<br />
+The county there doth bear Whit Castle&rsquo;s name,<br />
+A stately seate, a loftie princely place,<br />
+Whose beauties give the simple soyle some grace.&rdquo;</p>
+</blockquote>
+<p>Scenfrith is not more than five miles from White Castle, but
+the access to it is only fit for pedestrians.&nbsp; The ruin
+stands on a secluded spot in the midst of hills, and overlooks
+the placid <a name="page115"></a><span class="pagenum">p.
+115</span>Monnow, the passage of which it was no doubt its duty
+to guard.&nbsp; It is a small fortress severely simple, and
+exhibiting all the marks of high antiquity.&nbsp; There are no
+traces of outworks; but the walls are flanked by five circular
+towers.&nbsp; About the middle of the area is a round tower,
+which was the keep or citadel.&nbsp; Scenfrith seems to have no
+history peculiarly its own; it was one of &ldquo;the three
+castles,&rdquo; changing hands with them apparently as a matter
+of course, and that was enough for its ambition.</p>
+<p>The road from Scenfrith to Grosmont leads through Newcastle;
+but the remains of the fortress, from which this place derived
+its name, are barely discernible, and its history has for ever
+perished.&nbsp; In the absence of human associations, however, it
+is well provided with those of another kind.&nbsp; The mount, or
+barrow, under which its fragments are hidden, is the haunt of
+spirits; and an oak tree in the neighbourhood is so completely
+protected by such means, that an attempt even to lop a branch is
+sure to be punished by supernatural power.</p>
+<p>The ruins of Grosmont Castle stand on an eminence near the
+Monnow, surrounded by a <a name="page116"></a><span
+class="pagenum">p. 116</span>dry moat, with barbican and other
+outworks.&nbsp; Its pointed arches declare it by far the youngest
+of the three sisters.&nbsp; The remains now left enclose only a
+small area; but walls and foundations may be traced, which show
+that its original size was really considerable, and this is
+confirmed by the presence of a spacious apartment, which no doubt
+formed the great baronial hall.&nbsp; In the reign of Henry III.
+it was invested by Llewellin, and the siege raised by the king;
+and, on another occasion, Henry retreated to Grosmont, where his
+troops were surprised by the Welsh as they slept in the trenches,
+and lost five hundred horses, besides baggage and treasure.&nbsp;
+The banks of the Monnow, from which the ruins rise, are
+precipitous, and tufted with oaks, and the whole scene is
+singularly picturesque.&nbsp; The hero of the village tradition
+is here John of Kent, or Guent, who built a bridge over the
+Monnow in a single night, by means of one of his familiar
+spirits.&nbsp; Many other stories as wonderful are related of him
+by the inhabitants; some say he was a monk, versed in the black
+art; others that he was a disciple of Owen Glendowr; and others
+that he was the great magician himself.</p>
+<p><a name="page117"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 117</span>At
+Grosmont the line of the Monnow turns away to the west, towards
+its source among the Black Mountains; but the traveller who
+eschews more fatigue than is necessary will take the route by
+Craig-gate and Crickhowell, and so get into a road which will
+lead him along the Honddy, a tributary of the Monnow, to the
+magnificent ruins of Lanthony Abbey, the furthest object we
+propose to him in this subsidiary tour.</p>
+<blockquote><p>&ldquo;Here it was, stranger, that the patron
+saint<br />
+Of Cambria passed his age of penitence&mdash;<br />
+A solitary man; and here he made<br />
+His hermitage; the roots his food, his drink<br />
+Of Honddy&rsquo;s mountain-stream.&nbsp; Perchance thy youth<br
+/>
+Has read with eager wonder how the knight<br />
+Of Wales, in Ormandine&rsquo;s enchanted bowers,<br />
+Slept the long sleep: and if that in thy veins<br />
+Flows the pure blood of Britain, sure that blood<br />
+Has flowed with quicker impulse at the tale<br />
+Of Dafydd&rsquo;s deeds, when through the press of war<br />
+His gallant comrades followed his green crest<br />
+To conquests.&nbsp; Stranger! Hatterel&rsquo;s mountain
+heights,<br />
+And this fair vale of Cwias, and the stream<br />
+Of Honddy, to thine after thoughts will rise<br />
+More grateful, thus associate with the name<br />
+Of Dafydd and the deeds of other days.&rdquo;</p>
+</blockquote>
+<p>&ldquo;After catching a transient view of the Honddy,&rdquo;
+says archdeacon Coxe, &ldquo;winding through a deep glen, at the
+foot of hills overspread with <a name="page118"></a><span
+class="pagenum">p. 118</span>wood and sprinkled with white
+cottages, we proceeded along a hollow way, which deepened as we
+advanced, and was scarcely broad enough to admit the
+carriage.&nbsp; In this road, which, with more propriety might be
+termed a ditch, we heard the roar of the torrent beneath, but
+seldom enjoyed a view of the circumjacent scenery.&nbsp; We
+passed under a bridge thrown across the chasm, to preserve the
+communication with the fields on each side: this bridge was
+framed of the trunks of trees, and secured with side rails, to
+prevent the tottering passenger from falling in the abyss
+beneath.&nbsp; It brought to my recollection several bridges of
+similar construction, which I observed in Norway, which are
+likewise occasionally used as aqueducts, for the purposes of
+irrigation.&nbsp; Emerging from this gloomy way, we were struck
+with the romantic village of Cwnyoy, on the opposite bank of the
+Honddy, hanging on the sides of the abrupt cliff, under a
+perpendicular rock, broken into enormous fissures.&nbsp; We
+continued for some way between the torrent and the Gaer, and
+again plunged into a hollow road, where we were enclosed, and saw
+nothing but the overhanging hedgerows. . . . <a
+name="page119"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 119</span>The abbey
+was built like a cathedral, in the shape of Roman crosses, and
+though of small dimensions, was well proportioned.&nbsp; The
+length, from the western door to the eastern extremity, is 210
+feet; and the breadth, including two aisles, 50; the length of
+the transept, from north to south, 100.&nbsp; It was constructed
+soon after the introduction of the Gothic architecture, and
+before the disuse of the Norman, and is a regular composition of
+both styles.&nbsp; The whole roof, excepting a small fragment of
+the north aisle, is fallen down, and the building is extremely
+dilapidated.&nbsp; The nave alone exhibits a complete specimen of
+the original plan, and is separated on each side by the two
+aisles, by eight pointed arches, resting on piers of the simplest
+construction, which are divided from the upper tier of Norman
+arches by a straight band of <i>fascia</i>.&nbsp; From the small
+fragment in the northern aisle, the roofs seem to have been
+vaulted and engroined, and the springing columns, by which it was
+supported, are still visible on the wall.&nbsp; Four bold arches,
+in the centre of the church, supported a square tower, two sides
+of which only remain.&nbsp; The ornamental arch <a
+name="page120"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 120</span>in the
+eastern window, which appears in the engraving of Mr.
+Wyndham&rsquo;s Tour, and in that published by Hearne, has now
+fallen.&nbsp; The only vestiges of the choir are a part of the
+south wall, with a Norman door, that led into the side aisle, and
+the east end of the south wall; a bold Norman arch, leading from
+the transept into the southern aisle of the choir, still
+exists.&nbsp; The walls of the southern aisle are wholly
+dilapidated; and the side view of the two ranges of Gothic
+arches, stretching along the nave, is singularly picturesque; the
+outside wall of the northern aisle is entire, excepting a small
+portion of the western extremity; the windows of this part are
+wholly Norman, and make a grand appearance.&nbsp; In a word, the
+western side is most elegant; the northern side is most entire;
+the southern the most picturesque; the eastern the most
+magnificent.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>The abbey originated in a small chapel, built here as a
+hermitage by St. David, the titular saint of Wales; but for the
+account of its foundation and history, we must refer the reader
+to Mr. Coxe&rsquo;s Tour, Dugdale&rsquo;s Monasticon, or the
+History of Gloucestershire.</p>
+<h3><a name="page121"></a><span class="pagenum">p.
+121</span>CHAPTER IX.</h3>
+<p class="gutsumm">Raglan Castle&mdash;Description of the
+ruins&mdash;History of the Castle&mdash;The old lord of
+Raglan&mdash;Surrender of the fortress&mdash;Charles I. and his
+host&mdash;Royal weakness&mdash;The pigeons of Raglan&mdash;Death
+of the old lord&mdash;Origin of the steam Engine.</p>
+<p>That magnificent specimen of what is called a castellated
+mansion, Raglan castle, is so interesting in itself, and at so
+convenient a distance from the river, that it forms an
+indispensable part of the tour of the Wye.&nbsp; The ruins stand
+upon an eminence, near the village of the same name, eight miles
+from Monmouth, and cover, with their massive forms, an area of
+one-third part of a mile in circumference.&nbsp; This includes
+the citadel, which was not contained within the fortress as
+usual, but formed a separate building, connected <a
+name="page122"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 122</span>with it by
+a drawbridge.&nbsp; It was called Melyn y Gwent, or the Yellow
+Tower of Gwent.&nbsp; It was of a hexagon form, five stories
+high, defended by bastions and a moat, and surrounded with raised
+walks or terraces.&nbsp; The building was faced with hewn stone,
+of a greyish colour, and from its smoothness resembling polished
+marble.</p>
+<p>The earliest style of this edifice dates only from the reign
+of Henry V.; but the greater part was probably added afterwards,
+when, by the marriage of Sir Charles Somerset into the house of
+Herbert, and the acquisition then of the lordships of Raglan,
+Chepstow, and Gower, the house of Beaufort became one of the
+greatest in the county.&nbsp; The building is of a description
+peculiar to that period in the history of Monmouthshire, when the
+barons had superadded to their warlike habits those of modern
+luxury and magnificence.&nbsp; Externally, the place has
+evidently been a strong fortress; internally a splendid
+mansion.&nbsp; The ascent to the state apartment is both noble
+and well contrived; while the circular staircase in the hexagon
+citadel, the windows of the great hall, and the chimney-pieces,
+with their light and elegant cornices, <a
+name="page123"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 123</span>are in the
+style of modern edifices.&nbsp; The kitchen and butlery were
+connected with the hall, and indicate, by their construction, the
+princely hospitality of the lords of Raglan.&nbsp; All the rooms
+had chimneys, those of each floor distinct from the rest.&nbsp;
+The cellars were extensive&mdash;so were the subterranean
+passages and dungeons.&nbsp; The architecture is various, some
+parts of the most elegant gothic, some heavy and unwieldy,
+representing at once the two distinct characters of luxury and
+war.&nbsp; The southern declivity, towards the village, was laid
+out in fish-ponds; three parks of considerable extent supplied
+game and recreation; and the proprietor of this unique mansion
+was able, through the fertility of his surrounding estates, to
+maintain a garrison of eight hundred men.</p>
+<blockquote><p>&ldquo;Of these noble ruins,&rdquo; says Mr. Coxe,
+&ldquo;the grand entrance is the most magnificent; it is formed
+by a gothic portal, flanked with two massive towers: the one
+beautifully tufted with ivy, the second so entirely covered, that
+not a single stone is visible.&nbsp; At a small distance, on the
+right, appears a third tower, lower in height, almost wholly
+ivyless, and with its machicolated <a name="page124"></a><span
+class="pagenum">p. 124</span>summit, presenting a highly
+picturesque appearance.&nbsp; The porch, which still contains the
+grooves for two portcullises, leads into the first court, once
+paved, but now covered with turf, and sprinkled with
+shrubs.&nbsp; The eastern and northern sides contained a range of
+culinary offices, of which the kitchen is remarkable for the size
+of the fire-place; the southern side seems to have formed a grand
+suite of apartments, and the great bow window of the hall, at the
+south-western extremity of the court, is finely canopied with
+ivy.&nbsp; The stately hall which divides the two courts, and
+seems to have been built in the days of queen Elizabeth, contains
+the vestiges of ancient hospitality and splendour: the ceiling is
+fallen down, but the walls still remain; it is sixty feet in
+length, twenty-seven in breadth, and was the great
+banqueting-room of the castle.&nbsp; At the extremity are placed
+the arms of the first marquis of Worcester, sculptured in stone,
+and surrounded with the garter: underneath is the family motto,
+which fully marks the character of the noble proprietor, who
+defended the castle with such spirit from the parliamentary army:
+&lsquo;Mutare <a name="page125"></a><span class="pagenum">p.
+125</span>vel timere sperno;&rsquo; &lsquo;I scorn either to
+change or to fear.&rsquo;&nbsp; The fire-place deserves to be
+noticed for its remarkable size, and the singular structure of
+the chimney.&nbsp; The hall is occasionally used as a fives
+court.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;To the north of the hall are ranges of offices, which
+appear to have been butteries; beyond are the traces of splendid
+apartments.&nbsp; In the walls above I observed two
+chimney-pieces, in high preservation, neatly ornamented with a
+light frieze and cornice: the stone frames of the windows are
+likewise in many parts, particularly in the south front,
+distinguished with mouldings and other decorations, which Mr.
+Windham justly observes, would not be considered inelegant, even
+at present.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;The western door of the hall led into the chapel, which
+is now dilapidated; but its situation is marked by some of the
+flying columns, rising from grotesque heads, which supported the
+roof.&nbsp; At the upper end are two rude whole-length figures,
+in stone, several yards above the ground, recently discovered by
+Mr. Heath, under the thick clusters of ivy.&nbsp; Beyond the
+foundations of the chapel is the area of the second <a
+name="page126"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 126</span>court,
+skirted with a range of buildings, which, at the time of the
+siege, formed the barracks of the garrison.&nbsp; Not the
+smallest traces remain of the marble fountain, which once
+occupied the centre of the area, and was ornamented with the
+statue of a white horse.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Most of the apartments of this splendid abode were of
+grand dimensions, and the communications easy and
+convenient.&nbsp; The strength of the walls is still so great,
+that if the parts still standing were roofed and floored, it
+might even now be formed into a magnificent and commodious
+habitation.&rdquo;</p>
+</blockquote>
+<p>The fountain mentioned above was called the White Horse, from
+the figure from which the water played.&nbsp; In a note supplied
+by Dr. Griffin to Williams&rsquo;s History of Monmouthshire, it
+is said that the people who showed the ruins used to exhibit part
+of the body of a <i>black</i> horse which stood in the middle of
+the water which supplied the castle.&nbsp; The cause of the
+change of colour was that during the siege the parliamentarians
+poisoned the fountain!&nbsp; The horse, it seems, absorbed the
+fatal drug, and not only became black, but when struck by any
+hard substance, emitted a fetid smell.&nbsp; <a
+name="page127"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 127</span>It is
+difficult to trace the early history of the castle, from the
+contradictory accounts given of it by Dugdale; but in the time of
+Henry V. the proprietor was Sir William ap Thomas, second son of
+Sir Thomas ap Guillim, from whom the earls of Pembroke, Powis,
+and Caernarvon are descended in the male, and the dukes of
+Beaufort in the female line.&nbsp; William, the eldest son of
+this Sir William, was created by Edward IV. lord of Raglan,
+Chepstow, and Gower; and, in obedience to the royal command, he
+discontinued the Welsh custom of changing the surname at every
+descent, and took Herbert as his family name, in honour of his
+ancestor Herbert Fitzhenry, chamberlain to Henry I.&nbsp; Richard
+was for some time detained at Raglan in the custody of lord
+Herbert, who was a distinguished partisan of the house of York,
+and who at length died on the scaffold, at Banbury, in this
+cause, having previously been created earl of Pembroke.&nbsp; His
+son, by the desire of Edward IV., yielded this title to the
+Prince of Wales; and, dying without male issue, the castle of
+Raglan, and many other noble possessions devolved upon his
+daughter Elizabeth.&nbsp; The heiress married Sir <a
+name="page128"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 128</span>Charles
+Somerset, natural son of the duke of Somerset, who lost his head
+in 1463 for his devotion to the house of Lancaster; and he, a
+brave soldier, a prudent statesman, and an accomplished courtier,
+was created by Henry VIII., for his services, earl of
+Worcester.</p>
+<p>It is probable that the castle of Raglan, owed a great part of
+its magnificence to him.&nbsp; In the following reign, it is thus
+mentioned in the Worthines of Wales.</p>
+<blockquote><p>&ldquo;Not far from thence, a famous castle
+fine,<br />
+That Raggland hight, stands moted almost round,<br />
+Made of freestone, upright, straight as line,<br />
+Whose workmanship in beauty doth abound.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;The curious knots, wrought all with edged toole,<br />
+The stately tower that looks ore pond and poole,<br />
+The fountain trim, that runs both day and night,<br />
+Doth yield in showe a rare and noble sight.&rdquo;</p>
+</blockquote>
+<p>Four earls of Worcester held almost royal state in this
+princely abode; but the fifth earl and first marquis was destined
+to witness its fall.&nbsp; He was one of the most devoted friends
+of <a name="page129"></a><span class="pagenum">p.
+129</span>Charles I.; and may be said to have defended not only
+his own mansion but all Monmouthshire from the parliamentary
+arms.</p>
+<p>The defeat of the royal army at Marston Moor was the signal
+for the fall of Monmouth and of Raglan Castle.&nbsp; Prince
+Rupert immediately directed his attention to the marches of
+Wales, and ordered colonel Gerard to force his way through
+Gloucestershire by the Aust passage: but the latter was opposed
+by Massey, and defeated.&nbsp; Monmouth soon after fell into the
+hands of Massey by the treachery of Kirle, lieutenant-colonel to
+Holtby, governor of the town for Charles; and lord Worcester at
+Raglan, in great alarm, demanded the assistance of prince
+Rupert&rsquo;s cavalry.</p>
+<p>Throgmorton, on whom the command of Monmouth devolved, set out
+with a party of three hundred horse to surprise the castle of
+Chepstow, and in his absence the following brilliant exploit was
+performed by the royalists, which we give in the words of
+Sanderson.&nbsp; &ldquo;The cavaliers from Ragland and Godridg,
+about break of day, lodg themselves undiscovered behind a rising
+ground near Monmouth, and <a name="page130"></a><span
+class="pagenum">p. 130</span>viewing all advantages, fourty of
+them come up to the higher side of the town towards Hereford,
+having a sloping bank cast up of good height, with a ditch, over
+which they pass, mount the bank, and climbed over, and so got to
+the next part, fell upon the guard, some killed, other fled, and
+with an iron bar break the post chain, force the gate, and open
+it to the horse, who ride up with full career to the main guard,
+seized them, and took the rest in their beds, with colonel
+Broughton, four captains, as many lieutenants and ensigns, the
+committee, all the common souldiers, two hundred prisoners, two
+sakers, a drake, nine hammerguns, ammunition and provision, and
+five hundred muskets.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>But the fate of the war was now determined, and after the
+battle of Naseby Charles was unable to meet the parliamentarians
+in a general engagement, and retired to the castle of
+Raglan.&nbsp; Thence he secretly departed to commit himself to
+the Scottish army; and the marquis of Worcester was besieged at
+Raglan for six months.&nbsp; The old lord, who was then
+eighty-four years of age, on hearing of the landing of his son
+lord Glamorgan with some Irish forces, sent the following <a
+name="page131"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 131</span>bold letter
+to the parliamentarian committee at Chepstow.</p>
+<blockquote><p>&ldquo;Having notice that you are not ignorant of
+my son&rsquo;s landing with the Irish forces, I am so much of a
+father, and tender of the whole country&rsquo;s ruin, that if
+this coming to this place be hasted by the occasion of your
+answer, you and not I will be the occasion of the country&rsquo;s
+curse.&nbsp; You have taken from me my rents and livelihood, for
+which if you give unbelied reparations, I shall be glad to live a
+quiet neighbour amongst you; if otherwise, you will force me to
+what my own nature hath no liking of, and yet justifiable by the
+word of God, and law of nature.&nbsp; I expect your answer by the
+messenger, as you give occasion.</p>
+<p style="text-align: right">&ldquo;<span class="smcap">H.
+Worcester</span>.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Raglan, May 29, 1646.&rdquo;</p>
+</blockquote>
+<p>This brought on a long and fruitless negotiation.&nbsp; The
+old lord saw that even the master of Raglan was not the master of
+circumstances; and, at length, it was agreed that the castle
+should be delivered up.&nbsp; &ldquo;Nobly done,&rdquo; says
+Sanderson, &ldquo;to hold out the last garrison for <a
+name="page132"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 132</span>the king in
+England or Wales.&rdquo;&nbsp; In the articles of surrender,
+however, the soldierly honour of the marquis was spared as much
+as possible, it being agreed &ldquo;that all the officers,
+gentlemen, and soldiers, with all other persons there, should
+march out with their horses and arms, colours flying, drums
+beating, trumpets sounding, matches lighted at both ends, bullets
+in mouth, each soldier twelve charges of powder, matches and
+bullets proportionable, bag and baggage, to any place within two
+miles of any garrison where the marquis shall mention.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>Soon after this surrender, the castle was demolished, and the
+timber cut down in the parks, the loss to the family, in personal
+property, without including the forfeiture and an estate of
+twenty thousand pounds a year, being estimated at upwards of a
+hundred thousand pounds.&nbsp; The Chase of Wentwood, including
+Chepstow Castle and Park, was immediately bestowed upon Oliver
+Cromwell; who appears also to refer, in the settlements upon his
+family to other estates in Monmouthshire, parcels of the noble
+property of the marquis of Worcester.</p>
+<p>In a publication of that day, entitled &ldquo;Witty <a
+name="page133"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 133</span>Apothegms
+delivered at several times, and on several occasions, by king
+James I., king Charles I., and the marquis of Worcester,&rdquo;
+several anecdotes are given which throw a strong light upon the
+character of this fine old lord of Raglan.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;In the midst of the civil commotions, Charles I. made
+several visits to Raglan Castle, and was entertained with
+becoming magnificence.&nbsp; The marquis not only declined all
+offers of remuneration, but also advanced large sums; and when
+the king thanked him for the loans, replied, Sir, I had your word
+for the money, but I never thought I should be so soon repayed;
+for now you have given me thanks, I have all I looked
+for.&rdquo;&nbsp; At another time, the king, apprehensive lest
+the stores of the garrison should be consumed by his suite,
+empowered him to exact from the country such provisions as were
+necessary for his maintainance and recruit, &ldquo;I humbly thank
+your majesty,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;but my castle will not stand
+long if it leans on the country; I had rather be brought to a
+morsel of bread, than any morsels of bread should be brought me
+to entertain your majesty.&rdquo;</p>
+<p><a name="page134"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 134</span>The
+following conversation shows the amiable weakness of
+Charles&rsquo;s humanity.</p>
+<p>Sir Trevor Williams, and four other principal gentlemen of
+Monmouthshire, being arrested for disloyalty, and conducted to
+Abergavenny, the king was advised to order them to an immediate
+trial, which must have ended in their conviction; but Charles,
+moved by the tears and protestations of Trevor Williams, suffered
+him to be released, on bail, and committed the others only to a
+temporary confinement.&nbsp; &ldquo;The king told the marquess
+what he had done, and that when he saw them speak so honestly, he
+could not but give some credit to their words, so seconded by
+tears, and withal told the marquess that he had onely sent them
+to prison; whereupon the marquess said, what to do? to poyson
+that garrison?&nbsp; Sir, you should have done well to have heard
+their accusations, and then to have shewn what mercy you
+pleased.&nbsp; The king told him, that he heard that they were
+accused by some contrary faction, as to themselves, who, out of
+distaste they bore to one another on old grudges, would be apt to
+charge them more home than the nature of their offences had
+deserved; to whom the marquess <a name="page135"></a><span
+class="pagenum">p. 135</span>made this return, Well, Sir, you may
+chance to gain the kingdom of heaven by such doings as these, but
+if you ever get the kingdom of England by such ways, I will be
+your bondman.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>Another conversation between the marquis and Sir Thomas
+Fairfax is worth relating.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;After much conference between the marquess and General
+Fairfax, wherein many things were requested of the general by the
+marquess, and being, as he thought himself, happy in the
+attainment, his lordship was pleased to make a merry petition to
+the general as he was taking his leave, viz. in behalf of a
+couple of pigeons, who were wont to come to his hand, and feed
+out of it constantly, in whose behalf he desired the general that
+he would be pleased to give him his protection for them, fearing
+the little command that he should have over his soldiers in that
+behalf.&nbsp; To which the general said, I am glad to see your
+lordship so merry.&nbsp; Oh, said the marquess, you have given me
+no other cause, and hasty as you are, you shall not go untill I
+have told you a story.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;There were two men going up Holborn in a cart to be
+hanged; one of them being very <a name="page136"></a><span
+class="pagenum">p. 136</span>merry and jocund, gave offence to
+the other who was sad and dejected, insomuch that the downcast
+man said unto the other, I wonder, brother, that you can be so
+frolic, considering the business we are going about.&nbsp; Tush,
+answered the other, thou art a fool; thou wentest a thieving, and
+never thought what would become of thee, wherefore being on a
+sudden surprised, thou fallest into such a shaking fit, that I am
+ashamed to see thee in that condition: whereas I was resolved to
+be hanged, before ever I fell to stealing, which is the reason
+nothing happenning strange or unexpected, I go so composed unto
+my death.&nbsp; So, said the marquess, I resolved to undergo
+whatsoever, even the worst of evils that you are able to lay upon
+me, before I took up arms for my sovereign, and therefore wonder
+not that I am so merry.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;In the correspondence with Fairfax,&rdquo; says the
+author of the Historical Tour, &ldquo;which preceded the
+capitulation, the marquis of Worcester seems to have strongly
+suspected that the parliament would not adhere to the
+conditions.&nbsp; His apprehensions were not groundless, for on
+his arrival in London he was committed to the custody <a
+name="page137"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 137</span>of the
+Black Rod.&nbsp; He bitterly complained of this cruel usage, and
+deeply regretted that he had trusted himself to the mercy of the
+parliament.&nbsp; A few hours before his death, he said to Dr.
+Bayley, If to seize upon all my goods, to pull down my house, to
+fell my estate, and send up for such a weak body as mine was, so
+enfeebled by disease, in the dead of winter, in the winter of
+mine age, be merciful, what are they whose mercies are so
+cruel?&nbsp; Neither do I expect that they should stop at all
+this, for I fear they will persecute me after death.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Being informed, however, that parliament would permit
+him to be buried in his family vault, in Windsor Chapel; he cried
+out, with great sprightliness of manner, Why, God bless us all,
+why then I shall have a better castle when I am dead, than they
+took from me whilst I was alive.&nbsp; With so much cheerfulness
+and resignation did this hero expire, in the eighty-fifth year of
+his age.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>The second marquis was the author of that puzzling
+&ldquo;Century of the Names and Scantlings of such Inventions as
+I can at present call to mind to have tried and
+perfected.&rdquo;</p>
+<p><a name="page138"></a><span class="pagenum">p.
+138</span>&ldquo;It appears,&rdquo; we are told, &ldquo;from a
+passage in the Experimental Philosophy of Dr. Desaguliers, that
+Captain Savary derived his invention of the fire engine, since
+called the steam engine, from the 68th article in the Century of
+Scantlings; and that to conceal his original he bought up all the
+marquis&rsquo;s books, and burnt them.&rdquo;&nbsp; The following
+is the &ldquo;scantling.&rdquo;</p>
+<blockquote><p>&ldquo;An admirable and most forcible way to drive
+up water by fire, not by drawing or sucking it upwards, for that
+must be, as the philosopher calleth it, <i>intra sph&aelig;ram
+activitatis</i>, which is at but such a distance.&nbsp; But this
+way hath no bounder, if the vessels be strong enough; for I have
+taken a piece of a whole cannon, whereof the end was burst, and
+filled it three quarters full of water, stopping and screwing up
+the broken end, as also the touch-hole, and making a constant
+fire under it, within twenty-four hours it burst, and made a
+great crack; so that having a way to make my vessels that they
+are strengthened by the force within them, and the one to fill
+after the other, I have seen the water run like a constant
+fountain stream forty feet high; one vessel of water, rarified by
+fire, drives up forty feet of <a name="page139"></a><span
+class="pagenum">p. 139</span>cold water.&nbsp; And a man that
+attends the work has but to turn two cocks, that one vessel of
+water being consumed, another begins to force and refit with cold
+water, and so successfully, the fire being tended and kept
+constant, with the self-same person may likewise abundantly
+perform in the interim between the necessity of turning the said
+cocks.&rdquo;</p>
+</blockquote>
+<p>We now renew our onward course, but with many a lingering look
+at &ldquo;delightsome Monmouth.&rdquo;</p>
+<h2><a name="page140"></a><span class="pagenum">p.
+140</span>CHAPTER X.</h2>
+<p class="gutsumm">Troy House&mdash;Anecdote&mdash;Antique
+custom&mdash;Village Churches of
+Monmouthshire&mdash;White-washing&mdash;The bard&mdash;Strewing
+graves with flowers&mdash;St. Briavels&rsquo;
+Castle&mdash;Llandogo&mdash;Change in the character of the
+river&mdash;The Druid of the Wye&mdash;Wordsworth&rsquo;s
+&ldquo;Lines composed above Tintern Abbey.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>Just below Monmouth the Wye forms a sharp curve, the apex of
+which is met by the Monnow and the Trothy, in such a way that
+these two streams, tending to nearly the same point, but coming
+from different directions, and the two sides of the Wye curve,
+make the place resemble the meeting of four roads.&nbsp; We have
+already seen how interesting the Monnow is; the Trothy, which
+passes White Castle, and has its source in the mountains near the
+Great Skyrrid, is hardly less so; the Wye we have followed from
+the summit <a name="page141"></a><span class="pagenum">p.
+141</span>of Plinlimmon, through a tract of mingled beauty and
+grandeur, unrivalled in England; and we are now about to trace
+its course to the monastic ruins of Tintern, and through the
+fairy land of Piercefield to its destined bourne, the Severn.</p>
+<p>The banks are at first low, and the country laid out in level
+meadows, framed in at a short distance by swelling hills.&nbsp;
+Troy House is the first object that arrests our attention in
+front by its sombre woods.&nbsp; In the reign of James I. it was
+the property of Sir Charles Somerset, the brother of the gallant
+defender of Raglan Castle, between whom and Charles I. a
+conversation relating to Troy House took place, which is thus
+reported in the &ldquo;Apothegms.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Sir Thomas Somerset, brother to the marquis of
+Worcester, had a house which was called Troy, five miles from
+Ragland Castle.&nbsp; This Sir Thomas, being a complete
+gentleman, delighted much in fine gardens and orchards, where, by
+the benefit of art, the earth was made so gratefull to him at the
+same time that the king (Charles the first) happened to be at his
+brother&rsquo;s house, that it yielded him wherewithal to send
+him a present; and such a one as (the times <a
+name="page142"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 142</span>and seasons
+considered) was able to make the king believe that the sovereign
+of the planets had now changed the poles, and that Wales (the
+refuse and outcast of the fair garden of England) had fairer and
+riper fruit than England&rsquo;s bowels had on all her
+beds.&nbsp; This present, given to the marquis, he would not
+suffer to be presented to the king by any other hand than his
+own.&nbsp; &lsquo;Here I present you, sir,&rsquo; said the
+marquis, (placing his dishes on the table) &lsquo;with that which
+came not from Lincoln that was, nor from London that is, nor from
+York that is to be, but from Troy.&rsquo;&nbsp; Whereupon the
+king smiled, and answered the marquis, &lsquo;Truly, my lord, I
+have heard that corn grows where Troy town stood, but I never
+thought there had grown any apricots before.&rsquo;&rdquo;</p>
+<p>Some articles said to be relics of Henry V. are preserved
+here: the bed in which he was born, the cradle in which he was
+rocked, and the armour in which he fought at Agincourt.&nbsp;
+There is also a carved oak chimney-piece from Raglan Castle.</p>
+<p>Soon the hills approach nearer, and, covered with rich
+foliage, sweep down more suddenly <a name="page143"></a><span
+class="pagenum">p. 143</span>towards the river.&nbsp; On the
+right bank is Penalt church, standing on a wooded eminence; and
+behind it, an extensive common distinguished for a superstitious
+custom, derived, as is supposed, from the days of the
+druids.&nbsp; When a funeral passed that way, the cortege stopped
+at an oak tree, and placed the corpse on a stone seat at its
+foot.&nbsp; The company than sang a psalm, and resumed their
+procession.&nbsp; It may be remarked that wherever an old oak
+tree is found in this part of the country, in an insulated or
+otherwise remarkable situation, there is sure to be connected
+with it some religious tradition, or some observance whose origin
+is lost in antiquity.&nbsp; The churches are usually an
+interesting feature in the landscape, for it would seem as if
+their founders had sought purposely out for them solitary places,
+by the banks of rivers or in the midst of groves or fields.&nbsp;
+In general they are exceedingly simple in appearance, many having
+the marks of great antiquity, and almost all being whitewashed
+from top to bottom.&nbsp; An antiquary has ingeniously accounted
+for this peculiarity, by the custom the Normans had of
+constructing even large buildings of pebbles and rag-stone, <a
+name="page144"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 144</span>which
+obliged them to cover the inequalities, outside and inside, by a
+coat of lime and sand.&nbsp; However this may be, the effect is
+not unpleasing; more especially when the rural temple, as is
+frequently the case, is shaped like a barn, and without a
+belfry.&nbsp; Such churches, more especially in the mountainous
+districts, still present the rounded arches, and other
+peculiarities, which denote that their rude walls were raised by
+our Saxon ancestors, if not by the ancient Britons
+themselves.</p>
+<p>We find the white walls, so common in Wales, alluded to as a
+poetical circumstance by one of the bards of the fourteenth
+century, in a piece of considerable beauty; and in the succeeding
+paragraph there is an allusion to another Welsh custom, of more
+classical authority, that of strewing the graves of the dead with
+flowers.&nbsp; The poem is an invocation to summer, to shed its
+blessings over the country of Gwent.&nbsp; The following is the
+paragraph referred to, with the second allusion, terminating the
+ode by an abrupt and pathetic transition.</p>
+<blockquote><p>&ldquo;If I obtain thee, O summer, in thy splendid
+hour, with thy fair growth and thy sporting <a
+name="page145"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 145</span>gems; thy
+serenity pleasantly bear, thou golden messenger, to
+Morganoc.&nbsp; With sunshine morn gladden thou the place, and
+greet the whitened houses; give growth, give the first fruits of
+the spring, and collect thou blossoms to the bushes; shine
+proudly on the wall of lime, full as light and gaily bright;
+leave there in the vale thy footsteps in juicy herbage, in fresh
+attire; diffuse a load of delicious fruits, in bounteous course
+among its woods; give thy crop like a stream over every lawn, the
+meadows, and the land of wheat; clothe the orchard, the vineyard,
+and the garden, with thy abundance and thy teeming harvest; and
+scatter over its fair soil the lovely marks of thy glorious
+course!</p>
+<p>&ldquo;And oh! whilst thy season of flowers, and thy tender
+sprays thick of leaves remain; I will pluck the roses from the
+branches; the flowerets of the meads, and gems of the woods; the
+vivid trefoils, beauties of the ground, and the gaily smiling
+bloom of the verdant herbs, to be offered to the memory of a
+chief of favorite fame: Humbly I will lay them on the grave of
+Ivor!&rdquo;</p>
+</blockquote>
+<p>The Ivor here alluded to was Ivor Hael, or the Generons, an
+ancestor of the Tredgear family <a name="page146"></a><span
+class="pagenum">p. 146</span>of Morgans, whose pedigree is
+traced, by the Welsh bards from the third son of Noah.&nbsp; The
+poet David, ap Gwillim, styled the Welsh Ovid, loved a lady of
+the name of Morvid, in whose praise his prolific muse produced no
+fewer than a hundred and forty-seven poems.&nbsp; A rich rival,
+however, gained the unwilling prize; and the son of song consoled
+himself by carrying off his lost mistress on two several
+occasions, when her husband, Rhys Gwgan, was with the army in
+France, where he served in the rank of captain at the battle of
+Crecy.&nbsp; For both these offences he was fined and imprisoned,
+and in both instances liberated by the gentlemen of Gwent, who
+came forward in a body in favour of their darling bard.&nbsp; The
+above extract is taken from one of two poems which he wrote in
+testimony of his gratitude.&nbsp; It may be added, that when
+flowers are planted on graves, it was, and we believe is the
+custom to surround the area with stones, which are periodically
+<i>whitewashed</i>.</p>
+<p>On the bank opposite Penalt, or a little further down, is
+Redbrook, upper and lower, the one standing above the other on
+the hill side.&nbsp; The stream from which they derive this name
+<a name="page147"></a><span class="pagenum">p.
