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diff --git a/old/53152-h/53152-h.htm b/old/53152-h/53152-h.htm deleted file mode 100644 index dc97ca3..0000000 --- a/old/53152-h/53152-h.htm +++ /dev/null @@ -1,9655 +0,0 @@ -<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" - "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> -<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> -<head> -<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" /> -<title>The Project Gutenberg eBook of Motor Tours in Wales & the Border Counties, by Mrs. Rodolph Stawell</title> - <style type="text/css"> - -body { - margin-left: 10%; - margin-right: 10%; -} - - h1,h2,h3,h4 { - text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ - clear: both; -} - -p { - margin-top: .75em; - text-align: justify; - margin-bottom: .75em; -} - -.p2 {margin-top: 2em;} - -hr { - width: 33%; - margin-top: 2em; - margin-bottom: 2em; - margin-left: auto; - margin-right: auto; - clear: both; -} - -hr.tb {width: 45%;} -hr.chap {width: 65%} - -ul.index { list-style-type: none; } -li.ifrst { margin-top: 1em; } -li.indx { margin-top: .5em; } - -table { - margin-left: auto; - margin-right: auto; -} - - .tdr {text-align: right;} - .tdc {text-align: center;} -.pb { padding-bottom: 1em; } -.tdpn { - text-align: right; - vertical-align: bottom; - padding-left: 2em; - padding-bottom: 1em; -} -.tdh { - padding-left: 2em; - text-indent: -2em; - padding-bottom: 1em; -} - -.pagenum { /* uncomment the next line for invisible page numbers */ - /* visibility: hidden; */ - position: absolute; - left: 92%; - font-size: smaller; - text-align: right; -} /* page numbers */ - -.left {text-align: left;} - -.center {text-align: center;} - -.right {text-align: right;} - -.smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} - -.caption { - text-align: center; - font-weight: bold; -} - -.ilh { - display: inline-block; - width: 50%; -} - -/* Footnotes */ -.footnotes {border: dashed 1px;} - -.footnote {margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-size: 0.9em;} - -.footnote .label {position: absolute; right: 84%; text-align: right;} - -.fnanchor { - vertical-align: super; - font-size: small; - text-decoration: - none; -} - -/* Poetry */ -.poem { - display: inline-block; - text-align: left; -} - -.poem .stanza {margin: 1em 0em 1em 0em;} - -/* Transcriber's notes */ -.transnote {background-color: #E6E6FA; - color: black; - font-size:smaller; - padding:0.5em; - margin-bottom:5em; - font-family:sans-serif, serif; } - .poem div.i0 {margin-left: 0em; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} - .poem div.i14 {margin-left: 7em; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} - -.large { font-size: large; } -.xlarge { font-size: x-large; } -.small { font-size: small; } - - hr.full { width: 100%; - margin-top: 3em; - margin-bottom: 0em; - margin-left: auto; - margin-right: auto; - height: 4px; - border-width: 4px 0 0 0; /* remove all borders except the top one */ - border-style: solid; - border-color: #000000; - clear: both; } - </style> -</head> -<body> -<h1>The Project Gutenberg eBook, Motor Tours in Wales & the Border Counties, -by Mrs. Rodolph Stawell, Illustrated by R. De S. Stawell</h1> -<p>This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States -and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no -restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it -under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this -eBook or online at <a -href="http://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you are not -located in the United States, you'll have to check the laws of the -country where you are located before using this ebook.</p> -<p>Title: Motor Tours in Wales & the Border Counties</p> -<p>Author: Mrs. Rodolph Stawell</p> -<p>Release Date: September 27, 2016 [eBook #53152]</p> -<p>Language: English</p> -<p>Character set encoding: UTF-8</p> -<p>***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MOTOR TOURS IN WALES & THE BORDER COUNTIES***</p> -<p> </p> -<h4>E-text prepared by Suzanne Shell, Paul Clark,<br /> - and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team<br /> - (<a href="http://www.pgdp.net">http://www.pgdp.net</a>)<br /> - from page images generously made available by<br /> - Internet Archive/American Libraries<br /> - (<a href="https://archive.org/details/americana">https://archive.org/details/americana</a>);<br /> - book cover image digitized by<br /> - the Google Books Library Project<br /> - (<a href="http://books.google.com">http://books.google.com</a>)<br /> - and generously made available by HathiTrust Digital Library<br /> - (<a href="https://www.hathitrust.org/digital_library">https://www.hathitrust.org/digital_library</a>)</h4> -<p> </p> -<table border="0" style="background-color: #ccccff;margin: 0 auto;" cellpadding="10"> - <tr> - <td valign="top"> - Note: - </td> - <td> - Images of the original pages are available through - Internet Archive/American Libraries. See - <a href="https://archive.org/details/motortoursinwale00staw"> - https://archive.org/details/motortoursinwale00staw</a> - </td> - </tr> -</table> -<p> </p> -<hr class="full" /> -<p> </p> -<p> </p> -<p> </p> - -<h1>Motor Tours in Wales and the Border Counties</h1> - -<div class="center"> -<img id="coverpage" src="images/cover.jpg" width="539" height="800" alt="" /> -</div> - -<div class="center"> -<a href="images/map01-large.png"><img src="images/map01.png" width="491" height="331" alt="Map" /></a> -</div> - -<div class="center p2"> -<a href="images/map02-large.png"><img src="images/map02.png" width="594" height="332" alt="Map" /></a> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i" id="Page_i">[Pg i]</a><br /><a name="Page_ii" id="Page_ii">[Pg ii]</a><br /><a name="Page_iii" id="Page_iii">[Pg iii]</a></span></p> -<div class="center"> -<img id="ill01" src="images/ill01.jpg" width="381" height="600" alt="" /> -<p class="caption">VALLE CRUCIS ABBEY.</p> - -<p class="right">[<i>Frontispiece</i></p></div> - -<hr class="chap" /> -<div class="center"> -<img src="images/tp.png" width="397" height="600" alt="" /> -</div> - -<p class="center xlarge">MOTOR TOURS<br /> -IN<br /> -WALES & THE BORDER<br /> -COUNTIES</p> - -<p class="center large"><i>By<br /> -Mrs. Rodolph Stawell</i></p> - -<p class="center">With Photographs by<br /> -R. De S. Stawell</p> - -<p class="center large p2">BOSTON<br /> -L. C. PAGE & COMPANY<br /> -1909 -</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_iv" id="Page_iv">[Pg iv]</a><br /><a name="Page_v" id="Page_v">[Pg v]</a></span></p> - -<h2><a name="CONTENTS" id="CONTENTS">CONTENTS</a></h2> - -<table summary="Contents"> -<tr><td class="tdc">I</td> -<td class="tdr small">PAGE</td></tr> - -<tr><td class="pb"><a href="#SHORT_RUNS_IN_SHROPSHIRE">SHROPSHIRE</a></td> -<td class="tdpn">1</td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdc">II</td><td> </td></tr> - -<tr><td class="pb"><a href="#A_TOUR_IN_NORTH_WALES">NORTH WALES</a></td> -<td class="tdpn">65</td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdc">III</td><td> </td></tr> - -<tr><td class="pb"><a href="#THROUGH_THE_HEART_OF_WALES">THE HEART OF WALES</a></td> -<td class="tdpn">135</td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdc">IV</td><td> </td></tr> - -<tr><td class="pb"><a href="#A_TOUR_IN_SOUTH_WALES">SOUTH WALES</a></td> -<td class="tdpn">163</td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdc">V</td><td> </td></tr> - -<tr><td class="pb"><a href="#THE_VALLEY_OF_THE_WYE">WYE VALLEY</a></td> -<td class="tdpn">223<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_vi" id="Page_vi">[Pg vi]</a><br /><a name="Page_vii" id="Page_vii">[Pg vii]</a></span></td></tr> -</table> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<h2><a name="ILLUSTRATIONS" id="ILLUSTRATIONS">ILLUSTRATIONS</a></h2> - -<table summary="Illustrations"> -<tr><td class="tdh"><a href="#ill01">VALLE CRUCIS ABBEY</a></td> -<td class="tdr pb"><i>Frontispiece</i></td></tr> - -<tr><td colspan="2" class="tdr small">FACING PAGE</td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdh"><a href="#ill02">LUDLOW CASTLE</a></td> -<td class="tdpn">4</td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdh"><a href="#ill03">THE FEATHERS HOTEL, LUDLOW</a></td> -<td class="tdpn">5</td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdh"><a href="#ill04">TUDOR DOORWAY, LUDLOW CASTLE</a></td> -<td class="tdpn">6</td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdh"><a href="#ill05">THE ROUND CHAPEL, LUDLOW CASTLE</a></td> -<td class="tdpn">7</td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdh"><a href="#ill06">ENTRANCE TO HALL IN WHICH “COMUS” WAS FIRST PERFORMED</a></td> -<td class="tdpn">10</td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdh"><a href="#ill07">STOKESAY CASTLE</a></td> -<td class="tdpn">11</td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdh"><a href="#ill08">OLD STREET IN SHREWSBURY</a></td> -<td class="tdpn">22</td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdh"><a href="#ill09">RICHARD BAXTER’S HOUSE, EATON CONSTANTINE</a></td> -<td class="tdpn">23</td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdh"><a href="#ill10">BUILDWAS ABBEY</a></td> -<td class="tdpn">28</td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdh"><a href="#ill11">MADELEY COURT</a></td> -<td class="tdpn">29</td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdh"><a href="#ill12">HAUGHMOND ABBEY</a></td> -<td class="tdpn">38</td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdh"><a href="#ill13">WENLOCK PRIORY, ST. JOHN’S CHAPEL</a></td> -<td class="tdpn">39</td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdh"><a href="#ill14">WENLOCK PRIORY, CHAPTER HOUSE</a></td> -<td class="tdpn">42<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_viii" id="Page_viii">[Pg viii]</a></span></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdh"><a href="#ill15">BISHOP PERCY’S BIRTHPLACE, BRIDGNORTH</a></td> -<td class="tdpn">43</td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdh"><a href="#ill16">WHITTINGTON CASTLE</a></td> -<td class="tdpn">64</td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdh"><a href="#ill17">THE LLEDR VALLEY, FROM THE HOLYHEAD ROAD</a></td> -<td class="tdpn">65</td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdh"><a href="#ill18">THE OLD CHAPEL, BETTWS-Y-COED</a></td> -<td class="tdpn">82</td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdh"><a href="#ill19">THE LLUGWY AT BETTWS-Y-COED</a></td> -<td class="tdpn">83</td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdh"><a href="#ill20">CONWAY CASTLE</a></td> -<td class="tdpn">90</td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdh"><a href="#ill21">THE PASS OF NANT FFRANCON</a></td> -<td class="tdpn">91</td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdh"><a href="#ill22">THE MENAI BRIDGE, FROM ANGLESEY</a></td> -<td class="tdpn">102</td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdh"><a href="#ill23">CARNARVON CASTLE</a></td> -<td class="tdpn">103</td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdh"><a href="#ill24">DOLBADARN CASTLE</a></td> -<td class="tdpn">106</td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdh"><a href="#ill25">SNOWDON, FROM CAPEL CURIG</a></td> -<td class="tdpn">107</td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdh"><a href="#ill26">NEAR BEDD GELERT</a></td> -<td class="tdpn">120</td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdh"><a href="#ill27">GATEWAY OF HARLECH CASTLE</a></td> -<td class="tdpn">121</td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdh"><a href="#ill28">THE MAWDDACH, FROM TYN-Y-GROES HOTEL</a></td> -<td class="tdpn">134</td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdh"><a href="#ill29">LLANIDLOES</a></td> -<td class="tdpn">135</td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdh"><a href="#ill30">ARCHWAY AT STRATA FLORIDA</a></td> -<td class="tdpn">148</td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdh"><a href="#ill31">NEAR GLANDOVEY</a></td> -<td class="tdpn">149</td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdh"><a href="#ill32">THE MAYOR’S HOUSE, MACHYNLLETH</a></td> -<td class="tdpn">156</td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdh"><a href="#ill33">THE RIVER DULAS</a></td> -<td class="tdpn">157<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ix" id="Page_ix">[Pg ix]</a></span></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdh"><a href="#ill34">THE PASS OF CORRIS, NEAR TAL-Y-LLYN</a></td> -<td class="tdpn">158</td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdh"><a href="#ill35">BALA LAKE</a></td> -<td class="tdpn">159</td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdh"><a href="#ill36">CAERPHILLY CASTLE</a></td> -<td class="tdpn">172</td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdh"><a href="#ill37">BEAUPRÉ CASTLE</a></td> -<td class="tdpn">173</td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdh"><a href="#ill38">EWENNY PRIORY</a></td> -<td class="tdpn">180</td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdh"><a href="#ill39">NEATH ABBEY</a></td> -<td class="tdpn">181</td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdh"><a href="#ill40">BRECON</a></td> -<td class="tdpn">186</td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdh"><a href="#ill41">GATEWAY, KIDWELLY CASTLE</a></td> -<td class="tdpn">187</td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdh"><a href="#ill42">GOSCAR ROCK, TENBY</a></td> -<td class="tdpn">196</td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdh"><a href="#ill43">MANORBIER CASTLE, NEAR TENBY</a></td> -<td class="tdpn">197</td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdh"><a href="#ill44">ENTRANCE TOWER, PEMBROKE CASTLE</a></td> -<td class="tdpn">202</td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdh"><a href="#ill45">PEMBROKE COAST</a></td> -<td class="tdpn">203</td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdh"><a href="#ill46">CAREW CASTLE</a></td> -<td class="tdpn">208</td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdh"><a href="#ill47">ST. DAVID’S CATHEDRAL AND RUINS OF THE BISHOP’S PALACE</a></td> -<td class="tdpn">209</td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdh"><a href="#ill48">ST. MARY’S COLLEGE, ST. DAVID’S</a></td> -<td class="tdpn">212</td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdh"><a href="#ill49">ST. DAVID’S CATHEDRAL: INTERIOR</a></td> -<td class="tdpn">213</td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdh"><a href="#ill50">KILGERRAN CASTLE, NEAR CARDIGAN</a></td> -<td class="tdpn">222</td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdh"><a href="#ill51">THE WYE NEAR ITS SOURCE</a></td> -<td class="tdpn">223<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_x" id="Page_x">[Pg x]</a></span></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdh"><a href="#ill52">CONFLUENCE OF THE WYE AND THE MARTEG NEAR RHAYADER</a></td> -<td class="tdpn">234</td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdh"><a href="#ill53">HEREFORD</a></td> -<td class="tdpn">235</td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdh"><a href="#ill54">THE PREACHING CROSS, HEREFORD</a></td> -<td class="tdpn">238</td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdh"><a href="#ill55">ROSS FROM WILTON</a></td> -<td class="tdpn">239</td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdh"><a href="#ill56">MONNOW BRIDGE, MONMOUTH</a></td> -<td class="tdpn">250</td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdh"><a href="#ill57">RAGLAN CASTLE, ENTRANCE TOWER</a></td> -<td class="tdpn">251</td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdh"><a href="#ill58">THE MOAT, RAGLAN CASTLE</a></td> -<td class="tdpn">254</td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdh"><a href="#ill59">LLANTHONY PRIORY</a></td> -<td class="tdpn">255</td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdh"><a href="#ill60">INTERIOR OF LLANTHONY PRIORY, SHOWING THE EAST END</a></td> -<td class="tdpn">258</td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdh"><a href="#ill61">TINTERN ABBEY</a></td> -<td class="tdpn">259</td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdh"><a href="#ill62">TINTERN ABBEY</a></td> -<td class="tdpn">266</td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdh"><a href="#ill63">CHEPSTOW CASTLE</a></td> -<td class="tdpn">267<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xi" id="Page_xi">[Pg xi]</a></span></td></tr> -</table> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xii" id="Page_xii">[Pg xii]</a><br /><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[Pg 1]</a></span> -Much of the material of this book has appeared in -the <i>Car Illustrated</i>, and is here reproduced by the kind -consent of Lord Montagu.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[Pg 2]</a><br /><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[Pg 3]</a></span></p> -<h2><a name="SHORT_RUNS_IN_SHROPSHIRE" id="SHORT_RUNS_IN_SHROPSHIRE">SHORT RUNS IN SHROPSHIRE</a></h2> - -<p>There was once a tramp who said—“Och, -now, it’s true what I’m tellin’ -ye; I never got a bit o’ good out o’ me life -till I took to the road!”</p> - -<p>He was quite serious about it. He was a -nice tramp, with a fine sense of romance -and a large trust in the future, and on -this first day of the tour his words ring -in my head above the rush of the wind and -the throbbing of the engine. For though -all the days will be good, this first day is -surely the best. To be on the road again; -to have one’s luggage behind one and all -the world in front; to watch the villages -slipping by and mark their changing character; -to saunter through strange towns -and swing across great, desolate moorlands; -to pause at some attractive inn, or eat sand<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[Pg 4]</a></span>wiches -and sunshine by the wayside—this is -the first day. History and the camera must -wait; the first day must be given up to the -sheer joy of the road.</p> - -<p>So, as we shall not be able to hurry in -Shropshire, seeing that there history cannot -be ignored, we shall do well to cross -its border in the evening, and spend the -night in Ludlow. We will drop gently -down the hill by Ludford House, and cross -the Teme when the light is growing dim, -and we can only tell by the deepening of the -shadows in the trees on the left that the -castle stands among them. Then we will -climb a short, steep hill into the town -through the only one of the old gates -that is still standing, turn to the right -through the Bull Ring, and draw up before -the famous carved front of the “Feathers.”</p> - -<div class="center"> -<img id="ill02" src="images/ill02.jpg" width="600" height="379" alt="" /> -<p class="caption">LUDLOW CASTLE.</p></div> - -<div class="center"> -<img id="ill03" src="images/ill03.jpg" width="379" height="600" alt="" /> -<p class="caption">THE FEATHERS HOTEL, LUDLOW.</p></div> - -<p>Here in this little town, in its historic inn, -in its church and its great castle, we may -find the concentrated essence, as it were, of -the glamour of Shropshire—that borderland -where the local stories have helped to -make the history of England, and the -quiet towns have seen wild deeds of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</a></span> -courage and horror, and the fields have -been red with blood; where every tiny -village has its own tale of love or battle, -of fair lady or fugitive king. This very -house, the “Feathers,” has a world of -romance in its timbered walls and panelled -rooms, for it is far older than the beautiful -Jacobean chimney-piece before which -we shall presently dine. These moulded -ceilings and elaborate carvings, it is said, -were once the property of a member of -that Council of the Welsh Marches that -Edward IV. established to bring order into -the affairs of this stormy neighbourhood, -where the “Lords Marchers” had hitherto -taken what they chose, and kept it if they -could. It is said that the English King -once asked by what warrant the Lords -Marchers held their lands. “By this -warrant,” said one of them grimly, drawing -his sword—and the inquiry went no -further.</p> - -<p>The President of this Council lived in -the great castle that still stands so imposingly -above the Teme, with its outer and -inner baileys, its Norman keep and curious<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[Pg 6]</a></span> -round chapel, and all its long, long -memories.</p> - -<div class="center"> -<img id="ill04" src="images/ill04.jpg" width="378" height="600" alt="" /> -<p class="caption">TUDOR DOORWAY, LUDLOW CASTLE.</p></div> - -<div class="center"> -<img id="ill05" src="images/ill05.jpg" width="600" height="379" alt="" /> -<p class="caption">THE ROUND CHAPEL, LUDLOW CASTLE.</p></div> - -<p>Within these grey walls we may dream -of many things, both pitiful and gay: of -all the children who have played and the -poets who have written here; of young -Prince Arthur, who died here; of his -bride, Katherine of Arragon; of poor -Princess Mary—“my ladie Prince’s grace,” -as they called her quaintly—the Queen of -blood and tears. Edward IV. and his -brother Edmund, dressed in green gowns, -played in these courts as boys, and wrote -a letter to their “right noble lord and -father,” begging him daily to give them -his hearty blessing, and to send them some -fine bonnets by the next sure messenger; -and here on the right is the roofless tower -whose crumbling walls are haunted by the -most touching memories in all Ludlow. -For these weed-grown stones have echoed -to the voices of Edward IV.’s little sons, -who lived and laughed here with no -thought of that grimmer Tower that is -connected for ever with their names. There -is still existing a wonderful letter written<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</a></span> -by the King to “his Castle of Lodelowe,” -in which he gives the most minute instructions -as to the education and general -deportment of the Prince of Wales—not -forgetting the baby’s bedtime. His Majesty, -indeed, was definite on all points.</p> - -<p>“We will that our said son have his -breakfast immediately after his mass; and -between that and his meat to be occupied -in such virtuous learning as his age shall -suffer to receive.”</p> - -<p>His age at this time was three years. -Not only was the virtuous learning to -occupy him from breakfast till dinner, but -during the latter meal “such noble stories -as behoveth to a prince to understand and -know” were to be read aloud to him; and -“after his meat, in eschewing of idleness,” -he was to be “occupied about his learning” -again. It is a relief to read that after his -supper he was to have “all such honest disports -as may be conveniently devised for his -recreation.” At eight o’clock his attendants -were “to enforce themselves to make him -merry and joyous towards his bed”; and, -indeed, after so hard a day of virtuous<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</a></span> -learning and noble stories and honest disports, -the poor child must have been glad -to get there!</p> - -<p>Later on, when Sir Henry Sidney was -President of the Council, this ground -where we are standing was trodden by -his son Philip, the pattern of chivalry, -who “fearde no foe, nor ever fought -a friend”; and it was through that doorway -at the top of the inclined plane—then -a flight of marble steps—that little -Lady Alice Egerton, not knowing that she -was on her way to immortality, passed -on the evening that she took part in the -first performance of <i>Comus</i>, which Milton -had written for her.</p> - -<p>It is curious that in this venerable town -so many of our thoughts should be claimed -by the very young. Ludlow Castle, as one -sits here thinking of the past, seems to be -peopled with the ghosts of children. And -even in the church whose great tower gives -Ludlow so distinguished an air, the church -where the solemn Councillors of the Marches -have their pompous tombs, we find the grave -of Philip Sidney’s little sister. “Heare<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</a></span> -lyethe the bodye of Ambrozia Sydney, -iiijth doughter of the Right Honourable -Syr Henrye Sydney ... and the Ladye -Mary his wyef.” It is sometimes said, too, -that Prince Arthur, Henry VII.’s young son, -is buried here, but this is not the case. -There is a cenotaph that was, perhaps -raised in his memory, but his body was -taken to Worcester Cathedral.</p> - -<p>These are the gentler memories of Ludlow. -Of the fiercer kind there is no lack, from -the old fighting days of the de Lacy who -built the keep, and the de Dinan who built -the round chapel, down through centuries -of siege and battle to the time of the Civil -War, when the King’s flag flew here longer -than on any other castle of Shropshire.</p> - -<p>Ludlow might well be chosen as a centre -for motor drives in Herefordshire, Shropshire, -and Worcestershire. But for the -moment we are concerned with Shropshire -only, and the centre of that county, in -every sense, is Shrewsbury; and so, sad -though it is to leave Ludlow so soon, we -must glide away down the steep pitch -beyond the door of the “Feathers,” past<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</a></span> -the railway station, past the racecourse, -and over the twenty-nine miles of excellent -and level road that lie between Ludlow and -Shrewsbury.</p> - -<div class="center"> -<img id="ill06" src="images/ill06.jpg" width="600" height="376" alt="" /> -<p class="caption">ENTRANCE TO HALL IN WHICH “COMUS” WAS FIRST PERFORMED.</p></div> - -<p>The first village on this road, Bromfield, is -very typical of the villages of Shropshire at -their best. The black-and-white cottages -seem to have been set in their places with -an eye to pictorial effect; the stream and -bridge are exactly in the right spot; and -to complete the picture, a beautiful old -gatehouse stands a little way back from -the road. It is built half of stone, half of -timber and plaster, and was once the gateway -of a Benedictine Priory which is mentioned -in Domesday Book as being of some -importance. It leads now to the church, -and is one of those unexpected touches of -beauty and interest that may meet one’s -eye at any turn of a Shropshire road.</p> - -<div class="center"> -<img id="ill07" src="images/ill07.jpg" width="418" height="600" alt="" /> -<div> -<div class="left ilh"><i>Photo by</i>]</div><div class="right ilh">[<i>W. D. Haydon.</i></div> -</div> - -<p class="caption">STOKESAY CASTLE.</p></div> - -<p>At Onibury we cross the line and the -river Onny, and about a mile and a half -further on we should begin to look for -Stokesay Castle on the left. As it is a -little way from the main road, and partly -hidden by trees, it is easy to miss it when<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span> -travelling at a good pace; but it is perhaps -the most attractive ruin in Shropshire from -an artist’s point of view, and should on no -account be neglected. It is really a fortified -house rather than a castle, and the mingling -of the warlike with the domestic gives it a -peculiar charm. The northern end, with -its irregular roof and overhanging upper -storey, the “Solar Room,” with its magnificent -carved chimney-piece, and even the -timbered gateway, are all merely suggestive -of a dwelling-house; and it is only when we -turn to the curious polygonal tower that -we remember how in the old days an -Englishman’s house was either very literally -his castle or was likely to become -some other Englishman’s house at an early -date. As far as I know, however, the only -time that Stokesay had to make any use -of its defences was when it was garrisoned -for the King during the Civil War, and on -that occasion it seems to have yielded -without much ado.</p> - -<p>It is by very pleasant ways that this -road is leading us—between wooded hills -and over quiet streams. The valley narrows<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span> -and is at its prettiest near Marshbrook and -Little Stretton; then the pointed hill of -Caradoc became conspicuous, and beyond -it the famous Wrekin appears—famous not -for its beauty, but because, being in the -centre of the county, it can be seen by -nearly every one in Shropshire, and so has -gathered round it the sentiment of all -Salopian hearts. “To friends all round the -Wrekin!” is the famous Shropshire toast, -and there, far away to the right, is the -isolated rounded hill that means so much -to those born within sight of it. At -Stretton we leave the hills and wooded -valleys behind us, and pass through a few -miles of rather dull country. It is at the -village of Bayston Hill that we first see, -dimly blue against a background of hills, -the slender spires—almost unrivalled in -beauty—of that fair town which long ago -the Welsh named <i>Y Mwythig</i>, the Delight.</p> - -<p>The history of Shrewsbury is stirring, and -very, very long. When England was still -in the making she stood there on her hill, -looking down at the encircling river that -has defended her for so many centuries.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span> -Nearly every street is connected in some -way with history; every second house is -haunted by some great name. Many large -and solemn books have been written about -Shrewsbury, and not one of them is dull. -Even in these few hundred yards between -the river and our hotel how many memories -there are! As we turn on to the English -Bridge to cross the Severn we should -glance backwards to the right at the red -tower and great west window of the Abbey -founded by the Conqueror’s kinsman, Roger -de Montgomery, a man of mark; and then, -having crossed the steep rise and fall of the -bridge, we climb into the heart of the town -by the hill called the Wyle Cop. It was -up this steep hill that, not so very long ago, -the London coach used to dash, turning -into the yard of the Lion Hotel at a -pace that is still spoken of with awe and -admiration. If we were to do the like we -should probably have to pay five pounds -and costs, so we will ascend the Cop in a -way more conducive to dreaming of the -past: of Harry Tudor on his way to “trye -hys right” at Bosworth, with the welcom<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span>ing -citizens strewing flowers before him; -of the more stately procession that wound -up the hill when he came back as Henry VII. -with his Queen and young Prince Arthur; -of Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, and his -stepson Essex, after their reception by -bailiffs and aldermen, “and other to the -number of xxiiij scarlet gowns, with the -scollars of the freescoole,” listening wearily -“at the upper end of the Wylde Coppe,” -to three orations! Henry Tudor, when he -reached the Wyle Cop, was glad to take -shelter for the night in that picturesque -little black-and-white house with the overhanging -top storey and the tiled roof—it -is on the left, rather more than half-way -up the hill—for he had not won his way -into the town without difficulty. “The -gates weare shutt against him and the portculleys -lett downe,” and a bailiff of the -town—“a stout, wise gentleman,” we are -told—vowed that Henry should only enter -over his prostrate body. So, when Henry -had made it clear that he did not mean to -hurt the town, “nor none therein,” the -only way for the stout, wise gentleman to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span> -keep his word was by lying down on the -ground and allowing his future king to -step over him. Thus did Henry of Richmond -come in triumph to the little house -on the Wyle.</p> - -<p>If we are going to the “Raven,” or the -“Crown,” as is probable, we turn to the right -near the top of the hill, and pass the beautiful -old timbered house—which stands on -the right hand, a little back from the street—where -Princess Mary stayed on her way -to Ludlow after she had been created -<i>Prince</i> of Wales; and a little further up, -on the left, is the many-gabled house where -Prince Rupert lived for a time when he was -here with Charles I. On each side of us -rises one of the slender spires that are the -pride of Shrewsbury. St. Alkmund’s Church, -on the left, was founded by Alfred’s daughter -Ethelfleda, known as the Lady of the -Mercians; a lady, it would seem, of some -force. “A woman of an enlarged soul,” -William of Malmesbury calls her; and adds: -“This spirited heroine assisted her brother -greatly with her advice, and was of equal -service in building cities.” It is gravely<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span> -recorded in a serious chronicle that in 1533 -“the dyvyll apearyd in Saint Alkmond’s -Churche there when the preest was at -highe masse with greate tempest and darknes, -so that as he passyd through the -churche he mountyd up the steeple in the -sayde churche, teringe the wyer of the -sayde clocke, and put the prynt of hys -clawes uppon the iiijth bell.” This steeple -on our left was the very scene of this feat; -but the body of the church was rebuilt in -the eighteenth century. Another old Shrewsbury -church, St. Chad’s, had fallen down, -and the congregation of Saint Alkmund’s -feared a repetition of the disaster. In the -case of St. Alkmund’s, however, it was the -rebuilding that was the disaster.</p> - -<p>The story of St. Mary’s lovely spire, on -our right, is full of incident. In 1572 it was -“blown aside by wind”; in 1594 “there fell -such a monstrous dry wind, and so extreme -fierce ... that the like was never seen of -those that be living ... the force whereof -removed the upper part of St. Mary’s -steeple out of his place towards the south -about five inches”; in 1662 the steeple was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span> -“taken down six yards from the top”; in -1690 it was damaged by an earthquake; in -1754 it was “shattered by a high wind”; -in 1756 the newly-built part was again -“blown aside”; in 1818 the upper part -“became loose”; and during a terrific storm -in 1894 fifty feet of its masonry fell through -the roof of the nave shortly after the -evening service. Most wonderfully this last -disaster did no damage to the stained glass, -which is St. Mary’s great glory and has -itself had an eventful existence; for some -of it was in old St. Chad’s when it fell, -and much of it, long ago, filled the windows -of religious houses in Germany.</p> - -<p>The slender columns and pointed arches -of this lovely church have rung to the -voice of Charles I., who once proclaimed -his good intentions within these walls, and -knelt, harassed and nearly uncrowned, before -this altar. It was in St. Mary’s, too, that -James II. touched for the King’s Evil.</p> - -<p>Just beyond the church is the Crown -Hotel, and whether we stay there or at the -“Raven,” a hundred yards away, we shall -hear the bells of St. Mary’s, once described<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span> -as “the comfortablest ring of bells in all -the town,” and the chiming clock that was -the bequest of Fanny Burney’s Uncle James, -and the curfew, which still rings every -night at nine. And after the curfew we -shall hear the number of the day of the -month rung out—a relic of the times before -cheap almanacs existed.</p> - -<p>There is no doubt that the most satisfactory -way of seeing Shropshire is to spend -a few nights in Shrewsbury, and make it -the basis of operations; for Shrewsbury lies -exactly in the centre of the county, and is -the meeting-point of a particularly large -number of good roads. The old town itself, -too, does not deserve to be hurried through. -The longer one stays in it the more one -feels the charm of its gentle old age.</p> - -<p>The Old School Buildings are within a -stone’s-throw of us, with all their memories -of the wise and great: memories that are, -as a matter of fact, older than themselves; -for though Charles Darwin was educated -within these very walls, it was in an older -building of wood, standing on the same spot, -that Philip Sidney was a schoolboy—gentle<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span> -and grave, and as much loved then as he was -destined to be all his life, and is still. It -was while he was here that his father wrote -him a “very godly letter ... most necessarie -for all yoong gentlemen to be carried in -memorie,” which his mother, who added a -postscript “in the skirts of my Lord President’s -letter,” considered to be so full of -“excellent counsailes,” that she begged Philip -to “fayle not continually once in foure or -five daies to reade them over.” The counsels -were certainly excellent. “Be humble and -obedient to your master,” says Sir Henry, -“... be courteous of gesture.... Give yourself -to be merie ... but let your mirth be -ever void of all scurrillitie and biting words -to any man.... Above all things, tell no -untruth, no not in trifles”; and he ends -quaintly: “Well, my little Philip, this is -enough for me, and I feare too much for -you.” If my Lord President had not also -been my Lord Deputy of Ireland one might -have loved him nearly as much as his son.</p> - -<p>Neither he nor Philip ever saw the timbered -gatehouse that stands opposite to the Old -School Buildings, but in the red Council<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span> -House to which it leads, Sir Henry always -stayed when he made official visits to Shrewsbury. -There were fine doings on these -occasions; banquets and processions, with -“knightly robes most valiant,” and many -scarlet gowns; masquerades, too, by the boys -of the school, who appeared now as soldiers, -now as nymphs, and made orations in both -characters. Later on the same red house -sheltered Charles I., when he came here to -collect men and money. Half the plate in -the county disappeared into his mint, which -was set up, some say, in a little tottering -house that may still be seen in an alley on -Pride Hill—a fragment of green and weather-worn -stone that is one of the most picturesque -things in Shrewsbury. Some of the money -that Charles “borrowed” on this occasion -was well spent in repairing the Castle, which -is quite near the Council House. The Castle -is now a private dwelling, and one cannot -walk about the grounds without permission; -but the oldest part of it is the great entrance-gate, -which all may see; the gate that was -built by Roger de Montgomery and attacked -by Stephen; the gate through which Henry IV.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span> -rode out to the famous Battle of Shrewsbury. -The Castle itself, as it now stands, was -probably mostly built by Edward I.; but it -suffered so much through the centuries from -siege, and treachery, and time, that many -repairs were necessary to secure it a peaceful -old age as a dwelling-house. Every motorist -who is properly grateful to his benefactors, -will be interested to know that it was the -engineer Telford who carried out these -repairs. He actually lived in the Castle for -a time, I believe, and he certainly built the -“Laura” tower, which stands on the foundations -of the old watch-tower. Telford was -in Shrewsbury when the tower of Old St. -Chad’s showed signs of collapsing, and, on -his advice being asked, said the church -should be repaired without delay. The -Parish Vestry begged him to meet them in -St. Chad’s to discuss the matter, and demurred -so long at the expense that at last Telford -walked out of the church, saying grimly that -he would rather talk the matter over in some -place where there was less danger of the -roof falling on his head. Two or three days -later it fell.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span></p> - -<p>Not far from the fragments of this ruined -church is the High Street, where are some -of the oldest and prettiest houses in the -town; and hard by is the Tudor marketplace, -with its statue of Richard, Duke of -York. The claims of the Unitarian chapel -in the same street are not based on beauty, -but on the fact that Coleridge’s voice once -rose in it “like a steam of rich distilled -perfumes,” according to William Hazlitt, who -had walked ten miles to hear Coleridge -preach here, and was as much delighted, he -says, “as if he had heard the music of the -spheres.” Charles Darwin attended the -services of this chapel as a boy, but was -baptized in New St. Chad’s, the eighteenth-century -church near the Quarry, within -whose classical walls Dr. Johnson once worshipped. -The Doctor’s famous rolling walk, -too, of which we have all heard so much, -was once seen under the splendid limes of -the Quarry.</p> - -<div class="center"> -<img id="ill08" src="images/ill08.jpg" width="412" height="600" alt="" /> -<div> -<div class="left ilh"><i>Photo by</i>]</div><div class="right ilh">[<i>W. D. Haydon.</i></div> -</div> - -<p class="caption">OLD STREET IN SHREWSBURY.</p></div> - -<div class="center"> -<img id="ill09" src="images/ill09.jpg" width="600" height="380" alt="" /> -<p class="caption">RICHARD BAXTER’S HOUSE, EATON CONSTANTINE.</p></div> - -<p>As we entered Shrewsbury by the English -Bridge we caught a glimpse of the Abbey -behind us. Leaving the town by the London -Road, on our way to see something of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span> -eastern side of the county, we shall pass -close by the old red building that was partly -spared when Roger de Montgomery’s great -monastery was dissolved. It will be worth -while to stop the engine for a moment, and -to look at the massive Norman piers of the -nave, the fine altar-tombs, and the fragment -of St. Winifred’s shrine. The founder himself -was buried here, after a long life of -storm and stress, and three days in a monk’s -habit; but the knightly figure that has been -thought to represent him is said by the best -authorities to be of a later date than his. -This Roger is very prominent in Shropshire -history, and is, indeed, not unknown in that -of England, for he figured in the Battle of -Hastings, and wherever he figured he made -himself felt. We hear many conflicting -things of his character, but from them all -we gather that he was a typical man of his -day, spending his time chiefly in acquiring -his neighbour’s goods, and his leisure moments -in building abbeys. Having built this Abbey -of Shrewsbury he was careful to see that -other people enriched it, and it soon became -one of the most important in England. Its<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span> -actual buildings covered ten acres: yet now -all of it that we can see is this restored -church, and, across the road, a relic of a -later date. There, in the din and dust of a -coal-yard, stands the graceful stone pulpit -that was once in the refectory wall. From -under its delicately carved canopy a lay -brother read pious works aloud to the monks -while they ate.</p> - -<p>As we drive up the Abbey Foregate, between -the trees and old houses, the memory -of the Benedictines is with us still; for it -was down this road that the monks, with -their abbot at their head, came once in -solemn procession with the bones of St. Winifred. -These, by the combined use of a smooth -tongue and a stout spade, they had brought -triumphantly away from the churchyard of -a Welsh village, knowing full well that no -wealth of lands and churches enriched a -monastery so surely as a handful of saintly -dust.</p> - -<p>At the top of the Foregate is the column -on which Lord Hill stands above a list of -his battles. Here we keep to the London -Road, and are soon in the open country.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span> -We are bound for Boscobel, but as there is -a good deal to be seen on the way, a round -of forty-three miles is not as short as it -seems. Between Shrewsbury and Atcham the -scenery is not particularly interesting, but -the road is level and the surface good, so -we have our compensations. From the -picturesque bridge at Atcham there is a -lovely view of distant Caradoc, with the -Severn in the foreground, and on the river -bank the old church that is said to have -been largely built, like that at Wroxeter, of -the stones from the Roman city of Uriconium. -We are very near that city now. If we take -the first turn to the right after leaving -Atcham, we shall soon be actually passing over -the ashes of “the White Town in the Woodland,” -as it was called by the Welsh poet who -sang of its tragic end; and a moment later -we shall see, near the roadside, a fragment of -the wall of its basilica. By asking for the -key at a cottage close at hand, and by paying -sixpence, we may see also the remains -of its public baths, and a piece of tesselated -pavement that might have been laid down -yesterday. Many relics of this town that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span> -was built by the Romans, inhabited by the -British, and burnt by the Saxons, have been -found within the limits of the hundred and -seventy acres that it once covered: skeletons -of men and women crouching where they -had vainly sought safety in the hypocausts -of the burning baths; coins scattered by -fugitives; pathetic trifles of women’s dress—hairpins, -buckles, and a brooch whose pin -still works. Older than these are the urns -and tombstones found in the Roman cemetery; -the tombstone of Petronius, who is -thought to have taken part in the victory -over Boadicea; and that of “Placida, aged -fifty-four, raised by the care of her husband.” -Most of the relics have been moved, for safe -keeping, to the Museum in Shrewsbury.</p> - -<p>From Uriconium a very pretty road leads -us to Buildwas. The Severn winds below -us on the right, and on the hillside to the -left is the little village of Eaton Constantine, -which Constantine the Norman—who -also gave his name to the Côtentin in -France—held in the days of Domesday -Book at a rental of a pair of white -gloves, valued at one penny. Even at this<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span> -distance is visible the black-and-white gable -of the farmhouse that was once the home -of Richard Baxter, author of “The Saints’ -Everlasting Rest,” and an amazing number -of other books—enough, said Judge Jeffreys, -“to load a cart.” Dr. Johnson, however, -pronounced them to be “all good.” Here, -we learn, Baxter “passed away his Childhood -and Youth, which upon Reflection he, -according to the Wise Man’s Censure, found -to be vanity.” In spite of these austere -views, however, his childhood was not -without its wild oats, for we are told -that he “joyn’d sometimes with other -Naughty Boys in Robbing his Neighbours’ -Orchards of their Fruit, when he had eno’ -at home ... and was bewitched with a -love of Romances and Idle Tales.”</p> - -<p>Presently, after passing through the pretty -village of Leighton-under-the-Wrekin, we -see Buildwas, the Shelter near the Water, -on the further side of the river. Perhaps -this is the most striking view of the -fourteen massive pillars of this roofless -nave, in which the Cistercians of the -twelfth century austerely worshipped; but<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span> -we can visit the ruins if we wish to do -so by crossing the bridge that has quite -recently superseded one built by Telford. -There is not very much more to be seen -at close quarters than from here: the -great charm of Buildwas lies in its effect -as a whole, in its simplicity and strength, -and in its position by the river.</p> - -<div class="center"> -<img id="ill10" src="images/ill10.jpg" width="418" height="600" alt="" /> -<div> -<div class="left ilh"><i>Photo by</i>]</div><div class="right ilh">[<i>W. D. Haydon.</i></div> -</div> - -<p class="caption">BUILDWAS ABBEY.</p></div> - -<div class="center"> -<img id="ill11" src="images/ill11.jpg" width="600" height="381" alt="" /> -<p class="caption">MADELEY COURT.</p></div> - -<p>About a mile beyond Buildwas is Ironbridge, -named from the first bridge ever -built in England of iron, which here spans -the Severn at a height of forty feet, by -a single arch of a hundred feet in width. -It was the work of Abraham Darby, the -third of his name, and was finished in -1779. A gradient of 1 in 10 takes us -through Ironbridge, and less than two -miles further on is Madeley, which appears -at first sight the very type of all that is -unromantic, a prey to coal-dust and miners; -yet if we turn off the main road to the -left we shall presently find, hidden in a -hollow near Madeley Court Station, as -poetic a spot as we shall see in many -a day’s journey. Perhaps its very contrast -to its surroundings adds to its<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span> -charm; perhaps to some it may not seem -charming at all, but merely a tumble-down, -ill-kept house. But to others this little -nook, with the weather-stained, crumbling -walls and tiled gables of the Court House, -the swinging ivy, the still pond, the bulrushes -and water-lilies, and the red-and-black -timbered barn that once sheltered a -fugitive king, are a “faery land forlorn,” -the very home of glamour and romance. -Here Charles II. arrived one night, dressed -in green breeches and a noggen shirt. He -was tired and hungry, his hands and face -were smudged with soot, and he answered -to the name of William Jones. He was -refreshed in this house, and spent the -next day in the barn with Richard -Penderel, one of the five brothers to whom -he owed his safety. When night fell he -walked to Boscobel.</p> - -<p>It was hours before he was there, -whereas we, if we were as much hurried -as he was, might be there in half an hour -or so. But though there is nothing to -keep us at Shifnal we must pause at Tong, -where there are some especially pretty<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span> -timbered cottages and a church that is -really remarkable, for it contains a collection -of tombs which I should imagine to -be unequalled in a village church. They -are those of the Vernon family, and -among them is that of Dame Margaret -Stanley, the sister of Dorothy Vernon, of -Haddon Hall. Charles Dickens said himself -that it was of Tong Village he was -thinking when he wrote the end of “The -Old Curiosity Shop,” and those to whom -Little Nell appeals may think of her and -her grandfather in the porch of this -church. Some of us, however, will take -more interest in the shot-marks that have -scarred the northern wall ever since the -days of the Civil War.</p> - -<p>In a park near the village stands the -astonishing structure called Tong Castle. -It was once a real castle of stone; in the -sixteenth century Sir Henry Vernon rebuilt -it of brick; in the eighteenth a new owner -thought that Moorish cupolas would make -a pretty finish to it. When, in 1643, it was -in the possession of the Parliamentarians, it -was said on that account to be a “great<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span> -eye-sore to his Majesty’s good subjects who -pass’d yt road.” For other reasons it is -so still.</p> - -<p>A writer of the seventeenth century -describes Boscobel as “a very obscure habitation, -situate in a kind of wilderness”; -and no doubt it was to this obscurity that -Charles II. owed his safety. Even to-day it -is wonderfully isolated, and we reach it by -a series of rather circuitous by-roads; but -we can drive right up to the house, and -leave our car in a safe enclosure, while we -walk a hundred yards to the Royal Oak—not -the original “asylum of the most potent -prince King Charles II. ... the oak beloved -by Jove,”<a name="FNanchor_1" id="FNanchor_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a> which was mostly made into snuff-boxes -and other treasures for the loyal—but -an oak grown from an acorn of that -“fortunate tree.” When Charles reached -Boscobel at three o’clock in the morning he -was taken into the big panelled room that -we shall presently see, and was refreshed -with bread and cheese and a posset of milk -and beer. Colonel Carlis, another fugitive<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span> -from Worcester, “pulled off his Majesty’s -shoos, which were full of gravel, and -stockens which were very wet,” and at daybreak -went with him into the wood, where -they both climbed into the oak—here, -where we are standing—with a cushion -for his Majesty to sit on. Here, for a -great part of the day, the tired King -slept with his head on Colonel Carlis’s -knee. “He bore all these hardships and -afflictions with incomparable patience,” says -a contemporary historian. At night he was -hidden in the house, buried beneath the -garret floor in a box-like priest’s-hole, with -a load of cheese on the lid. We may -climb the stairs and see it; get into it if -we will—and ask ourselves if, after spending -a night in it, we should be as lighthearted -as this man who at any moment -might lose his life and had already lost -everything else. In the morning he called -for a frying-pan and butter, and, having -first despatched Colonel Carlis with a -dagger to slaughter a neighbour’s sheep, -he gaily cooked himself some mutton -collops, while the Colonel, “being but<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span> -under-cook (and that honour enough too), -made the fire and turned the collops in -the pan.”