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diff --git a/old/wwals10.txt b/old/wwals10.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..59dd653 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/wwals10.txt @@ -0,0 +1,27898 @@ +**The Project Gutenberg Etext of Wild Wales by George Borrow*** +#5 in our series by George Borrow + + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world, be sure to check +the copyright laws for your country before posting these files!! + +Please take a look at the important information in this header. +We encourage you to keep this file on your own disk, keeping an +electronic path open for the next readers. Do not remove this. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**Etexts Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*These Etexts Prepared By Hundreds of Volunteers and Donations* + +Information on contacting Project Gutenberg to get Etexts, and +further information is included below. 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FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS*Ver.04.29.93*END* + + + + + +Wild Wales by George Borrow +Scanned and proofed by David Price +email ccx074@coventry.ac.uk +Second proof by Jane Gammie + + + + + +Wild Wales: Its People, Language and Scenery + + + + +INTRODUCTORY + + + + +WALES is a country interesting in many respects, and deserving of +more attention than it has hitherto met with. Though not very +extensive, it is one of the most picturesque countries in the +world, a country in which Nature displays herself in her wildest, +boldest, and occasionally loveliest forms. The inhabitants, who +speak an ancient and peculiar language, do not call this region +Wales, nor themselves Welsh. They call themselves Cymry or Cumry, +and their country Cymru, or the land of the Cumry. Wales or +Wallia, however, is the true, proper, and without doubt original +name, as it relates not to any particular race, which at present +inhabits it, or may have sojourned in it at any long bygone period, +but to the country itself. Wales signifies a land of mountains, of +vales, of dingles, chasms, and springs. It is connected with the +Cumbric bal, a protuberance, a springing forth; with the Celtic +beul or beal, a mouth; with the old English welle, a fountain; with +the original name of Italy, still called by the Germans Welschland; +with Balkan and Vulcan, both of which signify a casting out, an +eruption; with Welint or Wayland, the name of the Anglo-Saxon god +of the forge; with the Chaldee val, a forest, and the German wald; +with the English bluff, and the Sanscrit palava - startling +assertions, no doubt, at least to some; which are, however, quite +true, and which at some future time will be universally +acknowledged so to be. + +But it is not for its scenery alone that Wales is deserving of +being visited; scenery soon palls unless it is associated with +remarkable events, and the names of remarkable men. Perhaps there +is no country in the whole world which has been the scene of events +more stirring and remarkable than those recorded in the history of +Wales. What other country has been the scene of a struggle so +deadly, so embittered, and protracted as that between the Cumro and +the Saxon? - A struggle which did not terminate at Caernarvon, when +Edward Longshanks foisted his young son upon the Welsh chieftains +as Prince of Wales; but was kept up till the battle of Bosworth +Field, when a prince of Cumric blood won the crown of fair Britain, +verifying the olden word which had cheered the hearts of the +Ancient Britons for at least a thousand years, even in times of the +darkest distress and gloom:- + + +"But after long pain +Repose we shall obtain, +When sway barbaric has purg'd us clean; +And Britons shall regain +Their crown and their domain, +And the foreign oppressor be no more seen." + + +Of remarkable men Wales has assuredly produced its full share. +First, to speak of men of action:- there was Madoc, the son of +Owain Gwynedd, who discovered America, centuries before Columbus +was born; then there was "the irregular and wild Glendower," who +turned rebel at the age of sixty, was crowned King of Wales at +Machynlleth, and for fourteen years contrived to hold his own +against the whole power of England; then there was Ryce Ap Thomas, +the best soldier of his time, whose hands placed the British crown +on the brow of Henry the Seventh, and whom bluff Henry the Eighth +delighted to call Father Preece; then there was - who? - why Harry +Morgan, who led those tremendous fellows the Buccaneers across the +Isthmus of Darien to the sack and burning of Panama. + +What, a buccaneer in the list? Ay! and why not? Morgan was a +scourge, it is true, but he was a scourge of God on the cruel +Spaniards of the New World, the merciless task-masters and butchers +of the Indian race: on which account God favoured and prospered +him, permitting him to attain the noble age of ninety, and to die +peacefully and tranquilly at Jamaica, whilst smoking his pipe in +his shady arbour, with his smiling plantation of sugar-canes full +in view. How unlike the fate of Harry Morgan to that of Lolonois, +a being as daring and enterprising as the Welshman, but a monster +without ruth or discrimination, terrible to friend and foe, who +perished by the hands, not of the Spaniards, but of the Indians, +who tore him limb from limb, burning his members, yet quivering, in +the fire - which very Indians Morgan contrived to make his own firm +friends, and whose difficult language he spoke with the same +facility as English, Spanish, and his own South Welsh. + +For men of genius Wales during a long period was particularly +celebrated. - Who has not heard of the Welsh Bards? though it is +true that, beyond the borders of Wales, only a very few are +acquainted with their songs, owing to the language, by no means an +easy one, in which they were composed. Honour to them all! +everlasting glory to the three greatest - Taliesin, Ab Gwilym and +Gronwy Owen: the first a professed Christian, but in reality a +Druid, whose poems fling great light on the doctrines of the +primitive priesthood of Europe, which correspond remarkably with +the philosophy of the Hindus, before the time of Brahma: the +second the grand poet of Nature, the contemporary of Chaucer, but +worth half a dozen of the accomplished word-master, the ingenious +versifier of Norman and Italian tales: the third a learned and +irreproachable minister of the Church of England, and one of the +greatest poets of the last century, who after several narrow +escapes from starvation both in England and Wales, died master of a +paltry school at New Brunswick, in North America, sometime about +the year 1780. + +But Wales has something besides its wonderful scenery, its eventful +history, and its illustrious men of yore to interest the visitor. +Wales has a population, and a remarkable one. There are countries, +besides Wales, abounding with noble scenery, rich in eventful +histories, and which are not sparingly dotted with the birthplaces +of heroes and poets, in which at the present day there is either no +population at all, or one of a character which is anything but +attractive. Of a country in the first predicament, the Scottish +Highlands afford an example: What a country is that Highland +region! What scenery! and what associations! If Wales has its +Snowdon and Cader Idris, the Highlands have their Hill of the Water +Dogs, and that of the Swarthy Swine: If Wales has a history, so +have the Highlands - not indeed so remarkable as that of Wales, but +eventful enough: If Wales has had its heroes, its Glendower and +Father Pryce, the Highlands have had their Evan Cameron and Ranald +of Moydart; If Wales has had its romantic characters, its Griffith +Ap Nicholas and Harry Morgan, the Highlands have had Rob Roy and +that strange fellow Donald Macleod, the man of the broadsword, the +leader of the Freacadan Dhu, who at Fontenoy caused, the Lord only +knows, how many Frenchmen's heads to fly off their shoulders, who +lived to the age of one hundred and seven, and at seventy-one +performed gallant service on the Heights of Abraham: wrapped in +whose plaid the dying Wolfe was carried from the hill of victory. - +If Wales has been a land of song, have not the Highlands also? - If +Wales can boast of Ab Gwilym and Gronwy, the Highlands can boast of +Ossian and MacIntyre. In many respects the two regions are equals +or nearly so; - In one respect, however, a matter of the present +day, and a very important matter too, they are anything but equals: +Wales has a population - but where is that of the Highlands? - +Plenty of noble scene; Plenty of delightful associations, +historical, poetical, and romantic - but, but, where is the +population? + +The population of Wales has not departed across the Atlantic, like +that of the Highlands; it remains at home, and a remarkable +population it is - very different from the present inhabitants of +several beautiful lands of olden fame, who have strangely +degenerated from their forefathers. Wales has not only a +population, but a highly interesting one - hardy and frugal, yet +kind and hospitable - a bit crazed, it is true, on the subject of +religion, but still retaining plenty of old Celtic peculiarities, +and still speaking Diolch i Duw! - the language of Glendower and +the Bards. + +The present is a book about Wales and Welsh matters. He who does +me the honour of perusing it will be conducted to many a spot not +only remarkable for picturesqueness, but for having been the scene +of some extraordinary event, or the birth-place or residence of a +hero or a man of genius; he will likewise be not unfrequently +introduced to the genuine Welsh, and made acquainted with what they +have to say about Cumro and Saxon, buying and selling, fattening +hogs and poultry, Methodism and baptism, and the poor, persecuted +Church of England. + +An account of the language of Wales will be found in the last +chapter. It has many features and words in common with the +Sanscrit, and many which seem peculiar to itself, or rather to the +family of languages, generally called the Celtic, to which it +belongs. Though not an original tongue, for indeed no original +tongue, or anything approximating to one, at present exists, it is +certainly of immense antiquity, indeed almost entitled in that +respect to dispute the palm with the grand tongue