+147</span>separates Monmouthshire from Gloucestershire, and the
+Wye then continues the boundary.&nbsp; The brook, also, serves
+the purpose of turning the wheels of some iron and tin works; but
+without vulgarising any more than such accidents have done
+heretofore, the scenic romance of the river.&nbsp; Wye Seal House
+comes next, on the same side of the river, with the hamlet of
+Whitebrook and its paper-mills on the opposite bank.&nbsp; Then
+Pan-y-van hill, and the ruins of the old manor-house of
+Pilton&mdash;then an iron bridge over the Wye, and then
+Big&rsquo;s-weir House, and its surrounding grove, with Hudknolls
+behind, and the ruins of St. Briavels&rsquo; Castle on their
+summit.</p>
+<p>This fortress stands in the forest of Dean, and dates from the
+reign of Henry I., when it was founded by Milo, earl of Hereford,
+for the residence and defence of some of the
+lords-marchers.&nbsp; St. Briavels, formerly a place of some
+importance, is now a village.&nbsp; Its inhabitants enjoyed
+several singular immunities which are now obsolete; but they have
+still a right of common in Hudknolls wood, a tract of land on the
+banks of the Wye seven miles long.&nbsp; They are supposed to <a
+name="page148"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 148</span>enjoy the
+privilege through the performance of a strange ceremony on
+Whit-sunday.&nbsp; Each inhabitant pays twopence to the
+churchwardens, who buy bread and cheese with the fund, which they
+cut into small pieces, and distribute to the congregation
+immediately after the service is ended, in the midst of a general
+scramble.&nbsp; They are also allowed to cut wood, but not
+timber, in any part of the forest.&nbsp; It is said that a
+countess of Hereford procured for them their privileges by the
+performance of a feat similar to that of the Lady Godiva.</p>
+<p>St. Briavels&rsquo; Castle was erected by Milo St. Walter,
+earl of Hereford, in the time of Henry I., as a barrier against
+the Welsh.&nbsp; Two circular towers alone remain entire with a
+narrow gateway between, composing the north-west front.&nbsp;
+They contain several apartments, the walls of which are eight
+feet thick.&nbsp; One is used as a prison for the hundred.&nbsp;
+In the interior are two other similar gateways, on the right and
+left of which are the remains of spacious rooms.</p>
+<p>The governor of St. Briavels&mdash;for it became a royal
+fortress after the Hereford family had <a
+name="page149"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 149</span>possessed
+it for about a century&mdash;had formerly jurisdiction over the
+forest of Dean; and it is recorded, that in his court the miners
+were sworn upon a branch of holly instead of the testament, lest
+the holy book should be defiled by their fingers.</p>
+<p>We now enter a long reach of the river, with Tiddenham Chase
+Hill rising boldly in front; till Llandogo appears, a beautiful
+little village on the right bank, seated on a hill side in the
+midst of gardens and orchards, and with its small church near the
+edge of the water, peeping through the trees.&nbsp; This is a
+scene of quiet beauty, which after the massive forms we have
+passed, we term <i>prettyness</i>.&nbsp; Whatever be its proper
+name, however, in the pedantry of taste, it is not surpassed on
+the Wye in its own kind.&nbsp; It is unfortunate, nevertheless,
+that at this spot an unfavourable change should be observed in
+the river&mdash;although only in the river considered as a volume
+of water, and not taken in conjunction with its scenery.&nbsp;
+Here the Wye becomes a tide stream, acted upon by the ebb and
+flow of the Severn sea; and in consequence, it is henceforward
+habitually turbid, and no longer a current <a
+name="page150"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 150</span>of pure
+element, subject only to the influence of rains and freshes.</p>
+<p>This circumstance has also its effect upon the moral character
+of the river.&nbsp; Large barges are floated up by the tide to
+Brook Weir, a little lower down, which is midway between Monmouth
+and Chepstow, or nine miles from each; and there they receive the
+merchandise brought thither in small inland vessels from the
+upper part of the Wye.&nbsp; Our romantic stream, therefore,
+whose outlines hitherto have been broken only by the smokes of
+furnaces hidden among the trees, and whose still life has been
+varied only by the corracles of the ancient Britons, and other
+inland craft that never dreamt of the breezes of the salt sea,
+becomes now a small highway of trade, a sort of water lane by
+which the corn, and hoops, and fagots, and other productions of
+the interior are conveyed to Bristol.&nbsp; But even the coasting
+barge, with her blackened sails, and sixty tons of cargo, is not
+here &ldquo;a jarring and a dissonant thing.&rdquo;&nbsp;
+Creeping with the tide along those solemn banks, she acquires a
+portion of their solemnity; floating silently through those
+pastoral vales, she is invested, for the time being, <a
+name="page151"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 151</span>with their
+simplicity.&nbsp; Her characteristics are swallowed up in the
+character of the river&mdash;the spell of the Wye is upon
+her!</p>
+<p>If you doubt the fact, let us wander on but a little further;
+let us turn the point of Lyn Weir, and, looking along the reach
+beyond, inquire with what vulgarised ideas, with what broken
+associations, we find ourselves gliding into the region of
+Tintern!&nbsp; Near this spot, the great Druid of the Wye, the
+poet of nature internal and external, produced a poem which in
+all probability will be read, either with tears or smiles of
+delight, long after the works of man shall have completely
+obliterated those features of the grand, the beautiful, the
+simple, and sublime, to which it is our humble task to point the
+finger.</p>
+<blockquote><p>&ldquo;Five years have past, five summers, with
+the length<br />
+Of five long winters! and again I hear<br />
+These waters, rolling from their mountain-springs<br />
+With a sweet inland murmur.&mdash;Once again<br />
+Do I behold these steep and lofty cliffs,<br />
+That on a wild secluded scene impress<br />
+Thoughts of more deep seclusion; and connect<br />
+The landscape with the quiet of the sky.<br />
+The day is come when I again repose<br />
+<a name="page152"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 152</span>Here,
+under this dark sycamore, and view<br />
+These plots of cottage ground, these orchard tufts,<br />
+Which, at this season, with their unripe fruits,<br />
+Are clad in one green hue, and lose themselves<br />
+Among the woods and copses, nor disturb<br />
+The wild green landscape.&nbsp; Once again I see<br />
+These hedgerows, hardly hedgerows, little lines<br />
+Of sportive wood run wild: these pastoral farms,<br />
+Green to the very doors, and wreaths of smoke<br />
+Sent up, in silence, from among the trees;<br />
+With some uncertain notice, as might seem<br />
+Of vagrant dwellers in the houseless woods,<br />
+Or of some hermit&rsquo;s cave, where, by his fire,<br />
+The hermit sits alone.</p>
+<p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&ldquo;These beauteous
+forms,<br />
+Through a long absence, have not been to me<br />
+As is a landscape to a blind man&rsquo;s eye:<br />
+But oft, in lonely rooms, and &rsquo;mid the din<br />
+Of towns and cities, I have owed to them,<br />
+In hours of weariness, sensations sweet,<br />
+Felt in the blood, and felt along the heart;<br />
+And passing even into my purer mind,<br />
+With tranquil restoration:&mdash;feelings too<br />
+Of unremembered pleasure: such, perhaps,<br />
+As have no slight or trivial influence<br />
+On that best portion of a good man&rsquo;s life,<br />
+His little, nameless, unremembered acts<br />
+Of kindness and of love.&nbsp; Nor less, I trust,<br />
+To them I may have owed another gift,<br />
+Of aspect more sublime; that blessed mood<br />
+In which the burden of the mystery<br />
+In which the heavy and the weary weight<br />
+Of all this unintelligible world<br />
+<a name="page153"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 153</span>Is
+lightened:&mdash;that serene and blessed mood,<br />
+In which the affections gently lead us on,<br />
+Until, the breath of this corporeal frame<br />
+And even the motion of our human blood<br />
+Almost suspended, we are laid asleep<br />
+In body, and become a living soul:<br />
+While with an eye made quiet by the power<br />
+Of harmony, and the deep power of joy,<br />
+We see into the life of things.</p>
+<p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&ldquo;If this<br />
+Be but a vain belief, yet, oh! how oft,<br />
+In darkness and amid the many shapes<br />
+Of joyless daylight, when the fretful stir<br />
+Unprofitable, and the fever of the world<br />
+Have hung upon the beatings of my heart;<br />
+How oft, in spirit, have I turned to thee,<br />
+O sylvan Wye!&nbsp; Thou wanderer through the woods,<br />
+How often has my spirit turned to thee.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;And now with gleams of half extinguished thought,<br />
+With many recognitions dim and faint,<br />
+And somewhat of a sad perplexity,<br />
+The picture of the mind revives again,<br />
+While here I stand, not only with the sense<br />
+Of present pleasure, but with pleasing thoughts<br />
+That in this moment, there is life and food<br />
+For future years, and so I dare to hope,<br />
+Though changed, no doubt, from what I was when first<br />
+I came among these hills; when like a roe<br />
+I bounded o&rsquo;er the mountains, by the sides<br />
+Of the deep rivers, and the lonely streams,<br />
+Wherever nature led: more like a man<br />
+<a name="page154"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 154</span>Flying
+from something that he dreads, than one<br />
+Who sought the thing he loved.&nbsp; For nature then<br />
+(The coarser pleasures of my boyish days,<br />
+And their glad animal movements all gone by)<br />
+To me was all in all.&mdash;I cannot paint<br />
+What then I was.&nbsp; The sounding cataract<br />
+Haunted me like a passion: the tall rock,<br />
+The mountain, and the deep and gloomy wood,<br />
+Their colours and their forms, were then to me<br />
+An appetite; a feeling and a love<br />
+That had no need of a remoter charm,<br />
+By thought supplied, nor any interest<br />
+Unborrowed from the eye.&mdash;That time is past,<br />
+And all its aching joys are now no more,<br />
+And all its dizzy raptures.&nbsp; Not for this<br />
+Faint I, nor mourn nor murmur; other gifts<br />
+Have followed; for such loss, I would believe,<br />
+Abundant recompense.&nbsp; For I have learned<br />
+To look on nature, not as in the hour<br />
+Of thoughtless youth; but hearing oftentimes<br />
+The still, sad music of humanity<br />
+Nor harsh nor grating, though of ample power<br />
+To chasten and subdue.&nbsp; And I have felt<br />
+A presence that disturbs me with the joy<br />
+Of elevated thoughts; a sense sublime<br />
+Of something far more deeply interfused,<br />
+Whose dwelling is the light of setting suns,<br />
+And the round ocean and the living air,<br />
+And the blue sky, and in the mind of man:<br />
+A motion and a spirit, that impels<br />
+All thinking things, all objects of all thought,<br />
+And rolls through all things.&nbsp; Therefore am I still<br />
+A lover of the meadows, and the woods,<br />
+And mountains; and of all that we behold<br />
+From this green earth; of all the mighty world<br />
+<a name="page155"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 155</span>Of eye,
+and ear,&mdash;both what they half create,<br />
+And what perceive; well pleased to recognise,<br />
+In nature and the language of the sense,<br />
+The anchor of my purest thoughts, the nurse,<br />
+The guide, the guardian of my heart, and soul<br />
+Of all my moral being.&rdquo;</p>
+</blockquote>
+<h2><a name="page156"></a><span class="pagenum">p.
+156</span>CHAPTER XI.</h2>
+<p class="gutsumm">Vales of the Wye&mdash;Valley of
+Tintern&mdash;Tintern
+Abbey&mdash;History&mdash;Church&mdash;Character of the
+ruin&mdash;Site&mdash;Coxe&rsquo;s
+description&mdash;Monuments&mdash;Insecurity of sepulchral
+fame&mdash;Churchyarde on tombs&mdash;Opinions on
+Tintern&mdash;Battle of Tintern.</p>
+<p>The &ldquo;Lines composed a few miles above Tintern Abbey, on
+revisiting the banks of the Wye during a tour,&rdquo; are justly
+esteemed one of the masterpieces of modern poetry; but
+independently of this, they belong so peculiarly to the river we
+are attempting to illustrate, and are associated so intimately
+with the character of its scenery, and its reputation as a
+fountain of high thoughts and beautiful feelings, that our volume
+would have been incomplete without them.&nbsp; It is curious that
+this piece, which is dated in the <a name="page157"></a><span
+class="pagenum">p. 157</span>concluding years of the last
+century, should be the only fruits as yet given to the world of
+the poetical inspiration of the Wye&mdash;for the effusions of
+Bloomfield are not to be named with those of Wordsworth.</p>
+<p>We have seen that where the picturesque character of the Wye
+is chiefly formed by its banks, which is the case from Goodrich
+Castle downwards, these embrace the stream with more or less
+straitness, rising in naked crags from the water&rsquo;s edge, or
+throwing their waving woods over the current.&nbsp; At intervals,
+however, they recede to some little distance from either side;
+picturesque hills forming the side-screens, and hills, rocks, and
+trees terminating the perspective in front, and enclosing the
+river like a lake.&nbsp; In such cases, the bottom is formed by a
+green pastoral meadow, through which the stream wanders
+leisurely, as if reposing after former struggles, and preparing
+for new ones.&nbsp; These lonely vales are not merely secluded
+from &ldquo;the hum, the crowd, the shock of men,&rdquo; but from
+all turbulent thoughts and unholy desires.&nbsp; The world lives
+in them only in the recollections of dead things, and feelings,
+and persons.&nbsp; They are <a name="page158"></a><span
+class="pagenum">p. 158</span>spots, to use the fine but
+unappreciated image of Maturin,</p>
+<blockquote><p>&ldquo;Where memory lingers o&rsquo;er the grave
+of passion,<br />
+Watching its tranced sleep!&rdquo;</p>
+</blockquote>
+<p>The admirable taste so unequivocally displayed by the monks of
+old, in the selection of sites for their ascetic retreats, could
+not have overlooked this characteristic of the Wye; and
+accordingly we find, in the most beautiful of these delightful
+nooks, standing on a gently swelling meadow, by the banks of the
+lake-like river, the finest conventual ruins in England.</p>
+<p style="text-align: center">
+<a href="images/p158b.jpg">
+<img alt=
+"Tintern"
+title=
+"Tintern"
+src="images/p158s.jpg" />
+</a></p>
+<p>Tintern Abbey, though one of the oldest of the Cistercian
+communities in this country, was never famous either for its
+wealth, or the number of its brethren; and at the dissolution it
+contained only thirteen monks, supported by a rental of between
+two and three hundred pounds at the highest calculation. <a
+name="citation158"></a><a href="#footnote158"
+class="citation">[158]</a>&nbsp; It was founded in 1131 by Walter
+de Clare, and dedicated to the Virgin <a name="page159"></a><span
+class="pagenum">p. 159</span>Mary; but the endowments were
+greatly increased by Gilbert de Strongbow, lord of Striguil and
+Chepstow, and afterwards earl of Pembroke.&nbsp; The religious
+colony consisted of Cistercians, otherwise called White Monks,
+introduced into England only three years before, where they
+formed an establishment at Waverley in Surrey.&nbsp; These
+brethren spread so luxuriantly, however, that in the reign of
+Henry VIII. there were thirty-six greater, and thirty-nine lesser
+monasteries, and twenty-six nunneries, of their rule.</p>
+<p>The founder of the church was Roger Bigod, earl of Norfolk;
+and it would appear that the choir was finished and consecrated
+before the rest of the building was complete, a circumstance not
+unusual at that time.&nbsp; The consecration took place in 1268;
+and in the body of the church the architecture is of a style long
+subsequent.&nbsp; The remains of the church are now the only
+interesting parts of the ruin, at least as a picture: and they
+are in fact what is called &ldquo;Tintern Abbey;&rdquo; although
+there are still fragments remaining here and there of the other
+parts of the pile.&nbsp; The church was built in the regular
+cathedral <a name="page160"></a><span class="pagenum">p.
+160</span>form; with a nave, north and south aisles, transept and
+choir, and a tower which stood in the centre.</p>
+<p>Complete as the demolition is, there are at least vestiges,
+even in the most ruinous parts, which explain the original form,
+and even most of the details of the edifice.&nbsp; The very
+effects of time, as may be well supposed, are here among the
+principal advantages.&nbsp; The broken outlines, the isolated
+columns, the roofless walls, are all adjuncts of the picturesque;
+but added to these, there are the curtains, the canopies, the
+chaplets, coronals, festoons, of ivy, mosses and lichens, which
+give as much effect to a ruin, as rich draperies do to naked
+walls.</p>
+<p style="text-align: center">
+<a href="images/p160b.jpg">
+<img alt=
+"Tintern Abbey"
+title=
+"Tintern Abbey"
+src="images/p160s.jpg" />
+</a></p>
+<p>The tiles which formed the flooring have been removed; and a
+carpet of smooth turf laid down, on which fragments of columns,
+monuments, statues, and sculptures are scattered.&nbsp; This of
+course is not entirely the doing of time; but art is not
+displayed obtrusively enough to offend.&nbsp; A ruined edifice,
+it should be observed, although this is frequently forgotten by
+critics, is a work of man and nature <i>conjointly</i>; and the
+traces, therefore, of taste or ingenuity are not to be <a
+name="page161"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 161</span>condemned,
+as if these were exercised in shaping a cliff or amending a
+cataract.</p>
+<p>Gilpin describes Tintern Abbey as occupying &ldquo;a great
+eminence, in the middle of a circular valley;&rdquo; and another
+author declares its site, somewhat tautologically, to be a
+<i>flat plain</i>; to which some idle person has taken the
+liberty of appending this marginal note, in the copy of the work
+in the British Museum&mdash;&ldquo;Flat plain indeed!&nbsp; It is
+situated just at the brow of a richly wooded hill!&rdquo;&nbsp;
+The truth is, that the ruin itself is not to be entirely depended
+upon, as it contrives to assume a different appearance even in
+respect of position, at every turn.&nbsp; Viewed from a short
+distance down the river, it actually looks as if standing on an
+eminence; but on a nearer approach, we find it in reality not
+greatly elevated above line of the water.&nbsp; It is in fact
+built at the bottom of the valley, in a spot chosen apparently
+for solitude and meditation.&nbsp; The solitude, however, it must
+be confessed is not now so complete as one would wish.&nbsp; The
+inhabitants of the monastery, it is true, have vanished, but
+their places have been supplied by poor cottagers, who hide their
+misery in the very cells of the <a name="page162"></a><span
+class="pagenum">p. 162</span>monks; and, if this were not enough,
+fragments of the ruin have been broken up, or unearthed, for the
+construction of other hovels.&nbsp; In the following description
+will be found the opinions on this remarkable scene of archdeacon
+Coxe, who, together with the less correct, but more
+<i>artistical</i> Gilpin, have been hitherto the only recognised
+authorities of the Wye.</p>
+<blockquote><p>&ldquo;We disembarked about half a mile above the
+village of Tintern, and followed the sinuous course of the
+Wye.&nbsp; As we advanced to the village, we passed some
+picturesque ruins hanging over the edge of the water, which are
+supposed to have formed part of the abbot&rsquo;s villa, and
+other buildings occupied by the monks; some of these remains are
+converted into dwellings and cottages, others are interspersed
+among the iron founderies and habitations.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;The first appearance of the celebrated remains of the
+abbey church did not equal my expectations, as they are
+half-concealed by mean buildings, and the triangular shape of the
+gable ends has a formal appearance.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;After passing a miserable row of cottages, and forcing
+our way through a crowd of importunate <a
+name="page163"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 163</span>beggars, we
+stopped to examine the rich architecture of the west front; but
+the door being suddenly opened, the inside perspective of the
+church called forth an instantaneous burst of admiration, and
+filled me with delight, such as I scarcely ever before
+experienced on a similar occasion.&nbsp; The eye passes rapidly
+along a range of elegant gothic pillars, and, glancing under the
+sublime arches which supported the tower, fixes itself on the
+splendid relics of the eastern window, the grand termination of
+the choir.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;From the length of the nave, the height of the walls,
+the aspiring form of the pointed arches, and the size of the east
+window, which closes the perspective, the first impressions are
+those of grandeur and sublimity.&nbsp; But as these emotions
+subside, and we descend from the contemplation of the whole to
+the examination of the parts, we are no less struck with the
+regularity of the plan, the lightness of the architecture, and
+the delicacy of the ornaments; we feel that elegance is its
+characteristic no less than grandeur, and that the whole is a
+combination of the beautiful and the sublime.</p>
+<p><a name="page164"></a><span class="pagenum">p.
+164</span>&ldquo;The church was constructed in the shape of a
+cathedral, and is an excellent specimen of gothic architecture in
+its greatest purity.&nbsp; The roof is fallen in, and the whole
+ruin open to the sky, but the shell is entire; all the pillars
+are standing, except those which divided the nave from the
+northern aisle, and their situation is marked by the remains of
+the bases.&nbsp; The four lofty arches which supported the tower
+spring high in the air, reduced to narrow rims of stone, yet
+still preserving their original form.&nbsp; The arched pillars of
+the choir and transept are complete; the shapes of all the
+windows may be still discriminated, and the frame of the west
+window is in perfect preservation; the design of the tracery is
+extremely elegant, and when decorated with painted glass must
+have produced a fine effect.&nbsp; Critics who censure this
+window as too broad for its height, do not consider that it was
+not intended for a particular object, but to harmonise with the
+general plan; and had the architect diminished the breadth, in
+proportion to the height, the grand effect of the perspective
+would have been considerably lessened.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;The general form of the east window is <a
+name="page165"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 165</span>entire, but
+the frame is much dilapidated; it occupies the whole breadth of
+the choir, and is divided into two large and equal compartments,
+by a slender shaft, not less than fifty feet in height, which has
+an appearance of singular lightness, and in particular points of
+view seems suspended in the air.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Nature has added her ornaments to the decorations of
+art; some of the windows are wholly obscured, others partially
+shaded with tufts of ivy, or edged with lighter foliage; the
+tendrils creep along the walls, wind round the pillars, wreath
+the capitals, or, hanging down in clusters, obscure the space
+beneath.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Instead of dilapidated fragments overspread with weeds
+and choked with brambles, the floor is covered with a smooth
+turf, which, by keeping the original level of the church,
+exhibits the beauty of its proportions, heightens the effect of
+the gray stone, gives a relief to the clustered pillars, and
+affords an easy access to every part.&nbsp; Ornamented fragments
+of the roof, remains of cornices and columns, rich pieces of
+sculpture, sepulchral stones, and mutilated figures of monks and
+heroes, whose ashes repose within these <a
+name="page166"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 166</span>walls, are
+scattered on the green sward, and contrast present desolation
+with former splendour.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Although the exterior appearance of the ruins is not
+equal to the inside view, yet in some positions, particularly to
+the east, they present themselves with considerable effect.&nbsp;
+While Sir Richard Hoare was employed in sketching the
+north-western side, I crossed the ferry, and walked down the
+stream about half a mile.&nbsp; From this point, the ruins,
+assuming a new character, seem to occupy a gentle eminence, and
+impend over the river without the intervention of a single
+cottage to obstruct the view.&nbsp; The grand east window, wholly
+covered with shrubs, and half mantled with ivy, rises like the
+portal of a majestic edifice embowered in wood.&nbsp; Through
+this opening and along the vista of the church, the clusters of
+ivy, which twine round the pillars or hang suspended from the
+arches, resemble tufts of trees; while the thick mantle of
+foliage, seen through the tracery of the west window, forms a
+continuation of the perspective, and appears like an interminable
+forest.&rdquo;</p>
+</blockquote>
+<p>The reputation of Tintern Abbey depends <a
+name="page167"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 167</span>upon no
+historical associations.&nbsp; The romance of its situation is
+heightened by no romance of incident.&nbsp; It is simply a part
+of a picture, and might be entitled in the catalogue of a gallery
+&ldquo;an abbey.&rdquo;&nbsp; The sepulchral remains it holds
+retain neither name nor date; and one of the most entire of the
+figures (supposed to be the effigies of the founder of the
+monastery, which, however, must be looked for at Gloucester,
+where according to Leland he was buried) is disputed the
+possession of the usual number of fingers on the right hand; one
+antiquary, hesitating between four and five, and another
+according to it, more generously, five fingers&mdash;and a
+thumb!&nbsp; In no part of the country has this means of
+prolonging fame been more constantly resorted to than in
+Monmouthshire; but unfortunately, owing to its geographical
+position as a frontier district, in no part of the country has
+the object been more frequently defeated.&nbsp; As a solitary
+instance of this among thousands, we are tempted to quote a
+fragment which just now catches our eye, from the rhymes of
+<i>Churchyarde</i> (a most suitable name), and the rather that it
+exhibits the poet of the &ldquo;Worthines of <a
+name="page168"></a><span class="pagenum">p.
+168</span>Wales&rdquo; in a more poetical light than usual.&nbsp;
+He is describing the tombs in the church of Abergavenny; and
+after noting the arms and other particulars, proceeds&mdash;</p>
+<blockquote><p>&ldquo;But note a greater matter now,<br />
+Upon his tomb in stone,<br />
+Were fourteene lords that knees did bow<br />
+Unto this lord alone.<br />
+Of this rare work a porch is made,<br />
+The barrons there remaine<br />
+In good old stone, and auncient trade,<br />
+To show all ages plaine,<br />
+What honour wass to Hastings due,<br />
+What honour he did win:<br />
+What armes he gave, and so to blaze<br />
+What lord had Hastings bin.&rdquo;</p>
+</blockquote>
+<p>But alas for the frailty of fame even so secured!&nbsp; The
+dilapidated monument laughed in the unconscious rhymer&rsquo;s
+face through the rents of time; the principal effigies had been
+removed to a window, and several of the &ldquo;fourteene
+lords&rdquo; placed in a porch; and the very name of him whose
+memory the whole had been intended to perpetuate, had become a
+matter of doubt and controversy!&nbsp; &ldquo;Some say this great
+lord was <a name="page169"></a><span class="pagenum">p.
+169</span>called Bruce and not Hastings, but most do hold opinion
+he was called Hastings!&rdquo;</p>
+<p>It may seem almost superfluous to give any further evidence
+respecting the picturesque character of Tintern Abbey; but as we
+design this volume not merely to act the part of a sign-post, but
+to save the common reader the trouble of reference, we shall add
+two other quotations.</p>
+<blockquote><p>&ldquo;It would be difficult to imagine a more
+favourable situation, or a more sublime ruin.&nbsp; The entrance
+to it seems as if contrived by the hand of some skilful
+scene-painter to produce the most striking effect.&nbsp; The
+church, which is large, is still almost perfect; the roof alone,
+and a few of the pillars, are wanting.&nbsp; The ruins have
+received just that degree of care which is consistent with the
+full preservation of their character; all unpicturesque rubbish
+which could obstruct the view is removed, without any attempt at
+repair or embellishment.&nbsp; A beautiful smooth turf covers the
+ground, and luxuriant creeping plants grow amid the stones.&nbsp;
+The fallen ornaments are laid in picturesque confusion, and a
+perfect avenue of thick ivy-stems climb up the pillars, and form
+a <a name="page170"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 170</span>roof
+over head.&nbsp; The better to secure the ruin, a new gate of
+antique workmanship, with iron ornaments, is put up.&nbsp; When
+this is suddenly opened, the effect is most striking and
+surprising.&nbsp; You suddenly look down the avenue of ivy-clad
+pillars, and see their grand perspective lines closed, at a
+distance of three hundred feet, by a magnificent window eighty
+feet high and thirty broad: through its intricate and beautiful
+tracery you see a wooded mountain, from whose side project abrupt
+masses of rock.&nbsp; Over head the wind plays in the garlands of
+ivy, and the clouds pass swiftly across the deep blue sky.&nbsp;
+When you reach the centre of the church, whence you look to the
+four extremities of its cross, you see the two transept windows
+nearly as large and beautiful as the principal one; through each
+you command a picture totally different, but each in the wild and
+sublime style which harmonises so perfectly with the
+building.&nbsp; Immediately round the ruin is a luxuriant
+orchard.&nbsp; In spring, how exquisite must be the effect of
+these grey venerable walls rising out of that sea of fragrance
+and beauty!&rdquo;</p>
+</blockquote>
+<p>The other extract belongs to the class sentimental, <a
+name="page171"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 171</span>and is not
+a description of Tintern Abbey, but of the mood of mind to which
+it disposes.</p>
+<blockquote><p>&ldquo;The great tree, or vegetable rock, or
+emperor of the oaks (if you please), before which I bowed with a
+sort of reverence in the fields of Tintern, and which for so many
+ages has borne all the blasts and bolts of heaven, I should deem
+it a gratification of a superior kind, to approach again with
+&lsquo;unsandaled feet&rsquo; to pay the same homage, and to
+kindle with the same devotion.&nbsp; But I should find amidst the
+magnificent ruins of the adjoining abbey, something of a sublime
+cast, to give poignancy to my feelings.&nbsp; I must be
+alone.&nbsp; My mind must be calm and pensive.&nbsp; It must be
+midnight.&nbsp; The moon, half veiled in clouds, must be just
+emerging from behind the neighbouring hills.&nbsp; All must be
+silent, except the winds gently rushing among the ivy of the
+ruins.&nbsp; I should then invoke the ghosts of the abbey; and
+fancy, with one stroke of her magic wand, would rouse them from
+their dusty beds, and lead them into the centre of the
+ruin.&nbsp; I should approach their shadowy existences with
+reverence, make inquiries respecting the manners and customs, and
+genius and fate of antiquity, <a name="page172"></a><span
+class="pagenum">p. 172</span>desire to have a glimpse of the
+destiny of future ages, and enter in conversations which would be
+too sacred, and even dangerous to communicate.&rdquo;</p>
+</blockquote>
+<p>The only event unconnected with the monastery which is
+assigned to this locality is a <i>battle</i>.&nbsp; Whether it
+was fought on the hills above, or whether the demon of war
+actually intruded within the charmed circle of Tintern&mdash;or
+whether the whole is a fable, invented for the express purpose of
+desecrating the very idea of the place&mdash;we cannot
+tell.&nbsp; But however this may be, the fact, or the falsehood,
+is commemorated in the following epitaph, which is placed on the
+north side of the chancel of the church of Mathern.</p>
+<blockquote><p>Here lyeth entombed the body of<br />
+Frederic, King of Morganoch or<br />
+Glamorgan, commonly called<br />
+St. Thewdrick, and accounted a martyr,<br />
+because he was slain in a battle against<br />
+the Saxons, being then Pagans, and in<br />
+defence of the Christian religion.&nbsp; The<br />
+battle was fought at Tintern, when he<br />
+obtained a great victory.&nbsp; He died here<br />
+being in his way homeward, three<br />
+<a name="page173"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 173</span>days
+after the battle, having taken<br />
+order with Maurice his son, who suc-<br />
+ceeded him in the kingdom, that in the<br />
+same place he should happen to decease, a<br />
+church should be built, and his body buri-<br />
+ed in y<sup>e</sup> same, which was accordingly performed<br />
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; in the year
+1601.</p>
+</blockquote>
+<h2><a name="page174"></a><span class="pagenum">p.
+174</span>CHAPTER XII.</h2>
+<p class="gutsumm">The Wye below Tintern&mdash;Banagor
+Crags&mdash;Lancaut&mdash;Piercefield
+Bay&mdash;Chepstow&mdash;Ancient and modern bridge&mdash;Chepstow
+Castle&mdash;Roger de Britolio&mdash;Romance of
+history&mdash;Chepstow in the civil wars&mdash;Marten the
+regicide.</p>
+<p>The Wye being now a tide river, time requires to be studied by
+the traveller who would see it in its beauty or grandeur.&nbsp;
+The shores must be hidden by the full stream, and the overhanging
+woods fling their shadow as before over the glancing
+waters.&nbsp; Some bargain for the moon, to silver the tree tops,
+and send her angel-visitings through the vistas of foliage.&nbsp;
+But the truth is, before reaching this point we have become the
+spoiled children of nature; we have grown fastidious in our
+admiration, and would criticise perfection itself.</p>
+<p><a name="page175"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 175</span>With
+the one drawback of the sludginess of the shores at ebb water,
+the Wye below Tintern is as worthy of our homage as ever.&nbsp;
+But it may be, that the romance of its rocks and woods impending
+over the current, and the deep stillness of the scene, broken
+only by the rippling sound of its flow, may harmonize <i>too</i>
+closely with the holy solitude we have left.&nbsp; Our sensations
+are uninterrupted; we carry with us the ruins and their
+associations; the mouldering abbey glides upon the stream before
+us; and the recesses of the rocks, and deep paths of the woods,
+are peopled with the spectres of the monastery.&nbsp; Thus we
+have no new impressions to mark our progress, and one of the
+finest parts of the river escapes almost without notice.</p>
+<p>There is notwithstanding much variety in this part of our
+course.&nbsp; The reaches are short; the banks steep, sometimes
+overhanging in naked precipices, sometimes waving with romantic
+woods; while numerous narrow promontories intercept the view, and
+cut the scene into separate pictures.&nbsp; Banagor Crags, on the
+left, form a stupendous wall of cliff, extending for a
+considerable distance, without presenting anything <a
+name="page176"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 176</span>in
+themselves to relieve the eye, except here and there some
+recesses or small shrubs, painting their interstices.&nbsp; But,
+as if aware of the disadvantage even of a sublime uniformity,
+nature has spread upon the opposite side a scene incomparable for
+richness and variety.&nbsp; A bright green sward, broken into
+narrow patches, swells upwards from the water&rsquo;s edge, till
+it is lost in acclivities mantled with woods; and rising from the
+ridge of these, a mass of perpendicular rock towers aloft to the
+height, as it is computed, of eight hundred feet, overhung with
+shaggy thickets.</p>
+<p>We now turn the peninsula of Lancaut, which comes sloping down
+from Tiddenham Chase, till it terminates in fertile meadows; and,
+on the right, rise from the water&rsquo;s edge, with a kind of
+fantastic majesty, the Piercefield cliffs, capped with
+magnificent woods.&nbsp; Twelve projecting masses of these rocks
+have received the names of the twelve apostles, and a thirteenth
+is called St. Peter&rsquo;s Thumb.&nbsp; While wondering where
+this will end, we sweep round another point, and find ourselves
+in Piercefield Bay.&nbsp; To the right a line of perpendicular
+cliffs is still seen, but <a name="page177"></a><span
+class="pagenum">p. 177</span>crowned instead of trees with an
+embattled fortress; which, for a moment, might seem to have been
+cut out of the rock.&nbsp; The view is closed by a range of red
+cliffs, with the magnificent iron bridge of Chepstow spanning the
+river.&nbsp; This is the last of the great views <i>on</i> the
+Wye; and if seen under favorable circumstances of time and tide,
+it is one of the finest.</p>
+<p style="text-align: center">
+<a href="images/p177b.jpg">
+<img alt=
+"Chepstow"
+title=
+"Chepstow"
+src="images/p177s.jpg" />
+</a></p>
+<p>Chepstow stands on the side of an acclivity, overlooked itself
+on all sides by loftier hills, so that from every part of the
+town a different view is obtained.&nbsp; Approaching it from the
+road which leads from the New Passage, this position, owing to
+the singularity of a part of the higher ground, gives the scene a
+very peculiar appearance.&nbsp; Nothing is seen but the red
+cliffs of the Wye, and the tall masts of the shipping rising
+among them; and it is not till close at hand that the houses
+appear, shelving down to the river.&nbsp; Archdeacon Coxe
+observes, that he has seldom visited any town whose picturesque
+situation surpassed that of Chepstow; and according to Mr.
+Wyndham, another traveller in this district, &ldquo;the beauties
+are so uncommonly excellent, that the most exact critic in
+landscape would scarcely <a name="page178"></a><span
+class="pagenum">p. 178</span>wish to alter a position in the
+assemblage of woods, cliffs, ruins, and water.&rdquo;&nbsp; Among
+these features, the Wye and its banks are conspicuous.&nbsp; The
+ridge of cliff on the left bank below the bridge is remarkable
+both for its form and variety of colouring; while, on the
+opposite bank above, the gigantic remains of the castle,
+stretching along the brink of the precipice, give an air of
+romance to the picture, not frequently found in one of the
+crowded haunts of men.</p>
+<p>The bridge is of cast iron, and was completed only in
+1816.&nbsp; There are five arches, resting on stone piers; but
+although in reality a massive structure, it has the air of
+lightness, when viewed from the river, which iron bridges usually
+possess.&nbsp; The old bridge was formerly composed of a level
+floor, carried along wooden piers, except in the centre, where a
+massive pillar of stone, dividing Gloucester and Monmouth, was
+the support.&nbsp; Afterwards, however, stone piers were
+substituted for those on the Monmouth side, before the two
+counties joined in the erection of the present noble
+structure.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;According to tradition,&rdquo; says Mr. Coxe,
+&ldquo;the bridge of the Wye was formerly half a <a
+name="page179"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 179</span>mile above
+the present bridge, at a place called Eddis, nearly opposite to
+the alcove in Piercefield grounds, and seemingly in a direction
+leading towards an ancient encampment which encircles the
+grotto.&nbsp; The remains of the abutments are said to have been
+visible in the memory of some of the present generation; and the
+vestiges of a pitched road were recently found in digging near
+the spot.&nbsp; I walked to the spot, but could not discern the
+smallest traces of the ancient bridge, and the ground on which
+the pitched road was discovered was planted with potatoes.&nbsp;
+I was, however, amply gratified for my disappointment by the
+pleasantness of the walk by the side of the river, the beauty of
+the hanging woods of Piercefield, and the picturesque appearance
+of the castle.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>The castle of Chepstow is said by some antiquaries, to have
+been built originally by Julius C&aelig;sar; which is denied by
+others, on the reasonable grounds, that Julius C&aelig;sar never
+was there, and that Roman reliques, although abundant in the
+neighbourhood, have never been discovered in the town.&nbsp;
+However this may be, the name by which it is at present known, is
+Saxon, <a name="page180"></a><span class="pagenum">p.
+180</span>and denotes a place of traffic; and Leland traces at
+least its prosperity to its situation being favourable for
+commerce.&nbsp; &ldquo;The towne of Chepstowe,&rdquo; says he,
+&ldquo;hath been very strongly walled, as yet well doth
+appere.&nbsp; The walles began at the grete bridge, over the Wy,
+and so came to the castel; the which yet standeth fayer and
+strong, not far from the ruin of the bridge.&nbsp; A grete
+lykelyhood ys, that when Carguen began to decay, then began
+Chepstow to flourish, for yt standeth far better, as upon Wy
+there ebbing and flowing, by the Rage coming out of the Severn,
+so that to Chepstowe may come grete shippes.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>The castle, as we have said, crowns the brow of a precipice,
+forming here the right bank of the Wye; and its walls, on the
+northern side, are so close to the edge as to seem nothing more
+than a prolongation of the rock.&nbsp; The rest of the fortress
+was defended by a moat and its own lofty towers.</p>
+<p>The area was divided into four courts.&nbsp; The first, which
+is entered by a Norman gateway, contained the grand hall, the
+kitchen, and other apartments, on a scale of considerable
+grandeur.&nbsp; <a name="page181"></a><span class="pagenum">p.