</p> - -<p>From Boscobel we strike due north to -Ivetsey Bank, where we shall find an inn -capable of providing a good, if homely, -luncheon or tea. Thence sixteen miles on -Watling Street will bring us without a -pause (<i>unberufen!</i>) through Wellington to -the point where we left the main road on -our outward journey. It is worth while, -by the way, to avoid the unpleasant bit -of road through Oakengates by striking -across to the main road from Shifnal; to -do which we must take a turn in St. -George’s, where a lamp-post stands out -prominently. We enter Shrewsbury, as we -left it, by the London Road.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>A slightly longer run, covering about fifty -miles altogether, will show us something of -the northern part of the county on its -western side. We drive out of the town -past the station and through the squalid -suburb of Ditherington, where, for love of -our springs and of humanity, we must<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span> -perforce drive slowly, by reason of the -bumpiness of the surface and the phenomenal -number of children. Over this ground rode -Henry IV. and Prince Hal to the Battle -of Shrewsbury, and there on our right is -Haughmond Hill, the “busky hill” to which -Shakespeare refers. Presently there appears -on the left, a few hundred yards away -from the road, the church of Battlefield, -raised, with the exception of the tower, -quite soon after the battle on the spot -where the fight raged most fiercely, in -order that masses might be sung perpetually -“for the prosperity of the King and -the souls of the slain.” Here Harry Hotspur -died, and with him thousands of others -both gentle and simple, for this was a very -notable fight and many interests were concerned -in it. Beneath the mounds that we -see on the south side of the church are the -bones of many of the slain. The King “had -many marching in his coats,” as Hotspur -puts it in “Henry IV.,” and as they were -killed in mistake for him he saved himself -by a device more ingenious than kingly.</p> - -<p>There is nothing of special note between<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span> -Battlefield and Hawkestone, which is about -twelve miles from Shrewsbury, and is a -private park, open to visitors. In the rhododendron -season it is well worth while to -leave one’s car at the extremely nice hotel -at the outskirts of the park, and to walk -about a mile through pretty grounds swarming -with black rabbits, to see the blaze of -blossom for which Hawkestone is famous. -And yet I think they will fare still better -who choose the time of bluebells. These -should drive through the park by the public -road. Beyond the gate, where the stream is -close to them on the right and woods slope -to its edge, they will see, bright in the near -foreground but fading away into the distance -under the trees in a misty cloud, a soft, -ethereal veil of grey-blue. Here and there -the green breaks through, and the flowers -look like wisps of smoke trailing across the -grass. This wonderful sheet of mystic blue -borders the river and the road for some -way, till the wood ends suddenly, and Hodnet -Hall comes in sight.</p> - -<p>One really grows a little tired of recording -the picturesqueness of Shropshire villages.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span> -They are nearly all pretty: for the houses, -when they are not of timber and plaster, -are often built of the warm red sandstone -that is the stone of the county and acquires -such soft, mellow colours in its old age. But -I sometimes think Hodnet is the prettiest -village of them all. Half the houses are -black-and-white; and near the church gate a -group of timber gables, with the octagonal -tower in the background, forms a complete and -perfectly composed picture. Bishop Reginald -Heber, the author of “From Greenland’s icy -mountains,” was rector of Hodnet for some -years before he sailed for “India’s coral strand.”</p> - -<p>From Hodnet we may either drive back to -Shrewsbury or turn to the left in the middle -of the village and take a run of about thirty-four -miles by Market Drayton and Newport, -two picturesque old towns with a good road -between them. The scenery in this part of the -county is pleasing, but not especially striking. -If we choose this way we shall, as we draw -near Shrewsbury, pass the ruins of Haughmond, -one of the great Shropshire abbeys.</p> - -<p>Long ago there was a hermitage at the -foot of this “busky hill”; before William<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span> -FitzAlan’s monastery for Austin Canons rose -here, with the great church that has practically -disappeared,<a name="FNanchor_2" id="FNanchor_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a> and the tall gable with -the turrets that are so conspicuous to-day, -and the chapter-house with the beautiful -doorway. This Abbey was greatly patronised -by royalty. Stephen gave it a mill, Matilda -gave it lands “for the remission of her -sins,” Henry II. gave churches, and Henry III. -more land, and Llewelyn of Wales “a moiety -of Kenwicke.” The list of other benefactions -is endless: mills and fisheries, churches and -markets, woods and hogs and herds. Many -were the “privileges of flesh and fish” -enjoyed by the canons of Haughmond; and -Abbot Nicholas, in Edward III.’s time, desiring -to make the most of all these luxuries, -built a new kitchen for the brethren and -“appointed them a cook to dress their food.” -It was in 1541 that Henry VIII., as his -manner was, took possession of Haughmond -and all its riches, “beyng mynded to take -the same into his own handes for a better<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span> -purpose”; and so the minster, for which he -had no use, gradually vanished. Nothing is -left of it but a fragment of wall and a -doorway. Two tombs that were once within -the chancel now lie open to the sky on the -hillside, where their appeal for the prayers -of the passers-by is of far more pathetic -force than it ever was under the shelter of -the Abbey’s roof:—</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>“<i>Vous Ki Passez Par Ici Priez Pur L’Alme Johan -Fitz Aleine Ki Git Ici. Deu De Sa Alme -Eit Merci. Amen.</i>”</p> - -<p>“<i>Isabel De Mortimer Sa Femme Acost De Li. Deu -De Lur Alme Eit Merci. Amen.</i>”</p></blockquote> - -<div class="center"> -<img id="ill12" src="images/ill12.jpg" width="600" height="379" alt="" /> -<p class="caption">HAUGHMOND ABBEY.</p></div> - -<p>From this road near Haughmond we have -perhaps the loveliest view of distant Shrewsbury. -The pale hills rim the horizon, the -river winds in the foreground, and between -them rise the clear outlines of the two incomparable -spires that crown The Delight.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Another of the Shropshire monasteries that -must certainly be seen is Wenlock Priory, -which lies on the way to Bridgnorth. It is -a fairly level road that leads to it by Cross -Houses and Cound and pretty Cressage, which<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span> -in Domesday Book is Cristes-ache, or Christ’s -Oak. Christianity was preached here, it is -said, under an old oak-tree, in days so early -that when St. Augustine visited the place he -found it already Christian. Between Harley -and Wenlock there is a hill which the Contour -Book describes with perfect accuracy as -“a precipitous hill on which innumerable -accidents have happened.” The accidents, I -fancy, have mostly happened to horse-drawn -vehicles and bicycles—especially the latter—when -descending the hill, for it is a mile -long and has a turn in the middle. There -is no reason why it should inconvenience a -good car, for the average gradient is nothing -more alarming than 1 in 8, and it is well -worth climbing for the sake of the wide -view from the top, just beyond which Much -Wenlock lies.</p> - -<div class="center"> -<img id="ill13" src="images/ill13.jpg" width="419" height="600" alt="" /> -<div> -<div class="left ilh"><i>Photo by</i>]</div><div class="right ilh">[<i>W. D. Haydon.</i></div> -</div> - -<p class="caption">WENLOCK PRIORY, ST. JOHN’S CHAPEL.</p></div> - -<p>Milburga, Saxon princess and saint, built -the first religious house at Wenlock, and -became its abbess, and was finally buried -within its precincts. William of Malmesbury -tells us how, long after her death, she enriched -the place to which she had given her -life and all she possessed. “Milburga,” he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span> -says, “reposes at Wenlock ... but for some -time after the arrival of the Normans, -through ignorance of the place of her burial, -she was neglected. Lately, however, a convent -of Clugniac monks being established -there, while a new church was erecting, a -certain boy, running violently along the -pavement, broke into the hollow of the -vault, and discovered the body of the virgin, -when a balsamic odour pervading the whole -church, she was taken up, and performed so -many miracles that the people flocked thither -in great multitudes. Large spreading plains -could hardly contain the troops of pilgrims, -while rich and poor came side by side, one -common faith compelling all.”</p> - -<p>The convent of Clugniac monks in question -was built by that notable man Roger de -Montgomery, and was the same whose ruins -speak so plainly to-day of the ornate tastes -of the monks of Clugny. We saw no arcaded -walls such as these of the chapter-house, -nor richly moulded doorways, nor any such -elaborate ornament at Cistercian Buildwas, -whose lands marched with the lands of this -Priory, and whose monks found the Rule of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span> -Clugny too soft, the tastes of Clugny too -enervating. Go to Wenlock in the spring, -when its slender columns rise above a sea -of sweet-scented flowers, and its old wall is -bright with rock-plants—for the Priory stands -in private grounds and is cared for like -a garden. It is the third religious house -that has stood on this spot, for between the -days of Milburga, the royal saint, and those -of Roger and his Clugniacs, there was -another monastery founded here by Leofric -of Mercia and his wife Godiva, a well-loved -woman whom we are glad to connect with -this beautiful spot. The picturesque old -Prior’s Lodge is inhabited, and it is only on -Tuesdays and Fridays that the world at large -is admitted to the ruins. Perhaps nothing -recalls to one so vividly the daily life of -the monks in this place as the long causeway -that stretches across the field near the Priory -garden. It was here that the brothers took -their daily exercise, raised above the surrounding -marsh—a long procession of dark -figures, walking slowly to and fro—and -among them, unsuspected, that interesting -swashbuckler of whom we long to hear more,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span> -that man of extremes whose strange career -is all summed up for us in one short, pregnant -sentence. “In 1283,” we learn, “a -brother of Wenlac became a captain of -banditti.” We hear no more of him, alas! -except that he was hanged.</p> - -<p>The road to Bridgnorth is a continuation -of the one by which we entered the town, -so we must drive back, past the beautiful -old Guildhall and market-place, up the street -to the Gaskell Arms, where we may have -luncheon if, as may well occur to motorists, -we are too hungry to wait till we reach -the more imposing “Crown” at Bridgnorth. -At the Gaskell Arms we turn sharply to -the left, and thence eight or nine miles of -good road, with several steep hills, will bring -us to Bridgnorth.</p> - -<div class="center"> -<img id="ill14" src="images/ill14.jpg" width="600" height="424" alt="" /> -<div> -<div class="left ilh"><i>Photo by</i>]</div><div class="right ilh">[<i>W. D. Haydon.</i></div> -</div> - -<p class="caption">WENLOCK PRIORY, CHAPTER HOUSE.</p></div> - -<div class="center"> -<img id="ill15" src="images/ill15.jpg" width="600" height="484" alt="" /> -<p class="caption">BISHOP PERCY’S BIRTHPLACE, BRIDGNORTH.</p></div> - -<p>Ever since the Danes built a fort here this -town, nearly as consistently as Shrewsbury -and Ludlow, has concerned itself with -history. It has been visited by half the -kings of England. Henry I. besieged it; -Henry II. defended it; John and Edward I. -stayed in it; Edward II. took refuge in it; -Henry IV. gathered his army here on his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span> -way to the Battle of Shrewsbury; Charles I. -was besieged here by Cromwell, who narrowly -escaped death before the walls. The -Castle, of course, was the centre of interest -on all these occasions—the Castle that was -built so hurriedly by Robert de Belesme, -Roger de Montgomery’s son, and is now so -conspicuous on account of its leaning tower. -Round its ruins is a path that must be -practically the same as that which Charles I. -declared to be as pleasant a walk as any in -his kingdom. Robert de Belesme, who has -been described with apparent justice as “an -implacable villain,” also founded the church -of St. Mary Magdalene, but the present -building was designed by Telford. Another -interesting church is St. Leonard’s, where in -the churchyard the Roundheads once beat -the Royalists in a skirmish, and where -Richard Baxter was a curate. He lived in -the little black-and-white cottage close at -hand, and seems to have had a poor -opinion of his flock. “He found the people -here generally ignorant and dead-hearted,” -he says, “... so that though by his first -Labours among them he was Instrumental<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span> -in the Conversion of several Persons, and -was generally Applauded, yet ... Tippling -and Ill Company rendred his Preaching -ineffectual.” If his preaching was ineffectual -it at all events began early, for “when -he was a little Boy in Coats, if he heard -other Children in Play speak Profane Words -he would reprove them, to the wonder of -those that heard him.” At this time—when -he was a little Boy in Coats—he lived -at Rowton in this county; it was not till -he was ten years old that he moved to -Eaton Constantine and indulged in dark -deeds in his neighbours’ orchards.</p> - -<p>An extremely steep dip with an awkward -corner in the middle of it will take us -to the birthplace of another famous divine, -Bishop Percy, best known in connection -with “Percy’s Reliques.” The house, which -stands in the Cartway, may be approached -quite comfortably from below, and is worth -seeing for its own sake, being a good -example of black-and-white work.</p> - -<p>Our best way home from here is by -Ironbridge and Buildwas, on the road by -which we drove to Boscobel. Between<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span> -Bridgnorth and Ironbridge some of the -country is pretty, and at Broseley especially -it must have been lovely in its natural -state, before it was ruined by the potteries. -We cross the river by Abraham Darby’s -iron bridge.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>A run of forty-seven miles or so, by -Wem, Whitchurch, and Ellesmere, will show -us a good deal of the north-west part of -the county, and if, when we reach Whitchurch, -we choose to lengthen the distance -to fifty-four miles by slipping over the -Welsh border to Overton and Erbistock, we -shall not regret it.</p> - -<p>We leave Shrewsbury by the road that -branches to the left immediately opposite -to the station. Almost at once, at the -point where the road touches the Severn, -we pass a long, low house of timber and -plaster on our right. It was from this -house that Admiral Benbow ran away to -sea. He was living here as an apprentice, -to his father or another, and, since it was -the custom to entrust the house-key to the -care of the apprentice, he had, fortunately<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span> -for himself and England, special facilities -for making his escape. He hid the key in -the tree that is marked with a ring of -whitewash, and stands between the house -and the railings; and there to this day it -hangs.</p> - -<p>Between Shrewsbury and Whitchurch -there is nothing of particular interest -except the old farmhouse called Albright -Hussey, which stands in a field on the -right about three miles out of Shrewsbury. -It is a pretty old moated house, partly -black-and-white; but its greatest beauty is -within, where there is as charming a room -as one need wish to see, a room to make a -housewife weep tears of covetousness—low, -oblong, oak-panelled to the ceiling, with -seats in the mullioned windows and a carved -fireplace. The house is inhabited, but I -believe there is never any difficulty in -obtaining leave to see it. Its sixteenth-century -walls were once threatened by a -party of Parliamentarian horse. There were -only eight men to defend the place, but -their leader was a crafty man, and shouted -his orders aloud within hearing of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span> -enemy. “Let ten men stay here, and ten -go there, and twenty stay with me!” he -cried; and the attacking force, dismayed -by the number of mythical defenders, rode -away and left the stone and timber, the -mullioned windows and oaken wainscotes, -to be a joy to us to-day.</p> - -<p>In Wem, however, through which we -presently pass, it was the “Parliament -men” who were in the ascendent. The -place acted a prominent part in the Civil -War, and has a history many centuries long, -but on the surface is commonplace enough. -In the List of the Owners of the Manor of -Wem the twenty-fourth name is the grim -one of “Sir George Jeffreys, Knight and -Baronet, and Lord Chief Justice of the -King’s Bench, created in 1685 a peer of -England by the style and title of Baron -Jeffreys of Wem.”</p> - -<p>At Whitchurch we must draw up at the -door of St. Alkmund’s Church; not because -it is old or beautiful, for the original church -fell down in 1711 and was entirely rebuilt; -nor because Dean Swift subscribed to the -rebuilding of it; but because it contains the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span> -dust of the great Talbot, first Earl of -Shrewsbury, “the scourge of France.” His -valiant heart lies beneath the white stone -in the porch, where careless thousands -have trodden it underfoot. It was found -there in an urn when the church was -rebuilt, and with it were some figures of -Christ and the Virgin Mary from Talbot’s -rosary. His bones are in the chancel, -whither, about fifty years after his death, -they were brought from the battlefield of -Chastillon, where a little chapel had been -raised on the spot where he fell.<a name="FNanchor_3" id="FNanchor_3"></a><a href="#Footnote_3" class="fnanchor">[3]</a> His -effigy lies on a tomb that is an exact -copy of the original one. While this -restoration was in progress the bones of -the great soldier were shown to the -public, with the skull cleft by the axe that -killed him. “This is that terrible Talbot,” -says Thomas Fuller, “so famous for his -sword ... which constantly conquered -where it came, insomuch that the bare -fame of his approach frighted the French -from the siege of Bordeaux. Being<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span> -victorious for twenty-four years together, -success failed him at last.... Henceforward -we may say ‘Good-night to the -English in France,’ whose victories were -buried with the body of this earl.”</p> - -<p>From Whitchurch we drive about fourteen -miles in a westerly direction to Overton -Bridge, by Hanmer and Overton village, a -pretty little place with a churchyard surrounded -by yew-trees. Having crossed the -bridge, which is about two miles beyond -the village, we turn to the left at right -angles and approach Erbistock by a road -whose greatest recommendation to inveterate -lovers of speed will be that it is short. After -one experience, however, most of us will -agree, I think, that this by-road needs no -recommendation but the fact that it leads -to Erbistock. A tiny church and a tiny inn -at the brim of the Dee—that is all that -there is at Erbistock. But it is all enclosed -in trees, and the trees dip into the river, -and the river is rather big and gentle and -gurgles sweetly at one’s feet, and the woods -on the other side are tangled and mysterious -and full of fairies. One may have one’s<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span> -tea close beside the water, or one may cross -the river in a ferry, and soon be quite alone -in the woods. There is no need to hurry, -for when we leave Erbistock we need not -stop again till we reach Shrewsbury.</p> - -<p>For Ellesmere, “wher was a castelle,” -says Leland, “and very fair polis yet be,” -has now nothing left of its castle but the -memory of it, and the fair pools may be -seen as we pass. More than once Ellesmere -was given as a dowry to the daughters of -English kings, on their marriage with Cymric -princes; for as the rulers of the two countries -were sure to fall out soon after the wedding -the gift was quickly taken back by the donor, -and so was ready for the next bride. Thus, -though Henry II. gave it to his sister Emma, -there was nothing to prevent King John -from giving it to his daughter Joan, twenty-seven -years later, when she married Llewelyn -the Great.</p> - -<p>I think it must have been beside the lake, -where on the level ground there would be -room for the dramatic scene, that Rupert, -halting here at Ellesmere, made his prisoners -cast lots upon the drum to decide which of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span> -them should die. Thirteen were doomed; -but at the last moment one of them was -saved by Sir Vincent Corbet, who as he rode -past interceded for the man, who had been -a servant in his family. The rest were -hanged there and then. Yet it is not they -who haunt the rushy banks of the mere; -but the White Lady of Oteley. Long ago, -it is said, she robbed and ruined a monastery, -and built herself a home here with the -spoils—a home that she has never left since -then, except to walk by night along the -margin of the water. She was not even -allowed to move to the new house when -it was built about a hundred years ago, -for a fragment of the old one was left -standing in the park on purpose for her -accommodation. The new house faces us -very conspicuously as we drive close beside -the water on the opposite side of the mere, -and go on our way to Shrewsbury, which is -about sixteen miles away.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>In the south-west, which is the hilliest, -and therefore the prettiest, part of Shropshire, -there is a variety of little runs, which<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span> -may be lengthened or shortened according -to circumstances and tastes. A pretty round -of about fifty miles is by Chirbury and -Bishop’s Castle, whence either of two lovely -roads will bring us back to Shrewsbury. -Nineteen miles of nearly level road lead to -Chirbury through several villages—Westbury, -Worthen, Marton, and others—all of which -are fairly picturesque, but with nothing very -noteworthy about them. Just before Marton -is reached there is an exceedingly sharp -turn, which should be borne in mind. At -Chirbury our road turns to the left in the -middle of the village.</p> - -<p>The name of this obscure little place has -been known to the world for some centuries -in connection with that strange person Lord -Herbert of Chirbury, half ruffler, half -scholar, who in a house only a few miles -from here, across the Welsh border, wrote -the famous autobiography that Horace -Walpole called “perhaps the most extraordinary -account that was ever given seriously -by a wise man of himself.” His home -for the greater part of his life, when he -was not seeking adventures and duels in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span> -France or London, was in Montgomery -Castle, whose ruins we may see by driving -four miles further. Nothing but a fragment -is left of it now, but when the Herberts -lived there it must have been a fine sight -on its wild crag; a more fitting home for -Edward the soldier than for his gentler and -still more famous brother George. Chirbury -itself had a castle and a priory once; but -of the castle, which was built by the ever -active Ethelfleda, nothing remains but the -site; and of the monastery there are only -fragments left, for the present church, -ancient as it is, was not used by the monks, -but was then, as now, the parish church.<a name="FNanchor_4" id="FNanchor_4"></a><a href="#Footnote_4" class="fnanchor">[4]</a> -It has seen strange doings. It is hard to -realise, when the bells ring in this lonely -little village, and the quiet country folk -take their seats for the morning service, -that here within these very walls the congregation -of Chirbury was once electrified -by the clashing of armour and the clatter -of horses’ hoofs in the aisle. It was during -the Civil War, and Mr. Edward Lewis, “a -very goodly man, did preach twice a day”;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span> -a rash thing for a Puritan to do when -Captain Corbet was no further off than -Caus Castle. A party of Royalist horse “rode -into the church to the great fright and -amazement of the people; and with their -pistols charged and cocked went up into -the pulpit and pulled down Mr. Lewis, -pulling and tugging him in a most unworthy -manner ... and so left the people -without their pastor because they would -not be content with one sermon a day.”</p> - -<p>It was this same Edward Lewis who -brought to Chirbury the chained library -that almost certainly belonged to George -Herbert; for Isaac Walton tells us of “a -choice library which Mr. Herbert had -fastened with chains in a fit room in -Montgomery Castle.” This choice library -contains books dating from 1530 to 1684, -and among them is a black-letter folio copy -of Chaucer. They are kept in the vicarage, -and I believe may be seen by any one.</p> - -<p>Turning to the left in Chirbury we soon -pass Marrington Hall, or <i>Havodwen</i>, the -White Summer-house, as the Welsh call it; -a very fine example of sixteenth-century<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span> -black-and-white work. The lovely little -valley beyond it is Marrington Dingle, and -a mile or two further on is Churchstoke. It -is in this pretty part of Shropshire that -the uses of the motor-car are especially -noticeable, for railway stations are few and -distant from each other, and the hilliness of -the country is not encouraging to bicyclists. -Of Bishop’s Castle there is little to be said, -for pretty as the country is all round it, the -town itself is unattractive, and the castle -is no more. But all the ways back to -Shrewsbury from here are lovely. We may -join the Stretton road, which we already -know, at Marshbrook, and so see one of the -most charming little bits of wooded country -in Shropshire; or we may follow the hilly -road through the wild scenery near Ratlinghope, -down Cothercott Hill, and through -Longden and Hookagate. Cothercott Hill -is very steep and has a bad surface, but -it is only for a short way that the gradient -is really severe, and the view from -the top is one of the wildest in the country. -Personally, however, I should recommend -the third way back to Shrewsbury—over<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span> -the moor to the Roman Gravels, and down -through the woods of the winding Hope -Valley to Minsterley.</p> - -<p>As there is nothing in the whole of this -little run to delay us, we may lengthen it, -if our car is good on hills and we are of -an enterprising temperament, by going on -from Bishop’s Castle to Clun, or even to -Knighton, and round by Leintwardine to -join the Ludlow road. This is a beautiful -bit of country, and full of interest. Leland -tells us of the “faire forest of Clun.” -“Cumming from Bisshop’s Castelle to Clunne -lordshippe,” he says, “cummeth doune a -greate woode grouing on a hille.” Much of -this great wood is gone now, but there is -still enough to make the country very -“faire,” and to compensate a motorist for -the climbing of a long hill. Suddenly, as -we round a corner, Clun comes into sight -between two hills, with the stern tower of -its castle standing conspicuously above the -river. “Clunne Castell,” says Leland, “longynge -to the Erle of Arundel, sumewhat -ruinus. It hath bene bothe stronge and -well builded.” It is more than somewhat<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span> -ruinous now, which is hardly surprising -when one considers all it has gone through -at the hands of Welshmen and Roundheads -since it was built in Stephen’s reign. -There is a story that the stones of which -it is made were passed from hand to hand -by a chain of men, from the quarry, a mile -away, to the river-bank where the castle -stands; but be that as it may, these crumbling -stones, with their soft tints of grey -and yellow, embody enough romance to -satisfy us, I think, seeing that they are -connected with all the greatest names of -Wales. They have been stormed and burnt -by Rhys of the south; they have been -attacked in vain by great Llewelyn of the -north; they have been overcome by Owen -Glyndwr. They are connected with modern -romance, too, for it is supposed that the -“Garde Dolareuse,” in the “Betrothed,” -represents the Castle of Clun, and the -Buffalo Inn claims to have sheltered Sir -Walter Scott while he was writing part of -the book.</p> - -<p>Everything is old at Clun: the church; the -fine old bridge, of whose building there is<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span> -no record; and the “Hospital of the Holy -and Undivided Trinity at Clunn,” which was -founded by the Duke of Norfolk in 1614 for -distressed tradesmen, who were each to -receive yearly “a gown ready-made of -strong cloth or kersey, of a sad colour.”</p> - -<p>The road between Clun and Knighton is -not one to be undertaken lightly by small -cars of uncertain hill-climbing powers, for it -is mostly composed of long and precipitous -hills, with gradients varying from 1 in 8 -to 1 in 10; but the surface is good, and -though the scenery is not particularly interesting -at first, it becomes really lovely as -we draw near Knighton, which lies in a -valley, surrounded by wooded hills. Here -we turn to the left, and by way of compensation -the road from Knighton to Leintwardine -is particularly level, along a narrow -valley between green hills that belong to -Shropshire on the left and to Herefordshire -on the right. As the valley widens out -into open country we reach Brampton Brian, -associated for ever with the name of Brilliana, -Lady Harley. That gallant-hearted -lady was alone in her husband’s castle of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span> -Brampton when it was threatened by the -forces of Charles I., for the Harleys were -“Parliament men.” “I acknowleg,” she -writes, “I doe not thinke meself safe -wheare I am.” Safe she certainly was not, -but she thanked God that she was “not -afraide”; and when the Royalists bade her -surrender she simply answered, “I must -endeavour to keep what is mine as well as -I can, in which I have the law of nature, of -reason, and of the law on my side, and you -none to take it from me.” The siege lasted -some weeks, and Lady Harley, always delicate, -suffered greatly; but when pressed to -yield said “she would rather choose an -honourable death.” She died; but this first -siege was raised before her “heavenly and -happy end,” and so she never knew that the -castle was besieged again, was surrendered, -and burnt to the ground.<a name="FNanchor_5" id="FNanchor_5"></a><a href="#Footnote_5" class="fnanchor">[5]</a></p> - -<p>A few miles further on is Leintwardine, -which I believe to be full of antiquarian -interest, and know to be picturesque as an -artist’s dream; and here, if we care to face -a narrow byway with a rough surface, we<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span> -may leave the main road and take the -more direct route to Craven Arms by way -of Clungunford. At Craven Arms we rejoin -the road from Ludlow to Shrewsbury.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Of the many main roads that converge -in Shrewsbury I have left to the last the -one that is in some ways the most important, -the one that is certainly the most -famous; that road of great memories and -great achievement, by which so many Royal -Mails have travelled breathlessly at the -dashing pace of eleven miles an hour, and -by which we may travel to-day at a pace -that nothing shall induce me to betray: -Telford’s road to Holyhead. It is the road -by which, if we are fortunate, we are going -into North Wales. If, however, it is our sad -fate to turn our backs on that most beautiful -land, we must on no account neglect -to run over to Llangollen, a distance of -thirty miles: for though I have left it to -the last on the assumption that we are -going on to Wales, it is one of the most -enjoyable drives in this neighbourhood.</p> - -<p>We leave Shrewsbury by the Welsh<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span> -Bridge, the scene of Henry VII.’s remarkable -entry into the town over the body of -the stout, wise bailiff; and as we reach the -top of the hill beyond it we pass on the -right the house in which Charles Darwin -was born. At the corner where the Holyhead -road turns sharply to the right, about -half a mile beyond the last houses of the -town, there stands in a private garden a -famous tree known as the Shelton Oak. I -mention it merely because its fame rests on -a libel. There are those who will tell you—cheerfully -taking a great man’s name in -vain—that Owen Glyndwr sat in this tree -watching the Battle of Shrewsbury when he -should have been taking part in it. Our -knowledge of this fiery prince’s characteristics -might be enough, one would think, -to discredit the tale, without the proved -fact that he was extremely occupied in -South Wales at the time! But still the tale -is told.</p> - -<p>Soon, at Montford Bridge, we cross the -Severn, white with water-weeds in the summer, -and fringed with purple wild-flowers, -and then, with what speed we may, spin<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span> -happily towards the Welsh hills. We can -see them on our left; the striking outline -of the Breidden, with Rodney’s Pillar on -its topmost point, and beyond it a long -blue range that limits all the western horizon. -At one spot only we have a choice of -roads. Telford’s road goes by Oswestry, an -ancient town with an immense history but -few relics; but if at the “Queen’s Head,” -fourteen miles from Shrewsbury, we turn to -the right, following the telegraph-posts, we -shall cut off more than a mile of distance -and shall see Whittington.</p> - -<p>There are some places that are peculiarly -haunted. One is infinitely more conscious -in them of the past than of the present. -Such are Hay and Beaupré—both of which -we shall see later on. But Whittington is -not so much haunted as haunting. Hay and -Beaupré are enchanted: Whittington is itself -the enchantment. It stands in a clump of -trees by the wayside, in the middle of the -village, and one comes upon it suddenly: a -great fortified gateway of pale grey stone, -reflected in the weed-grown water of what -was once its moat—and leading nowhere.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span> -One thinks, not of its history, but of itself. -One cannot believe that it is merely the -entrance to a vanished mediæval castle; it -is rather the Gate of Dreams, through which -every man sometimes passes in search of his -heart’s desire.</p> - -<p>There is an old Norman-French romance -that tells us how the White Tower was built -by William Peverel of the Peak, and how he -promised it as a dowry to Melette, the fairest -of his nieces. “But none found favour with -her. And William reasoned with her, and -besought her that she would discover unto -him if there was in the world any knight -whom she would take for lord.... ‘Certes, -Sire,’ said she, ‘no knight is there in all the -world that I would take for the sake of riches -and the honour of lands, but if I ever take -such an one he shall be handsome, and -courteous, and the most valiant of his order -in Christendom.’” So William proclaimed a -tourney at the Peak, with Melette and the -White Tower for the prize; and among those -who came to try their fortune was one -Guarin de Metz, well clad in red samite, with -a crest of gold. “To record the blows and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span> -the issues I am not minded,” says the story, -“but Guarin de Metz and his company proved -that day the best, the fairest, and the most -valiant, and above all, Guarin was the most -praised in all ways.” So Guarin won the -fastidious Melette of the White Tower, “and -with great joy did he take her, and the -damsel him.”<a name="FNanchor_6" id="FNanchor_6"></a><a href="#Footnote_6" class="fnanchor">[6]</a></p> - -<p>This romance is not very reliable history, -I fear, but it is true that Whittington belonged -at one time to the Peverels, and later -to the Fitz-Warines or Guarins, of whom it -was probably the third who built this gate in -the reign of John.</p> - -<p>Two miles beyond Whittington is Gobowen, -where we rejoin the main road; and soon -afterwards we dip into the narrow valley -below Chirk, and with the railway and the -canal high above us on the left, cross the -little Ceiriog into Wales.</p> - -<div class="center"> -<img id="ill16" src="images/ill16.jpg" width="600" height="384" alt="" /> -<p class="caption">WHITTINGTON CASTLE.</p></div> - -<div class="center"> -<img id="ill17" src="images/ill17.jpg" width="600" height="381" alt="" /> -<p class="caption">THE LLEDR VALLEY, FROM THE HOLYHEAD ROAD.</p></div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a><br /><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a><br /><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span></p> -<hr class="chap" /> -<h2><a name="A_TOUR_IN_NORTH_WALES" id="A_TOUR_IN_NORTH_WALES">A TOUR IN NORTH WALES</a></h2> - -<p>Here, on the very border of Wales, one -is conscious of the Celtic atmosphere. -We left the quiet orderliness of England -behind us when we dipped down into this -little valley, where the sparkling, bubbling -Ceiriog—every inch a Celt—calls to us to -follow it up into the hills. And so we will, -as soon as we have climbed the other side -of the valley into Chirk village; turning -there to the left, though our rightful road, -the road to Llangollen, lies directly in front -of us. In Wales we shall find ourselves -constantly tempted to leave the highway, -and in most cases we shall be rewarded if -we yield to the temptation without ado. In -this particular case we shall be rewarded -with a dear little glen, feathery birch-trees -on the steep slopes, a yellow carpet in prim<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span>rose -time, and a most charming little hotel -about six miles up the valley, at Glyn -Ceiriog.</p> - -<p>Near Chirk the road sweeps round under -the trees of the deer-park, where “there is -on a smaul hille a mighty large and stronge -castel with dyvers towers”; towers that have -stood here for many generations, defying -time and war; for this castle of Chirk is no -ruin like most of its contemporaries, but an -inhabited house. Yet not these towers, I -believe, but the old Welsh Castell Crogen, -stood here when Henry II., with “the chosen -warriors of England,” and of several other -countries, marched up this valley to join -battle with the great Owen Gwynedd and all -the might of Wales, who were encamped near -Corwen. The English, finding the trees in -their way, cut them down as they advanced, -which so much infuriated some of the Welsh -who were separated from their main army, -that the Ceiriog ran red with the blood of -Henry’s chosen warriors. This Battle of -Crogen took place just below the older -castle.</p> - -<p>Perhaps the most dramatic event in the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span> -life of the present Chirk Castle was when -it fell into the hands of the cavaliers, and -its owner, Sir Thomas Myddleton, a Parliamentary -leader, was obliged to besiege his -own house in his own person. I believe that -on one day of the week the world at large -is allowed to pass through the beautiful gates -of wrought iron, and up the long slope of -the avenue, and into the castle itself, to see -all the treasures of art and history that -George Borrow saw when he was here: the -cabinet of Charles II., and the portraits of -Nell Gwynne, and of “the very proud -daughter of the house,” as Borrow calls -Addison’s wife, “the Warwick Dowager who -married the Spectator, and led him the life -of a dog.”</p> - -<p>Across Chirk Park runs Offa’s Dyke, the -long embankment “that was cast up with -great labour and industry by Offa the -Mercian, as a boundary between his Subjects -and the Britains, from the mouth of Dee to -that of the River Wye.... Concerning which -Joannes Sarisburiensis in his ‘Polycration’ -saith that Harald establish’d a law that whatever -Welshman should be found arm’d on<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span> -this side the limit he had set up, then ... -his right hand should be cut off by the -King’s Officers.” It touches the high-road -a few miles beyond Chirk, just before -we begin the wonderful descent into the -Vale of Llangollen; that long slope down -which we swing for several miles on a -perfect gradient and a perfect surface—marred, -however, by an awkward turn—with -the whole beautiful valley spread -out before us, and the Dee sweeping far -below us, spanned by the remarkable aqueduct -called Pont-y-Cysylltau. Beyond it rise -the Eglwyseg crags, and far away the -shattered fortress of Dinas Bran is visible -almost from the first on its peak above -Llangollen. “The castelle of Dinas Brane,” -says Leland, “was never a bigge thing, but -sette al for strenght as in a place half inaccessible -for enemyes.” Even in his day it -was “al in ruine,” and now there is only -a fragment left of it to remind us of those -princes of ancient Powys who built it in days -so old as to be unchronicled, and defied the -power of the Saxon from within its walls; -and of its owner in later days, Madoc ap<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span> -Gryffyth Maelor, who built the Abbey of -Valle Crucis; and of the fair Myfanwy, “all -smiles and light,” who was loved by a poor -bard of the fourteenth century, and celebrated -by him in a poem that still exists.</p> - -<p>At the foot of the crag on which Dinas -Bran is perched lies Llangollen—a little town -that owes its charm entirely to its position. -Only a few miles away, in Shropshire, an -ugly house is an exception: in Wales it is -unfortunately the rule. A town or village -that is really pretty in itself, apart from its -surroundings, is almost unknown. But so -lovely is the position of Llangollen that in -spite of its rather squalid streets it is an -entrancing place; so entrancing that Robert -Browning lived for some time at the Hand -Hotel, and the two famous “Ladies of Llangollen,” -Lady Eleanor Butler and Miss Ponsonby, -chose it out of all the world for their -life-long home. Llangollen is still dominated -by “the Ladies,” almost as much as by Dinas -Bran itself. They adorn the windows of all -its photograph shops; they shine in crude -colours from all its china mugs; and in its -churchyard we learn from an extremely ugly<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span> -tombstone that one of them, in the opinion -of the other, had “manners worthy of her -Illustrious Birth.” It must be admitted that -such is not the impression given by the impartial. -It became the fashion for travellers -of mark to visit this quaint couple in their -house up there on the hill, and they themselves -insisted on its being also the fashion -to give them presents—carvings, miniatures, -curiosities of all kinds. If we care to climb -a steep hill we may see the outside of Plas -Newydd now, a black-and-white house, which -must have been really pretty in its original -simplicity, but is now overladen with a -mass of carving. From the road we can see -the porch in which “the Ladies” once stood -“fussing and tottering about in an agony of -expectation,” waiting for Sir Walter Scott, -and looking, says Lockhart, “like a couple -of hazy or crazy old sailors.” “Who could -paint,” he goes on, “the prints, the dogs, the -cats, the miniatures, the cram of cabinets, -clocks, glass-cases, books, bijouterie, dragon-china, -nodding mandarins, and whirligigs of -every shape and hue—the whole house outside -and in <i>covered</i> with carved oak ... and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span> -the illustrated copies of Sir W.’s poems, and -the joking, simpering compliments about -Waverley.” But whether their manners were -worthy of their Illustrious Birth or not, they -were true friends to each other, and the -guardian angels, as Lockhart admits, of -Llangollen. It is an interesting fact (which -should not be forgotten) that the church -under whose shadow they lie is dedicated to -St. Collen ap Gwynnawg ap Clydawg ap -Cowrda ap Caradog Freichfras ap Llyr -Merimap Eini Yrth ap Cunedda Wledig.</p> - -<p>Far more important than Plas Newydd -or its memories of vanished mandarins and -whirligigs is the work of that prince of -Powys, whose name I mentioned in connection -with Dinas Bran—Madoc ap Gryffyth -Maelor. In Pant-y-Groes, or the Valley of -the Cross, stands Madoc’s ruined abbey, the -most perfect retreat, surely, that ever brought -comfort to the sad or sinful. It was of the -Vale of Llangollen that Ruskin characteristically -wrote: “The whole valley, when once -I got up past the Works (whatever the -accursed business of them) seemed to me -entirely lovely in its gentle wildness.” And<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span> -it is this very quality of gentle wildness that -gives such charm to the little Glen of the -Cross, which joins the larger valley of the -Dee just above Llangollen, and is reached -by way of the old stone bridge that was -the first of its kind in Wales.</p> - -<p>When, in a few minutes, we see the gable -of Valle Crucis Abbey below us on the right, -we leave our car by the roadside. We leave, -indeed, the whole world behind us as we -pass through the heavy door by which there -was once no returning. The narrow wooded -valley hems us in, the trees are close round -us, the waters of the fishpond, in their -absolute stillness, add to the sense of aloofness -and peace. And under our very feet, -perhaps, is the dust of Iolo Goch, the famous -bard who sang of “Owain Glyndwr, the -great, the good”; for Iolo’s unmarked grave -is here; and here, too, lies Madoc, who built -this abbey in the last year of the twelfth -century; and Myfanwy, the beautiful princess, -“fairer than the cherry’s bloom”; and -others who died long, long before them. -To antiquarians the tombs of Valle Crucis -are full of interest, for there are some that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span> -seem to prove, says the custodian—himself -an antiquarian—that this Cistercian house -rose on the site of an older Benedictine -building. The Cistercians never used warlike -symbols, but always the sign of the Cross; -yet here on two stones of very early date—the -sixth or seventh century—are carved -the sword, the spear, and the battleaxe. -Fragments of stained glass, too, have been -unearthed, and coloured tiles, though the -Cistercian Rule forbade the use of colour -in any form. This austere Order, however, -while avoiding the use of the sword as a -symbol, was apparently not averse to using -it as a weapon on occasion, for it was by -fighting the Benedictines in a neighbouring -field, according to the custodian’s theory, -that they became possessed of the site of -their abbey. Truth to tell, the extreme -austerity of the Cistercians seems to have -relaxed in later days, for we hear after a -time of four courses of meat in silver dishes -at Valle Crucis, and of an abbot with three -of his fingers covered with rings. But these -are disturbing thoughts. Let us rather take -away with us a picture of the quiet fish<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span>pond, -with its water-weeds and clumps of -yellow flags, and the gable of the church -reflected in it line for line, and on the bank -a hooded figure, dressed in white, with a -placid face and a busy fishing-rod.</p> - -<p>Quite near the abbey in a field is a far -older relic, Eliseg’s Pillar, the rough stone -monument that gave its name to the Valley -of the Cross, though as a matter of fact -it was probably never a cross. It was once -much higher than it is now, but in the -days of the Civil War the name of the -valley was enough to make it <i>suspect</i>, and -the pillar was thrown down by the Puritans -on the chance of its once having been a -cross. It has been much discussed and disagreed -about, but at all events its very -great antiquity is a certainty, and the inscription -that is now illegible was luckily -copied several centuries ago. “Concenn,” it -tells us, “the great grandson of Eliseg, -erected this stone to the memory of his -great-grandfather, Eliseg. This is that Eliseg -who recovered his inheritance of Powis by -his sword from the power of the Angles.”</p> - -<p>Returning to Llangollen we cross the Dee<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span> -again and go on our way upon the road to -Holyhead, up the ridge of Rhysgog, past -Berwyn Station, and so out of the Vale of -Llangollen into that of Edeyrnion. The Dee -is still below us on the right, with thickly -wooded hills beyond it; and on the left are -rocky heights, sometimes bare and sometimes -softened by trees. We have a lovely -run before us down the valley, but if we -are prudent we will <i>drive slowly in the -neighbourhood of Corwen</i>.</p> - -<p>But here, at the head of the valley, we -are eight miles away from Corwen, and -have other things to think of—great things, -indeed: the last struggle for Welsh freedom, -and the man who was the heart and -the head of it, that strange mixture of -ruthless vengeance and lovableness, Owen -Glyndwr, who as a pattern squire, rather -scholarly and very hospitable, spent many -quiet years, living sometimes here at Glyndyfrdwy -beside the Dee and sometimes at -his other house at Sycharth, and then suddenly, -at the touch of injustice, unfurled -the red dragon of Uther and became the -implacable devastator whose name meets us<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</a></span> -in every ruin in Wales. Nothing remains -now of his house, for Prince Hal descended -upon it one day, and, having left it level -with the ground, wrote to his “very dear -and entirely beloved” Wardens of the -Marches to tell them all about it. After -describing the burning of Sycharth and of -many houses round it he goes on: “Then -we went straight away to his other place -of Glyndourdy, to seek for him there. -There we burnt a fine lodge in his park, -and all the country round; and we remained -there all that night.” Above the spot where -the fine lodge stood is a curious tumulus -crowned with firs, quite close to the road. -It is known as Owen’s Mount, not because -he made it, for it is far older than he, but -because there is a story that he used it as -a kind of watch-tower. It was at Corwen, -some say, that he first raised his standard; -but the other memories of him here are -legendary and trivial.