of India, on +which in some respects it flings nearly as much elucidation as it +itself receives in others. Amongst the words quoted in the chapter +alluded to I wish particularly to direct the reader's attention to +gwr, a man, and gwres, heat; to which may be added gwreichionen, a +spark. Does not the striking similarity between these words +warrant the supposition that the ancient Cumry entertained the idea +that man and fire were one and the same, even like the ancient +Hindus, who believed that man sprang from fire, and whose word +vira, (1) which signifies a strong man, a hero, signifies also +fire? + +There are of course faults and inaccuracies in the work; but I have +reason to believe that they are neither numerous nor important: I +may have occasionally given a wrong name to a hill or a brook; or +may have overstated or understated, by a furlong, the distance +between one hamlet and another; or even committed the blunder of +saying that Mr Jones Ap Jenkins lived in this or that homestead, +whereas in reality Mr Jenkins Ap Jones honoured it with his +residence: I may be chargeable with such inaccuracies; in which +case I beg to express due sorrow for them, and at the same time a +hope that I have afforded information about matters relating to +Wales which more than atones for them. It would be as well if +those who exhibit eagerness to expose the faults of a book would +occasionally have the candour to say a word or two about its +merits; such a wish, however, is not likely to be gratified, unless +indeed they wisely take a hint from the following lines, translated +from a cywydd of the last of the great poets of Wales: + + +"All can perceive a fault, where there is one - +A dirty scamp will find one, where there's none." (2) + + + + +WILD WALES: ITS PEOPLE, LANGUAGE, AND SCENERY + + + + +CHAPTER I + + + +Proposed Excursion - Knowledge of Welsh - Singular Groom - +Harmonious Distich - Welsh Pronunciation - Dafydd Ab Gwilym. + + +IN the summer of the year 1854 myself, wife, and daughter +determined upon going into Wales, to pass a few months there. We +are country people of a corner of East Anglia, and, at the time of +which I am speaking, had been residing so long on our own little +estate, that we had become tired of the objects around us, and +conceived that we should be all the better for changing the scene +for a short period. We were undetermined for some time with +respect to where we should go. I proposed Wales from the first, +but my wife and daughter, who have always had rather a hankering +after what is fashionable, said they thought it would be more +advisable to go to Harrowgate, or Leamington. On my observing that +those were terrible places for expense, they replied that, though +the price of corn had of late been shamefully low, we had a spare +hundred pounds or two in our pockets, and could afford to pay for a +little insight into fashionable life. I told them that there was +nothing I so much hated as fashionable life, but that, as I was +anything but a selfish person, I would endeavour to stifle my +abhorrence of it for a time, and attend them either to Leamington +or Harrowgate. By this speech I obtained my wish, even as I knew I +should, for my wife and daughter instantly observed, that, after +all, they thought we had better go into Wales, which, though not so +fashionable as either Leamington or Harrowgate, was a very nice +picturesque country, where, they had no doubt, they should get on +very well, more especially as I was acquainted with the Welsh +language. + +It was my knowledge of Welsh, such as it was, that made me desirous +that we should go to Wales, where there was a chance that I might +turn it to some little account. In my boyhood I had been something +of a philologist; had picked up some Latin and Greek at school; +some Irish in Ireland, where I had been with my father, who was in +the army; and subsequently whilst an articled clerk to the first +solicitor in East Anglia - indeed I may say the prince of all +English solicitors - for he was a gentleman, had learnt some Welsh, +partly from books and partly from a Welsh groom, whose acquaintance +I made. A queer groom he was, and well deserving of having his +portrait drawn. He might be about forty-seven years of age, and +about five feet eight inches in height; his body was spare and +wiry; his chest rather broad, and his arms remarkably long; his +legs were of the kind generally known as spindle-shanks, but +vigorous withal, for they carried his body with great agility; neck +he had none, at least that I ever observed; and his head was +anything but high, not measuring, I should think, more than four +inches from the bottom of the chin to the top of the forehead; his +cheek-bones were high, his eyes grey and deeply sunken in his face, +with an expression in them, partly sullen, and partly irascible; +his complexion was indescribable; the little hair which he had, +which was almost entirely on the sides and the back part of his +head, was of an iron-grey hue. He wore a leather hat on ordinary +days, low at the crown, and with the side eaves turned up. A dirty +pepper and salt coat, a waistcoat which had once been red, but +which had lost its pristine colour, and looked brown; dirty yellow +leather breeches, grey worsted stockings, and high-lows. Surely I +was right when I said he was a very different groom to those of the +present day, whether Welsh or English? What say you, Sir Watkin? +What say you, my Lord of Exeter? He looked after the horses, and +occasionally assisted in the house of a person who lived at the end +of an alley, in which the office of the gentleman to whom I was +articled was situated, and having to pass by the door of the office +half-a-dozen times in the day, he did not fail to attract the +notice of the clerks, who, sometimes individually, sometimes by +twos, sometimes by threes, or even more, not unfrequently stood at +the door, bareheaded - mis-spending the time which was not legally +their own. Sundry observations, none of them very flattering, did +the clerks and, amongst them, myself, make upon the groom, as he +passed and repassed, some of them direct, others somewhat oblique. +To these he made no reply save by looks, which had in them +something dangerous and menacing, and clenching without raising his +fists, which looked singularly hard and horny. At length a whisper +ran about the alley that the groom was a Welshman; this whisper +much increased the malice of my brother clerks against him, who +were now whenever he passed the door, and they happened to be there +by twos or threes, in the habit of saying something, as if by +accident, against Wales and Welshmen, and, individually or +together, were in the habit of shouting out "Taffy," when he was at +some distance from them, and his back was turned, or regaling his +ears with the harmonious and well-known distich of "Taffy was a +Welshman, Taffy was a thief: Taffy came to my house and stole a +piece of beef." It had, however, a very different effect upon me. +I was trying to learn Welsh, and the idea occurring to me that the +groom might be able to assist me in my pursuit, I instantly lost +all desire to torment him, and determined to do my best to scrape +acquaintance with him, and persuade him to give me what assistance +he could in Welsh. I succeeded; how I will not trouble the reader +with describing: he and I became great friends, and he taught me +what Welsh he could. In return for his instructions I persuaded my +brother clerks to leave off holloing after him, and to do nothing +further to hurt his feelings, which had been very deeply wounded, +so much so, that after the first two or three lessons he told me in +confidence that on the morning of the very day I first began to +conciliate him he had come to the resolution of doing one of two +things, namely, either to hang himself from the balk of the +hayloft, or to give his master warning, both of which things he +told me he should have been very unwilling to do, more particularly +as he had a wife and family. He gave me lessons on Sunday +afternoons, at my father's house, where he made his appearance very +respectably dressed, in a beaver hat, blue surtout, whitish +waistcoat, black trowsers and Wellingtons, all with a somewhat +ancient look - the Wellingtons I remember were slightly pieced at +the sides - but all upon the whole very respectable. I wished at +first to persuade him to give me lessons in the office, but could +not succeed: "No, no, lad;" said he, "catch me going in there: I +would just as soon venture into a nest of porcupines." To +translate from books I had already, to a certain degree, taught +myself, and at his first visit I discovered, and he himself +acknowledged, that at book Welsh I was stronger than himself, but I +learnt Welsh pronunciation from him, and to discourse a little in +the Welsh tongue. "Had you much difficulty in acquiring the sound +of the ll?" I think I hear the reader inquire. None whatever: the +double l of the Welsh is by no means the terrible guttural which +English people generally suppose it to be, being in reality a +pretty liquid, exactly resembling in sound the Spanish ll, the +sound of which I had mastered before commencing Welsh, and which is +equivalent to the English lh; so being able to pronounce llano I +had of course no difficulty in pronouncing Lluyd, which by-the-bye +was the name of the groom. + +I remember that I found the pronunciation of the Welsh far less +difficult than I had found the grammar, the most remarkable feature +of which is the mutation, under certain circumstances, of +particular consonants, when forming the initials of words. This +feature I had observed in the Irish, which I had then only learnt +by ear. + +But to return to the groom. He was really a remarkable character, +and taught me two or three things besides Welsh pronunciation; and +to discourse a little in Cumraeg. He had been a soldier in his +youth, and had served under Moore and Wellington in the Peninsular +campaigns, and from him I learnt the details of many a bloody field +and bloodier storm, of the sufferings of poor British soldiers, and +the tyranny of haughty British officers; more especially of the two +commanders just mentioned, the first of whom he swore was shot by +his own soldiers, and the second more frequently shot at by British +than French. But it is not deemed a matter of good taste