+181</span>At the south-eastern angle of this court is the keep,
+or citadel, now called Harry Marten&rsquo;s Tower.&nbsp; The
+second court contains no architectural remains, except the walls;
+but in the third is a remarkable building, usually designated as
+the chapel.&nbsp; It seems to have formed one magnificent
+apartment, probably with a gallery running along the sides.&nbsp;
+The fourth court was separated from the rest by a moat, which was
+crossed by a drawbridge.&nbsp; Whether a former building stood
+here or not, William Fitzosborn, earl of Hereford, is said in
+Domesday Book to have built the castle of Chepstow.&nbsp; It was
+inherited by his third son Roger de Britolio, who was deprived of
+his estates, and condemned to perpetual imprisonment for
+rebellion.&nbsp; The fierce character of this Norman baron is
+well illustrated in the following anecdote preserved by
+Dugdale.</p>
+<blockquote><p>&ldquo;Though he frequently used many scornful and
+contumelious expressions towards the king, yet he was pleased, at
+the celebration of the feast of Easter in a solemn manner (as was
+then used), to send to this earl Rodger, at that time in prison,
+his royal robes, who so disdained the <a name="page182"></a><span
+class="pagenum">p. 182</span>favour, that he forthwith caused a
+great fire to be made, and the mantle, the inner surcoat of silk,
+and the upper garment, lined with precious furs, to be suddenly
+burnt.&nbsp; Which being made known to the king, he became not a
+little displeased, and said, &lsquo;<i>Certainly he is a very
+proud man who has thus abused me</i>; <i>but</i>, <i>by the
+brightness of God</i>, <i>he shall never come out of prison as
+long as I live</i>.&rsquo;&nbsp; Which expression was fulfilled
+to the utmost, for he never was released during the king&rsquo;s
+life, nor after, but died in prison.&rdquo;</p>
+</blockquote>
+<p>In the reign of Henry I., we find Chepstow in the possession
+of the Clare family; of whom Richard de Clare, surnamed, like his
+father, Strongbow, is famous for his Irish adventures.&nbsp;
+&lsquo;At the solicitation of Dermot Macnagh, king of Leinster,
+who had been dethroned by his rival Roderic the Great, king of
+Connaught (for there were then five kings in Ireland), he
+proceeded to that country with twelve hundred men, to espouse the
+cause of the unfortunate potentate: being offered, in the spirit
+of the age, his daughter for a wife, and his kingdom for an
+inheritance.&nbsp; Strongbow landed at Waterford in 1171; <a
+name="page183"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 183</span>married the
+princess; and his father-in-law dying at the very moment demanded
+by poetical justice, conquered his promised kingdom, and took
+possession of Dublin the capital.&nbsp; The romance, however, was
+spoiled by Henry II., who, in high dudgeon at this presumption of
+a subject, confiscated his estates, and carried an army over to
+Ireland, with the purpose of annexing Leinster to the English
+crown.&nbsp; Strongbow submitted; abandoned Waterford and Dublin
+to his feudal master; was restored to his estates, and made
+constable of Ireland.&nbsp; His character is thus described by
+Giraldus Cambrensis:</p>
+<blockquote><p>&ldquo;This earle was somewhat ruddie and of
+sanguine complexion and freckle face, his eyes greie, his face
+feminine, his voice small, and his necke little, but somewhat of
+high stature: he was verie liberall, corteous, and gentle; what
+he could not compass or bring to passe in deed, he would win by
+good word and gentle speeches.&nbsp; In time of peace he was more
+redie to yield and obeie than rule and beare swaie.&nbsp; Out of
+the campe he was more like to a souldier companion than a
+captaine or ruler; but in the camp and in the warres he carried
+with him the state and <a name="page184"></a><span
+class="pagenum">p. 184</span>countenance of a valiante
+captaine.&nbsp; Of himselfe he would not adventure anie thing;
+but being advised and set on, he refused no attempts; but for
+himselfe he would not rashlie adventure or presumptuouslie take
+anie thing in hand.&nbsp; In the fighte and battell he was a most
+assured token and signe to the whole companie, either to stand
+valiante to the fight, or for policie to retire.&nbsp; In all
+chances of warre he was still one and the same manner of man,
+being neither dismaied with adversitie, or puffed up with
+prosperitie.&rdquo;</p>
+</blockquote>
+<p>By the marriage of a daughter of Richard Strongbow (who had no
+male issue) our castle next came into the hands of one of the
+greatest men of his time, William, marshal of England, lord
+protector of the kingdom; and by the marriage of his daughter
+(for although he had five sons they all died without issue), it
+fell to Hugh Bigod, earl of Norfolk.&nbsp; This daughter was
+Maud, remarkable for having been in her widowhood created
+<i>marshal</i> in virtue of her descent, the king himself, Henry
+III., solemnly giving the truncheon into her hands.&nbsp; She was
+buried in Tintern Abbey in 1248, her body being carried into the
+choir by her four sons.</p>
+<p><a name="page185"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 185</span>After
+changing hands several times, Chepstow Castle appears to have
+been <i>sold</i> to the earl of Pembroke; whose heiress Elizabeth
+conveyed it by marriage, as we have already had occasion to
+relate, to Sir Charles Somerset, afterwards earl of
+Worcester.&nbsp; Churchyarde mentions the fact of the sale in his
+uncouth rhymes.</p>
+<blockquote><p>&ldquo;To Chepstowe yet, my pen agayne must
+passe,<br />
+When Strongbow once (an earl of rare renown),<br />
+A long time since, the lord and maister was<br />
+(In princly sort) of casle and of towne.<br />
+Then after that, to Mowbray it befell,<br />
+Of Norfolke duke, a worthie known full well;<br />
+Who sold the same to William Harbert, knight,<br />
+That was the earle of Pembroke then by right.&rdquo;</p>
+</blockquote>
+<p>During the civil wars, this place was considered of great
+importance.</p>
+<blockquote><p>&ldquo;At first, Chepstow was garrisoned for the
+king, until in 1645, Colonel Morgan, governor of Gloucester, at
+the head of three hundred horse and four hundred foot, and
+assisted by the mountaineers, with little difficulty made himself
+master of the town, and in a few days compelled the governor,
+Colonel Fitzmorris, to surrender <a name="page186"></a><span
+class="pagenum">p. 186</span>the castle.&nbsp; But the castle was
+afterwards surprised by the loyalists, under Sir Nicholas Hemeys,
+who, in the absence of the governor, by means of a secret
+correspondence, obtained possession of the western gate, and made
+the garrison prisoners of war.&nbsp; On this event Cromwell
+marched against it in person, took possession of the town, but
+assailed the castle without success, though garrisoned only by a
+hundred and sixty men.&nbsp; He then left Colonel Ewer, with a
+train of artillery, seven companies of foot, and four troops of
+horse, to prosecute the siege.&nbsp; But the garrison defended
+themselves valiantly, until the provisions were exhausted, and
+even then refused to surrender under promise of quarter, hoping
+to escape by means of a boat, which they had provided for that
+purpose.&nbsp; A soldier of the parliamentary army, however, swam
+across the river, with a knife between his teeth, cut the cable
+of the boat, and brought it away; the castle was at length
+forced, and Sir Nicholas Hemys and forty slain in the
+assault.&nbsp; This event was considered by the parliament so
+important, that the captain who brought the news was rewarded
+with fifty pounds, and a letter of thanks was sent <a
+name="page187"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 187</span>to Colonel
+Ewer and the officers and soldiers engaged in that
+service.&rdquo;</p>
+</blockquote>
+<p>In 1645, the castle, with the other estates belonging to the
+marquis of Worcester, were settled upon Oliver Cromwell, but were
+given back to the family at the restoration.</p>
+<blockquote><p>&ldquo;For thirty years secluded from mankind,<br
+/>
+Here Marten lingered.&nbsp; Often have these walls<br />
+Echoed his footsteps, as with even tread<br />
+He paced around his prison.&nbsp; Not to him<br />
+Did nature&rsquo;s fair varieties exist:<br />
+He never saw the sun&rsquo;s delightful beams,<br />
+Save when thro&rsquo; yon high bars he pour&rsquo;d a sad<br />
+And broken splendor.&rdquo;</p>
+</blockquote>
+<p>All this, it now appears, is a poetical exaggeration, and the
+thirty years&rsquo; captivity (diminished to twenty years) passed
+away as easily as the sense of captivity would permit.&nbsp; The
+regicide was permitted to spend his property as he pleased, to
+enjoy the association of his wife, to receive visits, and even to
+return them in the neighbourhood, accompanied by a guard.</p>
+<p>Marten was one of the most zealous of those men who cast down
+the statue of royalty from a <a name="page188"></a><span
+class="pagenum">p. 188</span>pedestal, upon which, although
+re-erected, it can never again stand securely of its own strength
+unsupported by public opinion.&nbsp; He does not appear to have
+been himself of irreproachable character, but he was honest at
+least in theory, and true to his principles, such as they
+were.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;Being authorised,&rdquo; says Anthony Wood, &ldquo;by
+parliament, about 1642, he forced open a great iron chest, within
+the college of Westminster, and thence took the crown, robes,
+sword, and sceptre belonging anciently to king Edward the
+Confessor, and used by all our kings at their inaugurations; and
+with a scorn greater than his lusts and the rest of his vices, he
+openly declared that there should be no farther use of those toys
+and trifles, and in the jolity of that humour he invested George
+Wither (an old puritan satyrist) in the royal habiliments; who
+being crowned and royally arrayed (as well right became him) did
+first march about the room, with a stately garb, and afterwards
+with a thousand apish and ridiculous actions exposed those sacred
+ornaments to contempt and laughter.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>Marten was a member of the high court of justice, regularly
+attended the trial, was present <a name="page189"></a><span
+class="pagenum">p. 189</span>when sentence was pronounced, and
+signed the warrant of death.&nbsp; It is added, that when
+Cromwell took up the pen to sign, he spattered some ink upon
+Marten; and Marten, when his turn came, returned the
+frolic!&nbsp; The two friends, however, were enemies at
+last.&nbsp; Cromwell would have made himself king if he had been
+able, but Marten said, &ldquo;If they must have a king, he had
+rather have had the last than any gentleman in England; he found
+no fault in his person, but in his office.&rdquo;&nbsp; When the
+regicides who surrendered to the king&rsquo;s proclamation were
+condemned, they claimed mercy on the score of having given
+themselves up in order to save their lives; and Marten, always
+forward and fearless, added, &ldquo;that he had never obeyed any
+proclamation before this, and hoped that he should not be hanged
+for taking the king&rsquo;s word now.&rdquo;&nbsp; He was at
+length condemned to perpetual imprisonment, but both in the Tower
+and in Chepstow Castle he was treated with great lenity.&nbsp; He
+died of apoplexy in the twentieth year of his confinement, and
+seventy-eighth of his age.&nbsp; He was buried in the chancel of
+the parish church at Chepstow, and a stone, with an inscription
+<a name="page190"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 190</span>written
+by himself placed over his body.&nbsp; This was removed, however,
+to another part of the church, by the pious loyalty of a
+succeeding vicar; but the stone being defaced, a new one was
+substituted, by order of the churchwardens, in 1812, with the
+original epitaph.</p>
+
+<blockquote><p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Here,<br
+/>
+September the 9, in the year of our Lord 1680,<br />
+Was buried a true Englishman,<br />
+Who in Berkshire was well known<br />
+To love his country&rsquo;s freedom &rsquo;bove his own,<br />
+But living immured full twenty year,<br />
+Had time to write, as does appear,</p>
+<p style="text-align: center">HIS EPITAPH.</p>
+<p>H ere, or elsewhere (all&rsquo;s one to you, to me),<br />
+E arth, air, or water, gripes my ghostly dust;<br />
+N o one knows how soon to be by fire set free.<br />
+R eader, if you an oft-tried rule will trust,<br />
+Y ou will gladly do and suffer what you must.</p>
+<p>M y life was spent in serving you,<br />
+A nd death&rsquo;s my pay (it seems), and welcome too;<br />
+R evenge destroying but itself, while I<br />
+T o birds of prey leave my old cage and fly.<br />
+E xamples preach to th&rsquo; eye, care then (mine says)<br />
+N ot how you end, but how you spend your days.</p>
+</blockquote>
+<p><a name="page191"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 191</span>The
+church was part of the chapel of a priory of Benedictine monks,
+founded here soon after the Conquest; and is interesting from its
+architecture, being for the greater part in the early Norman
+style, but with ornamented gothic windows&mdash;and a tower
+adorned by the taste of the present age with Greek pilasters!</p>
+<h2><a name="page192"></a><span class="pagenum">p.
+192</span>CHAPTER XIII.</h2>
+<p class="gutsumm">Piercefield&mdash;Points of view&mdash;Curious
+appearance&mdash;Scenic character of the place&mdash;View from
+Wyndcliff&mdash;Account of Valentine
+Morris&mdash;Anecdotes&mdash;The Wye below Chepstow&mdash;Aust
+Ferry&mdash;Black Rock Ferry&mdash;St.
+Theodric&mdash;Conclusion.</p>
+<p>The romantic region of Piercefield, extending from Chepstow to
+Wyndcliff&mdash;a distance of about three miles by the sinuous
+walk, is one of the grand attractions of this place.&nbsp; It is
+nothing more, it is true, than a gentleman&rsquo;s park; but then
+the landscape gardener by whom this park was laid out is Nature
+herself, who has lavished here her beauty, her grandeur, and her
+romance, in the wildest profusion.&nbsp; Art is entirely
+subservient to her purposes, opening the view where it was shut
+in, and forming paths for the pilgrim foot that would approach to
+worship.</p>
+<p><a name="page193"></a><span class="pagenum">p.
+193</span>&ldquo;In the composition of the scenery,&rdquo; says
+the historical tourist, &ldquo;the meandering Wye, the steep
+cliffs, and the fertile peninsula of Lancaut, form the striking
+characteristics.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;The Wye, which is everywhere seen from a great
+elevation, passes between Wyndcliff and the Bangor rocks, winds
+round the peninsula of Lancaut, under a semicircular chain of
+stupendous cliffs, is lost in its sinuous course, and again
+appears in a straight line at the foot of the Lancaut rocks, and
+flows under the majestic ruins of Chepstow Castle towards the
+Severn.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;The rocks are broken into a variety of fantastic
+shapes, and scattered at different heights and different
+positions: they start abruptly from the river, swell into gentle
+acclivities, or hang on the summits of the hills; here they form
+a perpendicular rampart, these jet into enormous projections, and
+impend over the water.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;But their dizzy heights and abrupt precipices are
+softened by the woods which form a no less conspicuous feature in
+the romantic scenery; they are not meagre plantations placed by
+art, but a tract of forests scattered by the hand of
+nature.&nbsp; In one place they expand into open groves <a
+name="page194"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 194</span>of large
+oak, elm, and beech; in another form a shade of timber trees,
+copses, and underwood, hiding all external objects, and wholly
+impervious to the rays of the sun, they start from the crevices
+of the rocks, feather their edges, crown their summits, clothe
+their sides, and fill the intermediate hollows with a luxuriant
+mass of foliage, bring to recollection of the border</p>
+<blockquote><p>&ldquo;&lsquo;Of Eden, where delicious
+paradise,<br />
+Now nearer, crowns with her enclosure green,<br />
+As with a rural mound, the champaign head<br />
+Of a steep wilderness, whose hairy sides,<br />
+With thicket o&rsquo;ergrown, grotesque and wild,<br />
+Access denied, and over head up grew<br />
+Insuperable height of loftiest shade,</p>
+<p style="text-align: center">* * * * * *</p>
+<p>A sylvan scene and as the banks ascend<br />
+Shade above shade, a woody theatre<br />
+Of stateliest view.&rsquo;&rdquo;</p>
+</blockquote>
+<p>And this grandeur is heightened, not diminished, by the view
+presented in the midst of fertile fields, and the simple details
+of rural occupation.&nbsp; The peninsula of Laucaut, on the
+opposite bank of the Wye, is a comparatively extensive farm,
+cultivated to the highest perfection, <a name="page195"></a><span
+class="pagenum">p. 195</span>and rich with the gifts of
+Ceres.&nbsp; It is dotted with trees, and a range of elms fringes
+it on the side of the river.&nbsp; Towards the middle of its
+pear-shaped area, or rather approaching the isthmus, stands the
+farm house, with rocks and woods behind.&nbsp; The principal
+points of view are the following:</p>
+<p>1. The Lover&rsquo;s Leap.&nbsp; 2. A seat near two beeches on
+the edge of the precipice.&nbsp; 3. The Giant&rsquo;s Cave, which
+occupies the centre of the amphitheatre and overlooks Lancaut
+peninsula.&nbsp; 4. The halfway seat under a large beech
+tree.&nbsp; 5. The double view.&nbsp; 6. Above Piercewood.&nbsp;
+7. The grotto.&nbsp; 8. The platform.&nbsp; 9. The alcove.</p>
+<p>But other portions of the grounds not so frequently visited
+are noticed by an observant traveller.&nbsp; &ldquo;From the
+Giant&rsquo;s cave, a road winds beautifully along the brow of
+the cliff to a grove of lofty oak, beech, and sycamore, which is
+cleared from underwood, in the centre of the extensive forest
+which spreads beneath the Lover&rsquo;s Leap.&nbsp; In this
+charming and sequestered spot is a cold bath supplied by a
+copious and transparent rill, which springs at the foot of the
+winding cliff, and ripples down the side of the declivity.&nbsp;
+The road <a name="page196"></a><span class="pagenum">p.
+196</span>then descends to Malridge meadow, on the bank of the
+Wye, where the river appears like a lake, and the fertile
+peninsula of Lancaut rises in a gentle declivity from the margin
+of the stream to the isthmus.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;A beautiful walk, two miles in length, skirts this
+meadow, at the foot of the stupendous range of Piercefield
+cliffs, and then mounts to the house by steps, cut in a steep
+rock.&nbsp; As the house stands several hundred feet above the
+river, the ascent is long and difficult, but the toil is amply
+repaid by the beauty and sublimity of the scene.&rdquo;</p>
+<p>From some of these points, it may be observed, the Severn,
+seen <i>beyond</i> the Wye, appears to be considerably
+<i>above</i> it; and, however easily explained the phenomenon may
+be, an indescribably puzzling effect is produced by the idea that
+the latter river, a few miles lower down, runs into the
+former.&nbsp; The fact is noticed by Mr. Coxe, whose description
+is truly excellent.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;From the Lover&rsquo;s Leap the walk is carried through
+a thick mantle of forests, with occasional openings, which seem
+not the result of art or design, but the effect of chance or
+nature, and <a name="page197"></a><span class="pagenum">p.
+197</span>seats placed where the spectator may repose and view at
+leisure the scenery above, beneath, and around.&nbsp; This</p>
+
+<blockquote><p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Bowery
+walk<br />
+Of covert close, where scarce a speck of day<br />
+Falls on the lengthened gloom,</p>
+</blockquote>
+<p>is conformant to the genius of Piercefield; the screen of wood
+prevents the uniformity of a bird&rsquo;s eye view, and the
+imperceptible bend of the amphitheatre conveys the spectator from
+one part of the fairy region to the other without perceiving the
+gradation.&nbsp; Hence the Wye is sometimes concealed or
+half-obscured by overhanging foliage, at others, wholly expanding
+to view, is seen sweeping beneath in a broad and circuitous
+channel; hence in one place the Severn spreads in the midst of a
+boundless expanse of country, and on the opposite side to the
+Wye; at another both rivers appear on the same side, and the
+Severn seems supported on the summit of the cliffs which form the
+bank of the Wye.&nbsp; Hence the same objects present themselves
+in different aspects, with varied accompaniments; hence the magic
+transition from the impervious gloom of the <a
+name="page198"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 198</span>forest to
+open groves; from meadows and lawns, to rocks and precipices, and
+from the beauties of English landscape, to the wildness of Alpine
+scenery.</p>
+<p style="text-align: center">
+<a href="images/p198b.jpg">
+<img alt=
+"View from Wyndcliff"
+title=
+"View from Wyndcliff"
+src="images/p198s.jpg" />
+</a></p>
+<p>&ldquo;The summit of Wind Cliff, which towers above the
+northern extremity of the grounds, commands, in one point of
+view, the whole extent of this interesting scenery: as I stood on
+the brow of this precipice, I looked down on the fertile
+peninsula of Lancaut, surrounded with rocks and forests,
+contemplated the hanging wood, rich lawns, and romantic cliffs of
+Piercefield, the castle and town of Chepstow, and traced the Wye,
+sweeping in the true outline of beauty, from the Bangor crags to
+its junction with the Severn, which spreads into an estuary, and
+is lost in the distant ocean.</p>
+<p>&ldquo;A boundless extent of country is seen in every
+direction from this commanding eminence, comprehending not less
+than nine counties.&nbsp; In the midst of this expanse, I
+principally directed my attention to the subject of my tour,
+which now drew to a conclusion.&nbsp; I traced, with pleasing
+satisfaction, not unmixed with regret, the luxuriant vallies and
+romantic hills of this interesting <a name="page199"></a><span
+class="pagenum">p. 199</span>country, which I had traversed in
+various directions, but I dwelt with peculiar admiration on the
+majestic rampart which forms its boundary to the west, and
+extends in one grand and unbroken outline, from the banks of the
+Severn to the Black Mountains,</p>
+
+<blockquote><p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&ldquo;&lsquo;Where
+the broken landscape, by degrees<br />
+Ascending, roughens into rigid hills;<br />
+O&rsquo;er which the Cambrian mountains, like far clouds<br />
+That skirt the blue horizon, dusky rise.&rsquo;&rdquo;</p>
+</blockquote>
+<p>Till Piercefield was inherited by Valentine Morris, whose
+father had obtained it by purchase, the capabilities of the place
+were unknown, principally, we should think, from the view being
+hidden by a deep veil of forest.&nbsp; Morris saw everything,
+however, with the eye of taste; and without officiously
+intermeddling with nature, he contrived, by merely displaying the
+treasures that before were concealed, and by opening out paths
+through the woods to enable visiters to enjoy them, to render
+Piercefield the fairy-land it now appears.&nbsp; He seems to have
+been a man of a princely mind, but a thoughtless, unreflecting
+disposition.&nbsp; His beautiful property <a
+name="page200"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 200</span>was nothing
+to him without admirers; and he was so grateful for admiration,
+that he caused his servants to wait upon and feast, gratuitously,
+even the vagrant stranger, as soon as his foot had entered the
+magic circle.&nbsp; It is hardly necessary to add, therefore,
+that by the time the beauties of Piercefield had become
+extensively known, their master was ruined.&nbsp; Various other
+circumstances, however, concurred to dissipate a large fortune,
+and at length he retired to the West Indies, where he had
+inherited considerable property.&nbsp; The following anecdote is
+told of his adieu to Piercefield:&mdash;</p>
+<blockquote><p>&ldquo;Before his final departure from England, he
+indulged himself with bidding adieu to Piercefield.&nbsp; In
+company with a friend he surveyed his own creation, for the last
+time, with apparent composure and manly resignation.&nbsp; On his
+return to Chepstow he was surrounded by the poor; who, throwing
+themselves on their knees, thanked him for the numerous instances
+of his bounty, and implored the blessing of Heaven on their
+generous benefactor.&nbsp; Even this affecting spectacle he bore
+with silent fortitude, and entered the chaise which conveyed him
+to London.&nbsp; <a name="page201"></a><span class="pagenum">p.
+201</span>But he no sooner reached the Gloucestershire side of
+the bridge, than his ear was struck with the mournful peal of
+bells, muffled, as is usual on the loss of departed friends;
+deeply affected with this mark of esteem and regret, he could no
+longer control his emotions, and burst into tears.&rdquo;</p>
+</blockquote>
+<p>He was made lieutenant-governor, and afterwards governor in
+chief, of St. Vincent&rsquo;s; where his affairs prospered so
+much that he had almost recovered his fortune, when the island
+was attacked by the French.&nbsp; With his usual nobility of
+spirit, he advanced large sums out of his private funds towards
+the defence, but all in vain: St. Vincent&rsquo;s was taken, and
+Morris Piercefield never could obtain from government either his
+outlay or arrears.&nbsp; He returned to England to seek redress;
+was arrested by his creditors, and himself a creditor of the
+country to a large extent, languished in a debtor&rsquo;s prison
+for seven years.&nbsp; His books, movables, trifles, everything
+were sold for bread; and his wife sunk under the horrors of their
+situation, and became insane.&nbsp; Morris at length recovered
+his liberty, and Lord North determined to shame his <a
+name="page202"></a><span class="pagenum">p.
+202</span>predecessors in the ministry, by performing an act of
+common honesty.&nbsp; A minister, however, is seldom honest from
+choice, because the outlay of money curtails his resources, and
+because the wilful withholding, even of a just debt, does not
+involve his character in society as a man of honour.&nbsp; Lord
+North accordingly delayed the restitution as long as he could;
+and poor Valentine Morris in 1789, was indebted to his
+brother-in-law for a bed on which to die.</p>
+<p>We cannot refrain from adding an anecdote relating to one of
+the family of Walters, to whom the estate of Piercefield formerly
+belonged.</p>
+<blockquote><p>&ldquo;Holding one day a conversation with Mr.
+Knowles, whom he employed in building the alcove, he made
+inquiries concerning the family of Walters, and asked if any of
+them were yet living.&nbsp; Knowles replied that William, the
+brother of John who sold the estate, was still alive and in great
+distress.&nbsp; &lsquo;Bring him to Piercefield,&rsquo; said
+Morris, &lsquo;and I will make him welcome.&rsquo;&nbsp;
+&lsquo;If you would give him your whole estate he could not walk,
+he is so much affected with the gout in his feet, and earns a
+precarious livelihood by fishing.&rsquo;&nbsp; &lsquo;If he then
+cannot come <a name="page203"></a><span class="pagenum">p.
+203</span>to me, I will take the first opportunity of calling on
+him.&rsquo;&nbsp; Being some time afterwards engaged with Knowles
+in forming an opening in the wood, he saw two men in a boat;
+&lsquo;Stay here,&rsquo; he said to Knowles, &lsquo;I will cross
+the river in that boat, and examine whether the objects I want to
+show can be seen from hence.&rsquo;&nbsp; Descending hastily he
+hailed the watermen, leaped into the boat, was ferried over, and
+on his return entered into conversation with the men, and
+inquired their names and condition.&nbsp; &lsquo;My name,&rsquo;
+said one of them, &lsquo;is * * * * *, I am a native of Chepstow;
+and that man, pointing to his companion, is William
+Walters.&rsquo;&nbsp; &lsquo;What, Walters of Piercefield!&rsquo;
+exclaimed Morris.&nbsp; &lsquo;Yes, please your honour, I am the
+brother of John, who sold the estate that you now
+enjoy.&rsquo;&nbsp; Morris made no reply; but giving a gratuity
+to each of the men, leaped on shore, rapidly ascended the hill,
+and rejoining Knowles, cried, &lsquo;I have been talking with
+Walters:&rsquo; taking out several guineas, he added,
+&lsquo;carry these to him, and tell him that he shall never want
+while it is in my power to assist him.&rsquo;&nbsp; Knowles
+suggested, that as the man was much addicted to liquor, he would
+render <a name="page204"></a><span class="pagenum">p.
+204</span>him more service by a weekly allowance.&nbsp; The next
+market-day one of Morris&rsquo;s servants carried to Walters a
+joint of meat, and a small sum of money, which was continued
+weekly until his death.&nbsp; Morris defrayed the expenses of his
+funeral, and his carriage conveyed the corpse to St. Arvans,
+where it was interred in the family vault.&rdquo; <a
+name="citation204"></a><a href="#footnote204"
+class="citation">[204]</a></p>
+</blockquote>
+<p>From Chepstow to the confluence of the Wye with the Severn,
+the distance is three miles; but although the banks are in
+general lofty, they possess no features of interest to the
+descending traveller.&nbsp; It may be sufficient merely to name
+the Red Rocks, the Hardwick Cliffs, and Thornwell Woods.&nbsp;
+After these St. Ewan&rsquo;s Rocks appear on the left bank; and
+we glide gradually into the wide expanse of the Severn.&nbsp; A
+prolongation, however, of the left bank continues for some time
+after we are fairly out of the Wye; the peninsula of Beachley,
+extending almost half way across the Severn.&nbsp; From this is
+the ferry of the Aust Passage, supposed to have been named after
+one of the Roman generals.&nbsp; A <a name="page205"></a><span
+class="pagenum">p. 205</span>steam-packet now plies instead of an
+open boat, and lands passengers at a handsome pier at all hours
+of the tide.</p>
+<p>On the Monmouthshire coast, a little way beyond the mouth of
+the Wye, is the Black Rock Inn of the New Passage ferry,
+supposed, notwithstanding its name, to be as ancient as the
+other.&nbsp; This ferry was suppressed by Oliver Cromwell, on
+account of a catastrophe which took place here of a very
+interesting description.&nbsp; When the king was pursued by his
+enemies, he crossed the Severn to Chiswell Pill on the opposite
+side; but when the boatmen returned to the Black Rock, they found
+a party of sixty armed republicans, waiting to follow the royal
+fugitive.&nbsp; The ferrymen were royalists, but there was no
+resisting commands enforced by so many drawn swords, and
+reluctantly they took the enemies of their prince on board, and
+pulled across the Severn.&nbsp; They landed their unwelcome
+freight upon the English Stones, which appeared to be a part of
+the shore, but was in reality separated by water, fordable only
+at low tide.&nbsp; The tide had just turned.&nbsp; Some moments,
+no doubt, were lost in dismay, and some in shouting <a
+name="page206"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 206</span>to the
+treacherous boatmen, who lay upon their oars to watch the
+event.&nbsp; The English Stones disappeared with a suddenness
+customary in the flow of that river; and the cries of sixty
+drowning men were lost in the rush of the wild waters of the
+Severn.</p>
+<p>Before the Black Rock Inn, and near the mouth of the Wye, is
+Mathern, formerly the episcopal residence of the bishops of
+Llandaff.&nbsp; The church close by is the one pointed to by
+tradition as having been raised over the ashes of Theodoric, the
+hermit-king, who desecrated the holy solitude of Tintern with the
+sounds of battle.</p>
+<blockquote><p>&ldquo;The manor of Matherne, where there is now a
+palace, was given to the bishops of Llandaff by Maurice, king of
+Glamorganshire, about the year 560, on the following
+occasion:&mdash;His father, St. Theodoric, as he is usually
+called, having resigned his crown to this son, embraced the life
+of a hermit.&nbsp; The Saxons invading the country, Theodoric was
+reluctantly called from his hermitage to take the command of the
+army; he defeated them near Tintern upon the Wye.&nbsp; Being
+mortally wounded in the engagement, he precipitated his return,
+that he might die among <a name="page207"></a><span
+class="pagenum">p. 207</span>his friends, and desired his son to
+erect a church, and bury him on the spot where he breathed his
+last: but scarcely had he proceeded five miles, when he expired
+at a place near the conflux of the Wye and Severn.&nbsp; Hence,
+according to his desire, a chapel being erected, his body was
+placed in a stone coffin.&nbsp; As I was giving orders to repair
+this coffin, which was either broken by chance or decayed by age,
+I discovered his bones, not in the smallest degree changed,
+though after a period of a thousand years, the skull retaining
+the aperture of a large wound, which appeared as if it had been
+recently inflicted.&nbsp; Maurice gave the contiguous estate to
+the church, and assigned to the place the name of Merthur
+Tewdrick, or <i>the martyrdom of Theodorick</i>; who, because he
+perished in battle against the enemies of the christian name, is
+esteemed a martyr.&rdquo;</p>
+</blockquote>
+<p>Our task is now finished: we turn away to seek &ldquo;fresh
+fields and pastures new,&rdquo; but the murmur of the Wye will
+remain long in our ear.</p>
+<h2><a name="page208"></a><span class="pagenum">p.
+208</span>DISTANCES IN THE TOUR OF THE WYE.</h2>
+<table>
+<tr>
+<td><p>From the source of the Wye to</p>
+</td>
+<td><p>miles.</p>
+</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td><p>Stedva Gerrig</p>
+</td>
+<td><p>2&frac12;</p>
+</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td><p>Rhaiader</p>
+</td>
+<td><p>17&frac12;</p>
+</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td><p>Builth</p>
+</td>
+<td><p>14</p>
+</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td><p>Hay</p>
+</td>
+<td><p>15&frac14;</p>
+</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td><p>Clifford Castle</p>
+</td>
+<td><p>2&frac12;</p>
+</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td><p>Hereford</p>
+</td>
+<td><p>16&frac12;</p>
+</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td><p>Ross</p>
+</td>
+<td><p>14&frac14;</p>
+</td>
+</tr>
+</table>
+<h3>FROM ROSS TO MONMOTH AND CHEPSTOW.</h3>
+<table>
+<tr>
+<td colspan="4"><p style="text-align: center"><i>By Land</i>.</p>
+</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td><p>&nbsp;</p>
+</td>
+<td><p style="text-align: right"><i>m</i>.</p>
+</td>
+<td><p style="text-align: right"><i>f</i>.</p>
+</td>
+<td><p style="text-align: right"><i>p</i>.</p>
+</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td><p>From Ross by the turnpike to Monmouth</p>
+</td>
+<td><p style="text-align: right">10</p>
+</td>
+<td><p style="text-align: right">0</p>
+</td>
+<td><p style="text-align: right">0</p>
+</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td><p>In a straight line, or as the crow flies</p>
+</td>
+<td><p style="text-align: right">9</p>
+</td>
+<td><p style="text-align: right">0</p>
+</td>
+<td><p style="text-align: right">10</p>
+</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td><p>From Ross to Chepstow by the turnpike</p>
+</td>
+<td><p style="text-align: right">24</p>
+</td>
+<td><p style="text-align: right">0</p>
+</td>
+<td><p style="text-align: right">0</p>
+</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td><p>By Coleford</p>
+</td>
+<td><p style="text-align: right">21</p>
+</td>
+<td><p style="text-align: right">0</p>
+</td>
+<td><p style="text-align: right">0</p>
+</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td><p>In a straight line</p>
+</td>
+<td><p style="text-align: right">16</p>
+</td>
+<td><p style="text-align: right">4</p>
+</td>
+<td><p style="text-align: right">0</p>
+</td>
+</tr>
+</table>
+<p>The base or supposed tunnel of the hill, between Coldwell and
+the New Weir, is six hundred yards; the circuit of the river is
+four miles two furlongs.</p>
+<table>
+<tr>
+<td colspan="4"><p style="text-align: center"><a
+name="page209"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 209</span><i>By
+Water</i>.</p>
+</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td><p>&nbsp;</p>
+</td>
+<td><p style="text-align: right"><i>m</i>.</p>
+</td>
+<td><p style="text-align: right"><i>f</i>.</p>
+</td>
+<td><p style="text-align: right"><i>p</i>.</p>
+</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td><p>From Ross to Goodrich Castle</p>
+</td>
+<td><p style="text-align: right">4</p>
+</td>
+<td><p style="text-align: right">4</p>
+</td>
+<td><p style="text-align: right">0</p>
+</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td><p>To Coldwell </p>
+</td>
+<td><p style="text-align: right">7</p>
+</td>
+<td><p style="text-align: right">0</p>
+</td>
+<td><p style="text-align: right">0</p>
+</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td><p>To New Weir</p>
+</td>
+<td><p style="text-align: right">4</p>
+</td>
+<td><p style="text-align: right">2</p>
+</td>
+<td><p style="text-align: right">0</p>
+</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td><p>To Monmouth</p>
+</td>
+<td><p style="text-align: right">5</p>
+</td>
+<td><p style="text-align: right">1</p>
+</td>
+<td><p style="text-align: right">0</p>
+</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td><p>From Ross to Monmouth</p>
+</td>
+<td><p style="text-align: right">20</p>
+</td>
+<td><p style="text-align: right">7</p>
+</td>
+<td><p style="text-align: right">0</p>
+</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td><p>To Tintern</p>
+</td>
+<td><p style="text-align: right">10</p>
+</td>
+<td><p style="text-align: right">4</p>
+</td>
+<td><p style="text-align: right">0</p>
+</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td><p>To Chepstow</p>
+</td>
+<td><p style="text-align: right">6</p>
+</td>
+<td><p style="text-align: right">4</p>
+</td>
+<td><p style="text-align: right">60</p>
+</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td><p>From Ross to Chepstow</p>
+</td>
+<td><p style="text-align: right">37</p>
+</td>
+<td><p style="text-align: right">7</p>
+</td>
+<td><p style="text-align: right">60</p>
+</td>
+</tr>
+</table>
+<h3>NAMES OF PLACES AS THEY OCCUR IN DESCENDING THE RIVER FROM
+ROSS.</h3>
+<table>
+<tr>
+<td><p style="text-align: center"><span class="smcap">right
+bank</span>.</p>
+</td>
+<td><p style="text-align: center"><span class="smcap">left
+bank</span>.</p>
+</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td><p>Wilton Bridge and Castle</p>
+</td>
+<td><p>&nbsp;</p>
+</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td><p>Weir End</p>
+</td>
+<td><p>Hill or New Hill Court</p>
+</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td><p>Pencraig House and Wood</p>
+</td>
+<td><p>&nbsp;</p>
+</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td><p><span class="smcap">Goodrich</span> Court</p>
+</td>
+<td><p>&nbsp;</p>
+</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td><p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Castle</p>
+</td>
+<td><p>&nbsp;</p>
+</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td><p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Priory or Haverford</p>
+</td>
+<td><p>Walford Church</p>
+</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td><p>North side of Coppet Wood Hill</p>
+</td>
+<td><p>Lays Hill</p>
+</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td><p>&nbsp;</p>
+</td>
+<td><p>Bishop&rsquo;s Wood</p>
+</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td><p>&nbsp;</p>
+</td>
+<td><p>Ruerdean Church</p>
+</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td><p>Court Field</p>
+</td>
+<td><p>Lidbrook</p>
+</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td><p>Welsh Bicknor</p>
+</td>
+<td><p>Rosemary Topping</p>
+</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td><p>Mr. Warren&rsquo;s Monument</p>
+</td>
+<td><p><span class="smcap">Coldwell Rocks</span></p>
+</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td><p>South side of Coppet Wood Hill</p>
+</td>
+<td><p><span class="smcap">Symond&rsquo;s Yat</span></p>
+</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td><p>Goodrich Church</p>
+</td>
+<td><p>&nbsp;</p>
+</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td><p>Whitchurch</p>
+</td>
+<td><p><span class="smcap">New Weir</span></p>
+</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td><p><a name="page210"></a><span class="pagenum">p.
+210</span>Great Doward</p>
+</td>
+<td><p>Highmeadow Woods</p>
+</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td><p>Arthur&rsquo;s Vale</p>
+</td>
+<td><p>&nbsp;</p>
+</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td><p>Little Doward and Lays House</p>
+</td>
+<td><p>Table Mount</p>
+</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td><p>Dixton Church</p>
+</td>
+<td><p>&nbsp;</p>
+</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td><p><span class="smcap">Monmouth</span></p>
+</td>
+<td><p>&nbsp;</p>
+</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td><p>Troy House</p>
+</td>
+<td><p>Halfway House</p>
+</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td><p>Penalt</p>
+</td>
+<td><p>Redbrook</p>
+</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td><p>Whitebrook</p>
+</td>
+<td><p>&nbsp;</p>
+</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td><p>Pen-y-van Hill and Maypole</p>
+</td>
+<td><p>Wye Seal-house</p>
+</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td><p>Paper Mills</p>
+</td>
+<td><p>&nbsp;</p>
+</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td><p>Pilstone House</p>
+</td>
+<td><p>Big&rsquo;s Weir House</p>
+</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td><p><span class="smcap">Llandogo</span></p>
+</td>
+<td><p>St. Briavels</p>
+</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td><p>Coedithal Weir</p>
+</td>
+<td><p>Hudknolls</p>
+</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td><p>Llyn Weir</p>
+</td>
+<td><p>Brook Weir</p>
+</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td><p>Tintern</p>
+</td>
+<td><p>&nbsp;</p>
+</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td><p>Fielding&rsquo;s House</p>
+</td>
+<td><p>&nbsp;</p>
+</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td><p><span class="smcap">Tintern Abbey</span></p>
+</td>
+<td><p>&nbsp;</p>
+</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td><p>&nbsp;</p>
+</td>
+<td><p>Bennagor Crags</p>
+</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td><p><span class="smcap">Wyndcliff</span> and Moss Cottage</p>
+</td>
+<td><p>Fryer&rsquo;s Rocks</p>
+</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td><p>Lover&rsquo;s Leap</p>
+</td>
+<td><p>Lancaut</p>
+</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td><p><span class="smcap">Piercefield</span></p>
+</td>
+<td><p>Piercefield Bay</p>
+</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td><p>Twelve Apostles</p>
+</td>
+<td><p>Tiddenham Rocks</p>
+</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td><p><span class="smcap">Chepstow</span></p>
+</td>
+<td><p>Tutshill</p>
+</td>
+</tr>
+</table>
+<h3>FROM MONMOUTH TO CHEPSTOW BY THE NEW ROAD.</h3>
+<table>
+<tr>
+<td><p>Upper Redbrook</p>
+</td>
+<td><p>2&frac14; miles.</p>
+</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td><p>Lower Redbrook</p>
+</td>
+<td><p>&frac14;</p>
+</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td><p>Florence College</p>
+</td>
+<td><p>3</p>
+</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td><p>Big&rsquo;s Weir</p>
+</td>
+<td><p>&frac12;</p>
+</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td><p>Llandogo</p>
+</td>
+<td><p>1</p>
+</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td><p><a name="page211"></a><span class="pagenum">p.
+211</span>Tintern</p>
+</td>
+<td><p>2&frac34;</p>
+</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td><p>Tintern Abbey</p>
+</td>
+<td><p>&frac34;</p>
+</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td><p>Wyndcliff and Moss Cottage</p>
+</td>
+<td><p>2</p>
+</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td><p>St. Arvans</p>
+</td>
+<td><p>1</p>
+</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td><p>Crossway Green</p>
+</td>
+<td><p>1&frac12;</p>
+</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td><p>Chepstow</p>
+</td>
+<td><p>&frac12;</p>
+</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td><p>&nbsp;</p>
+</td>
+<td><p>15&frac12;</p>
+</td>
+</tr>
+</table>
+<p>The distance from Chepstow to the embouchure of the Wye about
+three miles.</p>
+<div class="gapspace">&nbsp;</div>
+<div class="gapmediumline">&nbsp;</div>
+<p style="text-align: center">J. Haddon, Castle Street,
+Finsbury.</p>
+<h2>Footnotes</h2>
+<p><a name="footnote41"></a><a href="#citation41"
+class="footnote">[41]</a>&nbsp; Duncomb&rsquo;s Collections.</p>
+<p><a name="footnote63"></a><a href="#citation63"
+class="footnote">[63]</a>&nbsp; Monumenta Antiqua.</p>
+<p><a name="footnote85"></a><a href="#citation85"
+class="footnote">[85]</a>&nbsp; Whateley&rsquo;s Observations on
+Modern Gardening.</p>
+<p><a name="footnote106"></a><a href="#citation106"
+class="footnote">[106]</a>&nbsp; Of late years, Mr. Pennie
+attempted to revive a taste for such subjects in his
+&ldquo;Britain&rsquo;s Historical Drama,&rdquo; but without
+effect.&nbsp; It a work, however, of considerable merit.&nbsp;
+Southey&rsquo;s Madoc has only a slender groundwork in British
+history.</p>
+<p><a name="footnote158"></a><a href="#citation158"
+class="footnote">[158]</a>&nbsp; According to Dugdale,
+&pound;132. 1s. 4d.; and Speed, &pound;256. 11s. 6d.</p>
+<p><a name="footnote204"></a><a href="#citation204"
+class="footnote">[204]</a>&nbsp; Historical Tour.</p>
+<p>***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE WYE AND ITS ASSOCIATIONS***</p>
+<pre>
+
+
+***** This file should be named 36367-h.htm or 36367-h.zip******
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+</html>
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@@ -0,0 +1,4493 @@
+The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Wye and Its Associations, by Leitch
+Ritchie
+
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere 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
+
+
+
+
+
+Title: The Wye and Its Associations
+       a picturesque ramble
+
+
+Author: Leitch Ritchie
+
+
+
+Release Date: June 10, 2011  [eBook #36367]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII)
+
+
+***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE WYE AND ITS ASSOCIATIONS***
+
+
+credit
+
+
+
+Transcribed from the 1841 Longman, Orme, Brown, Green, and Longmans
+edition by David Price, email ccx074@pglaf.org
+
+[Picture: Decorative title page, with Goodrich castle (followed by proper
+                               title page)]
+
+
+
+
+
+                                 THE WYE
+                           AND ITS ASSOCIATIONS
+
+
+                          A PICTURESQUE RAMBLE.
+
+                                * * * * *
+
+                         BY LEITCH RITCHIE, ESQ.
+
+     AUTHOR OF "WANDERINGS BY THE LOIRE," "WANDERINGS BY THE SEINE,"
+                           "THE MAGICIAN," ETC.
+
+                                * * * * *
+
+                                * * * * *
+
+                                * * * * *
+
+                                 LONDON:
+
+                     LONGMAN, ORME, BROWN, GREEN, AND
+                                LONGMANS.
+
+                                  1841.
+
+                                * * * * *
+
+                                 LONDON:
+              PRINTED BY J. HADDON, CASTLE STREET, FINSBURY.
+
+
+
+
+ADVERTISEMENT,
+
+
+A portion of the lower part of the Wye has been described by Gilpin,
+Archdeacon Coxe, and some others; and the same portion has been touched
+upon, with greater or less minuteness, by Prince Puckler Muscau, and
+various Welsh tourists, as well as by Whateley in his Essay on Modern
+Gardening.  It seemed, however, to the writer of the present sketch, that
+something more was due to the most celebrated river in England; and that
+another book (not too large for the pocket, and yet aspiring to a place
+in the library) which should point out the beauties of the Wye, and
+connect them with their historical and romantic associations--beginning
+at the source of the stream on Plinlimmon, and ending only at its
+confluence with the Severn--might still be reckoned an acceptable service
+by the lovers of the picturesque.  Hence this little work, which may be
+consulted at will either as a finger-post by the traveller, or as a
+companion by the reading lounger at home.
+
+_London_, _November_ 28_th_, 1840.
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS.
+
+                              CHAPTER I.
+                                                                 Page.
+Philosophy of the picturesque--Peculiarities of English              1
+scenery--Worcester--Immigration of peasant girls--The
+Devils' Garden--The Rest on the
+Stones--Plinlimmon--Inhabitants of the summit--The
+Inn--Source of the Wye
+                             CHAPTER II.