</p> - -<p>From Corwen to wild Cerrig-y-Druidion—the -Rock of the Druids—the road rises -steadily, and leads to nothing of note but -the lovely little Pass of Glyndyffws, a deep<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span> -and narrow defile of sudden unexpected -beauty that connects two tracts of rather -dull country. Here, where the Ceirw flings -itself into the ravine from a great height -and foams among the rocks far below us, -Telford has thoughtfully supplied us with -several little recesses in the wall from which -to enjoy the view. I have heard that he -cut his name in the stone of one of them, -but I have never been able to find it. -Perhaps it was to his name that George -Borrow objected when he came here and -laughed at “Mr. T.” for being eager for -immortality. There was no need for Telford -to be over-anxious about his immortality; -nor yet, indeed, was there any for Borrow -to flout him because he was not a Welsh -bard!</p> - -<p>Tyn-y-nant, where “little Dick Vickers,” -late of Shrewsbury Mail, hanged himself -rather exclusively, is a place of a dreary sort; -and so is Cerrig-y-Druidion; and so, most -of all, is the straight road from Cerrig to -Cernioge, a piece of road that catches all -the winds of heaven, and always seems -longer than it was last time. Open the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span> -throttle here, and be thankful—if the weather -be cold—that your good engine is humming -before you, and is making a better pace than -the eleven miles an hour of which the shivering -travellers on this road used to boast. -Cernioge is to us merely an unkempt farmhouse, -but to them it meant a fire and hot -drinks, for it was once a posting-house of -considerable renown.</p> - -<p>At Cernioge begins the descent into the -valley of the Conway; and it is here that -we first see, stretched out before us like -the Promised Land, the distant grandeur of -Snowdonia, the wild, impenetrable fortress -of the Welsh and the trap of the invading -English. When Pentre Voelas is passed the -beauty grows and grows, mile by mile, and -we are gently gliding down into the very -heart of it; wild crags to the right of us, -and before and below us a sea of woodland, -valley beyond valley and hill beyond hill. -There is one turn of the road where nearly -every car draws up. The valley of the -Conway lies at our feet, with here and -there the river shining through the trees; -the Lledr Valley stretches away and merges<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</a></span> -into the distant moors; Moel Siabod’s peak -rises at the end of it; and over Siabod’s -shoulder appears, on a clear day, a wedge-shaped -corner of Snowdon, faintly blue. I -have seen this view at many times of the -year, and the best time of all is May.</p> - -<p>For the woods that are at our feet, the -woods that gave its name to Bettws-y-Coed, -the Chapel in the Wood, are at their best in -May, when every tree has its own individual -shade of colour, the larch its tender green, -and the budding oak its pink and gold. But, -indeed, Bettws is always lovely. Nothing -can spoil its innate simplicity; not even the -smart hats and parasols that look so incongruous -in its little street in July and August. -It exists only for tourists; there are several -good hotels, and, roughly speaking, all the -other houses are lodgings; yet in spite of -all, Bettws is a village still. Those who like -to settle down comfortably and motor round -a centre, instead of touring from place to -place, will find this much the most central -and convenient spot from which to explore -North Wales. And in any case, I think we -must stay here for a night or two. We<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</a></span> -must drive to Rhuddlan and Conway and -Dolwyddelan; we must stand on the Pont-y-Pair -and watch the tempestuous Llugwy; -we must inspect David Cox’s famous signboard -at the Royal Oak; and in the evening, -when the dusky yews are all in shadow, we -must sit in the churchyard beside the Conway, -where the great artist loved to paint. -The church—the “Chapel in the Wood”—is -uncouth and bare, and not improved by -modern windows; but it has stood here for -many centuries, and among its ugly pews -we realise with a thrill that the tomb at -our feet holds the dust of a prince of -Llewelyn’s house.</p> - -<div class="center"> -<img id="ill18" src="images/ill18.jpg" width="600" height="382" alt="" /> -<p class="caption">THE OLD CHAPEL, BETTWS-Y-COED.</p></div> - -<div class="center"> -<img id="ill19" src="images/ill19.jpg" width="440" height="600" alt="" /> -<p class="caption">THE LLUGWY AT BETTWS-Y-COED.</p></div> - -<p>This is the country of Llewelyn the Great. -On one side of us is the valley that tradition -names as his birthplace; on the other the -valley where he was buried. His grave we -cannot see, for his burial-place at Aberconwy -was desecrated when Edward I. built his -great castle; but on the way from Bettws to -Rhuddlan we may pause at the church of -Llanrwst and see there, on the floor of -Inigo Jones’s chapel of the Wynnes, the -coffin of stone that once held the bones of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span> -the greatest of the Welsh princes. There -are a good many interesting things here—things -much older than the church itself; -but not the least pleasing, I think, is the -Latin epitaph that the former rector composed, -with a pretty wit, for his own tomb. -It has been thus translated:—</p> - -<div class="center"><div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<div class="i0">“Once the undeserving schoolmaster,</div> -<div class="i0">Then the more undeserving lecturer,</div> -<div class="i0">Last of all the most undeserving rector of this parish.</div> -<div class="i0">Do not think, speak, or write anything evil of the dead.”</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>If we are going to Rhuddlan it will not -be necessary for us to cross the shaking -bridge, designed—perhaps—by Inigo Jones. -I see no object in a bridge shaking, myself, -but there are always those at hand -who for a consideration will shake you the -bridge if it gives you pleasure. Our way, -however, lies to the right, up a winding hill -three miles in length, with an average -gradient of 1 in 12. It is a serious climb; -but the backward view of the mountain -range beyond the Conway is magnificent—a -view of rather a rare quality, and not often<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</a></span> -seen by those who depend upon horses’ -legs or their own. The road that crosses -the top of the hills runs through scenery -of rather a commonplace type; then, as we -drop down into Abergele the Morfa Rhuddlan -lies before us like a map—a dull map—with -fashionable Rhyl in the distance; and -from Abergele to Rhuddlan the road is surely -the straightest and flattest that ever was seen.</p> - -<p>The ivy-smothered towers of Rhuddlan -Castle stand on the banks of the Clwyd. -That great statesman and soldier, Edward I., -being weary of the “Welsh Question,” -determined to get the affair finished once -for all; so he rebuilt this castle, settled -down here with his Court and family, conquered -the country, made its laws, and saw -that they were carried out. There is a -remnant still standing of the house where -he held his parliament and “secured its independence -to the Principality of Wales.” -These words, though not Edward’s, are quite -in the spirit of his little jokes. It was here -that he played his historical practical joke -upon the Welsh nation, when he promised -them a prince who was a native of Wales<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span> -and could not speak a word of English—and -then showed them the baby. There is -nothing for us to see inside this castle, for -Cromwell altogether dismantled it, and its -heavy green towers, though impressive -enough as being the grave of Welsh independence, -are not nearly so typical of the -“ruthless king” as his great fortresses of -Carnarvon and Harlech and Conway.</p> - -<p>Conway is only seventeen miles away, and -we may see it on our return journey to Bettws, -by driving back to Abergele, where there is -a nice old posting-house, and thence passing -on above Colwyn Bay. Five hundred years -ago another traveller came by this way -from Conway: a poor, duped, heart-sick king -riding helplessly to imprisonment and mysterious -death. It was at Conway that -Bolingbroke’s messenger Northumberland, a -man of a most treacherous heart, met -Richard II. with solemn vows of friendship; -and along this coast that they rode together, -still smiling, the knave and the fool, -to Rhuddlan and Flint, where Bolingbroke’s -army lay waiting on the sands o’ Dee. -Those splendid walls and towers of Conway<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span> -that we see beyond the estuary, piled high -above the water-side, were Richard II.’s last -refuge. From that day forward every roof -that sheltered him was a prison.</p> - -<p>All through the history of Wales this -estuary has played an important part. -Long, long before Edward’s magnificent -towers rose over the desecrated burial-place -of the great Llewelyn there was a castle -guarding the river-mouth at Deganwy. We -can see its fragments still if we choose to -drive round that way before crossing to -Conway; but there is only a remnant left, a -few stones on a hillside facing the sea—stones -that tell of Maelgwyn of the sixth century, -and of Norman Robert, lord of Rhuddlan, -who rebuilt Maelgwyn’s fortress and met -his death there, and of King John of -England, who was starved out by the -Welsh. Robert of Rhuddlan’s death was -picturesque, and, I imagine, well deserved. -This was the manner of it. He was still -employed in rebuilding the Welsh castle of -Deganwy for the harrying of the people to -whom it really belonged, when one day he -fell asleep—a rash thing to do in those days<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</a></span> -and in that place. Then came Griffith, -Prince of Gwynedd, with his ships, and -stole all Robert’s cattle, and was just setting -sail again when Robert awoke and saw -what was going forward. Down this steep -bank below the castle he dashed to the -shore, and fought desperately, with only one -follower to support him; but soon died, of -course, by the spears of the Welsh. Griffith -nailed his head to the mast and sailed away; -then, when the Normans chased him, flung -it into the sea before their eyes.</p> - -<p>As for King John, when he in his turn -tried to strengthen the fortress of Deganwy, -he was glad enough to escape with his wicked -head on his shoulders. He had come into -Wales “minded to destroy all that had life -within the country”; but he departed, we -are told, in a great fury, leaving a large -proportion of his army behind him for -Llewelyn to bury. For the Welsh had cut -off all the supplies of the English, “so that -in time they were glad to take up with horseflesh -or anything, were it never so mean, -which might fill up their greedy and empty -stomachs.” So says Caradoc of Llancarvan.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</a></span> -Other historians give us a letter written on -the spot by a certain knight, a man of parts, -of whose life and letters one would like to -know more. He describes the royal army -as “watching, fasting, praying, and freezing. -We watch,” he continues, “for fear of the -Welsh.... We fast for want of provisions.... -We pray that we may speedily return -safe and scot-free home; and we freeze for -want of winter garments, having but a thin -linen shirt to keep us from the wind.” This -vivid letter-writer goes on to tell us of the -spoiling of Aberconwy Abbey and the burning -of all the valuable old Welsh records -there, and he shows a good deal of nice -feeling in the matter.</p> - -<p>It was on the ruins of Aberconwy that -Edward’s glorious castle rose later on to -overawe the Welsh. This Castle of Conway -is the most beautiful of all Henry de Elfreton’s -works, I think; more beautiful in itself -even than Harlech; and we can well believe, -as we drive across the bridge and under the -great machicolated town gate, that in early -days it could only be taken by the help of -guile or famine. Glyndwr’s men won their<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</a></span> -way in by disguising one of their number -as a carpenter, and to dislodge them Hotspur, -finding his engines useless, was obliged -to starve them out. During the Civil War -the castle was held for the King by the -Archbishop of York, an extremely “muscular -Christian,” who on being superseded in -his command felt the slight so deeply that -he joined Mytton the Roundhead, and himself -led the assault! And these great walls, -fifteen feet in thickness, yielded at last. As -one climbs the long flight of steps to the -entrance with all these things in one’s mind -there is something almost overwhelming in -the grandeur of these strong towers.</p> - -<p>“A very neat castle,” says Camden.</p> - -<p>When we have had our luncheon at the -Castle Hotel we must cross the road to -Plas Mawr, the town house of the Wynnes -of Gwydir, who entertained Queen Elizabeth -there more than once, and even decorated -her rooms with appropriate symbols, royal -arms, and monograms. The plaster mouldings -in this house are its special feature: -fireplaces, ceilings, walls, all are ornamented -with them, and in each room the design is<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</a></span> -different. One cannot, however, enjoy the -mouldings and the oak furniture and the -priests’ hiding-hole and the lantern window -with an undivided mind, for the Plas Mawr -ghost—unconventional soul!—walks by daylight.</p> - -<div class="center"> -<img id="ill20" src="images/ill20.jpg" width="600" height="380" alt="" /> -<p class="caption">CONWAY CASTLE.</p></div> - -<div class="center"> -<img id="ill21" src="images/ill21.jpg" width="600" height="382" alt="" /> -<p class="caption">THE PASS OF NANT FFRANCON.</p></div> - -<p>We leave Conway by the road that -follows the western bank of the river, for -by so doing we secure an impressive backward -view of the old town walls, which -is ample compensation for the steep ascent -that soon carries us out of sight. Moreover -this road, after a few more hills and -a few more miles of level going, with a -view up the valley that grows lovelier -every moment, will lead us to Trefriew, a -dear little watering-place with a good -hotel. The tiny church here has no outward -attractions; it has not even any -appearance of age. Yet it has its own -romance; for it is said that when the -English wife of Llewelyn the Great—Joan, -the daughter of King John—found the -severe climb to the old church of Llanrhychwyn -too much for her, her thoughtful -husband built this one for her at the foot<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</a></span> -of the hill. Those who do not share her -feelings may still see, on the heights -above the village, the yet older church -where Llewelyn worshipped before his -wife objected to the walk. And beyond it -again, on the wild hill-top, is Llyn -Geirionydd, on whose shores lived Taliesin, -the Bard of the Radiant Brow, the most -famous of all the Welsh bards.</p> - -<p>Between Trefriew and Bettws there are -but a few miles of level road and very -lovely scenery. Gwydir Castle, the old -house of the Wynnes, stands between us -and the river, and may be seen when -Lord Carrington is away. It is full, I -believe, of carvings and tapestry and relics -of history. Queen Elizabeth stayed here, -and Leicester, and Charles I.</p> - -<p>But here among these wild Welsh hills -Elizabeth’s starched ruff and Charles’s -curls strike one as a little out of place. -We may find memories of Elizabeth—who -seems to have slept in as many different -places as a motorist—in half the towns -and big houses of England. This is the -country of the Kings of Gwynedd.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</a></span></p> - -<p>We saw the Lledr Valley stretched out -before us as we came down the hill from -Pentre Voelas to Bettws. But that bird’s-eye -view of it gives one no idea at all of -its extreme beauty; of the towering height -of its steep slopes, now bare and rocky, -now richly wooded: of its brilliant colouring -and deep purple shadows. At the head -of it, where its beauty is partly spoiled -by quarries and all their works, is Dolwyddelan -village; and beyond that again, -standing alone among the desolate hills, -is the stern tower where Llewelyn the -Great, the “eagle of men,” is believed to -have been born. It is only a square -tower now, and though it once had two -towers it was never a place of any size; -for Dolwyddelan and Dolbadarn, the two -mountain strongholds of the princes of -Gwynedd, did not rely upon their own -strength, but on the great bewildering -hills that defended them on every side. -Thus it was that this small fortress was -the last to yield to Edward I. And while -remembering Llewelyn here do not let us -forget to dedicate one sigh to his poor<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</a></span> -father, Iorwerth Drwyndwn—of the broken -nose—who, when that unfortunate feature -kept him from his princedom, was given -this country and its tower by way of -compensation.</p> - -<p>It is the custom to return to Bettws -from this point, for reasons that a glance -at the Contour Book may perhaps explain. -But the fashion has been set, I -think, by bicyclists, whom one really cannot -blame for shirking the hill that rises between -Dolwyddelan and Maentwrog. Here let me -assure motorists that there is little reason -why they should miss the wild beauty of -the moors above this point; the rolling -expanse of brown and purple bogland, the -endless succession of hills, the grand outline -of Moel Siabod. For though the road is -certainly steep the surface is excellent, except -for a mile or so above Blaenau Festiniog, -that strange town on the mountain ledge -that entirely owes its existence to the -neighbouring quarries, and yet is more -than a mile long and has three railway -stations. There is no need to brave the -hill again to return to Bettws, for the road<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</a></span> -by Maentwrog, Penrhyndeudraeth, and the -Pass of Aberglaslyn is one of the loveliest -in Wales, and though we shall come down -the Pass by and by there is no hardship in -going over the ground twice. It is worth -remembering, too, that at Maentwrog it is -possible, if time allows, to cross the valley -and approach the famous toy railway-line -at its prettiest point, Tan-y-Bwlch, where a -lake lies hidden among the woods, and -where we may have tea on the grass close -beside the water, facing a scene of rich -colouring and deep, cool shadows.</p> - -<p>All this, however, is a digression. It is -highly probable that the great majority -of motorists will look at the Contour Book -and return to Bettws from Dolwyddelan. -They will have the advantage of seeing -the Lledr Valley from a new point of view.</p> - -<p>Now in the Snowdon country there are -three great passes through the mountains -to the sea: the Passes of Nant Ffrancon, -Llanberis, and Nant Gwynant combined -with Aberglaslyn. It is hard to say which -is the most beautiful of the three; and it -is quite imperative, and also quite easy, to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</a></span> -see them all by pursuing rather a zigzag -course. Nant Ffrancon is the route of the -Holyhead Road and the nearest to Bettws: -so we will go down by Nant Ffrancon, and -come up again by Llanberis on the same -day; and on the next start off again by -way of Nant Gwynant and Aberglaslyn, -passing through Bedd Gelert.</p> - -<p>The road climbs out of Bettws through a -thick wood beside the rushing Llugwy, and -soon draws near the Swallow Falls.<a name="FNanchor_7" id="FNanchor_7"></a><a href="#Footnote_7" class="fnanchor">[7]</a> This -triple fall is only a stone’s-throw from the -road, and it is worth while to follow the -slippery path across the pine-needles, and -stand for a moment in the pricking spray -watching the commotion. In the thick of -the hubbub they say the spirit of Sir John -Wynne, which left this mortal coil early -in the seventeenth century, is being -“purged, punished, and spouted upon”; -though I have never heard anything -definite against him except that he was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</a></span> -“shrewd and successful.” He was a member -of that Court of the Marches of which -we heard so much at Ludlow, and he left -a very valuable record of his family behind -him.</p> - -<p>This bit of country between Bettws -and Capel Curig is one of the gems of -North Wales. Moel Siabod towers above -us; and beyond it soon appears that cloud-capped -peak whose name quickens every -Welsh heart—the rallying-point of heroes, -the symbol and stronghold of the liberties -of Wales. The finest view of Snowdon is -from Capel Curig, where the double peak -is reflected in the double lake.</p> - -<p>Our road, still climbing, turns to the -right in Capel Curig and takes us up into -the heart of the hills, through a scene of -splendid desolation—bare heights, huge -boulders tossed and heaped upon the -ground, jagged outlines, and dark sullen -colours—a land that was vastly disconcerting -to those travellers of an earlier day -whose idea of beauty was “a smiling -landscape.” As we reach the summit and -see the waters of Llyn Ogwen below us,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</a></span> -sapphire-blue or lead-grey according to -circumstances, the great sides of Tryfaen -and the Glydyrs tower on the left. Beyond -the lake Alla Wen rises steeply. “A horrid -spot of hills,” says a seventeenth-century -writer. “The most dreadful horse-path in -Wales,” says Pennant; and that indeed it -may well have been before Telford came -here to perform his miracles of engineering. -“The district through which the -surveys were carried is mountainous,” he -says quietly; “and I found the existing -roads very imperfect.” When we have -passed Llyn Ogwen, and the cottage where -food is to be had if necessary, and the -sudden turning over the bridge, and are -swinging down the gentle slope of Nant -Ffrancon high up on the mountain-side, -we must surely give nearly as much -admiration to this road which descends for -ten miles with no steeper gradient than -1 in 15 as we give to the wide Valley of -the Beavers below us. Above us the -mountain is a mass of grey boulders, of -scars and landslips; below us it sweeps -down precipitously to where the little<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</a></span> -Ogwen dances like a streak of quicksilver. -Presently we pass under the hideous -excrescence of the Penrhyn slate quarries, -grey terraces of rubbish contrasting cruelly -with the glowing gorse of the opposite -slopes; and then through the equally -hideous town of slate, Bethesda, the miners’ -town, whose slate walls, slate steps, and -slate porches are enough, as Dr. Johnson, -would say, “to make a man hang himself.” -Let us hurry on into the Cochwillan -Woods.</p> - -<p>Very soon after passing the modern towers -of Penrhyn Castle we reach the town of -Bangor, “which for the beauty of its -situation, was called Ban-cor, the high -or conspicuous choir.” It is not a very inviting -place, nevertheless, and there is no -need to pause here, for even the cathedral -is not beautiful. It has had a great deal to -bear; for it was burnt by Harold the Saxon, -and again by King John, and again by -Owen Glyndwr; and no doubt the castle -built by Hugh, Earl of Chester, suffered on -one or all of these occasions, for Camden -says, “though he made diligent inquiry he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</a></span> -could not discover the least footsteps” of -it. The original cathedral was founded by -St. Deiniol in the sixth century, and beneath -it is buried the great Welsh prince Owen -Gwynedd, hero of many battles, who fought -here on the heights above the straits a fight -so desperate that “the Menai could not -ebb on account of the torrent of blood -which flowed into it.” Before we go on to -Carnarvon we must cross those straits, for -the sake of the bridge, and of the view, -and of Beaumaris.</p> - -<p>It was in the year 1826 that the mail-coach, -swaying under its burden of excited -officials, rolled slowly for the first time -over the Menai Bridge. It was a brave -scene. Telford, in his modest way, had -pleaded against a formal procession, but he -could not check personal enthusiasm nor -prevent the mustering of that long, long -line of carriages and horsemen and thousands -on foot, which followed the Royal London -and Holyhead Mail, amid the fluttering of -flags and the firing of guns, and the roaring -of a gale. Nor yet could he control the -shouts that rose above the wind when he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</a></span> -himself passed by in an inconspicuous -carriage.</p> - -<p>As soon as we reach the sacred shore of -Mona, the last home of the Druids, we turn -sharply to the right; unless, indeed, we have -a mind to pursue the Holyhead road for a -couple of miles, for the pleasure of telling our -friends that we have seen Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerchwryndrobwllantysiliogogogoch. -I -once heard a rumour that this place was -to be connected by rail with Pontrhydfendigaedmynachlogfawr, -but as the scheme may -come to nothing perhaps it would be wiser not -to mention it.</p> - -<p>From the shore road to Beaumaris we see -the whole grand panorama of the Gwynedd -mountains, height beyond height and range -beyond range, from the pale distant peak of -Snowdon to the dark shadows of steep Penmaenmawr. -It is a scene that has a quality -of strangeness in it. One looks at it from -the outside, as it were; for Anglesey, which -once was green with the sacred groves of -the Druids, is now, as it was in the days -of Giraldus Cambrensis, “an arid and stony -land, rough and unpleasant in its appear<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</a></span>ance.” -One feels, on this flat shore, worlds -away from that beautiful country beyond -the strait. On a day of sunshine and cloud, -when the mountains are glowing with every -imaginable colour and seem every moment -to be changing their shapes under the -moving shadows, it is worth driving many -a mile to sit on the beach of Beaumaris.</p> - -<p>Behind us, close at hand, is Beaumaris -Castle; opposite to us, across the water, is -“Aber of the white shells,” where Llewelyn -the Great held his Court, and where his -English wife died; and a little further along -the Anglesey shore to our left is Llanfaes, -where he buried her “with dire lamentation -and no little honour,” and built over her grave -a monastery that was altogether destroyed -by Henry IV. Poor Joan’s coffin must have -been through many changes before the sad -day when it occurred to some thrifty farmer -that the queer old stone trough would do -finely for his cattle to drink out of. It was -fortunately discovered early in the last century, -and another watering-trough having -been found for the cows, it was placed in -safety in the garden at Baron Hill.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</a></span></p> - -<p>Beaumaris Castle does not make so brave -a show as most of Edward’s fortresses; but -its ten low towers and its double line of -defence were no doubt formidable enough -before their thick drapery of ivy gave them -so soft an air. The rusty iron rings that -hang on the outer wall give one of those -little touches of the commonplace that bring -the past so near. Edward I. cut a canal -and filled the moat of Beaumaris Castle -from the sea, and so the ships that brought -supplies to the garrison were moored and -unladed at the very walls.</p> - -<p>The shores of the Menai have seen a vast -amount of fighting of a very desperate kind, -from the days when the Druids stood at bay -here to the time when Edward I. bridged -the strait with boats and was badly beaten -by the last Llewelyn. And as we re-cross -the bridge and look down at the ancient -little church of Llandysilio so far below us, -we may remember another scene—peaceful -in itself but not unconnected with bloodshed—when -on a hill near here, Archbishop -Baldwin and that delightful chronicler -Giraldus induced many persons, by persuasive -discourses, to “take the cross.”</p> - -<div class="center"> -<img id="ill22" src="images/ill22.jpg" width="600" height="378" alt="" /> -<p class="caption">THE MENAI BRIDGE, FROM ANGLESEY.</p></div> - -<div class="center"> -<img id="ill23" src="images/ill23.jpg" width="600" height="385" alt="" /> -<p class="caption">CARNARVON CASTLE.</p></div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</a></span>From the other side of the Menai, on the -Carnarvon road, the view is, of course, comparatively -tame; but we have only eight -miles to travel before reaching Carnarvon, -and on a level road they are soon disposed -of.</p> - -<p>It is difficult to realise at the first -moment that the well-preserved, clean walls -upon which one comes so suddenly in -the middle of Carnarvon were raised by -Edward I.; though that king himself stands -above the gateway, with his hand on the -sword that worked so hard. This is the -greatest of his castles; he chose it for -the birthplace of his son, and chose it too, -apparently, to be the monument and symbol -of himself. Nothing could be a more fitting -emblem of the unyielding strength of the -king who built castles in Wales almost as -profusely as other men build them in Spain. -On this, the town side of it, one is more -struck with its strength than with its -beauty. To see it at its best one must -cross the bridge, and from the other side -of the river-mouth look at the huge bulk -of it; the long line of the curtain-wall<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</a></span> -reflected in the water; the great octagonal -towers, with their clusters of slender turrets; -the unutterable repellent air of it. There -are no windows in these cold walls; no ivy -or very little, to soften their austerity. -Even from this side, though the water and -the shipping give it picturesque surroundings, -I think Carnarvon Castle is not beautiful -so much as impressive. When Queen -Eleanor entered it through the gate still -called the Queen’s she did not see it as it -stands now, for it was finished by her son, -who was born in the castle soon after her -arrival. A little room in the Eagle Tower -is shown as his birthplace; but those who -have read the local records declare it to be -proved beyond doubt that the tower was -without a roof till the baby in question, -Edward II., put a roof on it himself.</p> - -<p>It is surprisingly well preserved. This, no -doubt, is partly because it has never been -overcome by any more destructive agent than -the starvation of its garrison. Glyndwr -besieged it on its landward side, and his -French allies attacked it from the sea; but -they made little impression upon it, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</a></span> -finally, since time was precious, they thought -it wiser to employ their engines elsewhere -more profitably, though the garrison within -numbered only twenty-eight men, in sore -want of provisions.</p> - -<p>Between Carnarvon and the Pass of -Llanberis lie ten miles of undulating -country. But the mountains are towering -before us like an impassable wall, growing -ever higher and more formidable as we pass -Llyn Padarn and Llanberis town, whence -the mountain-railway starts for the summit -of Snowdon. No doubt the northern shores -of Llyn Padarn and of Llyn Peris, which -lies beyond it, were once beautiful; but -they are now merely a mass of unsightly -débris, mountains of broken slate, terrace -above terrace of melancholy grey. The -southern shore of Llyn Peris, however, at -the very foot of the Pass, has kept its -own wild beauty, and on a craggy little -hill that rises at the lower end “there is -yet a pece of a toure,” as Leland says. -A very notable piece of a tower it is too; -for Dolbadarn was the very centre and -heart and ultimate citadel of Welsh free<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</a></span>dom -from the earliest days. Here Llewelyn, -the third and last, kept his brother a -prisoner for twenty-three years, and here -Owen Glyndwr hid himself whenever it -suited him to elude the English, who invariably -lost their way among these mountains. -It was here, too, that Owen hid his -chief enemy, Lord Grey of Ruthin, who -had embroiled him with the King of -England and caused all the trouble. But -this little square grey “pece of a toure” -is far older, they say, than Owen or -Llewelyn. It is supposed to have been -built by Maelgwyn, the same prince -who built that first castle at Deganwy -which was rebuilt by Robert of Rhuddlan -and King John at such large cost to themselves. -Maelgwyn, King of Gwynedd in the -sixth century, is one of the forceful -characters who stand out here and there -conspicuously in the rather bewildering host -of Cymric princes; a personable man, according -to all accounts, and one of great courage -and success in battle, yet not without leanings -towards the monastic life. He actually -became a monk for a time; but no one can<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</a></span> -have been greatly surprised when he tired -of the constraint and took to soldiering -again. On the whole I fear he was a -truculent creature, for Taliesin, “chief of -the bards of the West,” proclaimed, with -the ambiguity common to prophets, that—</p> - -<div class="center"><div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<div class="i0">“A most strange creature should come from the sea-marsh of Rhianedd</div> -<div class="i0">As a punishment of iniquity on Maelgwn Gywnedd,</div> -<div class="i0">His hair, his teeth, and his eyes being as gold.”</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>And Maelgwyn died of the yellow plague.</p> - -<div class="center"> -<img id="ill24" src="images/ill24.jpg" width="600" height="381" alt="" /> -<p class="caption">DOLBADARN CASTLE.</p></div> - -<div class="center"> -<img id="ill25" src="images/ill25.jpg" width="600" height="379" alt="" /> -<p class="caption">SNOWDON, FROM CAPEL CURIG.</p></div> - -<p>It is only a little way beyond this point -that the actual Pass of Llanberis begins to -rise, cleaving its straight course between the -mountains to the very foot of Snowdon—“to -the Welsh always the hill of hills,” as -Borrow says. The highest peak, Y Wyddfa, -is not visible from the Pass, but one -sharp-edged shoulder in certain lights -seems to be within a stone’s-throw of the -road. This is the steepest of the three -passes near Snowdon, and the one whose -name is best known to the world in -general. As for beauty—the most beautiful -of the three is the one on whose royal<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</a></span> -blues and imperial purples one’s eyes are -actually feasting at the moment. But I -would say this: to understand even the -elements of the beauty of these hills it is -imperative to travel <i>up</i> each of the three -passes, for as one climbs up into the heart -of the mountains the effect is in every -case more beautiful than on the downward -journey. On a continuous tour this is of -course impossible; and that is one reason -why the best way of seeing Snowdonia is -to stay for a few days at a centre, such as -Bettws, or Capel Curig, or Pen-y-Gwryd.</p> - -<p>At one or other of the two latter places -it will probably be necessary to spend a -night after this run from Bettws to Bangor -and Carnarvon. Capel Curig has the finer -view, and a hotel that has overlooked Llyn -Mymbyr and faced the peaks of Snowdon -for many a year. I do not know if it is -the same that Sir Walter Scott stayed in -and Lockhart described as “a pretty little -inn in a most picturesque situation -certainly, and as to the matter of toasted -cheese, quite exquisite”; but it is without -doubt the same that seemed to George<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</a></span> -Borrow “a very magnificent edifice.” He -dined here, he tells us, “in a grand -saloon amidst a great deal of fashionable -company,” who “surveyed him with looks -of the most supercilious disdain.” I strongly -suspect that both the fashion and the disdain -existed only in a sensitive imagination.</p> - -<p>Pen-y-Gwryd is exactly at the junction -of the Pass of Llanberis with Nant -Gwynant, the valley down which our -future course lies; and here too there is a -comfortable inn, with memories of Charles -Kingsley and the author of “Tom Brown’s -Schooldays.” From this point we can start -off in the morning without retracing a step.</p> - -<p>As one glides down the perfect gradient -of this entrancing valley of the Glaslyn, -with the very blue waters of Llyn Gwynant -glittering below and the sides of Snowdon -rising precipitously from the shore on the -right, and on the left the wild green slopes -climbing up and up from the roadside to -the sky, one comes after all to a decision -as to the comparative beauty of these -passes. Nant Gwynant is the best. The -hill is three miles and a half long, and in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</a></span> -some places just steep enough to force us -to slacken speed and so make the most of -our surroundings; then a few miles of -undulating road lead past Llyn Dinas and, -still by the side of the stony Glaslyn, into -the village of Bedd Gelert, which has won -fame on false grounds as the burial-place -of Llewelyn’s hound. The rough, pathetic -tomb, that stands in a meadow and is -reached by a path made by the feet -of thousands of pilgrims, has a most -plausible appearance; but it was, I believe, -raised by the forethought of a hotel-keeper—a -man who apparently knew his -world. No bones of a faithful dog lie -here; but if we may not weep over the -dust of Gelert we may at all events mourn -the loss of a beautiful, but dead, legend. -We drive through the village and enter, -almost at once, the Pass of Aberglaslyn. -The steep part of the road is quite short; -but this strange cleft in the rock, this -narrow ravine that holds only the river -and the road between its cliffs, forms an -imposing southern gate to the Snowdon -mountains. We pass out of it almost<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</a></span> -suddenly into the wide, level meadowland -of the Traeth Mawr—and may the gorse be -in its full glory at the time!</p> - -<p>This plain that we are swinging across -so happily, this plain of green and gold, -was a barren marsh, useless to man or -beast, till it was reclaimed in the early -part of last century by a certain Mr. -Maddox, who gave his name to the two -towns that own their existence to him—Portmadoc -and Tremadoc. At Tremadoc -lived Percy and Harriet Shelley for a little -time, while they were still happy. The -poet, with characteristic enthusiasm, was -fascinated by the great draining-scheme; -and in his leisure moments grounded poor -Harriet in Latin.</p> - -<p>It is here or at Portmadoc that we turn -to the right, if we are minded, to explore -the little-known peninsula of Lleyn. For -some mysterious reason the greater part of -this promontory is seldom visited, though it -is not by any means without attractions. -It cannot, of course, compare in any respect -with the dramatic grandeur of the Snowdon -country; there are large tracts that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</a></span> -might even be called uninteresting; but -from the southern uplands the panorama -of the mountains of Gwynedd is really -magnificent, and on the northern coast the -fine outline of Yr Eifl—ridiculously corrupted -into the Rivals—rises very grandly from -the sea. And when the gorse is in blossom -the whole country is veined with gold, for -here they make their hedges of gorse, and -the air is heavy with its poignant -sweetness.</p> - -<p>As for the roads, they are mostly good. -The roads from Pwllheli to Nevin, to Yr -Eifl and Clynnogfawr, and to Aberdaron -are all excellent; so also is the one that -connects Nevin with Aberdaron; but the -“Saints’ Road to Bardsey” from Nevin to -Llanaellraiarn should be avoided, since the -saints, apparently, employed indifferent -engineers.</p> - -<p>To reach Pwllheli from Portmadoc we -must past through Criccieth, one of the -most popular places on this coast, and one -that must have been really beautiful before -its popularity spoilt it. It has a nice hotel, -and is, in any case, a far more attractive<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</a></span> -stopping-place than the ambitious Pwllheli. -The castle, not without dignity, stands aloof -upon its abrupt round promontory, facing -the rows of modern lodging-house as though -they were some new kind of enemy drawn -up against it. For that Edwardian gateway -has faced many enemies, and the castle still -more. Of its original founding I believe -nothing is certainly known, but it is older -than its gateway, for Llewelyn the Great -chose it for the prison of his unruly son, -Gryffydd, of whom it was said that -“peace was not to be looked for in his -neighbourhood.” But, indeed, in those times -a strong prison seems to have been the -only way of securing peace in any one’s -neighbourhood.</p> - -<p>Much the most picturesque person who -has ever been connected with Criccieth -was Sir Howel y Fwyall, or <i>of the Axe</i>. -So doughty were his deeds at Poictiers -that the Black Prince not only did him -honour in the usual ways, with money and -knighthood, but gave orders that the pole-axe -with which he had done so valiantly -should be set up in this castle of Criccieth<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</a></span>—of -which Howel was Constable—and -should be served with a mess of meat -daily. Eight yeoman were entrusted with -this service, and after the ceremony the -meat was given to the poor. The custom -was kept up till the reign of Elizabeth.</p> - -<p>The name of Pwllheli is well known, if ill-pronounced, -in the world of tourists. It -aspires to be a fashionable watering-place, -and one feels that success may possibly -crown its endeavours, when one considers -the natural disadvantages of Rhyl and Borth -and many another prosperous spot.</p> - -<p>A few years ago we should have been -obliged, having once passed Criccieth, to -spend the night at Pwllheli; but now we -shall do well if we rather choose Nevin for -our stopping-place. A nice new hotel has -been built there—a hotel with no foolish -pretensions, but evidently with every intention -of gradually becoming a thoroughly -comfortable abiding-place for golfers who -like quietness. The little town lies close -under the shelter of the hills, and between -it and the sea is the flat land of the Morfa -Nevin, where Edward I. gathered all the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</a></span> -chivalry of England and many a foreign -noble to celebrate his conquest of Wales in -a great tournament.</p> - -<p>Nevin is threatened with the railway, -which, if it actually approaches the place, -will certainly spoil it; but it will be long, -I imagine, before any intrusion of that kind -disturbs the peace or injures the beauty of -little Aberdaron. It is an elect spot, this -End of the World in Wales; more remote, -less visited than St. David’s, and infinitely -less famous; yet once trodden, like St. -David’s, by the weary feet of countless -pilgrims. For just beyond that low headland -on our right is sacred Bardsey, the -Island of the Saints, where lies the dust -of twenty thousand holy men. St. -Mary’s Abbey, of which some fragments -still are left, was founded in such early -days that Dubritius, who crowned King -Arthur and then resigned the See of -Caerleon to St. David, came to end his -day in this remote monastery; and so holy -was the soil at last that every monk in -Wales crossed this dangerous channel to -kneel upon it. It was here, from these<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</a></span> -wide, white sands of Aberdaron, that they -embarked, half trembling, half inspired—white-robed -Cistercians and sombre Benedictines—and -here, in this little church -between the hills and the sea, that they -spent the night on their knees before braving -dangers that were not by any means -imaginary. The building has been re-roofed -and much restored, but these are the very -walls within which the pilgrims prayed, the -very walls that once gave sanctuary to any -man, innocent or guilty, who sought their -shelter. The blind wall on the north bears -witness to the early British origin of the -church.</p> - -<p>And we must not forget, as we stand -thinking of the pilgrim monks on the -shore, that this sheltered, isolated corner, -hidden closely by the hills on the one side -and protected by the long headlands on the -other, was once visited by secular history. -Into this bay sailed Hotspur’s father, the -base Northumberland, from France, and -from Harlech came Owen Glyndwr and -Edmund Mortimer; and here in the house -of the lord of Aberdaron they swore to be<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</a></span> -thenceforward “bound by the bond of a -true league and true friendship and sure and -good union,” and to act in all ways as -became “good true and faithful friends to -good true and faithful friends.”</p> - -<p>The fascinations of the Bay of Aberdaron, -however, must not blind us to the fact that -the finest scenery in the Peninsula, of Lleyn, -is in the north. From Pwllheli we should -drive across to Llanaellraiarn under the -great brow of Yr Eifl, and then, turning -to the right, follow the road between the -wild, craggy hills and the sea to Clynnogfawr. -Here lived and died the great St. Beuno, -and the church that bears his name is of -a size and importance quite unusual in so -tiny a place: “almost as bigge as St. -Davides,” says Leland. This large church -only dates from the fifteenth century, but -the little chapel where St. Beuno is buried -is connected with it by a covered way, and -was founded by the saint himself in the -seventh century. His tomb was still to be -seen in Pennant’s day, and had the gift of -working miracles, but now both monument -and miracles are no more. In the larger<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</a></span> -church is carefully preserved a strange old -chest that is said to have belonged to St. -Beuno.</p> - -<p>To reach the Traeth Mawr from Clynnog -our best way is to go on to Pont-y-Croes, -then strike across to Pen-y-Groes, and -thence descend to Tremadoc. There is not -much to be said in favour of this road’s -surface, but the beauty of it increases every -moment, and for the last few miles, as we drop -gently down on to that plain of gorse that -lies like a sheet of flame between two ranges -of purple mountains, we have as fine a sight -above, below, and before us as any we shall -find in Wales. A few minutes later we are -in Portmadoc, and from the long embankment -there look up the valley of the -Glaslyn across the Traeth Mawr to that -gate of Gwynedd through which we came -a little while ago.</p> - -<p>Presently we cross the estuary of the -river Dwryd by a toll-bridge. I think this -river-bank must be the scene of a touching -incident described by Giraldus. He and his -Archbishop, recruiting for the Crusades, were -met “at the passage of a bridge” between<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</a></span> -the Traeth Mawr and Llanbedr near Harlech -by Meredyth ap Conan, a prince of this -country. He brought with him a large -suite, and then and there by the river-side -the Archbishop preached to them, and “many -persons were signed with the Cross.” Among -these ardent souls was a personal friend of -the young prince. Meredyth, seated higher -on the bank than his suite, looked on -while the symbolic cross was sewn upon -the cloaks of the new crusaders, till it came -to the turn of his own friend. Then Meredyth, -says Giraldus, “observing that the -cloak on which the cross was to be sewn -was of too thin and too common a texture, -with a flood of tears threw him down his -own.”</p> - -<p>From the banks of the Dwryd a very level -road soon brings us within sight of Harlech. -It is a very distant glimpse of it that we -have first; an irregular outline, a grey mass -of towers standing out against the sky, -raised grandly upon a rock above a plain -that is nearly as flat as the sea beyond it. -Then trees hide it, and we climb through -the woods to the level of the great gate<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</a></span> -before which so many armies have stood -before us—armies of Owen and of Henry, of -Edward IV., and of Oliver.</p> - -<div class="center"> -<img id="ill26" src="images/ill26.jpg" width="600" height="382" alt="" /> -<p class="caption">NEAR BEDD GELERT.</p></div> - -<div class="center"> -<img id="ill27" src="images/ill27.jpg" width="600" height="390" alt="" /> -<p class="caption">GATEWAY OF HARLECH CASTLE.</p></div> - -<p>Long, long before Henry de Elfreton, king -of architects, built this grand fortress at -Edward’s command, a royal castle stood upon -this rock. So, at least, says one of the -“Mabinogion,” and here, under the spell of -the land that created those old romances, -I would fain believe that Branwen, the -daughter of Llyr, lived at Harlech with her -royal brother Bendigeid Vran, and that -Matholwch, King of Ireland, came across -the sea to woo her, with thirteen ships -flying beautiful flags of satin. At the -wedding, unfortunately, there was trouble -between the two kings; but after a certain -amount of friction the banquet was “carried -on with joyousness,” and the happy pair -journeyed towards Ireland with their thirteen -ships. In Ireland Branwen “passed her time -pleasantly, enjoying honour and friendship,” -which she owed to the fact—we are given to -understand—that she presented each of her -visitors with a clasp, or a ring, or a royal -jewel, “such as it was honourable to be seen<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</a></span> -departing with.”<a name="FNanchor_8" id="FNanchor_8"></a><a href="#Footnote_8" class="fnanchor">[8]</a> By and by mischief was -made between Matholwch and his wife, and -she was sent to the kitchen to cook for the -Court, which seems a drastic way of treating -a Queen Consort. Then came Bendigeid Vran, -her brother, to avenge her, with the hosts -of seven score countries and four, and there -was war between the two islands because -of her. And only seven men of the Welsh -escaped, and in Ireland none were left alive -except five women. And Branwen went with -the seven men of Wales to Mona, and she -“looked towards Ireland and towards the -Island of the Mighty, to see if she could -descry them. ‘Alas!’ said she, ‘woe is me -that I was ever born; two islands have been -destroyed because of me!’ Then she uttered -a loud groan and there broke her heart. -And they made her a four-sided grave, and -buried her upon the banks of the Alaw.” And -her name still lives upon this rock of Harlech -in Branwen’s Tower.