to write +about such low people as grooms, I shall therefore dismiss him with +no observation further than that after he had visited me on Sunday +afternoons for about a year he departed for his own country with +his wife, who was an Englishwoman, and his children, in consequence +of having been left a small freehold there by a distant relation, +and that I neither saw nor heard of him again. + +But though I had lost my oral instructor I had still my silent +ones, namely, the Welsh books, and of these I made such use that +before the expiration of my clerkship I was able to read not only +Welsh prose, but, what was infinitely more difficult, Welsh poetry +in any of the four-and-twenty measures, and was well versed in the +compositions of various of the old Welsh bards, especially those of +Dafydd ab Gwilym, whom, since the time when I first became +acquainted with his works, I have always considered as the greatest +poetical genius that has appeared in Europe since the revival of +literature. + +After this exordium I think I may proceed to narrate the journey of +myself and family into Wales. As perhaps, however, it will be +thought that, though I have said quite enough about myself and a +certain groom, I have not said quite enough about my wife and +daughter, I will add a little more about them. Of my wife I will +merely say that she is a perfect paragon of wives - can make +puddings and sweets and treacle posset, and is the best woman of +business in Eastern Anglia - of my step-daughter - for such she is, +though I generally call her daughter, and with good reason, seeing +that she has always shown herself a daughter to me - that she has +all kinds of good qualities, and several accomplishments, knowing +something of conchology, more of botany, drawing capitally in the +Dutch style, and playing remarkably well on the guitar - not the +trumpery German thing so-called - but the real Spanish guitar. + + + +CHAPTER II + + + +The Starting - Peterborough Cathedral - Anglo-Saxon Names - Kaempe +Viser - Steam - Norman Barons - Chester Ale - Sion Tudor - Pretty +Welsh Tongue. + + +SO our little family, consisting of myself, my wife Mary, and my +daughter Henrietta, for daughter I shall persist in calling her, +started for Wales in the afternoon of the 27th July, 1854. We flew +through part of Norfolk and Cambridgeshire in a train which we left +at Ely, and getting into another, which did not fly quite so fast +as the one we had quieted, reached the Peterborough station at +about six o'clock of a delightful evening. We proceeded no farther +on our journey that day, in order that we might have an opportunity +of seeing the cathedral. + +Sallying arm in arm from the Station Hotel, where we had determined +to take up our quarters for the night, we crossed a bridge over the +deep quiet Nen, on the southern bank of which stands the station, +and soon arrived at the cathedral - unfortunately we were too late +to procure admission into the interior, and had to content +ourselves with walking round it and surveying its outside. + +It is named after, and occupies the site, or part of the site of an +immense monastery, founded by the Mercian King Peda, in the year +665, and destroyed by fire in the year 1116, which monastery, +though originally termed Medeshamsted, or the homestead on the +meads, was subsequently termed Peterborough, from the circumstance +of its having been reared by the old Saxon monarch for the love of +God and the honour of Saint Peter, as the Saxon Chronicle says, a +book which I went through carefully in my younger days, when I +studied Saxon, for, as I have already told the reader, I was in +those days a bit of a philologist. Like the first, the second +edifice was originally a monastery, and continued so till the time +of the Reformation; both were abodes of learning; for if the Saxon +Chronicle was commenced in the monkish cells of the first, it was +completed in those of the second. What is at present called +Peterborough Cathedral is a noble venerable pile, equal upon the +whole in external appearance to the cathedrals of Toledo, Burgos +and Leon, all of which I have seen. Nothing in architecture can be +conceived more beautiful than the principal entrance, which fronts +the west, and which, at the time we saw it, was gilded with the +rays of the setting sun. + +After having strolled about the edifice surveying it until we were +weary, we returned to our inn, and after taking an excellent supper +retired to rest. + +At ten o'clock next morning we left the capital of the meads. With +dragon speed, and dragon noise, fire, smoke, and fury, the train +dashed along its road through beautiful meadows, garnished here and +there with pollard sallows; over pretty streams, whose waters stole +along imperceptibly; by venerable old churches, which I vowed I +would take the first opportunity of visiting: stopping now and +then to recruit its energies at places, whose old Anglo-Saxon names +stared me in the eyes from station boards, as specimens of which, +let me only dot down Willy Thorpe, Ringsted, and Yrthling Boro. +Quite forgetting everything Welsh, I was enthusiastically Saxon the +whole way from Medeshamsted to Blissworth, so thoroughly Saxon was +the country, with its rich meads, its old churches and its names. +After leaving Blissworth, a thoroughly Saxon place by-the-bye, as +its name shows, signifying the stronghold or possession of Bligh or +Blee, I became less Saxon; the country was rather less Saxon, and I +caught occasionally the word "by" on a board, the Danish for a +town; which "by" waked in me a considerable portion of Danish +enthusiasm, of which I have plenty, and with reason, having +translated the glorious Kaempe Viser over the desk of my ancient +master, the gentleman solicitor of East Anglia. At length we drew +near the great workshop of England, called by some, Brummagem or +Bromwicham, by others Birmingham, and I fell into a philological +reverie, wondering which was the right name. Before, however, we +came to the station, I decided that both names were right enough, +but that Bromwicham was the original name; signifying the home on +the broomie moor, which name it lost in polite parlance for +Birmingham, or the home of the son of Biarmer, when a certain man +of Danish blood, called Biarming, or the son of Biarmer, got +possession of it, whether by force, fraud, or marriage - the +latter, by-the-bye, is by far the best way of getting possession of +an estate - this deponent neither knoweth nor careth. At +Birmingham station I became a modern Englishman, enthusiastically +proud of modern England's science and energy; that station alone is +enough to make one proud of being a modern Englishman. Oh, what an +idea does that station, with its thousand trains dashing off in all +directions, or arriving from all quarters, give of modern English +science and energy. My modern English pride accompanied me all the +way to Tipton; for all along the route there were wonderful +evidences of English skill and enterprise; in chimneys high as +cathedral spires, vomiting forth smoke, furnaces emitting flame and +lava, and in the sound of gigantic hammers, wielded by steam, the +Englishman's slave. After passing Tipton, at which place one +leaves the great working district behind; I became for a +considerable time a yawning, listless Englishman, without pride, +enthusiasm, or feeling of any kind, from which state I was suddenly +roused by the sight of ruined edifices on the tops of hills. They +were remains of castles built by Norman Barons. Here, perhaps, the +reader will expect from me a burst of Norman enthusiasm: if so he +will be mistaken; I have no Norman enthusiasm, and hate and +abominate the name of Norman, for I have always associated that +name with the deflowering of helpless Englishwomen, the plundering +of English homesteads, and the tearing out of poor Englishmen's +eyes. The sight of those edifices, now in ruins, but which were +once the strongholds of plunder, violence, and lust, made me almost +ashamed of being an Englishman, for they brought to my mind the +indignities to which poor English blood has been subjected. I sat +silent and melancholy, till looking from the window I caught sight +of a long line of hills, which I guessed to be the Welsh hills, as +indeed they proved, which sight causing me to remember that I was +bound for Wales, the land of the bard, made me cast all gloomy +thoughts aside and glow with all the Welsh enthusiasm with which I +glowed when I first started in the direction of Wales. + +On arriving at Chester, at which place we intended to spend two or +three days, we put up at an old-fashioned inn in Northgate Street, +to which we had been recommended; my wife and daughter ordered tea +and its accompaniments, and I ordered ale, and that which always +should accompany it, cheese. "The ale I shall find bad," said I; +Chester ale had a villainous character in the time of old Sion +Tudor, who made a first-rate englyn upon it, and it has scarcely +improved since; "but I shall have a treat in the cheese, Cheshire +cheese has always been reckoned excellent, and now that I am in the +capital of the cheese country, of course I shall have some of the +very prime." Well, the tea, loaf and butter made their appearance, +and with them my cheese and ale. To my horror the cheese had much +the appearance of soap of the commonest kind, which indeed I found +it much resembled in taste, on putting a small portion into my +mouth. "Ah," said I, after I had opened the window and ejected the +half-masticated morsel into the street, "those who wish to regale +on good Cheshire cheese must not come to Chester, no more than +those who wish to drink first-rate coffee must go to Mocha. I'll +now see whether the ale is drinkable;" so I took a little of the +ale into my mouth, and instantly going to the window, spirted it +out after the cheese. "Of a surety," said I, "Chester ale must be +of much the same quality as it was in the time of Sion Tudor, who +spoke of it to the following effect:- + + +"Chester ale, Chester ale! I could ne'er get it down, +'Tis made of ground-ivy, of dirt, and of bran, +'Tis as thick as a river below a huge town! +'Tis not lap for a dog, far less drink for a man.' + + +Well! if I have been deceived in the cheese, I have at any rate not +been deceived in the ale, which I expected to find execrable. +Patience! I shall not fall into