+Descent of Plinlimmon--Singular                                     17
+illusion--Llangerrig--Commencement of the
+picturesque--The Fall of the Wye--Black Mountain--Course
+of the river--Builth--Peculiarity of the
+scenery--Approach to the English border--Castle of the
+Hay--First series of the beauties of the Wye
+                             CHAPTER III.
+Clifford Castle--Lords-marchers--Fair Rosamond--Ruins of            31
+the Castle--The silent cottage--Approach to
+Hereford--Castle--Cathedral--Nell
+Gwynn--Cider--Salmon--Wolves
+                             CHAPTER IV.
+Beauty and tameness--The travelling hill--Ross--The                 45
+silver tankard--The Man of Ross--The sympathetic
+trees--Penyard Castle--Vicissitudes of the river--Wilton
+Castle--A voyage to sea in a basket--Pencraig Hill
+                              CHAPTER V.
+Roman passes of the Wye--Goodrich                                   58
+Castle--Keep--Fortifications--Apartments--Its
+history--Goodrich Court--Forest of Dean--Laws of the
+Miners--Military exploit--Wines of Gloucestershire
+                             CHAPTER VI.
+Iron furnaces of the Wye--Lidbroke--Nurse of Henry                  74
+V--Coldwell Rocks--Symond's Yat--New Weir--Monmouth
+                             CHAPTER VII.
+Monmouth--History of the Castle--Apartment of Henry of              87
+Monmouth--Ecclesiastical remains--Benedictine
+priory--Church of St. Mary--Church of St. Thomas--Monnow
+Bridge--Modern town--Monmouth caps--The beneficent
+parvenu
+                            CHAPTER VIII.
+Welsh pedigree of queen Victoria--A poet's                         100
+flattery--Castles of Monmouthshire--Geoffrey of
+Monmouth--Henry of Monmouth--The Kymin--Subsidiary
+tour--Sir David Gam--White Castle--Scenfrith--The Castle
+spectres--Grosmont--Lanthony Abbey
+                             CHAPTER IX.
+Raglan Castle--Description of the ruins--History of the            121
+Castle--The old lord of Raglan--Surrender of the
+fortress--Charles I. and his host--Royal weakness--The
+pigeons of Raglan--Death of the old lord--Origin of the
+steam engine
+                              CHAPTER X.
+Troy House--Anecdote--Antique custom--Village churches of          140
+Monmouthshire--White-washing--The bard--Strewing graves
+with flowers--St. Briavels' Castle--Llandogo--Change in
+the character of the river--The Druid of the
+Wye--Wordsworth's "Lines composed above Tintern Abbey"
+                             CHAPTER XI.
+Vales of the Wye--Valley of Tintern--Tintern                       156
+Abbey--History--Church--Character of the
+ruin--Site--Coxe's description--Monmouth--Insecurity of
+sepulchral fame--Churchyarde on Tombs--Opinions on
+Tintern--Battle of Tintern
+                             CHAPTER XII.
+The Wye below Tintern--Benagor                                     174
+Crags--Lancaut--Piercefield Bay--Chepstow--Ancient and
+modern bridge--Chepstow Castle--Roger de
+Britolio--Romance of History--Chepstow in the civil
+wars--Marten the regicide
+                            CHAPTER XIII.
+Piercefield--Points of view--Curious appearance--Scenic            192
+character of the place--View from Wyndcliff--Account of
+Valentine Morris--Anecdotes--The Wye below Chepstow--Aust
+Ferry--Black Rock Ferry--St. Theodoric--Conclusion
+
+ENGRAVINGS.
+
+                                         Page.
+GOODRICH CASTLE                VIGNETTE TITLE.
+LLANGERRIG                                  19
+RHAIADYR                                    21
+NEAR RHAIADYR                               22
+CLIFFORD CASTLE                             35
+HEREFORD                                    44
+ROSS                                        48
+THE NEW WEIR                                81
+TINTERN                                    158
+TINTERN ABBEY                              160
+CHEPSTOW                                   177
+VIEW FROM WYNDCLIFF                        198
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+
+Philosophy of the picturesque--Peculiarities of English
+scenery--Worcester--Immigration of peasant girls--The Devils' Garden--The
+Rest on the Stones--Plinlimmon--Inhabitants of the summit--The
+Inn--Source of the Wye.
+
+Foreigners have often expressed their surprise that the English should
+travel so far in search of picturesque scenery, when they have abundance
+at home: but the remark is conceived in an unphilosophical spirit.  We do
+not travel for the mere scenery.  We do not leave the Wye unexplored, and
+go abroad in search of some other river of its own identical character.
+What we gaze at in strange lands is not wood, and water, and rock, but
+all these seen through a new medium--accompanied by adjuncts which array
+universal nature herself in a foreign costume.  A tree peculiar to the
+country--a peasant in an un-English garb--a cottage of unaccustomed
+form--the slightest peculiarity in national manners--even the traces of a
+different system of agriculture--all contribute to the impression of
+novelty in which consists the excitement of foreign travel.
+
+The proof of this is our keener perception of the beauties of English
+scenery after returning from abroad.  We are then capable of instituting
+a comparison; and our national manners are no longer the sole medium, but
+one of various media through which nature is viewed.  An untravelled
+Englishman is ignorant of his own country.  He must cross the seas before
+he can become acquainted with home.  He must admire the romance of the
+Rhine--the sublimity of the (mountain) Rhone--the beauty of the Seine and
+the Loire--before he can tell what is the rank of the Wye, in picturesque
+character, among the rivers of Europe.
+
+The journey from London to Worcester, which is the direct route to the
+Upper part of the Wye, discloses many of the peculiarities of English
+scenery and character--peculiarities which to the natives are of so every
+day a kind, that it is only by reflection and comparison they learn to
+appreciate them.  The country seats of the great land proprietors, with
+their accompaniments of lawn and plantation, extending as far as the eye
+can reach, form a part of the picture; and so do the cottages of the
+village peasantry, with their little gardens before the door, admitting a
+peep into the interior of the humble abode.  In the aristocratical
+dwellings, half hidden in that paradise of groves and glades, we find
+every refinement that gold can purchase, or taste produce: in the huts,
+comfort, and its inseparable adjunct cleanliness, are the most striking
+characteristics.
+
+The former speak of wealth, and the happiness that depends on wealth; the
+latter of comparative poverty, and the home pleasures that are compatible
+with poverty.  On the continent, there is always something out of keeping
+in the picture.  In the great chateaux and their grounds, there is always
+some meanness, some make-shift observable; while in the great country
+seats of England, on the contrary, all is uniform.  In the cottages
+abroad, even those of a higher order, there are always dirt and
+slovenliness--inattention to the minute comforts of humble life--meals
+snatched anyhow and anywhere--sleep taken without an idea of the luxuries
+of sleep.  In England, on the other hand, notwithstanding the
+irregularities of fortune, we find an absolute identity in the various
+classes of the population.  The labourer--returned, perhaps, from mending
+the highway, sits down in state to dinner, with a clean white
+table-cloth, and the coarse ware nicely arranged before him.  The floor
+is swept, perhaps washed, to do honour to the occasion; and his wife, who
+is at once the mistress and the servant of the feast, prides herself on
+making her husband (whom she calls her "master")--_comfortable_.
+
+We need not be told that this is not a universal picture.  We need not be
+reminded of the want and misery which exist in numerous parts of the
+country, for with these we are well acquainted.  The _foreigner_,
+however, to whom such scenes are new, will meet with them frequently
+enough, and especially on the road we are now travelling, to induce him
+to set them down as one of the grand characteristics of England.
+
+The road presents, also, at various turnings, that truly English scene, a
+well-known specimen of which is viewed from Richmond Hill.  A level
+country lies a few hundred feet below us, and extends in front, and on
+either side, till it is lost in the distance, or bound in by low and
+filmy hills which just mark the horizon with their waving line of shadow.
+This expanse is studded with towns, and villages, and seats, and
+cottages, and square towers, and tapering spires, rising amidst woods and
+groves, and surrounded by green fields and meadows.  A great part of the
+peculiar character of the landscape is due to the enclosures of various
+kinds of foliage which separate one field from another.  In most parts of
+the continent--and more especially in France--these are of very rare
+occurrence; and thus the beauty of the picture, when it has any beauty at
+all, depends upon the colours of the different kinds of grain or other
+productions, which make the vast expanse of vegetation resemble an
+immense and richly variegated carpet.  In spring, therefore, before these
+colours have been fairly brought out, it may easily be conceived that
+France is one of the least interesting countries in Europe.  With us, on
+the other hand, the face of the earth resembles a garden, and more
+especially in one of those flat landscapes we have alluded to.  The
+changes of the seasons diversify without diminishing the beauty; and even
+winter presents, instead of a uniform and dreary waste, a varied picture
+executed in hoar frost and snow.
+
+Worcester is one of the most aristocratic looking towns in England, and
+presents every token of being a wealthy and flourishing place.  Its
+cathedral, an edifice of the beginning of the thirteenth century, has
+drawn hither many a pilgrim foot even from foreign countries.  Our
+present business, however, is with the works of nature, or with those of
+art fallen into decay, and their fragments standing amidst the eternal
+youth of the hills and rivers, like monuments of the insignificance of
+man.
+
+Worcester is famous for its manufactures of porcelain and gloves; but our
+attention was more strongly attracted to exports of another kind, of
+which it appeared to be at least the entrepot, if it was not the original
+market.  At a little distance from the town, several waggons had halted
+near a public house, and their freight, a numerous party of peasant
+girls, were breakfasting by the road side.  They were eating and drinking
+as joyously as if their laps had been filled with far more enticing food
+than bread and ale.  They were on their way to some greater mart--perhaps
+to the all-devouring metropolis; and when breakfast was over, they
+resumed their slow journey, some few who had mounted the waggons singing
+in parts, and the rest, walking by the side, joining in the chorus.  They
+had no fears, poor girls, of the result of their adventure--or rather, no
+forethought.
+
+But it is not till after we pass the little town of Kington, on the
+eastern borders of Herefordshire, that the picturesque commences, and we
+must hasten on to our more immediate task.  Between Kington and New
+Radnor, are the Stanner Rocks, with the Devil's Garden on their summit,
+luxuriously planted--of course by no human hand--with wild flowers.
+Beyond New Radnor (formerly the county town, but now a paltry village,)
+opens the Vale of Radnor on one side, and on the other, a rude mountain
+scene, distinguished by a waterfall of some celebrity, called
+Water-break-its-neck.  The stream rushes down a precipitous descent of
+seventy feet, into a hollow with craggy and unequal sides.  The spot of
+the cascade is marked by an insulated rock, eighteen or twenty feet high,
+standing erect above it like a monument.
+
+After passing the village of Penybont, the Llanbadarn Vawr, or great
+church of Badarn, is to the left of the road, an edifice which dates from
+the time of the Conqueror; and nothing else of interest is observable
+till we reach Rhaiadyr, on the Banks of the Wye.  As it will be more
+convenient, however, to examine the river in descending with the stream,
+we shall only say here, that the journey from Rhaiadyr to the summit of
+Plinlimmon lies through woods, and hill passes, becoming ruder and wilder
+at every step we advance.  The character of the population seems to
+change in conformity with their physical circumstances.  The want of
+tidiness which marks the British mountaineer is the more conspicuous from
+the contrast it presents to the opposite quality we have admired in the
+plains; and already the women have assumed the round hat of the ruder
+sex, and destroyed with its masculine associations the charms peculiar to
+their own.  Against this absurdity we must protest, whether we meet with
+it in the Welsh girl, or the fair equestrian of Hyde Park.  It betrays
+not only the most pitiful taste, but the most profound ignorance of
+nature, on which is founded the theory of female beauty.
+
+Stedva Gerrig, or "the Rest on the Stones" now commonly called by the
+name of the mountain, is a hamlet of three or four houses situated on a
+stream which separates the counties of Montgomeryshire and Cardiganshire,
+in a nook of comparatively level land, into which abut several of the
+lower ridges of Plinlimmon.  The spot has little of the wildness of
+mountain scenery, but its extreme solitude; for being here near the top
+of the mountainous group, and surrounded by its remaining elevations, we
+are insensible of our real altitude above the level of the country.
+These elevations, besides, have none of the ruggedness of character we
+usually find in such places.  They are, in general, smoothly-swelling
+eminences, which if rising from the plain would receive the name of
+hills; they are wholly naked of trees, or even brushwood; and being
+covered with green herbage, they at first sight give one the idea of an
+extensive grass farm, rather than a sterile mountain.  It is the altitude
+of the spot, however, and the nipping blasts to which it is exposed, that
+render it naked of the larger kinds of vegetation; and there is only a
+nook here and there capable of bearing even a scanty crop of oats.  This
+region, therefore, excepting a few fields around Stedva Gerrig, supplies
+subsistence only to sheep; and the greater number even of these we found
+had been withdrawn to situations less exposed to the Welsh winds.
+
+Of the few inhabitants of the hamlet, the principal man of course is the
+innkeeper; and the other fathers of families are shepherds.  The latter
+class of men have wages amounting to twelve pounds a year, and enjoy
+their houses and little fields of corn and potatoes, with as much
+pasturage as they have use for free of rent.  The husband, assisted by
+his sons, when young, tends the sheep on the mountain; the wife makes
+flannel, and knits stockings; and the daughters go out to service at an
+early age.  Their little menage is comfortable.  Their bread is barley
+cakes; they sometimes salt a pig; they provide themselves with a quarter
+of beef at one time, and, like their betters, "live at home, and kill
+their own mutton."  Nay, one of these flourishing shepherds is a rival of
+_the_ innkeeper; his hut being duly licensed to sell ale, cyder, &c., and
+the sign-board having the following intimation:--"The notorious hill of
+Plinlimmon is on these premises, and it will be shown with pleasure to
+any gentlemen travellers who wishes to see it."  And this intimation
+(letting grammar alone) is correct; for although the notorious article in
+question, viz., the loftiest part of Plinlimmon is not entirely in the
+garden, curtained off, like the balloon at the Yorkshire Stingo, from the
+gaze of all who do not pay a shilling to see it, yet it is actually on
+the premises, about three or four miles--only a sheep walk--distant.
+
+The Plinlimmon inn, undoubtedly, is the place for our money.  It is
+now--although its character was very different only two years ago--neat,
+clean, and comfortable.  We do not say that it affords the accommodation
+of a city on the top of a Welsh mountain, but yet to the traveller who
+has seen more of the world than the plains of England, it will make a
+very desirable resting-place.  Such traveller, on dismounting from the
+Aberystwith mail, will be right glad to sit down by a clean and bright
+fire-side, and if the turf should not be lighted in the parlour, he will
+be proud of the privilege of the kitchen.  There, if he has our own good
+fortune, he will find the landlady, a frank, cheerful, and kindly woman,
+with the table drawn in quite to the hearth, and reading "Elegant
+Extracts."  Materials of another kind will speedily grace the board,
+viz., bread, butter, cheese, eggs, and excellent home-brewed ale.  Do you
+sneer at this bill of fare?  A fico for thy travellership!  Then will
+mine host enter in the midst, a bold, intelligent, yet modest fellow;
+and, bustling through the various parts of the scene, will "come, like a
+shadow, so depart" the substantial form of the serving maiden, her cheeks
+round, and flushed, her eye beaming with innocent gaiety, and her full
+and swelling chest seeming as if it were with difficulty withheld from
+bursting the corsage.  These three, by the way, are the only inhabitants
+of the hamlet who speak English.
+
+After supper, the traveller, if he be not of the heathen sect of
+Tee-totallers, takes a glass of brandy and water, for the reason assigned
+by St. Paul in his Epistle to Timothy, or any other orthodox reason; and
+finally, he will enter into a clean and comfortable bed, and sleep, not
+the less soundly it is to be presumed, that his meal had not involved the
+murder of a chicken, or of any other of his fellow creatures of the
+earth.
+
+The next morning the landlord walked with us to the source of the Wye,
+about three miles distant.  We ascended and descended several of the
+rounded summits already mentioned; and upon the whole, the little
+excursion is somewhat trying to the lungs.  A rill flowed between every
+two eminences, destined soon or late to unite with the Wye, and at length
+the latter stream appeared, bubbling down the side of a slope in a volume
+which might be comprised in the circumference of a teacup.  Higher up, a
+few rushes seem to hide the fountain from which it springs; but following
+for a brief space a line of damp, plashy earth above, we reach a tiny
+pool, little more than a hand-breadth across, supplied by droppings
+rather than gushes from a bank of black earth--and this is the source of
+the Wye.  Looking down its tortuous valley, the view is majestic from the
+massive forms of the objects which surround it; but the solitude, the
+dreariness, the utter desolation of the scene, form the distinctive
+features of the picture.
+
+Plinlimmon, or Pumlumon, is not, correctly speaking, a single mountain,
+but several distinct mountains rising from one base.  Each of these
+distinct mountains, again, is subdivided into several others; but in the
+aggregate, there is little of the variety which might be expected from so
+extraordinary an assemblage.  It is entirely destitute of wood.  There
+are none of the craggy peaks and precipices which usually form the
+picturesque of mountain scenery.  All is smooth but blackened turf,
+frequently undulating over fathomless bogs, the mysteries of which the
+traveller who ventures into this desolate region without a guide has a
+fair chance of exploring.  The summit, of which the highest point is two
+thousand four hundred and sixty-three feet above the level of the sea,
+forms a plateau of several miles; whence the hills of Cardiganshire are
+seen to the south; Cardigan bay and Saint George's channel to the west;
+to the north, the perpendicular brow of Cader Idris; to the north-west,
+the three-peaked Breidden hills; and to the east, the fertile plains of
+Herefordshire and Shropshire.
+
+Besides the Wye, there are several other rivers which have their source
+on Plinlimmon, the most distinguished of which is the Severn.  About two
+miles distant from where we now stand, this stream issues from a little
+bog-hole, in a volume which might be stepped across by a child.  The
+whole mountain, in fact, seems a reservoir of water; and it is not
+surprising that Owen Glendwr should have been able to maintain himself
+here, as he did in 1401, even with so small a force as a hundred and
+twenty men.  The entrenchments made by the hero may still be traced; and
+brazen spearheads, and other instruments of war, have been found within
+them in our own day.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+
+Descent of Plinlimmon--Singular illusion--Llangerrig--Commencement of the
+Picturesque--The Fall of the Wye--Black Mountain--Course of the
+river--Builth--Peculiarity of the scenery--Approach to the English
+border--Castle of the Hay--First series of the beauties of the Wye.
+
+Leaving Stedva Gerrig, the road runs by the side of the stream before
+mentioned, through a succession of mountain valleys, which, being without
+the grandiose forms of the view from Plinlimmon, are uninteresting from
+the want of trees.  On the left there was a wreath of grey smoke flying
+backward on the wind, from the brow of the steep which forms the side of
+the valley; and we speculated within ourselves as to whether this was the
+ensign of some unlawful still.  It proved, however, to be the foam of a
+little mountain torrent, caught suddenly by the gust ere it reached the
+edge of the precipice; and so complete was the illusion, that it was not
+till we had climbed to the spot, that we were convinced of the phenomenon
+being the production of water instead of fire.
+
+The valley here was wide, and the vista backwards towards Stedva Gerrig
+of considerable length.  A very remarkable effect was produced by the
+light of the early sun streaming through masses of grey clouds, and
+flashed back again not only by the stream, but by the entire surface of
+the soil which was completely saturated by torrents of rain that had
+fallen during the night.  Just after this, and nearly three miles from
+the inn, the Wye suddenly burst into the valley from the left, and
+rushing beneath a bridge, flung itself into the little river.  The
+latter, conscious that although its volume was greater, its strength and
+impetuosity were less than those of the marauder, quietly resigned itself
+to its fate, receiving the name and acknowledging the authority of its
+lord and spouse; and thenceforth, we found ourselves wandering along the
+banks, less known than those less renowned, of the classic Vaga.
+
+                          [Picture: Llangerrig]
+
+The sameness of the scenery continued for five miles further, till on
+entering the hamlet of Llangerrig, consisting of a few huts of the
+meanest description, and an old church, of which a view is annexed, trees
+began to add their interest to the picture.  The valley, however, was
+wide, the trees small, and the river, notwithstanding its receiving here
+another accession, was still insignificant.  By degrees, however, as we
+proceeded, the hills became closer, and the massiveness of their forms
+lent a certain degree of grandeur to the scene.  These again disappeared;
+and the hills returned: and the Wye as before ran brawling through a
+commonplace valley.  A series of vicissitudes went on till the hills,
+assuming the character without the magnitude of mountains, threw
+themselves wildly together, and we found ourselves in a savage pass, the
+steep abutting masses of which were in some cases formed of grey and
+naked rock.
+
+The river here is occasionally almost choked up with stones and fragments
+of rocks, which must either have rolled from the heights into the bottom
+of the valley, or been uncovered in their original beds by the action of
+the water.  Here opens (in our judgment) the first of the numerous
+picturesque views presented by the Wye.  The spot is marked by the
+accession of a tributary stream, which is crossed by means of a bridge.
+
+After getting out of this gorge, the scenery becomes softer and more
+commonplace; and at three miles nearer, the vista is terminated by the
+little church tower of Rhaiadyr, painted against a misty hill at some
+distance beyond.
+
+In the time of the Welsh princes, there was here a fortress of some
+importance, of which no vestiges remain.  It was erected, we are told, by
+Rhys, prince of South Wales, in the time of Richard II., and burnt down
+in 1231, by Llewellin ap Jorwerth.  The little town itself is modern, and
+consists principally of two streets intersecting each other at right
+angles.  The name, which is in full _Rhaiadyr Pwy_, means the Fall of the
+Wye, but is no longer applicable, the cataract having been almost
+levelled in 1780, when the bridge was erected.  From this bridge the view
+of the river is exceedingly fine, as will be seen by the annexed
+engraving; although all the remnant of the waterfall is the plunging of
+the stream over a low ledge of rocks.  The town itself has a good deal of
+character.  It is decidedly a Welsh town; and notwithstanding the
+commingling that must have taken place in the races, it possesses that
+foreign aspect which is so exciting to the curiosity.
+
+                           [Picture: Rhaiadyr]
+
+This appearance, however, is still more evident in the next place at
+which we arrive, Builth; but the traveller must not be in a hurry to get
+there.  The valley of the Wye, during the fourteen miles which intervene,
+presents a continuous series of picturesque views, sufficient of
+themselves to make the reputation of the river.  The stream rushes the
+whole way through a singularly rocky and winding bed, bound in by lofty
+and fantastic banks, and these by hills, naked or wooded, barren or
+fertile, of every variety of form.  One of the most remarkable of the
+latter is the Black Mountain, which is posted directly in front, and
+fills up the valley, as if to guard the pass from the further progress of
+the Wye: but our wandering stream sweeps abruptly round its base, and
+escaping by a narrow defile, pursues its triumphant way towards Builth.
+One of those pictures is imitated in the annexed engraving, and it will
+not be difficult to find the identical spot chosen by the artist.
+
+                         [Picture: Near Rhaiadyr]
+
+For more than half the distance the road runs close by the side of the
+river; but on reaching a few houses called Newbridge, we diverge a
+little, and do not come near again till we have travelled a distance of
+nearly five miles and approached the town of Builth.  The pedestrian,
+however, cares little for roads; and, rejoining the river at will, he
+finds the series of views continued--sometimes grand, sometimes
+beautiful, sometimes picturesque, sometimes absolute gems of pastoral
+repose.  The river increases visibly before our eyes; and at length, when
+near Builth, it rolls along, still foaming, still brawling, but in a
+stream of considerable volume.  Its principal tributaries between
+Rhaiadyr and this place, are the Elian, the Ithon, and the Yrfon; the
+last of which is celebrated by the defeat of Llewellin in 1282, which
+took place at the spot where the little river is crossed by a bridge,
+just before it falls into the Wye, above Builth.
+
+This part of the country, however, is completely secluded.  There never
+was, so far as we know, a public conveyance between Rhaiadyr and Builth;
+and at the latter town, at this season of the year--although it is still
+early in October--the traveller will find no means of communication with
+the rest of the world, except for those who journey with post horses, and
+those who make use of the locomotive powers of their own limbs.
+
+Builth is finely situated, its narrow streets rising in irregular
+terraces on the side of a hill on the right bank of the Wye.  The houses
+are as Welsh as can be, and have a primitive, old world look, that has a
+great charm in our eyes.  The town is approached by a stone bridge of
+considerable length; at the end of which, on the left hand, are some
+mounds of grass and ivy, which conceal the remains of a castle supposed
+to date from the eleventh century.  All, however, is conjecture as
+regards this castle, which was a small fortress, with a keep of forty
+yards in circumference, surrounded by a ditch, and defended towards the
+south by two trenches.  It was repaired in 1209, by Gilbert, Earl of
+Gloucester; after the death of Llewellin, it became an English fortress;
+and in 1690, was accidentally destroyed by a fire, which at the same time
+consumed the greater part of the town.  Builth, however, is older than
+its castle.  It is set down by the learned as the Bullaeum Silurum of the
+Romans; and various druidical remains in the neighbourhood carry back the
+ken of the antiquarian to a still more remote epoch, which is lost in
+shadows.
+
+It was in this neighbourhood, as we have said, that Llewellin, the last
+of the Welsh princes, was defeated and slain in 1282.  Tradition relates,
+that while at Aberedw, a short distance down the river, on the opposite
+bank, he was surprised by the English, and escaped so narrowly, that he
+had only just time to pass the drawbridge of Builth, before his pursuers
+came up.  The English, however, succeeded in cutting him off from his
+army, by getting between the town and a village on the right bank of the
+Wye where it was posted.  Llewellin, upon this, attempted to conceal
+himself in the woods, but he was discovered, and beheaded, and his body
+buried at a place called Cern y Bedd.
+
+The air of Builth is supposed to be very salubrious, and for this reason
+many respectable families have chosen it for their residence.  The
+abundance of game in its woods and hills, and of trout, salmon, and
+grayling in its streams is another inducement, and probably the _cause_
+of the good health of its visitors.  In this neighbourhood are mineral
+springs of three kinds,--saline, sulphurous, and chalybeate,--and a
+pump-room, frequently attended by a numerous company.
+
+From a hill above the town is obtained a fine view of the Llynsyraddon,
+the largest lake in Wales except Bala.  The country people believe that
+its bed was formerly the site of a city; and, as in Ireland, Brittany,
+and other places where a similar tradition prevails, they still see the
+towers of old "'neath the calm, cold wave reclining."  Giraldus calls the
+lake _Clamosam_, from the "terrible thundering noise it makes upon the
+breaking up of the ice in winter."
+
+The valley of the Wye is less wild after passing Builth, but more
+beautiful.  After the fourth milestone, there is a magnificent specimen
+of a formation of the hills which may be said to be the grand peculiarity
+of this district.  It consists of a massive range on the opposite bank,
+laid out in square terraces, such as Martin delights to heap on each
+other in his pictures.  But here, where Nature is the builder, these
+masses of architecture are of rough, disjointed stones, hoary with age,
+and sometimes overgrown with moss and lichens.  On the right bank where
+we stood, a small house is built just above the road, as if to enjoy the
+picture; and, a little further on, another of more aristocratic
+pretensions.  A view, including a portion of the latter--the green,
+smooth-shaven pastures which answer for a lawn and extend to the water's
+edge--the Wye foaming and brawling at the bottom, half hidden by trees of
+the deepest shadow--with the castellated mount beyond, and the sweep of
+the valley closed in by hills to the left--would form a whole, which
+Gilpin, with the dogmatism of art, might call "correctly picturesque."
+
+A little further on, we had an opportunity of inspecting these rocks more
+closely, which are only remarkable from the forms they assume.  In the
+instance before us, they were two immense cubes of stone, as precise as
+if ruled by the square, and cut with the chisel.  They stood exactly
+horizontal with the ground, and the upper was of smaller proportions than
+the lower.  No other rock or even stone was near.  At some distance
+another entirely insulated mass presented itself, as large as a cottage
+of two stories, with walls as perpendicular, and secluded like a cottage
+by trees.
+
+The small village of Glasbury presents a view well worth notice.  This is
+particularly the case at Maeslough Hall, where Gilpin characterises the
+scenery as "wonderfully amusing," declaring that the situation is one of
+the finest in Wales.  On passing the seventh milestone, the valley
+spreads out into a wide plain bounded by an amphitheatre of hills; and as
+we proceed, numerous villas peeping through the trees, show that we have
+now left entirely behind us the peculiarities of Welsh scenery, and are
+again on the borders of merry England.  As we approach the Hay, the
+aristocratical buildings become more numerous, and the romance of the
+scene diminishes, till at length we enter a small, but neat and
+comfortable-looking town.
+
+The Hay has some historical associations of the doings of Llewellin and
+King John, by the latter of whom its castle was destroyed in 1216; but
+with the exception of a Gothic gateway there are no remains to interest
+the antiquarian.  There are said, indeed, to be the fragments of some
+Roman fortifications; but we are something like Sir Walter Scott in this
+respect, who had seen so many ghosts, that at last he found it difficult
+to believe in them.  Tradition relates that the castle was built in one
+night by the celebrated Maud de Saint Wallery, alias Maud de Hain, alias
+Moll Walbee.  "She built (say the gossips)," as we find in Jones's
+Brecknock, "the castle of Hay in one night: the stones for which she
+carried in her apron.  While she was thus employed, a small pebble, of
+about nine feet long, and one foot thick, dropped into her shoe.  This
+she did not at first regard; but in a short time, finding it troublesome,
+she indignantly threw it over the river Wye into Llowes churchyard in
+Radnorshire (about three miles off), where it remains to this day,
+precisely in the position it fell, a stubborn memorial of the historical
+fact, to the utter confusion of all sceptics and unbelievers."
+
+Between Builth and the Hay ends one series of the beauties of the Wye.
+The stream hitherto is a mountain rivulet, sometimes almost a torrent,
+and its characteristics are wildness and simplicity.  Its course is
+impeded by rocks, amidst which it runs brawling and foaming; and,
+generally speaking, it depends upon itself, and upon the nature of its
+own bed for the picturesque, the hills around forming only the back
+ground.  We shall see, as we get on, the manner in which this will
+change, till the banks become the objects of admiration, and the stream
+itself, although much increased in volume, is considered a mere adjunct,
+and its bosom a convenient site from which to view them.
+
+Gilpin's observations on this point are very judicious, although he had
+not the advantage of seeing with his own eyes the upper part of the Wye.
+"It is possible, I think," says he, "the Wye may in this place (alluding
+to the country between Builth and the Hay) be more beautiful than in any
+other part of its course.  Between Ross and Chepstow, the grandeur and
+beauty of its banks are its chief praise.  The river itself has no other
+merit than that of a winding surface of smooth water.  But here, added to
+the same decoration from its banks, the Wye itself assumes a more
+beautiful character; pouring over shelving rocks, and forming itself into
+eddies and cascades, which a solemn parading stream through a flat
+channel cannot exhibit.  An additional merit also accrues to such a river
+from the different forms it assumes according to the fulness or emptiness
+of the stream.  There are rocks of all shapes and sizes, which
+continually vary the appearance of the water, as it rushes over or plays
+among them; so that such a river, to a picturesque eye, is a continued
+fund of new entertainment."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+
+Clifford Castle--Lords-marchers--Fair Rosamond--Ruins of the Castle--The
+silent cottage--Approach to Hereford--Castle--Cathedral--Nell
+Gwynn--Cider--Salmon--Wolves.
+
+Leaving Hay, the valley widens, the background softens, and the whole
+scene assumes the character of an English vale, where the hills on each
+side are cultivated to the summit.  On the right, as we proceed, a deep
+umbrageous wood comes in to give effect, just where effect was wanting;
+and, surmounting a conical eminence above the road, near the second
+milestone, the hoary ruins of Clifford Castle intermix with the monotony
+of modern life the associations of the olden time.
+
+Clifford Castle was built by William Fitzosborne, earl of Hereford, but
+was held at the time of the Domesday Survey by Rudolphus de Totenie.  It
+was obtained by the Cliffords by the marriage of Walter Fitz-Richard with
+Margaret, daughter of Ralph de Cundy.  Walter Fitz-Richard--a descendant
+of Richard II., duke of Normandy--whose father accompanied the Conqueror
+into England, having married the heiress of Ralph de Cundy, of Clifford
+Castle, took the name of De Clifford, and the place remained the baronial
+seat of the family for two centuries.
+
+The nobles of that age were not merely required to do military service
+for their lands, but other imposts were laid upon them by the feudal
+custom, which had the effect of a true property tax.  At the marriage of
+Matilda, daughter of Henry I., with Charles V. of Germany, the king
+collected a sum equal to about 135,000 of our money from the land, at a
+fixed rate per hide; and the returns (_certificationes_) show very
+clearly the distribution of property at the time.  We find Walter de
+Clifford set down for one hide in Herefordshire in Wales.  It may be
+noted, in passing, that Henry was not only generous in granting lands to
+his own and his father's followers, but the same request being made to
+him by some Flemings, whose share of terra firma had been wrested from
+them by an incursion of the sea, he made no scruple to comply.  "Being
+very liberall," say the Welsh chronicles, "of that which was not his
+owne, he gave them the land of _Ros_, in West Wales, or Dynet, where
+Pembroke, Haverford, and Tenby are now built; and they there remain to
+this day, as may well be perceived by their speech and conditions being
+farre differing from the rest of the countrye."
+
+The Norman knights who settled on the Welsh borders acquired the name of
+Lords Marchers, being styled Marchiones Walliae in the Red Book of the
+Exchequer; although the title of nobility derived from this, _Marquis_,
+was not introduced till the reign of Richard II.  These lords marchers,
+of whom were the Cliffords and other families in Hereford, had each a law
+for his own barony, and determined of their own authority all suits
+between their tenants.  They were entitled to the goods and chattels of
+such of their tenants as died intestate.  This power, in fact, was such
+as could only be continued by violence; and hence the coolness or
+treachery of some of them when any serious attempt was made by the
+sovereign to introduce the laws and customs of the English into Wales.
+After the death of Llewellin, the last prince of Wales, this was at
+length effected by Edward I.; but still, the Marches, not being included
+in the division of the land into counties became a scene of such anarchy,
+that it was found necessary to institute a court of judicature for that
+district alone.  This court continued till the first year of William and
+Mary, when it was dissolved by an act of Parliament, in consequence, as
+the preamble states, of its having become "a great grievance to the
+subject."  Previous to this, however, in the time of Henry VIII., the
+Marches of Wales were definitely united to England; when Clifford and
+other places, which were before a debatable land of bloodshed and
+confusion, became a part of Herefordshire.
+
+But Clifford Castle is not associated merely with ideas of war and
+rapine, but with those of love and beauty.  Here was born that too
+celebrated lady, of whom Dryden says--
+
+    "Jane Clifford was her name, as books aver,
+    Fair Rosamond was but her _nom de guerre_."
+
+                        [Picture: Clifford Castle]
+
+She was the daughter of one of the earls of Clifford, and became
+celebrated for her amour with Henry II.; who built her a bower in
+Woodstock Park, which he defended from his jealous wife by the classical
+device of a labyrinth.  Queen Eleanor, however, who was as well read in
+ancient history as her spouse, was not slow in hitting upon the expedient
+of the clue of thread; and, on reaching her rival, the historical
+romancers add, she compelled her to swallow poison.  Whatever may have
+been her fate, Fair Rosamond was buried at Godstow, and a Latin epitaph
+inscribed on her tomb to this effect:
+
+    "Here lies not Rose the Chaste, but Rose the Fair,
+    Whose breath perfumes no more, but taints the air."
+
+The ruins of the castle, completely covered with ivy, look down solemn
+and sad upon the Wye:
+
+    "Clifford has fallen--howe'er sublime,
+    Mere fragments wrestle still with time;
+    Yet as they perish, sure and slow,
+    And rolling dash the stream below,
+    They raise tradition's glowing scene,--
+    The clue of silk, the wrathful queen;
+    And link in memory's firmest bond
+    The love-lorn tale of Rosamond."
+
+We carried away with us for a considerable distance the dreamy repose of
+Clifford Castle; but this was at length broken by repose of another
+character.  The scene was a little wayside hut, purporting to be an inn,
+where the weary pedestrian might obtain shade or shelter, if no
+refreshment.  An old man, and an old woman, occupied the two fireside
+corners, the one reading, the other sewing, in profound silence.  Around
+the hearth, there was a semi-circle of five cats, in various attitudes of
+rest, but not one breaking the stillness of the place even by a pur.  A
+dog, apparently kept in proper order by his feline associates, lay
+outside the semicircle, and shared in the tranquillity of the scene.  We
+paused for a moment at the door, feeling that our presence was an
+intrusion; but, after a brief question, and a brief reply, the good wife
+dropped her eyes again upon her work, and the dog, who had himself raised
+his head, returned to his slumber with a sigh.  As for the other
+inhabitants, our presence had produced no effect upon them at all, and we
+withdrew to proceed upon our wanderings, unconsciously taking care to
+tread without noise.
+
+From this place to Hereford, the road runs through a rich and well
+cultivated country, dotted here and there with houses and villages, but
+not thickly enough to disturb the idea of pastoral repose.  Approaching
+Bradwardine, where the old castle said to have been the residence of the
+family of that name is _not_, the soil swells into wooded eminences, one
+of which is called Mirebeck Hill; and Brobury's Scar, a picturesque cliff
+rising from the bank of the river, adds still further to the diversity of
+the prospect.  Then came the various villas which usually adorn the
+neighbourhood of a large town--and which here are true embellishments to
+the landscape; and finally we enter the ancient, sober, quiet cathedral
+city of Hereford.
+
+Hereford was a principal town of Mercia under the Heptarchy, the palace
+of Offa, the most powerful of the Mercian princes, being within three
+miles of it on the north-eastern side.  Its church, in the time of Offa,
+was probably nothing more than a wooden building; but to the rise of that
+church in wealth and reputation was owing, according to the usual
+sequence of events at the period, the prosperity of the town.  Offa had
+treacherously inveigled to his court Ethelbert, prince of the East
+Angles, when he murdered him, and usurped his crown.  The body of the
+victim was buried in the church, where by working of miracles it
+attracted so much attention to the spot, that a new church of stone was
+constructed on the site of the wooden edifice, and dedicated to _Saint
+Ethelbert_.  Multitudes of course flocked to visit the martyr's tomb; the
+church was richly endowed by the remorse or hypocrisy of the assassin;
+and Hereford speedily rose from its comparative obscurity.
+
+About the year 939, the city was first enclosed by walls, the fragments
+of which now existing are supposed to stand upon the original
+foundations.  They were eighteen hundred yards in extent, enclosing the
+town on all sides except towards the south, where it has the defence of
+the Wye.  There were six gates, and fifteen embattled watch-towers.  The
+castle, concerning the date of which antiquarians are not agreed, stood
+on the south and east sides of the city, with the Wye on the south and
+the cathedral on the west.  Leland describes the keep as having been
+"high and very strong, having in the outer wall ten semicircular towers,
+and one great tower within."  He adds, that "it hath been one of the
+largest, fayrest, and strongest castels in England."  In the time of the
+civil wars, Hereford was the scene of some strife, but since then nothing
+has occurred--not even the introduction of manufactures--to disturb its
+repose.
+
+With the exception of the cathedral, a grand view of which is to be had
+from the Castle Green Promenade--a fine public walk on a small
+scale--there is nothing to detain the traveller.  Some fragments of the
+city walls, however, and of an old priory, may be visited by the
+antiquary; together with an old house, a "brotherless hermit," the last
+of a race demolished for the purpose of widening the street where the
+town hall stands--or rather sits--resting uneasily on some thin columns.
+The house, adorned with grotesque faces, bears its date, 1621.
+
+The traveller may also go, if he will, to Pipe Lane, formerly called Pipe
+Well Street, leading from the bridge to the cathedral, to see the house
+where Nell Gwynn was not born, and the bedchamber where she did not
+sleep.  These curiosities will be shown for a trifle, and they must now
+suffice: the dwelling which really had the distinction of giving birth to
+Mistress Eleanor having been pulled down more than twenty years ago.
+
+After the removal of this celebrated lady to London, she made her first
+appearance in Drury Lane Theatre, in the character of a fruit-girl, not
+on the stage, but in the lobby.  Mr. Hart, the manager, however, was
+induced to notice her by her natural humour and vivacity, and he produced
+her upon the boards about the year 1667.  Here she became a favorite of
+Dryden, who wrote some of his prologues and epilogues expressly for her.
+"The immediate cause of her becoming the object of the king's affection
+is thus represented.  At the duke's theatre, under Killegrew's patent,
+the celebrated Nokes appeared in a hat larger than that usually assigned
+to Pistol, which diverted the audience so much as to help off a bad play.
+Dryden, in return, caused a hat to be made of the circumference of a
+large coach wheel, and made Mrs. Gwynn speak an epilogue under the
+umbrella of it, with the brim stretched out in its utmost horizontal
+extension, not unlike a mushroom of that size.  No sooner did she appear
+in this strange dress, than the house was in convulsions of laughter.