</p> - -<p>Bendigeid Vran, the son of Llyr, was not -the last Welsh prince who held his Court<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</a></span> -here within sight of Snowdon. For Glyndwr -made his way in between those great towers -after a long siege, during which Henry’s -garrison, who were at last reduced to sixteen, -locked up their governor because they did -not trust his constancy. Glyndwr brought -his family here, and held a parliament, and -gathered a little Court round him; but after -another long siege he lost more than the -castle, for his son-in-law Mortimer was -killed, and his wife and grandchildren were -taken prisoners to London. But it was that -later siege by Edward IV.’s army that was -the most fierce of all. It was then that the -March of the Men of Harlech first stirred -the sea-breeze and the hearts of men; and -it was then that the blood of six thousand -men flowed here where we are standing -before the gates. Still later on Harlech held -very obstinately for Charles I.</p> - -<p>At Harlech we look our last on Snowdon, -for the road, high above the sea, soon turns -a corner, then dips to the shore at Llanbedr. -At this pretty village those who are prepared -to face a road that finally becomes little more -than a track, and are, moreover, tolerably<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</a></span> -good walkers, may leave the high-road and -drive up into a very wild and beautiful bit -of country to Cwm Bychan. I freely admit -that the enterprise is more suitable for -bicycles than for motors, and I further -confess that I have never undertaken it in -a car myself; but I should be extremely -happy to make the attempt on the first fine -day. For Llyn Cwm Bychan is a lovely -lake lying among moors and steep, rocky -hills; it has the wildness of a loch in -Galloway. And the only way out of this -hollow in the hills, except the track by -which we enter it, is a mighty staircase of -stone slabs set regularly in the hillside—a -staircase a mile in length, which has withstood -time and weather since the feet of the -Romans passed this way.</p> - -<p>Even the best-advertised car could hardly -climb the Roman Steps; so we must rejoin -the coast road at Llanbedr and go on our -way to Barmouth. There was once a time -very long ago, it is said, when all the bay -that lies upon our right was a fertile plain, -the Plain of Gwaelod, with cities and -fortresses thick upon the ground, and a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</a></span> -great and busy population, and a king -called Gwyddno Longshanks. And because -the land lay so low and the sea so close at -hand a mighty embankment of stone was -built along the shore, and all went well for -many a year. But there came a time when -the chief overseer of this great dyke was -Seithenyn ap Seithyn Saidi, and he, unfortunately, -has been known ever since as -one of the “three immortal drunkards of -the Isle of Britain.” It is easy to imagine -the result: the decay of the dyke, and the -terrible night when the waters swept all -before them and drowned the whole Cantref -of Gwaelod. The point of Mochras near -Llanbedr was at one extremity of the -drowned cantref; and still, when the tide -is low, you may sometimes see the long line -of the broken dyke. As late as the year -1824 there was a stone in existence which -had been found below the sea a hundred -yards beyond the shore, and bore an inscription -meaning, “Here lies the boatman to -King Gwynddo.”<a name="FNanchor_9" id="FNanchor_9"></a><a href="#Footnote_9" class="fnanchor">[9]</a> I do not know if the -stone still exists, but as it was used as a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</a></span> -footbridge it probably does not. At the -beginning of the nineteenth century this -seems, in Wales, to have been considered the -best way of using up old monuments. It was -certainly the quickest.</p> - -<p>Eight miles from Llanbedr is Barmouth. -The town itself is becoming every year -more entirely a prey to the family group. -Every year there are more hotels, more -bathing-boxes, more wooden spades. But I -doubt if anywhere in England or Wales a -town is built in a more beautiful spot. You -cannot drive across the long bridge that -spans the estuary at its mouth, but you will -be a thousandfold repaid if you leave your -car and cross the bridge on foot, for the -best view—I think I am not too rash in -saying the best view in Wales—is from about -the middle of the bridge. The Mawddach -winds away between two ranges of mountains, -on whose grand slopes the brilliant -greens and purples, the rich browns and -far-away faint blues change every moment -under the varying sky. Cader Idris rises -on the right in gloomy dignity from the -soft drapery of foliage that is flung about<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</a></span> -his feet. And in the foreground, when the -tide is low—and that, I maintain, is the -loveliest time—the blue sea is riven with -the rosy gold of wet sands, dotted with -countless sea-gulls.</p> - -<p>A great deal of this we can see as we -drive up the estuary on its northern bank -to Dolgelley, by an excellent road that clings -close under the hills. Every moment the -scene changes, and all the changes are good; -whether we look across at Cader’s grand -shoulder against the sky, or up the valley -at the winding water and the distant hills, -or overhead on our left at the mountain-sides -that rise so steeply from the very -road, or even when, the trees hemming us -in for a moment, we see only glimpses -through them of purple rock or shining -river. At Llanelltyd the Mawddach meets -the Wnion, and our way lies to the right -over the bridge. As we cross the bridge -the ruins of Cymmer Abbey lie upon our -left on the river-bank—a Cistercian abbey, -as we may easily guess, since we know the -pretty taste in scenery possessed by that -sagacious Order. If the truth were known,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</a></span> -I fear we might find that their motive -in choosing, as they always did, the loneliest -and loveliest spots in the country, -was one of self-denial, for the mountainous -solitude that we love was in their day -regarded with little less than terror. This -particular abbey was founded in the last -years of the twelfth century, and it was -patronised by Llewelyn the Great. Behind -it, about two miles away, are the slopes -of Nannau, where Owen Glyndwr once -went for a walk with his cousin and came -back without him.</p> - -<p>Owen, as I have already said, was a man -of swift and extremely complete vengeance, -and treachery made his gorge rise. His -cousin, Howel Sele, the lord of Nannau, -lived on that hill at the foot of Moel -Offrwm, and had little sympathy—so far -and so safe was he from the Marcher -Lords—with Owen’s overbearing ways. -Their relations had been strained, therefore; -but when Howel asked his kinsman -to visit him at Nannau Owen consented -without hesitation—yet not without a coat -of mail beneath his outer garment. As<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</a></span> -they walked in the park with a few -retainers they saw a buck at some distance -among the trees, and Owen, anxious -to please, suggested that Howel should show -his well-known prowess with the bow. -Howel raised his bow, took aim, paused a -moment; then suddenly turned upon his -traitor’s heel and shot the arrow straight -at the heart of his kinsman. One can -picture Owen’s smile as the arrow rang -upon the coat of mail that he wore unseen.</p> - -<p>Howel went home no more. What dreadful -fate befel him no one knows for certain; -for probably all his own retainers were -killed and Owen’s were too busy to talk. -But long afterwards a skeleton was found -in a hollow tree quite near the spot where -the famous bowman had drawn his bow -for the last time. The house of Nannau -was burnt to ashes.</p> - -<p>Before we cross the bridge to Dolgelley -I should like to call attention to a very -beautiful drive over the hills between this -spot and Maentwrog. Beautiful as it is, -it must on no account be substituted for -the route by Harlech and the Barmouth<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</a></span> -Estuary, by those who are travelling in -this neighbourhood for the first time; but -those who know the estuary well, or those -who are staying at Dolgelley and wish for -a circular drive, could not do better than -go up the Vale of Ganllwyd and over the -hills to Trawsfynydd and Maentwrog, lunch -at the Tan-y-Bwlch hotel, and return by -Harlech.</p> - -<p>For the first few miles the road rises -through lovely woods; the tempestuous -Mawddach shines behind the trees, and -beyond it, bounding the narrow valley, -are steep and craggy slopes. At Tyn-y-Groes -is a charming little hotel, much -frequented by fishermen, with a fine view -of the Mawddach and the peak of Moel -Offrwm; a delightful place to spend a -week in summer, since it is within a drive -of many of the loveliest parts of Wales, -and has itself an outlook of very striking -beauty.</p> - -<p>Beyond Tyn-y-Groes the scenery grows -wilder and the hills more bare; the road -rises rather steeply and the surface is not -all that could be wished. Presently we<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</a></span> -pass a turning on the left that would -lead us, if we followed it, to the top of -that strange colossal flight of steps whose -lower end we saw at Cwm Bychan, the -way by which the Romans climbed this -mountain-side; and soon, as we reach the -summit of the hill, the many peaks of -the Snowdon range come into sight. After -this, as is only to be expected, the view -is continuously fine till we drop into Maentwrog -on a precipitous gradient, and find -ourselves in a valley famed for its beauty.</p> - -<p>But we must return to Dolgelley.</p> - -<p>“Dolgethle,” says Leland, who favoured -phonetic spelling, “is the best village in -this commote.” There is not much, if any, -of Leland’s Dolgelley left, I imagine; but -within the memory of this generation there -was still standing a battered little cottage, -built half of irregular stone-work and half -of timber and plaster, that Leland may -well have seen, though very likely it did -not interest him nearly as much as it -would interest us. It has been replaced -by an ironmonger’s shop, and we now -supply ourselves with petrol on the spot<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</a></span> -where “Owen, by the Grace of God Prince -of Wales,” held his council, and drew up -the instrument that allied him formally with -the French. It was now some little time -since Henry IV.’s council had written to -him scornfully that the power of the rebels -was not so great as it was heretofore reported, -and that the people of Wales were -but of little reputation; for which reason it -seemed good to Henry, he said, “not to go -thither in person, but by one of our Lords -to do punishment on our said rebels.” Henry -had said that just three years ago, yet the -rebels were still unpunished. The chief rebel, -indeed, was now become “our illustrious -and most dread Lord, Owen, Prince of Wales,” -signing alliances with his royal hand and -seal, and receiving a gilded helmet as a -gift from the King of France.</p> - -<p>At Dolgelley we turn eastwards and make -our way back to the English border. As -a matter of fact we have not actually reached -the limits of North Wales, which is divided -from South Wales by the river Dyfi, or -Dovey. But for our present purpose it -will be more convenient to consider a strip<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</a></span> -of the North—overlapping our present -route—together with a strip of the South, -as Mid-Wales, and to return to the border -by the laborious but beautiful pass that -rises between Dolgelley and Dinas Mawddy.</p> - -<p>We have six miles of climbing before us, -close under the heights of Cader Idris, -through one of the wildest tracts of country -in wild Wales, where the road at last rises -steeply between rough stone walls across a -desolate moor, and a mountain stream dashes -below us on the right, and in all probability -a flock of little Welsh sheep makes excitedly -for the nearest gap. For the Welsh sheep, -unlike the sheep of England, has somewhere -in its round, woolly head a glimmer of -intelligence, and instead of rushing madly -past every turning and every gap, knows -where it wants to go and goes there with -all possible despatch.</p> - -<p>At a point six miles above Dolgelley we -reach the summit of this precipitous pass, -the Bwlch Oerdrws, and the valley lies -below us like a gulf. It is a fine scene -and a very wild one—wild even when the -sun is shining, but still wilder when the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</a></span> -great bare hills are looming through driving -clouds of rain, and wildest and most beautiful -of all when the April snow is glistening -upon the April gorse.</p> - -<p>The steepest part of the descent, the average -gradient of which is between 1 in 7 and -1 in 8, is about two miles long. For the -rest of the journey, through Dinas Mawddy -and Mallwyd, and up the long climb to -Cann Office, and so by Llanfair Caereinion -to Welshpool, there is nothing to pause for, -except tea at Cann Office. This mysterious -name, oddly enough, does not appear on -Bartholomew’s map where the place it -denotes is called Llangadfan. The little inn -there is very popular with fishermen, who -seem to have a wonderful knack of securing -homely comfort.</p> - -<p>Between Cann Office and Welshpool the -scenery gradually becomes more English in -character, for Welshpool, though not actually -on the border, is very near it. “The grounde -about the bankes and valley of Severn there -is most pleasunt,” says Leland; and “most -pleasant,” I think, describes this country -perfectly. I cannot do better than end in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</a></span> -his words. “And wille I passid this way -within a iii miles of Walsch Pole I saw a -veri notable hille beyound the valley on the -lift hond having iii toppes as iii heddes -rising owt of one body.... Communely -thei be caullid Brethin Hilles. Not far -from thes hilles enterith Shropshir.”</p> - -<div class="center"> -<img id="ill28" src="images/ill28.jpg" width="600" height="382" alt="" /> -<p class="caption">THE MAWDDACH, FROM TYN-Y-GROES HOTEL.</p></div> - -<div class="center"> -<img id="ill29" src="images/ill29.jpg" width="600" height="418" alt="" /> -<p class="caption">LLANIDLOES.</p></div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</a><br /><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</a><br /><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</a></span></p> - -<hr class="chap" /> -<h2><a name="THROUGH_THE_HEART_OF_WALES" id="THROUGH_THE_HEART_OF_WALES">THROUGH THE HEART OF WALES</a></h2> - -<p>One may enter Mid-Wales by the Severn -Valley, or by Knighton and the Teme. -The probability is that one’s action in this -matter is entirely regulated by circumstances, -but if haply it were possible to be -guided simply by charm the road across the -wild hills would be the road to choose. For -wide moorlands, whatever the season, whatever -the weather, never fail to be attractive; -whereas the valley of the Upper -Severn is extremely variable in its appearance. -Indeed, I have seen it look almost -uninteresting: though in the spring, when -on every hill the fruit blossom is mingled -with the piercing green of the budding -larches, I know no place where the youth -of the year has a more engaging air.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</a></span></p> - -<p>In any case, we must pass through Newtown. -Despite its name, despite its modern -appearance, the newness of this town is only -comparative; for its prosperity waxed, I -believe, as that of Caersws waned; and -Caersws, a little higher up the valley, was -at its zenith in the days of the Romans. -We pass it by and by on our right: a mere -village now, of no particular attractions on -the surface, though no doubt a sufficiently -interesting past is buried beneath its soil, -for hypocausts have been found here and -tesselated pavement, and coins bearing the -magic name of Marcus Aurelius and other -names less honoured. Less authentic, but -more moving, are the associations of the -broad meadow on our left, the traditional -scene of Sabrina’s flight from—</p> - -<div class="center"><div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<div class="i14">“the mad pursuit</div> -<div class="i0">Of her enragéd stepdame Guendolen,”</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>and therefore connected for ever with -Milton’s exquisite lyric, “Sabrina fair.” -This is the “glassy, cool, translucent wave” -beneath which the goddess sits; this is “the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</a></span> -rushy-fringéd bank” from which—they say—she -still sometimes rises at twilight; and -here are the cowslips on which she sets -“her printless feet” so lightly that they -“bend not as she treads.”</p> - -<p>Between Llandinam and Llanidloes the -scene begins to grow wilder; abrupt hills -bare, or patched with gorse, rise from the -roadside on our left; we are drawing nearer -to the slopes of Plynlimmon. At Llanidloes -there is a picturesque old market-place, and -the church, founded in the seventh century, -has some interesting and beautiful fragments -from the Abbey of Cwm Hir; a row -of fine Early English arches and some -quaint figures on the beams that support -the roof.</p> - -<p>At Llanidloes we leave the banks of the -Severn, and, climbing all the way, pass -through a prettily wooded gorge into the -valley of another famous river—the river -that is more renowned for beauty than any -other in England—the Wye. But here at -Llangurig the Wye has few charms, for we -are at the foot of bleak Plynlimmon, and -the river flows through a somewhat dull<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</a></span> -country that is neither fertile nor wild. -Llangurig itself is a desolate, chilly little -place, but it has a nice inn; and I believe -the fishing is good. About eight miles beyond -it we leave the Wye, now a mere -mountain stream, at a point that is only four -miles from its source, and after this the -scenery grows more and more austere, as -we skirt the bare sides of Plynlimmon.</p> - -<p>Upon those wind-swept slopes the red -dragon of Wales was once unfurled; for -here Owen Glyndwr, with only five hundred -men, was surprised and surrounded by -fifteen hundred of the Flemings of Pembrokeshire. -He cut his way through them, -and left two hundred of them behind -him, and left behind him, too, an unshakable -belief that he was a wizard -indeed.</p> - -<p>These heights are not without grandeur. -At one point, indeed, there is a very striking -and unusual view, where the road is high -upon the hillside, and the river, very far -below, twists and curls away into the -distance through a narrow but extremely -level plain. The surface of this main road<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</a></span> -to Aberystwith is above reproach, but after -we turn off to the left on the road to -the Devil’s Bridge it is not so good and -there are some rather steep hills.</p> - -<p>“If pleasant recollections,” says George -Borrow, “do not haunt you through life of -the noble falls, and the beautiful wooded -dingles to the west of the Bridge of the -Evil One, and awful and mysterious ones -of the monks’ boiling cauldron, the long, -savage, shadowy cleft, and the grey, crumbling, -spectral bridge, I say boldly that you -must be a very unpoetical person indeed.”</p> - -<p>The falls, and the wooded dingles, and -the monks’ boiling cauldron are still beautiful -enough to rouse any poetical feelings -that we may possess; but the bridge, alas! -is neither crumbling, nor spectral, nor in -the least poetical. Three bridges now span -the rushing waters of the Mynach, built -closely one above the other. The lowest of -all, dapper and shining with the cement of -the restorer, is the original bridge built by -the monks of Strata Florida in the eleventh -century and ascribed to the Devil, not from -any uncomplimentary feeling towards the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</a></span> -monks, but merely because the bridging of -the Mynach was no easy matter and demanded -a simple explanation. The bridge -above this is the one that Borrow calls -modern, though it was built in 1735, and -now looks older than the first; the topmost -and newest of all is quite a recent -achievement, and might well appropriate -the name of the original structure, since it -entirely destroys all the picturesqueness of -the scene. No doubt, however, its existence -is necessary, for this is the only way across -the gorge: and these beautiful wooded hills -and deep valleys, with the two tempestuous -streams, the Rheiddol and the Mynach, are -by no means dependent for their charm on -the famous bridge.</p> - -<p>The road from this spot to Aberystwith is -of a most striking and uncommon character. -It is raised high on one side of the bare -hill, and overlooks a deep valley, through -which the Rheiddol twists and curves. The -great hills beyond the valley are richly -green in summer, but in the spring are -chiefly reddish brown, with streaks of the -vivid larch, and here and there a shining<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</a></span> -patch of gorse. A run of twelve miles, -mostly downhill, brings us to Aberystwith.</p> - -<p>At the first glance, seen from a distance, -it is not unpicturesque. It lies at the end of -a valley, with the sea beyond it, and in the -heart of it the castle tower stands up conspicuously -to remind one that Aberystwith -was once something more interesting than a -popular watering-place. For once all the -resources of England were combined in an -attack upon this castle. Guns came from -Yorkshire, and timber from the Forest of -Dean; huge supplies of arms and various -murderous concoctions were sent from Hereford, -and a shipload of carpenters landed in -the bay to turn the timber into machines -of war. There was not a young spark in -the country, apparently, but thought it incumbent -on him as a man of fashion to -join Prince Hal outside the walls of Aberystwith.</p> - -<p>Yet the end of all this effort and display -was merely comic. Glyndwr’s garrison at -last, half starving, agreed to yield the castle -upon a certain day unless Owen meanwhile -relieved it. The Prince, too hasty, as he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</a></span> -sometimes was, went off to London joyfully -and received the thanks of Parliament for -having secured Aberystwith—at the very -moment, had he but known it, when Owen -and a relieving force were quietly entering -the besieged castle!</p> - -<p>This was but one of many sieges suffered -by Aberystwith, which was always regarded -as a place of much importance; so -much so, indeed, that Strongbow’s castle on -this spot had been battered into uselessness -before the days of Edward I., who had to -build another. Prince Henry and Oliver -have left little enough of that. What -there is of it—some round towers and a -piece of the curtain-wall—is more tidy than -romantic. To tell the truth, Aberystwith is -not a romantic place.</p> - -<p>It has been my happy fortune to read -some manuscript letters written by a lady -from Mid-Wales towards the end of the -eighteenth century. This is what she says -of Aberystwith—</p> - -<p>“I have inquired about Aberystwith, where -the Sea is very rough, and no Apothecary -near, and most ignorant people in regard<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</a></span> -to illness, which they are so happy to know -nothing of, as the Sea is their ownly -Physition.”</p> - -<p>This might be useful as a house-agent’s advertisement, -if the next sentence were suppressed.</p> - -<p>“I think the Sea fogs very unwholesom, -but dare not say so, as they are for ever -talking about the purity of their air.”</p> - -<p>The sea is no longer the only physician -at Aberystwith; but the purity of the air -is still a topic of conversation.</p> - -<p>One of its advantages is that it is only -fifteen miles from Ystradfflur or Strata -Florida; and though this does not lie upon -our route, so short a run is but a slight -tribute to pay to a place of such great -memories. The drive, moreover, will itself -repay us. The road follows the Ystwith -most of the way, and crosses it at Trawscoed, -where splendid beeches overhang the river -and masses of rhododendrons line the banks. -There is one formidable hill, with a gradient -of 1 in 8, from the top of which there is -a fine view of winding river and wooded -hills. Soon after leaving the Ystwith we -join the Teify near its source.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</a></span></p> - -<p>In the Abbey itself there is little to see, -but very much to remember. It was -founded in the twelfth century by some -Cistercian monks on land given by a -Norman; but its foundation is often ascribed -to that great prince of South Wales, the -Lord Rhys, who was one of its chief benefactors. -Once it was the grandest house of -worship in all Wales, the burial-place of -her southern princes, the depository of her -archives; but there is little left to show -its past greatness but the unique west doorway -and the remains of six side chapels—roofed -now with corrugated iron! Behind the -south transept is a wedge-shaped strip of -ground that was the monks’ cemetery, where, -under a stone carved plainly with a cross, -lies Cadell, the brother of the Lord Rhys. The -large cemetery that holds the dust of eleven -Welsh princes is between the Abbey and -the river. “The cœmiteri wherin the cunteri -about doth buri is veri large,” says Leland, -“and meanely waullid with stoone. In it -be xxxix great hue trees.” There were -originally forty of these yew-trees, and now -there are but two or three, so it is hardly<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</a></span> -likely that one of the survivors should be -the tree underneath which Dafydd ap -Gwilym, the greatest of Welsh poets, was -buried; the tree of which Gruffydd Gryg, -his rival, wrote—</p> - -<div class="center"><div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<div class="i0">“May lightnings never lay thee low</div> -<div class="i0">Nor archer cut from thee his bow.”</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>Mr. Baring-Gould tells us how these two -bards were constantly in a state of feud -and bitter rivalry, till an ingenious friend -put an end to their quarrels by simply -telling each of them that the other was -dead, and was to be buried at Strata Florida -on such-and-such a day—mentioning the -same day in both cases. Each of the poets, -in the glow of generosity consequent on the -death of a hated rival, composed a beautiful -ode in praise of his enemy, and proceeded -to the churchyard to read it beside the -grave. There, of course, they met; and -each, determined to read his ode at any -cost, forthwith read it to the hero of it, -and buried his enmity instead of his enemy.</p> - -<p>It was somewhere within that “meanely<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</a></span> -waullid” cemetery that this quaint scene -took place; and it was somewhere within -these precincts that a thousand frightened -children crowded together long ago, waiting -to be carried away from their parents and -homes in Cardiganshire to the exile in -England to which Henry IV. had doomed -them. That is an ill-omened name in -Ystradfflur—the name of Henry Bolingbroke—for -in his fury at the rebellion of Glyndwr -he fell upon this sacred place and ruined -it, and drove out its monks, and stabled his -horses at its High Altar.</p> - -<p>To reach Machynlleth, which is our object, -we must return to Aberystwith—but we may -do this by a slightly different road, diverging -at Trawscoed. The surface is better than -that of the other, and the road is wider, -but there is one bad hill, with a nominal -gradient of 1 in 7. As we approach -Aberystwith we see, beyond the river, a -little place called Llanbadarn Fawr. Here, -in very early times, long before the great -days of Ystradfflur, there was a famous -monastery, founded by St. Padarn, a contemporary -of St. David. Like St. David’s<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</a></span> -own monastery, it was laid waste by the -Danes.</p> - -<div class="center"> -<img id="ill30" src="images/ill30.jpg" width="468" height="600" alt="" /> -<p class="caption">ARCHWAY AT STRATA FLORIDA.</p></div> - -<div class="center"> -<img id="ill31" src="images/ill31.jpg" width="436" height="600" alt="" /> -<p class="caption">NEAR GLANDOVEY.</p></div> - -<p>Passing through Aberystwith we climb -out of it on the further side by a long hill. -Except the wide view from this hill there -is nothing of special attraction in any way -till we have passed Tal-y-bont. Then -suddenly there comes into sight the headland -beyond the Dyfi (Dovey). Far away -on the left is the sea, and between us and -it lies a wide and absolutely level plain, -with Borth showing darkly on the shore. -Soon we pass Tre-Taliesin, named from the -great bard of Arthur’s day, whose grave is -said by some to lie on this hillside to the -right, and by others to be beside the waters -of Geirionydd. Beyond this village we climb -through lovely woods of birch and larch, and -then we run down, leaving the trees behind -us, into the beautiful estuary of the Dyfi. -A wide sea of gorse is at out feet; the river -winds through the shallows beyond; and, -bounding the valley and the view, rises the -mighty wall of North Wales.</p> - -<p>This is on the left—a wide and splendid -landscape; and meanwhile on the right<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</a></span> -are wild hills rising from the road, cleft -here and there by narrow wooded gorges -or tumbling mountain streams. At Ysgubor-y-coed -the water dashes down between -sharp rocks, and makes a lovely picture -with the great mill-wheel and mossy-tiled -building that stand beside it; and just -beyond Glan Dovey station we catch a -momentary glimpse of the steep sides of -the beautiful Llyfnant Valley. Thence four -level miles bring us to Machynlleth.</p> - -<p>There is a charm about Machynlleth. Its -wide central street is planted with trees. -In most Welsh towns, History, though she -has lived in them so long, has rather an -uneasy air: tales of valour, or of treachery -on a large scale, blend rather incongruously -with prim grey houses and slate roofs. -But in Machynlleth we are quite prepared -to learn that these quaint and quiet streets—and -some of the houses, even—are bound -up very closely with the picturesque life -of the last of the Welsh princes: so closely -indeed, that Owen Glyndwr’s royal seal -figures in the arms of the town. In those -low, whitewashed cottages he held his first<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</a></span> -parliament; and in that little corner-house -in the next street he rested the uneasy -head that wore a crown for such a brief -and troublous time. It is the oldest house -in Wales, they say, but much renovation -and a new chimney have destroyed any -picturesqueness it ever had; and it is now -neither as venerable nor as interesting in -appearance as the Old Mayor’s House, a -timber-and-plaster building at one end of -the main street, with gables leaning in all -directions. Neither do the whitewashed -Houses of Parliament show any signs of -their distinguished past—yet here Glyndwr -accepted his crown and very nearly lost -his life. For among the members of this -his first parliament was one who was his -enemy, and the sworn man of the House -of Lancaster. Davy Gam, “the Crooked,” -a little red-haired, squinting man who, -whatever he was, was no coward, came to -this house with the intention of killing -Glyndwr, but being betrayed, was thrown -into prison for ten years, while his house -near Brecon was burnt to ashes. Owen, -with unusual forbearance, spared his life,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</a></span> -perhaps in acknowledgment of the man’s -courage in coming among his enemies -single-handed. He showed his courage more -honourably at Agincourt. “There are enough -to kill,” he said of the French just before -the battle, “enough to be taken prisoners, -and enough to run away.” He died on that -field, and was knighted by Henry V. as he -lay dying. “He lived like a wolf and died -like a lion,” it has been said of him.</p> - -<p>Now, on leaving Machynlleth, supposing -it to be our intention to go on to Dolgelley -and so to Bala, we have a choice of roads. -All the ways are so beautiful, however, -that we can hardly go wrong; but those -who fix upon the shortest way, by Corris, -should know that they will find it well -worth while to run down the estuary to -Aberdovey and back again. For this estuary -of the Dyfi is second only to that of the -Mawddach in beauty.</p> - -<p>Its best time, certainly, is in the summer, -for the hills are thickly wooded; but at -all seasons there is a lovely view at every -turn of the road. One of those that haunt -the memory is from the point where the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</a></span> -road to Aberdovey, after passing through -Pennal, comes again within sight of the -river. In the foreground is a wide expanse -of rich colouring, of red and brown, green -and gold and russet; beyond it shines a -thin line of silver; and beyond that again -rise the hills of South Wales—not so imposing -by any means as that massive bulwark -of mountains that we saw from the -other side and are now close under, but -yet very beautiful in colour and bold in -outline. As the estuary widens a succession -of headlands stretch out before us, one beyond -another, and round these the road -curves, sometimes very sharply. At the -extreme mouth of the estuary lies Aberdovey, -in the shelter of the hills.</p> - -<p>The same eighteenth-century lady whom -I quoted before describes a visit to “Aberdove -Seaport,” as she calls it. “Down we -set at the window,” she says, “... to -see the Sea hempty it self in to a Beautifull -serpentine river, at the beginning of which -lay ten ships at harbour.” One cannot -marvel that any one should sit down at a -window to watch so strange a phenomenon<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</a></span> -as the sea emptying itself into a river. -Unfortunately this interesting sight cannot -now be promised to visitors at Aberdovey; -but the “beginning” of the river still owes -much of its picturesque effect to the little -quays that jut out into the stream, and the -ships of considerable size that lie “at -harbour.” The best hotel, and it is an -extremely nice one, is a short distance -beyond the little town, and is perched on the -hillside above the golf-links, facing the sea.</p> - -<p>It was somewhere in this estuary, probably -on the shore of the Traeth Maelgwyn, -that a strange scene took place between -thirteen and fourteen hundred years ago. -Maelgwyn, that King of Gwynedd whose -name recurs so often in the history of -North Wales, that gigantic man of fitful -valour and still more fitful piety, determined -to unite all the strength of the west -under one ruler, the better to oppose the -conquering Saxons. It was agreed that all -the princes and knights who had any pretensions -should meet together in the estuary -of the Dyfi, the dividing-line between North -and South Wales; that they should there<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</a></span> -seat themselves on chairs upon the shore, -and he who contrived to keep his seat the -longest should be the king. Then Maelgwyn, -having settled these preliminaries, had a -wonderful chair made for himself of the -wings of birds, waxed. As the tide rose -the seats of the other princes were overturned, -but Maelgwyn’s chair floated on the -surface of the sea. So Maelgwyn became -chief of all the princes of the west.</p> - -<p>From Aberdovey, as I said before, we -may, if we choose, drive straight on round -the coast by Towyn and Fairbourne, and up -the southern side of the Barmouth estuary -to Dolgelley. Or we may turn eastward at -Towyn, and reach Dolgelley by way of -Tal-y-llyn. Or, thirdly, we may return to -Machynlleth and drive thence to Dolgelley -by Corris.</p> - -<p>No motorist should really rest satisfied -till he has driven on all these roads, so -beautiful are the three. Towyn, I believe, -has charms for many, but on the surface -it is singularly unattractive. It has a very -ancient church, however, built in the twelfth -century by Gruffyd ap Cynan, of whom it<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</a></span> -was said that he built so many that his -country “glittered with whitewashed churches -as the heavens are bright with stars.” Near -it are some extremely interesting old -memorial stones; but here, to all appearance, -the interest of Towyn begins and -ends. Beyond it there are some fine views -of the hills as the road turns inland; and -again when it turns to the coast and, high -on the side of the cliff, curves round into -the Barmouth estuary, the effect is really -fine. It must have been of this part of -the road that a traveller once wrote: “We -ascended a precipice, frightful beyond description, -on one side of us was the highest -ragget Rock I have seen, the stones to -appearance lose, and look as if just droping -on your heads, some of which have fell a -few years ago. The Precipice down to the -Mean (Main) Ocean not less than thirty -yards, and us travlers not a yard from -the side of it, where the waves dash and -tide rores, till it made me tremble.” Grand -as these “ragget” cliffs are, however, the -most beautiful part of this drive is in the -Barmouth estuary, under the shadow of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[Pg 157]</a></span> -Cader Idris. But to many travellers in -Wales this valley of the Mawddach is -thoroughly familiar, and to them I heartily -recommend the road by Corris.</p> - -<div class="center"> -<img id="ill32" src="images/ill32.jpg" width="600" height="413" alt="" /> -<p class="caption">THE MAYOR’S HOUSE, MACHYNLLETH.</p></div> - -<div class="center"> -<img id="ill33" src="images/ill33.jpg" width="600" height="346" alt="" /> -<p class="caption">THE RIVER DULAS.</p></div> - -<p>From Aberdovey one drives back to a -point in the Dyfi Valley almost opposite to -Machynlleth. The river Dulas, near the -point where it joins the Dyfi, is spanned -by a fine old bridge, whose arches have -resounded to the tramp of Henry Tudor’s -followers, as he and they marched eastwards -to fight for the crown; and to the tramp -of Cromwell’s men as they marched westwards -to fight, if not for the crown, for -everything that goes with it. It is at this -point that we turn sharply to the left and -follow the course of the Dulas. This opening -of the valley of Corris is very lovely, for the -river, which has all the impetuosity of a -mountain stream, is overhung by splendid -trees, and through their stems in the spring -we may see the further bank, steep and -mossy, and thickly jewelled with primroses. -The whole of this narrow and wild valley, -indeed, is full of beauty. The road rises -gradually to a considerable height; then<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[Pg 158]</a></span> -beyond Upper Corris, where the landscape -is defaced, as so often in Wales, by enormous -banks of slate, it drops down by some very -steep gradients, amid fine mountain scenery, -to the level of Tal-y-llyn.</p> - -<p>It is only the eastern extremity of the -lake that we see, and this we leave behind -us, turning at this point sharply to the -right into a defile of extreme barrenness. -This narrow gorge, with its towering sides -reft and lacerated by landslips, its huge -boulders poised as though about to fall, -its grey slopes softened only here and there -by patches of short grass, is the most -utterly, the most desolately savage spot I -have seen in Wales. As we leave it and -emerge into more open country, we realise -that those wild slopes were the foot of -Cader Idris, for looking back we see the -heavy grey shoulder of the mountain. Soon -we reach Cross Foxes, and thence run -down through beautiful woods on a delightful -gradient to Dolgelley, with the -purple hills of the Mawddach estuary showing -in a long line above and behind the -vivid green of the trees.</p> - -<div class="center"> -<img id="ill34" src="images/ill34.jpg" width="600" height="412" alt="" /> -<p class="caption">THE PASS OF CORRIS, NEAR TAL-Y-LLYN.</p></div> - -<div class="center"> -<img id="ill35" src="images/ill35.jpg" width="600" height="448" alt="" /> -<p class="caption">BALA LAKE.</p></div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[Pg 159]</a></span>In Dolgelley, as we saw before, all the -historical interest is concentrated on a -lamp-shop. There is nothing to keep us -there, unless we wish for a meal, or perchance -a bed, at the “Golden Lion,” or unless -we mean to use the place, as many do, as -a centre for expeditions. But at present -our concern is to turn towards the English -frontier, and to reach it through Bala and -Llanrhaiadr.</p> - -<p>For ten miles after we leave Dolgelley -the road ascends, persistently but never -steeply. The backward views of mountain, -wood, and stream are unfailingly lovely -on this road, as on all others that converge -at Dolgelley; and no less attractive in its -own way is the wilder scenery at the top -of this hill, which is practically a pass. From -the summit we descend to the shores of -Bala Lake, and after driving for three -miles close beside its waters we reach the -little town.</p> - -<p>It is not an especially attractive place. -The neighbourhood of the lake is of course -pleasant, but the hotel—which, by the way, -like many Welsh inns, contains some lovely<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[Pg 160]</a></span> -old furniture—looks out over the street. -The scenery of the lake is pretty rather -than grand.</p> - -<p>Bala must have been more interesting, I -think, in Pennant’s day. It must certainly -have presented an appearance all its own; -for he assures us that the entire population—men, -women, and children—spent all -their time in knitting stockings. They -knitted in their doorways, they knitted as -they walked about the streets, and on fine -days they sat together on the tumulus -at the end of the town, and knitted there. -On Saturdays the fruit of all this industry -was sold, to the value of four or five hundred -pounds, in a special stocking-market. This -must have been a sight worth seeing.</p> - -<p>We may still see the Tomen-y-Bala, the -tumulus where the knitters used to sit and -sun themselves, and where, very long ago, -a little castle stood. The mound has been -made very neat, with gravel paths and -rhododendrons; and by paying a small sum -we may climb to its modest summit and -give a thought to the Romans who made -the tumulus, and the Britons who made the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[Pg 161]</a></span> -castle, and the past generations who made -stockings.</p> - -<p>Leaving Bala, we may follow the Dee to -Corwen, and there join the great London -and Holyhead road; and this is by far the -simplest route we can choose.</p> - -<p>The route we should certainly <i>not</i> choose -is the so-called road from Bala to Lake -Vyrnwy, the reservoir of Liverpool. The -scenery round this lake is very beautiful, -it is true, and an excellent hotel stands -high on the hillside above the water; and -since there is no railway among these wild -hills, this is one of the places that show the -uses of the motor-car most strikingly. But -Vyrnwy should be approached from Shropshire, -by way of Llanfyllin. The road that -connects it with Bala is a narrow, precipitous -pass, cut on the side of a slope -that is at some points almost a precipice, -unprotected by any kind of fence, sloping -downwards on the outer side, and crossed -at short intervals by natural water-channels. -It is a discouraging picture, and the reality -is, to put it mildly, uncomfortable.</p> - -<p>As an alternative to the Corwen road we<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[Pg 162]</a></span> -may cross the Holy Dee at the very spot -where the “wizard stream,” as Milton calls -it—that stream that had the gift of prophesying -good or evil fortune to the cause -of Wales—flows from the parent waters of -Llyn Tegid or Bala Lake, and following a -mountain road of many “dangerous” hills, -visit the waterfall at Llanrhaiadr before we -pass into Shropshire.</p> - -<p>The fall is at a lonely spot about four -miles beyond the village of Llanrhaiadr, -which is itself a pretty place with a nice -inn. The road that leads to Pistyll-y-Rhaiadr -is little more than a lane, but one may drive -up almost to the very foot of the fall. -“Prodigious high,” says the letter-writer I -have so often quoted: “and seemingly the -hend of the world.” There is really some -excuse for this dramatic statement. An -abrupt mass of rock rises before us impassably. -On each side of it are pine-woods, -climbing the craggy slopes. There is an air -of finality about the place: it is “seemingly -the hend of the world.”</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[Pg 163]</a></span></p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[Pg 164]</a><br /><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[Pg 165]</a></span></p> -<h2><a name="A_TOUR_IN_SOUTH_WALES" id="A_TOUR_IN_SOUTH_WALES">A TOUR IN SOUTH WALES</a></h2> - -<p>For those whose affections are at all -equally divided between natural beauty -and historical interest the map of South -Wales presents a dilemma. The imperative -thing is to avoid the once beautiful hills -and valleys that are now scarred, and rent, -and blackened with coal-dust; and this may -be done by taking either the moorland road -above the mining country, or the level road -below it near the sea. Now I, who know -both these roads, assure you that in adopting -either of these courses you will miss much. -For if you choose the lower road, tempted -by its excellence, you will miss some of the -finest scenery in South Wales, which, though -not to be compared with the North, is yet -beautiful; and if you choose the upper one -you will miss the romance of Beaupré, and -the very ancient memories of Llantwit<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[Pg 166]</a></span> -Major, and you will, moreover, miss a good -many miles of as fine a road as ever made an -engine purr. There is only one way out of this -dilemma, namely, to follow a zigzag course, -from the sea to the hills, from the hills to the -sea, and so enjoy the best of both roads.</p> - -<p>To avoid the mines we must aim very low; -at Cardiff or Caerphilly. And if we are -approaching the Border from Monmouth or -Hereford, or the Midlands, we shall probably, -just before we reach the spreading outskirts -of Newport, pass through a village with a -great name. A dull, sleepy-looking village -it is, standing in a commonplace landscape -beside a very dirty stream, a place entirely -without superficial attractions. But it is a -name to conjure with. Caerleon-upon-Usk, -the City of Legions! Once it “abounded -in wealth above all other cities, ... and -passing fair was the magnificence of the -kingly palaces thereof.” The gilded roofs of -the Romans glittered here beside the Usk, -and the great amphitheatre that may still -be traced once echoed to the shouts of the -second legion: towers and temples, baths -and aqueducts and splendid buildings stood<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[Pg 167]</a></span> -where now a few poor houses keep alive -the name of Caerleon. Round its shining -palaces grew up a world of legend. We -know all about the fine doings at Arthur’s -coronation here: how he and Guinevere were -crowned in different churches, and how the -music in both was “so transporting” that -the congregations ran to and fro between -one church and the other all day; and how -a banquet of great splendour followed, with -Caius, the server, dressed in ermine, and -Bedver, the butler, waiting with all kinds -of cups, and hosts of noblemen handing the -dishes; and how, after the feast, the soldiers -got up a sham fight to amuse the ladies, -who sat on the town walls and “darted -amorous glances in a sportive manner.” And -in the “Mabinogion” we are given a more -domestic picture of King Arthur at Caerleon-upon-Usk: -a picture of him in his -palace dozing upon a seat of green rushes -covered with flame-coloured satin, with a -red satin cushion under his elbow, while -Guinevere and her handmaidens sit at their -needlework by the window, and a group of -knights are drinking mead from a golden<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[Pg 168]</a></span> -goblet. And at Caerleon, too, it was that -Maxen Wledig, the truant Emperor of Rome, -built one of three great castles for Helen, -his wife. He had seen her first in a dream, -and sought her by land and sea, and having -found her he forgot his Empire and lived -in Britain seven years. So they made them -a new Emperor in Rome.</p> - -<p>“And this one wrote a letter of threat -to Maxen. There was nought in the letter -but only this, ‘If thou comest, and if thou -ever comest to Rome.’ And even unto -Caerleon came this letter to Maxen, and -these tidings. Then sent he a letter to the -man who styled himself Emperor in Rome. -There was nought in that letter also but only -this, ‘If I come to Rome, and if I come.’”</p> - -<p>So, through the Middle Ages, the memory -of the great days of Caerleon was preserved -in legend.</p> - -<p>Long before we have finished dreaming of -King Arthur and his red satin cushion the -tram-lines of Newport force themselves upon -our attention. Newport was so called, I -believe, because it superseded Caerleon, the -old port, of which Leland says: “Very great<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[Pg 169]</a></span> -shyppes might wel cum now to the town, -as they did in the Romaynes tyme, but -that Newport Bridge is a lette.”</p> - -<p>Before leaving Newport any one who is -likely to be hungry soon will do well to -secure a meal, for though Cardiff is not -far away the ruins of Caerphilly take some -time to see, and the little town cannot be -depended upon for food. And we must on -no account miss seeing Caerphilly; for this -vast ruin covers more ground than any other -in this island, and, moreover, has the special -distinction of being a characteristically -Edwardian castle of a date earlier than -Edward’s. It was chiefly the work of Gilbert -de Clare, the Red Earl of Gloucester, -whose architect, unlike that great artist, -Henry de Elfreton, thought little of beauty -when he designed these mighty walls, but -altogether of strength. “Waules of a -wonderful thickness,” says Leland; and of -a wonderful thickness they are, and of a -wonderful tenacity too, seeing that one of -the great bastions that were mined with -gunpowder in the Civil War was only half -ruined, and the other half has been leaning<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[Pg 170]</a></span> -at a most surprising angle ever since. The -history of the ruins is not at all in proportion -to their size; and, indeed, it is possible -that their size and strength may have -acted as a deterrent to the makers of -history. There is a story that Edward II. -took refuge here with the Despensers; but -even these unyielding walls failed to give -any real sense of security to that poor spirit -and at the first word of his enemies’ approach -he hurried away, preferring to trust to disguise. -He chose the inappropriate <i>rôle</i> of -a farm labourer—this indolent, boudoir-King, -who had never done a day’s work in his -life—and he failed signally to please his -master, who was as anxious to be rid of -him as his subjects were. It was soon -after this that he was captured and led -away to the horrors of Berkeley Castle.</p> - -<p>On the direct route from Caerphilly to -Cardiff there rises such a precipitous hill that -the longer way by Nantgarw is really the -best; and unless Cardiff has some special -attraction for us there is no need to thread -our way through its modern streets and its -maze of tram-lines. For the Cardiff of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[Pg 171]</a></span> -Romans, and of the Welsh princes of Morganwg, -and of the Norman barons, is altogether -overpowered by the Cardiff of -commerce; and though there is a fragment -left of the castle that has sheltered so many -crowned heads at various times, the castle in -which poor blind Robert of Normandy was a -prisoner for twenty-eight years, yet even this -is modernised and closed to the public.