a passion, more especially as there +are things I can fall back upon. Wife! I will trouble you for a +cup of tea. Henrietta! have the kindness to cut me a slice of +bread and butter." + +Upon the whole we found ourselves very comfortable in the old- +fashioned inn, which was kept by a nice old-fashioned gentlewoman, +with the assistance of three servants, namely, a "boots" and two +strapping chambermaids, one of which was a Welsh girl, with whom I +soon scraped acquaintance, not, I assure the reader, for the sake +of the pretty Welsh eyes which she carried in her head, but for the +sake of the pretty Welsh tongue which she carried in her mouth, +from which I confess occasionally proceeded sounds which, however +pretty, I was quite unable to understand. + + + +CHAPTER III + + + +Chester - The Rows - Lewis Glyn Cothi - Tragedy of Mold - Native of +Antigua - Slavery and the Americans - The Tents - Saturday Night. + + +ON the morning after our arrival we went out together, and walked +up and down several streets; my wife and daughter, however, soon +leaving me to go into a shop, I strolled about by myself. Chester +is an ancient town with walls and gates, a prison called a castle, +built on the site of an ancient keep, an unpretending-looking red +sandstone cathedral, two or three handsome churches, several good +streets, and certain curious places called rows. The Chester row +is a broad arched stone gallery running parallel with the street +within the facades of the houses; it is partly open on the side of +the street, and just one story above it. Within the rows, of which +there are three or four, are shops, every shop being on that side +which is farthest from the street. All the best shops in Chester +are to be found in the rows. These rows, to which you ascend by +stairs up narrow passages, were originally built for the security +of the wares of the principal merchants against the Welsh. Should +the mountaineers break into the town, as they frequently did, they +might rifle some of the common shops, where their booty would be +slight, but those which contained the more costly articles would be +beyond their reach; for at the first alarm the doors of the +passages, up which the stairs led, would be closed, and all access +to the upper streets cut off, from the open arches of which +missiles of all kinds, kept ready for such occasions, could be +discharged upon the intruders, who would be soon glad to beat a +retreat. These rows and the walls are certainly the most +remarkable memorials of old times which Chester has to boast of. + +Upon the walls it is possible to make the whole compass of the +city, there being a good but narrow walk upon them. The northern +wall abuts upon a frightful ravine, at the bottom of which is a +canal. From the western one there is a noble view of the Welsh +hills. + +As I stood gazing upon the hills from the wall a ragged man came up +and asked for charity. + +"Can you tell me the name of that tall hill?" said I, pointing in +the direction of the south-west. "That hill, sir," said the +beggar, "is called Moel Vamagh; I ought to know something about it +as I was born at its foot." "Moel," said I, "a bald hill; Vamagh, +maternal or motherly. Moel Vamagh, the Mother Moel." "Just so, +sir," said the beggar; "I see you are a Welshman, like myself, +though I suppose you come from the South - Moel Vamagh is the +Mother Moel, and is called so because it is the highest of all the +Moels." "Did you ever hear of a place called Mold?" said I. "Oh, +yes, your honour," said the beggar; "many a time; and many's the +time I have been there." "In which direction does it lie?" said I. +"Towards Moel Vamagh, your honour," said the beggar, "which is a +few miles beyond it; you can't see it from here, but look towards +Moel Vamagh and you will see over it." "Thank you," said I, and +gave something to the beggar, who departed, after first taking off +his hat. Long and fixedly did I gaze in the direction of Mold. +The reason which induced me to do so was the knowledge of an +appalling tragedy transacted there in the old time, in which there +is every reason to suppose a certain Welsh bard, called Lewis Glyn +Cothi, had a share. + +This man, who was a native of South Wales, flourished during the +wars of the Roses. Besides being a poetical he was something of a +military genius, and had a command of foot in the army of the +Lancastrian Jasper Earl of Pembroke, the son of Owen Tudor, and +half-brother of Henry the Sixth. After the battle of Mortimer's +Cross, in which the Earl's forces were defeated, the warrior bard +found his way to Chester, where he married the widow of a citizen +and opened a shop, without asking the permission of the mayor, who +with the officers of justice came and seized all his goods, which, +according to his own account, filled nine sacks, and then drove him +out of the town. The bard in a great fury indited an awdl, in +which he invites Reinallt ap Grufydd ap Bleddyn, a kind of +predatory chieftain, who resided a little way off in Flintshire, to +come and set the town on fire, and slaughter the inhabitants, in +revenge for the wrongs he had suffered, and then proceeds to vent +all kinds of imprecations against the mayor and people of Chester, +wishing, amongst other things, that they might soon hear that the +Dee had become too shallow to bear their ships - that a certain +cutaneous disorder might attack the wrists of great and small, old +and young, laity and clergy - that grass might grow in their +streets - that Ilar and Cyveilach, Welsh saints, might slay them - +that dogs might snarl at them - and that the king of heaven, with +the saints Brynach and Non, might afflict them with blindness - +which piece, however ineffectual in inducing God and the saints to +visit the Chester people with the curses with which the furious +bard wished them to be afflicted, seems to have produced somewhat +of its intended effect on the chieftain, who shortly afterwards, on +learning that the mayor and many of the Chester people were present +at the fair of Mold, near which place he resided, set upon them at +the head of his forces, and after a desperate combat, in which many +lives were lost, took the mayor prisoner, and drove those of his +people who survived into a tower, which he set on fire and burnt, +with all the unhappy wretches which it contained, completing the +horrors of the day by hanging the unfortunate mayor. + +Conversant as I was with all this strange history, is it wonderful +that I looked with great interest from the wall of Chester in the +direction of Mold? + +Once did I make the compass of the city upon the walls, and was +beginning to do the same a second time, when I stumbled against a +black, who, with his arms leaning upon the wall, was spitting over +it, in the direction of the river. I apologised, and contrived to +enter into conversation with him. He was tolerably well dressed, +had a hairy cap on his head, was about forty years of age, and +brutishly ugly, his features scarcely resembling those of a human +being. He told me he was a native of Antigua, a blacksmith by +trade, and had been a slave. I asked him if he could speak any +language besides English, and received for answer that besides +English, he could speak Spanish and French. Forthwith I spoke to +him in Spanish, but he did not understand me. I then asked him to +speak to me in Spanish, but he could not. "Surely you can tell me +the word for water in Spanish," said I; he, however, was not able. +"How is it," said I, "that, pretending to be acquainted with +Spanish, you do not even know the word for water?" He said he +could not tell, but supposed that he had forgotten the Spanish +language, adding however, that he could speak French perfectly. I +spoke to him in French - he did not understand me: I told him to +speak to me in French, but he did not. I then asked him the word +for bread in French, but he could not tell me. I made no +observations on his ignorance, but inquired how he liked being a +slave? He said not at all; that it was very bad to be a slave, as +a slave was forced to work. I asked him if he did not work now +that he was free? He said very seldom; that he did not like work, +and that it did not agree with him. I asked how he came into +England, and he said that wishing to see England, he had come over +with a gentleman as his servant, but that as soon as he got there, +he had left his master, as he did not like work. I asked him how +he contrived to live in England without working? He said that any +black might live in England without working; that all he had to do +was to attend religious meetings, and speak against slavery and the +Americans. I asked him if he had done so. He said he had, and +that the religious people were very kind to him, and gave him +money, and that a religious lady was going to marry him. I asked +him if he knew anything about the Americans? He said he did, and +that they were very bad people, who kept slaves and flogged them. +"And quite right too," said I, "if they are lazy rascals like +yourself, who want to eat without working. What a pretty set of +knaves or fools must they be, who encourage a fellow like you to +speak against negro slavery, of the necessity for which you +yourself are a living instance, and against a people of whom you +know as much as of French or Spanish." Then leaving the black, who +made no other answer to what I said, than by spitting with +considerable force in the direction of the river, I continued +making my second compass of the city upon the wall. + +Having walked round the city for the second time, I returned to the +inn. In the evening I went out again, passed over the bridge, and +then turned to the right in the direction of the hills. Near the +river, on my right, on a kind of green, I observed two or three +tents resembling those of gypsies. Some ragged children were +playing near them, who, however, had nothing of the appearance of +the children of the Egyptian race, their locks being not dark, but +either of a flaxen or red hue, and their features not delicate and +regular, but coarse and uncouth, and their complexions not olive, +but rather inclining to be fair. I did not go up to them, but +continued my course till I arrived near a large factory. I then +turned and retraced my steps into the town. It was Saturday night, +and the streets were crowded with people, many of whom must