+Amongst the rest, the king gave the fullest marks of approbation, by
+going behind the scenes after the play, and taking her home in his own
+coach to sup with him." {41}  Her son, born in 1670, was afterwards
+created duke of St. Albans; and her grandson became a prelate of the
+church, and the denizen of the episcopal palace nearly adjoining the
+humble house in Pipe Lane, where his maternal ancestor was born.  Mrs.
+Gwynne was one of the few royal favorites who have not abused their
+power, otherwise than in spending money which should have been under the
+control of the nation.  She was munificent in her charities, and may be
+considered, if not the founder of Chelsea Hospital, the cause of its
+having been founded.  "Her stature was short, her hair inclined to red;
+her eyes were small and lively, and she possessed what the French term
+embonpoint.  Her feet were of the most diminutive size, and as such were
+the subject of frequent mirth to the merry monarch."
+
+The staple commodity of Hereford is cider; but the reputation of the
+county for this production dates backward only to the reign of Charles
+I., when, according to Evelyn, it became "in a manner one entire
+orchard."  The apples are merely a variety of the crab, as the pears are
+descended from the common wild pear.  The plantations are found in every
+aspect, and on every soil; but in general the west winds, so much praised
+by the Roman poets, and after them by Philips the bard of cider, are
+unwholesome to the plant, from the circumstance of their blowing over the
+Welsh mountains, which are capped with snow even in the spring.  The best
+colours for cider fruits are red and yellow, the juice of the green being
+harsh and poor.  The pulp should be yellow, but this part of the apple is
+not so important as the rind and kernel, in which the strength and
+flavour of the liquid reside; and for this reason the smaller the apple
+is the better.  From twenty-four to thirty gallons are required to fill
+the provincial hogshead of one hundred and ten gallons.
+
+The cider-mill used even at this moment is a rude and imperfect
+contrivance, consisting of a circular stone, about twelve hundred weight,
+set on its edge in a shallow circular trough, and drawn round by a horse.
+The apples are gradually introduced into the trough, and a quantity may
+be thus mashed equal to a hogshead of cider in the day.  The expressed
+juice is put into casks, not quite filled, and in the open air; and as
+soon as the vinous fermentation takes place, it is racked.  When two
+years old it may be bottled, after which it will become rich and
+sparkling, and so remain for twenty or thirty years.  Perry is made with
+pears pretty nearly in the same way.
+
+The salmon is still the principal fish taken in the Wye, though far less
+plentiful than formerly.  It was at one time a common clause in the
+indentures of apprentices that they should not be compelled to live on
+salmon more than two days in the week.  Wolves were formerly so numerous
+in this district, that in 1234 a proclamation was issued commanding them
+to be destroyed, and calling upon "all the king's liege people to assist
+therein."  A wolf would now be an extraordinary spectacle indeed on the
+sunny slopes, or prowling among the apple orchards of Hereford!  But the
+Wye has seen changes more remarkable than this.
+
+                           [Picture: Hereford]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+
+Beauty and tameness--The travelling hill--Ross--The silver tankard--The
+Man of Ross--The sympathetic trees--Penyard Castle--Vicissitudes of the
+river--Wilton Castle--A voyage to sea in a basket--Pencraig Hill.
+
+Comparatively speaking, there is little worthy of remark between Hereford
+and Ross; and yet Gilpin's charge of _tameness_ is unjust.  What it wants
+is excitement.  The valley of the Wye is here beautiful--neither more,
+nor less; but its beauty is similar to that of the portion we have just
+traversed between the Hay and Hereford, and we therefore call it tame.
+Why did we not apply the word before?  Because the contrast presented by
+the valley after leaving Hay with the wilder or grander features we had
+passed formed one of the _vicissitudes_ of the river.  This will be
+understood by a traveller who journeys up the stream.  On reaching Ross,
+after emerging from the tumult, or sublimity, of the lower passage, he
+will gaze with delight on one of the most quietly beautiful landscapes in
+England--whose smooth green eminences, gentle groves, orchards and hop
+plantations (the latter far finer objects than the vineyards of the
+continent), white cottages, villages, and village spires, give an endless
+and yet simple variety to the picture.  After passing Hereford, in quest
+of new excitement, the scene-hunter will pronounce a similar character of
+landscape _tame_.
+
+Six miles from Hereford, the Lay adds its waters to the Wye, and near the
+confluence we remark an abrupt elevation, which being wholly different in
+character from the rest of the soil conveys the idea of an accident of
+nature.  And such it actually is.
+
+Marclay Hill--for so the elevation is called--in the time of Elizabeth,
+according to Camden, "rose as it were from sleep, and for three days
+moved on its vast body with an horrible noise, driving everything before
+it to an higher ground."  Fuller states that the ascent gained by the
+surprising traveller was eleven fathoms, that its bulk was twenty acres,
+and that the time it took to perform the feat was fourteen hours.  Sir
+Richard Baker, in the "Chronicles of England," is still more minute.  "In
+the thirteenth year of Queen Elizabeth," says he, "a prodigious
+earthquake happened in the east parts of Herefordshire, at a little town
+called Kinnaston.  On the seventeenth of February, at six o'clock in the
+evening, the earth began to open, and a hill, with a rock under it,
+making at first a great hollowing noise, which was heard a great way off,
+lifted itself up, and began to travel, bearing along with it the trees
+that grew upon it, the sheepfolds and flocks of sheep abiding there at
+the same time.  In the place from whence it was first moved it left a
+gaping distance forty foot broad, and fourscore ells long: the whole
+field was about twenty acres.  Passing along it overthrew a chapel
+standing in the way, removed a yew tree planted in the churchyard from
+the west to the east: with the like force it thrust before it highways,
+sheepfolds, hedges, and trees; made tilled ground pasture, and again
+turned pasture into tillage.  Having walked in this sort from Saturday
+evening till Monday noon, it then stood still."  The yew tree still
+exists as a witness of the fact, and the church bell was dug up not many
+years ago.
+
+                             [Picture: Ross]
+
+The traces of a Roman camp on Woldbury Hill, and on Eaton Hill those of
+an ancient fortification, forming a link in the chain of defences which
+formerly ran along this part of the country, may be inspected with
+advantage by the pedestrian who is read in antiquarian lore; but to
+others there will appear nothing which should detain their steps before
+the little town of Ross.  Here commences the tour of the lower Wye--of
+that part of the river which is known to fame as _the_ Wye.  As for the
+town itself, it is neat and prim-looking, sitting quietly upon an
+eminence above the river.  It is full of memories of the Man of Ross,
+which sanctify it from the boisterous vulgarities of a town.  The
+"heaven-directed spire" which he taught to rise is its prominent feature;
+and this object keeps the lines of Pope ringing in our ears like the
+church bell, and with a little of its monotony.
+
+This bell, by the way, is something more than an ordinary bell.  It bears
+the name of John Kyrle, and was cast at Gloucester, in 1695, at his own
+expense.  Nay, it possesses a relic more valuable than his name, for
+there is incorporated with its substance his favorite silver tankard.  He
+attended himself at the casting, and, drinking solemnly the orthodox
+toast of "Church and King," he threw the cup into the molten mass.  In a
+local guide-book, we find several little particulars of this fine old
+fellow, which are interesting from their naivete.
+
+It appears he was entered a gentleman commoner, of Baliol College,
+Oxford, in 1654, and that he was intended for the bar but soon
+relinquished all thoughts of that profession, and returning to Ross gave
+himself up to agriculture and building, and the improvement of his native
+town.
+
+An old maiden cousin, of the euphonous name of Bubb, kept house for him
+many years.  In his person, John was tall, thin, and well-shaped; his
+health was remarkably good, and he scarcely knew any of the frailties of
+old age until within a very short time of his death.  His usual dress was
+a suit of brown _dittos_, and a king William's wig, all in the costume of
+his day.  He disliked crowds and routs, but was exceedingly fond of snug,
+social parties, and "of dinnering his friends upon the market and fair
+days."  He was also exceedingly pleased with his neighbours dropping in
+without ceremony, loved to make a good long evening of it, enjoyed a
+merry story, and always seemed sorry when it was time to break up.  His
+dishes were generally plain and according to the season, but he dearly
+loved a goose, and was vain of his dexterity in carving it.  During the
+operation, which he invariably took upon himself, he always repeated one
+of those old sayings and standing witticisms that seem to attach
+themselves with peculiar preference to the cooked goose.  He never had
+roast beef on his table save and except on Christmas day; and malt liquor
+and good Herefordshire cider were the only beverages ever introduced.  At
+his kitchen fire there was a large block of wood, in lieu of a bench, for
+poor people to sit upon; and a piece of boiled beef, and three pecks of
+flower, made into loaves, were given to the poor every Sunday.  The
+number he chose at his "invitation dinners," were nine, eleven, or
+_thirteen_, including himself and his kinswoman, Miss Bubb; and he never
+cared to sit down to table until he had as many as made one of these
+numbers.  He not only superintended the labours of the road makers,
+planters, and gardeners, but commonly took an active part in them
+himself, delighting above all things to carry a huge watering-pot to
+water the trees he had newly set in the earth.  "With a spade on his
+shoulder and a glass bottle of liquor in his hand, he used to walk from
+his house to the fields and back again several times during the day."
+
+Without the trees planted by John Kyrle, Ross would be nothing, so far as
+the picturesque is concerned; and a delightful tradition, the truth of
+which is vouched by undeniable evidence, proves that the trees were not
+ungrateful to their founder.  A rector, as the story goes, had the
+impiety to cut down some of these living monuments of the taste of John
+Kyrle, which shaded the wall of the church beside his own pew; but the
+roots threw out fresh shoots, and these, penetrating into the interior,
+grew into two graceful elms, that occupied his seat with their foliage.
+If any one doubt the fact, let him go and see.  The trees are still
+there; their branches curtain the tall window that opens upon the pew;
+and their beautiful leaves cluster above the seat,
+
+    "And still keep his memory green in our souls."
+
+Besides the elms in the churchyard and neighbourhood, there is a fine
+avenue, planted by John Kyrle, called the Prospect, or the Man of Ross's
+Walk.  It is on the ridge of a hill behind the church, and commands a
+view of the valley of the Wye, about which there is some difference of
+opinion.  In King's anecdotes the planter's taste for prospects is
+commended; and it is said that "by a vast plantation of elms, which he
+disposed of in a fine manner, he has made one of the most _entertaining_
+scenes the county of Hereford affords."  Gilpin, on the other hand, who
+travelled with an easel before his mind's eye, cannot make a picture of
+it; and Gray the poet asserts, in reference to the spot in question, that
+"all points that are much elevated spoil the beauty of the valley, and
+make its parts, which are not large, look poor and diminutive."
+
+The only other relic shown at Ross is a fragment of an oak bedstead, on
+which Charles I. slept, on his way from Ragland Castle.  A house in
+Church Lane, called Gabriel Hill's Great Inn, contains the chamber so
+distinguished.
+
+Here the traveller may hire a boat, if he choose, for the remainder of
+his journey.  The Wye, however, is navigable to Hereford in barges of
+from eighteen to forty tons; and sometimes in lighter boats even to the
+Hay, but the shoals in summer and the floods in winter frequently
+interrupt the navigation.  In 1795 the river rose fifteen feet at the
+former place within twenty-four hours, and carried away bridges, cattle,
+sheep, timber, and everything that stood in its way.
+
+But even if he determine afterwards to proceed by the river, the
+traveller will do well to walk from Ross to the ruins of Penyard Castle;
+not that these ruins are in themselves worthy of his attention, but the
+road is beautiful throughout, and from the summit, Penyard Chace, he will
+see the little town he has left, and our wandering Wye in a new phasis.
+The country is diversified with hills and valleys, and wooded spaces
+between; and more especially when the shadows of evening are stealing
+over the landscape, the whole is a scene of enchantment.
+
+Although the lower passage of the river commences at Ross, we do not, for
+two or three miles further, get fairly into its peculiarities.  From the
+gentle, the graceful, the gay, it glides almost insensibly into the
+picturesque, the bold, and the grand.  The tranquillity of its course
+from the Hay--a tranquillity dearly purchased by the labours of its wild
+career during the upper passage--has prepared it for new vicissitudes,
+and new struggles.  The following description, by archdeacon Coxe,
+applies to a great part of the portion we are now entering upon, and
+cannot be improved either in fidelity or style.
+
+    "The effects of these numerous windings are various and striking; the
+    same objects present themselves, are lost and recovered with
+    different accompaniments, and in different points of view: thus the
+    ruins of a castle, hamlets embosomed in trees, the spire of a church
+    bursting from the wood, figures impending over the water, and broken
+    masses of rock fringed with herbage, sometimes are seen on one side,
+    sometimes on the other, and form the fore-ground or background of a
+    landscape.  Thus also the river itself here stretches in a continuous
+    line, there moves in a curve, between gentle slopes and fertile
+    meadows, or is suddenly concealed in a deep abyss, under the gloom of
+    impending woods."  "The banks for the most part rise abruptly from
+    the edge of the water, and are clothed with forests, or are broken
+    into cliffs.  In some places they approach so near that the river
+    occupies the whole intermediate space, and nothing is seen but woods,
+    rocks, and water; in others, they alternately recede, and the eye
+    catches an occasional glimpse of hamlets, ruins, and detached
+    buildings, partly seated on the margin of the stream, and partly
+    scattered on the rising grounds.  The general character of the
+    scenery, however, is wildness and solitude; and if we except the
+    populous district of Monmouth, no river perhaps flows for so long a
+    course in a well cultivated country, the banks of which exhibit so
+    few habitations."
+
+A little below Ross, on the right bank of the river, are the ruins of
+Wilton Castle, which was for several centuries the baronial residence of
+the Greys of the south, and was destroyed by the Hereford royalists in
+the time of Charles I.  Let us relate, however, as a circumstance of
+still more interest, that it was left, with the adjoining lands, by
+Thomas Guy, to the admirable charity in London which he founded, known by
+the name of Guy's Hospital.
+
+The Wye here passes under Wilton bridge, a construction of rather a
+curious kind, which dates from the close of the sixteenth century.
+Coracles are seldom seen so high up the river as this; but we mention
+them here because the hero of Gilpin's often repeated anecdote was an
+inhabitant of Wilton.  This man, it seems, ventured into the British
+Channel in a coracle, as far as the isle of Lundy; a very remarkable
+voyage to be made in a canvass tub, the navigation of the estuary of the
+Severn being quite as trying as that of any part of the British seas.
+Previously, however, to this exploit, the very same feat was performed by
+an itinerant stage-doctor of Mitchel Dean in the Forest.  The coracles
+are a sort of basket made of willow twigs, covered with pitched canvass
+or raw hide, and resembling in form the section of a walnut-shell.
+Similar rude contrivances are in use among the Esquimaux and other savage
+tribes, and were employed by the ancient Britons for the navigation of
+rivers.  They are now the fishing-boats of the rivers of South Wales; and
+when the day's work is done are carried home on the shoulders of their
+owners, disposed in such a way as to serve for a hood in case of rain.
+The early ships of Britain are described by Caesar and Pliny as being
+merely larger coracles--clumsy frames of rough timber, ribbed with
+hurdles and lined with hides.  According to Claudian they had masts and
+sails, although they were generally rowed, the rowers singing to the
+harp.
+
+At the farm of Weir End, the river takes a sudden bend, and rolls along
+the steep sides of Pencraig Hill, which are clothed with wood to the
+water's edge.  Soon the ruined turrets of Goodrich Castle present
+themselves, crowning the summit of a wooded eminence on the right bank,
+and as they vanish and reappear with the turnings of the river the effect
+is magnificent.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+
+Roman passes of the Wye--Goodrich
+Castle--Keep--Fortifications--Apartments--Its history--Goodrich
+Court--Forest of Dean--Laws of the Miners--Military exploit--Wines of
+Gloucestershire.
+
+If the conjecture of antiquaries be correct, that the great Roman road
+from Blestium to Gloucester, by Ariconium, proceeded by the ford of the
+Wye at Goodrich Castle, it is possible that this spot may have been of
+some consequence before the period when history takes any cognizance of
+the fortress.  Blestium is supposed to be Monmouth, from which the road
+probably led along the line of the present turnpike, between an
+entrenchment to the left, opposite Dixon Church, and an encampment on the
+Little Doward, to the right, supposed by some to be Roman, but usually
+described in the road books as British.  The name of Whitchurch Street,
+applied to a portion of this route further on, favours the supposition of
+a Roman origin.  Ariconium, the next station from Blestium, is Rosebury
+Hill, near Ross, according to those who identify Monmouth with Blestium.
+There was another Roman way which led from Blestium to Glevum
+(Gloucester) by a more direct route; crossing the Wye at the former
+place, and leading up the Kymin from the left bank of the river.  At
+Stanton, a little further on, the vestiges of a Roman settlement are
+indubitable, not only in the name of the place itself, but in the
+entrenchments that may be observed near the church, and the Roman cinders
+scattered about the fields.  At Monmouth and Goodrich Castle, therefore,
+were the two great passes of the Wye used by the Romans.  At the latter
+the river is crossed by a ferry.
+
+"The awe and admiration could not be enhanced with which I wandered
+through the dark passages and the spacious courts, and climbed the
+crumbling staircase of Goodrich Castle."  So says the German prince:
+although the time of his visit was winter, when the Wye and its ruins are
+stripped of the adjunct of foliage, which in the imagination of common
+travellers is inseparably connected with ideas of the picturesque or
+beautiful in natural scenery.
+
+Goodrich Castle forms a parallelogram, with a round tower at each angle,
+and a square keep in the south-west part of the enclosure.  A minute
+account of this remarkable ruin is given in the "Antiqua Monumenta;" and
+Mr. Bonner introduces his brief description, in illustration of his
+perspective views, with the remark that "the fortification (although not
+of large dimensions) contains all the different works which constitute a
+complete ancient baronial castle."  For this reason, if for no other, it
+would demand special observation; but the tourist of the Wye, even if
+ignorant of the interest which thus attaches to Goodrich Castle, will
+acknowledge that it forms one of the finest objects hitherto presented by
+the banks of the river.  It stands on the summit of a wooded hill, in the
+position of one of the castles of the Rhine, and in the midst of a scene
+of solemn grandeur which Mason may have had in view when he wrote his
+spirited description of the sacred grove of Mona, in "Caractacus."
+
+    "Here, Romans, pause, and let the eye of wonder
+    Gaze on the solemn scene: behold yon oak
+    How stem it frowns, and with its broad brown arms
+    Chills the pale plains beneath him: mark yon altar,
+    The dark stream brawling round its rugged base,
+    These cliffs, these yawning caverns, this wide circus,
+    Skirted with unhewn stone: they awe my soul
+    As if the very genius of the place
+    Himself appeared, and with terrific tread
+    Stalked through his drear domain."
+
+             "Yonder grots,
+    Are tenanted by bards, who nightly thence,
+    Robed in their flowing vests of innocent white,
+    Descend, with harps that glitter to the moon,
+    Hymning immortal strains.  The spirits of the air,
+    Of earth, of water, nay of heav'n itself,
+    Do listen to their lay: and oft, 'tis said,
+    In visible shapes dance they a magic round
+    To the high minstrelsy."
+
+The keep is the most ancient remains of the castle, and presents, on a
+small scale, all the usual features of this part of a fortification of
+the olden times.  It was composed of three stories, being intended to
+overlook the works, and had no windows on the landward side.  Each of
+these stories consisted of a single small room, the lowest being the
+prison, without even a loophole to admit air or light.  "The original
+windows," says King, "are the most truly Saxon that can be."  This
+applies more particularly to the one in the middle of the upper story,
+which appears to have remained without any alteration; while, in the one
+beneath, a stone frame for glass seems to have been inserted.  The style
+of this addition points to the time of Henry VI., and we may believe that
+it was made by the celebrated Earl Talbot, who tenanted one of these
+small chambers.  Besides the glass window, this apartment boasts a hearth
+for fire; and, as is usual in such buildings, the communication with the
+floor above is by a circular staircase in an angle of the massive wall.
+"To this staircase is a most remarkable door-way; it was one large
+transom-stone, as if to aid the arch to support the wall above, and in
+this respect resembles several other Saxon structures, in which this
+strange kind of fashion seems to have been uniformly adopted; until it
+became gradually altered by the introduction of a flattish _under-arch_,
+instituted in the room of the transom-stone." {63}
+
+The entrance to the keep was by a flight of steps, leading to the above
+apartment; but the dungeon had an entrance of its own, of a construction
+which leads antiquarians to conjecture, that it was added in the reign of
+Edward III., when Richard Talbot obtained the royal license for making
+his dungeon a state prison.
+
+The fortifications to be surmounted before an enemy could arrive at the
+keep, were numerous and complete.  Independently of the fosse, there was
+a deep pit, hewn out of the solid rock, to be crossed by a drawbridge,
+and then commenced a dark vaulted passage between two semicircular
+towers.  Eleven feet within the passage was a massive gate, defended (as
+likewise the drawbridge) by loopholes in the sides of the vault, and
+machicolations in the roof, for pouring down molten lead or boiling water
+on the assailants.  A few feet farther on was a portcullis, and then a
+second, the space between protected by loopholes and machicolations.
+Presently there was another strong gate, and finally a stone projection
+on both sides, intended for the insertion of beams of timber, to act as a
+barricade.  If we add that the passage thus defended was less than ten
+feet wide, and that the exterior walls of the whole building were in
+general seven feet thick, an idea may be formed of the strength of
+Goodrich Castle.
+
+Within the ballium, or enclosed space, entered with such difficulty, were
+the keep here described, the state apartments, chapel, &c.; but the whole
+of these are in so ruinous a state, as to be nearly unintelligible except
+to antiquaries.  The great hall was sixty-five feet long and twenty-eight
+broad, and appears to have been a magnificent apartment of the time of
+Edward I., as its windows indicate.  The fire-place is still
+distinguishable in the great kitchen.  Communicating with the hall is a
+smaller room, from which a passage led into another room of state,
+fifty-five feet by twenty; and this opened into the ladies' tower,
+standing upon the brow of a lofty precipice, and commanding a delightful
+view over the country.
+
+It is curious that so remarkable a structure should be almost destitute
+of authentic history, till the very period when it ceased to exist but as
+a ruin.  All that is known of its origin is, that a fort, held by a
+doomsday proprietor, of the name of Godric, commanded the ford of the
+river at this place before the Conquest.  The fort consisted, in all
+probability, of little more than the keep; to which, at later periods,
+additions were made, cognisable by their style, till Goodrich Castle
+became a regular fortress.  In 1165 it was the property of the earl of
+Pembroke, then lord of the whole district from Ross to Chepstow; and,
+subsequently, it was a seat of the Talbot family, who, in 1347, founded a
+priory of black canons at Flanesford, which is now a barn, about a
+quarter of a mile below the castle.  During the civil wars this fortress
+played a conspicuous part, being taken and retaken by the opposing
+parties.  In the first instance it held for the parliament; but was
+afterwards seized by Sir Richard Lingen, who, in 1646, defended it with
+great gallantry against Colonel Birch for nearly five months, and thus
+conferred upon it the distinction of being the last castle in England,
+excepting Pendennis, which held out for the king.  In the following year
+it was ordered by the parliament to be "totally disgarrisoned and
+_slighted_," which sentence was just sufficiently carried into effect to
+give the Wye a magnificent ruin at the very spot where taste would have
+placed it.  "Here," says Mr. Gilpin, "a grand view presented itself, and
+we rested on our oars to examine it.  A reach of the river, forming a
+noble bay, is spread before the eye.  The bank on the right is steep, and
+covered with wood, beyond which a bold promontory shoots out, crowned
+with a castle rising among trees.  This view, which is one of the
+grandest on the river, I should not scruple to call correctly
+picturesque."
+
+Near the spot where Mr. Gilpin must have been is the ferry where Henry
+IV., who was waiting to be taken across, received intelligence of his
+queen's being delivered of a prince at Monmouth Castle.  The king,
+according to tradition, was so overjoyed at the news, that he presented
+the ferry and boat, which at this time belonged to the crown, to the
+ferryman.  On the left bank, nearly opposite, are the church and village
+of Walford, in the former of which is buried Colonel Kyrle, who deserted
+the service of Charles I. for that of the parliament.
+
+Goodrich Court, to which a winding path leads from the castle, is
+somewhat nearer Ross.  It is the seat of Sir Samuel Meyrick, the well
+known antiquary, and presents, in the architecture, an exact imitation of
+a mansion of the middle of the fourteenth century.  In this respect, as
+well as in the arrangement of its proprietor's valuable collection of old
+armour, the house may be said to be absolutely perfect.  It forms in
+itself and its contents, one of the most interesting museums in Europe;
+and it is open, with very little ceremony, to the inspection of the
+traveller, as all such things are, when they do not happen to be the
+property of persons unworthy to possess them.
+
+The river sweeps boldly round the wooded headland on which Goodrich
+Castle stands; and the ruin is thus presented again and again, in new
+phases (but none so interesting as the first), to the voyager, as he
+glides down the now varied and romantic river.  A steep ridge on the
+right bank is called Coppet, or Copped Wood Hill, where the stream makes
+a sweep of five miles, to perform the actual advance of one.  The mass of
+foliage on the opposite bank is a part of the Forest of Dean, variegated,
+by rocks, hamlets, and village spires.  Bishop's Brook here enters the
+Wye, and serves as a boundary between the counties of Hereford and
+Gloucester, and between the parishes of Walford and Ruerdean.  "The view
+at Ruerdean church," says Mr. Gilpin, "is a scene of great grandeur.
+Here both sides of the river are steep, and both woody; but on one
+(meaning the left bank), the woods are interspersed with rocks.  The deep
+umbrage of the Forest of Dean occupies the front, and the spire of the
+church rises among the trees.  The reach of the river which exhibits this
+scene is long; and of course the view, which is a noble piece of natural
+perspective, continues some time before the eye; but when the spire comes
+directly in front, the grandeur of the landscape is gone."
+
+The famous Forest of Dean is in the space which here lies between the
+Severn and the Wye.  "In former ages," as Camden tells us, "by the
+irregular tracks and horrid shades," it was so dark and dreary as to
+render its inhabitants more audacious in robberies.  In the time of
+Edward I. there were seventy-two furnaces here for melting iron; and it
+is related, that the miners of those days were very industrious in
+seeking after the beds of cinders, where the Romans of Britain had been
+at work before them, which remains, when burnt over again, were supposed
+to make the best iron.  The privileges of these miners were, no doubt,
+for the most part assumed, but some granted by law are highly curious.
+The following are specimens:--
+
+    "Also, if any smith holder, or any other be debtor, for mine to a
+    miner, the which smith holder or other be within, then the miner is
+    bailiff in every place (except his own close), to take the horse of
+    the debtor, if he be saddled with a work saddle, and with no other
+    saddle; and be it that the horse be half within the door of the
+    smith, so that the miner may take the tail of the horse, the debtor
+    shall deliver the horse to the miner.  And if he so do not, the miner
+    shall make and levy hue and cry upon the said horse, and then the
+    horse shall be forfeit to the king for the hue and cry made and
+    levied, and yet the miner shall present the debtor in the Mind Law,
+    which is the court for the mine."
+
+    "And the debtor before the constable and his clerk, the gaveler and
+    the miners, and none other folk to plead the right, only the
+    ministers shall be there, and hold a stick of holly, and the said
+    miner demanding the debt, shall put his hand upon the said stick, and
+    none other with him, and he shall swear by his faith, that the said
+    debt is to him due; and the prove made, the debtor, in the same
+    place, shall pay the miner all the debt proved, or else he shall be
+    brought to the castle of St. Briavells till grace be made, and also
+    he shall be amerced to the king in two shillings.
+
+    "Also the miner hath such franchises to inquire the mine in every
+    soil of the king's of which it may be named, and also of all other
+    folk, without withsaying of any man.
+
+    "And also if any be that denieth any soil, whatsoever it be, be it
+    sound or no, or of what degree it may be named, then the gaveler, by
+    the strength of the king, shall deliver the soil to the miners, with
+    a convenient way, next stretching to the king's highway, by the which
+    mine may be carried to all places and waters that lean convenient to
+    the said mine, without withsaying of any man."
+
+The Forest of Dean plays a conspicuous part in the wars of Monmouthshire,
+serving as a natural outwork for the county.  The following transaction
+is described by Sanderson, the historian of Charles I.:--"After Sir
+William Waller," says he, "had refreshed his men, he advanced towards
+Monmouthshire, invited by some gentlemen to reduce these parts.  At his
+coming to the town of Monmouth, the garrison of the lord Herbert retired,
+leaving a naked place to Sir William; where he found small success of his
+parties, sent abroad for supplies of money.  He marches to Usk, and
+spending some time to no purpose in that county, he returns, the stream
+of the people affording him no welcome, being all universal tenants of
+that county to the earl of Worcester.
+
+"In this time Prince Maurice enters Teuxbury, with a brigade of horse and
+foot added to the lord Grandeson, resolving to make after Waller, or to
+meet his return out of Wales.  A bridge of boats wafts him over the
+Severn, with a body of two thousand horse and foot.  Waller was nimble in
+his retreat, not to be catcht in a noose or neck of Wales; but, by a
+bridge of boats, came back at Chepstow, with his foot and artillery, and
+himself, with his horse and dragoons, passed through the lowest part of
+the Forest of Dean, near the river side of Severn; and ere the prince had
+notice, sends forth two parties to fall upon two of the Prince's
+quarters, which was performed, while Waller's main body slipped between
+both, and a party was left also to face them, and make good the retreat,
+which came off but disorderly, with loss of some soldiers.  It was held a
+handsome conveyance, and unexpected, to bring himself out of the snare by
+uncouth ways."
+
+Gloucestershire, of which the Forest of Dean forms a part, although still
+boasting one of the richest soils in England, is no longer a _wine
+country_.  "The ground," according to William of Malmesbury,
+"spontaneously produces fruit in taste and colour far exceeding others,
+many of which will keep the year round, so as to serve their owners till
+others come in again.  No county in England has more or richer vineyards,
+or which yield greater plenty of grapes, and of a more agreeable flavour.
+The wine has not a disagreeable sharpness to the taste, as it is little
+inferior to that of France in sweetness."  On this Camden remarks, that
+it is more owing to "the indolence of the inhabitants than to the
+alteration in the climate," that in his time wine was no longer a
+production of the county.
+
+Vines were introduced into Britain by the Romans, and the hills of South
+Wales became more especially famous for their vineyards.  They were
+mentioned in the Domesday Book, before the time of William of Malmesbury;
+and tithes of wines are frequently alluded to in the records of
+cathedrals.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+
+Iron furnaces of the Wye--Lidbroke--Nurse of Henry V.--Coldwell
+Rocks--Symond's Yat--New Weir--Monmouth.
+
+The woods rising amphitheatrically on the left bank, just before reaching
+Ruerdean, are called Bishop's Wood; and there will be observed, for the
+first time of their presenting themselves conspicuously, the iron
+furnaces, which form a very striking characteristic of the river.
+
+The iron furnaces on the Wye rather add to than diminish the effect of
+the scenery.  This is caused by the abundance of wood in the furnace
+districts, which conceals the details, while it permits the smoke to
+ascend in wreaths through the trees, and float like a veil around the
+hills.  These works, however, are merely a modern revival of a species of
+industry which extends backwards beyond the reach of history.  The heaps
+of cinders which are discovered on the hills of Monmouthshire are the
+production either of bloomeries, the most ancient mode of fusing iron, or
+of furnaces of a very antique construction.  The operation of smelting
+was performed in both of these by means of charcoal; and after the lands
+were cleared, the want of fuel led to the decline of the iron works.
+About eighty years ago, in consequence of the discovery of the mode of
+making pig iron, and subsequently even bar iron, with coal instead of
+charcoal, this branch of industry suddenly revived; although on the Wye
+charcoal is still burnt, and made upon the spot, where, instead of
+vulgarising the district, it adds a very remarkable feature to the
+picturesque.
+
+At Lidbroke, on the same side, the commoner sympathies of life come into
+play, and the vulgar occupations of men serve at once to diversify the
+scene, and even to give it a new character of the picturesque.  The lower
+passage has hitherto been chiefly distinguished by a romantic grandeur,
+both in the forms of nature, and the associations of history; and even
+the iron furnaces, from the circumstances we have mentioned, have added a
+charm congenial to the character of the picture.  At Lidbroke, the new
+adjunct is nothing more than a _wharf_, with little vessels lying near
+it,--boats passing and repassing,--horses, carts, men, women, and
+children stirring along the banks: but the whole, in such a spot, forms
+an assemblage which adds, by contrast, to the general effect.
+
+On the opposite bank the district of Monmouthshire, called Welsh Bicknor,
+commences--for we have hitherto been in Hereford--and Courtfield claims
+our attention for a moment, as the place where Henry V. is said to have
+been nursed, under the care of the countess of Salisbury.  The remains of
+a bed, and an old cradle, were formerly shown as relics of the Monmouth
+hero.  Half a mile further down the river is Welsh Bicknor Church, which
+has puzzled the antiquarians by its sepulchral effigy, representing a
+recumbent female figure in stone, not ungracefully dressed in a loose
+robe, but without inscription or coat of arms.  Tradition will have it
+that this is _the_ countess of Salisbury; and it is perhaps correct in
+the person, though wrong in the name, for the lady who nursed Henry at
+Courtfield (supposing him to have been there at all) was, in all
+probability, Lady Montacute, who married a second son of the first earl
+of Salisbury, but was no countess herself.  Her son, however, Sir John de
+Montacute, who possessed the manor of Welsh Bicknor, succeeded to the
+earldom, and became earl-marshal of England.  It was he who was chief of
+the Lollards, and was murdered in 1400 by the populace of Cirencester.
+The manor, although falling to the crown on account of his supposed
+treason, was afterwards restored to the family, and became the property
+of his descendant Richard, the great earl of Warwick and Salisbury.
+Dugdale traces this ominous heirloom to Margaret, grand-daughter of the
+great earl, daughter of the duke of Clarence, and wife of Lord Montague.
+This lady, after witnessing the execution of her brother Edward, earl of
+Warwick, and her son Henry Lord Montague, was herself beheaded in 1541.
+The manor of Welsh Bicknor, and the mansion of Courtfield, passed
+subsequently into the ancient family of Vaughan.  We may mention here,
+however, although the circumstance is of no great consequence, that Sir
+Samuel Meyrick assigns the costume of the figure in Welsh Bicknor Church
+to the era of Edward I., about a century before that of Henry V.
+
+A short distance below the church this abutment of Monmouthshire
+terminates, and the right bank of the river lies as before in Hereford,
+the left in Gloucester.  At Coldwell, the view is closed in by a
+magnificent rock scene, differing entirely in character from any yet
+afforded by the Wye.  To suffer this to appear--supposing the traveller
+to be descending the river--a wooded hill, called Rosemary Topping, one
+of the common features of the stream, shifts like a scene in a theatre,
+and becomes a side-screen; so that the almost naked cliff remains the
+principal object, and confers its character upon the view, to which the
+river and its banks to the right and left are only adjuncts.
+
+The first grand mass of rock is nearly insulated, and reminds one at
+first sight of the keep of some ruined castle.  But the Coldwell rocks
+want no associations of the kind: they are fragments of the temples of
+nature, and have nothing to do with the history of man.  To our judgment,
+the shadowy hollows scooped out of the sides of the precipices, and
+overhung by foliage, which are nothing more than the sites of _lime
+kilns_, are more advantageous to the picture than the finest ruins
+imaginable.  They come in without pretence; they make no effort at
+rivalry; but present the idea of human nature in an attitude of befitting
+humility and simplicity.  "These," says the German prince, "are craggy
+and weatherbeaten walls of sandstone, of gigantic dimension,
+perpendicular or overhanging, projecting abruptly from amid oaks, and
+hung with rich festoons of ivy.  The rain and storms of ages have beaten
+and washed them into such fantastic forms, that they appear like some
+caprice of human art.  Castles and towers, amphitheatres and
+fortifications, battlements and obelisks mock the wanderer, who fancies
+himself transported into the ruins of a city of some extinct race.  Some
+of these picturesque masses are at times loosened by the action of the
+weather, and fall thundering from rock to rock, with a terrific plunge
+into the river."
+
+From Symond's Yat to the New Weir, this _kind_ of scenery continues;
+although the masses of cliff of course change their form and situation.
+The river, in a portion of its course, washes their base, at one time an
+almost perpendicular wall, at another clothed in woods till near the
+summit, which is seen rising out of the foliage, and tracing its
+battlemented outline upon the sky.  From these two points the distance is
+only six hundred yards by land, and not less than four miles by water;
+and the shorter route is in this case the better.  On the river, we soon
+lose the magnificence of the picture; while on shore, there is superadded
+to this a view of the extravagant mazes of the Wye on either side of the
+neck of land on which the spectator stands.  If it be added that the
+point of view, Symond's Yat, appeared to Mr. Coxe to be two thousand feet
+high (although this is an evident mistake), it will readily be imagined
+that this scene is of itself worth a pilgrimage to the Wye.  The
+prospect, comprehending portions of Herefordshire, Gloucestershire, and
+Monmouthshire, embraces the following objects, according to those who are
+versed in the local names.  To the north is seen Coppet Wood Hill,
+interspersed with rock and common;--to the north-west appear the spire
+and village of Goodrich, and, at the foot of the hill, Rocklands and
+Huntsholm Ferry;--to the west, Hunthsolm, behind which is Whitchurch,
+and, in the distance, the Welsh hills;--to the south-west, the
+mountainous side of the Great Doward;--to the south, Staunton Church, and
+the Buck-stone, upon a promontory; and below, Highmeadow Woods and the
+river; on the left, the rock of the New Weir, and on the right, the rocky
+wall of the east side of the Doward;--to the south-east, the village of
+English Bicknor, a side view of Coldwell Rocks, and Rosemary
+Topping;--and, to the east, Ruerdean Wood, with the church in the
+distance, Bishop's Wood, and Courtfield, with the woody ridges of
+Hawkwood and Puckwood completing the panorama.
+
+                         [Picture: The New Weir]
+
+Gilpin calls the New Weir the second grand scene on the Wye.
+
+    "The river," says he, "is wider than usual in this part, and takes a
+    sweep round a towering promontory of rock, which forms the
+    side-screen on the left, and is the grand feature of the view.  It is
+    not a broad, fractured piece of rock, but rather a woody hill, from
+    which large projections in two or three places burst out, rudely hung
+    with twisting branches, and shaggy furniture; which, like the mane
+    round the lion's head, gives a more savage air to these wild
+    exhibitions of nature.  Near the top a pointed fragment of solitary
+    rock, rising above the rest, has rather a fantastic appearance--but
+    it is not without its effect in marking the scene . . . On the right
+    side of the river, the bank forms a woody amphitheatre, following the
+    course of the stream round the promontory.  Its lower skirts are
+    adorned with a hamlet, in the midst of which volumes of thick smoke,
+    thrown up at intervals from an iron forge, as its fires receive fresh
+    fuel, add double grandeur to the scene. . . .
+
+    "But what peculiarly marks this view, is a circumstance on the water.
+    The whole river at this place makes a precipitate fall--of no great
+    height indeed, but enough to merit the name of a cascade, though to
+    the eye above the stream it is an object of no consequence.  In all
+    the scenes we had yet passed, the water moving with a slow and solemn
+    pace, the objects around kept time, as it were, with it; and every
+    steep, and every rock which hung over the river, was solemn,
+    tranquil, and majestic.  But here the violence of the stream, and the
+    roaring of the waters, impressed a new character on the scene: all
+    was agitation and uproar, and every steep and every rock stared with
+    wildness and terror."
+
+Let us add the testimony of another great authority on the picturesque;
+more especially as his remarks serve to corroborate our own on the effect
+received by the river from objects which elsewhere are mean and common.
+
+    "A scene at the New Weir on the Wye, which in itself is truly great
+    and awful, so far from being disturbed, becomes more interesting and
+    important by the business to which it is destined.  It is a chasm
+    between two high ranges of hills, that rise almost perpendicularly
+    from the water: the rocks on the sides are mostly heavy masses, and
+    their colour is generally brown; but here and there a pale craggy
+    shape starts up to a vast height above the rest, unconnected, broken,
+    and bare: large trees frequently force out their way amongst them;
+    and many of these stand far back in the covert, where their natural
+    dusky hue is heightened by the shadow that overhangs them.  The river
+    too, as it retires, loses itself in the woods, which close
+    immediately above, then rise thick and high, and darken the water.