</p> - -<p>But in Llandaff, which is now practically a -suburb of Cardiff, there are still signs of age: -a picturesque green and restored cross, some -pretty old houses, and the cathedral of the -most ancient see in the island. For even -when St. Teilo of the sixth century laid the -foundation of the first cathedral the bishopric -of Llandaff had been in existence for more -than five hundred years. By the eleventh -century Teilo’s cathedral was past repair; -and when the “business of the Cross was -publicly proclaimed” here it was in a new -building that the Archbishop celebrated mass—the -same building, more or less, that stands -down there in that curious hollow to-day. -More or less: for the restorations of this -greatly chastened cathedral have been many,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[Pg 172]</a></span> -and it has narrowly escaped suffering even -more terrible things at the hands of its well-wishers. -Jasper Tudor’s beautiful and uncommon -west tower, for instance, was once -threatened by an eighteenth-century bishop, -a versatile soul who wrote a successful -“Treatise on the Modes.” He was evidently -more capable of dealing with the modes than -with ecclesiastical architecture, for we hear -that he was seized with a longing to remove -Jasper’s tower and replace it with a rustic -porch.<a name="FNanchor_10" id="FNanchor_10"></a><a href="#Footnote_10" class="fnanchor">[10]</a> For once the poverty of the see was -a fortunate circumstance, and saved the -tower. But no doubt that same poverty -injured the building greatly on many -occasions; for at one time the see was so -cruelly robbed by the Crown that its brave -and humorous bishop had himself presented -to Henry VIII. as the Bishop of Aff. “I was -the Bishop of Llandaff,” he explained, “but -lately the <i>land</i> has been removed.”<a name="FNanchor_11" id="FNanchor_11"></a><a href="#Footnote_11" class="fnanchor">[11]</a></p> - -<div class="center"> -<img id="ill36" src="images/ill36.jpg" width="600" height="428" alt="" /> -<p class="caption">CAERPHILLY CASTLE.</p></div> - -<div class="center"> -<img id="ill37" src="images/ill37.jpg" width="460" height="600" alt="" /> -<p class="caption">BEAUPRÉ CASTLE.</p></div> - -<p>The tombs of Llandaff Cathedral are of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[Pg 173]</a></span> -great interest; and it is with real pleasure -that one sees the new, for once, not unworthy -to be beside the old. The recumbent figure -of marble on the grave of Dean Vaughan is -really beautiful.</p> - -<p>As we climb the long hill a mile or two -beyond Llandaff, we see Cardiff stretched -out below us, a forest of masts and tall -chimneys—an impressive symbol in its way. -Then, when we reach the level ground, we -forget everything for a time but the sheer -delight of moving on a perfect road—forget -even the heights of Exmoor showing faintly -across the water on the left, and on the right -the wild hills of Glamorganshire rolling away -into the distance.</p> - -<p>Now, at Cowbridge, it is necessary to come -to a decision. If it should be too much for -the resolution of an ardent motorist to leave -this road, he may pursue his way to Neath -without “lette,” as Leland would say; but -for all antiquarians, artists, and other lovers -of romance and beauty, the finger-post points -very resolutely to a detour by Beaupré, -Llantwit, St. Donat’s, and Ewenny.</p> - -<p>About two miles south of Cowbridge is<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[Pg 174]</a></span> -Old Beaupré (Bewper). Do not climb the -stile and walk across the fields, but drive on -a hundred yards or so to the gate; for this -grass-grown, deserted avenue is the fitting -approach to the spellbound house of the -Bassetts, that strange mixture of splendour -and squalor, with its delicate carvings and -dainty Corinthian pillars and its air of utter -desolation. We know very well as we look -at it that fair faces once looked down through -those Tudor windows, and gay satins swept -between the classic columns of the doorway, -and the walls echoed to music and singing -and laughter, until the fatal day that an -enchantment was laid upon the beautiful -white doorway of the love-lorn Welshman -who learnt his art in Italy, and upon the -avenue that once led the Bassetts out to war -and home to love, and upon every stone of -the old castle, so that it became a farmhouse. -And now the fluted pillars and carved friezes -are green with moss and fringed with ferns, -and the walls echo to nothing but the -clucking of innumerable hens.</p> - -<p>Beaupré is not greatly visited. There is, -indeed, nothing to see but that strange,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[Pg 175]</a></span> -incongruous doorway and the ghosts that -flutter round it; but it is one of those -eloquent, unforgettable places through which, -for a moment, one seems to be actually in -touch with the life that they have seen.</p> - -<p>At Llantwit Major the interest is of a very -different kind. Here there is not very much -to attract the artist, but to the antiquary -and historian “the dwelling-place and home -of the Blessed Illtyd” must surely be of the -first importance. For it was here that the -Breton saint, St. Iltutus, or Illtyd, founded -a monastery and university that made a very -deep mark upon the life of the sixth century; -for its professors educated not only all the -princes of the west, but also every illustrious -Welshman—bishop, saint, or scholar—of the -day. It is not surprising that an institution -of its size and brilliancy—for its 2,400 students -filled four hundred houses—should have seized -the imagination of early writers, and given -rise to so much picturesque legend that it is -hard to know the truth. Some say that -St. David himself was taught by St. Illtyd, -and that Gildas the historian, called the -Wise, and Taliesin, the bard of the Radiant<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[Pg 176]</a></span> -Brow, were also brought up here. Of Illtyd -himself the tale is told that he was originally -a soldier, but hearing the call, he forsook his -profession and his wife for the life of a -hermit; and when his poor wife came to him, -one day as he was working in the fields, he -silently turned away from her, and stood -so, with his back to her, till she left him in -despair. This is a pathetic foundation for -all the scholarship and saintliness of the -sixth century in Wales, and one can only -hope, for the sake of Illtyd’s conscience when -he was a comfortable professor, that it is -untrue. Of all the four hundred houses and -seven halls of his university not a stone is -now left; but in the church, which is itself -very full of interest, there are some wonderful -monuments, one of them being a -memorial raised to St. Illtyd by one of his -pupils, Samson, a saint himself. The head -of the cross is gone, but on the shaft the -beautiful Celtic designs are still clear and -the words still legible to those who can -read them—“Samson placed this cross for -his soul.”</p> - -<p>Just beyond Llantwit and nearer to the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[Pg 177]</a></span> -Bristol Channel is St. Donat’s, which, as -Leland says, “stondith on a meane hille a -quarter of a mile from the Severn Se.” This -castle, partly Norman and partly Tudor, has -been inhabited ever since the Norman conquest -of Glamorgan; and so, as “the parkes -booth and the castell long to ... a gentilman -of very fair landes in that countery,” we -can see no more than a glimpse of towers -above the trees. But we pass close to the -churchyard, and there we may see the very -beautiful and uninjured Celtic cross.</p> - -<p>From St. Donat’s we may rejoin the main -road at Bridgend; but in this country, where -good accommodation is not always to be -found, it is well to know that there is a -very nice modern hotel at Southerndown, -with the Channel and the Exmoor coast in -front of it and the trees and Castle of Dunraven -near at hand. The actual building of -Dunraven is new, but a castle has stood on -the same spot for many generations, through -many tragedies. In Henry VIII.’s reign the -lord of Dunraven, Boteler, or Butler, lost all -his children but one on the same day. He -saw them die, perhaps, for the windows of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[Pg 178]</a></span> -his castle looked out across the waters that -drowned them. Only one girl was left, and -through her Dunraven passed to the Vaughans, -who do not always seem to have made -a good use of its position. For in Tenby -Church lies the dust of a certain Walter of -that house, who figures darkly in one of -those moral tales—one might almost call -them tracts—of which one occasionally hears -in actual life. In Walter’s day, which was -also the day of Queen Mary, these shores of -Dunraven twinkled with treacherous lights, -which lured unwary ships to the shore, causing -their complete destruction and the great -enrichment of the lord of the manor. At -last, after years of this villainy, he was -waiting one night for the fruits of his -labours, waiting while the doomed ship was -shaken to pieces and the bodies of her crew -were one by one washed ashore. The last -body that came was that of his own sailor-son.</p> - -<p>Whether we approach Bridgend from -Llantwit or from Southerndown, we shall -see on our right the embattled tower of -Ewenny among the trees. The restored -conventual buildings of this very ancient<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[Pg 179]</a></span> -Benedictine Priory are now a private house, -but by leaving the high-road we may pass -the fortified gateway that once stood between -the monks and their enemies. There -is no finer example, I believe, of a monastery -that is also a castle, and no doubt it is -partly owing to the strength of its defences -that the Priory of Ewenny still stands in -its original Norman austerity, not as a -picturesque ruin, but as a parish church. -With the exception of one or two Tudor -windows, it is pure Norman throughout, -very simple, very dignified; and it is still -divided, according to ancient custom, into -two separate churches that were used respectively -by the monastery and the parish -at large. The founder, whose beautiful -tomb is wonderfully well preserved, was -Maurice de Londres, whose name we shall -meet again in a less amiable connection at -Kidwelly. A great deal has been done in -the way of restoring and preserving Ewenny -by its owners, the ancient lords of Coity, -whose great castle lies in ruins a few miles -away. The Norman marchers of their house, -it is said, set out to win the lands of Coity<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[Pg 180]</a></span> -by force of arms, but seeing the fair daughter -of the Welshman who owned them, he was -himself won, and never a blow was struck, -for Coity became his by marriage. How -much of this story is true I do not know, -but it is certainly true that his descendants -have lived within a few miles of the spot -from that day to this.</p> - -<p>At Bridgend we rejoin the road that we -left so reluctantly at Cowbridge, and soon, -on the right, we pass the hills of Margam, -at whose foot are the fragments of a famous -Cistercian abbey, more celebrated, we are -told, for its charitable deeds than any of -that Order in Wales; while on the left there -stretch between us and the sea the dreary -sands that long ago buried—“shokid and -devourid”—the castle and lands of Kenfig. -The hills, cleft here and there with deep -wooded valleys, are every moment drawing -nearer; a strip of glittering sea appears beyond -the sands, and beyond that again are -the Mumbles. For a little time the masts -of Aberavon rise picturesquely on the skyline, -but they are too soon replaced by the -chimneys of Briton Ferry.</p> - -<div class="center"> -<img id="ill38" src="images/ill38.jpg" width="600" height="451" alt="" /> -<p class="caption">EWENNY PRIORY.</p></div> - -<div class="center"> -<img id="ill39" src="images/ill39.jpg" width="600" height="450" alt="" /> -<p class="caption">NEATH ABBEY.</p></div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[Pg 181]</a></span>It was here that the travellers of old days -used to ford the river Neath. It was a -dangerous ford, famous for its quicksands. -Wherefore a certain twelfth-century bishop -of St. David’s, being of a prudent temperament -and desirous to cross, selected one of -his minor clergy to ford the river before -him, a “chaplain of those parts,” who had -lately incurred the bishop’s displeasure, and -had been suspended. The chaplain meekly -consented; took the bishop’s best horse for -the purpose; crossed in safety, and forthwith -rode away. And it was only when -the bishop restored the cure that the chaplain -restored the horse.</p> - -<p>This pleasant little story, recalled by the -name of the ugly smoky town of Briton -Ferry, will help us through the dismal -streets that lead to Neath.</p> - -<p>Neath itself is not an attractive town. -Its abbey to Leland “semid the fairest -abbay in al Wales.” To-day it is perhaps -the most pathetic. During its last and most -splendid days a Welsh bard sang of it and -of the monks who lived in it; sang of its -towers and cloisters, and coloured windows<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[Pg 182]</a></span> -and princely shields; of its columns of blue -marble and of the painted archangels on -its roof. It was just at this time that it -seemed to Leland so fair, that is to say -just before Leland’s employer, Henry VIII., -silenced the “peaceful songs of praise” of -its white monks for ever. Even now we -can guess at its past splendour, for though -the blue marble and the archangels are -gone, the crypt still has its vaulted roof, -and through the heavy ivy there are fragments -visible of the gleaming white stone -with which it was once faced. It stands, -unspeakably desolate, on the low, squalid -outskirts of the town, amid a waste of -scrap-iron and nettles and rubbish; but -when Edward II. came to beg for a night’s -lodging under its roof, when Neath was -little more than a village and a castle, and -there were no shunting, shrieking trains -between the abbey and the hills, this must -indeed have seemed a beautiful refuge for -a tired, hunted king.</p> - -<p>For close behind the abbey the hills begin -to rise, and through them the river Neath -cleaves its way to the sea in a valley that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[Pg 183]</a></span> -will lead us, if we follow it, to extremely -desirable things. Ultimately the road will -lead us to Brecon, by no means to be -despised in itself, but it is rather for the -sake of the miles of moorland that lie -between that we must here strike up into -the hills in a way that may seem eccentric -till we know what they are like.</p> - -<p>The Vale of Neath itself is famous for its -lovely scenery, its woods and mountains and -river. The road is practically level as far -as Glyn-Neath, where, if the day is young, -and the mood enterprising, we may, instead -of keeping to our rightful road, diverge -for a mile or so to Pont Neath Fechan. -Thence the active-minded and able-bodied -may visit a series of very pretty waterfalls -on the river Mellte. This entails a -considerable walk of a rough kind, but it -also gives one an excuse for exploring a -little more of this lovely moorland country: -for the best way to approach the falls is to -drive up for two miles into the hills and -so reach the river from above.</p> - -<p>But probably the most usual course is, -at Glyn-Neath, to turn towards Hirwain.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[Pg 184]</a></span> -It is after this point that the really distinctive -features of this run become apparent, -the features that make the road -essentially one for motorists; for no railway -crosses these hills, and if there be strong-limbed -bicyclists who do, they cannot often -be women, I think. For the road that -seems to the engine of a car to be merely -gently undulating, is really climbing steadily -upwards for miles. Gradually the scene -becomes wilder and wilder, more and more -desolate, till at last we are spinning over -a moor as wide as the eye can see, on a -road that winds visibly before us far away -into the distance. Range beyond range, -the hills completely encircle us: stern, bare -hills with rugged outlines, and never a -tree to soften them; and in the foreground -great sweeping curves covered with short -grass and here and there a glowing patch -of heather. Then, when the summit is -reached, and Cardiff waterworks are passed, -begins the descent of nine miles on a -perfect surface, close under the shoulder -of the Brecon Beacons. I think this gentle -descent is one of the most perfect runs,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[Pg 185]</a></span> -from a motoring point of view, that I have -ever enjoyed; and if, as is likely, there is a -touch of evening softness over the great -hills, few people will regret having forsaken -their direct westward road for the sake -of this drive. Close under the Beacons -lies Brecon.</p> - -<p>A prodigious amount of fighting has -raged round this peaceful-looking little -town. It was not without bloodshed that -Brychan the Irishman, in the fifth century, -made this country his own with complete -thoroughness, supplying it not only with -a new name but with a new population -(for he is said to have had forty-nine -children); and Brecon was one of the many -places that were attacked and overcome by -the army of Alfred’s warlike daughter -Ethelfleda; and truly there was no lack -of fighting in the days of the Normans, the -Neuf-Marché, and the de Braose. It was -Bernard de Neuf-Marché, or Newmarch, -who built the castle, once “very large, -strong, and wele mainteynid,” but now only -a remnant, a bit of battlemented wall and -a tower, which passed through many stormy<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[Pg 186]</a></span> -experiences before it came to the strangest -end to which, surely, a castle was ever -brought. For it was the inhabitants of -Brecon themselves who, feeling that they -had figured sufficiently in the annals -of their country, demolished their own -castle. It was during the Civil War, and -a siege seemed imminent. The simplest -way of avoiding this was to remove the -castle.</p> - -<p>Brecon might well be tired of fighting. -Newmarch had fortified it well, with walls -and gates and the “keepe of the castel -very large and faire,” but it required all -its defences and more, for a border castle -was never safe. From the family of Newmarch -it passed to that of de Braose, and -they lost it again, not by the sword but by -the seditious spirit and shrewd tongue of a -woman. Matilda de St. Valerie, the wife of -William de Braose, “uttered reproachful -language against King John,” which though -perfectly just, was rash. She lost not only -her castle, but her husband and finally her -life, for Brecon became Crown property; -de Braose, after slaughtering the King’s<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[Pg 187]</a></span> -garrison, fled to Ireland; and Matilda was -starved to death in prison.</p> - -<div class="center"> -<img id="ill40" src="images/ill40.jpg" width="600" height="381" alt="" /> -<p class="caption">BRECON.</p></div> - -<div class="center"> -<img id="ill41" src="images/ill41.jpg" width="600" height="460" alt="" /> -<p class="caption">GATEWAY KIDWELLY CASTLE.</p></div> - -<p>If we spend a night in Brecon we may -sit in the pretty garden of the hotel -under the shadow of the last remaining -wall of Newmarch’s castle. Opposite us, -filling almost the whole landscape, are the -solemn Beacons; just below us is the Usk -and its picturesque bridge.</p> - -<p>We must cross that bridge to reach Carmarthen; -and following the course of the -Usk, pass through Trecastle, where the -scenery becomes strikingly beautiful as -the road cleaves a narrow gorge and then -runs gently down for miles between wooded -hills. At Llandovery we enter the valley of -the Towy.</p> - -<p>There is nothing to detain us at Llandovery; -but as the gay flowers of the -Castle Inn catch our eye in passing we -may remember that George Borrow once -spent a night there; and the remains of -the castle hard by may perhaps call to -mind the great chieftain Griffith ap Nicholas, -who was lord of Dynevor and Kilgerran as -well as of Llandovery and many another<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[Pg 188]</a></span> -castle. He was also a Justice of the Peace, -and a harbourer of thieves; a <i>protégé</i> of -the House of Lancaster who yet died in -fighting for the house of York at Mortimer’s -Cross: not a very conventional -person, in short.</p> - -<p>We leave the fragments of his castle on -our left, and, on a practically level road, -follow the slow-flowing Towy through Llangadoch -to Llandeilo. This pretty little place, -where there is a really nice inn, was once -dignified with the name of Llandeilo Vawr, -or the Great; probably because of its close -proximity to the great castle of Dynevor. -If we pause for a moment on the bridge -that here crosses the Towy we shall see -reflected in the river a thickly wooded bluff. -Among these trees are the ruins of Dynevor, -perhaps the most important stronghold of -the princes of South Wales. It was in the -ninth century that Roderic the Great built -the first castle here, and from that day forward -till Roderic’s fortress had for many -years been replaced by a Norman one, -Dynevor passed from hand to hand, from -Welsh to English and from English to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[Pg 189]</a></span> -Welsh, and from one turbulent chieftain to -another. It seems to have been regarded -more or less as the key to South Wales; -for on one occasion Henry II. sent a special -spy to inquire into the strength of Dynevor -and the general character of the country. -This artless knight asked his way of a Welsh -dean, and was, as he might have expected, -led by a route so wild, so rough, and so -extremely circuitous that the castle seemed -to be practically inaccessible. By way of -heightening the effect this humorous divine -paused at intervals to satisfy his hunger -with handfuls of grass. It was the custom -in that poor country, he said. The knight -returned to Henry with the report that the -country round Dynevor was “uninhabitable, -vile, and inaccessible, only affording food to -a beastly nation, living like brutes.”</p> - -<p>Within a few miles of Dynevor there is -another castle that looks as if it might well -have been inaccessible—Cerrig Cennen. It -is worth while to drive a few miles out of -our way to see this circlet of towers on its -pale grey crag, dominating the whole landscape -of rounded hills. It is best to approach<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[Pg 190]</a></span> -it by Derwydd Station, partly because the -more direct route leads over a long and -precipitous hill, and partly because from -this side one’s first view of the old fortress -is more striking. I think there is little to -be gained by trying to drive close to the -actual ruins: the impressive effect is in the -distant outline of this strange and sudden -crag, on which, it is said, a Knight of -the Round Table built his fortress before -the Norman of later days made it his -stronghold.</p> - -<p>From Llandeilo to Carmarthen we have -a choice of roads. The upper one is perhaps -slightly the faster of the two, but -from the lower there is a better view of -Dynevor, and Dryslwyn Castle, and Abergwili, -the palace of the bishops of St. -David’s. In Carmarthen itself there are -few relics left of a history that begins in -the days of the Romans and has been -stormy to a most unusual degree; so -stormy, indeed, that one marvels the place -exists at all. The wicked Vortigern, King -of Britain in the fifth century, is said to -have built a castle here, to defend himself<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[Pg 191]</a></span> -against a too persistent saint who was trying, -quite in vain, to turn him from the -many errors of his ways. He had first -taken refuge at Rhayader, but, says Nennius -the historian, “St. Germanus followed him -with all the British clergy, and upon a rock -prayed for his sins during 40 days and -40 nights.” So the worried King fled -here to Carmarthen and built a castle in -which to hide. But, says the story, “the -saint as usual followed him there and with -his clergy fasted and prayed ... and on the -third night a fire fell suddenly from heaven -and totally burnt the castle.” How many -times since then Carmarthen has been burnt -to the ground and besieged and plundered -I do not know, but one or other of these -incidents is casually recorded on nearly every -page of the History of Wales. But Carmarthen, -like hope, “springs eternal.” Among -the many who burnt it is Owen Glyndwr, -who at the very time that the foolish legend -describes him as sitting in a tree watching -the Battle of Shrewsbury was really occupied, -not only in destroying this town, but also, as -though influenced by the reputed birthplace<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[Pg 192]</a></span> -of Merlin, in having his fortune told by a -soothsayer brought from Gower for the purpose. -But though this brave fortune-teller -prophesied evil things they were not fulfilled. -Owen had still many successes before him, -and his dealings with this ill-fated town of -Carmarthen made a great sensation. There is -an agitated letter still existing which the Archdeacon -of Hereford, the “lowly creature,” as he -signed himself, of Henry IV., wrote in “haste, -great haste,” to implore that King for help. -“And note,” he adds in a postscript, “on -Friday last Kemerdyn town is taken and -burnt, and the castle yielded ... and slain -of the town of Kemerdyn more than L persons. -Written in right haste on Sunday; -and I cry your mercy and put me in your -high grace that I write so shortly; for by -my troth that I owe to you, it is needful.” -The exciting effect of Owen’s presence, we -see, was of somewhat wide radius. Yet even -Owen could not suppress Carmarthen for -more than a short time. Leland tells us of -two “reparations done on the castel,” and -in his day, he says, it was “veri fair and -doble waullid.” Even now there is some of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[Pg 193]</a></span> -it left, but unless we exceed the speed-limit -and refuse to pay the fine we shall probably -not see it, as it has been made into a -prison.</p> - -<p>But even the modern streets that have -risen from so many ashes are not without -their own memories of the great. They -were once lined with shouting, excited -crowds, gathered from all the country -round to see Nelson drive through the -town: and through them passed the strange -funeral procession of Richard Steele, who -was carried by night, attended by twenty-five -torch-bearers, to his grave in St. Peter’s -Church. Above it a modern brass has been -placed of late years, but for long the grave -was, at his own dying request, left nameless. -“I shall be remembered by posterity,” he -said. There are other monuments worth -seeing in St. Peter’s Church: the tomb of -Sir Rhys ap Thomas, to whose efforts -Henry VII. owed much in his quest for -the crown; and a mural tablet of the seventeenth -century, to “virtuous Anne, the lady -Vaughan,” who was, we learn, “the choice -elixir of mortalitie.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[Pg 194]</a></span></p> - -<p>From Carmarthen we must certainly not -neglect to visit Kidweli, ten miles away -near the sea, for there we shall find much -of that visible romance that has, by storm -and stress, been battered out of the county -town. Kidweli once had walls, and three -gates, and a priory of Black Monks, as well -as the castle that still stands above the river -Gwendraeth in all its imposing simplicity. -The round towers and the curtain-wall and -the great gateway have a very distinctly -Edwardian character, but Caradoc of Llancarvan -says there was a castle built here -quite at the end of the twelfth century by -Rhys ap Griffith, that great prince of South -Wales who is known in Welsh history as -The Lord Rhys; and even in those destructive -days a hundred years was a short time -for a castle to last. Probably Rhys built it -and Edward repaired it, giving it the special -character of his own work, but not entirely -wiping out the work of Rhys. In this way -we may account for the name of Gwenllian’s -Tower, for Rhys had a much-loved daughter -Gwenllian, “a woman of such incomparable -beauty, and exceeding in all feminine quali<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[Pg 195]</a></span>fications, -that she was accounted the fairest -and best accomplished lady in all the country.” -She had fine traditions behind her, but they -were not so much “feminine” as warlike; -for her father Rhys was “the protection of -his country, the splendour of arms, the arm -of power,” and her great uncle was the valiant -Owen Gwynedd, and her grandmother was -that gallant lady after whom she was doubtless -named, Gwenllian the wife of Griffith. -It was quite near Kidweli that this other -Gwenllian died. In her husband’s absence -she led his men to battle against the Norman -invader, Maurice de Londres, whose grave -we saw in his priory-church of Ewenny. -Her forces were defeated, and she herself, by -order of de Londres, was beheaded there -and then. Her brother Owen Gwynedd, however, -was still alive, and he saw to it that the -reckoning was heavy.</p> - -<p>The road from Carmarthen to Tenby lies -at first through rather dull country, but -after a time passes between extremely -pretty wooded hills. Presently we catch -sight of the sea shining at the end of a -deep valley, and after this a delightful run<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[Pg 196]</a></span> -on a downward gradient carries us within -sight of Tenby, the most charming of -watering-places. Now, it is not altogether -an artificial classification if we divide the -civilised world into two parties: those who -delight in watering-places and those who -flee from them. For this taste or distaste -is really, more or less, an indication of -temperament, and at the end of half an -hour one could usually guess correctly in -which of the two classes to place a new -acquaintance. But I really defy any one to -dislike Tenby. There is something endearing -about it. From the roadside the cliffs -drop steeply to the sands below—very -yellow sands sweeping in long curves to the -edge of a brilliantly green sea, while beyond -them the long headlands stretch one behind -the other, mere blurs of purple or misty -blue. On the right the remnant of the -castle stands upon a rock, and below it -there juts into the sea a picturesque little -pier, entirely for use, and innocent of -pavilion or bandstand. Here the innumerable -trawlers take shelter, till in the early -morning they unfurl their crimson or brown<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[Pg 197]</a></span> -sails, and one by one glide out into the -bay—a brave sight, and one that calls to -mind the early name of this place, Dynbych-y-Pysgod, -the Little Town of Fish.</p> - -<div class="center"> -<img id="ill42" src="images/ill42.jpg" width="600" height="383" alt="" /> -<p class="caption">GOSCAP ROCK, TENBY.</p></div> - -<div class="center"> -<img id="ill43" src="images/ill43.jpg" width="600" height="430" alt="" /> -<p class="caption">MANORBIER CASTLE, NEAR TENBY.</p></div> - -<p>There is something almost incongruous in -the thought of the many sieges that this -quiet, sunny town has suffered. From very -early days it played an active part in the -history of this strange English corner of -Wales, and if its walls and gateways are -still standing to add to its beauty, this is -not for want of use, but because their uses -were so constant that they were kept in -good order. Of the castle, indeed, little -enough remains: a ruined tower, an archway, -and a fragment of wall are all that is -left on the rock that juts out so picturesquely -into the green sea.</p> - -<p>But if the shrewd blows of several centuries -have left us little of Tenby Castle, it -is far otherwise with the splendid walls and -towers of Manorbier, which stand close above -the sea a few miles further along the same -coast. To see Manorbier at its best one -should approach it from the road called the -Ridgeway, and this route, too, has the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[Pg 198]</a></span> -advantage of commanding, here and there, -some very lovely views of the coast, of -Lydstep and Caldey Island. It is well to -know that on Sunday no strangers are -admitted within the gate of Manorbier.</p> - -<p>It stands, as Leland says, betwixt two -“hillettes, between the wich the Severn Se -gulfith in”—a fine setting for its battlemented -walls and towers, the “turrets and -bulwarks” of which Giraldus proudly speaks. -That most delightful chronicler declares this -to be the pleasantest spot in Wales, and -then half apologises for his enthusiasm over -this “his native soil, his genial territory.” -We may forgive him for his love of the -place, even if we think he goes a little too -far, for this Gerald de Berri the Norman, -who oddly enough has been known to all -who have come after him as Giraldus the -Welshman, was born here at Manorbier; -and down there on the shore are the sands -where he played as a child, building, we are -told, not castles, but always churches and -abbeys.</p> - -<p>Strange enough this belligerent-looking -building seems to have no history. It has,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[Pg 199]</a></span> -apparently, led an entirely domestic life. -We hear of mills and ponds, of parks and -dovecots in connection with it, but of siege -and bloodshed not a word. The great, grim -walls and bastions, however, must have -added greatly to the peace and comfort of -the Norman barons who lived behind them, -and they certainly add very much to our -pleasure.</p> - -<p>Climbing again to the Ridgeway we turn -to the left, with a view to seeing Lamphey, -Pembroke, and the Stack Rocks before, -following in the footsteps of many a -pilgrim, we visit the shrine of St. David.</p> - -<p>Lamphey Palace was for several centuries -one of the dwellings of the Bishop of St. -David’s; and a good deal of it was built by -Bishop Gower, whose “mason’s mark,” so to -speak, is the arcaded parapet so conspicuous -here and at his cathedral city. Bishop -Gower seems to have been the benefactor -of this see, as Bishop Barlow was its evil -genius. It was owing to the latter that -Lamphey passed to the Crown, and thence -to the house of Devereux; and so it came -to pass that in this sequestered corner<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[Pg 200]</a></span> -Robert, Earl of Essex, passed the early years -of a life that was destined to be anything -but sheltered, and played his childish games -with no thought of a capricious queen or -of Tower Hill. And with him, no doubt, -played his sister Penelope, whom the pen of -Sir Philip Sidney has made more familiar to -us as “Stella.”</p> - -<p>From Lamphey two miles of level road -will take us to Pembroke, and to the castle -that is perhaps the most impressive in all -this land of relics, where the castles are so -strangely thick upon the ground. The great -walls rise upon a rock whose base is lapped -by the waters of Milford Haven; in the -centre stands the mighty double keep, and -round it is a ring of bastions; on the town -side is the entrance-gate, flanked by massive -towers. There is something peculiarly imposing -about this gateway, whose implacable -strength seems all the more uncompromising -from its being unsoftened by ivy and very -little discoloured by time, though its fine -effect is, of course, cruelly marred by the -lawn-tennis nets that seem so often to be -regarded as pleasing and appropriate addi<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[Pg 201]</a></span>tions -to mediæval castles. Pembroke, unlike -Manorbier, is full of history; there has been -no lack of sieges here. Even before the -building of this castle there were stirring -doings round this rock: fierce attacks and -wily stratagems, not unmixed, some say, -with romance. There was a “slender fortress” -here, built by Arnulph de Montgomery -of stakes and turf—a poor defence -one would have thought, but apparently -sufficient to bear a good deal under the -guardianship of that “worthy and discreet” -constable, Gerald de Windsor, grandfather -of our Giraldus. He showed his discretion -on one occasion, when the stakes and turf -were besieged by the Welsh, and his garrison -was extremely short of food, by cutting -up the last few beasts that remained to -them, and throwing the pieces to the enemy. -In our day this would be described, not as -discretion, but as “bluff,” and it was as -successful as that quality so often is. It is -said by some that it was this same Gerald -who built the existing castle, but there -seems to be a good deal of uncertainty on -the subject; and even more uncertainty as to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[Pg 202]</a></span> -which castle it was from which Gerald’s -wife Nest, who was less discreet, apparently, -than her husband, was carried off by a -Welsh prince, not without encouragement -from the lady. But when one hears that -the discreet Gerald escaped on this occasion -by creeping down a drain-pipe, one feels -that there was some excuse after all for -Nest. But these are mere traditions. What -is very certain is that one of the stern -entrance-towers was the birthplace of -Henry VII., who lived here with his mother -through the early years of his life, and after -his exile in Brittany landed only a few miles -away at Dale, where he won the Welsh at -once to his cause by unfurling the Red -Dragon of Uther. When Leland was here -he was shown the room in which Henry -was born, and in it “a chymmeney new -made with the armes and badges of King -Henri the VII.”; but this fireplace must -have vanished long ago, for even the local -guide-books do not profess to know the -room of Henry’s birth.</p> - -<div class="center"> -<img id="ill44" src="images/ill44.jpg" width="465" height="600" alt="" /> -<p class="caption">ENTRANCE TOWER, PEMBROKE CASTLE.</p></div> - -<div class="center"> -<img id="ill45" src="images/ill45.jpg" width="444" height="600" alt="" /> -<p class="caption">PEMBROKE COAST.</p></div> - -<p>There was a memorable siege of Pembroke -in the Civil War—memorable not only<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[Pg 203]</a></span> -because of its importance, but because the -leaders of the Royalist garrison were renegade -Roundheads. Cromwell’s guns were -lying useless in the sand, for the ship that -carried them had run aground; but undismayed -he determined to starve the garrison -out. “Here is a very desperate enemy,” -he wrote to Fairfax, “who being put out of -all hope of mercy, are resolved to endure -to the uttermost extremity, being very -many of them gentlemen of quality and -thoroughly resolved.” They yielded at last, -and “Drunken Colonel Payer,” as Carlyle -calls the renegade, “full of brandy and -Presbyterian texts of Scripture,” being -indeed out of all hope of mercy, was shot -at Covent Garden. Beyond hope of mercy, -too, was the traitor who, by betraying the -source of the castle’s water-supply to Cromwell, -was the cause of the surrender. -Cromwell, with characteristic promptitude, -cut the drain-pipes and hanged his informant -on the spot; and not many years ago -some workmen found the broken pipes, and -close beside them some human bones.</p> - -<p>About eight miles beyond Pembroke are<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[Pg 204]</a></span> -the Stack Rocks. The road is hilly and the -gates across it are exasperatingly numerous; -but these are but small discomforts, and -the reward is very great. It is almost suddenly -that one finds oneself on the very -edge of the stupendous cliffs that form the -southern coast of Pembrokeshire—an edge -that is almost mathematically a right angle, -so sheer is the drop, so level is the plateau -above. This stern, impregnable coast has the -impressiveness that extreme simplicity on a -large scale always has: it has the directness -of Early Norman architecture. There is not -an unnecessary line, so to speak, not the -least attempt at ornament; and the effect -is to take away one’s breath. A few yards -from the cliff are the great pillars known as -the Stack Rocks, obviously separated from -the mainland by the patient efforts of the -sea and air—examples of the survival of the -fittest. Their tall, gaunt outlines, and the -sea-gulls that circle round them, add much -to this strange scene; but our real reward -for opening all those gates lies, not in the -actual Stack Rocks themselves, but in the -long curves of the coast-line, the massive<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[Pg 205]</a></span> -cliffs, the green, transparent sea that swirls -about their base.</p> - -<p>It is necessary to pass through Pembroke -on the return journey, but we must leave it -by the Carmarthen road, since to reach -Haverfordwest we have to avoid all the -long ramifications of Milford Haven. Soon -we turn sharply to the left and enter the -tiny village of Carew, where, close beside -the roadway, stands one of the finest Celtic -crosses in Wales, richly carved with one of -those interlaced designs that the Welsh in -very early days copied from the Irish. And -not very far away is another of those -splendid castles that were, to a Norman -baron in Wales, among the bare necessities -of life—the half Norman, half Tudor castle -of Carew, or Caer-wy (the Fort on the -Water), whence the pronunciation <i>Carey</i>. -The east front, the entrance-gate and bastions -are, I believe, the work of Gerard de -Windsor, constable of Pembroke, and are -plainly Edwardian in character; but the -north front, with its famous mullioned -windows, was added by Sir Rhys ap Thomas, -the energetic supporter of Henry VII., whose<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[Pg 206]</a></span> -tomb we saw at Carmarthen; while the -eastern side, with the great banqueting-hall -and the lovely arch that leads to it, was -contributed by Sir John Perrot, of Elizabethan -days. This Sir John Perrot was one -of the worst of the Irish Lords Deputy, but -it was not on this account, very certainly, -that he was suddenly called away from his -building operations at Carew and bestowed -in the Tower of London. The builders, -delivered from his vigilant eye, did their -work so perfunctorily that it is now in a -more dilapidated condition than the sturdy -defences of the Norman part of the castle.<a name="FNanchor_12" id="FNanchor_12"></a><a href="#Footnote_12" class="fnanchor">[12]</a> -But perhaps the old splendour of Carew is -represented and recalled best of all by the -beautiful rooms on the northern side, whose -thresholds have been trodden by so many -mailed feet, so many dainty silken shoes; -for the hospitalities of Carew, at all events -in the days of Sir Rhys ap Thomas, were -carried out on a large scale. Henry of -Richmond, not yet Henry of England, was -entertained here on his way to Bosworth, -and mounted the stairs to the room that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[Pg 207]</a></span> -displays his arms upon a shield, only a -little time before he mounted the steps of -the throne. This last event was celebrated -here in a magnificent pageant, a medley -of feasts and tournaments and sermons, at -which a thousand guests filled these weed-grown -rooms with all the glitter and colour -of an age that loved fine clothes. Sir Rhys -himself figured on the occasion in “a fine -gilt armour,” and was attended by “two -hundred tall men in blewe coats.” The -banqueting-hall on the east side was not -then in existence, but there was nevertheless -“a goodlie spaciouse roome richlie -hanged with clothe of arras and tapestrie” -in which “the bettermost sort” were entertained, -a cross table being laid at one end -for the King who was so many miles away. -And yet, in spite of these rash distinctions -among the guests, we are assured by the -chronicler that “one thing is noteworthy, -that for the space of five dayes among a -thousand people there was not one quarrell, -crosse word, or unkind looke that happened -betweene them.” It seems almost unnecessary -that the bishop, before they parted,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[Pg 208]</a></span> -should have “bestowed a sermon upon -them.”</p> - -<p>Fifteen miles of a hilly road lie between -Carew and Haverfordwest, a town that was -important enough in Edward IV.’s day to -be made a separate county. It was the -chief town and stronghold of the Flemish -colony, and the dominating position of the -castle bears witness to its former usefulness; -while its present mission as a gaol -does nothing to detract from its grim -appearance.</p> - -<p>It was outside the embattled walls of -Haverfordwest that Glyndwr first met his -French allies, who had landed in Milford -Haven from their hundred and forty ships. -There were four or five thousand of them, -very gay in their apparel, very rich in their -accoutrements, and here before the hill of -Haverfordwest they must have been an -encouraging sight for a man whose luck -was beginning to turn. But this stern castle -withstood them, none the less, and though -they burnt the town, they were obliged to -retire. In the Civil War the Royalist garrison -adopted a simple plan for saving<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[Pg 209]</a></span> -themselves from the discomforts of a siege. -Hearing that the enemy was approaching, -it seemed to them that the best way to -avoid unpleasantness would be to leave the -place vacant, which they did with all possible -despatch.</p> - -<div class="center"> -<img id="ill46" src="images/ill46.jpg" width="600" height="382" alt="" /> -<p class="caption">CAREW CASTLE.</p></div> - -<div class="center"> -<img id="ill47" src="images/ill47.jpg" width="600" height="420" alt="" /> -<p class="caption">ST. DAVID’S CATHEDRAL AND RUINS OF THE BISHOP’S PALACE.</p></div> - -<p>There are a good many things that we may -think of in this town: those “people brave -and robust,” as Giraldus calls the Flemings -whom Henry I. established here; poor -Richard II., who gave them their charter; -Edward IV., who gave them a high sheriff; -the sieges of centuries; the gay French -army; but I, when I climb the steep streets -of Haverfordwest, long most of all to -know the spot on which the Crusades were -preached to “a people well versed in commerce -and woollen manufactories.” “It -appeared wonderful and miraculous,” says -the historian, with no consciousness that he -is saying anything humorous, “that although -the archdeacon addressed them both in the -Latin and French tongues, those persons -who understood neither of those languages -were equally affected, and flocked in great -numbers to the cross.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[Pg 210]</a></span></p> - -<p>In the days when people journeyed to St. -David’s for the good of their souls it was considered -that two pilgrimages to that shrine -secured as many spiritual advantages as one -pilgrimage to Rome. It seems hard that -those who now approach St. David’s by -train should not derive some solid benefit of -this kind, for the penance must really be -very great, since Haverfordwest is the -nearest station, and the road between the -two places is known as “sixteen miles and -seventeen hills.” One passes these sad -pilgrims, packed very closely in hired -wagonettes behind still sadder horses, and -one hopes that good may accrue to their -souls, since surely this must be very bad for -their bodies. Even bicyclists, our brethren -of the road, must find these seventeen hills -no easy task. The pilgrimage to St. David’s -is pre-eminently one for motorists.</p> - -<p>The surface, on the whole, is good, and -near the coast the scenery is fine. As the -sea comes into sight on our left the rather -dull, flat landscape to the right is enlivened -by the curiously sudden crag on which stand -the remains of Roche Castle, the birthplace<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[Pg 211]</a></span> -of Lucy Walters, the Duke of Monmouth’s -mother. After a time the road dips suddenly -to the shore at Newgale, where the -sands stretch for two miles between low -headlands, and where long ago the sea once -receded and showed the blackened stumps -of a huge submerged forest. Between this -and St. David’s are “divers other little -creekittes,” says Leland, who has a passion -for diminutives of an original kind; and of -them all none is so charming as little Solva -where the narrow creek runs up far into -the land, and a picturesque village climbs -the hill, and the “fischerbotes” take refuge -now as they did in the sixteenth century, -and probably long before it.</p> - -<p>A few minutes later appear the outskirts -of the strangely squalid village that is the -cathedral city of St. David’s. The straggling, -ugly street gives little promise of reward -for our pilgrimage. Then suddenly we are -at the edge of a hill, and we look down into -the little dell that holds, perhaps, as much -beauty and history and legend as any spot -of its size in our country: the cathedral -itself, very plain and built of a strange<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[Pg 212]</a></span> -purple stone; close beside it the ruins of -St. Mary’s College, founded by John of -Gaunt and his wife; and beyond it the far -greater ruins of Bishop Gower’s very beautiful -palace, with its great rose-window and -the arcaded parapet that characterises the -bishop’s buildings. And to the seeing eye -this little hollow contains far more than -these mere stones: it is filled with countless -memories of saints, and those who were -anything but saints; it is crossed by a long -procession of pilgrims; William I., who came -to worship before St. David’s shrine and in -some sort apologise, as it were, for conquering -the country—an apology that was -rather premature; Edward I. and his faithful -Eleanor, on the same errand, with more -reason; William Rufus, with little interest -in saints or shrines; Henry II., “habited like -a pilgrim, and leaning on a staff,” and met -at the gate by a long and solemn procession. -Of all these, Edward was the only one -who worshipped in this very building, for it -is the fourth that has stood on this spot -and was raised just after Henry II.’s visit. -Much restoration has given it the look of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[Pg 213]</a></span> -a new building, as seen from the outside. -Perhaps this is why, as one passes through -the doorway, one is inclined to hold one’s -breath from sheer surprise; for St. David’s -Cathedral is “all glorious within,” and there -is nothing outside to prepare one for the -Norman arches with their varied and rich -ornament, for the splendour of the fifteenth-century -roof, and of the rood-screen that -Gower built and is buried in. For nearly -two hundred years the nave was covered -with whitewash, and indeed it has narrowly -escaped worse things at the hands of evil -men, for Bishop Barlow, of whom we heard -at Lamphey, and heard nothing good, was -minded to strip the roof of its lead, and -was only stopped in this enterprise by -Henry VIII. It was this same bishop who -stripped the roof of Gower’s palace and so -led to its decay; and being, it seems, a -veritable <i>esprit fort</i>, he not only was the -first Protestant bishop who took advantage -of the permission to marry, but he also took -advantage of the dissolution of nunneries -and married an abbess. Their five daughters, -it is said, all married bishops. Barlow posi<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[Pg 214]</a></span>tively -hated St. David’s. Why, he asked, -should money be spent on these ruinous -buildings “to nourish clattering conventicles -of barbarous rural persons”? Why not move -the see to Carmarthen, since St. David’s was -“in such a desolate angle, and in so rare a -frequented place, except of vagabond pilgrims”? -The Saint himself was merely “an -antique gargle of idolatry.” In short, the lead -of the roof was the only valuable thing here.