have +been Welsh, as I heard the Cambrian language spoken on every side. + + + +CHAPTER IV + + + +Sunday Morning - Tares and Wheat - Teetotalism - Hearsay - Irish +Family - What Profession? - Sabbath Evening - Priest or Minister - +Give us God. + + +ON the Sunday morning, as we sat at breakfast, we heard the noise +of singing in the street; running to the window, we saw a number of +people, bareheaded, from whose mouths the singing or psalmody +proceeded. These, on inquiry, we were informed, were Methodists, +going about to raise recruits for a grand camp-meeting, which was +to be held a little way out of the town. We finished our +breakfast, and at eleven attended divine service at the Cathedral. +The interior of this holy edifice was smooth and neat, strangely +contrasting with its exterior, which was rough and weather-beaten. +We had decent places found us by a civil verger, who probably took +us for what we were - decent country people. We heard much fine +chanting by the choir, and an admirable sermon, preached by a +venerable prebend, on "Tares and Wheat." The congregation was +numerous and attentive. After service we returned to our inn, and +at two o'clock dined. During dinner our conversation ran almost +entirely on the sermon, which we all agreed was one of the best +sermons we had ever heard, and most singularly adapted to country +people like ourselves, being on "Wheat and Tares." When dinner was +over my wife and daughter repaired to the neighbouring church, and +I went in quest of the camp-meeting, having a mighty desire to know +what kind of a thing Methodism at Chester was. + +I found about two thousand people gathered together in a field near +the railroad station; a waggon stood under some green elms at one +end of the field, in which were ten or a dozen men with the look of +Methodist preachers; one of these was holding forth to the +multitude when I arrived, but he presently sat down, I having, as I +suppose, only come in time to hear the fag-end of his sermon. +Another succeeded him, who, after speaking for about half an hour, +was succeeded by another. All the discourses were vulgar and +fanatical, and in some instances unintelligible at least to my +ears. There was plenty of vociferation, but not one single burst +of eloquence. Some of the assembly appeared to take considerable +interest in what was said, and every now and then showed they did +by devout hums and groans; but the generality evidently took little +or none, staring about listlessly, or talking to one another. +Sometimes, when anything particularly low escaped from the mouth of +the speaker, I heard exclamations of "how low! well, I think I +could preach better than that," and the like. At length a man of +about fifty, pock-broken and somewhat bald, began to speak: unlike +the others who screamed, shouted, and seemed in earnest, he spoke +in a dry, waggish style, which had all the coarseness and nothing +of the cleverness of that of old Rowland Hill, whom I once heard. +After a great many jokes, some of them very poor, and others +exceedingly thread-bare, on the folly of those who sell themselves +to the Devil for a little temporary enjoyment, he introduced the +subject of drunkenness, or rather drinking fermented liquors, which +he seemed to consider the same thing; and many a sorry joke on the +folly of drinking them did he crack, which some half-dozen amidst +the concourse applauded. At length he said:- + +"After all, brethren, such drinking is no joking matter, for it is +the root of all evil. Now, brethren, if you would all get to +heaven, and cheat the enemy of your souls, never go into a public- +house to drink, and never fetch any drink from a public-house. Let +nothing pass your lips, in the shape of drink, stronger than water +or tea. Brethren, if you would cheat the Devil, take the pledge +and become teetotalers. I am a teetotaller myself, thank God - +though once I was a regular lushington." + +Here ensued a burst of laughter in which I joined, though not at +the wretched joke, but at the absurdity of the argument; for, +according to that argument, I thought my old friends the Spaniards +and Portuguese must be the most moral people in the world, being +almost all water-drinkers. As the speaker was proceeding with his +nonsense, I heard some one say behind me - "a pretty fellow that, +to speak against drinking and public-houses: he pretends to be +reformed, but he is still as fond of the lush as ever. It was only +the other day I saw him reeling out of a gin-shop." + +Now that speech I did not like, for I saw at once that it could not +be true, so I turned quickly round and said - "Old chap, I can +scarcely credit that!" + +The man, whom I addressed, a rough-and-ready-looking fellow of the +lower class, seemed half disposed to return me a savage answer; but +an Englishman of the lower class, though you call his word in +question, is never savage with you, provided you call him old chap, +and he considers you by your dress to be his superior in station. +Now I, who had called the word of this man in question, had called +him old chap, and was considerably better dressed than himself; so, +after a little hesitation, he became quite gentle, and something +more, for he said in a half-apologetic tone - "Well, sir, I did not +exactly see him myself, but a particular friend of mine heer'd a +man say, that he heer'd another man say, that he was told that a +man heer'd that that fellow - " + +"Come, come!" said I, "a man must not be convicted on evidence like +that; no man has more contempt for the doctrine which that man +endeavours to inculcate than myself, for I consider it to have been +got up partly for fanatical, partly for political purposes; but I +will never believe that he was lately seen coming out of a gin- +shop; he is too wise, or rather too cunning, for that." + +I stayed listening to these people till evening was at hand. I +then left them, and without returning to the inn strolled over the +bridge to the green, where the tents stood. I went up to them: +two women sat at the entrance of one; a man stood by them, and the +children, whom I had before seen, were gambolling near at hand. +One of the women was about forty, the other some twenty years +younger; both were ugly. The younger was a rude, stupid-looking +creature, with red cheeks and redder hair, but there was a dash of +intelligence and likewise of wildness in the countenance of the +elder female, whose complexion and hair were rather dark. The man +was about the same age as the elder woman; he had rather a sharp +look, and was dressed in hat, white frock-coat, corduroy breeches, +long stockings and shoes. I gave them the seal of the evening. + +"Good evening to your haner," said the man - "Good evening to you, +sir," said the woman; whilst the younger mumbled something, +probably to the same effect, but which I did not catch. + +"Fine weather," said I. + +"Very, sir," said the elder female. "Won't you please to sit +down?" and reaching back into the tent, she pulled out a stool +which she placed near me. + +I sat down on the stool. "You are not from these parts?" said I, +addressing myself to the man. + +"We are not, your haner," said the man; "we are from Ireland." + +"And this lady," said I, motioning with my head to the elder +female, "is, I suppose, your wife." + +"She is, your haner, and the children which your haner sees are my +children." + +"And who is this young lady?" said I, motioning to the uncouth- +looking girl. + +"The young lady, as your haner is pleased to call her, is a +daughter of a sister of mine who is now dead, along with her +husband. We have her with us, your haner, because if we did not +she would be alone in the world." + +"And what trade or profession do you follow?" said I. + +"We do a bit in the tinkering line, your haner." + +"Do you find tinkering a very profitable profession?" said I. + +"Not very, your haner; but we contrive to get a crust and a drink +by it." + +"That's more than I ever could," said I. + +"Has your haner then ever followed tinkering?" said the man. + +"Yes," said I, "but I soon left off." + +"And became a minister," said the elder female, "Well, your honour +is not the first indifferent tinker that's turned out a shining +minister." + +"Why do you think me a minister?" + +"Because your honour has the very look and voice of one. Oh, it +was kind in your honour to come to us here in the Sabbath evening, +in order that you might bring us God." + +"What do you mean by bringing you God?" said I. + +"Talking to us about good things, sir, and instructing us out of +the Holy Book." + +"I am no minister," said I. + +"Then you are a priest; I am sure you are either a minister or a +priest; and now that I look on you, sir, I think you look more like +a priest than a minister. Yes, I see you are a priest. Oh, your +Reverence, give us God! Pull out the crucifix from your bosom, and +let us kiss the face of God!" + +"Of what religion are you?" said I. + +"Catholics, your Reverence, Catholics are we all." + +"I am no priest." + +"Then you are a minister; I am sure you are either a priest or a +minister. Oh sir, pull out the Holy Book, and instruct us from it +this blessed Sabbath evening. Give us God, sir, give us God!" + +"And would you, who are Catholics, listen to the voice of a +minister?" + +"That would we, sir; at least I would. If you are a minister, and +a good minister, I would as soon listen to your words as those of +Father Toban himself." + +"And who is Father Toban?" + +"A powerful priest in these parts, sir, who has more than once +eased me of my sins, and given me God upon the cross. Oh, a +powerful and comfortable priest is Father Toban." + +"And what would he say if he were to know that you asked for God +from a minister?" + +"I do not know, and do not much care; if I get God, I do not care +whether I get Him from a minister or a priest; both have Him, no +doubt, only give Him in different ways. Oh sir, do give us God; we +need Him sir, for we are sinful people; we call ourselves tinkers, +but many is the sinful thing - " + +"Bi-do-hosd;" said the man: Irish words tantamount to "Be silent!" + +"I will not be hushed," said the woman, speaking English. "The man +is a good man, and he will do us no harm. We are tinkers, sir; but +we do many things besides tinkering, many sinful things, especially +in Wales, whither we are soon going again. Oh, I want to be eased +of some of my sins before I go into Wales again, and so do you, +Tourlough, for you know how you are sometimes haunted by devils at +night in those dreary Welsh hills. Oh sir, give us comfort in some +shape or other, either as priest or minister; give us God! Give us +God!" + +"I am neither priest nor minister," said, I, "and can only say: +Lord have mercy upon you!" Then getting up I flung the children +some money and departed. + +"We do not want your money, sir," screamed the woman after me; "we +have plenty of money. Give us God! Give us God!" + +"Yes, your haner," said the man, "give us God! we do not want +money;" and the uncouth girl said something, which sounded much +like Give us God! but I hastened across the meadow, which was now +quite dusky, and was presently in the inn with my wife and +daughter. + + + +CHAPTER V + + + +Welsh Book Stall - Wit and Poetry - Welsh of Chester - Beautiful +Morning - Noble Fellow - The Coiling Serpent - Wrexham Church - +Welsh or English? - Codiad yr Ehedydd. + + +ON the afternoon of Monday I sent my family off by the train to +Llangollen, which place we had determined to make our head-quarters +during our stay in Wales. I intended to follow them next day, not +in train, but on foot, as by walking I should be better able to see +the country, between Chester and Llangollen, than by making the +journey by the flying vehicle. As I returned to the inn from the +train I took refuge from a shower in one of the rows or covered +streets, to which, as I have already said, one ascends by flights +of steps; stopping at a book-stall I took up a book which chanced +to be a Welsh one. The proprietor, a short red-faced man, +observing me reading the book, asked me if I could understand it. +I told him that I could. + +"If so," said he, "let me hear you translate the two lines on the +title-page." + +"Are you a Welshman?" said I. + +"I am!" he replied. + +"Good!" said I, and I translated into English the two lines which +were a couplet by Edmund Price, an old archdeacon of Merion, +celebrated in his day for wit and poetry. + +The man then asked me from what part of Wales I came, and when I +told him that I was an Englishman was evidently offended, either +because he did not believe me, or, as I more incline to think, did +not approve of an Englishman's understanding Welsh. + +The book was the life of the Rev. Richards, and was published at +Caerlleon, or the city of the legion, the appropriate ancient +British name for the place now called Chester, a legion having been +kept stationed there during the occupation of Britain by the +Romans. + +I returned to the inn and dined, and then yearning for society, +descended into the kitchen and had some conversation with the Welsh +maid. She told me that there were a great many Welsh in Chester +from all parts of Wales, but chiefly from Denbighshire and +Flintshire, which latter was her own country. That a great many +children were born in Chester of Welsh parents, and brought up in +the fear of God and love of the Welsh tongue. That there were some +who had never been in Wales, who spoke as good Welsh as herself, or +better. That the Welsh of Chester were of various religious +persuasions; that some were Baptists, some Independents, but that +the greater part were Calvinistic-Methodists; that she herself was +a Calvinistic-Methodist; that the different persuasions had their +different chapels, in which God was prayed to in Welsh; that there +were very few Welsh in Chester who belonged to the Church of +England, and that the Welsh in general do not like Church of +England worship, as I should soon find if I went into Wales. + +Late in the evening I directed my steps across the bridge to the +green, where I had discoursed with the Irish itinerants. I wished +to have some more conversation with them respecting their way of +life, and, likewise, as they had so strongly desired it, to give +them a little Christian comfort, for my conscience reproached me +for my abrupt departure on the preceding evening. On arriving at +the green, however, I found them gone, and no traces of them but +the mark of their fire and a little dirty straw. I returned, +disappointed and vexed, to my inn. + +Early the next morning I departed from Chester for Llangollen, +distant about twenty miles; I passed over the noble bridge and +proceeded along a broad and excellent road, leading in a direction +almost due south through pleasant meadows. I felt very happy - and +no wonder; the morning was beautiful, the birds sang merrily, and a +sweet smell proceeded from the new-cut hay in the fields, and I was +bound for Wales. I passed over the river Allan and through two +villages called, as I was told, Pulford and Marford, and ascended a +hill; from the top of this hill the view is very fine. To the east +are the high lands of Cheshire, to the west the bold hills of +Wales, and below, on all sides a fair variety of wood and water, +green meads and arable fields. + +"You may well look around, Measter," said a waggoner, who, coming +from the direction in which I was bound, stopped to breathe his +team on the top of the hill; "you may well look around - there +isn't such a place to see the country from, far and near, as where +we stand. Many come to this place to look about them." + +I looked at the man, and thought I had never seen a more powerful- +looking fellow; he was about six feet two inches high, immensely +broad in the shoulders, and could hardly have weighed less than +sixteen stone. I gave him the seal of the morning, and asked +whether he was Welsh or English. + +"English, Measter, English; born t'other side of Beeston, pure +Cheshire, Measter." + +"I suppose," said I, "there are few Welshmen such big fellows as +yourself." + +"No, Measter," said the fellow, with a grin, "there are few +Welshmen so big as I, or yourself either; they are small men +mostly, Measter, them Welshers, very small men - and yet the +fellows can use their hands. I am a bit of a fighter, Measter, at +least I was before my wife made me join the Methodist connection, +and I once fit with a Welshman at Wrexham, he came from the hills, +and was a real Welshman, and shorter than myself by a whole head +and shoulder, but he stood up against me, and gave me more than +play for my money, till I gripped him, flung him down and myself +upon him, and then of course t'was all over with him." + +"You are a noble fellow," said I, "and a credit to Cheshire. Will +you have sixpence to drink?" + +"Thank you, Measter, I shall stop at Pulford, and shall be glad to +drink your health in a jug of ale." + +I gave him sixpence, and descended the hill on one side, while he, +with his team, descended it on the other. + +"A genuine Saxon," said I; "I daresay just like many of those who, +under Hengist, subdued the plains of Lloegr and Britain. Taliesin +called the Saxon race the Coiling Serpent. He had better have +called it the Big Bull. He was a noble poet, however: what +wonderful lines, upon the whole, are those in his prophecy, in +which he speaks of the Saxons and Britons, and of the result of +their struggle - + + +"A serpent which coils, +And with fury boils, +From Germany coming with arm'd wings spread, +Shall subdue and shall enthrall +The broad Britain all, +From the Lochlin ocean to Severn's bed. + +"And British men +Shall be captives then +To strangers from Saxonia's strand; +They shall praise their God, and hold +Their language as of old, +But except wild Wales they shall lose their land." + + +I arrived at Wrexham, and having taken a very hearty breakfast at +the principal inn, for I felt rather hungry after a morning's walk +of ten miles, I walked about the town. The town is reckoned a +Welsh town, but its appearance is not Welsh - its inhabitants have +neither the look nor language of Welshmen, and its name shows that +it was founded by some Saxon adventurer, Wrexham being a Saxon +compound, signifying the home or habitation of Rex or Rag, and +identical, or nearly so, with the Wroxham of East Anglia. It is a +stirring bustling place, of much traffic, and of several thousand +inhabitants. Its most remarkable object is its church, which +stands at the south-western side. To this church, after wandering +for some time about the streets, I repaired. The tower is +quadrangular, and is at least one hundred feet high; it has on its +summit four little turrets, one at each corner, between each of +which are three spirelets, the middlemost of the three the highest. +The nave of the church is to the east; it is of two stories, both +crenulated at the top. I wished to see the interior of the church, +but found the gate locked. Observing a group of idlers close at +hand with their backs against a wall, I went up to them, and, +addressing myself to one, inquired whether I could see the church. +"Oh yes, sir," said the man; "the clerk who has the key lives close +at hand; one of us shall go and fetch him - by-the-bye, I may as +well go myself." He moved slowly away. He was a large bulky man +of about the middle age, and his companions were about the same age +and size as himself. I asked them if they were Welsh. "Yes, sir," +said one, "I suppose we are, for they call us Welsh." I asked if +any of them could speak Welsh. "No, sir," said the man, "all the +Welsh that any of us know, or indeed wish to know, is 'Cwrw da.'" +Here there was a general laugh. Cwrw da signifies good ale. I at +first thought that the words might be intended as a hint for a +treat, but was soon convinced of the contrary. There was no greedy +expectation in his eyes, nor, indeed, in those of his companions, +though they all looked as if they were fond of good ale. I +inquired whether much Welsh was spoken in the town, and was told +very little. When the man returned with the clerk I thanked him. +He told me I was welcome, and then went and leaned with his back +against the wall. He and his mates were probably a set of boon +companions enjoying the air after a night's bout at drinking. I +was subsequently told that all the people of Wrexham are fond of +good ale. The clerk unlocked the church door, and conducted me in. +The interior was modern, but in no respects remarkable. The clerk +informed me that there was a Welsh service every Sunday afternoon +in the church, but that few people attended, and those few were +almost entirely from the country. He said that neither he nor the +clergyman were natives of