+    In the midst of all this gloom is an _iron forge_, covered with a
+    black cloud of smoke, and surrounded with half-burnt ore, with coal,
+    and with cinders: the fuel for it is brought down a path, worn into
+    steps narrow and steep, and winding among precipices; and near it is
+    an open space of barren moor, about which are scattered the huts of
+    the workmen.  It stands close to the cascade of the Weir, where the
+    agitation of the current is increased by large fragments of rocks,
+    which have been swept down by floods from the banks, or shivered by
+    tempests from the brow; and the sullen sound, at stated intervals, of
+    the strokes from the great hammer in the forge, deadens the roar of
+    the waterfall.  Just below it, while the rapidity of the stream still
+    continues, a ferry is carried across it; and lower down the fishermen
+    use little round boats called truckles (coracles), the remains
+    perhaps of the ancient British navigation, which the least motion
+    will overset, and the slightest touch may destroy.  All the
+    employments of the people seem to require either exertion or caution;
+    and the ideas of fear or danger which attend them give to the scene
+    an animation unknown to the solitary, though perfectly compatible
+    with the wildest romantic situation." {85}
+
+To this, however, we must add as a note, that both Weir and forge have
+now vanished.  The more headlong rush and louder roar of the river mark
+the place where the former stood; and some limekilns contribute the smoke
+of the latter without its noise.
+
+During the whole of this part of the passage, the stream is interrupted
+by fragments of rock, around which the water rushes tumultuously; but at
+the New Weir these interruptions, above noticed, acquire a character of
+sublimity, when taken in conjunction with the rest of the picture.  The
+river, roaring and foaming, is in haste to escape, and at length is lost
+to the eye, as it seems to plunge for ever into sepulchral woods.
+
+Beyond this, there are several other rock scenes, but none that will bear
+description after the foregoing; although to the traveller wearied with
+excitement, they come in with good effect.  Below New Weir, the river
+stretches with a curve between Highmeadows Wood on the left bank, and the
+precipitous cliffs of the Great Doward on the right.  Then the Little
+Doward peeps over a screen of rocks and shrubs.  These two hills are
+called King Arthur's Plain, and between these is King Arthur's Hall, the
+level of an exhausted iron mine.  Then we pass a cluster of rocks called
+St. Martin's or the Three Sisters, and a pool of the river named St.
+Martin's Well, where the water is said to be seventy feet deep.  Various
+seats and cottages give variety to the picture, situated in the midst of
+rich woods and undulating eminences; and at length the landscape sinks
+calmly down, and Monmouth--"delightsome Monmouth"--is seen in long
+perspective, terminating a reach of the river.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+
+Monmouth--History of the Castle--Apartment of Henry of
+Monmouth--Ecclesiastical remains--Benedictine priory--Church of St.
+Mary--Church of St. Thomas--Monnow Bridge--Modern town--Monmouth
+caps--The beneficent parvenu.
+
+Monmouth lies embowered among gentle hills, only diversified by wood,
+corn, and pasture; but to view it either from the Wye, or any of the
+neighbouring eminences, one would be far from supposing it to have so
+tame, or at least so quiet a site.  From one point, its spire is seen
+passing through a deep and mysterious wood; from another, it hangs
+perched on a precipitous ridge; and from the Wye it rises with
+considerable stateliness in the form of an amphitheatre.  It stands at
+the confluence of the Wye and the Monnow, from which it derives its
+English name.
+
+A royal fortress existed here before the conquest, a circumstance which
+renders its early history full of fearful vicissitudes, although these
+are but very imperfectly traced.  In the time of Henry III., the castle,
+after changing hands repeatedly, was taken and rased to the ground.
+"Thus the glorie of Monmouth," says Lambarde, "had clean perished, ne had
+it pleased God longe after in that place to give life to the noble King
+Henry V., who of the same is called Henry of Monmouth."  It was a
+favourite residence of the father of this prince, King Henry IV., and
+also of his father, John of Gaunt, "time honoured Lancaster," to whom it
+came by his marriage with Blanch, daughter and heiress of Henry, duke of
+Lancaster, whose title he was afterwards granted.  Henry V. was born here
+in 1387, and from this circumstance is styled Henry of Monmouth.  This
+prince enlarged the duchy of Lancaster with his maternal inheritance, and
+obtained an act of parliament that all grants of offices and estates
+should pass under the seal of the duchy.  Henry VI. and VII. possessed
+the castle of Monmouth, as part of the duchy, by right of inheritance;
+but between these reigns it was given by Edward IV. to Lord Herbert,
+afterwards earl of Pembroke.  Although the duchy, however, continued in
+the crown, the castle, together with other possessions in Monmouthshire,
+was alienated, and became private property, but at what period does not
+clearly appear.  In the reign of Elizabeth, it is ascertained, by
+different grants, to have been still parcel of the duchy, and also in
+that of James I., by the following presentment made under a commission:
+"Item, wee present that his majestie hath one ancient castell, called
+Monmouth Castell, situated within the liberties of the said towne, which
+is nowe, and hath been for a long time, ruinous and in decaye, but by
+whom it hath byn decayed wee knowe not, nor to what value, in regarde it
+was before our rememberment, savinge one greate hall which is covered and
+mayntayned for the judges of the assise to sitt in.  And for and
+concerning any demean lands belonginge to the same castell, wee knowe not
+of any more save only the castell hill, wherein divers have gardens, and
+the castell green, which is inclosed within the walls of the said
+castell."
+
+Before the end of the seventeenth century, we find the castle in the
+hands of the first duke of Beaufort, if the following anecdote,
+indicative either of an ambitious or a fantastic spirit, can be believed.
+"The marchioness of Worcester," says the author of the Secret Memoirs of
+Monmouthshire, "was ordered by her grandfather, the late duke of
+Beaufort, to lie in of her first child in a house lately built within the
+castle of Monmouth, near that spot of ground and space of air, where our
+great hero Henry V. was born."
+
+Whatever mutilations this castle may have undergone since the days of its
+royal magnificence, by whomever it may have been at length "decayed," or
+at whatever period it came into the hands of the Beauforts, this at least
+is certain, that there is now not more than enough left to indicate its
+site.  "The transmutations of time," says Gilpin, "are often ludicrous.
+Monmouth Castle was formerly the palace of a king, and the birthplace of
+a mighty prince; it is now converted into a yard for fattening ducks."
+The ruins, however, must have been concealed from his view by the stables
+and other outhouses that had risen from the fragments, so as completely
+to hide them from the townward side.  Coxe, a much more correct observer,
+although less learned in the laws of the picturesque, describes them in
+1800 as presenting, when viewed from the right bank of the Monnow, "an
+appearance of dilapidated grandeur which recalls to memory the times of
+feudal magnificence."
+
+Although the roof and great part of the walls had already fallen, the
+site of two remarkable apartments could be traced distinctly; that in
+which Henry was born, and another adjoining which had been used, even
+within the memory of some of the inhabitants, for the assizes.  The
+latter was sixty-three feet in length and forty-six in breadth, and was
+no doubt the "greate hall" mentioned in the presentment quoted above as
+being "mayntayned for the judges of the assise to sitt in."
+
+The apartment of Henry of Monmouth is thus described by the archdeacon:
+
+    "The apartment which gave birth to the Gwentonian hero was an upper
+    story, and the beams that supported the floor still project from the
+    side walls; it was fifty-eight feet long, and twenty-four broad, and
+    was decorated with gothic windows, of which some are still remaining,
+    and seem to be of the age of Henry III.  The walls of this part are
+    not less than ten feet in thickness.  About fifty years ago, a
+    considerable part of the southern wall fell down with a tremendous
+    crash, which alarmed the whole town, leaving a breach not less than
+    forty feet in length.  On the ground floor beneath are three circular
+    arches terminating in chinks, which have a very ancient appearance;
+    at the north-eastern angle, within a stable, may be seen a round
+    tower six feet in diameter, which was once a staircase leading to the
+    grand apartment."
+
+To the right of this apartment, the same author traced the vestige of the
+original walls in a private house built within the ancient site.  They
+were from six to ten feet, formed of pebbles and mortar, and is so
+compact a mass as not to yield in hardness to solid stone.
+
+Next to the ruined castle of an ancient town, come the ecclesiastical
+remains; for the stronghold of the chief, and the cell of the monk, were
+usually the nucleus round which the town was gathered.  The principal
+relics of the latter kind in Monmouth are those of a benedictine priory
+of black monks, dedicated to St. Mary, which was founded as a cell to the
+monastery of St. Florence, near Saumur in Anjou, by Wikenoc, lord of
+Monmouth in the reign of Henry I.  The ruins are small, but interesting;
+and not the less so from containing an apartment distinguished by a rich
+gothic bay window, pointed out by tradition as the study of that
+mysterious personage, Geoffry of Monmouth.  The church of the priory
+stood on the site of the present parish church of St. Mary, of which the
+tower and the lower part of the spire are the only remains of the
+original.  This spire, which is "lofty, and light, and small," is the
+grand scenic feature of the town when viewed from a distance; and in
+return, it affords to the traveller who will take the trouble to ascend
+it a point from which to view the country to most advantage.  The
+beautiful vale in which the town stands, with its undulating eminences,
+among which wander the Wye, the Monnow, and the Trothy, is seen in an
+almost circular form, enclosed from the vulgar world, by a line of hills
+mantled with woods and forests.
+
+The ancient church of St. Thomas stands near the bridge of the Monnow,
+and from its circular arches, and extreme simplicity of appearance, is
+probably older than the conquest.  This does not apply, however, to the
+entire building, the western window, and some other morceaux, displaying
+the ornamented Gothic of a late period.  The antiquity of the building,
+it should be said, is rendered the more probable by its standing beyond
+the bridge, where the suburbs of the modern town are supposed to occupy
+the site of the British town during the Saxon era.
+
+The bridge, of which a view is given in Grose's Antiquities, is itself an
+object of interest, containing, on its centre, the Monnow Gate, the only
+one of the four original gates, mentioned by Leland, that remains entire.
+Both bridge and gate bear evidence of very high antiquity, and were
+probably erected by the Saxons as a barrier against the Welsh.  The town
+was farther fortified by a wall and moat, of which the latter was entire
+in the time of Leland, and some fragments of the former remaining.  But
+all vestiges of those defences have now vanished, with the exception of
+the Monnow Gate, and some pieces of a tower.
+
+Of the modern town, it can be said that it is neat and clean, with one
+broad and well-built street.  It is neither mean nor elegant, and
+presents no offensive contrast to the beautiful scenery by which it is
+surrounded.  The navigation of the Wye is its principal support, for at
+the present day at least it has no manufactories, although celebrated in
+that of its own Henry for _caps_.  "If your majestie is remembered of it,
+the Welchmen did goot service in a garden where leeks did grow, wearing
+leeks in their Monmouth caps."  The account given of this staple article
+by Fuller, in his Worthies, is worth quoting.
+
+    "These," says he, "were the most ancient, general, warm, and
+    profitable coverings of men's heads in this island.  It is worth our
+    pains to observe the tenderness of our kings to preserve the trade of
+    cap-making, and what long and strong struggling our state had to keep
+    up the using thereof, so many thousands of people being thereby
+    maintained in the land, especially before the invention of
+    fulling-mills, all caps before that time being wrought, beaten, and
+    thickened, by the hands and feet of men, till those mills, as they
+    eased many of their labour, outed more of their livelihood.  Capping
+    anciently set fifteen distinct callings on work, as they are reckoned
+    up in the statute: 1. carders, 2. spinners; 3. knitters; 4. parters
+    of wool; 5. forfers; 6. thickeners; 7. dressers; 8. walkers; 9.
+    dyers; 10. battelers; 11. shearers; 12. pressers; 13. edgers; 14.
+    liners; 15. band-makers, and other exercises.  No wonder then that so
+    many statutes were enacted in parliament to encourage this
+    handicraft."  * * * * "Lastly; to keep up the usage of caps, it was
+    enacted, in the 13th of Queen Eliz. cap. 19, that they should be
+    worne by all persons (some of worship and quality excepted) on
+    sabbath and holy days, on the pain of forfeiting ten groats for the
+    omission thereof.
+
+    "But it seems that nothing but hats would fit the heads (or humours
+    rather) of the English, as fancied by them fitter to fence their fair
+    faces from the injury of wind and weather, so that the 39th of Queen
+    Elizabeth this statute was repealed; yea, the cap, accounted by the
+    Romans an emblem of liberty, is esteemed by the English (falconers
+    and hunters excepted) a badge of servitude, though very useful in
+    themselves, and the ensign of constancy, because not discomposed, but
+    retaining their fashion, in what form soever they may be crouded.
+
+    "The best caps were formerly made at Monmouth, where the capper's
+    chapel doth still remain, being better carved and gilded than any
+    other part of the church.  But on the occasion of a great plague
+    happening in this town, the trade was some years since removed hence
+    to Beaudley, in Worcestershire, yet so that they are called Monmouth
+    caps unto this day.  Thus this town retains, though not the profit,
+    the credit of capping, and seeing the child keeps the mother's name,
+    there is some hope in due time she may return to her."
+
+Monmouth appears also to have dealt largely in ale, if we may judge by a
+grant of Henry IV. as lord of the manor, to its burgesses.  "That the
+brewers of ale there, who were anciently held to pay the king's ancestors
+and progenitors eight gallons of ale at every brewing, in the name of
+Castlecoule, during the time the king, or his heirs, were dwelling in the
+said town, should now pay in lieu thereof 10d. each brewing, except when
+the king, his heirs or his councils, holding his sessions there, were
+present in the said town, in which case the ancient custom of
+Castlecoules should be observed."
+
+We must not omit an anecdote connected with the history of a free-school,
+founded here in the reign of James I.  William Jones, born at Monmouth,
+as Burton tells us in his History of Wales, was forced to quit the place
+for not being able to pay ten groats.  He removed to the great field for
+adventurers, London, and became first a porter, then a factor, and
+afterwards went over to Hamburgh, where he found such sale for his Welsh
+cottons, that in a very short time he realised a handsome fortune.  He
+founded a school in his native place, allowing fifty pounds a year to the
+master, and a hundred pounds salary to a lecturer, together with an
+almshouse for twenty poor people, each having two rooms and a garden, and
+two shillings and sixpence a week.  It is said, however, by other
+authorities, that Jones was a native of Newland, in Gloucestershire; and
+after having made his fortune in London, that he returned thither in the
+assumed character of a beggar, to try the liberality of his townsmen.  In
+this he found them wanting, for they tauntingly told him to go and ask
+relief at Monmouth, where he had lived at service.  He took their advice,
+and being better received there, founded the above charities in token of
+his gratitude.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+
+Welsh pedigree of queen Victoria--A poet's flattery--Castles of
+Monmouthshire--Geoffrey of Monmouth--Henry of Monmouth--The
+Kymin--Subsidiary tour--Sir David Gam--White Castle--Scenfrith--The
+Castle spectres--Grosmont--Lanthony Abbey.
+
+"Monmouthshire," as has been well observed, "though now an English
+county, may be justly considered the connecting link between England and
+Wales, as it unites the scenery, manners, and language of both."  In
+ancient times, it was a debatable land of another kind, when Romans,
+Saxons, and Normans, strove by turns against the aboriginal Britons.
+During the Roman invasion it was a part of the territory of the Silures,
+who inhabited the eastern division of South Wales, and were one of the
+three great Welsh tribes; but in the conflict of the Saxons, Gwent (its
+British name) played the most distinguished part of all, under its
+sovereign Utha Pendragon and the renowned king Arthur.  To Gwent,
+moreover, if chronicles say true, we are indebted for our present
+sovereign lady, who is descended collaterally from its princes.  Merrich,
+the son of Ithel, king or prince of Gwent, died without issue male,
+leaving one daughter, Morvyth, who espoused Gwno, great grandson to Rees
+ap Theodore, prince of South Wales, and lineal ancestor of Sir Owen
+Tudor, grandfather of Henry VII.  "So that it appears," say the Secret
+Memoirs of Monmouthshire, "that the kings of Scotland and England are
+originally descended from Morvyth, this Gwentonian prince's daughter, and
+heir to Meyrick, last king of Gwent, who, according to several authentic
+British pedigrees, was lineally descended from Cadwalladar, the last king
+of Britain, and as our historians do testify, did prognosticate, fifteen
+hundred years past, that the heirs descended of his loins should be
+restored again to the kingdom of Britain, which was partly accomplished
+in king Henry VII., and more by the accession of James I. to the British
+throne, but wholly fulfilled in the happy union of all Britain by the
+glorious queen Anne; whom God long preserved of his great goodness, and
+the succession of the Protestant line."
+
+We know not what value may be attached to this illustrious ancestry by
+Queen Victoria; but her predecessor, Queen Elizabeth, was fond of tracing
+her descent from the ancient kings of her country--a predilection which
+the courtly Spenser does not omit to flatter in his Faerie Queene.
+
+    "Thy name, O soveraine Queene, thy realme and race,
+    From this renowned prince derived arre,
+    Who mightily upheld that royal mace
+    Which thou now bear'st, to thee descended farre
+    From mighty kings and couquerors in warre,
+    Thy fathers and thy grandfathers of old,
+    Whose noble deeds above the northern starre,
+    Immortall fame for ever hath enrold;
+    As in that _old man's booke_ they were in order told."
+
+The _old man_ have referred to is Geoffrey of Monmouth, of whom more
+anon.
+
+It is to the Norman invasion that Monmouthshire owes its castles; for the
+great barons were not employed by the state, as had been the case with
+the Saxons, to conquer the territory, but were invited to enter upon
+adventures at their own cost, and for their own gain.  The lands they
+subdued became their own; they were created lords-barons over them; and
+castles speedily bristled up all over the territory to maintain the
+authority so acquired.  Pennant states the number for Wales at a hundred
+and forty-three, of which Monmouthshire, as the frontier region between
+the belligerents, had of course the greatest proportion, amounting, it is
+said, to at least twenty-five.  In these baronial lands, the writs of
+ordinary justices of the royal courts were not current.  The barons
+marchers, as they were called, had recourse to their feudal lord the king
+in person; and the same abuses and confusion were the result which we
+have noticed in Herefordshire, till Henry VIII. abolished this anomalous
+government, divided Wales into twelve shires, and withdrew Monmouthshire
+into the list of the English counties.  It is interesting to trace the
+chain of fortresses thus destined to become, still earlier than in the
+natural course of time, a series of ruins.  They extend, in this county,
+along the banks of the Monnow, the Wye, and the Severn, and from
+Grosmont, diagonally, to the banks of the Rumney; while castellated
+mansions, such as Raglan, which we shall notice presently (at first only
+a rude fortress), arose in all quarters to keep the natives in due
+respect.
+
+King Arthur, mentioned above as prince of Gwent, did not reign at
+Monmouth, but at Caerleon; although he is closely associated with the
+former place, inasmuch as the gothic room in the priory which we have
+pointed out, on the authority of tradition, as the study of Geoffrey of
+Monmouth, was in all probability the birthplace of his most heroic
+achievements.  Geoffrey, in fact, for it is needless to attempt to
+conceal the fact from our readers, was an historical romancer rather than
+an historian.  The groundwork of his celebrated performance was Brut y
+Breninodd, or the Chronicle of the Kings of Britain, written by Tyssilio,
+or St. Telian, bishop of St. Asaph, in the seventh century; but Geoffrey
+owns himself, that he made various additions to his original,
+particularly of Merlin's prophecies.  After all, however, if we may
+venture to express our private opinion on so recondite a subject, it
+seems to us that a monkish history, of the seventh century, must have
+been reasonably fertile in itself in wonderful incidents and legendary
+tales, and that in all probability Geoffrey of Monmouth deserves less
+credit as a romancer than he has received from one party, as well as less
+credit as an historian than he has received from the other.
+
+However this may be, the work has served as a valuable storehouse for our
+poets and romancers.  It has even supplied the story of King Lear to
+Shakspeare, who deepened the pathos by making Cordelia die before her
+father; whereas, in the original story, Lear is restored to his kingdom,
+and Cordelia to life.  Milton drew from it his fiction of Sabrina in the
+Mask of Comus; and in early life he had formed the design of writing an
+epic poem on the subject taken up from Geoffrey by Spenser, in the second
+book of the Faerie Queene--
+
+    "A chronicle of Briton kings,
+    From Brute to Arthur's reign."
+
+Dryden, also, intended to produce an epic poem on the subject of king
+Arthur, but he contented himself with an opera, in which he has sublimely
+described the British worthy
+
+             "in battle brave,
+    But still serene in all the stormy war,
+    Like heaven above the clouds; and after fight
+    As merciful and kind to vanquished foe
+    As a forgiving God."
+
+Pope followed, in like manner, with plentiful materials for the pavement
+of a certain place--good intentions; but after all, our national history
+has been left to the muse of Blackmore. {106}
+
+Geoffrey was born in Monmouth, and is supposed to have been educated in
+the monastery, although the room pointed out as his study is evidently of
+a more modern date.  He became archdeacon of his native town, and in 1152
+was consecrated bishop of St. Asaph.  This is all that is known of his
+history; and his works, with the exception of his great romance adverted
+to above, are confined to a treatise on the Holy Sacraments, and some
+verses on the enchanter Merlin.
+
+Perhaps a word may not be amiss on the other worthy connected by birth
+with the fame and the ruins of Monmouth.  Henry V. passed some of his
+earliest years in this county; but in his youth was transferred to
+Oxford, where he studied under his uncle Cardinal Beaufort, then
+chancellor of the university, and where, as Stowe relates, he "delighted
+in songs, meeters, and musical instruments."  He is thus described by the
+chronicler, on the authority of John of Elmham:
+
+    "This prince exceeded the meane stature of men, he was beautiful of
+    visage, his necke long, body long and leane, and his bones small;
+    neverthelesse he was of great marvellous strength, and passing swift
+    in running, insomuch that he with two other of his lords, without
+    hounds, bow, or other engine, would take a wild buck or doe in a
+    large parke."
+
+Henry is usually treated as a mere warrior; and it is the custom to sneer
+at him as such, by those who are unable to judge of the minds of men by
+the spirit of the age in which they live.  He was remarkable, however,
+for more than his military prowess, and exhibited many traits of a truly
+great character.  Some of these are very agreeably detailed by Mr. Coxe,
+who relates also, from Speed, that "every day after dinner, for the space
+of an hour, his custom was to lean on a cushion set by his cupboard, and
+there he himselfe received petitions of the oppressed, which with great
+equitie he did redresse."  His sudden change from the wild licentiousness
+of his youth is described by his contemporary, Thomas de Elmham, as
+having taken place at the bedside of his dying father; and we need not
+remark that in that age, the religious feeling he exhibited on the
+occasion was not inconsistent with the ferocity of the hero.
+
+    "The courses of his youth promis'd it not;
+    The breath no sooner left his father's body,
+    But that his wildness, mortified in him,
+    Seem'd to die too: yea, at that very moment,
+    Consideration like an angel came,
+    And whipped the offending Adam out of him;
+    Leaving his body as a paradise,
+    To envellop, and contain celestial spirits.
+    Never was such a sudden scholar made;
+    Never came reformation in a flood,
+    With such a heady current, scouring faults;
+    Nor ever hydra-headed wilfulness,
+    So soon did lose his seat, and all at once,
+    As in this king."
+
+Monmouth, as the half-way station between Ross and Chepstow for the
+tourists of the Wye, usually claims a large portion of their attention;
+and, independently of its historical associations, the delightful walks
+in the neighbourhood abundantly repay it.  The views from numerous points
+are very beautiful; and one more especially, independently of the nearer
+parts of the picture, commands on all sides an expanse of country which
+seems absolutely unlimited.
+
+"If among these views," says the historical tourist, "one can be selected
+surpassing the rest, it is perhaps that from the summit of the Kymin,
+which rises from the left bank of the Wye, and is situated partly in
+Monmouthshire, and partly in Gloucestershire.  On the centre of this
+eminence overhanging the river and town, a pavilion has been lately
+erected by subscription, to which is carried a walk, gently winding up
+the acclivity. . . .
+
+"I shall not attempt to describe the unbounded expanse of country around
+and beneath, which embraces an extent of nearly three hundred miles.  The
+eye, satiated with the distant prospect, reposes at length on the near
+views, dwells on the country immediately beneath and around, is attracted
+with the pleasing position of Monmouth, here seen to singular advantage,
+admires the elegant bend and silvery current of the Monnow, glistening
+through meads, in its way to the Wye, and the junction of the two rivers,
+which forms an assemblage of beautiful objects.
+
+"The level summit of the Kymin is crowned with a beautiful wood, called
+Beaulieu Grove, through which walks are made, terminating in seats,
+placed at the edge of abrupt declivities, and presenting in perspective,
+through openings in the trees, portions of the unbounded expanse seen
+from the pavilion.  There are six of these openings, three of which
+comprehend perspective views of Monmouth, stretching between the Wye and
+the Monnow, in different positions.  At one of these seats, placed on a
+ledge of impending rocks, I looked down on a hanging wood, clothing the
+sides of the declivities, and sloping gradually to the Wye, which sweeps
+in a beautiful curve, from Dixon Church to the mouth of the Monnow; the
+town appears seated on its banks, and beyond the luxuriant and undulating
+swells of Monmouthshire, terminated by the Great and Little Skyrrid, the
+Black Mountains, and the Sugar Loaf, in all the variety of sublime and
+contrasted forms."
+
+It is not our intention to notice any of the numerous seats and mansions
+with which this delightful region abounds; but, leaving the tourist to
+make such easy discoveries for himself, we would hint to him that, while
+at Monmouth, he has an opportunity, without great expense of time or
+labour, of making himself acquainted with many interesting objects which
+ought to be considered as adjuncts of the tour of the Wye.  Between this
+place and the Hay the river describes an irregular semicircle, of which
+the Monnow, for about half way, may be said to be the cord; and this
+latter stream, as the most important and beautiful tributary of the Wye,
+has a claim upon the pilgrim which should not be set aside.
+
+This minor excursion, however, will not be complete without diverging a
+little to the left at the outset for the purpose of visiting White
+Castle; for this ruin is inseparably associated with the other reliques
+of baronial power presented by the route.  It is within a short distance
+of Landeilo Cresseney on the Abergavenny road, where a farm will be
+pointed out to the traveller, called the Park, belonging to the duke of
+Beaufort, as the site of Old Court, formerly the residence of the valiant
+Sir David Gam, who, before the battle of Agincourt, reported to Henry V.
+that there were "enough of the enemy to be killed, enough to run away,
+and enough to be taken prisoners."  It is said that the children of this
+Welsh worthy were so numerous as to form a line extending from his house
+to the church.  From Gladys, one of these children, the dukes of Beaufort
+and earls of Pembroke are descended.  The farm alluded to was formerly
+the red deer park of Raglan Castle.
+
+White Castle must have been constructed in the earliest period of the
+Norman era, if not before the conquest; and the massive ruins that still
+remain attest that it must have kept the country side in awe, as the
+abode of one of those fierce barons who were the prototypes of the giants
+and dragons of the romancers.  This fortress, with those of Scenfrith and
+Grosmont on the banks of the Monnow, belonged to Brien Fitz Count, the
+Norman conqueror of the tract called Overwent, stretching from the Wye to
+Abergavenny; and they were afterwards seized by Henry III., and given by
+him to the celebrated Herbert de Burgh.  Herbert resigned them anew to
+the crown, after being imprisoned and almost famished to death.  Henry
+granted them to his son Edward Crouchback, and they afterwards fell to
+John of Gaunt, in the way we have related of Monmouth Castle, and became
+parcel of the duchy of Lancaster.
+
+The ruins stand on the ridge of an eminence, surrounded by a moat.  The
+walls, which are very massive, describe nearly an oval, and are defended
+by six round towers, not dividing the courtine in the usual way, but
+altogether extramural, and capable, therefore, of acting as independent
+fortresses, even after the inner court had been taken.  The principal
+entrance was protected by a portcullis and drawbridge, and by an immense
+barbican, greatly disproportioned to the size of the castle, on the
+opposite site of the moat.  The name of the place was Castell Gwyn, White
+Castle, or Castell Blanch, all which mean the same thing in British,
+Saxon, and Norman.
+
+In the time of James I., it is presented as "ruinous and in decay time
+out of mind," and yet, during the reign of his immediate predecessor
+Elizabeth, it is described in the Worthines of Wales as "a loftie
+princely place."
+
+    "Three castles fayre are in a goodly ground,
+    Grosmont is one, on hill it builded was;
+    Skenfrith the next, in valley it is found,
+    The soyle about for pleasure there doth passe;
+    Whit Castle is the third of worthy fame,
+    The county there doth bear Whit Castle's name,
+    A stately seate, a loftie princely place,
+    Whose beauties give the simple soyle some grace."
+
+Scenfrith is not more than five miles from White Castle, but the access
+to it is only fit for pedestrians.  The ruin stands on a secluded spot in
+the midst of hills, and overlooks the placid Monnow, the passage of which
+it was no doubt its duty to guard.  It is a small fortress severely
+simple, and exhibiting all the marks of high antiquity.  There are no
+traces of outworks; but the walls are flanked by five circular towers.
+About the middle of the area is a round tower, which was the keep or
+citadel.  Scenfrith seems to have no history peculiarly its own; it was
+one of "the three castles," changing hands with them apparently as a
+matter of course, and that was enough for its ambition.
+
+The road from Scenfrith to Grosmont leads through Newcastle; but the
+remains of the fortress, from which this place derived its name, are
+barely discernible, and its history has for ever perished.  In the
+absence of human associations, however, it is well provided with those of
+another kind.  The mount, or barrow, under which its fragments are
+hidden, is the haunt of spirits; and an oak tree in the neighbourhood is
+so completely protected by such means, that an attempt even to lop a
+branch is sure to be punished by supernatural power.
+
+The ruins of Grosmont Castle stand on an eminence near the Monnow,
+surrounded by a dry moat, with barbican and other outworks.  Its pointed
+arches declare it by far the youngest of the three sisters.  The remains
+now left enclose only a small area; but walls and foundations may be
+traced, which show that its original size was really considerable, and
+this is confirmed by the presence of a spacious apartment, which no doubt
+formed the great baronial hall.  In the reign of Henry III. it was
+invested by Llewellin, and the siege raised by the king; and, on another
+occasion, Henry retreated to Grosmont, where his troops were surprised by
+the Welsh as they slept in the trenches, and lost five hundred horses,
+besides baggage and treasure.  The banks of the Monnow, from which the
+ruins rise, are precipitous, and tufted with oaks, and the whole scene is
+singularly picturesque.  The hero of the village tradition is here John
+of Kent, or Guent, who built a bridge over the Monnow in a single night,
+by means of one of his familiar spirits.  Many other stories as wonderful
+are related of him by the inhabitants; some say he was a monk, versed in
+the black art; others that he was a disciple of Owen Glendowr; and others
+that he was the great magician himself.
+
+At Grosmont the line of the Monnow turns away to the west, towards its
+source among the Black Mountains; but the traveller who eschews more
+fatigue than is necessary will take the route by Craig-gate and
+Crickhowell, and so get into a road which will lead him along the Honddy,
+a tributary of the Monnow, to the magnificent ruins of Lanthony Abbey,
+the furthest object we propose to him in this subsidiary tour.
+
+    "Here it was, stranger, that the patron saint
+    Of Cambria passed his age of penitence--
+    A solitary man; and here he made
+    His hermitage; the roots his food, his drink
+    Of Honddy's mountain-stream.  Perchance thy youth
+    Has read with eager wonder how the knight
+    Of Wales, in Ormandine's enchanted bowers,
+    Slept the long sleep: and if that in thy veins
+    Flows the pure blood of Britain, sure that blood
+    Has flowed with quicker impulse at the tale
+    Of Dafydd's deeds, when through the press of war
+    His gallant comrades followed his green crest
+    To conquests.  Stranger! Hatterel's mountain heights,
+    And this fair vale of Cwias, and the stream
+    Of Honddy, to thine after thoughts will rise
+    More grateful, thus associate with the name
+    Of Dafydd and the deeds of other days."
+
+"After catching a transient view of the Honddy," says archdeacon Coxe,
+"winding through a deep glen, at the foot of hills overspread with wood
+and sprinkled with white cottages, we proceeded along a hollow way, which
+deepened as we advanced, and was scarcely broad enough to admit the
+carriage.  In this road, which, with more propriety might be termed a
+ditch, we heard the roar of the torrent beneath, but seldom enjoyed a
+view of the circumjacent scenery.  We passed under a bridge thrown across
+the chasm, to preserve the communication with the fields on each side:
+this bridge was framed of the trunks of trees, and secured with side
+rails, to prevent the tottering passenger from falling in the abyss
+beneath.  It brought to my recollection several bridges of similar
+construction, which I observed in Norway, which are likewise occasionally
+used as aqueducts, for the purposes of irrigation.  Emerging from this
+gloomy way, we were struck with the romantic village of Cwnyoy, on the
+opposite bank of the Honddy, hanging on the sides of the abrupt cliff,
+under a perpendicular rock, broken into enormous fissures.  We continued
+for some way between the torrent and the Gaer, and again plunged into a
+hollow road, where we were enclosed, and saw nothing but the overhanging
+hedgerows. . . . The abbey was built like a cathedral, in the shape of
+Roman crosses, and though of small dimensions, was well proportioned.
+The length, from the western door to the eastern extremity, is 210 feet;
+and the breadth, including two aisles, 50; the length of the transept,
+from north to south, 100.  It was constructed soon after the introduction
+of the Gothic architecture, and before the disuse of the Norman, and is a
+regular composition of both styles.  The whole roof, excepting a small
+fragment of the north aisle, is fallen down, and the building is
+extremely dilapidated.  The nave alone exhibits a complete specimen of
+the original plan, and is separated on each side by the two aisles, by
+eight pointed arches, resting on piers of the simplest construction,
+which are divided from the upper tier of Norman arches by a straight band
+of _fascia_.  From the small fragment in the northern aisle, the roofs
+seem to have been vaulted and engroined, and the springing columns, by
+which it was supported, are still visible on the wall.  Four bold arches,
+in the centre of the church, supported a square tower, two sides of which
+only remain.  The ornamental arch in the eastern window, which appears in
+the engraving of Mr. Wyndham's Tour, and in that published by Hearne, has
+now fallen.  The only vestiges of the choir are a part of the south wall,
+with a Norman door, that led into the side aisle, and the east end of the
+south wall; a bold Norman arch, leading from the transept into the
+southern aisle of the choir, still exists.  The walls of the southern
+aisle are wholly dilapidated; and the side view of the two ranges of
+Gothic arches, stretching along the nave, is singularly picturesque; the
+outside wall of the northern aisle is entire, excepting a small portion
+of the western extremity; the windows of this part are wholly Norman, and
+make a grand appearance.  In a word, the western side is most elegant;
+the northern side is most entire; the southern the most picturesque; the
+eastern the most magnificent."
+
+The abbey originated in a small chapel, built here as a hermitage by St.
+David, the titular saint of Wales; but for the account of its foundation
+and history, we must refer the reader to Mr. Coxe's Tour, Dugdale's
+Monasticon, or the History of Gloucestershire.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+
+Raglan Castle--Description of the ruins--History of the Castle--The old
+lord of Raglan--Surrender of the fortress--Charles I. and his host--Royal
+weakness--The pigeons of Raglan--Death of the old lord--Origin of the
+steam Engine.
+
+That magnificent specimen of what is called a castellated mansion, Raglan
+castle, is so interesting in itself, and at so convenient a distance from
+the river, that it forms an indispensable part of the tour of the Wye.
+The ruins stand upon an eminence, near the village of the same name,
+eight miles from Monmouth, and cover, with their massive forms, an area
+of one-third part of a mile in circumference.  This includes the citadel,
+which was not contained within the fortress as usual, but formed a
+separate building, connected with it by a drawbridge.  It was called
+Melyn y Gwent, or the Yellow Tower of Gwent.  It was of a hexagon form,
+five stories high, defended by bastions and a moat, and surrounded with
+raised walks or terraces.  The building was faced with hewn stone, of a
+greyish colour, and from its smoothness resembling polished marble.
+
+The earliest style of this edifice dates only from the reign of Henry V.;
+but the greater part was probably added afterwards, when, by the marriage
+of Sir Charles Somerset into the house of Herbert, and the acquisition
+then of the lordships of Raglan, Chepstow, and Gower, the house of
+Beaufort became one of the greatest in the county.  The building is of a
+description peculiar to that period in the history of Monmouthshire, when
+the barons had superadded to their warlike habits those of modern luxury
+and magnificence.  Externally, the place has evidently been a strong
+fortress; internally a splendid mansion.  The ascent to the state
+apartment is both noble and well contrived; while the circular staircase
+in the hexagon citadel, the windows of the great hall, and the
+chimney-pieces, with their light and elegant cornices, are in the style
+of modern edifices.  The kitchen and butlery were connected with the
+hall, and indicate, by their construction, the princely hospitality of
+the lords of Raglan.  All the rooms had chimneys, those of each floor
+distinct from the rest.  The cellars were extensive--so were the
+subterranean passages and dungeons.  The architecture is various, some
+parts of the most elegant gothic, some heavy and unwieldy, representing
+at once the two distinct characters of luxury and war.  The southern
+declivity, towards the village, was laid out in fish-ponds; three parks
+of considerable extent supplied game and recreation; and the proprietor
+of this unique mansion was able, through the fertility of his surrounding
+estates, to maintain a garrison of eight hundred men.
+
+    "Of these noble ruins," says Mr. Coxe, "the grand entrance is the
+    most magnificent; it is formed by a gothic portal, flanked with two
+    massive towers: the one beautifully tufted with ivy, the second so
+    entirely covered, that not a single stone is visible.  At a small
+    distance, on the right, appears a third tower, lower in height,
+    almost wholly ivyless, and with its machicolated summit, presenting a
+    highly picturesque appearance.  The porch, which still contains the
+    grooves for two portcullises, leads into the first court, once paved,
+    but now covered with turf, and sprinkled with shrubs.  The eastern
+    and northern sides contained a range of culinary offices, of which
+    the kitchen is remarkable for the size of the fire-place; the
+    southern side seems to have formed a grand suite of apartments, and
+    the great bow window of the hall, at the south-western extremity of
+    the court, is finely canopied with ivy.  The stately hall which
+    divides the two courts, and seems to have been built in the days of
+    queen Elizabeth, contains the vestiges of ancient hospitality and
+    splendour: the ceiling is fallen down, but the walls still remain; it
+    is sixty feet in length, twenty-seven in breadth, and was the great
+    banqueting-room of the castle.  At the extremity are placed the arms
+    of the first marquis of Worcester, sculptured in stone, and
+    surrounded with the garter: underneath is the family motto, which
+    fully marks the character of the noble proprietor, who defended the
+    castle with such spirit from the parliamentary army: 'Mutare vel
+    timere sperno;' 'I scorn either to change or to fear.'  The
+    fire-place deserves to be noticed for its remarkable size, and the
+    singular structure of the chimney.  The hall is occasionally used as
+    a fives court.
+
+    "To the north of the hall are ranges of offices, which appear to have
+    been butteries; beyond are the traces of splendid apartments.  In the
+    walls above I observed two chimney-pieces, in high preservation,
+    neatly ornamented with a light frieze and cornice: the stone frames
+    of the windows are likewise in many parts, particularly in the south
+    front, distinguished with mouldings and other decorations, which Mr.
+    Windham justly observes, would not be considered inelegant, even at
+    present.
+
+    "The western door of the hall led into the chapel, which is now
+    dilapidated; but its situation is marked by some of the flying
+    columns, rising from grotesque heads, which supported the roof.  At
+    the upper end are two rude whole-length figures, in stone, several
+    yards above the ground, recently discovered by Mr. Heath, under the
+    thick clusters of ivy.  Beyond the foundations of the chapel is the
+    area of the second court, skirted with a range of buildings, which,
+    at the time of the siege, formed the barracks of the garrison.  Not
+    the smallest traces remain of the marble fountain, which once
+    occupied the centre of the area, and was ornamented with the statue
+    of a white horse.
+
+    "Most of the apartments of this splendid abode were of grand
+    dimensions, and the communications easy and convenient.  The strength
+    of the walls is still so great, that if the parts still standing were
+    roofed and floored, it might even now be formed into a magnificent
+    and commodious habitation."