</p> - -<div class="center"> -<img id="ill48" src="images/ill48.jpg" width="453" height="600" alt="" /> -<p class="caption">ST. MARY’S COLLEGE, ST. DAVID’S.</p></div> - -<div class="center"> -<img id="ill49" src="images/ill49.jpg" width="446" height="600" alt="" /> -<p class="caption">ST. DAVID’S CATHEDRAL, INTERIOR.</p></div> - -<p>Now Henry VIII., as we well know, had -little enough respect for the shrines of the -saints or for the beauties of architecture, -but he had a great respect for the bones of -his own grandfather—and these lay here. -So Barlow had to hold his hand; and we, as -we stand in the presbytery of the cathedral -beside Edmund Tudor’s tomb, must remember -all we owe to it. Nor is his the only notable -tomb in this place; for here is the simple -shrine before which so many kings, such -countless pilgrims, have knelt, and there is -the recumbent figure that some say is the -Lord Rhys, the son of the brave Gwenllian, -the greatest of the princes of South Wales, -of whom it was said that “his prowesse<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[Pg 215]</a></span> -passed his manners, his wytte passed his -prowesse, his fayre speeche passed his wytte, -his good thewes passed his fayre speeche.” -Of the grave of Giraldus we must not be -too sure, for though it is pointed out to us -there has been much discussion with regard -to it. Yet somewhere in this cathedral his -dust lies we know.</p> - -<p>Just beyond St. David’s is the sea. And -here too we must go, and, if possible, see -the sun setting behind that western horizon -where the hills of Holy Ireland are said to -be sometimes visible. St. Patrick saw them, -says the legend, as he sat on this shore, -and vowed to give his life to the conversion -of that land. He kept his vow; but William -Rufus, who stood here with very different -intentions, was less successful. As he looked -across the sea to Ireland, he said, “I will -summon hither all the ships of my realm, -and with them make a bridge to attack that -country.” His words were reported to Murchard, -Prince of Leinster, who, says the -story, paused awhile, and answered, “Did -the King add to this mighty threat, If God -please?” and being informed that he had<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[Pg 216]</a></span> -made no mention of God in his speech, he -replied, “I fear not his coming.”</p> - -<p>The legend that connects St. Patrick with -this shore is extremely circumstantial, but -whether it has the least foundation in truth -I do not know. In the Rosy Valley, says -the story, he built a college, where he taught -both boys and girls, and trained missionaries -who afterwards became Irish saints. One of -the girls was Nôn, the mother of St. David, -and it was near Porth Clais that that saint -was born. And when he was old enough -the boy too became a pupil of St. Patrick; -and so, when his college days at Llantwit -were over, and he was made “Archbishop -of Legions,” because “his life was a perfect -example of that goodness which by his -doctrine he taught,” he moved the see -from Caerleon to Menevia for love of his -master St. Patrick. In this way was fulfilled -the prophesy of Merlin: “Menevia shall put on -the pall of the City of Legions”; and from that -time forward Menevia has been called after -its first and most famous bishop, St. David.</p> - -<p>From this strange, remote land of dreams -and legends and memories of early saints the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[Pg 217]</a></span> -transition to the world of modern progress -is rather sudden; for only fifteen miles lie -between the shrine of St. David and the new -turbine steamers of Fishguard. We shall -do well to choose the upper road, which -runs for the most part through a bare, inhospitable -land that is far more suggestive -of the remoteness of the village-city than -the most dramatic mountain pass could be. -Here and there we have a fine glimpse of -the coast, and there is a sudden softening -in the scenery as we draw near Goodwick. -Here, at one side of the pretty bay of Fishguard, -are all the evidences of the new route -to Ireland—the station, the hotel, and the -steamers at the quay, while across the bay, -beyond the long beach, the upper town of -Fishguard appears above the headland. Here, -at Fishguard, the French landed in 1797. -Then, as they looked at those heights above -the town, their hearts misgave them, for the -hills were ominously streaked and patched -with scarlet. It became plain to them that -a very large force—a far larger force than -they were prepared to meet—was waiting to -descend upon them. And so it happened<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[Pg 218]</a></span> -that their general, without loss of time, repaired -to the Royal Oak Inn, where he -signed his capitulation to Lord Cawdor. I -do not know when, if ever, he found out -that the masses of scarlet figures on the -hills were not soldiers, but the enterprising -matrons and maids of all the county round, -who had come out in the red cloaks that -were then part of the national dress, to see -what was going forward.</p> - -<p>The lower town of Fishguard lies in a -cleft between two steep hills, and its pretty -little harbour has all the picturesqueness -that quays and boats and rippling green -water can give. The further hill of the two, -which we must climb, is of a most amazing -gradient—computed in contour-books as -averaging 1 in 7, but certainly 1 in 5 in -places. From the high ground to which it leads -us, lying between Fishguard and Newport, -there are glimpses from time to time of fine -coast scenery, and beyond Newport the road -lies through very pretty country, under the -conspicuous peak of Carningly. In the churchyard -at Nevern there is a beautiful Celtic -cross, the cross of St. Brynach, an Irish con<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[Pg 219]</a></span>temporary -of St. David. From this point the -road gradually rises to a considerable height, -and then runs down a long hill to Cardigan.</p> - -<p>Cardigan, once “the lock and key of all -Wales,” gives us no hint of its former greatness. -It appears an uninteresting little town -till one realises that it is the Aberteifi whose -castle was taken and retaken, burnt, and -shattered, and built again, through all the -stormiest years of Welsh history; captured -by the men of the north from the men -of the south; defended by both against -the Anglo-Normans; attacked by the Flemings; -at one time the court of Llewelyn, -the greatest of the northern princes; and -at another the court of Lord Rhys, the -greatest of the southern princes. Here lived -Griffith, the father of Rhys, “the light and -the strength and the gentleness of the men -of the south,” whose brave wife, Gwenllian, -was killed by Maurice de Londres; and here -he and Gwenllian’s brother, the great Owen -Gwynedd, avenged her, when Cardigan bridge -broke under the retreating Normans, and -“the salt green wave of Teivy was clogged” -with the bodies of the slain. And here the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[Pg 220]</a></span> -Lord Rhys held his famous revels, which included -one of those mediæval Tournaments -of Song with which Wagner has made us so -familiar. The invitations were sent out in -good time—a year and a day before the -event—and many hundreds of English and -Normans were bidden from “all Britain, -Ireland, and the islands adjacent.” The historian -goes on to tell us how “Rhys caused -all the bards or poets throughout all Wales -to come thither; and for a better diversion -to the company he provided chairs to be set -in the hall, in which the bards being seated, -they were to answer each other in rhyme, -and those that acquitted themselves most -handsomely and overcame the rest, were -promised great rewards and rich presents.” -And the men of Gwynedd won the prize -for poetry, but the men of the south were -victorious in music.</p> - -<p>Such in the old days was Cardigan, where -the tourist may pause for a mid-day chop -or buy a picture postcard.</p> - -<p>Two miles above Cardigan, on a crag beside -the Teify, are the ruined towers of Cilgerran, -which have been very little concerned with<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[Pg 221]</a></span> -history, though they have stood here since -the days of Henry I. Their striking position -above the wooded banks of the river, however, -will repay us for a detour of a mile -or two, and we can rejoin the main road -at the beautiful bridge of Llechryd. Here, -where the prevailing note of the landscape -is peace, the gentle Teify, whose purling -waters have so often run red, was once -actually dammed—as on another occasion at -Cardigan—by the bodies of the slain, when -the princes of the south met the invading -princes of Powys and overthrew them.</p> - -<p>From Llechryd we follow the Teify past -Newcastle Emlyn; and thence, if we like, we -may cross the moors to Lampeter; or, better -still, we may go straight on through the -Henllan woods to Llandyssil, a lovely little -place where fishermen delight to dwell, and -where in consequence there is a really charming -little hotel. And if, as may well happen, -there is no room for us there, we can after -all go on our way to Lampeter, for there also -there is quite a nice hotel, though of course it -lacks the charm of the country garden and the -rushing Teify. The moorland road between<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[Pg 222]</a></span> -Llandyssil and Lampeter is in its way unique, -for on both sides of it the hills are covered -with a thick, short growth of gorse, a carpet -of gold spread almost smoothly for miles.</p> - -<p>At Lampeter there is nothing to detain -us but the important business of consulting -maps. For here is the parting of the ways. -If our object is merely to reach the English -border, our best way perhaps is to aim at -Builth. To do this we must strike across -the hills through lovely scenery; past Pumpsaint, -where George Borrow awoke to hear -the murmuring of the Cothi; through Llandovery, -where we have been before on the -way to Carmarthen; and thence over a really -fine pass to Llanwrtyd Wells. If, on the -other hand, we are aiming at North Wales -our obvious course is to strike across to -Aberaeron, and thence follow the coast to -Aberystwith and Barmouth. And if—and -this is the course I strongly recommend—we -intend to complete the circle, and end -our little tour by running down the Wye -Valley, then too we should make for Aberystwith, -and, turning thence eastward, join the -infant Wye on the slopes of Plynlimmon.</p> - -<div class="center"> -<img id="ill50" src="images/ill50.jpg" width="600" height="458" alt="" /> -<p class="caption">KILGERRAN CASTLE, NEAR CARDIGAN.</p></div> - -<div class="center"> -<img id="ill51" src="images/ill51.jpg" width="422" height="600" alt="" /> -<p class="caption">THE WYE NEAR ITS SOURCE.</p></div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[Pg 223]</a><br /><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[Pg 224]</a><br /><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[Pg 225]</a></span></p> -<hr class="chap" /> -<h2><a name="THE_VALLEY_OF_THE_WYE" id="THE_VALLEY_OF_THE_WYE">THE VALLEY OF THE WYE</a></h2> - -<p>Those who have stout hearts and stout -boots may, I believe, discover the actual -source of the Wye among the rushes of -Plynlimmon. Five miles of hard walking -over rather dull downs will procure them -the satisfaction of seeing the first gleams of -the thin silver thread that is destined to -grow into the most beautiful river of England. -Most of us, however, will be content -to meet the Wye for the first time when it -is five miles old, so to speak, at the point -where it touches the high-road from Aberystwith -to Newtown. Even here it is a tiny -stream, rushing lightheartedly down the hill -over the rocks, unsobered as yet by the -dignified reflections of Hereford and Tintern -and Chepstow Castle.</p> - -<p>These slopes of Plynlimmon are not particularly -inspiring, except when regarded as<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[Pg 226]</a></span> -the cradle of the Wye, and of that greater -river whose tributary she is, the Severn. -It is true that the standard of Wales, with -its red dragon, once floated victoriously on -the side of this hill, and the short grass has -been dyed with the blood of the Flemings, -who mustered here to chastise that stout -rebel, Owen Glyndwr, and were thoroughly -chastised by him instead. But in themselves -the heights of Plynlimmon are a little uninteresting. -Short grass and rushes are all -that grow upon them, and though their -rounded outlines have a dignity of their -own, the lack of colour makes them rather -desolate. It is not till the Wye has passed -Llangurig that it begins to earn its fame.</p> - -<p>Curiously enough, the Wye’s fame seems -to depend mainly on its lower reaches. -Nine people out of ten regard it as rising, so -to speak, in Hereford; the Upper Wye is -unknown to them and considered of no -account. Yet to those who know it the -Upper Wye, with its rugged hills and its -wealth of colours, has a stronger charm even -than the wooded loveliness of Symond’s Yat -or of Tintern.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[Pg 227]</a></span></p> - -<p>At Llangurig—which is a wind-swept village -with a nice little inn and a reputation for -good fishing—the river and the road that -follows it turn sharply to the right, and begin -to descend by a very gentle gradient towards -Rhayader. The landscape changes gradually. -The hills lose their bleak desolation only to -become cultivated and commonplace: then -the fields yield to moorlands and the rounded -curves to bold and jagged rocks; and at last, -near the spot where the river Marteg adds -its waters to the Wye and the railway joins -the road, the great hills rise on each side -so precipitously that the way lies almost -through a defile. The hilltops are bare and -grey, but by the banks of the river is a belt -of trees; and as the valley widens the slopes -are no longer bare but are glorious in purple -and gold, in heather and gorse. And where -the flaming sides of the Elan Valley converge -with the valley of the Wye stands the tiny -town of Rhayader.</p> - -<p>This is, I think, the gem of the Wye. It -is well, therefore, if possible, to stay here for -a day or two; and fortunately there is a nice -little hotel to stay in. There are hills near<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[Pg 228]</a></span> -and far, and on every hill are all the colours -of the rainbow, and with the passing of every -cloud the colours move and change. Close -at hand are slopes of bracken topped by -rugged crags; far away the hills of the Elan -Valley are blue and amethyst. The river -rushes through the town, giving to it its -name of Rhayader Gwy, the Falls of the Wye, -though the falls are not what they once -were, I believe, before the bridge was built. -Of course there is a castle-mound, for no -Welsh town of a respectable age is complete -without one. The castle itself has disappeared. -The days of its life, indeed, appear -to have been few and evil. It was built by -“the Lord Rhys,” the mightiest of all the -princes of the south, but so strenuous was -the life of his day that he was obliged to -rebuild it a few years later. Afterwards he -was for a short time imprisoned by his own -sons, and it was while he was in this undignified -position that his castle of Rhayader -was seized by his enemies. But these dim -memories have lately been eclipsed. Those -who visit Rhayader to-day think little of the -valorous and potent prince of ancient Wales;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[Pg 229]</a></span> -they think almost exclusively of the Birmingham -Waterworks. We may forgive them for -this, for the Birmingham Waterworks are -more romantic than one would expect—romantic -not merely as all great engineering -works must be, with the romance of enterprise -and achievement, but also romantically -beautiful. One may drive for miles beside -the lakes that wind into the heart of the -mountains, and would have so natural an -air if it were not for their mighty dams of -Caban, and Pen-y-Garreg, and Craig Goch. -It is a drive worth taking, for the road is -good, the mountains tower above it with -real grandeur, and the waters have pathos -as well as beauty. The legend of buried -houses and churches is common to many -lakes; but in the case of the lakes of Cwm -Elan it is no legend, but a fact, that their -waters flow over the ground where generations -of men have lived and worked, have -ploughed their fields and said their prayers. -The affairs of most of them are forgotten -as completely as their houses are buried, -but there is one memory here that no waters -can hide—whether of Cwm Elan or of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[Pg 230]</a></span> -chilly Serpentine or of the blue Mediterranean—the -memory of Percy and Harriet Shelley. -They lived here once, young and happy, and -would have thought it a wild prophecy indeed -if it had been foretold to them that not -only they themselves, but even their quiet -homestead among the green fields, would be -destroyed by water.</p> - -<p>From Rhayader to Newbridge the road -still closely follows the river, which, as we -watch it mile by mile, gradually becomes -wider and calmer. For the first few miles -the banks are wild enough, and very beautiful; -then suddenly the river is hidden from -us by the deep shades and countless stems -of Doldowlod Woods, where James Watt -once lived; and by the time we dart out -into the sunlight again we are nearing Newbridge. -On this road there is nothing to -limit our speed except the law, for from end -to end of the Wye the surface is good, and -there are no hills that deserve the name. -At Newbridge we leave the river for a few -miles, but join it again near Builth, and -cross it to enter that town.</p> - -<p>Builth is unattractive. It professes to be<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[Pg 231]</a></span> -a Spa, but I never heard of any one who -drank the waters; and it is hardly likely to -become popular, since all the charms of -Llanwrtyd Wells are but thirteen miles away -on the one side, and all the fashion of Llandrindod -only seven miles away on the other. -Llanwrtyd is a delightful little place, with -a good hotel and lovely surroundings, unspoilt -as yet by popularity; while Llandrindod, as -every one knows, is beloved by so many that -it is no longer very lovable. Builth has little -to offer in rivalry of these, and indeed makes -small show of hospitality, maintaining in this -matter the character it earned long ago, -when it refused to admit its fugitive prince, -the last Llewelyn. It is only a little way -from here to the dell whither he struggled -through the snow from this his treacherous -town, only to find fresh treachery, and to -die through its means. His dust lies, they -say, at the spot called Cefn-y-Bedd, or the -Bank of the Grave; and here in quite recent -times a monument of stone has been set up. -It stands close to the wayside on the road -from Builth to Llanwrtyd.</p> - -<p>This, however, is not our road, which<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[Pg 232]</a></span> -follows the Wye very closely for a time; -through Erwood, where from the top of a -slight rise we have a wide and beautiful -view; past Llyswen and the “Three Cocks,” -one of the most famous of fishing inns, and -through Glasbury to Hay. We are now in -a broad and fertile valley; the hills are -wooded; the river is growing slow and -stately in its demeanour. The whole aspect -of the country has changed, for at Hay we -shall leave all the wildness of Wales behind -us, and shall enter the quiet, homely county -of Hereford.</p> - -<p>“I cam <i>in crepusculo</i> to the Hay,” says -Leland, and he chose his time wisely.</p> - -<p>Hay, or La Haie, as it was originally called, -was once the meeting-ground of all those -turbulent mediæval passions that flourished -so exceedingly on the border. For this -reason it is full of ghosts. From this, the -Welsh side, it has rather an undistinguished -air, but when first seen by twilight from the -English side, with the Black Mountains -lowering behind it, and the remains of its -grim castle dominating it, little Hay seizes -the imagination. For those who approach<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[Pg 233]</a></span> -it thus <i>in crepusculo</i>, like Leland, the past -for ever lives in its commonplace streets -more insistently than the present; lives above -all in its castle—“the which sumetime hath -bene right stately”—the castle with the long, -picturesque flight of steps, and the longer -and still more picturesque history. Through -that great doorway many feet have passed -that never came out, for those that entered -the castle of Hay did it at their peril. The -greater part of the building as it now stands -is of Tudor date, but the entrance has by -some means survived since King John’s time, -and this in spite of difficulties: for the place -was plundered during the Border Wars, -destroyed by the Welsh themselves in self-defence, -rebuilt by Henry III., captured by -Llewelyn, retaken by Prince Edward, captured -once more by Llewelyn’s grandson, and -finally suffered the general fate of Welsh -castles. “Now being almost totally decay’d,” -says Camden, “it complains of the outrages -of that profligate Rebel, Owen Glyn Dowrdwy, -who in his March through these Countries -consumed it with fire.”</p> - -<p>This last disaster may account for the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[Pg 234]</a></span> -entirely modern appearance of the houses; -but there is nothing, no slate roof, no shop-window -full of cheap blouses, that can make -one forget the haunting presence of those -that walk unseen in Hay—the undying ghosts -of a hundred battles, murders, and sudden -deaths.</p> - -<p>Soon after leaving Hay we pass the -remains of Clifford Castle. Here was born -Jane de Clifford, destined to be so fair that -men would call her the Rose of the World; -and here no doubt she played her childish -games on the banks of the Wye, with no -disturbing visions of that harder game which -she was to play later on and finally to lose. -The story of the avenging poison-cup is -untrue, we are told: it was in the nunnery -of Godstow that Fair Rosamund died, and -was buried beneath the cruellest epitaph, -surely, that was ever graven on a tomb.</p> - -<div class="center"> -<img id="ill52" src="images/ill52.jpg" width="425" height="600" alt="" /> -<p class="caption">CONFLUENCE OF THE WYE AND THE MARTEG NEAR RHAYADER.</p></div> - -<div class="center"> -<img id="ill53" src="images/ill53.jpg" width="600" height="378" alt="" /> -<p class="caption">HEREFORD.</p></div> - -<p>Two miles beyond Clifford is the toll-bridge -of Whitney, and this we cross with a pretty -view of the river on each side of us. Our -way lies through Letton, past the turn to -Monnington—which claims to be the burial-place -of Owen Glyndwr—and through Bridge<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">[Pg 235]</a></span> -Sollars to Hereford. The landscape all the -way is characteristic of the country: a scene -of quiet fields and gentle river, of thatched -cottages and gay gardens. It is not exciting, -but it is extremely pleasant. Characteristic -as it is, however, it does not represent -Herefordshire at its best. The hills above -Ledbury, the hop-gardens round Leominster, -the woods and the wide views near Richard’s -Castle, are all more distinctive and more -beautiful than this part of the Wye Valley. -Indeed, if we were not at this moment -pledged to follow the Wye we should do -well to drive from Hay to Hereford by way -of the Golden Valley, though the journey -is considerably longer and the road by no -means so good. This valley was originally -named by the British, from the river that -runs through it, the Valley of the Dore, or of -the Water, for <i>water</i> is in Welsh <i>dwr</i>. The -Normans, jumping to conclusions, translated -this into <i>Val d’Or</i>, and so it became the -Golden Valley; “which name,” says Camden, -“It may well be thought to deserve, for its -golden, rich, and pleasant fertility.”</p> - -<p>But it is improbable that either the fertility<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[Pg 236]</a></span> -of the “Gilden Vale” or the remains of -Abbeydore Monastery will tempt a motorist -to leave the splendid road that will lead him -into Hereford by Letton, and Bridge Sollars, -and the White Cross that was set up in the -fourteenth century when the plague was -raging in Hereford, to mark the spot where -the infection ceased, and where, in consequence, -it was safe to hold a market. Here, -on the left, lies the suburb of Widemarsh -and beyond it the Racecourse, where the promising -youth who was afterwards Edward I. -showed at an early age that genius for -extremely practical jokes that he used at -the expense of the Welsh later on. He was -the prisoner of Simon de Montfort on this -occasion, and was taking a ride with a -certain number of attendants. He guilelessly -suggested that his guards should ride races -among themselves, while he amused himself -by looking on; then, when their horses were -tired, he upon his fresh one galloped off to -Dinmore Hill, where the Mortimers of Wigmore -were waiting for him. This incident -took place in Widemarsh; and in Widemarsh -too is a relic that is worth seeking out before<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">[Pg 237]</a></span> -we drive into the heart of the town—the -preaching-cross of the Dominicans, which, -with the ruins of a thirteenth-century -monastery, stands among the cabbages of -the Coningsby Hospital. The latter is an -Elizabethan foundation, and with the red -coats of its pensioners is in itself a picturesque -object in a town that is not very -rich in visible memorials of its great history. -We may look in vain for the castle that -was, according to Leland, the largest and -strongest in all England; the castle that -was repaired by King Harold and was once -so splendid with its ten wall-towers and great -keep; where Ranulph of Normandy stayed, -and Tostig, and King John, where John of -Gaunt was governor, were Simon de Montfort -imprisoned Prince Edward after the -Battle of Lewes, where Isabella proclaimed -her son Edward III. Protector of England, -and where Owen Tudor was a prisoner. As -it suffered no less than three sieges during -the Civil War, and when they were over its -remains were sold for £85, we need not be -surprised that the castle is now represented -by a public garden, where the youthful<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[Pg 238]</a></span> -citizens of Hereford may play leap-frog over -the spot where kings have feasted and made -history. And not only has the castle disappeared, -but even of the old houses there -are very few remaining, as may be judged -by the name of the fine one that stands in -the principal street of the town. In Chester, -Worcester, or Shrewsbury, “The Old House” -would not be a very distinguishing name!</p> - -<p>The chief point of interest in Hereford is, -of course, the Cathedral, with its long and -somewhat confusing history. An endless -number of people have had a hand in the -building of it, apparently, from the days -when Offa of Mercia enriched the shrine of -his murdered guest, Ethelbert of East Anglia, -till the quite recent and rather unfortunate -day when the west front was finished. The -consequence of this diversity of builders is -that Hereford Cathedral, with its austere -Norman south transept, its Early English -Lady-Chapel, its Decorated south choir-transept, -and its Perpendicular cloister, is -a complete Guide of Architecture.</p> - -<div class="center"> -<img id="ill54" src="images/ill54.jpg" width="600" height="379" alt="" /> -<p class="caption">THE PREACHING CROSS, HEREFORD.</p></div> - -<div class="center"> -<img id="ill55" src="images/ill55.jpg" width="600" height="363" alt="" /> -<p class="caption">ROSS FROM WILTON.</p></div> - -<p>It was as the shrine of St. Ethelbert that it -first became important. There is a good deal<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[Pg 239]</a></span> -of disagreement on the subject of Ethelbert’s -death. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, for instance, -says <i>tout court</i> that in 792 Offa commanded -the head of King Ethelbert to be -cut off; whereas Matthew of Westminster -gives quite a different version of the affair, -completely exonerating Offa, “that most -noble and most illustrious and most high-born -king.” It was Offa’s queen, Quendritha, -he says, who caused a peculiarly comfortable -armchair to be placed in the bedroom of her -visitor the King of East Anglia, and beneath -it “a deep hole to be dug”—with very unpleasant -consequences for the visitor. When -the horrified Offa heard of Ethelbert’s fate -he shut himself up and refused food. “But,” -adds Matthew, “although he was quite innocent -of all participation in the King’s death, -he nevertheless sent a powerful expedition -and annexed the Kingdom of the East Angles -to his own dominions.”</p> - -<p>The murdered guest, whoever his murderer, -was first buried at the spot still called St. -Ethelbert’s Well, and afterwards in Hereford -Cathedral, to its great enrichment.</p> - -<p>There are several roads from Hereford to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[Pg 240]</a></span> -Ross, none of which follow the river closely. -The most commonly used—being the least -hilly—is by Bridstow and Much Birch. Between -this road and the Wye are still to be -seen traces of the College of Llanfrother, -founded by Dubritius, that great Archbishop -of Caerleon who preached so movingly at -King Arthur’s coronation and then resigned -his see to the still greater St. David. On the -other side of the Wye is a shorter, but after -the first five or six miles a more hilly route, -with some fine backward views and some -glimpses of the river. The surface of this -road is all that can be desired, and the hills -are by no means formidable; but as one -approaches Ross the country is rather uninteresting.</p> - -<p>Ross itself may be regarded as a monument -to one John Kyrle.</p> - -<div class="center"><div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<div class="i0">“Rise, honest muse, and sing the Man of Ross! [cries Pope]</div> -<div class="i0">Whose causeway paves the vale with shady rows?</div> -<div class="i0">Whose seats the weary traveller repose?</div> -<div class="i0">Who taught that heaven-directed spire to rise?</div> -<div class="i0">‘The <i>Man of Ross</i>,’ each lisping babe replies.”</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>The lisping babe, however, is making a mis<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">[Pg 241]</a></span>take, -for the Man of Ross only taught the spire -to rise forty-seven feet; and, moreover, it has -been destroyed by lightning and rebuilt since -his day (which was a very long day, lasting -from 1637 to 1724). “A small exaggeration -you must allow me as a poet,” said Pope. -But the fame of John Kyrle does not depend -upon the spire alone, for he did much to -improve the town, and did it, too, on a very -small income. “He was a very humble, good-natured -man ... of little or no literature,” -an eighteenth-century diarist says of him. -“His estate was £500 per ann., and no -more, with which he did wonders.” It was -not, however, by means of this modest estate -alone that he won his lasting fame as a -philanthropist, but also by untiring energy -and skill in the art of beggary, and the -judicious use of other men’s money. In the -case of the church bell it was his own money -that he used, and his own silver goblet also. -While the bell was in process of casting he -drank to Church and King, and then flung -the goblet into the molten metal—that after -serving for the sacred toast it might be for -ever consecrated to sacred uses. This incident<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">[Pg 242]</a></span> -adds a touch of the picturesque to the sterling -qualities of the benevolent old gentleman to -whom Ross owes its public walks, and the -<i>Prospect</i> that quaint Gilpin of the eighteenth -century described as “an amusing view.” -Ross repays him by keeping his name green. -It also—not entirely without difficulty—keeps -green the two elm-suckers that long ago -forced their way beneath the wall of the -church and rose (being elms of Ross) in the -pew of John Kyrle. They have been dead -for some time, but they are still draped carefully -with foliage to keep up the illusion. -The church itself is fairly old, and has some -interesting monuments, including an ugly one -tardily raised to the memory of the Man of -Ross.</p> - -<p>In the town the most cherished relics are, -of course, Kyrle’s house and the carved monogram -he is supposed to have placed on the -outer wall of the Market Hall. The letters -“F.C.” are interlaced with a heart, and are -said to represent the words, “<i>Faithful to -Charles in heart</i>,” for Kyrle was devoted to -the Stuarts. Charles I. himself slept once in -this town, and other kings have visited it,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">[Pg 243]</a></span> -but none has distinguished himself here save -George IV. The Mayor of Ross sallied forth -to meet him, as mayors use, wreathed in -smiles and primed with speeches. By way -of response to all this loyalty and eloquence, -however, “the first gentleman in Europe” -merely pulled down the blinds of the carriage! -History does not record the mayor’s -next proceeding. The position strikes one as -difficult.</p> - -<p>Close to Ross and on our way to Monmouth -is Wilton, which is reached by a beautiful and -ancient bridge of six arches, whence there is -a good view of Ross, clustered prettily on its -hill and surmounted by its heaven-directed -spire. Part of this bridge was broken down -during the Civil War to prevent Cromwell’s -army from reaching Hereford. The castle, -too, fell into the hands of the Royalists, -though its owner had carefully refrained -from supporting either side, with the result -that he offended both. The ruins now enclose -a private garden and are fairly picturesque -though they hardly compensate for an interrupted -run. Within these walls, of which so -very little is left, the poet Spenser was once<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">[Pg 244]</a></span> -entertained in the days of the Greys. Later -on the castle was owned by the family of -Brydges, one of whom, when he was Deputy-Lieutenant -of the Tower, was the means, -either deliberately or from mere procrastination, -of securing for England one of the most -glorious reigns in her history. The warrant -for the execution of Princess Elizabeth -reached the Tower, but Charles Brydges -delayed to carry it out. While he was -waiting Queen Mary died.</p> - -<p>From Wilton to Monmouth the scenery -grows in beauty. At Goodrich Cross we -should turn sharply to the left to visit the -castle, and this is a matter that will take -some time. For in the first place the castle -is at some distance from the road, and in the -second place there is much to see, and much, -too, to hear. Yet there is little history connected -with Goodrich, considering its age and -dignity, and the great names of Pembroke -and Talbot that are bound up with it. Its -name, apparently is a corruption of <i>Godric</i>, -who built a fort here before the Conquest, -though the oldest part of the present ruin -is said to date from the twelfth century. In<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">[Pg 245]</a></span> -the Civil War it endured two sieges, and it -was after the second one, which lasted for five -months, that the Parliament dismantled it. -Except on this one dramatic occasion, Goodrich -figured little in public life. It is the -antiquary rather than the historian who will -find it of absorbing interest, for the arches -and Norman ornaments of the keep date from -Stephen’s reign, and many styles of architecture -are represented in the various galleries, -sallyports, and towers, which have been -gradually added by the successive owners of -the castle. Greatest of these was Talbot, first -Earl of Shrewsbury and hero of forty fights, -“a valiant man, of an invincible, unconquered -spirit.” He is said to have added a room to -the keep, whence he must often have seen, -as we may see, the Malvern Hills and the -Welsh mountains in the distance, with -Symond’s Yat and the Kymin nearer at -hand.</p> - -<p>Below Goodrich is Huntsham Ferry, which -Henry IV. was in the act of crossing when -he heard of the birth of his son, afterwards -Henry V. So great was his excitement on -this occasion that he impulsively presented<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">[Pg 246]</a></span> -the ferry and its profits to the ferryman, -whose heirs held this possession for generations.</p> - -<p>About three miles from Goodrich we have -to climb a short hill with a gradient of -1 in 10; the steepest, I think, on this Wye -Valley road. From the top of it we run -down on an easy slope past the wall of -Wyaston Leys and through the woods behind -the Little Doward, with a beautiful -view—unfortunately visible only in glimpses—of -the winding river as it bends away towards -Symond’s Yat. At the foot of the hill we -enter Monmouth.</p> - -<p>Now Monmouth, or some spot quite near -it, is without doubt the best motoring centre -on the Wye. The town itself is not so -pleasant to stay in as Ross or Tintern, where -there are hotels in pretty positions with nice -gardens; but to the motorist this is less -important than to others, since he will -probably spend the day on the road. The -important thing is to have a variety of -interesting roads upon which to spend it. -From Monmouth, one may drive up the Wye -to Goodrich, Hereford, and Hay; or down<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">[Pg 247]</a></span> -the Wye to Tintern and Chepstow; or -through the Forest of Dean on the further -side of the river; or to Raglan, eight miles -away, and on to Abergavenny; or past Abergavenny -and the Holy Mountain into the -wild Vale of Ewyas to far Llanthony.</p> - -<p>“I’ll tell you, there is goot men porn at -Monmouth,” says Fluellen, thinking of his -king; and it is of Harry of Monmouth that -we too think as we wake the echoes of his -birthplace with our horn—those echoes that -have so often answered to the “tucket” of -John of Gaunt and of many another. Some -say that it was John of Gaunt who built -the castle in which his grandson was born, -but whether this be the case or not there was -a castle on this spot long before his day, -though little seems to be known of it. The -probability is that John of Gaunt improved -and repaired the castle that was already -there. The existing building has had an -unusually chequered career even for a castle, -having been in turn a palace, a pig-stye, an -assize court, and a barrack. Even in James -I.’s time it was said “that his Majestie hath -one ancient castell, called Monmouth Castell<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">[Pg 248]</a></span> -... 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.” “Harry’s Window,” but -little else, survives as a shrine to the king -whose name is still “a name to conjure -with.” His statue stands on the town-hall, -but the bells of St. Mary’s are the best -memorial of Prince Hal, though their story -is more characteristic of the rollicking schoolboy -of Shakespeare than of the wise and -soldierly monarch of history. Time was -when these bells rang out over the town -of Calais. They were doing so when Harry -of Monmouth heard them first, and were, in -point of fact, celebrating his departure from -the shores of France with so much joyousness -that the demonstration seemed to him -to be carried too far. He vowed that they -should ring no more insolent peals in Calais, -and forthwith ordered them to be taken down -and carried to his native town.</p> - -<p>His town has other memories than his, and -even other famous windows than “Harry’s.” -There is a fine oriel window, belonging now<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">[Pg 249]</a></span> -to a school, but carefully preserved in honour -of a twelfth-century archdeacon, who was -none other than that Geoffrey of Monmouth -whom Camden describes as “an Author well -skill’d in Antiquities, but, as it seems, not of -entire credit.” I fear there is little to be -said in defence of Geoffrey’s credit as a -historian, and there are those who say that -his window is no more authentic than his -writings.</p> - -<p>Monmouth, like Hereford, is not rich in -relics. Of its defences, its walls and its four -gates, there is left only one gate on the -Monnow Bridge, but of this the foundations -are so old that there is no record of their -origin. The form of the gateway itself has -been slightly altered from time to time to -suit increasing traffic, but its picturesqueness -is uninjured. Through its arch we must pass -on our way to Raglan and Abergavenny and -Llanthony.</p> - -<p>It is possible, of course, to see all these -places on the same day, but it is not desirable. -At Raglan one should have a leisured -mind, undisturbed by thoughts of space or -time or possible punctures. There are seats<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">[Pg 250]</a></span> -on its green terraces where one might sit -happily all day under the shadow of the -Yellow Tower of Gwent, seeing, not only -the straight, stern lines of the great citadel -rising from the moat, and the beautiful -windows beyond, and the machicolated -towers that flank the entrance, but also, -as clearly as these, the pageantry and -doughty deeds of long-dead but unforgotten -Somersets. Some of them lost their heads -in defence of the Rose of York, and some -lost theirs for the Rose of Lancaster, and -one, the most famous of all, lost the home -of his fathers in the cause of the thankless -Stuarts. Charles I. himself—for whose sake -all this splendour of banqueting-halls and -state-rooms and strong defences was made -a ruin—has stood upon this terrace and -looked up at the great keep to which he -was so fatal, has feasted in the Elizabethan -Hall, has ridden between the entrance-towers -in state, and has come to them for safety -as a fugitive. It was after the Battle of -Naseby that he fled for protection to the -house whose hospitalities he knew so well, -and whose owner, the first Marquis of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">[Pg 251]</a></span> -Worcester, had raised an army of two -thousand men to fight for the King. Somewhere, -in some dark corner within those -walls that were then so stately, Lord -Worcester met his ruined King by stealth, -and being aged and infirm was obliged to -call for help before he could kneel, as it -behoved him, before the fugitive. “Sire,” -said the old man weeping, “I have not a -thought in my heart that tends not to the -service of my God and you;” and he put -three hundred pounds into the royal hand -that took so much and gave so little. It -closed upon this gift, as it closed a few -days later upon the waistcoat that the Vicar -of Goodrich, Dean Swift’s grandfather, had -lined with Broad Pieces. There was one -occasion, it is true, when Charles feared -his entertainment might be too costly to -Lord Worcester, and suggested pleasantly -that supplies should be wrung from the -neighbouring peasants. But Worcester was -prouder than the King, “My castle would -not stand long,” he said, “if it leaned upon -the country.”</p> - -<div class="center"> -<img id="ill56" src="images/ill56.jpg" width="600" height="380" alt="" /> -<p class="caption">MONNOW BRIDGE, MONMOUTH.</p></div> - -<div class="center"> -<img id="ill57" src="images/ill57.jpg" width="382" height="600" alt="" /> -<p class="caption">RAGLAN CASTLE, ENTRANCE TOWER.</p></div> - -<p>Even as matters were, his castle did not<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">[Pg 252]</a></span> -stand long. It held for the King till the -last barrel of powder was opened; but the -sad day came when the gallant old man of -eighty-five passed for the last time through -his own great gateway, between those warlike -towers that had fought their last fight. -He marched out to the sound of music and -with all the honours of war, but his heart -was broken, and after a short imprisonment -in the custody of Black Rod, he died. “When -I spoke with the man,” he said of his guardian, -“I found him a very civil gentleman, but I -saw no black rod.”</p> - -<p>With this splendid old warrior the glory -of Raglan departed. Fairfax so dealt with -it that neither blood nor wine should ever -be spilt within its walls again; and the work -begun by him was finished by private enterprise. -It is said that twenty-three staircases -have been stolen from the ruins of Raglan.</p> - -<p>About eight miles beyond Raglan is Abergavenny, -lying peacefully—forgetful of its -lurid past—in the shadow of the Holy -Mountain. There is about Abergavenny -now a peculiar serenity that is only equalled -by the darkness of its history. Not very<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">[Pg 253]</a></span> -much is left of the Castle, of which Giraldus -Cambrensis, the historian, said that “it was -more dishonoured by treachery than any -other in Wales”; and what there is of it -is dishonoured now by swing-boats and -asphalt lawn-tennis courts. If these attractions -appeal to us we may enter the walls -by paying twopence; but in the twelfth -century the Seisyllts—the ancestors of the -Cecils—found that entering Abergavenny -Castle cost them more than this. One of -them, in the absence of the Norman lord -of the place, was having a friendly chat one -day with the constable. There was a part -of the wall that was in some way weaker -than the rest, and Seisyllt, pointing laughingly -to this spot, said in the manner of one who -jests, “We shall come in there to-night.” -The constable took the precaution of keeping -guard till daylight, then went to sleep. A -few hours later he and his wife were prisoners -and the castle was captured and burnt.</p> - -<p>It was after this, I believe, when the castle -had been rebuilt, that the villain, William -de Braose, invited the princes of South Wales -to a banquet in these halls, picked a quarrel<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">[Pg 254]</a></span> -with them at his own table, and had them -massacred before his eyes. He then solemnly -thanked God for the fortunate issue of the -affair, and more especially for the lands of -the dead Seisyllts. For this William de -Braose, traitor, murderer, and robber, never -forgot to be pious. “He always placed the -name of the Lord before his sentences,” says -Giraldus; and his letters “were loaded, or -rather honoured, with words expressive of -the divine indulgence, to a degree not only -tiresome to his scribe, but even to his -auditors; for as a reward to each of his -scribes for concluding his letters with the -words ‘by divine assistance’ he gave annually -a piece of gold.” In the matter of the murdered -Seisyllts, however, his thanksgiving -was premature, for there were Seisyllts still -alive who fell upon Abergavenny Castle and -demolished it.</p> - -<div class="center"> -<img id="ill58" src="images/ill58.jpg" width="381" height="600" alt="" /> -<p class="caption">THE MOAT, RAGLAN CASTLE.</p></div> - -<div class="center"> -<img id="ill59" src="images/ill59.jpg" width="600" height="447" alt="" /> -<p class="caption">LLANTHONY PRIORY.</p></div> - -<p>It raised its head again and took an active -part in larger wars; but it adds little nowadays -to the attraction of Abergavenny, whose -charms are altogether those of peacefulness -and depend on the quiet Usk, and the hills -that grow so purple against the evening sky.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">[Pg 255]</a></span> -To reach Llanthony we must drive on into -the heart of those hills, with the Skirrid Fawr, -or Holy Mountain, on the right and the Sugar -Loaf on the left; then, at Llanfihangel -Crucorney, turn sharply to the left down a -short but very steep hill, and so enter the -Vale of Ewyas. Soon after passing Cwmyoy -the road grows very narrow and hilly. At -Llanthony we can take our car into the -cloister-garth, for it is now the courtyard -of an inn.</p> - -<p>Long ago, when Rufus was king, a horseman -drew rein here and looked about him. -On every side he saw the grand, clear outline -of the hills, and the shadows of the -clouds sweeping across the fern and heather, -and the dark masses of the woods. Below -him the little Honddu glittered among the -trees, and far away at the head of the -valley the heights of the Black Mountains -rose between him and the world. And then -and there he vowed that they should rise -between him and the world while he lived, -and should guard his grave when he was -dead. We can see the same hills at this -moment rising blue and misty behind the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">[Pg 256]</a></span> -ruined towers of his Priory of Llanthony; -and only a few yards away, among the -grass and nettles, we can see the spot -where William de Lacy, soldier and monk, -was buried under the High Altar.</p> - -<p>William de Lacy was not the first to -whom this valley appealed as being “truly -fitted for contemplation, a happy and -delightful spot”; for long before his day -this very place to which he had wandered -by chance had been made sacred by the -prayers of the greatest of all Welsh saints, -St. David. We may say our prayers on the -self-same spot to-day, for over there, just -beyond the cloister-garth, where St. David -had long before made himself a hermitage, -de Lacy built a tiny chapel. For many -centuries the richly endowed Priory has -been deserted, roofless, desecrated; its very -arches are fringed with weeds, and fowls -peck at its grass-grown altar steps; but over -there in that plain little grey stone building -prayers are still rising Sunday by Sunday -from the spot where St. David knelt alone.</p> - -<p>Here in Llandewi Nanthodeni, or the -Church of St. David beside the river<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257">[Pg 257]</a></span> -Honddu, William de Lacy “laid aside his -belt and girded himself with a rope; -instead of fine linen he covered himself -with haircloth, and instead of his soldier’s -robe he loaded himself with weighty iron.” -His solitude did not last long. In those -roystering days the sudden piety of a -soldier of noble birth was not likely to -pass unnoticed, and Matilda, Henry I.’s -Queen, whom William of Malmesbury -describes as singularly holy and by no -means despicable in point of beauty, came -to visit the hermit in his hill-bound cell, -and playfully dropped a large purse of gold -into the folds of his coarse garments. His -fame grew. Soon there were many who -desired to share his seclusion, and still -more who, while not quite seeing their -way to the forsaking of this world, were -anxious to show their interest in the next. -The former gave their lives and the latter -their money, and so Llanthony Priory rose -in all its grace and simplicity, the quiet -lines of its architecture in perfect harmony -with those of the great hills that encircled -it. “The whole treasure of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258">[Pg 258]</a></span> -King and his kingdom,” said Henry I.’s -Prime Minister, “would not be sufficient to -build such a cloister.” The Court was -rather scandalised by this bold statement, -till the Prime Minister explained that “he -alluded to the cloister of mountains by -which this church is on every side surrounded.”