Wrexham. He showed me the Welsh Church +Bible, and at my request read a few verses from the sacred volume. +He seemed a highly intelligent man. I gave him something, which +appeared to be more than he expected, and departed, after inquiring +of him the road to Llangollen. + +I crossed a bridge, for there is a bridge and a stream too at +Wrexham. The road at first bore due west, but speedily took a +southerly direction. I moved rapidly over an undulating country; a +region of hills, or rather of mountains lay on my right hand. At +the entrance of a small village a poor, sickly-looking woman asked +me for charity. + +"Are you Welsh or English?" said I. + +"Welsh," she replied; "but I speak both languages, as do all the +people here." + +I gave her a halfpenny; she wished me luck, and I proceeded. I +passed some huge black buildings which a man told me were +collieries, and several carts laden with coal, and soon came to +Rhiwabon - a large village about half way between Wrexham and +Llangollen. I observed in this place nothing remarkable, but an +ancient church. My way from hence lay nearly west. I ascended a +hill, from the top of which I looked down into a smoky valley. I +descended, passing by a great many collieries, in which I observed +grimy men working amidst smoke and flame. At the bottom of the +hill near a bridge I turned round. A ridge to the east +particularly struck my attention; it was covered with dusky +edifices, from which proceeded thundering sounds, and puffs of +smoke. A woman passed me going towards Rhiwabon; I pointed to the +ridge and asked its name; I spoke English. The woman shook her +head and replied "Dim Saesneg." + +"This is as it should be," said I to myself; "I now feel I am in +Wales." I repeated the question in Welsh. + +"Cefn Bach," she replied - which signifies the little ridge. + +"Diolch iti," I replied, and proceeded on my way. + +I was now in a wild valley - enormous hills were on my right. The +road was good, and above it, in the side of a steep bank, was a +causeway intended for foot passengers. It was overhung with hazel +bushes. I walked along it to its termination which was at +Llangollen. I found my wife and daughter at the principal inn. +They had already taken a house. We dined together at the inn; +during the dinner we had music, for a Welsh harper stationed in the +passage played upon his instrument "Codiad yr ehedydd." "Of a +surety," said I, "I am in Wales!" + + + +CHAPTER VI + + + +Llangollen - Wyn Ab Nudd - The Dee - Dinas Bran. + + +THE northern side of the vale of Llangollen is formed by certain +enormous rocks called the Eglwysig rocks, which extend from east to +west, a distance of about two miles. The southern side is formed +by the Berwyn hills. The valley is intersected by the River Dee, +the origin of which is a deep lake near Bala, about twenty miles to +the west. Between the Dee and the Eglwysig rises a lofty hill, on +the top of which are the ruins of Dinas Bran, which bear no slight +resemblance to a crown. The upper part of the hill is bare with +the exception of what is covered by the ruins; on the lower part +there are inclosures and trees, with, here and there, a grove or +farm-house. On the other side of the valley, to the east of +Llangollen, is a hill called Pen y Coed, beautifully covered with +trees of various kinds; it stands between the river and the Berwyn, +even as the hill of Dinas Bran stands between the river and the +Eglwysig rocks - it does not, however, confront Dinas Bran, which +stands more to the west. + +Llangollen is a small town or large village of white houses with +slate roofs, it contains about two thousand inhabitants, and is +situated principally on the southern side of the Dee. At its +western end it has an ancient bridge and a modest unpretending +church nearly in its centre, in the chancel of which rest the +mortal remains of an old bard called Gryffydd Hiraethog. From some +of the houses on the southern side there is a noble view - Dinas +Bran and its mighty hill forming the principal objects. The view +from the northern part of the town, which is indeed little more +than a suburb, is not quite so grand, but is nevertheless highly +interesting. The eastern entrance of the vale of Llangollen is +much wider than the western, which is overhung by bulky hills. +There are many pleasant villas on both sides of the river, some of +which stand a considerable way up the hill; of the villas the most +noted is Plas Newydd at the foot of the Berwyn, built by two Irish +ladies of high rank, who resided in it for nearly half a century, +and were celebrated throughout Europe by the name of the Ladies of +Llangollen. + +The view of the hill of Dinas Bran, from the southern side of +Llangollen, would be much more complete were it not for a bulky +excrescence, towards its base, which prevents the gazer from +obtaining a complete view. The name of Llangollen signifies the +church of Collen, and the vale and village take their name from the +church, which was originally dedicated to Saint Collen, though +some, especially the neighbouring peasantry, suppose that +Llangollen is a compound of Llan, a church, and Collen, a hazel- +wood, and that the church was called the church of the hazel-wood +from the number of hazels in the neighbourhood. Collen, according +to a legendary life, which exists of him in Welsh, was a Briton by +birth, and of illustrious ancestry. He served for some time abroad +as a soldier against Julian the Apostate, and slew a Pagan champion +who challenged the best man amongst the Christians. Returning to +his own country he devoted himself to religion, and became Abbot of +Glastonbury, but subsequently retired to a cave on the side of a +mountain, where he lived a life of great austerity. Once as he was +lying in his cell he heard two men out abroad discoursing about Wyn +Ab Nudd, and saying that he was king of the Tylwyth or Teg Fairies, +and lord of Unknown, whereupon Collen thrusting his head out of his +cave told them to hold their tongues, for that Wyn Ab Nudd and his +host were merely devils. At dead of night he heard a knocking at +the door, and on his asking who was there, a voice said: "I am a +messenger from Wyn Ab Nudd, king of Unknown, and I am come to +summon thee to appear before my master to-morrow, at mid-day, on +the top of the hill." + +Collen did not go - the next night there was the same knocking and +the same message. Still Collen did not go. The third night the +messenger came again and repeated his summons, adding that if he +did not go it would be the worse for him. The next day Collen made +some holy water, put it into a pitcher and repaired to the top of +the hill, where he saw a wonderfully fine castle, attendants in +magnificent liveries, youths and damsels dancing with nimble feet, +and a man of honourable presence before the gate, who told him that +the king was expecting him to dinner. Collen followed the man into +the castle, and beheld the king on a throne of gold, and a table +magnificently spread before him. The king welcomed Collen, and +begged him to taste of the dainties on the table, adding that he +hoped that in future he would reside with him. "I will not eat of +the leaves of the forest," said Collen. + +"Did you ever see men better dressed?" said the king, "than my +attendants here in red and blue?" + +"Their dress is good enough," said Collen, "considering what kind +of dress it is." + +"What kind of dress is it?" said the king. + +Collen replied: "The red on the one side denotes burning, and the +blue on the other side denotes freezing." Then drawing forth his +sprinkler, he flung the holy water in the faces of the king and his +people, whereupon the whole vision disappeared, so that there was +neither castle nor attendants, nor youth nor damsel, nor musician +with his music, nor banquet, nor anything to be seen save the green +bushes. + +The valley of the Dee, of which the Llangollen district forms part, +is called in the British tongue Glyndyfrdwy - that is, the valley +of the Dwy or Dee. The celebrated Welsh chieftain, generally known +as Owen Glendower, was surnamed after this valley, the whole of +which belonged to him, and in which he had two or three places of +strength, though his general abode was a castle in Sycharth, a +valley to the south-east of the Berwyn, and distant about twelve +miles from Llangollen. + +Connected with the Dee there is a wonderful Druidical legend to the +following effect. The Dee springs from two fountains, high up in +Merionethshire, called Dwy Fawr and Dwy Fach, or the great and +little Dwy, whose waters pass through those of the lake of Bala +without mingling with them, and come out at its northern extremity. +These fountains had their names from two individuals, Dwy Fawr and +Dwy Fach, who escaped from the Deluge, when all the rest of the +human race were drowned, and the passing of the waters of the two +fountains through the lake, without being confounded with its +flood, is emblematic of the salvation of the two individuals from +the Deluge, of which the lake is a type. + +Dinas Bran, which crowns the top of the mighty hill on the northern +side of the valley, is a ruined stronghold of unknown antiquity. +The name is generally supposed to signify Crow Castle, bran being +the British word for crow, and flocks of crows being frequently +seen hovering over it. It may, however, mean the castle of Bran or +Brennus, or the castle above the Bran, a brook which flows at its +foot. + +Dinas Bran was a place quite impregnable in the old time, and +served as a retreat to Gruffydd, son of Madawg from the rage of his +countrymen, who were incensed against him because, having married +Emma, the daughter of James Lord Audley, he had, at the instigation +of his wife and father-in-law, sided with Edward the First against +his own native sovereign. But though it could shield him from his +foes, it could not preserve him from remorse and the stings of +conscience, of which he speedily died. + +At present the place consists only of a few ruined walls, and +probably consisted of little more two or three hundred years ago: +Roger Cyffyn a Welsh bard, who flourished at the beginning of the +seventeenth century, wrote an englyn upon it, of which the +following is a translation:- + + +"Gone, gone are thy gates, Dinas Bran on the height! +Thy warders are blood-crows and ravens, I trow; +Now no one will wend from the field