+
+The fountain mentioned above was called the White Horse, from the figure
+from which the water played.  In a note supplied by Dr. Griffin to
+Williams's History of Monmouthshire, it is said that the people who
+showed the ruins used to exhibit part of the body of a _black_ horse
+which stood in the middle of the water which supplied the castle.  The
+cause of the change of colour was that during the siege the
+parliamentarians poisoned the fountain!  The horse, it seems, absorbed
+the fatal drug, and not only became black, but when struck by any hard
+substance, emitted a fetid smell.  It is difficult to trace the early
+history of the castle, from the contradictory accounts given of it by
+Dugdale; but in the time of Henry V. the proprietor was Sir William ap
+Thomas, second son of Sir Thomas ap Guillim, from whom the earls of
+Pembroke, Powis, and Caernarvon are descended in the male, and the dukes
+of Beaufort in the female line.  William, the eldest son of this Sir
+William, was created by Edward IV. lord of Raglan, Chepstow, and Gower;
+and, in obedience to the royal command, he discontinued the Welsh custom
+of changing the surname at every descent, and took Herbert as his family
+name, in honour of his ancestor Herbert Fitzhenry, chamberlain to Henry
+I.  Richard was for some time detained at Raglan in the custody of lord
+Herbert, who was a distinguished partisan of the house of York, and who
+at length died on the scaffold, at Banbury, in this cause, having
+previously been created earl of Pembroke.  His son, by the desire of
+Edward IV., yielded this title to the Prince of Wales; and, dying without
+male issue, the castle of Raglan, and many other noble possessions
+devolved upon his daughter Elizabeth.  The heiress married Sir Charles
+Somerset, natural son of the duke of Somerset, who lost his head in 1463
+for his devotion to the house of Lancaster; and he, a brave soldier, a
+prudent statesman, and an accomplished courtier, was created by Henry
+VIII., for his services, earl of Worcester.
+
+It is probable that the castle of Raglan, owed a great part of its
+magnificence to him.  In the following reign, it is thus mentioned in the
+Worthines of Wales.
+
+    "Not far from thence, a famous castle fine,
+    That Raggland hight, stands moted almost round,
+    Made of freestone, upright, straight as line,
+    Whose workmanship in beauty doth abound.
+
+    "The curious knots, wrought all with edged toole,
+    The stately tower that looks ore pond and poole,
+    The fountain trim, that runs both day and night,
+    Doth yield in showe a rare and noble sight."
+
+Four earls of Worcester held almost royal state in this princely abode;
+but the fifth earl and first marquis was destined to witness its fall.
+He was one of the most devoted friends of Charles I.; and may be said to
+have defended not only his own mansion but all Monmouthshire from the
+parliamentary arms.
+
+The defeat of the royal army at Marston Moor was the signal for the fall
+of Monmouth and of Raglan Castle.  Prince Rupert immediately directed his
+attention to the marches of Wales, and ordered colonel Gerard to force
+his way through Gloucestershire by the Aust passage: but the latter was
+opposed by Massey, and defeated.  Monmouth soon after fell into the hands
+of Massey by the treachery of Kirle, lieutenant-colonel to Holtby,
+governor of the town for Charles; and lord Worcester at Raglan, in great
+alarm, demanded the assistance of prince Rupert's cavalry.
+
+Throgmorton, on whom the command of Monmouth devolved, set out with a
+party of three hundred horse to surprise the castle of Chepstow, and in
+his absence the following brilliant exploit was performed by the
+royalists, which we give in the words of Sanderson.  "The cavaliers from
+Ragland and Godridg, about break of day, lodg themselves undiscovered
+behind a rising ground near Monmouth, and viewing all advantages, fourty
+of them come up to the higher side of the town towards Hereford, having a
+sloping bank cast up of good height, with a ditch, over which they pass,
+mount the bank, and climbed over, and so got to the next part, fell upon
+the guard, some killed, other fled, and with an iron bar break the post
+chain, force the gate, and open it to the horse, who ride up with full
+career to the main guard, seized them, and took the rest in their beds,
+with colonel Broughton, four captains, as many lieutenants and ensigns,
+the committee, all the common souldiers, two hundred prisoners, two
+sakers, a drake, nine hammerguns, ammunition and provision, and five
+hundred muskets."
+
+But the fate of the war was now determined, and after the battle of
+Naseby Charles was unable to meet the parliamentarians in a general
+engagement, and retired to the castle of Raglan.  Thence he secretly
+departed to commit himself to the Scottish army; and the marquis of
+Worcester was besieged at Raglan for six months.  The old lord, who was
+then eighty-four years of age, on hearing of the landing of his son lord
+Glamorgan with some Irish forces, sent the following bold letter to the
+parliamentarian committee at Chepstow.
+
+    "Having notice that you are not ignorant of my son's landing with the
+    Irish forces, I am so much of a father, and tender of the whole
+    country's ruin, that if this coming to this place be hasted by the
+    occasion of your answer, you and not I will be the occasion of the
+    country's curse.  You have taken from me my rents and livelihood, for
+    which if you give unbelied reparations, I shall be glad to live a
+    quiet neighbour amongst you; if otherwise, you will force me to what
+    my own nature hath no liking of, and yet justifiable by the word of
+    God, and law of nature.  I expect your answer by the messenger, as
+    you give occasion.
+
+                                                            "H. WORCESTER.
+
+    "Raglan, May 29, 1646."
+
+This brought on a long and fruitless negotiation.  The old lord saw that
+even the master of Raglan was not the master of circumstances; and, at
+length, it was agreed that the castle should be delivered up.  "Nobly
+done," says Sanderson, "to hold out the last garrison for the king in
+England or Wales."  In the articles of surrender, however, the soldierly
+honour of the marquis was spared as much as possible, it being agreed
+"that all the officers, gentlemen, and soldiers, with all other persons
+there, should march out with their horses and arms, colours flying, drums
+beating, trumpets sounding, matches lighted at both ends, bullets in
+mouth, each soldier twelve charges of powder, matches and bullets
+proportionable, bag and baggage, to any place within two miles of any
+garrison where the marquis shall mention."
+
+Soon after this surrender, the castle was demolished, and the timber cut
+down in the parks, the loss to the family, in personal property, without
+including the forfeiture and an estate of twenty thousand pounds a year,
+being estimated at upwards of a hundred thousand pounds.  The Chase of
+Wentwood, including Chepstow Castle and Park, was immediately bestowed
+upon Oliver Cromwell; who appears also to refer, in the settlements upon
+his family to other estates in Monmouthshire, parcels of the noble
+property of the marquis of Worcester.
+
+In a publication of that day, entitled "Witty Apothegms delivered at
+several times, and on several occasions, by king James I., king Charles
+I., and the marquis of Worcester," several anecdotes are given which
+throw a strong light upon the character of this fine old lord of Raglan.
+
+"In the midst of the civil commotions, Charles I. made several visits to
+Raglan Castle, and was entertained with becoming magnificence.  The
+marquis not only declined all offers of remuneration, but also advanced
+large sums; and when the king thanked him for the loans, replied, Sir, I
+had your word for the money, but I never thought I should be so soon
+repayed; for now you have given me thanks, I have all I looked for."  At
+another time, the king, apprehensive lest the stores of the garrison
+should be consumed by his suite, empowered him to exact from the country
+such provisions as were necessary for his maintainance and recruit, "I
+humbly thank your majesty," he said, "but my castle will not stand long
+if it leans on the country; I had rather be brought to a morsel of bread,
+than any morsels of bread should be brought me to entertain your
+majesty."
+
+The following conversation shows the amiable weakness of Charles's
+humanity.
+
+Sir Trevor Williams, and four other principal gentlemen of Monmouthshire,
+being arrested for disloyalty, and conducted to Abergavenny, the king was
+advised to order them to an immediate trial, which must have ended in
+their conviction; but Charles, moved by the tears and protestations of
+Trevor Williams, suffered him to be released, on bail, and committed the
+others only to a temporary confinement.  "The king told the marquess what
+he had done, and that when he saw them speak so honestly, he could not
+but give some credit to their words, so seconded by tears, and withal
+told the marquess that he had onely sent them to prison; whereupon the
+marquess said, what to do? to poyson that garrison?  Sir, you should have
+done well to have heard their accusations, and then to have shewn what
+mercy you pleased.  The king told him, that he heard that they were
+accused by some contrary faction, as to themselves, who, out of distaste
+they bore to one another on old grudges, would be apt to charge them more
+home than the nature of their offences had deserved; to whom the marquess
+made this return, Well, Sir, you may chance to gain the kingdom of heaven
+by such doings as these, but if you ever get the kingdom of England by
+such ways, I will be your bondman."
+
+Another conversation between the marquis and Sir Thomas Fairfax is worth
+relating.
+
+"After much conference between the marquess and General Fairfax, wherein
+many things were requested of the general by the marquess, and being, as
+he thought himself, happy in the attainment, his lordship was pleased to
+make a merry petition to the general as he was taking his leave, viz. in
+behalf of a couple of pigeons, who were wont to come to his hand, and
+feed out of it constantly, in whose behalf he desired the general that he
+would be pleased to give him his protection for them, fearing the little
+command that he should have over his soldiers in that behalf.  To which
+the general said, I am glad to see your lordship so merry.  Oh, said the
+marquess, you have given me no other cause, and hasty as you are, you
+shall not go untill I have told you a story.
+
+"There were two men going up Holborn in a cart to be hanged; one of them
+being very merry and jocund, gave offence to the other who was sad and
+dejected, insomuch that the downcast man said unto the other, I wonder,
+brother, that you can be so frolic, considering the business we are going
+about.  Tush, answered the other, thou art a fool; thou wentest a
+thieving, and never thought what would become of thee, wherefore being on
+a sudden surprised, thou fallest into such a shaking fit, that I am
+ashamed to see thee in that condition: whereas I was resolved to be
+hanged, before ever I fell to stealing, which is the reason nothing
+happenning strange or unexpected, I go so composed unto my death.  So,
+said the marquess, I resolved to undergo whatsoever, even the worst of
+evils that you are able to lay upon me, before I took up arms for my
+sovereign, and therefore wonder not that I am so merry."
+
+"In the correspondence with Fairfax," says the author of the Historical
+Tour, "which preceded the capitulation, the marquis of Worcester seems to
+have strongly suspected that the parliament would not adhere to the
+conditions.  His apprehensions were not groundless, for on his arrival in
+London he was committed to the custody of the Black Rod.  He bitterly
+complained of this cruel usage, and deeply regretted that he had trusted
+himself to the mercy of the parliament.  A few hours before his death, he
+said to Dr. Bayley, If to seize upon all my goods, to pull down my house,
+to fell my estate, and send up for such a weak body as mine was, so
+enfeebled by disease, in the dead of winter, in the winter of mine age,
+be merciful, what are they whose mercies are so cruel?  Neither do I
+expect that they should stop at all this, for I fear they will persecute
+me after death.
+
+"Being informed, however, that parliament would permit him to be buried
+in his family vault, in Windsor Chapel; he cried out, with great
+sprightliness of manner, Why, God bless us all, why then I shall have a
+better castle when I am dead, than they took from me whilst I was alive.
+With so much cheerfulness and resignation did this hero expire, in the
+eighty-fifth year of his age."
+
+The second marquis was the author of that puzzling "Century of the Names
+and Scantlings of such Inventions as I can at present call to mind to
+have tried and perfected."
+
+"It appears," we are told, "from a passage in the Experimental Philosophy
+of Dr. Desaguliers, that Captain Savary derived his invention of the fire
+engine, since called the steam engine, from the 68th article in the
+Century of Scantlings; and that to conceal his original he bought up all
+the marquis's books, and burnt them."  The following is the "scantling."
+
+    "An admirable and most forcible way to drive up water by fire, not by
+    drawing or sucking it upwards, for that must be, as the philosopher
+    calleth it, _intra sphaeram activitatis_, which is at but such a
+    distance.  But this way hath no bounder, if the vessels be strong
+    enough; for I have taken a piece of a whole cannon, whereof the end
+    was burst, and filled it three quarters full of water, stopping and
+    screwing up the broken end, as also the touch-hole, and making a
+    constant fire under it, within twenty-four hours it burst, and made a
+    great crack; so that having a way to make my vessels that they are
+    strengthened by the force within them, and the one to fill after the
+    other, I have seen the water run like a constant fountain stream
+    forty feet high; one vessel of water, rarified by fire, drives up
+    forty feet of cold water.  And a man that attends the work has but to
+    turn two cocks, that one vessel of water being consumed, another
+    begins to force and refit with cold water, and so successfully, the
+    fire being tended and kept constant, with the self-same person may
+    likewise abundantly perform in the interim between the necessity of
+    turning the said cocks."
+
+We now renew our onward course, but with many a lingering look at
+"delightsome Monmouth."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+
+Troy House--Anecdote--Antique custom--Village Churches of
+Monmouthshire--White-washing--The bard--Strewing graves with flowers--St.
+Briavels' Castle--Llandogo--Change in the character of the river--The
+Druid of the Wye--Wordsworth's "Lines composed above Tintern Abbey."
+
+Just below Monmouth the Wye forms a sharp curve, the apex of which is met
+by the Monnow and the Trothy, in such a way that these two streams,
+tending to nearly the same point, but coming from different directions,
+and the two sides of the Wye curve, make the place resemble the meeting
+of four roads.  We have already seen how interesting the Monnow is; the
+Trothy, which passes White Castle, and has its source in the mountains
+near the Great Skyrrid, is hardly less so; the Wye we have followed from
+the summit of Plinlimmon, through a tract of mingled beauty and grandeur,
+unrivalled in England; and we are now about to trace its course to the
+monastic ruins of Tintern, and through the fairy land of Piercefield to
+its destined bourne, the Severn.
+
+The banks are at first low, and the country laid out in level meadows,
+framed in at a short distance by swelling hills.  Troy House is the first
+object that arrests our attention in front by its sombre woods.  In the
+reign of James I. it was the property of Sir Charles Somerset, the
+brother of the gallant defender of Raglan Castle, between whom and
+Charles I. a conversation relating to Troy House took place, which is
+thus reported in the "Apothegms."
+
+"Sir Thomas Somerset, brother to the marquis of Worcester, had a house
+which was called Troy, five miles from Ragland Castle.  This Sir Thomas,
+being a complete gentleman, delighted much in fine gardens and orchards,
+where, by the benefit of art, the earth was made so gratefull to him at
+the same time that the king (Charles the first) happened to be at his
+brother's house, that it yielded him wherewithal to send him a present;
+and such a one as (the times and seasons considered) was able to make the
+king believe that the sovereign of the planets had now changed the poles,
+and that Wales (the refuse and outcast of the fair garden of England) had
+fairer and riper fruit than England's bowels had on all her beds.  This
+present, given to the marquis, he would not suffer to be presented to the
+king by any other hand than his own.  'Here I present you, sir,' said the
+marquis, (placing his dishes on the table) 'with that which came not from
+Lincoln that was, nor from London that is, nor from York that is to be,
+but from Troy.'  Whereupon the king smiled, and answered the marquis,
+'Truly, my lord, I have heard that corn grows where Troy town stood, but
+I never thought there had grown any apricots before.'"
+
+Some articles said to be relics of Henry V. are preserved here: the bed
+in which he was born, the cradle in which he was rocked, and the armour
+in which he fought at Agincourt.  There is also a carved oak
+chimney-piece from Raglan Castle.
+
+Soon the hills approach nearer, and, covered with rich foliage, sweep
+down more suddenly towards the river.  On the right bank is Penalt
+church, standing on a wooded eminence; and behind it, an extensive common
+distinguished for a superstitious custom, derived, as is supposed, from
+the days of the druids.  When a funeral passed that way, the cortege
+stopped at an oak tree, and placed the corpse on a stone seat at its
+foot.  The company than sang a psalm, and resumed their procession.  It
+may be remarked that wherever an old oak tree is found in this part of
+the country, in an insulated or otherwise remarkable situation, there is
+sure to be connected with it some religious tradition, or some observance
+whose origin is lost in antiquity.  The churches are usually an
+interesting feature in the landscape, for it would seem as if their
+founders had sought purposely out for them solitary places, by the banks
+of rivers or in the midst of groves or fields.  In general they are
+exceedingly simple in appearance, many having the marks of great
+antiquity, and almost all being whitewashed from top to bottom.  An
+antiquary has ingeniously accounted for this peculiarity, by the custom
+the Normans had of constructing even large buildings of pebbles and
+rag-stone, which obliged them to cover the inequalities, outside and
+inside, by a coat of lime and sand.  However this may be, the effect is
+not unpleasing; more especially when the rural temple, as is frequently
+the case, is shaped like a barn, and without a belfry.  Such churches,
+more especially in the mountainous districts, still present the rounded
+arches, and other peculiarities, which denote that their rude walls were
+raised by our Saxon ancestors, if not by the ancient Britons themselves.
+
+We find the white walls, so common in Wales, alluded to as a poetical
+circumstance by one of the bards of the fourteenth century, in a piece of
+considerable beauty; and in the succeeding paragraph there is an allusion
+to another Welsh custom, of more classical authority, that of strewing
+the graves of the dead with flowers.  The poem is an invocation to
+summer, to shed its blessings over the country of Gwent.  The following
+is the paragraph referred to, with the second allusion, terminating the
+ode by an abrupt and pathetic transition.
+
+    "If I obtain thee, O summer, in thy splendid hour, with thy fair
+    growth and thy sporting gems; thy serenity pleasantly bear, thou
+    golden messenger, to Morganoc.  With sunshine morn gladden thou the
+    place, and greet the whitened houses; give growth, give the first
+    fruits of the spring, and collect thou blossoms to the bushes; shine
+    proudly on the wall of lime, full as light and gaily bright; leave
+    there in the vale thy footsteps in juicy herbage, in fresh attire;
+    diffuse a load of delicious fruits, in bounteous course among its
+    woods; give thy crop like a stream over every lawn, the meadows, and
+    the land of wheat; clothe the orchard, the vineyard, and the garden,
+    with thy abundance and thy teeming harvest; and scatter over its fair
+    soil the lovely marks of thy glorious course!
+
+    "And oh! whilst thy season of flowers, and thy tender sprays thick of
+    leaves remain; I will pluck the roses from the branches; the
+    flowerets of the meads, and gems of the woods; the vivid trefoils,
+    beauties of the ground, and the gaily smiling bloom of the verdant
+    herbs, to be offered to the memory of a chief of favorite fame:
+    Humbly I will lay them on the grave of Ivor!"
+
+The Ivor here alluded to was Ivor Hael, or the Generons, an ancestor of
+the Tredgear family of Morgans, whose pedigree is traced, by the Welsh
+bards from the third son of Noah.  The poet David, ap Gwillim, styled the
+Welsh Ovid, loved a lady of the name of Morvid, in whose praise his
+prolific muse produced no fewer than a hundred and forty-seven poems.  A
+rich rival, however, gained the unwilling prize; and the son of song
+consoled himself by carrying off his lost mistress on two several
+occasions, when her husband, Rhys Gwgan, was with the army in France,
+where he served in the rank of captain at the battle of Crecy.  For both
+these offences he was fined and imprisoned, and in both instances
+liberated by the gentlemen of Gwent, who came forward in a body in favour
+of their darling bard.  The above extract is taken from one of two poems
+which he wrote in testimony of his gratitude.  It may be added, that when
+flowers are planted on graves, it was, and we believe is the custom to
+surround the area with stones, which are periodically _whitewashed_.
+
+On the bank opposite Penalt, or a little further down, is Redbrook, upper
+and lower, the one standing above the other on the hill side.  The stream
+from which they derive this name separates Monmouthshire from
+Gloucestershire, and the Wye then continues the boundary.  The brook,
+also, serves the purpose of turning the wheels of some iron and tin
+works; but without vulgarising any more than such accidents have done
+heretofore, the scenic romance of the river.  Wye Seal House comes next,
+on the same side of the river, with the hamlet of Whitebrook and its
+paper-mills on the opposite bank.  Then Pan-y-van hill, and the ruins of
+the old manor-house of Pilton--then an iron bridge over the Wye, and then
+Big's-weir House, and its surrounding grove, with Hudknolls behind, and
+the ruins of St. Briavels' Castle on their summit.
+
+This fortress stands in the forest of Dean, and dates from the reign of
+Henry I., when it was founded by Milo, earl of Hereford, for the
+residence and defence of some of the lords-marchers.  St. Briavels,
+formerly a place of some importance, is now a village.  Its inhabitants
+enjoyed several singular immunities which are now obsolete; but they have
+still a right of common in Hudknolls wood, a tract of land on the banks
+of the Wye seven miles long.  They are supposed to enjoy the privilege
+through the performance of a strange ceremony on Whit-sunday.  Each
+inhabitant pays twopence to the churchwardens, who buy bread and cheese
+with the fund, which they cut into small pieces, and distribute to the
+congregation immediately after the service is ended, in the midst of a
+general scramble.  They are also allowed to cut wood, but not timber, in
+any part of the forest.  It is said that a countess of Hereford procured
+for them their privileges by the performance of a feat similar to that of
+the Lady Godiva.
+
+St. Briavels' Castle was erected by Milo St. Walter, earl of Hereford, in
+the time of Henry I., as a barrier against the Welsh.  Two circular
+towers alone remain entire with a narrow gateway between, composing the
+north-west front.  They contain several apartments, the walls of which
+are eight feet thick.  One is used as a prison for the hundred.  In the
+interior are two other similar gateways, on the right and left of which
+are the remains of spacious rooms.
+
+The governor of St. Briavels--for it became a royal fortress after the
+Hereford family had possessed it for about a century--had formerly
+jurisdiction over the forest of Dean; and it is recorded, that in his
+court the miners were sworn upon a branch of holly instead of the
+testament, lest the holy book should be defiled by their fingers.
+
+We now enter a long reach of the river, with Tiddenham Chase Hill rising
+boldly in front; till Llandogo appears, a beautiful little village on the
+right bank, seated on a hill side in the midst of gardens and orchards,
+and with its small church near the edge of the water, peeping through the
+trees.  This is a scene of quiet beauty, which after the massive forms we
+have passed, we term _prettyness_.  Whatever be its proper name, however,
+in the pedantry of taste, it is not surpassed on the Wye in its own kind.
+It is unfortunate, nevertheless, that at this spot an unfavourable change
+should be observed in the river--although only in the river considered as
+a volume of water, and not taken in conjunction with its scenery.  Here
+the Wye becomes a tide stream, acted upon by the ebb and flow of the
+Severn sea; and in consequence, it is henceforward habitually turbid, and
+no longer a current of pure element, subject only to the influence of
+rains and freshes.
+
+This circumstance has also its effect upon the moral character of the
+river.  Large barges are floated up by the tide to Brook Weir, a little
+lower down, which is midway between Monmouth and Chepstow, or nine miles
+from each; and there they receive the merchandise brought thither in
+small inland vessels from the upper part of the Wye.  Our romantic
+stream, therefore, whose outlines hitherto have been broken only by the
+smokes of furnaces hidden among the trees, and whose still life has been
+varied only by the corracles of the ancient Britons, and other inland
+craft that never dreamt of the breezes of the salt sea, becomes now a
+small highway of trade, a sort of water lane by which the corn, and
+hoops, and fagots, and other productions of the interior are conveyed to
+Bristol.  But even the coasting barge, with her blackened sails, and
+sixty tons of cargo, is not here "a jarring and a dissonant thing."
+Creeping with the tide along those solemn banks, she acquires a portion
+of their solemnity; floating silently through those pastoral vales, she
+is invested, for the time being, with their simplicity.  Her
+characteristics are swallowed up in the character of the river--the spell
+of the Wye is upon her!
+
+If you doubt the fact, let us wander on but a little further; let us turn
+the point of Lyn Weir, and, looking along the reach beyond, inquire with
+what vulgarised ideas, with what broken associations, we find ourselves
+gliding into the region of Tintern!  Near this spot, the great Druid of
+the Wye, the poet of nature internal and external, produced a poem which
+in all probability will be read, either with tears or smiles of delight,
+long after the works of man shall have completely obliterated those
+features of the grand, the beautiful, the simple, and sublime, to which
+it is our humble task to point the finger.
+
+    "Five years have past, five summers, with the length
+    Of five long winters! and again I hear
+    These waters, rolling from their mountain-springs
+    With a sweet inland murmur.--Once again
+    Do I behold these steep and lofty cliffs,
+    That on a wild secluded scene impress
+    Thoughts of more deep seclusion; and connect
+    The landscape with the quiet of the sky.
+    The day is come when I again repose
+    Here, under this dark sycamore, and view
+    These plots of cottage ground, these orchard tufts,
+    Which, at this season, with their unripe fruits,
+    Are clad in one green hue, and lose themselves
+    Among the woods and copses, nor disturb
+    The wild green landscape.  Once again I see
+    These hedgerows, hardly hedgerows, little lines
+    Of sportive wood run wild: these pastoral farms,
+    Green to the very doors, and wreaths of smoke
+    Sent up, in silence, from among the trees;
+    With some uncertain notice, as might seem
+    Of vagrant dwellers in the houseless woods,
+    Or of some hermit's cave, where, by his fire,
+    The hermit sits alone.
+
+          "These beauteous forms,
+    Through a long absence, have not been to me
+    As is a landscape to a blind man's eye:
+    But oft, in lonely rooms, and 'mid the din
+    Of towns and cities, I have owed to them,
+    In hours of weariness, sensations sweet,
+    Felt in the blood, and felt along the heart;
+    And passing even into my purer mind,
+    With tranquil restoration:--feelings too
+    Of unremembered pleasure: such, perhaps,
+    As have no slight or trivial influence
+    On that best portion of a good man's life,
+    His little, nameless, unremembered acts
+    Of kindness and of love.  Nor less, I trust,
+    To them I may have owed another gift,
+    Of aspect more sublime; that blessed mood
+    In which the burden of the mystery
+    In which the heavy and the weary weight
+    Of all this unintelligible world
+    Is lightened:--that serene and blessed mood,
+    In which the affections gently lead us on,
+    Until, the breath of this corporeal frame
+    And even the motion of our human blood
+    Almost suspended, we are laid asleep
+    In body, and become a living soul:
+    While with an eye made quiet by the power
+    Of harmony, and the deep power of joy,
+    We see into the life of things.
+
+          "If this
+    Be but a vain belief, yet, oh! how oft,
+    In darkness and amid the many shapes
+    Of joyless daylight, when the fretful stir
+    Unprofitable, and the fever of the world
+    Have hung upon the beatings of my heart;
+    How oft, in spirit, have I turned to thee,
+    O sylvan Wye!  Thou wanderer through the woods,
+    How often has my spirit turned to thee.
+
+    "And now with gleams of half extinguished thought,
+    With many recognitions dim and faint,
+    And somewhat of a sad perplexity,
+    The picture of the mind revives again,
+    While here I stand, not only with the sense
+    Of present pleasure, but with pleasing thoughts
+    That in this moment, there is life and food
+    For future years, and so I dare to hope,
+    Though changed, no doubt, from what I was when first
+    I came among these hills; when like a roe
+    I bounded o'er the mountains, by the sides
+    Of the deep rivers, and the lonely streams,
+    Wherever nature led: more like a man
+    Flying from something that he dreads, than one
+    Who sought the thing he loved.  For nature then
+    (The coarser pleasures of my boyish days,
+    And their glad animal movements all gone by)
+    To me was all in all.--I cannot paint
+    What then I was.  The sounding cataract
+    Haunted me like a passion: the tall rock,
+    The mountain, and the deep and gloomy wood,
+    Their colours and their forms, were then to me
+    An appetite; a feeling and a love
+    That had no need of a remoter charm,
+    By thought supplied, nor any interest
+    Unborrowed from the eye.--That time is past,
+    And all its aching joys are now no more,
+    And all its dizzy raptures.  Not for this
+    Faint I, nor mourn nor murmur; other gifts
+    Have followed; for such loss, I would believe,
+    Abundant recompense.  For I have learned
+    To look on nature, not as in the hour
+    Of thoughtless youth; but hearing oftentimes
+    The still, sad music of humanity
+    Nor harsh nor grating, though of ample power
+    To chasten and subdue.  And I have felt
+    A presence that disturbs me with the joy
+    Of elevated thoughts; a sense sublime
+    Of something far more deeply interfused,
+    Whose dwelling is the light of setting suns,
+    And the round ocean and the living air,
+    And the blue sky, and in the mind of man:
+    A motion and a spirit, that impels
+    All thinking things, all objects of all thought,
+    And rolls through all things.  Therefore am I still
+    A lover of the meadows, and the woods,
+    And mountains; and of all that we behold
+    From this green earth; of all the mighty world
+    Of eye, and ear,--both what they half create,
+    And what perceive; well pleased to recognise,
+    In nature and the language of the sense,
+    The anchor of my purest thoughts, the nurse,
+    The guide, the guardian of my heart, and soul
+    Of all my moral being."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+
+Vales of the Wye--Valley of Tintern--Tintern
+Abbey--History--Church--Character of the ruin--Site--Coxe's
+description--Monuments--Insecurity of sepulchral fame--Churchyarde on
+tombs--Opinions on Tintern--Battle of Tintern.
+
+The "Lines composed a few miles above Tintern Abbey, on revisiting the
+banks of the Wye during a tour," are justly esteemed one of the
+masterpieces of modern poetry; but independently of this, they belong so
+peculiarly to the river we are attempting to illustrate, and are
+associated so intimately with the character of its scenery, and its
+reputation as a fountain of high thoughts and beautiful feelings, that
+our volume would have been incomplete without them.  It is curious that
+this piece, which is dated in the concluding years of the last century,
+should be the only fruits as yet given to the world of the poetical
+inspiration of the Wye--for the effusions of Bloomfield are not to be
+named with those of Wordsworth.
+
+We have seen that where the picturesque character of the Wye is chiefly
+formed by its banks, which is the case from Goodrich Castle downwards,
+these embrace the stream with more or less straitness, rising in naked
+crags from the water's edge, or throwing their waving woods over the
+current.  At intervals, however, they recede to some little distance from
+either side; picturesque hills forming the side-screens, and hills,
+rocks, and trees terminating the perspective in front, and enclosing the
+river like a lake.  In such cases, the bottom is formed by a green
+pastoral meadow, through which the stream wanders leisurely, as if
+reposing after former struggles, and preparing for new ones.  These
+lonely vales are not merely secluded from "the hum, the crowd, the shock
+of men," but from all turbulent thoughts and unholy desires.  The world
+lives in them only in the recollections of dead things, and feelings, and
+persons.  They are spots, to use the fine but unappreciated image of
+Maturin,
+
+    "Where memory lingers o'er the grave of passion,
+    Watching its tranced sleep!"
+
+The admirable taste so unequivocally displayed by the monks of old, in
+the selection of sites for their ascetic retreats, could not have
+overlooked this characteristic of the Wye; and accordingly we find, in
+the most beautiful of these delightful nooks, standing on a gently
+swelling meadow, by the banks of the lake-like river, the finest
+conventual ruins in England.
+
+                            [Picture: Tintern]
+
+Tintern Abbey, though one of the oldest of the Cistercian communities in
+this country, was never famous either for its wealth, or the number of
+its brethren; and at the dissolution it contained only thirteen monks,
+supported by a rental of between two and three hundred pounds at the
+highest calculation. {158}  It was founded in 1131 by Walter de Clare,
+and dedicated to the Virgin Mary; but the endowments were greatly
+increased by Gilbert de Strongbow, lord of Striguil and Chepstow, and
+afterwards earl of Pembroke.  The religious colony consisted of
+Cistercians, otherwise called White Monks, introduced into England only
+three years before, where they formed an establishment at Waverley in
+Surrey.  These brethren spread so luxuriantly, however, that in the reign
+of Henry VIII. there were thirty-six greater, and thirty-nine lesser
+monasteries, and twenty-six nunneries, of their rule.
+
+The founder of the church was Roger Bigod, earl of Norfolk; and it would
+appear that the choir was finished and consecrated before the rest of the
+building was complete, a circumstance not unusual at that time.  The
+consecration took place in 1268; and in the body of the church the
+architecture is of a style long subsequent.  The remains of the church
+are now the only interesting parts of the ruin, at least as a picture:
+and they are in fact what is called "Tintern Abbey;" although there are
+still fragments remaining here and there of the other parts of the pile.
+The church was built in the regular cathedral form; with a nave, north
+and south aisles, transept and choir, and a tower which stood in the
+centre.
+
+Complete as the demolition is, there are at least vestiges, even in the
+most ruinous parts, which explain the original form, and even most of the
+details of the edifice.  The very effects of time, as may be well
+supposed, are here among the principal advantages.  The broken outlines,
+the isolated columns, the roofless walls, are all adjuncts of the
+picturesque; but added to these, there are the curtains, the canopies,
+the chaplets, coronals, festoons, of ivy, mosses and lichens, which give
+as much effect to a ruin, as rich draperies do to naked walls.
+
+                         [Picture: Tintern Abbey]
+
+The tiles which formed the flooring have been removed; and a carpet of
+smooth turf laid down, on which fragments of columns, monuments, statues,
+and sculptures are scattered.  This of course is not entirely the doing
+of time; but art is not displayed obtrusively enough to offend.  A ruined
+edifice, it should be observed, although this is frequently forgotten by
+critics, is a work of man and nature _conjointly_; and the traces,
+therefore, of taste or ingenuity are not to be condemned, as if these
+were exercised in shaping a cliff or amending a cataract.
+
+Gilpin describes Tintern Abbey as occupying "a great eminence, in the
+middle of a circular valley;" and another author declares its site,
+somewhat tautologically, to be a _flat plain_; to which some idle person
+has taken the liberty of appending this marginal note, in the copy of the
+work in the British Museum--"Flat plain indeed!  It is situated just at
+the brow of a richly wooded hill!"  The truth is, that the ruin itself is
+not to be entirely depended upon, as it contrives to assume a different
+appearance even in respect of position, at every turn.  Viewed from a
+short distance down the river, it actually looks as if standing on an
+eminence; but on a nearer approach, we find it in reality not greatly
+elevated above line of the water.  It is in fact built at the bottom of
+the valley, in a spot chosen apparently for solitude and meditation.  The
+solitude, however, it must be confessed is not now so complete as one
+would wish.  The inhabitants of the monastery, it is true, have vanished,
+but their places have been supplied by poor cottagers, who hide their
+misery in the very cells of the monks; and, if this were not enough,
+fragments of the ruin have been broken up, or unearthed, for the
+construction of other hovels.  In the following description will be found
+the opinions on this remarkable scene of archdeacon Coxe, who, together
+with the less correct, but more _artistical_ Gilpin, have been hitherto
+the only recognised authorities of the Wye.
+
+    "We disembarked about half a mile above the village of Tintern, and
+    followed the sinuous course of the Wye.  As we advanced to the
+    village, we passed some picturesque ruins hanging over the edge of
+    the water, which are supposed to have formed part of the abbot's
+    villa, and other buildings occupied by the monks; some of these
+    remains are converted into dwellings and cottages, others are
+    interspersed among the iron founderies and habitations.
+
+    "The first appearance of the celebrated remains of the abbey church
+    did not equal my expectations, as they are half-concealed by mean
+    buildings, and the triangular shape of the gable ends has a formal
+    appearance.
+
+    "After passing a miserable row of cottages, and forcing our way
+    through a crowd of importunate beggars, we stopped to examine the
+    rich architecture of the west front; but the door being suddenly
+    opened, the inside perspective of the church called forth an
+    instantaneous burst of admiration, and filled me with delight, such
+    as I scarcely ever before experienced on a similar occasion.  The eye
+    passes rapidly along a range of elegant gothic pillars, and, glancing
+    under the sublime arches which supported the tower, fixes itself on
+    the splendid relics of the eastern window, the grand termination of
+    the choir.
+
+    "From the length of the nave, the height of the walls, the aspiring
+    form of the pointed arches, and the size of the east window, which
+    closes the perspective, the first impressions are those of grandeur
+    and sublimity.  But as these emotions subside, and we descend from
+    the contemplation of the whole to the examination of the parts, we
+    are no less struck with the regularity of the plan, the lightness of
+    the architecture, and the delicacy of the ornaments; we feel that
+    elegance is its characteristic no less than grandeur, and that the
+    whole is a combination of the beautiful and the sublime.
+
+    "The church was constructed in the shape of a cathedral, and is an
+    excellent specimen of gothic architecture in its greatest purity.
+    The roof is fallen in, and the whole ruin open to the sky, but the
+    shell is entire; all the pillars are standing, except those which
+    divided the nave from the northern aisle, and their situation is
+    marked by the remains of the bases.  The four lofty arches which
+    supported the tower spring high in the air, reduced to narrow rims of
+    stone, yet still preserving their original form.  The arched pillars
+    of the choir and transept are complete; the shapes of all the windows
+    may be still discriminated, and the frame of the west window is in
+    perfect preservation; the design of the tracery is extremely elegant,
+    and when decorated with painted glass must have produced a fine
+    effect.  Critics who censure this window as too broad for its height,
+    do not consider that it was not intended for a particular object, but
+    to harmonise with the general plan; and had the architect diminished
+    the breadth, in proportion to the height, the grand effect of the
+    perspective would have been considerably lessened.
+
+    "The general form of the east window is entire, but the frame is much
+    dilapidated; it occupies the whole breadth of the choir, and is
+    divided into two large and equal compartments, by a slender shaft,
+    not less than fifty feet in height, which has an appearance of
+    singular lightness, and in particular points of view seems suspended
+    in the air.
+
+    "Nature has added her ornaments to the decorations of art; some of
+    the windows are wholly obscured, others partially shaded with tufts
+    of ivy, or edged with lighter foliage; the tendrils creep along the
+    walls, wind round the pillars, wreath the capitals, or, hanging down
+    in clusters, obscure the space beneath.
+
+    "Instead of dilapidated fragments overspread with weeds and choked
+    with brambles, the floor is covered with a smooth turf, which, by
+    keeping the original level of the church, exhibits the beauty of its
+    proportions, heightens the effect of the gray stone, gives a relief
+    to the clustered pillars, and affords an easy access to every part.
+    Ornamented fragments of the roof, remains of cornices and columns,
+    rich pieces of sculpture, sepulchral stones, and mutilated figures of
+    monks and heroes, whose ashes repose within these walls, are
+    scattered on the green sward, and contrast present desolation with
+    former splendour.
+
+    "Although the exterior appearance of the ruins is not equal to the
+    inside view, yet in some positions, particularly to the east, they
+    present themselves with considerable effect.  While Sir Richard Hoare
+    was employed in sketching the north-western side, I crossed the
+    ferry, and walked down the stream about half a mile.  From this
+    point, the ruins, assuming a new character, seem to occupy a gentle
+    eminence, and impend over the river without the intervention of a
+    single cottage to obstruct the view.  The grand east window, wholly
+    covered with shrubs, and half mantled with ivy, rises like the portal
+    of a majestic edifice embowered in wood.  Through this opening and
+    along the vista of the church, the clusters of ivy, which twine round
+    the pillars or hang suspended from the arches, resemble tufts of
+    trees; while the thick mantle of foliage, seen through the tracery of
+    the west window, forms a continuation of the perspective, and appears
+    like an interminable forest."
+
+The reputation of Tintern Abbey depends upon no historical associations.
+The romance of its situation is heightened by no romance of incident.  It
+is simply a part of a picture, and might be entitled in the catalogue of
+a gallery "an abbey."  The sepulchral remains it holds retain neither
+name nor date; and one of the most entire of the figures (supposed to be
+the effigies of the founder of the monastery, which, however, must be
+looked for at Gloucester, where according to Leland he was buried) is
+disputed the possession of the usual number of fingers on the right hand;
+one antiquary, hesitating between four and five, and another according to
+it, more generously, five fingers--and a thumb!  In no part of the
+country has this means of prolonging fame been more constantly resorted
+to than in Monmouthshire; but unfortunately, owing to its geographical
+position as a frontier district, in no part of the country has the object
+been more frequently defeated.  As a solitary instance of this among
+thousands, we are tempted to quote a fragment which just now catches our
+eye, from the rhymes of _Churchyarde_ (a most suitable name), and the
+rather that it exhibits the poet of the "Worthines of Wales" in a more
+poetical light than usual.  He is describing the tombs in the church of
+Abergavenny; and after noting the arms and other particulars, proceeds--
+
+    "But note a greater matter now,
+    Upon his tomb in stone,
+    Were fourteene lords that knees did bow
+    Unto this lord alone.
+    Of this rare work a porch is made,
+    The barrons there remaine
+    In good old stone, and auncient trade,
+    To show all ages plaine,
+    What honour wass to Hastings due,
+    What honour he did win:
+    What armes he gave, and so to blaze
+    What lord had Hastings bin."
+
+But alas for the frailty of fame even so secured!  The dilapidated
+monument laughed in the unconscious rhymer's face through the rents of
+time; the principal effigies had been removed to a window, and several of
+the "fourteene lords" placed in a porch; and the very name of him whose
+memory the whole had been intended to perpetuate, had become a matter of
+doubt and controversy!  "Some say this great lord was called Bruce and
+not Hastings, but most do hold opinion he was called Hastings!"
+
+It may seem almost superfluous to give any further evidence respecting
+the picturesque character of Tintern Abbey; but as we design this volume
+not merely to act the part of a sign-post, but to save the common reader
+the trouble of reference, we shall add two other quotations.