</p> - -<p>Giraldus describes the place as he saw it -in the twelfth century. “A situation truly -calculated for religion,” he says, “and more -adapted to canonical discipline than all the -monasteries of the British Isles.... Here -the monks, sitting in their cloisters enjoying -the fresh air, when they happen to -look up towards the horizon, behold the tops -of the mountains as it were touching the -heavens, and herds of wild deer feeding on -their summits.” It is probable that when -the Augustinians of Llanthony looked up -towards the horizon it was not altogether -for the pleasure of seeing the wild deer. -They had other reasons for taking an -interest in the hills, which too often were -swarming with the hostile Welsh. It was -not long, indeed, before the brethren’s<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259">[Pg 259]</a></span> -terror of the Welsh grew stronger than -their love of isolation, and the greater -number of them fled to Gloucester, where -in a new Priory of Llanthony their meditations -were undisturbed.</p> - -<div class="center"> -<img id="ill60" src="images/ill60.jpg" width="600" height="450" alt="" /> -<p class="caption">INTERIOR OF LLANTHONY PRIORY, SHOWING THE EAST END.</p></div> - -<div class="center"> -<img id="ill61" src="images/ill61.jpg" width="389" height="600" alt="" /> -<p class="caption">TINTERN ABBEY.</p></div> - -<p>The beautiful valley, with its great, bare -hilltops and mysterious woods, its loneliness -and calm, its memories of saintly men, -attracted a poet of the last century so -strongly that he, like William de Lacy, -determined to stay here. Like de Lacy’s -monks, however, Walter Savage Landor -could not get on with his neighbours, and -after buying the ruins of the Priory and -building himself half a house he quarrelled -so thoroughly with all the countryside -that he thought he would have more peace -elsewhere. He lived in the rooms that -now form an inn, in the Prior’s Lodge, and -here Southey stayed with him.</p> - -<p>This run from Monmouth to Llanthony -is about twenty-five miles in length. If we -are not wedded to the high-road we may -return to Monmouth by another route—composed -almost entirely of byways and -in some cases very hilly ones—and so visit<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">[Pg 260]</a></span> -Grosmont and Skenfrith Castles. The red -towers of Grosmont stand, as the name -implies, on a hill that is not climbed -without an effort, and the ruin overlooks a -village that was once a town, and indeed -is technically a town still. It still possesses -a charter, I believe, and a Mayor’s staff; -but in the matter of size and prosperity it -has been no more than a village since the -day when Henry V., then Prince of Wales, -wrote to his “most redoubted and most -sovereign lord and father” in his “most -humble manner” to this effect: “On -Wednesday the eleventh day of this present -month of March (1405) your rebels of the -parts of Glamorgan, Morgannoc, Usk, -Netherwent, and Overwent, were assembled -to the number of eight thousand men, -according to their own account; and they -went on the said Wednesday in the morning, -and burnt part of your town of -Grosmont ... and I immediately sent off -my very dear cousin, the Lord Talbot, and -the small body of my own household ... -who were but a very small force in all.... -And there, by the aid of the Blessed<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261">[Pg 261]</a></span> -Trinity, your people gained the field and -vanquished all the said rebels, and slew of -them by fair account on the field on their -return from the chase, some say eight -hundred, and some say a thousand, being -questioned on pain of death. Nevertheless, -whether it were one or the other, on such -an account I would not contend.”</p> - -<p>That was a sad day for poor Alice Scudamore, -who lived hard by at Kentchurch -Court beyond the river Monnow; for Alice -Scudamore, or Skydmore, was the daughter -of Owen Glyndwr, and the dead men whom -Prince Henry left upon the field of -Grosmont were Owen’s followers. This -defeat was Owen’s first serious disaster, -and was for him the beginning of the end. -It is said that years later, after the end -had come, he lived for a time with his -daughter in the castellated tower that still -stands below the hill of Grosmont; and, -indeed, Kentchurch sometimes claims to be -his burial-place. But the claims of Monnington, -where another of his daughters lived, -are generally thought to be more authentic.</p> - -<p>By making a very short detour from the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262">[Pg 262]</a></span> -direct road we may see the ruins of Skenfrith -Castle on our way back to Monmouth. -Even in the seventeenth century this castle -was described as having been “decayed -time out of the memory of man,” and its -remains are now naturally scanty and not -especially picturesque. Far more interesting -than the castle is the church, with its -pretty timbered tower and fine sixteenth-century -tombs. At the vicarage is carefully -preserved the rarest treasure of this -church: a cope that dates from the days -before the Reformation.</p> - -<p>On the other side of Monmouth, beyond -the Wye, is the Forest of Dean, where one -may drive for miles through country nearly -as grand and quite as thickly wooded as -the Black Forest. In most cases the trees -are not nearly so fine as those of our own -New Forest, for the greater part of this -Forest of Dean was cut down to build our -victorious fleets of the eighteenth century; -but the width of view and the succession -of tree-clad hills rising one beyond another, -are compensations for the lack of magnificent -individual trees. Of these, however,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263">[Pg 263]</a></span> -there are a few, such as the Newland Oak -and the High Beeches. But on the whole -the beauty of Dean Forest lies in its distant -views, its great expanses of foliage -stretching away from one’s feet to the blue -horizon, as at the Speech House and above -Parkend, and at many another place; -though unfortunately many of these views -are partly, if not entirely, spoilt by the -black scars and smoking chimneys of the -collieries. The Speech House is now a -hotel, but it was originally built in -Charles II.’s day as a kind of Court House -in which to settle disputes connected with -the Forest. St. Briavel’s Castle, a few -miles further south than this, and nearer -the Wye, is a far older relic, for it is said -that it once sheltered King John. Be that -as it may, the little that is left of this castle -is peculiarly attractive. To reach it, or the -Speech House, or indeed to drive in the -Forest of Dean at all, one must be prepared -to encounter long hills with gradients in -some places not less than 1 in 7, and roads -that have suffered a good deal from the -heavy traffic connected with the mines.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264">[Pg 264]</a></span></p> - -<p>There is one expedition from Monmouth -that we cannot possibly undertake in a -car, yet should by no means omit. The -famous Symond’s Yat, with its perfect river -scenery, cannot be approached by road, but -it is easy to reach it by train, and very -delightful to return to Monmouth by water, -past the great limestone crags known as -the Seven Sisters. At the hotel, where the -train deposits one, the attraction is simply -the view of the river and its wooded -banks, but for the energetic this view may -be much enlarged by half an hour’s climb -to the summit of the Yat itself, where -those who enjoy scenery in proportion to -the number of counties visible, may have -the satisfaction of seeing seven. It was -near Symond’s Yat, at a defile significantly -called The Slaughter to this day, that the -Danes, under Eric of the Bloody Axe, were -defeated by King Alfred’s son Edward the -Elder, named also the Unconquered, whom -Matthew of Westminster declares to have -been “even more glorious than his father -for power and dignity.”</p> - -<p>The last fifteen miles of the Wye Valley,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265">[Pg 265]</a></span> -from Monmouth to Chepstow, where the -Wye falls into the estuary of the Severn, are -probably as beautiful as any fifteen miles -of English road. It is late in May or early -in October that we should drive along this -road to see it at its best, for the whole -landscape is filled with trees. The quiet -river, with the road close beside it, winds -between two wooded heights from Redbrook -to the Severn. A gentle rise takes us out -of Redbrook, which has spoilt its beauty -by manufacturing tin-plate; then we run -down to Bigsweir Bridge, and cross it, with -a lovely view downstream; pass Llandogo, -where the Wye becomes tidal; pass Brockweir -with its ferry; and driving through -Tintern Parva come within sight of the -unsurpassed beauty of Tintern Abbey.</p> - -<p>Go to Tintern again and again, for it -never palls. See it when the trees are first -breaking into leaf, and all the leaves are -of different colours; and see it again -against the heavy foliage of the summer -woods; and again when the hills behind -it are red and gold in autumn. For the -Cistercians, though they denied art, were<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_266" id="Page_266">[Pg 266]</a></span> -surely admirable artists; and being forbidden -by their stern rule to adorn their churches -with coloured glass or superfluous carving, -they raised for themselves buildings of -perfect form in the loveliest places in all -England, where in spring and autumn the -cold grey stone of their exquisite windows -was the frame of fairer colours than were -ever stained on glass.</p> - -<p>It was of this abbey that the incomparable -Gilpin wrote quite gravely: “A number -of gable-ends hurt the eye with their regularity -and disgust it by the vulgarity of -their shape.” A mallet, judiciously used, -he suggested, might make improvements. -Unfortunately time and long neglect have -done only too much towards the ruin of -Tintern, without any help from the judicious -mallet of Gilpin. For many years the -place was utterly uncared for; the stones -were used by any one who wished to build -a cottage, and an old beggar-woman made -her dwelling in the library of the monks. -This was long ago: every care is given to -Tintern now. The floor of the nave is -covered with well-kept turf, the fallen<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_267" id="Page_267">[Pg 267]</a></span> -fragments of masonry are gathered together, -the weak places of the building are strengthened -wherever it is possible. But the -alarming curves of the arches bear witness -to past neglect, and the timid tourist is -appalled by the ominous warning on the -notice-board: “Persons who visit this Abbey -do so at their own risk.” This is discouraging.</p> - -<div class="center"> -<img id="ill62" src="images/ill62.jpg" width="381" height="600" alt="" /> -<p class="caption">TINTERN ABBEY.</p></div> - -<div class="center"> -<img id="ill63" src="images/ill63.jpg" width="600" height="354" alt="" /> -<p class="caption">CHEPSTOW CASTLE.</p></div> - -<p>From Tintern the road rises for about -three miles towards the splendid scenery -of the Wyndcliff. The river winds below, -and beyond it among the trees a discerning -eye may detect the straight ridge of Offa’s -Dyke. The view from the road as it passes -beneath the famous cliff is wonderfully -beautiful—a view of tortuous river and -height beyond height of woodland, and -gleaming in the distance the waters of -the Severn estuary: and those who climb -the Wyndcliff come down again well contented, -having seen nine counties.</p> - -<p>As we pass the little village at St. Arvan’s -the river is completely hidden by the walls -and trees of Piercefield Park. A gentle -descent of about two miles brings us to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_268" id="Page_268">[Pg 268]</a></span> -the steep hill that winds downwards into -Chepstow above the castle, passing under -one of the old town-gates.</p> - -<p>“The towne of Chepstow hath bene very -strongly waulled,” says Leland. “The waulles -began at the ende of the great bridge over -Wy, and so cam to the castel, the which -yet standeth fayr and strong.” To all -appearances, as seen from the further side -of Wye, it is strong still, and fair it certainly -is, standing high upon the red cliffs -that add so much to the beauty of this -last bend of the river. It covers three -acres of ground, but as it is built in a -succession of courts, sloping upwards one -above the other, the whole of its great -length may be seen at once and the effect -is very fine. This castle, since it was built -by William FitzOsborne, Earl of Hereford, -soon after the Conquest, has seen a good -deal of life, and even more of death. Its -second owner forfeited it, being of too independent -a temperament to please the King. -William, having safely imprisoned this -rebellious Roger, sent him as an Easter -gift his own royal robes—an attention that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_269" id="Page_269">[Pg 269]</a></span> -was meant well, but was not very tactful. -Earl Roger “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.” -This was his last act of rebellion. “By -the brightness of God,” exclaimed the flouted -King, “he shall never come out of prison -as long as I live!”</p> - -<p>Later on the castle passed to the great -house of Clare.</p> - -<div class="center"><div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<div class="i0">“From Chepstow’s towers, ere dawn of morn,</div> -<div class="i0">Was heard afar the bugle-horn;</div> -<div class="i0">And forth in banded pomp and pride</div> -<div class="i0">Stout Clare and fiery Neville ride.”<a name="FNanchor_13" id="FNanchor_13"></a><a href="#Footnote_13" class="fnanchor">[13]</a></div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>The greatest of the Clares, Richard Strongbow, -sometimes called the Conqueror of -Ireland, was born at Chepstow; “a man tall -in stature,” we are told, “and of great generosity, -and courteous manner.... In time of -peace he was more disposed to be led by -others than to command,” but “the post he -occupied in battle was a sure rallying-point -for his troops.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_270" id="Page_270">[Pg 270]</a></span></p> - -<p>The castle passed from hand to hand -through the stirring centuries that followed -Strongbow’s day. In the Civil War it had -many adventures. It held for the King at -first, was taken by the army of the Parliament, -and was recaptured by a handful -of Royalists under Sir Nicholas Kemys, by -guile rather than by force. “On the whole,” -says Carlyle, “Cromwell will have to go.... -Let him march swiftly!” He marched swiftly -and took the town of Chepstow, but besieged -the castle in vain. Carlyle tells the tale in -few words: “Castle will not surrender,—he -leaves Colonel Ewer to do the Castle; who, -after four weeks, does it.” It was not easily, -however, that Colonel Ewer “did it.” The -garrison, reduced to nineteen, held out till -they were starving, and even then determined, -not on surrender, but on flight. Their -boat lay ready beneath the walls, waiting -for the darkness. But when night came no -boat was there, for a soldier of the Parliament, -a man of keen eyes, had detected -both the boat and her object, and, with a -knife between his teeth, had swum across -the Wye and cut the rope that moored her<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_271" id="Page_271">[Pg 271]</a></span> -to the river-bank. The next day the nineteen -Royalists surrendered. Thus Colonel -Ewer “did the castle.”</p> - -<p>During the Commonwealth Jeremy Taylor, -the author of “Holy Living and Holy Dying”—according -to Coleridge the most eloquent -of divines—was imprisoned in Chepstow -Castle as a follower of Archbishop Laud: -and here, too, when Cromwell’s day was -over, Sir Henry Marten, the regicide, suffered -a mild form of imprisonment for -twenty years. He was allowed not only to -receive his friends but to visit them, and he -was not deprived of the companionship of -his wife. From what I read, however, I -cannot assure myself that he appreciated -the last of these privileges. He was buried -in Chepstow Church, under an epitaph that -he composed himself—a rhyming epitaph of -a high moral tone. Yet neither poetry nor -morality was Marten’s strong point. At a -later date a loyalist vicar removed from -the chancel to the nave the bones of the -man who had signed Charles I.’s death-warrant.</p> - -<p>Chepstow Church once formed part of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_272" id="Page_272">[Pg 272]</a></span> -a Benedictine Priory connected with the -Norman Abbey of Cormeilles, and was originally -the nave of a larger building. It dates -from early in the twelfth century; and even -if one has not time to enter the church it -is well worth while to drive past the beautiful -Early Norman entrance. There are -some interesting tombs within, notably that -of the second Earl of Worcester, who was -present at the Field of the Cloth of Gold.</p> - -<p>Two miles south of Chepstow is Mathern, -where Tewdric of Glamorganshire, saint and -king, was buried. He was killed in a battle -fought at Tintern, and in the year 600 a -chapel was built here as a shrine for him.</p> - -<p>“Wye also,” says Leland, “a very great -and famose river, passeth through Ventland, -and at S. Tereudake’s Chapel entereth ynto -Severn.”</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_273" id="Page_273">[Pg 273]</a></span></p> - -<h2><a name="INDEX" id="INDEX">INDEX</a></h2> - -<ul class="index"><li class="ifrst">Abbeydore, <a href="#Page_236">236</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Abbey Foregate, Shrewsbury, <a href="#Page_24">24</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Aber, <a href="#Page_101">101</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Aberaeron, <a href="#Page_222">222</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Aberavon, <a href="#Page_180">180</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Aberconwy, <a href="#Page_82">82</a>, <a href="#Page_88">88</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Aberdaron, <a href="#Page_112">112</a>, <a href="#Page_115">115-117</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Aberdovy, <a href="#Page_152">152-155</a>, <a href="#Page_157">157</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Abergavenny, <a href="#Page_247">247</a>, <a href="#Page_249">249</a>, <a href="#Page_252">252-254</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Abergele, <a href="#Page_84">84</a>, <a href="#Page_85">85</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Aberglaslyn, Pass of, <a href="#Page_94">94</a>, <a href="#Page_95">95</a>, <a href="#Page_110">110</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Abergwili, <a href="#Page_190">190</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Aberteifi, <a href="#Page_219">219</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Aberystwith, <a href="#Page_141">141</a>, <a href="#Page_142">142-145</a>, <a href="#Page_148">148</a>, <a href="#Page_149">149</a>, <a href="#Page_222">222</a>, <a href="#Page_225">225</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Agincourt, <a href="#Page_152">152</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Alaw, River, <a href="#Page_121">121</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Albright Hussey, <a href="#Page_46">46</a>, <a href="#Page_47">47</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Alla Wen, <a href="#Page_97">97</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Anglesey, <a href="#Page_100">100-102</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, <a href="#Page_239">239</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Arthur, King, <a href="#Page_115">115</a>, <a href="#Page_167">167</a>, <a href="#Page_168">168</a>, <a href="#Page_240">240</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Arthur, Prince, <a href="#Page_6">6</a>, <a href="#Page_9">9</a>, <a href="#Page_14">14</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Atcham, <a href="#Page_25">25</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Bala, <a href="#Page_152">152</a>, <a href="#Page_159">159-161</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Bala, Lake of, <a href="#Page_159">159</a>, <a href="#Page_162">162</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Baldwin, Archbishop, <a href="#Page_102">102</a>, <a href="#Page_118">118</a>, <a href="#Page_119">119</a>, <a href="#Page_172">172</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Bangor, <a href="#Page_98">98</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Bardsey, <a href="#Page_112">112</a>, <a href="#Page_115">115</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Baring-Gould, Rev. S., <a href="#Page_147">147</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Barlow, Bishop, <a href="#Page_199">199</a>, <a href="#Page_213">213</a>, <a href="#Page_214">214</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Barmouth, <a href="#Page_123">123</a>, <a href="#Page_125">125</a>, <a href="#Page_128">128</a>, <a href="#Page_222">222</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Barmouth Estuary, <a href="#Page_125">125</a>, <a href="#Page_126">126</a>, <a href="#Page_152">152</a>, <a href="#Page_155">155</a>, <a href="#Page_156">156</a>, <a href="#Page_158">158</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Baron Hill, <a href="#Page_101">101</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Bassetts, <a href="#Page_174">174</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Battlefield, <a href="#Page_34">34</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Baxter, Richard, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>, <a href="#Page_43">43</a>, <a href="#Page_44">44</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Bayston Hill, <a href="#Page_12">12</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Beaupré, <a href="#Page_62">62</a>, <a href="#Page_165">165</a>, <a href="#Page_173">173-175</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Beaumaris, <a href="#Page_99">99</a>, <a href="#Page_100">100-102</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Bedd Gelert, <a href="#Page_95">95</a>, <a href="#Page_110">110</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Belesme, Robert de, <a href="#Page_43">43</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Benbow, Admiral, <a href="#Page_45">45</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Bendigeid Vran, <a href="#Page_120">120</a>, <a href="#Page_121">121</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Berkeley Castle, <a href="#Page_170">170</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Berwyn, <a href="#Page_77">77</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Bethesda, <a href="#Page_98">98</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Bettws-y-Coed, <a href="#Page_81">81</a>, <a href="#Page_82">82</a>, <a href="#Page_85">85</a>, <a href="#Page_91">91</a>, <a href="#Page_92">92</a>, <a href="#Page_94">94</a>, <a href="#Page_95">95</a>, <a href="#Page_108">108</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Borth, <a href="#Page_113">113</a>, <a href="#Page_149">149</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Boscobel, <a href="#Page_29">29</a>, <a href="#Page_31">31-33</a>, <a href="#Page_44">44</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Bigsweir Bridge, <a href="#Page_265">265</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Birmingham Waterworks, <a href="#Page_229">229</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Bishop’s Castle, <a href="#Page_52">52</a>, <a href="#Page_55">55</a>, <a href="#Page_56">56</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Black Mountains, <a href="#Page_232">232</a>, <a href="#Page_255">255</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Bolingbroke, <a href="#Page_85">85</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Borrow, George, <a href="#Page_69">69</a>, <a href="#Page_79">79</a>, <a href="#Page_107">107</a>, <a href="#Page_109">109</a>, <a href="#Page_141">141</a>, <a href="#Page_187">187</a>, <a href="#Page_222">222</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Boteler of Dunraven, <a href="#Page_177">177</a>, <a href="#Page_178">178</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Brampton Brian, <a href="#Page_58">58</a>, <a href="#Page_59">59</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Branwen, <a href="#Page_120">120</a>, <a href="#Page_121">121</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Braose, Matilda de, <a href="#Page_186">186</a>, <a href="#Page_187">187</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Braose, William de, <a href="#Page_185">185</a>, <a href="#Page_186">186</a>, <a href="#Page_253">253</a>, <a href="#Page_254">254</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Brecon, <a href="#Page_151">151</a>, <a href="#Page_183">183</a>, <a href="#Page_185">185-187</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Brecon Beacons, <a href="#Page_184">184</a>, <a href="#Page_185">185</a>, <a href="#Page_187">187</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Breidden Hills, <a href="#Page_62">62</a>, <a href="#Page_134">134</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Bridgend, <a href="#Page_177">177</a>, <a href="#Page_178">178</a>, <a href="#Page_180">180</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Bridge Sollars, <a href="#Page_234">234</a>, <a href="#Page_236">236</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Bridgnorth, <a href="#Page_42">42-45</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Bridstow, <a href="#Page_240">240</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Briton Ferry, <a href="#Page_180">180</a>, <a href="#Page_181">181</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Brockweir, <a href="#Page_265">265</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Bromfield, <a href="#Page_10">10</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Broseley, <a href="#Page_45">45</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Browning, Robert, <a href="#Page_71">71</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Brychan, <a href="#Page_185">185</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Brydges, Charles, <a href="#Page_24">24</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Buildwas, <a href="#Page_26">26-28</a>, <a href="#Page_44">44</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Builth, <a href="#Page_222">222</a>, <a href="#Page_230">230</a>, <a href="#Page_231">231</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Butler, Lady Eleanor, <a href="#Page_71">71</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Bwlch Oerdrws, <a href="#Page_132">132</a>, <a href="#Page_133">133</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Cadell, Prince of South Wales, <a href="#Page_146">146</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Cader Idris, <a href="#Page_125">125</a>, <a href="#Page_126">126</a>, <a href="#Page_132">132</a>, <a href="#Page_157">157</a>, <a href="#Page_158">158</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Caerleon, <a href="#Page_115">115</a>, <a href="#Page_166">166-169</a>, <a href="#Page_216">216</a><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_274" id="Page_274">[Pg 274]</a></span></li> - -<li class="indx">Caerphilly, <a href="#Page_166">166</a>, <a href="#Page_169">169</a>, <a href="#Page_170">170</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Caersws, <a href="#Page_138">138</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Caldey Island, <a href="#Page_198">198</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Camden, <a href="#Page_89">89</a>, <a href="#Page_98">98</a>, <a href="#Page_233">233</a>, <a href="#Page_235">235</a>, <a href="#Page_249">249</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Cann Office, <a href="#Page_133">133</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Capel Curig, <a href="#Page_96">96</a>, <a href="#Page_108">108</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Caradoc, <a href="#Page_12">12</a>, <a href="#Page_25">25</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Caradoc of Llancarvan, <a href="#Page_87">87</a>, <a href="#Page_194">194</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Cardiff, <a href="#Page_166">166</a>, <a href="#Page_170">170</a>, <a href="#Page_171">171</a>, <a href="#Page_173">173</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Cardiff Waterworks, <a href="#Page_184">184</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Cardigan, <a href="#Page_219">219-221</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Carew Castle, <a href="#Page_205">205-208</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Carew, Celtic Cross, <a href="#Page_205">205</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Carlyle, Thomas, <a href="#Page_203">203</a>, <a href="#Page_270">270</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Carmarthen, <a href="#Page_187">187</a>, <a href="#Page_190">190-195</a>, <a href="#Page_222">222</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Carnarvon, <a href="#Page_85">85</a>, <a href="#Page_99">99</a>, <a href="#Page_103">103-105</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Carningley, <a href="#Page_218">218</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Castell Crogen, <a href="#Page_68">68</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Caus Castle, <a href="#Page_54">54</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Cawdor, Lord, <a href="#Page_218">218</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Cefn-y-Bedd, <a href="#Page_231">231</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Ceiriog, River, <a href="#Page_64">64</a>, <a href="#Page_67">67</a>, <a href="#Page_68">68</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Ceiriog, Valley of the, <a href="#Page_67">67</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Ceirw, River, <a href="#Page_79">79</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Cernioge, <a href="#Page_79">79</a>, <a href="#Page_80">80</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Cerrig Cennen, <a href="#Page_189">189</a>, <a href="#Page_190">190</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Cerrig-y-Druidion, <a href="#Page_78">78</a>, <a href="#Page_79">79</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Charles I., <a href="#Page_15">15</a>, <a href="#Page_17">17</a>, <a href="#Page_20">20</a>, <a href="#Page_43">43</a>, <a href="#Page_91">91</a>, <a href="#Page_122">122</a>, <a href="#Page_242">242</a>, <a href="#Page_250">250</a>, <a href="#Page_251">251</a>, <a href="#Page_271">271</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Charles II., <a href="#Page_29">29</a>, <a href="#Page_31">31-33</a>, <a href="#Page_69">69</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Chastillon, Battle of, <a href="#Page_48">48</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Chepstow, <a href="#Page_225">225</a>, <a href="#Page_247">247</a>, <a href="#Page_265">265</a>, <a href="#Page_268">268-272</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Chester, Hugh, Earl of, <a href="#Page_98">98</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Chirbury, <a href="#Page_52">52-54</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Chirbury, Lord Herbert of, <a href="#Page_52">52-54</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Chirk, <a href="#Page_64">64</a>, <a href="#Page_67">67-69</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Churchstoke, <a href="#Page_55">55</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Cilgerran, <a href="#Page_187">187</a>, <a href="#Page_220">220</a>, <a href="#Page_221">221</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Clare, Gilbert de, <a href="#Page_169">169</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Clifford Castle, <a href="#Page_234">234</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Clifford, Jane de, <a href="#Page_234">234</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Clun, <a href="#Page_56">56-58</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Clungunford, <a href="#Page_60">60</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Clwyd, River, <a href="#Page_84">84</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Clynnogfawr, <a href="#Page_112">112</a>, <a href="#Page_117">117</a>, <a href="#Page_118">118</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Cochwillan Woods, <a href="#Page_98">98</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Coity, <a href="#Page_179">179-180</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Coleridge, <a href="#Page_22">22</a>, <a href="#Page_271">271</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Colwyn Bay, <a href="#Page_85">85</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Comus, <a href="#Page_8">8</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Concenn, <a href="#Page_76">76</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Conway, <a href="#Page_82">82</a>, <a href="#Page_85">85</a>, <a href="#Page_86">86</a>, <a href="#Page_88">88-90</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Conway, River, <a href="#Page_80">80</a>, <a href="#Page_83">83</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Corbet, Captain, <a href="#Page_54">54</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Corbet, Sir Vincent, <a href="#Page_51">51</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Cormeilles, Abbey of, <a href="#Page_272">272</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Corris, <a href="#Page_152">152</a>, <a href="#Page_155">155</a>, <a href="#Page_157">157</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Corwen, <a href="#Page_68">68</a>, <a href="#Page_77">77</a>, <a href="#Page_78">78</a>, <a href="#Page_161">161</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Cothercott Hill, <a href="#Page_55">55</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Cothi, River, <a href="#Page_222">222</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Cound, <a href="#Page_38">38</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Cowbridge, <a href="#Page_173">173</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Cox, David, <a href="#Page_82">82</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Craven Arms, <a href="#Page_60">60</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Cressage, <a href="#Page_38">38</a>, <a href="#Page_39">39</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Criccieth, <a href="#Page_112">112-114</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Crogen, Battle of, <a href="#Page_68">68</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Cromwell, Oliver, <a href="#Page_43">43</a>, <a href="#Page_85">85</a>, <a href="#Page_120">120</a>, <a href="#Page_144">144</a>, <a href="#Page_157">157</a>, <a href="#Page_203">203</a>, <a href="#Page_243">243</a>, <a href="#Page_270">270</a>, <a href="#Page_271">271</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Cross Foxes, <a href="#Page_158">158</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Cross Houses, <a href="#Page_38">38</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Cwm Bychan, <a href="#Page_123">123</a>, <a href="#Page_130">130</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Cwm Hir Abbey, <a href="#Page_139">139</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Cwmyoy, <a href="#Page_255">255</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Cymmer Abbey, <a href="#Page_126">126</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Dafydd ap Gwilym, <a href="#Page_147">147</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Dale, <a href="#Page_202">202</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Darby, Abraham, <a href="#Page_28">28</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Darwin, Charles, <a href="#Page_18">18</a>, <a href="#Page_22">22</a>, <a href="#Page_61">61</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Davy Gam, <a href="#Page_151">151</a>, <a href="#Page_152">152</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Dean, Forest of, <a href="#Page_143">143</a>, <a href="#Page_247">247</a>, <a href="#Page_262">262</a>, <a href="#Page_263">263</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Dee, River, <a href="#Page_49">49</a>, <a href="#Page_69">69</a>, <a href="#Page_70">70</a>, <a href="#Page_74">74</a>, <a href="#Page_76">76</a>, <a href="#Page_77">77</a>, <a href="#Page_85">85</a>, <a href="#Page_161">161</a>, <a href="#Page_162">162</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Deganwy, <a href="#Page_86">86-88</a>, <a href="#Page_106">106</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Derwydd Station, <a href="#Page_190">190</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Despensers, <a href="#Page_170">170</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Devereux, Penelope, <a href="#Page_200">200</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Devil’s Bridge, <a href="#Page_141">141</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Dinan, de, <a href="#Page_9">9</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Dinas Bran, <a href="#Page_70">70</a>, <a href="#Page_71">71</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Dinas Mawddy, <a href="#Page_132">132</a>, <a href="#Page_133">133</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Dinmore Hill, <a href="#Page_236">236</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Dolbadarn, <a href="#Page_92">92</a>, <a href="#Page_105">105</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Doldowlod Woods, <a href="#Page_230">230</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Dolgelley, <a href="#Page_126">126</a>, <a href="#Page_128">128</a>, <a href="#Page_129">129</a>, <a href="#Page_130">130</a>, <a href="#Page_131">131</a>, <a href="#Page_132">132</a>, <a href="#Page_152">152</a>, <a href="#Page_155">155</a>, <a href="#Page_158">158</a>, <a href="#Page_159">159</a><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_275" id="Page_275">[Pg 275]</a></span></li> - -<li class="indx">Dolwyddelan, <a href="#Page_82">82</a>, <a href="#Page_92">92</a>, <a href="#Page_93">93</a>, <a href="#Page_94">94</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Dore, River, <a href="#Page_235">235</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Dryslwyn Castle, <a href="#Page_190">190</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Dubritius, <a href="#Page_115">115</a>, <a href="#Page_240">240</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Dulas, River, <a href="#Page_157">157</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Dunraven, <a href="#Page_177">177</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Dwryd, River, <a href="#Page_118">118</a>, <a href="#Page_119">119</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Dyfi (Dovey), River, <a href="#Page_131">131</a>, <a href="#Page_149">149</a>, <a href="#Page_152">152-155</a>, <a href="#Page_157">157</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Dynevor, <a href="#Page_187">187</a>, <a href="#Page_188">188</a>, <a href="#Page_189">189</a>, <a href="#Page_190">190</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Eaton Constantine, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>, <a href="#Page_44">44</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Edeyrnion, Vale of, <a href="#Page_77">77</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Edmund, Prince, <a href="#Page_6">6</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Edward the Black Prince, <a href="#Page_113">113</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Edward the Elder, <a href="#Page_264">264</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Edward I., <a href="#Page_21">21</a>, <a href="#Page_42">42</a>, <a href="#Page_82">82</a>, <a href="#Page_84">84</a>, <a href="#Page_86">86</a>, <a href="#Page_92">92</a>, <a href="#Page_102">102</a>, <a href="#Page_114">114</a>, <a href="#Page_120">120</a>, <a href="#Page_144">144</a>, <a href="#Page_194">194</a>, <a href="#Page_212">212</a>, <a href="#Page_236">236</a>, <a href="#Page_237">237</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Edward II., <a href="#Page_42">42</a>, <a href="#Page_104">104</a>, <a href="#Page_170">170</a>, <a href="#Page_182">182</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Edward IV., <a href="#Page_5">5</a>, <a href="#Page_6">6</a>, <a href="#Page_120">120</a>, <a href="#Page_122">122</a>, <a href="#Page_209">209</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Edward V., <a href="#Page_6">6</a>, <a href="#Page_7">7</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Egerton, Lady Alice, <a href="#Page_8">8</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Eglwyseg Rocks, <a href="#Page_70">70</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Elan Valley, <a href="#Page_227">227-230</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Eleanor, Queen, <a href="#Page_104">104</a>, <a href="#Page_212">212</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Elfreton, Henry de, <a href="#Page_88">88</a>, <a href="#Page_120">120</a>, <a href="#Page_169">169</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Eliseg’s Pillar, <a href="#Page_76">76</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Elizabeth, Queen, <a href="#Page_89">89</a>, <a href="#Page_91">91</a>, <a href="#Page_244">244</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Ellesmere, <a href="#Page_45">45</a>, <a href="#Page_50">50</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Erbistock, <a href="#Page_45">45</a>, <a href="#Page_49">49</a>, <a href="#Page_50">50</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Eric of the Bloody Axe, <a href="#Page_264">264</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Erwood, <a href="#Page_232">232</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Essex, Earl of, <a href="#Page_14">14</a>, <a href="#Page_200">200</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Ethelbert, King, <a href="#Page_238">238</a>, <a href="#Page_239">239</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Ethelfleda, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>, <a href="#Page_53">53</a>, <a href="#Page_185">185</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Ewenny, <a href="#Page_173">173</a>, <a href="#Page_178">178</a>, <a href="#Page_179">179</a>, <a href="#Page_195">195</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Ewer, Colonel, <a href="#Page_270">270</a>, <a href="#Page_271">271</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Ewyas, Vale of, <a href="#Page_247">247</a>, <a href="#Page_255">255-259</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Exmoor, <a href="#Page_173">173</a>, <a href="#Page_177">177</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Fairbourne, <a href="#Page_155">155</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Fairfax, General, <a href="#Page_203">203</a>, <a href="#Page_252">252</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Fair Rosamund, <a href="#Page_234">234</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Feathers Hotel, Ludlow, <a href="#Page_4">4</a>, <a href="#Page_5">5</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Fishguard, <a href="#Page_217">217</a>, <a href="#Page_218">218</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Fitz-Osborne, Roger, <a href="#Page_268">268</a>, <a href="#Page_269">269</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Fitz-Osborne, William, <a href="#Page_268">268</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Fitz-Warines, <a href="#Page_64">64</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Flemings, <a href="#Page_140">140</a>, <a href="#Page_208">208</a>, <a href="#Page_209">209</a>, <a href="#Page_219">219</a>, <a href="#Page_226">226</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Flint, <a href="#Page_85">85</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Fuller, Thomas, <a href="#Page_48">48</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Ganllwyd, Vale of, <a href="#Page_129">129</a>, <a href="#Page_130">130</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Geirionydd, Lake, <a href="#Page_91">91</a>, <a href="#Page_149">149</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Geoffrey of Monmouth, <a href="#Page_249">249</a></li> - -<li class="indx">George IV., <a href="#Page_243">243</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Gildas, <a href="#Page_175">175</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Gilpin, <a href="#Page_242">242</a>, <a href="#Page_266">266</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Giraldus Cambrensis, <a href="#Page_100">100</a>, <a href="#Page_102">102</a>, <a href="#Page_118">118</a>, <a href="#Page_119">119</a>, <a href="#Page_198">198</a>, <a href="#Page_209">209</a>, <a href="#Page_215">215</a>, <a href="#Page_253">253</a>, <a href="#Page_254">254</a>, <a href="#Page_258">258</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Glamorganshire, <a href="#Page_173">173</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Glan Dovey, <a href="#Page_150">150</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Glasbury, <a href="#Page_232">232</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Glaslyn, River, <a href="#Page_109">109</a>, <a href="#Page_110">110</a>, <a href="#Page_118">118</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Gloucester, <a href="#Page_259">259</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Glydyrs, <a href="#Page_97">97</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Glyn Ceiriog, <a href="#Page_68">68</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Glyndwr, Owen, <a href="#Page_57">57</a>, <a href="#Page_61">61</a>, <a href="#Page_74">74</a>, <a href="#Page_77">77</a>, <a href="#Page_88">88</a>, <a href="#Page_98">98</a>, <a href="#Page_104">104</a>, <a href="#Page_106">106</a>, <a href="#Page_116">116</a>, <a href="#Page_120">120</a>, <a href="#Page_122">122</a>, <a href="#Page_127">127</a>, <a href="#Page_128">128</a>, <a href="#Page_131">131</a>, <a href="#Page_140">140</a>, <a href="#Page_143">143</a>, <a href="#Page_144">144</a>, <a href="#Page_148">148</a>, <a href="#Page_150">150-152</a>, <a href="#Page_191">191</a>, <a href="#Page_192">192</a>, <a href="#Page_208">208</a>, <a href="#Page_226">226</a>, <a href="#Page_233">233</a>, <a href="#Page_234">234</a>, <a href="#Page_261">261</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Glyndyffws, Pass of, <a href="#Page_78">78</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Glyndyfrdwy, <a href="#Page_77">77</a>, <a href="#Page_78">78</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Glyn-Neath, <a href="#Page_183">183</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Gobowen, <a href="#Page_64">64</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Godiva, <a href="#Page_41">41</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Godstow, <a href="#Page_234">234</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Golden Valley, <a href="#Page_235">235</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Goodrich, <a href="#Page_244">244</a>, <a href="#Page_245">245</a>, <a href="#Page_246">246</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Goodrich, Vicar of, <a href="#Page_251">251</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Goodwick, <a href="#Page_217">217</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Gower, <a href="#Page_192">192</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Gower, Bishop, <a href="#Page_199">199</a>, <a href="#Page_212">212</a>, <a href="#Page_213">213</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Grey, Lord, of Ruthin, <a href="#Page_106">106</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Griffith ap Cynan, <a href="#Page_155">155</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Griffith Gryg, <a href="#Page_147">147</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Griffith ap Llewelyn, <a href="#Page_113">113</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Griffith ap Nicholas, <a href="#Page_187">187</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Griffith, Prince of Gwynedd, <a href="#Page_87">87</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Griffith, Prince of South Wales, <a href="#Page_219">219</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Grosmont, <a href="#Page_260">260</a>, <a href="#Page_261">261</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Guinevere, <a href="#Page_166">166</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Gwaelod, Plain of, <a href="#Page_123">123</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Gwenllian, daughter of the Lord Rhys, <a href="#Page_194">194</a>, <a href="#Page_195">195</a><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_276" id="Page_276">[Pg 276]</a></span></li> - -<li class="indx">Gwenllian, mother of the Lord Rhys, <a href="#Page_195">195</a>, <a href="#Page_214">214</a>, <a href="#Page_219">219</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Gwyddno Longshanks, <a href="#Page_124">124</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Gwydir, <a href="#Page_91">91</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Gwynedd, <a href="#Page_91">91</a>, <a href="#Page_92">92</a>, <a href="#Page_100">100</a>, <a href="#Page_112">112</a>, <a href="#Page_118">118</a>, <a href="#Page_154">154</a>, <a href="#Page_220">220</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Gwynne, Nell, <a href="#Page_69">69</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Hanmer, <a href="#Page_49">49</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Harlech, <a href="#Page_85">85</a>, <a href="#Page_88">88</a>, <a href="#Page_116">116</a>, <a href="#Page_119">119-122</a>, <a href="#Page_128">128</a>, <a href="#Page_129">129</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Harley, Lady, <a href="#Page_58">58</a>, <a href="#Page_59">59</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Harold, King, <a href="#Page_98">98</a>, <a href="#Page_237">237</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Haughmond Abbey, <a href="#Page_36">36-38</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Haughmond Hill, <a href="#Page_34">34</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Haverfordwest, <a href="#Page_205">205</a>, <a href="#Page_208">208-210</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Hawkestone, <a href="#Page_35">35</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Hay, <a href="#Page_62">62</a>, <a href="#Page_232">232-234</a>, <a href="#Page_235">235</a>, <a href="#Page_246">246</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Hazlitt, William, <a href="#Page_22">22</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Heber, Bishop, <a href="#Page_36">36</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Henllan Woods, <a href="#Page_221">221</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Henry I., <a href="#Page_42">42</a>, <a href="#Page_209">209</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Henry II., <a href="#Page_37">37</a>, <a href="#Page_42">42</a>, <a href="#Page_50">50</a>, <a href="#Page_68">68</a>, <a href="#Page_189">189</a>, <a href="#Page_212">212</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Henry III., <a href="#Page_37">37</a>, <a href="#Page_233">233</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Henry IV., <a href="#Page_20">20</a>, <a href="#Page_34">34</a>, <a href="#Page_42">42</a>, <a href="#Page_85">85</a>, <a href="#Page_101">101</a>, <a href="#Page_120">120</a>, <a href="#Page_122">122</a>, <a href="#Page_131">131</a>, <a href="#Page_148">148</a>, <a href="#Page_192">192</a>, <a href="#Page_245">245</a>, <a href="#Page_260">260</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Henry V., <a href="#Page_34">34</a>, <a href="#Page_78">78</a>, <a href="#Page_143">143</a>, <a href="#Page_144">144</a>, <a href="#Page_152">152</a>, <a href="#Page_245">245</a>, <a href="#Page_247">247</a>, <a href="#Page_248">248</a>, <a href="#Page_260">260</a>, <a href="#Page_261">261</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Henry VII., <a href="#Page_13">13</a>, <a href="#Page_14">14</a>, <a href="#Page_61">61</a>, <a href="#Page_157">157</a>, <a href="#Page_193">193</a>, <a href="#Page_202">202</a>, <a href="#Page_206">206</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Henry VIII., <a href="#Page_37">37</a>, <a href="#Page_172">172</a>, <a href="#Page_182">182</a>, <a href="#Page_213">213-14</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Herbert, George, <a href="#Page_53">53</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Herbert, Lord, of Chirbury, <a href="#Page_52">52-54</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Hereford, <a href="#Page_143">143</a>, <a href="#Page_225">225</a>, <a href="#Page_226">226</a>, <a href="#Page_235">235</a>, <a href="#Page_236">236-239</a>, <a href="#Page_243">243</a>, <a href="#Page_246">246</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Hereford, Archdeacon of, <a href="#Page_192">192</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Herefordshire, <a href="#Page_232">232</a>, <a href="#Page_235">235</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Hirwain, <a href="#Page_183">183</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Hodnet, <a href="#Page_35">35</a>, <a href="#Page_36">36</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Holyhead Road, <a href="#Page_60">60</a>, <a href="#Page_77">77</a>, <a href="#Page_95">95</a>, <a href="#Page_161">161</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Holy Mountain, <a href="#Page_247">247</a>, <a href="#Page_252">252</a>, <a href="#Page_255">255</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Honddu, River, <a href="#Page_255">255</a>, <a href="#Page_257">257</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Hookagate, <a href="#Page_55">55</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Hope Valley, <a href="#Page_56">56</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Hotspur, Harry, <a href="#Page_34">34</a>, <a href="#Page_89">89</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Howel y Fwyall, <a href="#Page_113">113</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Howel Sele, <a href="#Page_127">127</a>, <a href="#Page_128">128</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Huntsham Ferry, <a href="#Page_245">245</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Inigo Jones, <a href="#Page_82">82</a>, <a href="#Page_83">83</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Iolo Goch, <a href="#Page_74">74</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Iorwerth, <a href="#Page_93">93</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Ireland, <a href="#Page_121">121</a>, <a href="#Page_215">215</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Ironbridge, <a href="#Page_28">28</a>, <a href="#Page_44">44</a>, <a href="#Page_45">45</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Isabella, Queen, <a href="#Page_237">237</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Ivetsey Bank, <a href="#Page_33">33</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">James I., <a href="#Page_247">247</a></li> - -<li class="indx">James II., <a href="#Page_17">17</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Jeffreys, Judge, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>, <a href="#Page_47">47</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Jeremy Taylor, <a href="#Page_271">271</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Joan, Queen, <a href="#Page_50">50</a>, <a href="#Page_90">90</a>, <a href="#Page_101">101</a></li> - -<li class="indx">John, King, <a href="#Page_42">42</a>, <a href="#Page_50">50</a>, <a href="#Page_86">86</a>, <a href="#Page_87">87</a>, <a href="#Page_90">90</a>, <a href="#Page_98">98</a>, <a href="#Page_106">106</a>, <a href="#Page_186">186</a>, <a href="#Page_237">237</a>, <a href="#Page_263">263</a></li> - -<li class="indx">John of Gaunt, <a href="#Page_212">212</a>, <a href="#Page_237">237</a>, <a href="#Page_247">247</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Johnson, Dr., <a href="#Page_22">22</a>, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>, <a href="#Page_98">98</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Katherine of Arragon, <a href="#Page_6">6</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Kenfig, <a href="#Page_180">180</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Kemys, Sir Nicholas, <a href="#Page_270">270</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Kentchurch, <a href="#Page_261">261</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Kidwelly, <a href="#Page_174">174</a>, <a href="#Page_194">194</a>, <a href="#Page_195">195</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Kilgerran, <a href="#Page_187">187</a>, <a href="#Page_220">220</a>, <a href="#Page_221">221</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Kingsley, Charles, <a href="#Page_109">109</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Knighton, <a href="#Page_56">56</a>, <a href="#Page_58">58</a>, <a href="#Page_137">137</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Kymin, The, <a href="#Page_245">245</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Kyrle, John, <a href="#Page_240">240-242</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Lacy, Roger de, <a href="#Page_9">9</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Lacy, William de, <a href="#Page_256">256-259</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Lampeter, <a href="#Page_221">221</a>, <a href="#Page_222">222</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Lamphey Palace, <a href="#Page_199">199</a>, <a href="#Page_200">200</a>, <a href="#Page_213">213</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Landor, Walter Savage, <a href="#Page_259">259</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Laud, Archbishop, <a href="#Page_271">271</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Ledbury, <a href="#Page_235">235</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Leicester, Earl of, <a href="#Page_14">14</a>, <a href="#Page_91">91</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Leighton-under-the-Wrekin, <a href="#Page_27">27</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Leintwardine, <a href="#Page_56">56</a>, <a href="#Page_58">58</a>, <a href="#Page_59">59</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Leland, <a href="#Page_50">50</a>, <a href="#Page_56">56</a>, <a href="#Page_70">70</a>, <a href="#Page_105">105</a>, <a href="#Page_117">117</a>, <a href="#Page_130">130</a>, <a href="#Page_133">133</a>, <a href="#Page_146">146</a>, <a href="#Page_169">169</a>, <a href="#Page_177">177</a>, <a href="#Page_181">181</a>, <a href="#Page_192">192</a>, <a href="#Page_198">198</a>, <a href="#Page_202">202</a>, <a href="#Page_211">211</a>, <a href="#Page_232">232</a>, <a href="#Page_237">237</a>, <a href="#Page_268">268</a>, <a href="#Page_272">272</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Leofric of Mercia, <a href="#Page_41">41</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Leominster, <a href="#Page_235">235</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Letton, <a href="#Page_234">234</a>, <a href="#Page_236">236</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Lewis, Rev. Edward, <a href="#Page_53">53</a>, <a href="#Page_54">54</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Little Doward, <a href="#Page_245">245</a><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_277" id="Page_277">[Pg 277]</a></span></li> - -<li class="indx">Little Stretton, <a href="#Page_12">12</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Liverpool Reservoir, <a href="#Page_161">161</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Llanaellraiarn, <a href="#Page_112">112</a>, <a href="#Page_117">117</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Llanbadarn Fawr, <a href="#Page_148">148</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Llanbedr, <a href="#Page_119">119</a>, <a href="#Page_122">122</a>, <a href="#Page_123">123</a>, <a href="#Page_124">124</a>, <a href="#Page_125">125</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Llanberis, Pass of, <a href="#Page_94">94</a>, <a href="#Page_95">95</a>, <a href="#Page_105">105</a>, <a href="#Page_107">107</a>, <a href="#Page_109">109</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Llanberis, Town, <a href="#Page_105">105</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Llandaff, <a href="#Page_171">171-173</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Llandeilo, <a href="#Page_188">188</a>, <a href="#Page_190">190</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Llandinam, <a href="#Page_139">139</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Llandogo, <a href="#Page_265">265</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Llandovery, <a href="#Page_187">187</a>, <a href="#Page_222">222</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Llandrindod Wells, <a href="#Page_231">231</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Llandysilio, <a href="#Page_102">102</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Llandyssil, <a href="#Page_221">221</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Llanelltyd, <a href="#Page_126">126</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Llanfaes, <a href="#Page_101">101</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Llanfair Caereinion, <a href="#Page_133">133</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Llanfair P. G., <a href="#Page_100">100</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Llanfihangel Crucorney, <a href="#Page_255">255</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Llanfrother, <a href="#Page_240">240</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Llanfyllin, <a href="#Page_161">161</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Llangadfan, <a href="#Page_133">133</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Llangadoch, <a href="#Page_188">188</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Llangollen, <a href="#Page_60">60</a>, <a href="#Page_67">67</a>, <a href="#Page_70">70-73</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Llangollen, Ladies of, <a href="#Page_71">71-73</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Llangurig, <a href="#Page_139">139</a>, <a href="#Page_140">140</a>, <a href="#Page_226">226</a>, <a href="#Page_227">227</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Llanidloes, <a href="#Page_139">139</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Llanrhaiadr, <a href="#Page_159">159</a>, <a href="#Page_162">162</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Llanrhychwyn, <a href="#Page_90">90</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Llanrwst, <a href="#Page_82">82</a>, <a href="#Page_83">83</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Llanthony, <a href="#Page_247">247</a>, <a href="#Page_249">249</a>, <a href="#Page_255">255-259</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Llanthony, Second Priory of, <a href="#Page_259">259</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Llantwit Major, <a href="#Page_166">166</a>, <a href="#Page_173">173</a>, <a href="#Page_175">175</a>, <a href="#Page_176">176</a>, <a href="#Page_216">216</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Llanwrtyd Wells, <a href="#Page_222">222</a>, <a href="#Page_231">231</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Llechryd, <a href="#Page_221">221</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Lledr Valley, <a href="#Page_80">80</a>, <a href="#Page_92">92</a>, <a href="#Page_94">94</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Llewelyn, the Great, <a href="#Page_37">37</a>, <a href="#Page_50">50</a>, <a href="#Page_57">57</a>, <a href="#Page_82">82</a>, <a href="#Page_86">86</a>, <a href="#Page_87">87</a>, <a href="#Page_90">90</a>, <a href="#Page_91">91</a>, <a href="#Page_92">92</a>, <a href="#Page_101">101</a>, <a href="#Page_110">110</a>, <a href="#Page_113">113</a>, <a href="#Page_127">127</a>, <a href="#Page_233">233</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Llewelyn III., <a href="#Page_102">102</a>, <a href="#Page_106">106</a>, <a href="#Page_231">231</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Lleyn Peninsula, <a href="#Page_111">111-118</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Llugwy, <a href="#Page_82">82</a>, <a href="#Page_95">95</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Llyfnant Valley, <a href="#Page_150">150</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Llyn Dinas, <a href="#Page_110">110</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Llyn Gwynant, <a href="#Page_109">109</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Llyn Mymbyr, <a href="#Page_108">108</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Llyn Padarn, <a href="#Page_105">105</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Llyn Peris, <a href="#Page_105">105</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Llyn Tegid (Bala), <a href="#Page_162">162</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Llyswen, <a href="#Page_232">232</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Lockhart, <a href="#Page_72">72</a>, <a href="#Page_73">73</a>, <a href="#Page_108">108</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Londres, Maurice de, <a href="#Page_179">179</a>, <a href="#Page_194">194</a>, <a href="#Page_219">219</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Longden, <a href="#Page_55">55</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Lucy Waters, <a href="#Page_211">211</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Ludford, <a href="#Page_4">4</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Ludlow, <a href="#Page_4">4-10</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Lydstep, <a href="#Page_198">198</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Mabinogion, <a href="#Page_120">120</a>, <a href="#Page_167">167</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Machynlleth, <a href="#Page_148">148</a>, <a href="#Page_150">150-152</a>, <a href="#Page_155">155</a>, <a href="#Page_157">157</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Maddox, Mr., <a href="#Page_111">111</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Madeley, <a href="#Page_28">28</a>, <a href="#Page_29">29</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Madoc, Prince of Powys, <a href="#Page_70">70</a>, <a href="#Page_73">73</a>, <a href="#Page_74">74</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Maelgwyn, <a href="#Page_86">86</a>, <a href="#Page_106">106</a>, <a href="#Page_107">107</a>, <a href="#Page_154">154</a>, <a href="#Page_155">155</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Maentwrog, <a href="#Page_93">93</a>, <a href="#Page_94">94</a>, <a href="#Page_128">128</a>, <a href="#Page_129">129</a>, <a href="#Page_130">130</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Mallwyd, <a href="#Page_133">133</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Malvern Hills, <a href="#Page_245">245</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Manorbier Castle, <a href="#Page_197">197-199</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Marches, Court of the, <a href="#Page_5">5</a>, <a href="#Page_96">96</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Margam, <a href="#Page_180">180</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Market Drayton, <a href="#Page_36">36</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Marrington Dingle, <a href="#Page_55">55</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Marrington Hall, <a href="#Page_54">54</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Marshbrook, <a href="#Page_12">12</a>, <a href="#Page_55">55</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Marteg, River, <a href="#Page_227">227</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Marten, Sir Henry, <a href="#Page_271">271</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Marton, <a href="#Page_52">52</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Mary, Queen, <a href="#Page_6">6</a>, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>, <a href="#Page_244">244</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Mathern, <a href="#Page_272">272</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Matholwch, King of Ireland, <a href="#Page_120">120</a>, <a href="#Page_121">121</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Matilda, Queen, <a href="#Page_37">37</a>, <a href="#Page_257">257</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Matthew of Westminster, <a href="#Page_239">239</a>, <a href="#Page_264">264</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Mawddach, River, <a href="#Page_125">125</a>, <a href="#Page_126">126</a>, <a href="#Page_129">129</a>, <a href="#Page_152">152</a>, <a href="#Page_157">157</a>, <a href="#Page_158">158</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Maxen Wledig, <a href="#Page_168">168</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Mellte, River, <a href="#Page_183">183</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Menai Bridge, <a href="#Page_99">99</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Menai Straits, <a href="#Page_99">99</a>, <a href="#Page_102">102</a>, <a href="#Page_103">103</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Menevia, <a href="#Page_216">216</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Meredyth ap Conan, <a href="#Page_119">119</a><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_278" id="Page_278">[Pg 278]</a></span></li> - -<li class="indx">Merlin, <a href="#Page_192">192</a>, <a href="#Page_216">216</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Milburga, Princess, <a href="#Page_39">39-41</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Milford Haven, <a href="#Page_200">200</a>, <a href="#Page_205">205</a>, <a href="#Page_208">208</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Milton, <a href="#Page_8">8</a>, <a href="#Page_138">138</a>, <a href="#Page_162">162</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Minsterley, <a href="#Page_56">56</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Mochras, Point of, <a href="#Page_124">124</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Moel Offrwm, <a href="#Page_127">127</a>, <a href="#Page_129">129</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Mona, <a href="#Page_100">100-102</a>, <a href="#Page_121">121</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Monmouth, <a href="#Page_243">243</a>, <a href="#Page_246">246-249</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Monmouth, Duke of, <a href="#Page_211">211</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Monnington, <a href="#Page_234">234</a>, <a href="#Page_261">261</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Monnow, River, <a href="#Page_261">261</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Montfort Bridge, <a href="#Page_61">61</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Montfort, Simon de, <a href="#Page_236">236</a>, <a href="#Page_237">237</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Montgomery, <a href="#Page_53">53</a>, <a href="#Page_54">54</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Montgomery, Arnulph de, <a href="#Page_201">201</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Montgomery, Roger de, <a href="#Page_13">13</a>, <a href="#Page_20">20</a>, <a href="#Page_23">23</a>, <a href="#Page_40">40</a>, <a href="#Page_41">41</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Morfa Nevin, <a href="#Page_114">114</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Morfa Rhuddlan, <a href="#Page_84">84</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Mortimer, Edmund, <a href="#Page_116">116</a>, <a href="#Page_122">122</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Much Birch, <a href="#Page_240">240</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Much Wenlock, <a href="#Page_39">39-42</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Mumbles, The, <a href="#Page_180">180</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Murchard, Prince of Leinster, <a href="#Page_215">215</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Myddleton, Sir Thomas, <a href="#Page_69">69</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Myfanwy, Princess, <a href="#Page_71">71</a>, <a href="#Page_74">74</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Mynach, River, <a href="#Page_141">141</a>, <a href="#Page_142">142</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Mytton, General, <a href="#Page_89">89</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Nannau, <a href="#Page_127">127</a>, <a href="#Page_128">128</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Nant Ffrancon, <a href="#Page_94">94</a>, <a href="#Page_95">95</a>, <a href="#Page_97">97</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Nantgarw, <a href="#Page_170">170</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Nant Gwynant, <a href="#Page_94">94</a>, <a href="#Page_95">95</a>, <a href="#Page_109">109</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Naseby, Battle of, <a href="#Page_250">250</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Neath, <a href="#Page_173">173</a>, <a href="#Page_181">181</a>, <a href="#Page_182">182</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Neath, River, <a href="#Page_181">181</a>, <a href="#Page_182">182</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Neath, Vale of, <a href="#Page_182">182</a>, <a href="#Page_183">183</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Nelson, Lord, <a href="#Page_193">193</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Nennius, <a href="#Page_191">191</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Nest, Princess, <a href="#Page_202">202</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Neuf-Marché, Bernard de, <a href="#Page_185">185-187</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Nevern, <a href="#Page_218">218</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Nevin, <a href="#Page_112">112</a>, <a href="#Page_114">114</a>, <a href="#Page_115">115</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Newbridge, <a href="#Page_230">230</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Newcastle Emlyn, <a href="#Page_221">221</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Newgale, <a href="#Page_211">211</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Newport, Mon., <a href="#Page_166">166</a>, <a href="#Page_168">168</a>, <a href="#Page_169">169</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Newport, Pembroke, <a href="#Page_218">218</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Newport, Salop, <a href="#Page_36">36</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Newtown, <a href="#Page_138">138</a>, <a href="#Page_225">225</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Nôn, <a href="#Page_216">216</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Northumberland, Earl of, <a href="#Page_85">85</a>, <a href="#Page_116">116</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Oakengates, <a href="#Page_33">33</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Offa, <a href="#Page_69">69</a>, <a href="#Page_238">238</a>, <a href="#Page_239">239</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Offa’s Dyke, <a href="#Page_69">69</a>, <a href="#Page_267">267</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Ogwen, Lake, <a href="#Page_96">96</a>, <a href="#Page_97">97</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Ogwen, River, <a href="#Page_98">98</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Onibury, <a href="#Page_10">10</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Onny, River, <a href="#Page_10">10</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Oswestry, <a href="#Page_62">62</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Oteley, <a href="#Page_51">51</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Overton, <a href="#Page_45">45</a>, <a href="#Page_49">49</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Owen Gwynedd, <a href="#Page_68">68</a>, <a href="#Page_99">99</a>, <a href="#Page_195">195</a>, <a href="#Page_219">219</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Owen’s Mount, <a href="#Page_78">78</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Pant-y-Groes, <a href="#Page_73">73</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Parkend, <a href="#Page_263">263</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Payer, Colonel, <a href="#Page_203">203</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Pembroke, <a href="#Page_200">200-203</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Pembrokeshire, Coast of, <a href="#Page_204">204</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Penmaenmawr, <a href="#Page_100">100</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Pennal, <a href="#Page_153">153</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Pennant, <a href="#Page_97">97</a>, <a href="#Page_117">117</a>, <a href="#Page_160">160</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Penrhyn Castle, <a href="#Page_98">98</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Penrhyndeudraeth, <a href="#Page_94">94</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Penrhyn Quarries, <a href="#Page_98">98</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Pentre Voelas, <a href="#Page_80">80</a>, <a href="#Page_92">92</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Pen-y-Groes, <a href="#Page_118">118</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Pen-y-Gwryd, <a href="#Page_108">108</a>, <a href="#Page_109">109</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Percy, Bishop, <a href="#Page_44">44</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Perrot, Sir John, <a href="#Page_206">206</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Peverels of the Peak, <a href="#Page_63">63</a>, <a href="#Page_64">64</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Piercefield Park, <a href="#Page_267">267</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Pistyll-y-Rhaiadr, <a href="#Page_162">162</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Plynlimmon, <a href="#Page_139">139</a>, <a href="#Page_140">140</a>, <a href="#Page_222">222</a>, <a href="#Page_225">225</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Ponsonby, Miss, <a href="#Page_71">71</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Pont Neath Fechan, <a href="#Page_183">183</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Pontrhydfendigaidmynachlogfawr, <a href="#Page_100">100</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Pont-y-Croes, <a href="#Page_118">118</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Pont-y-Cysylltau, <a href="#Page_70">70</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Pont-y-Pair, <a href="#Page_82">82</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Pope, <a href="#Page_240">240</a>, <a href="#Page_241">241</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Porth Clais, <a href="#Page_216">216</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Portmadoc, <a href="#Page_111">111</a>, <a href="#Page_112">112</a>, <a href="#Page_118">118</a><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_279" id="Page_279">[Pg 279]</a></span></li> - -<li class="indx">Pumpsaint, <a href="#Page_222">222</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Pwllheli, <a href="#Page_112">112</a>, <a href="#Page_113">113</a>, <a href="#Page_114">114</a>, <a href="#Page_117">117</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Queen’s Head Inn, <a href="#Page_62">62</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Quendritha, Queen, <a href="#Page_239">239</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Raglan, <a href="#Page_247">247</a>, <a href="#Page_249">249-252</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Ranulph of Normandy, <a href="#Page_237">237</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Ratlinghope, <a href="#Page_55">55</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Redbrook, <a href="#Page_265">265</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Rhayader, <a href="#Page_191">191</a>, <a href="#Page_227">227-230</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Rheiddol, River, <a href="#Page_142">142</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Rhianedd, Marsh of, <a href="#Page_107">107</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Rhuddlan, <a href="#Page_82">82</a>, <a href="#Page_83">83-85</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Rhyl, <a href="#Page_84">84</a>, <a href="#Page_114">114</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Rhys, <a href="#Page_57">57</a>, <a href="#Page_146">146</a>, <a href="#Page_194">194</a>, <a href="#Page_195">195</a>, <a href="#Page_214">214</a>, <a href="#Page_219">219</a>, <a href="#Page_220">220</a>, <a href="#Page_228">228</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Rhys ap Thomas, <a href="#Page_193">193</a>, <a href="#Page_205">205</a>, <a href="#Page_206">206</a>, <a href="#Page_207">207</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Rhysgog Hill, <a href="#Page_77">77</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Richard II., <a href="#Page_85">85</a>, <a href="#Page_86">86</a>, <a href="#Page_209">209</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Richard’s Castle, <a href="#Page_235">235</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Ridgeway, The, <a href="#Page_197">197</a>, <a href="#Page_199">199</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Rivals, The, <a href="#Page_112">112</a>, <a href="#Page_117">117</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Robert of Normandy, <a href="#Page_171">171</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Robert of Rhuddlan, <a href="#Page_86">86</a>, <a href="#Page_106">106</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Roche Castle, <a href="#Page_210">210</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Roderic the Great, <a href="#Page_188">188</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Roman Gravels, <a href="#Page_56">56</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Roman Steps, <a href="#Page_123">123</a>, <a href="#Page_130">130</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Ross, <a href="#Page_240">240-243</a>, <a href="#Page_246">246</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Royal Oak, <a href="#Page_31">31</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Royal Oak Hotel, Bettws, <a href="#Page_82">82</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Royal Oak Inn, Fishguard, <a href="#Page_218">218</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Rupert, Prince, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>, <a href="#Page_50">50</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Ruskin, <a href="#Page_73">73</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Sabrina, <a href="#Page_138">138</a></li> - -<li class="indx">St. Alkmund’s, Shrewsbury, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>, <a href="#Page_16">16</a></li> - -<li class="indx">St. Alkmund’s, Whitchurch, <a href="#Page_47">47</a>, <a href="#Page_48">48</a></li> - -<li class="indx">St. Arvan’s, <a href="#Page_267">267</a></li> - -<li class="indx">St. Beuno, <a href="#Page_117">117</a>, <a href="#Page_118">118</a></li> - -<li class="indx">St. Briavel’s, <a href="#Page_263">263</a></li> - -<li class="indx">St. Brynach, Cross of, <a href="#Page_218">218</a></li> - -<li class="indx">St. Chad’s (New), Shrewsbury, <a href="#Page_22">22</a></li> - -<li class="indx">St. Chad’s (Old), Shrewsbury, <a href="#Page_16">16</a>, <a href="#Page_17">17</a>, <a href="#Page_21">21</a></li> - -<li class="indx">St. Collen’s, Llangollen, <a href="#Page_73">73</a></li> - -<li class="indx">St. David, <a href="#Page_115">115</a>, <a href="#Page_117">117</a>, <a href="#Page_148">148</a>, <a href="#Page_175">175</a>, <a href="#Page_216">216</a>, <a href="#Page_240">240</a>, <a href="#Page_256">256</a></li> - -<li class="indx">St. David’s, <a href="#Page_115">115</a>, <a href="#Page_210">210</a>, <a href="#Page_211">211</a>, <a href="#Page_217">217</a></li> - -<li class="indx">St. Deiniol, <a href="#Page_99">99</a></li> - -<li class="indx">St. Donat’s, <a href="#Page_173">173</a>, <a href="#Page_176">176</a>, <a href="#Page_177">177</a></li> - -<li class="indx">St. Germanus, <a href="#Page_191">191</a></li> - -<li class="indx">St. Illtyd, <a href="#Page_175">175</a>, <a href="#Page_176">176</a></li> - -<li class="indx">St. Mary’s, Shrewsbury, <a href="#Page_16">16</a>, <a href="#Page_17">17</a>, <a href="#Page_18">18</a></li> - -<li class="indx">St. Padarn, <a href="#Page_148">148</a></li> - -<li class="indx">St. Patrick, <a href="#Page_215">215</a>, <a href="#Page_216">216</a></li> - -<li class="indx">St. Peter’s, Carmarthen, <a href="#Page_193">193</a></li> - -<li class="indx">St. Samson, <a href="#Page_176">176</a></li> - -<li class="indx">St. Teilo, <a href="#Page_171">171</a></li> - -<li class="indx">St. Tewdric, <a href="#Page_272">272</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Scott, Sir Walter, <a href="#Page_57">57</a>, <a href="#Page_72">72</a>, <a href="#Page_108">108</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Scudamore, Alice, <a href="#Page_261">261</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Seisyllts (Cecils), <a href="#Page_253">253</a>, <a href="#Page_254">254</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Seithenyn, <a href="#Page_124">124</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Severn, <a href="#Page_13">13</a>, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>, <a href="#Page_28">28</a>, <a href="#Page_45">45</a>, <a href="#Page_61">61</a>, <a href="#Page_133">133</a>, <a href="#Page_137">137</a>, <a href="#Page_139">139</a>, <a href="#Page_226">226</a>, <a href="#Page_265">265</a>, <a href="#Page_267">267</a>, <a href="#Page_272">272</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Siabod, Moel, <a href="#Page_81">81</a>, <a href="#Page_93">93</a>, <a href="#Page_96">96</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Sidney, Ambrozia, <a href="#Page_8">8</a>, <a href="#Page_9">9</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Sidney, Philip, <a href="#Page_8">8</a>, <a href="#Page_18">18</a>, <a href="#Page_19">19</a>, <a href="#Page_200">200</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Sidney, Sir Henry, <a href="#Page_8">8</a>, <a href="#Page_19">19</a>, <a href="#Page_20">20</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Shelley, <a href="#Page_111">111</a>, <a href="#Page_230">230</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Shelley, Harriet, <a href="#Page_111">111</a>, <a href="#Page_230">230</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Shelton Oak, <a href="#Page_61">61</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Shifnal, <a href="#Page_29">29</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Shrewsbury, <a href="#Page_12">12-24</a>, <a href="#Page_45">45</a>, <a href="#Page_60">60</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Shrewsbury Abbey, <a href="#Page_13">13</a>, <a href="#Page_22">22-24</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Shrewsbury, Battle of, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>, <a href="#Page_43">43</a> <a href="#Page_61">61</a>, <a href="#Page_191">191</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Shrewsbury Castle, <a href="#Page_20">20</a>, <a href="#Page_21">21</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Shropshire, <a href="#Page_1">1-64</a>, <a href="#Page_134">134</a>, <a href="#Page_162">162</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Skenfrith, <a href="#Page_260">260</a>, <a href="#Page_262">262</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Skirrid Fawr, <a href="#Page_255">255</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Snowdon, <a href="#Page_81">81</a>, <a href="#Page_96">96</a>, <a href="#Page_100">100</a>, <a href="#Page_107">107</a>, <a href="#Page_108">108</a>, <a href="#Page_109">109</a>, <a href="#Page_122">122</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Snowdonia, <a href="#Page_80">80</a>, <a href="#Page_94">94</a>, <a href="#Page_100">100</a>, <a href="#Page_108">108</a>, <a href="#Page_111">111</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Solva, <a href="#Page_211">211</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Southerndown, <a href="#Page_177">177</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Southey, <a href="#Page_259">259</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Speech House, <a href="#Page_263">263</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Spenser, <a href="#Page_243">243</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Stack Rocks, <a href="#Page_204">204</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Steele, Richard, <a href="#Page_193">193</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Stephen, King, <a href="#Page_20">20</a>, <a href="#Page_37">37</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Stokesay Castle, <a href="#Page_10">10</a>, <a href="#Page_11">11</a><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_280" id="Page_280">[Pg 280]</a></span></li> - -<li class="indx">Strata Florida, <a href="#Page_141">141</a>, <a href="#Page_145">145-148</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Strongbow, Richard, <a href="#Page_144">144</a>, <a href="#Page_269">269</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Sugar Loaf Mountain, <a href="#Page_255">255</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Swallow Falls, <a href="#Page_95">95</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Swift, Dean, <a href="#Page_47">47</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Sycharth, <a href="#Page_77">77</a>, <a href="#Page_78">78</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Symond’s Yat, <a href="#Page_226">226</a>, <a href="#Page_245">245</a>, <a href="#Page_246">246</a>, <a href="#Page_264">264</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Talbot, 1st Earl of Shrewsbury, <a href="#Page_48">48</a>, <a href="#Page_245">245</a>, <a href="#Page_260">260</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Taliesin, <a href="#Page_91">91</a>, <a href="#Page_107">107</a>, <a href="#Page_149">149</a>, <a href="#Page_175">175</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Tal-y-Bont, <a href="#Page_149">149</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Tan-y-Bwlch, <a href="#Page_94">94</a>, <a href="#Page_129">129</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Tal-y-Llyn, <a href="#Page_155">155</a>, <a href="#Page_158">158</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Teify, River, <a href="#Page_145">145</a>, <a href="#Page_219">219</a>, <a href="#Page_220">220</a>, <a href="#Page_221">221</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Telford, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>, <a href="#Page_28">28</a>, <a href="#Page_43">43</a>, <a href="#Page_60">60</a>, <a href="#Page_79">79</a>, <a href="#Page_97">97</a>, <a href="#Page_99">99</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Teme, River, <a href="#Page_4">4</a>, <a href="#Page_5">5</a>, <a href="#Page_137">137</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Tenby, <a href="#Page_178">178</a>, <a href="#Page_195">195-197</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Tintern, <a href="#Page_225">225</a>, <a href="#Page_226">226</a>, <a href="#Page_246">246</a>, <a href="#Page_247">247</a>, <a href="#Page_265">265-267</a>, <a href="#Page_272">272</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Tintern Parva, <a href="#Page_265">265</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Tomen-y-Bala, <a href="#Page_160">160</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Tong, <a href="#Page_29">29</a>, <a href="#Page_30">30</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Tostig, <a href="#Page_237">237</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Towy, River, <a href="#Page_187">187</a>, <a href="#Page_188">188</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Towyn, <a href="#Page_155">155</a>, <a href="#Page_156">156</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Traeth Maelgwyn, <a href="#Page_154">154</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Traeth Mawr, <a href="#Page_111">111</a>, <a href="#Page_118">118</a>, <a href="#Page_119">119</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Trawscoed, <a href="#Page_145">145</a>, <a href="#Page_148">148</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Trawsfynydd, <a href="#Page_129">129</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Trecastle, <a href="#Page_187">187</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Trefriew, <a href="#Page_90">90</a>, <a href="#Page_91">91</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Tremadoc, <a href="#Page_111">111</a>, <a href="#Page_118">118</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Tre-Taliesin, <a href="#Page_149">149</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Tryfaen, <a href="#Page_97">97</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Tudor, Edmund, <a href="#Page_214">214</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Tudor, Jasper, <a href="#Page_172">172</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Tudor, Owen, <a href="#Page_237">237</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Tyn-y-Groes, <a href="#Page_129">129</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Tyn-y-Nant, <a href="#Page_79">79</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Upper Corris, <a href="#Page_158">158</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Upper Wye, <a href="#Page_226">226</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Uriconium, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>, <a href="#Page_26">26</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Usk, River, <a href="#Page_166">166</a>, <a href="#Page_187">187</a>, <a href="#Page_254">254</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Valle Crucis, <a href="#Page_71">71</a>, <a href="#Page_73">73-76</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Vaughan, Dean, Tomb of, <a href="#Page_173">173</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Vaughans of Dunraven, <a href="#Page_178">178</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Vernon, Dorothy, <a href="#Page_30">30</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Vernon, Sir Henry, <a href="#Page_30">30</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Vickers, Dick, <a href="#Page_79">79</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Vortigern, <a href="#Page_190">190</a>, <a href="#Page_191">191</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Vyrnwy, Lake, <a href="#Page_161">161</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Wales, Mid, <a href="#Page_137">137-162</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Wales, North, <a href="#Page_67">67-134</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Wales, South, <a href="#Page_165">165-222</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Walpole, Horace, <a href="#Page_52">52</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Walton, Isaac, <a href="#Page_54">54</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Warwick, Dowager Lady, <a href="#Page_69">69</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Watling Street, <a href="#Page_33">33</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Watt, James, <a href="#Page_230">230</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Wellington, <a href="#Page_33">33</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Welshpool, <a href="#Page_133">133</a>, <a href="#Page_134">134</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Wem, <a href="#Page_45">45</a>, <a href="#Page_47">47</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Wenlock Priory, <a href="#Page_38">38-42</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Westbury, <a href="#Page_52">52</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Whitchurch, <a href="#Page_45">45</a>, <a href="#Page_47">47</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Whitney, <a href="#Page_234">234</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Whittington, <a href="#Page_62">62-64</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Widemarsh, Hereford, <a href="#Page_236">236</a></li> - -<li class="indx">William I., <a href="#Page_212">212</a>, <a href="#Page_268">268</a>, <a href="#Page_269">269</a></li> - -<li class="indx">William II., <a href="#Page_212">212</a>, <a href="#Page_215">215</a></li> - -<li class="indx">William of Malmesbury, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>, <a href="#Page_39">39</a>, <a href="#Page_257">257</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Wilton, <a href="#Page_243">243</a>, <a href="#Page_244">244</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Windsor, Gerald de, <a href="#Page_201">201</a>, <a href="#Page_205">205</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Wnion, River, <a href="#Page_126">126</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Worcester, 2nd Earl of, <a href="#Page_272">272</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Worcester, 1st Marquis of, <a href="#Page_251">251</a>, <a href="#Page_252">252</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Worthen, <a href="#Page_52">52</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Wrekin, <a href="#Page_12">12</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Wroxeter, <a href="#Page_25">25</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Wyaston Leys, <a href="#Page_245">245</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Wye, <a href="#Page_69">69</a>, <a href="#Page_139">139</a>, <a href="#Page_140">140</a>, <a href="#Page_222">222</a>, <a href="#Page_226">226</a>, <a href="#Page_265">265</a>, <a href="#Page_268">268</a>, <a href="#Page_272">272</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Wye, Valley of the, <a href="#Page_225">225-272</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Wyndcliff, <a href="#Page_267">267</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Wynnes of Gwydir, <a href="#Page_82">82</a>, <a href="#Page_89">89</a>, <a href="#Page_91">91</a>, <a href="#Page_95">95</a>, <a href="#Page_96">96</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">York, Archbishop of, <a href="#Page_89">89</a></li> - -<li class="indx">York, Richard Duke of, <a href="#Page_22">22</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Yr Eifl, <a href="#Page_112">112</a>, <a href="#Page_117">117</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Ysgubor-y-coed, <a href="#Page_150">150</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Ystradfflur, <a href="#Page_145">145-148</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Ystwith, River, <a href="#Page_145">145</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Y Wyddfa, <a href="#Page_107">107</a></li> -</ul> - -<p class="center small">UNWIN BROTHERS, LIMITED, PRINTERS, WOKING AND LONDON. -</p> - -<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_1" id="Footnote_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> Latin inscription on the wall that used to surround the -tree.—<span class="smcap">Duke’s Version.</span></p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_2" id="Footnote_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_2"><span class="label">[2]</span></a> Since these words were written there have been extensive -excavations at Haughmond, by which important -disclosures have been made.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_3" id="Footnote_3"></a><a href="#FNanchor_3"><span class="label">[3]</span></a> Transactions of the Archæological Society of Shropshire.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_4" id="Footnote_4"></a><a href="#FNanchor_4"><span class="label">[4]</span></a> Transactions of the Archæological Society of Shropshire.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_5" id="Footnote_5"></a><a href="#FNanchor_5"><span class="label">[5]</span></a> <i>Gentleman’s Magazine</i>, August, 1906.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_6" id="Footnote_6"></a><a href="#FNanchor_6"><span class="label">[6]</span></a> “The History of Fulk Fitz-Warine,” translated by -Alice Kemp-Welch.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_7" id="Footnote_7"></a><a href="#FNanchor_7"><span class="label">[7]</span></a> I have seen somewhere that the original name of these -falls was not Rhaiadr y Wennol, or Swallow Falls, but -Rhaiadr Eweynol, or Foaming Falls. This seems probable: -but Borrow accepted the former version, and he was a stern -critic in such matters.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_8" id="Footnote_8"></a><a href="#FNanchor_8"><span class="label">[8]</span></a> Quotations from the “Mabinogion” are from Lady -Charlotte Guest’s translation.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_9" id="Footnote_9"></a><a href="#FNanchor_9"><span class="label">[9]</span></a> <i>Sic.</i></p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_10" id="Footnote_10"></a><a href="#FNanchor_10"><span class="label">[10]</span></a> “The Book of South Wales,” by the Rev. S. Baring-Gould.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_11" id="Footnote_11"></a><a href="#FNanchor_11"><span class="label">[11]</span></a> “The March and Borderland of Wales,” by A. G. -Bradley.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_12" id="Footnote_12"></a><a href="#FNanchor_12"><span class="label">[12]</span></a> Rev. S. Baring-Gould, “The Book of South Wales.”</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_13" id="Footnote_13"></a><a href="#FNanchor_13"><span class="label">[13]</span></a> “The Norman Horse-shoe” (Sir Walter Scott.)</p></div></div> - -<p> </p> -<hr /> -<p> </p> - -<div class="transnote"><h3>Transcriber's Note:</h3> - -<p>Every effort has been made to replicate this text as faithfully as -possible, including some inconsistencies in hyphenation. Some minor -corrections of spelling have been made.</p></div> - -<p> </p> -<hr class="full" /> -<p>***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MOTOR TOURS IN WALES & THE BORDER COUNTIES***</p> -<p>******* This file should be named 53152-h.htm or 53152-h.zip *******</p> -<p>This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:<br /> -<a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/5/3/1/5/53152">http://www.gutenberg.org/5/3/1/5/53152</a></p> -<p> -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed.</p> - -<p>Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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