+
+    "It would be difficult to imagine a more favourable situation, or a
+    more sublime ruin.  The entrance to it seems as if contrived by the
+    hand of some skilful scene-painter to produce the most striking
+    effect.  The church, which is large, is still almost perfect; the
+    roof alone, and a few of the pillars, are wanting.  The ruins have
+    received just that degree of care which is consistent with the full
+    preservation of their character; all unpicturesque rubbish which
+    could obstruct the view is removed, without any attempt at repair or
+    embellishment.  A beautiful smooth turf covers the ground, and
+    luxuriant creeping plants grow amid the stones.  The fallen ornaments
+    are laid in picturesque confusion, and a perfect avenue of thick
+    ivy-stems climb up the pillars, and form a roof over head.  The
+    better to secure the ruin, a new gate of antique workmanship, with
+    iron ornaments, is put up.  When this is suddenly opened, the effect
+    is most striking and surprising.  You suddenly look down the avenue
+    of ivy-clad pillars, and see their grand perspective lines closed, at
+    a distance of three hundred feet, by a magnificent window eighty feet
+    high and thirty broad: through its intricate and beautiful tracery
+    you see a wooded mountain, from whose side project abrupt masses of
+    rock.  Over head the wind plays in the garlands of ivy, and the
+    clouds pass swiftly across the deep blue sky.  When you reach the
+    centre of the church, whence you look to the four extremities of its
+    cross, you see the two transept windows nearly as large and beautiful
+    as the principal one; through each you command a picture totally
+    different, but each in the wild and sublime style which harmonises so
+    perfectly with the building.  Immediately round the ruin is a
+    luxuriant orchard.  In spring, how exquisite must be the effect of
+    these grey venerable walls rising out of that sea of fragrance and
+    beauty!"
+
+The other extract belongs to the class sentimental, and is not a
+description of Tintern Abbey, but of the mood of mind to which it
+disposes.
+
+    "The great tree, or vegetable rock, or emperor of the oaks (if you
+    please), before which I bowed with a sort of reverence in the fields
+    of Tintern, and which for so many ages has borne all the blasts and
+    bolts of heaven, I should deem it a gratification of a superior kind,
+    to approach again with 'unsandaled feet' to pay the same homage, and
+    to kindle with the same devotion.  But I should find amidst the
+    magnificent ruins of the adjoining abbey, something of a sublime
+    cast, to give poignancy to my feelings.  I must be alone.  My mind
+    must be calm and pensive.  It must be midnight.  The moon, half
+    veiled in clouds, must be just emerging from behind the neighbouring
+    hills.  All must be silent, except the winds gently rushing among the
+    ivy of the ruins.  I should then invoke the ghosts of the abbey; and
+    fancy, with one stroke of her magic wand, would rouse them from their
+    dusty beds, and lead them into the centre of the ruin.  I should
+    approach their shadowy existences with reverence, make inquiries
+    respecting the manners and customs, and genius and fate of antiquity,
+    desire to have a glimpse of the destiny of future ages, and enter in
+    conversations which would be too sacred, and even dangerous to
+    communicate."
+
+The only event unconnected with the monastery which is assigned to this
+locality is a _battle_.  Whether it was fought on the hills above, or
+whether the demon of war actually intruded within the charmed circle of
+Tintern--or whether the whole is a fable, invented for the express
+purpose of desecrating the very idea of the place--we cannot tell.  But
+however this may be, the fact, or the falsehood, is commemorated in the
+following epitaph, which is placed on the north side of the chancel of
+the church of Mathern.
+
+    Here lyeth entombed the body of
+    Frederic, King of Morganoch or
+    Glamorgan, commonly called
+    St. Thewdrick, and accounted a martyr,
+    because he was slain in a battle against
+    the Saxons, being then Pagans, and in
+    defence of the Christian religion.  The
+    battle was fought at Tintern, when he
+    obtained a great victory.  He died here
+    being in his way homeward, three
+    days after the battle, having taken
+    order with Maurice his son, who suc-
+    ceeded him in the kingdom, that in the
+    same place he should happen to decease, a
+    church should be built, and his body buri-
+    ed in ye same, which was accordingly performed
+             in the year 1601.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+
+The Wye below Tintern--Banagor Crags--Lancaut--Piercefield
+Bay--Chepstow--Ancient and modern bridge--Chepstow Castle--Roger de
+Britolio--Romance of history--Chepstow in the civil wars--Marten the
+regicide.
+
+The Wye being now a tide river, time requires to be studied by the
+traveller who would see it in its beauty or grandeur.  The shores must be
+hidden by the full stream, and the overhanging woods fling their shadow
+as before over the glancing waters.  Some bargain for the moon, to silver
+the tree tops, and send her angel-visitings through the vistas of
+foliage.  But the truth is, before reaching this point we have become the
+spoiled children of nature; we have grown fastidious in our admiration,
+and would criticise perfection itself.
+
+With the one drawback of the sludginess of the shores at ebb water, the
+Wye below Tintern is as worthy of our homage as ever.  But it may be,
+that the romance of its rocks and woods impending over the current, and
+the deep stillness of the scene, broken only by the rippling sound of its
+flow, may harmonize _too_ closely with the holy solitude we have left.
+Our sensations are uninterrupted; we carry with us the ruins and their
+associations; the mouldering abbey glides upon the stream before us; and
+the recesses of the rocks, and deep paths of the woods, are peopled with
+the spectres of the monastery.  Thus we have no new impressions to mark
+our progress, and one of the finest parts of the river escapes almost
+without notice.
+
+There is notwithstanding much variety in this part of our course.  The
+reaches are short; the banks steep, sometimes overhanging in naked
+precipices, sometimes waving with romantic woods; while numerous narrow
+promontories intercept the view, and cut the scene into separate
+pictures.  Banagor Crags, on the left, form a stupendous wall of cliff,
+extending for a considerable distance, without presenting anything in
+themselves to relieve the eye, except here and there some recesses or
+small shrubs, painting their interstices.  But, as if aware of the
+disadvantage even of a sublime uniformity, nature has spread upon the
+opposite side a scene incomparable for richness and variety.  A bright
+green sward, broken into narrow patches, swells upwards from the water's
+edge, till it is lost in acclivities mantled with woods; and rising from
+the ridge of these, a mass of perpendicular rock towers aloft to the
+height, as it is computed, of eight hundred feet, overhung with shaggy
+thickets.
+
+We now turn the peninsula of Lancaut, which comes sloping down from
+Tiddenham Chase, till it terminates in fertile meadows; and, on the
+right, rise from the water's edge, with a kind of fantastic majesty, the
+Piercefield cliffs, capped with magnificent woods.  Twelve projecting
+masses of these rocks have received the names of the twelve apostles, and
+a thirteenth is called St. Peter's Thumb.  While wondering where this
+will end, we sweep round another point, and find ourselves in Piercefield
+Bay.  To the right a line of perpendicular cliffs is still seen, but
+crowned instead of trees with an embattled fortress; which, for a moment,
+might seem to have been cut out of the rock.  The view is closed by a
+range of red cliffs, with the magnificent iron bridge of Chepstow
+spanning the river.  This is the last of the great views _on_ the Wye;
+and if seen under favorable circumstances of time and tide, it is one of
+the finest.
+
+                           [Picture: Chepstow]
+
+Chepstow stands on the side of an acclivity, overlooked itself on all
+sides by loftier hills, so that from every part of the town a different
+view is obtained.  Approaching it from the road which leads from the New
+Passage, this position, owing to the singularity of a part of the higher
+ground, gives the scene a very peculiar appearance.  Nothing is seen but
+the red cliffs of the Wye, and the tall masts of the shipping rising
+among them; and it is not till close at hand that the houses appear,
+shelving down to the river.  Archdeacon Coxe observes, that he has seldom
+visited any town whose picturesque situation surpassed that of Chepstow;
+and according to Mr. Wyndham, another traveller in this district, "the
+beauties are so uncommonly excellent, that the most exact critic in
+landscape would scarcely wish to alter a position in the assemblage of
+woods, cliffs, ruins, and water."  Among these features, the Wye and its
+banks are conspicuous.  The ridge of cliff on the left bank below the
+bridge is remarkable both for its form and variety of colouring; while,
+on the opposite bank above, the gigantic remains of the castle,
+stretching along the brink of the precipice, give an air of romance to
+the picture, not frequently found in one of the crowded haunts of men.
+
+The bridge is of cast iron, and was completed only in 1816.  There are
+five arches, resting on stone piers; but although in reality a massive
+structure, it has the air of lightness, when viewed from the river, which
+iron bridges usually possess.  The old bridge was formerly composed of a
+level floor, carried along wooden piers, except in the centre, where a
+massive pillar of stone, dividing Gloucester and Monmouth, was the
+support.  Afterwards, however, stone piers were substituted for those on
+the Monmouth side, before the two counties joined in the erection of the
+present noble structure.
+
+"According to tradition," says Mr. Coxe, "the bridge of the Wye was
+formerly half a mile above the present bridge, at a place called Eddis,
+nearly opposite to the alcove in Piercefield grounds, and seemingly in a
+direction leading towards an ancient encampment which encircles the
+grotto.  The remains of the abutments are said to have been visible in
+the memory of some of the present generation; and the vestiges of a
+pitched road were recently found in digging near the spot.  I walked to
+the spot, but could not discern the smallest traces of the ancient
+bridge, and the ground on which the pitched road was discovered was
+planted with potatoes.  I was, however, amply gratified for my
+disappointment by the pleasantness of the walk by the side of the river,
+the beauty of the hanging woods of Piercefield, and the picturesque
+appearance of the castle."
+
+The castle of Chepstow is said by some antiquaries, to have been built
+originally by Julius Caesar; which is denied by others, on the reasonable
+grounds, that Julius Caesar never was there, and that Roman reliques,
+although abundant in the neighbourhood, have never been discovered in the
+town.  However this may be, the name by which it is at present known, is
+Saxon, and denotes a place of traffic; and Leland traces at least its
+prosperity to its situation being favourable for commerce.  "The towne of
+Chepstowe," says he, "hath been very strongly walled, as yet well doth
+appere.  The walles began at the grete bridge, over the Wy, and so came
+to the castel; the which yet standeth fayer and strong, not far from the
+ruin of the bridge.  A grete lykelyhood ys, that when Carguen began to
+decay, then began Chepstow to flourish, for yt standeth far better, as
+upon Wy there ebbing and flowing, by the Rage coming out of the Severn,
+so that to Chepstowe may come grete shippes."
+
+The castle, as we have said, crowns the brow of a precipice, forming here
+the right bank of the Wye; and its walls, on the northern side, are so
+close to the edge as to seem nothing more than a prolongation of the
+rock.  The rest of the fortress was defended by a moat and its own lofty
+towers.
+
+The area was divided into four courts.  The first, which is entered by a
+Norman gateway, contained the grand hall, the kitchen, and other
+apartments, on a scale of considerable grandeur.  At the south-eastern
+angle of this court is the keep, or citadel, now called Harry Marten's
+Tower.  The second court contains no architectural remains, except the
+walls; but in the third is a remarkable building, usually designated as
+the chapel.  It seems to have formed one magnificent apartment, probably
+with a gallery running along the sides.  The fourth court was separated
+from the rest by a moat, which was crossed by a drawbridge.  Whether a
+former building stood here or not, William Fitzosborn, earl of Hereford,
+is said in Domesday Book to have built the castle of Chepstow.  It was
+inherited by his third son Roger de Britolio, who was deprived of his
+estates, and condemned to perpetual imprisonment for rebellion.  The
+fierce character of this Norman baron is well illustrated in the
+following anecdote preserved by Dugdale.
+
+    "Though he frequently used many scornful and contumelious expressions
+    towards the king, yet he was pleased, at the celebration of the feast
+    of Easter in a solemn manner (as was then used), to send to this earl
+    Rodger, at that time in prison, his royal robes, who so disdained the
+    favour, that he forthwith caused a great fire to be made, and the
+    mantle, the inner surcoat of silk, and the upper garment, lined with
+    precious furs, to be suddenly burnt.  Which being made known to the
+    king, he became not a little displeased, and said, '_Certainly he is
+    a very proud man who has thus abused me_; _but_, _by the brightness
+    of God_, _he shall never come out of prison as long as I live_.'
+    Which expression was fulfilled to the utmost, for he never was
+    released during the king's life, nor after, but died in prison."
+
+In the reign of Henry I., we find Chepstow in the possession of the Clare
+family; of whom Richard de Clare, surnamed, like his father, Strongbow,
+is famous for his Irish adventures.  'At the solicitation of Dermot
+Macnagh, king of Leinster, who had been dethroned by his rival Roderic
+the Great, king of Connaught (for there were then five kings in Ireland),
+he proceeded to that country with twelve hundred men, to espouse the
+cause of the unfortunate potentate: being offered, in the spirit of the
+age, his daughter for a wife, and his kingdom for an inheritance.
+Strongbow landed at Waterford in 1171; married the princess; and his
+father-in-law dying at the very moment demanded by poetical justice,
+conquered his promised kingdom, and took possession of Dublin the
+capital.  The romance, however, was spoiled by Henry II., who, in high
+dudgeon at this presumption of a subject, confiscated his estates, and
+carried an army over to Ireland, with the purpose of annexing Leinster to
+the English crown.  Strongbow submitted; abandoned Waterford and Dublin
+to his feudal master; was restored to his estates, and made constable of
+Ireland.  His character is thus described by Giraldus Cambrensis:
+
+    "This earle was somewhat ruddie and of sanguine complexion and
+    freckle face, his eyes greie, his face feminine, his voice small, and
+    his necke little, but somewhat of high stature: he was verie
+    liberall, corteous, and gentle; what he could not compass or bring to
+    passe in deed, he would win by good word and gentle speeches.  In
+    time of peace he was more redie to yield and obeie than rule and
+    beare swaie.  Out of the campe he was more like to a souldier
+    companion than a captaine or ruler; but in the camp and in the warres
+    he carried with him the state and countenance of a valiante captaine.
+    Of himselfe he would not adventure anie thing; but being advised and
+    set on, he refused no attempts; but for himselfe he would not rashlie
+    adventure or presumptuouslie take anie thing in hand.  In the fighte
+    and battell he was a most assured token and signe to the whole
+    companie, either to stand valiante to the fight, or for policie to
+    retire.  In all chances of warre he was still one and the same manner
+    of man, being neither dismaied with adversitie, or puffed up with
+    prosperitie."
+
+By the marriage of a daughter of Richard Strongbow (who had no male
+issue) our castle next came into the hands of one of the greatest men of
+his time, William, marshal of England, lord protector of the kingdom; and
+by the marriage of his daughter (for although he had five sons they all
+died without issue), it fell to Hugh Bigod, earl of Norfolk.  This
+daughter was Maud, remarkable for having been in her widowhood created
+_marshal_ in virtue of her descent, the king himself, Henry III.,
+solemnly giving the truncheon into her hands.  She was buried in Tintern
+Abbey in 1248, her body being carried into the choir by her four sons.
+
+After changing hands several times, Chepstow Castle appears to have been
+_sold_ to the earl of Pembroke; whose heiress Elizabeth conveyed it by
+marriage, as we have already had occasion to relate, to Sir Charles
+Somerset, afterwards earl of Worcester.  Churchyarde mentions the fact of
+the sale in his uncouth rhymes.
+
+    "To Chepstowe yet, my pen agayne must passe,
+    When Strongbow once (an earl of rare renown),
+    A long time since, the lord and maister was
+    (In princly sort) of casle and of towne.
+    Then after that, to Mowbray it befell,
+    Of Norfolke duke, a worthie known full well;
+    Who sold the same to William Harbert, knight,
+    That was the earle of Pembroke then by right."
+
+During the civil wars, this place was considered of great importance.
+
+    "At first, Chepstow was garrisoned for the king, until in 1645,
+    Colonel Morgan, governor of Gloucester, at the head of three hundred
+    horse and four hundred foot, and assisted by the mountaineers, with
+    little difficulty made himself master of the town, and in a few days
+    compelled the governor, Colonel Fitzmorris, to surrender the castle.
+    But the castle was afterwards surprised by the loyalists, under Sir
+    Nicholas Hemeys, who, in the absence of the governor, by means of a
+    secret correspondence, obtained possession of the western gate, and
+    made the garrison prisoners of war.  On this event Cromwell marched
+    against it in person, took possession of the town, but assailed the
+    castle without success, though garrisoned only by a hundred and sixty
+    men.  He then left Colonel Ewer, with a train of artillery, seven
+    companies of foot, and four troops of horse, to prosecute the siege.
+    But the garrison defended themselves valiantly, until the provisions
+    were exhausted, and even then refused to surrender under promise of
+    quarter, hoping to escape by means of a boat, which they had provided
+    for that purpose.  A soldier of the parliamentary army, however, swam
+    across the river, with a knife between his teeth, cut the cable of
+    the boat, and brought it away; the castle was at length forced, and
+    Sir Nicholas Hemys and forty slain in the assault.  This event was
+    considered by the parliament so important, that the captain who
+    brought the news was rewarded with fifty pounds, and a letter of
+    thanks was sent to Colonel Ewer and the officers and soldiers engaged
+    in that service."
+
+In 1645, the castle, with the other estates belonging to the marquis of
+Worcester, were settled upon Oliver Cromwell, but were given back to the
+family at the restoration.
+
+    "For thirty years secluded from mankind,
+    Here Marten lingered.  Often have these walls
+    Echoed his footsteps, as with even tread
+    He paced around his prison.  Not to him
+    Did nature's fair varieties exist:
+    He never saw the sun's delightful beams,
+    Save when thro' yon high bars he pour'd a sad
+    And broken splendor."
+
+All this, it now appears, is a poetical exaggeration, and the thirty
+years' captivity (diminished to twenty years) passed away as easily as
+the sense of captivity would permit.  The regicide was permitted to spend
+his property as he pleased, to enjoy the association of his wife, to
+receive visits, and even to return them in the neighbourhood, accompanied
+by a guard.
+
+Marten was one of the most zealous of those men who cast down the statue
+of royalty from a pedestal, upon which, although re-erected, it can never
+again stand securely of its own strength unsupported by public opinion.
+He does not appear to have been himself of irreproachable character, but
+he was honest at least in theory, and true to his principles, such as
+they were.
+
+"Being authorised," says Anthony Wood, "by parliament, about 1642, he
+forced open a great iron chest, within the college of Westminster, and
+thence took the crown, robes, sword, and sceptre belonging anciently to
+king Edward the Confessor, and used by all our kings at their
+inaugurations; and with a scorn greater than his lusts and the rest of
+his vices, he openly declared that there should be no farther use of
+those toys and trifles, and in the jolity of that humour he invested
+George Wither (an old puritan satyrist) in the royal habiliments; who
+being crowned and royally arrayed (as well right became him) did first
+march about the room, with a stately garb, and afterwards with a thousand
+apish and ridiculous actions exposed those sacred ornaments to contempt
+and laughter."
+
+Marten was a member of the high court of justice, regularly attended the
+trial, was present when sentence was pronounced, and signed the warrant
+of death.  It is added, that when Cromwell took up the pen to sign, he
+spattered some ink upon Marten; and Marten, when his turn came, returned
+the frolic!  The two friends, however, were enemies at last.  Cromwell
+would have made himself king if he had been able, but Marten said, "If
+they must have a king, he had rather have had the last than any gentleman
+in England; he found no fault in his person, but in his office."  When
+the regicides who surrendered to the king's proclamation were condemned,
+they claimed mercy on the score of having given themselves up in order to
+save their lives; and Marten, always forward and fearless, added, "that
+he had never obeyed any proclamation before this, and hoped that he
+should not be hanged for taking the king's word now."  He was at length
+condemned to perpetual imprisonment, but both in the Tower and in
+Chepstow Castle he was treated with great lenity.  He died of apoplexy in
+the twentieth year of his confinement, and seventy-eighth of his age.  He
+was buried in the chancel of the parish church at Chepstow, and a stone,
+with an inscription written by himself placed over his body.  This was
+removed, however, to another part of the church, by the pious loyalty of
+a succeeding vicar; but the stone being defaced, a new one was
+substituted, by order of the churchwardens, in 1812, with the original
+epitaph.
+
+                      Here,
+    September the 9, in the year of our Lord 1680,
+    Was buried a true Englishman,
+    Who in Berkshire was well known
+    To love his country's freedom 'bove his own,
+    But living immured full twenty year,
+    Had time to write, as does appear,
+
+                                 HIS EPITAPH.
+
+    H ere, or elsewhere (all's one to you, to me),
+    E arth, air, or water, gripes my ghostly dust;
+    N o one knows how soon to be by fire set free.
+    R eader, if you an oft-tried rule will trust,
+    Y ou will gladly do and suffer what you must.
+
+    M y life was spent in serving you,
+    A nd death's my pay (it seems), and welcome too;
+    R evenge destroying but itself, while I
+    T o birds of prey leave my old cage and fly.
+    E xamples preach to th' eye, care then (mine says)
+    N ot how you end, but how you spend your days.
+
+The church was part of the chapel of a priory of Benedictine monks,
+founded here soon after the Conquest; and is interesting from its
+architecture, being for the greater part in the early Norman style, but
+with ornamented gothic windows--and a tower adorned by the taste of the
+present age with Greek pilasters!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+
+Piercefield--Points of view--Curious appearance--Scenic character of the
+place--View from Wyndcliff--Account of Valentine Morris--Anecdotes--The
+Wye below Chepstow--Aust Ferry--Black Rock Ferry--St.
+Theodric--Conclusion.
+
+The romantic region of Piercefield, extending from Chepstow to
+Wyndcliff--a distance of about three miles by the sinuous walk, is one of
+the grand attractions of this place.  It is nothing more, it is true,
+than a gentleman's park; but then the landscape gardener by whom this
+park was laid out is Nature herself, who has lavished here her beauty,
+her grandeur, and her romance, in the wildest profusion.  Art is entirely
+subservient to her purposes, opening the view where it was shut in, and
+forming paths for the pilgrim foot that would approach to worship.
+
+"In the composition of the scenery," says the historical tourist, "the
+meandering Wye, the steep cliffs, and the fertile peninsula of Lancaut,
+form the striking characteristics.
+
+"The Wye, which is everywhere seen from a great elevation, passes between
+Wyndcliff and the Bangor rocks, winds round the peninsula of Lancaut,
+under a semicircular chain of stupendous cliffs, is lost in its sinuous
+course, and again appears in a straight line at the foot of the Lancaut
+rocks, and flows under the majestic ruins of Chepstow Castle towards the
+Severn.
+
+"The rocks are broken into a variety of fantastic shapes, and scattered
+at different heights and different positions: they start abruptly from
+the river, swell into gentle acclivities, or hang on the summits of the
+hills; here they form a perpendicular rampart, these jet into enormous
+projections, and impend over the water.
+
+"But their dizzy heights and abrupt precipices are softened by the woods
+which form a no less conspicuous feature in the romantic scenery; they
+are not meagre plantations placed by art, but a tract of forests
+scattered by the hand of nature.  In one place they expand into open
+groves of large oak, elm, and beech; in another form a shade of timber
+trees, copses, and underwood, hiding all external objects, and wholly
+impervious to the rays of the sun, they start from the crevices of the
+rocks, feather their edges, crown their summits, clothe their sides, and
+fill the intermediate hollows with a luxuriant mass of foliage, bring to
+recollection of the border
+
+    "'Of Eden, where delicious paradise,
+    Now nearer, crowns with her enclosure green,
+    As with a rural mound, the champaign head
+    Of a steep wilderness, whose hairy sides,
+    With thicket o'ergrown, grotesque and wild,
+    Access denied, and over head up grew
+    Insuperable height of loftiest shade,
+
+                                 * * * * * *
+
+    A sylvan scene and as the banks ascend
+    Shade above shade, a woody theatre
+    Of stateliest view.'"
+
+And this grandeur is heightened, not diminished, by the view presented in
+the midst of fertile fields, and the simple details of rural occupation.
+The peninsula of Laucaut, on the opposite bank of the Wye, is a
+comparatively extensive farm, cultivated to the highest perfection, and
+rich with the gifts of Ceres.  It is dotted with trees, and a range of
+elms fringes it on the side of the river.  Towards the middle of its
+pear-shaped area, or rather approaching the isthmus, stands the farm
+house, with rocks and woods behind.  The principal points of view are the
+following:
+
+1. The Lover's Leap.  2. A seat near two beeches on the edge of the
+precipice.  3. The Giant's Cave, which occupies the centre of the
+amphitheatre and overlooks Lancaut peninsula.  4. The halfway seat under
+a large beech tree.  5. The double view.  6. Above Piercewood.  7. The
+grotto.  8. The platform.  9. The alcove.
+
+But other portions of the grounds not so frequently visited are noticed
+by an observant traveller.  "From the Giant's cave, a road winds
+beautifully along the brow of the cliff to a grove of lofty oak, beech,
+and sycamore, which is cleared from underwood, in the centre of the
+extensive forest which spreads beneath the Lover's Leap.  In this
+charming and sequestered spot is a cold bath supplied by a copious and
+transparent rill, which springs at the foot of the winding cliff, and
+ripples down the side of the declivity.  The road then descends to
+Malridge meadow, on the bank of the Wye, where the river appears like a
+lake, and the fertile peninsula of Lancaut rises in a gentle declivity
+from the margin of the stream to the isthmus.
+
+"A beautiful walk, two miles in length, skirts this meadow, at the foot
+of the stupendous range of Piercefield cliffs, and then mounts to the
+house by steps, cut in a steep rock.  As the house stands several hundred
+feet above the river, the ascent is long and difficult, but the toil is
+amply repaid by the beauty and sublimity of the scene."
+
+From some of these points, it may be observed, the Severn, seen _beyond_
+the Wye, appears to be considerably _above_ it; and, however easily
+explained the phenomenon may be, an indescribably puzzling effect is
+produced by the idea that the latter river, a few miles lower down, runs
+into the former.  The fact is noticed by Mr. Coxe, whose description is
+truly excellent.
+
+"From the Lover's Leap the walk is carried through a thick mantle of
+forests, with occasional openings, which seem not the result of art or
+design, but the effect of chance or nature, and seats placed where the
+spectator may repose and view at leisure the scenery above, beneath, and
+around.  This
+
+             Bowery walk
+    Of covert close, where scarce a speck of day
+    Falls on the lengthened gloom,
+
+is conformant to the genius of Piercefield; the screen of wood prevents
+the uniformity of a bird's eye view, and the imperceptible bend of the
+amphitheatre conveys the spectator from one part of the fairy region to
+the other without perceiving the gradation.  Hence the Wye is sometimes
+concealed or half-obscured by overhanging foliage, at others, wholly
+expanding to view, is seen sweeping beneath in a broad and circuitous
+channel; hence in one place the Severn spreads in the midst of a
+boundless expanse of country, and on the opposite side to the Wye; at
+another both rivers appear on the same side, and the Severn seems
+supported on the summit of the cliffs which form the bank of the Wye.
+Hence the same objects present themselves in different aspects, with
+varied accompaniments; hence the magic transition from the impervious
+gloom of the forest to open groves; from meadows and lawns, to rocks and
+precipices, and from the beauties of English landscape, to the wildness
+of Alpine scenery.
+
+                      [Picture: View from Wyndcliff]
+
+"The summit of Wind Cliff, which towers above the northern extremity of
+the grounds, commands, in one point of view, the whole extent of this
+interesting scenery: as I stood on the brow of this precipice, I looked
+down on the fertile peninsula of Lancaut, surrounded with rocks and
+forests, contemplated the hanging wood, rich lawns, and romantic cliffs
+of Piercefield, the castle and town of Chepstow, and traced the Wye,
+sweeping in the true outline of beauty, from the Bangor crags to its
+junction with the Severn, which spreads into an estuary, and is lost in
+the distant ocean.
+
+"A boundless extent of country is seen in every direction from this
+commanding eminence, comprehending not less than nine counties.  In the
+midst of this expanse, I principally directed my attention to the subject
+of my tour, which now drew to a conclusion.  I traced, with pleasing
+satisfaction, not unmixed with regret, the luxuriant vallies and romantic
+hills of this interesting country, which I had traversed in various
+directions, but I dwelt with peculiar admiration on the majestic rampart
+which forms its boundary to the west, and extends in one grand and
+unbroken outline, from the banks of the Severn to the Black Mountains,
+
+          "'Where the broken landscape, by degrees
+    Ascending, roughens into rigid hills;
+    O'er which the Cambrian mountains, like far clouds
+    That skirt the blue horizon, dusky rise.'"
+
+Till Piercefield was inherited by Valentine Morris, whose father had
+obtained it by purchase, the capabilities of the place were unknown,
+principally, we should think, from the view being hidden by a deep veil
+of forest.  Morris saw everything, however, with the eye of taste; and
+without officiously intermeddling with nature, he contrived, by merely
+displaying the treasures that before were concealed, and by opening out
+paths through the woods to enable visiters to enjoy them, to render
+Piercefield the fairy-land it now appears.  He seems to have been a man
+of a princely mind, but a thoughtless, unreflecting disposition.  His
+beautiful property was nothing to him without admirers; and he was so
+grateful for admiration, that he caused his servants to wait upon and
+feast, gratuitously, even the vagrant stranger, as soon as his foot had
+entered the magic circle.  It is hardly necessary to add, therefore, that
+by the time the beauties of Piercefield had become extensively known,
+their master was ruined.  Various other circumstances, however, concurred
+to dissipate a large fortune, and at length he retired to the West
+Indies, where he had inherited considerable property.  The following
+anecdote is told of his adieu to Piercefield:--
+
+    "Before his final departure from England, he indulged himself with
+    bidding adieu to Piercefield.  In company with a friend he surveyed
+    his own creation, for the last time, with apparent composure and
+    manly resignation.  On his return to Chepstow he was surrounded by
+    the poor; who, throwing themselves on their knees, thanked him for
+    the numerous instances of his bounty, and implored the blessing of
+    Heaven on their generous benefactor.  Even this affecting spectacle
+    he bore with silent fortitude, and entered the chaise which conveyed
+    him to London.  But he no sooner reached the Gloucestershire side of
+    the bridge, than his ear was struck with the mournful peal of bells,
+    muffled, as is usual on the loss of departed friends; deeply affected
+    with this mark of esteem and regret, he could no longer control his
+    emotions, and burst into tears."
+
+He was made lieutenant-governor, and afterwards governor in chief, of St.
+Vincent's; where his affairs prospered so much that he had almost
+recovered his fortune, when the island was attacked by the French.  With
+his usual nobility of spirit, he advanced large sums out of his private
+funds towards the defence, but all in vain: St. Vincent's was taken, and
+Morris Piercefield never could obtain from government either his outlay
+or arrears.  He returned to England to seek redress; was arrested by his
+creditors, and himself a creditor of the country to a large extent,
+languished in a debtor's prison for seven years.  His books, movables,
+trifles, everything were sold for bread; and his wife sunk under the
+horrors of their situation, and became insane.  Morris at length
+recovered his liberty, and Lord North determined to shame his
+predecessors in the ministry, by performing an act of common honesty.  A
+minister, however, is seldom honest from choice, because the outlay of
+money curtails his resources, and because the wilful withholding, even of
+a just debt, does not involve his character in society as a man of
+honour.  Lord North accordingly delayed the restitution as long as he
+could; and poor Valentine Morris in 1789, was indebted to his
+brother-in-law for a bed on which to die.
+
+We cannot refrain from adding an anecdote relating to one of the family
+of Walters, to whom the estate of Piercefield formerly belonged.
+
+    "Holding one day a conversation with Mr. Knowles, whom he employed in
+    building the alcove, he made inquiries concerning the family of
+    Walters, and asked if any of them were yet living.  Knowles replied
+    that William, the brother of John who sold the estate, was still
+    alive and in great distress.  'Bring him to Piercefield,' said
+    Morris, 'and I will make him welcome.'  'If you would give him your
+    whole estate he could not walk, he is so much affected with the gout
+    in his feet, and earns a precarious livelihood by fishing.'  'If he
+    then cannot come to me, I will take the first opportunity of calling
+    on him.'  Being some time afterwards engaged with Knowles in forming
+    an opening in the wood, he saw two men in a boat; 'Stay here,' he
+    said to Knowles, 'I will cross the river in that boat, and examine
+    whether the objects I want to show can be seen from hence.'
+    Descending hastily he hailed the watermen, leaped into the boat, was
+    ferried over, and on his return entered into conversation with the
+    men, and inquired their names and condition.  'My name,' said one of
+    them, 'is * * * * *, I am a native of Chepstow; and that man,
+    pointing to his companion, is William Walters.'  'What, Walters of
+    Piercefield!' exclaimed Morris.  'Yes, please your honour, I am the
+    brother of John, who sold the estate that you now enjoy.'  Morris
+    made no reply; but giving a gratuity to each of the men, leaped on
+    shore, rapidly ascended the hill, and rejoining Knowles, cried, 'I
+    have been talking with Walters:' taking out several guineas, he
+    added, 'carry these to him, and tell him that he shall never want
+    while it is in my power to assist him.'  Knowles suggested, that as
+    the man was much addicted to liquor, he would render him more service
+    by a weekly allowance.  The next market-day one of Morris's servants
+    carried to Walters a joint of meat, and a small sum of money, which
+    was continued weekly until his death.  Morris defrayed the expenses
+    of his funeral, and his carriage conveyed the corpse to St. Arvans,
+    where it was interred in the family vault." {204}
+
+From Chepstow to the confluence of the Wye with the Severn, the distance
+is three miles; but although the banks are in general lofty, they possess
+no features of interest to the descending traveller.  It may be
+sufficient merely to name the Red Rocks, the Hardwick Cliffs, and
+Thornwell Woods.  After these St. Ewan's Rocks appear on the left bank;
+and we glide gradually into the wide expanse of the Severn.  A
+prolongation, however, of the left bank continues for some time after we
+are fairly out of the Wye; the peninsula of Beachley, extending almost
+half way across the Severn.  From this is the ferry of the Aust Passage,
+supposed to have been named after one of the Roman generals.  A
+steam-packet now plies instead of an open boat, and lands passengers at a
+handsome pier at all hours of the tide.
+
+On the Monmouthshire coast, a little way beyond the mouth of the Wye, is
+the Black Rock Inn of the New Passage ferry, supposed, notwithstanding
+its name, to be as ancient as the other.  This ferry was suppressed by
+Oliver Cromwell, on account of a catastrophe which took place here of a
+very interesting description.  When the king was pursued by his enemies,
+he crossed the Severn to Chiswell Pill on the opposite side; but when the
+boatmen returned to the Black Rock, they found a party of sixty armed
+republicans, waiting to follow the royal fugitive.  The ferrymen were
+royalists, but there was no resisting commands enforced by so many drawn
+swords, and reluctantly they took the enemies of their prince on board,
+and pulled across the Severn.  They landed their unwelcome freight upon
+the English Stones, which appeared to be a part of the shore, but was in
+reality separated by water, fordable only at low tide.  The tide had just
+turned.  Some moments, no doubt, were lost in dismay, and some in
+shouting to the treacherous boatmen, who lay upon their oars to watch the
+event.  The English Stones disappeared with a suddenness customary in the
+flow of that river; and the cries of sixty drowning men were lost in the
+rush of the wild waters of the Severn.
+
+Before the Black Rock Inn, and near the mouth of the Wye, is Mathern,
+formerly the episcopal residence of the bishops of Llandaff.  The church
+close by is the one pointed to by tradition as having been raised over
+the ashes of Theodoric, the hermit-king, who desecrated the holy solitude
+of Tintern with the sounds of battle.
+
+    "The manor of Matherne, where there is now a palace, was given to the
+    bishops of Llandaff by Maurice, king of Glamorganshire, about the
+    year 560, on the following occasion:--His father, St. Theodoric, as
+    he is usually called, having resigned his crown to this son, embraced
+    the life of a hermit.  The Saxons invading the country, Theodoric was
+    reluctantly called from his hermitage to take the command of the
+    army; he defeated them near Tintern upon the Wye.  Being mortally
+    wounded in the engagement, he precipitated his return, that he might
+    die among his friends, and desired his son to erect a church, and
+    bury him on the spot where he breathed his last: but scarcely had he
+    proceeded five miles, when he expired at a place near the conflux of
+    the Wye and Severn.  Hence, according to his desire, a chapel being
+    erected, his body was placed in a stone coffin.  As I was giving
+    orders to repair this coffin, which was either broken by chance or
+    decayed by age, I discovered his bones, not in the smallest degree
+    changed, though after a period of a thousand years, the skull
+    retaining the aperture of a large wound, which appeared as if it had
+    been recently inflicted.  Maurice gave the contiguous estate to the
+    church, and assigned to the place the name of Merthur Tewdrick, or
+    _the martyrdom of Theodorick_; who, because he perished in battle
+    against the enemies of the christian name, is esteemed a martyr."
+
+Our task is now finished: we turn away to seek "fresh fields and pastures
+new," but the murmur of the Wye will remain long in our ear.
+
+
+
+
+DISTANCES IN THE TOUR OF THE WYE.
+
+From the source of the Wye to       miles.
+Stedva Gerrig                       2.5
+Rhaiader                            17.5
+Builth                              14
+Hay                                 15.25
+Clifford Castle                     2.5
+Hereford                            16.5
+Ross                                14.25
+
+FROM ROSS TO MONMOTH AND CHEPSTOW.
+
+                              _By Land_.
+                                                _m_.     _f_.     _p_.
+From Ross by the turnpike to Monmouth             10        0        0
+In a straight line, or as the crow flies           9        0       10
+From Ross to Chepstow by the turnpike             24        0        0
+By Coleford                                       21        0        0
+In a straight line                                16        4        0
+
+The base or supposed tunnel of the hill, between Coldwell and the New
+Weir, is six hundred yards; the circuit of the river is four miles two
+furlongs.
+
+                       _By Water_.
+                                    _m_.     _f_.     _p_.
+From Ross to Goodrich Castle           4        4        0
+To Coldwell                            7        0        0
+To New Weir                            4        2        0
+To Monmouth                            5        1        0
+From Ross to Monmouth                 20        7        0
+To Tintern                            10        4        0
+To Chepstow                            6        4       60
+From Ross to Chepstow                 37        7       60
+
+NAMES OF PLACES AS THEY OCCUR IN DESCENDING THE RIVER FROM ROSS.
+
+           RIGHT BANK.                      LEFT BANK.
+Wilton Bridge and Castle
+Weir End                            Hill or New Hill Court
+Pencraig House and Wood
+GOODRICH Court
+   Castle
+   Priory or Haverford              Walford Church
+North side of Coppet Wood Hill      Lays Hill
+                                    Bishop's Wood
+                                    Ruerdean Church
+Court Field                         Lidbrook
+Welsh Bicknor                       Rosemary Topping
+Mr. Warren's Monument               COLDWELL ROCKS
+South side of Coppet Wood Hill      SYMOND'S YAT
+Goodrich Church
+Whitchurch                          NEW WEIR
+Great Doward                        Highmeadow Woods
+Arthur's Vale
+Little Doward and Lays House        Table Mount
+Dixton Church
+MONMOUTH
+Troy House                          Halfway House
+Penalt                              Redbrook
+Whitebrook
+Pen-y-van Hill and Maypole          Wye Seal-house
+Paper Mills
+Pilstone House                      Big's Weir House
+LLANDOGO                            St. Briavels
+Coedithal Weir                      Hudknolls
+Llyn Weir                           Brook Weir
+Tintern
+Fielding's House
+TINTERN ABBEY
+                                    Bennagor Crags
+WYNDCLIFF and Moss Cottage          Fryer's Rocks
+Lover's Leap                        Lancaut
+PIERCEFIELD                         Piercefield Bay
+Twelve Apostles                     Tiddenham Rocks
+CHEPSTOW                            Tutshill
+
+FROM MONMOUTH TO CHEPSTOW BY THE NEW ROAD.
+
+Upper Redbrook                   2.25 miles.
+Lower Redbrook                   .25
+Florence College                 3
+Big's Weir                       .5
+Llandogo                         1
+Tintern                          2.75
+Tintern Abbey                    .75
+Wyndcliff and Moss Cottage       2
+St. Arvans                       1
+Crossway Green                   1.5
+Chepstow                         .5
+                                 15.5
+
+The distance from Chepstow to the embouchure of the Wye about three
+miles.
+
+                                * * * * *
+
+                                * * * * *
+
+                   J. Haddon, Castle Street, Finsbury.
+
+
+
+
+Footnotes
+
+
+{41}  Duncomb's Collections.
+
+{63}  Monumenta Antiqua.
+
+{85}  Whateley's Observations on Modern Gardening.
+
+{106}  Of late years, Mr. Pennie attempted to revive a taste for such
+subjects in his "Britain's Historical Drama," but without effect.  It a
+work, however, of considerable merit.  Southey's Madoc has only a slender
+groundwork in British history.
+
+{158}  According to Dugdale, 132. 1s. 4d.; and Speed, 256. 11s. 6d.
+
+{204}  Historical Tour.
+
+
+
+
+***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE WYE AND ITS ASSOCIATIONS***
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