of the fight +To the fortress on high, save the raven and crow." + + + +CHAPTER VII + + + +Poor Black Cat - Dissenters - Persecution - What Impudence! + + +THE house or cottage, for it was called a cottage though it +consisted of two stories, in which my wife had procured lodgings +for us, was situated in the Northern suburb. Its front was towards +a large perllan or orchard, which sloped down gently to the banks +of the Dee; its back was towards the road leading from Wrexham, +behind which was a high bank, on the top of which was a canal +called in Welsh the Camlas, whose commencement was up the valley +about two miles west. A little way up the road, towards Wrexham, +was the vicarage and a little way down was a flannel factory, +beyond which was a small inn, with pleasure grounds, kept by an +individual who had once been a gentleman's servant. The mistress +of the house was a highly respectable widow, who, with a servant +maid was to wait upon us. It was as agreeable a place in all +respects as people like ourselves could desire. + +As I and my family sat at tea in our parlour, an hour or two after +we had taken possession of our lodgings, the door of the room and +that of the entrance to the house being open, on account of the +fineness of the weather, a poor black cat entered hastily, sat down +on the carpet by the table, looked up towards us, and mewed +piteously. I never had seen so wretched a looking creature. It +was dreadfully attenuated, being little more than skin and bone, +and was sorely afflicted with an eruptive malady. And here I may +as well relate the history of this cat previous to our arrival +which I subsequently learned by bits and snatches. It had belonged +to a previous vicar of Llangollen, and had been left behind at his +departure. His successor brought with him dogs and cats, who, +conceiving that the late vicar's cat had no business at the +vicarage, drove it forth to seek another home, which, however, it +could not find. Almost all the people of the suburb were +dissenters, as indeed were the generality of the people of +Llangollen, and knowing the cat to be a church cat, not only would +not harbour it, but did all they could to make it miserable; whilst +the few who were not dissenters, would not receive it into their +houses, either because they had cats of their own, or dogs, or did +not want a cat, so that the cat had no home and was dreadfully +persecuted by nine-tenths of the suburb. Oh, there never was a cat +so persecuted as that poor Church of England animal, and solely on +account of the opinions which it was supposed to have imbibed in +the house of its late master, for I never could learn that the +dissenters of the suburb, nor indeed of Llangollen in general, were +in the habit of persecuting other cats; the cat was a Church of +England cat, and that was enough: stone it, hang it, drown it! +were the cries of almost everybody. If the workmen of the flannel +factory, all of whom were Calvinistic-Methodists, chanced to get a +glimpse of it in the road from the windows of the building, they +would sally forth in a body, and with sticks, stones, or for want +of other weapons, with clots of horse dung, of which there was +always plenty on the road, would chase it up the high bank or +perhaps over the Camlas; the inhabitants of a small street between +our house and the factory leading from the road to the river, all +of whom were dissenters, if they saw it moving about the perllan, +into which their back windows looked, would shriek and hoot at it, +and fling anything of no value, which came easily to hand, at the +head or body of the ecclesiastical cat. The good woman of the +house, who though a very excellent person, was a bitter dissenter, +whenever she saw it upon her ground or heard it was there, would +make after it, frequently attended by her maid Margaret, and her +young son, a boy about nine years of age, both of whom hated the +cat, and were always ready to attack it, either alone or in +company, and no wonder, the maid being not only a dissenter, but a +class teacher, and the boy not only a dissenter, but intended for +the dissenting ministry. Where it got its food, and food it +sometimes must have got, for even a cat, an animal known to have +nine lives, cannot live without food, was only known to itself, as +was the place where it lay, for even a cat must lie down sometimes; +though a labouring man who occasionally dug in the garden told me +he believed that in the springtime it ate freshets, and the woman +of the house once said that she believed it sometimes slept in the +hedge, which hedge, by-the-bye, divided our perllan from the +vicarage grounds, which were very extensive. Well might the cat +after having led this kind of life for better than two years look +mere skin and bone when it made its appearance in our apartment, +and have an eruptive malady, and also a bronchitic cough, for I +remember it had both. How it came to make its appearance there is +a mystery, for it had never entered the house before, even when +there were lodgers; that it should not visit the woman, who was its +declared enemy, was natural enough, but why if it did not visit her +other lodgers, did it visit us? Did instinct keep it aloof from +them? Did instinct draw it towards us? We gave it some bread-and- +butter, and a little tea with milk and sugar. It ate and drank and +soon began to purr. The good woman of the house was horrified when +on coming in to remove the things she saw the church cat on her +carpet. "What impudence!" she exclaimed, and made towards it, but +on our telling her that we did not expect that it should be +disturbed, she let it alone. A very remarkable circumstance was, +that though the cat had hitherto been in the habit of flying, not +only from her face, but the very echo of her voice, it now looked +her in the face with perfect composure, as much as to say, "I don't +fear you, for I know that I am now safe and with my own people." +It stayed with us two hours and then went away. The next morning +it returned. To be short, though it went away every night, it +became our own cat, and one of our family. I gave it something +which cured it of its eruption, and through good treatment it soon +lost its other ailments and began to look sleek and bonny. + + + +CHAPTER VIII + + + +The Mowers - Deep Welsh - Extensive View - Old Celtic Hatred - Fish +Preserving - Smollet's Morgan. + + +NEXT morning I set out to ascend Dinas Bran, a number of children, +almost entirely girls, followed me. I asked them why they came +after me. "In the hope that you will give us something," said one +in very good English. I told them that I should give them nothing, +but they still followed me. A little way up the hill I saw some +men cutting hay. I made an observation to one of them respecting +the fineness of the weather; he answered civilly, and rested on his +scythe, whilst the others pursued their work. I asked him whether +he was a farming man; he told me that he was not; that he generally +worked at the flannel manufactory, but that for some days past he +had not been employed there, work being slack, and had on that +account joined the mowers in order to earn a few shillings. I +asked him how it was he knew how to handle a scythe, not being bred +up a farming man; he smiled, and said that, somehow or other, he +had learnt to do so. + +"You speak very good English," said I, "have you much Welsh?" + +"Plenty," said he; "I am a real Welshman." + +"Can you read Welsh?" said I. + +"Oh, yes!" he replied. + +"What books have you read?" said I. + +"I have read the Bible, sir, and one or two other books." + +"Did you ever read the Bardd Cwsg?" said I. + +He looked at me with some surprise. "No," said he, after a moment +or two, "I have never read it. I have seen it, but it was far too +deep Welsh for me." + +"I have read it," said I. + +"Are you a Welshman?" said he. + +"No," said I; "I am an Englishman." + +"And how is it," said he, "that you can read Welsh without being a +Welshman?" + +"I learned to do so," said I, "even as you learned to mow, without +being bred up to farming work." + +"Ah! "said he, "but it is easier to learn to mow than to read the +Bardd Cwsg." + +"I don't think that," said I; "I have taken up a scythe a hundred +times but I cannot mow." + +"Will your honour take mine now, and try again?" said he. + +"No," said I, "for if I take your scythe in hand I must give you a +shilling, you know, by mowers' law." + +He gave a broad grin, and I proceeded up the hill. When he +rejoined his companions he said something to them in Welsh, at +which they all laughed. I reached the top of the hill, the +children still attending me. + +The view over the vale is very beautiful; but on no side, except in +the direction of the west, is it very extensive; Dinas Bran being +on all other sides overtopped by other hills: in that direction, +indeed, the view is extensive enough, reaching on a fine day even +to the Wyddfa or peak of Snowdon, a distance of sixty miles, at +least as some say, who perhaps ought to add to very good eyes, +which mine are not. The day that I made my first ascent of Dinas +Bran was very clear, but I do not think I saw the Wyddfa then from +the top of Dinas Bran. It is true I might see it without knowing +it, being utterly unacquainted with it, except by name; but I +repeat I do not think I saw it, and I am quite sure that I did not +see it from the top of Dinas Bran on a subsequent ascent, on a day +equally clear, when if I had seen the Wyddfa I must have recognised +it, having been at its top. As I stood gazing around, the children +danced about upon the grass, and sang a song. The song was +English. I descended the hill; they followed me to its foot, and +then left me. The children of the lower class of Llangollen are +great pests to visitors. The best way to get rid of them is to +give them nothing: I followed that plan, and was not long troubled +with them. + +Arrived at the foot of the hill, I walked along the bank of the +canal to the west. Presently I came to a barge lying by the bank; +the boatman was in it. I entered into conversation with him. He +told me that the canal and its branches extended over a great part +of England. That the boats carried slates - that he had frequently +gone as far as Paddington by the canal - that he was generally +three weeks on the journey - that the boatmen and their families +lived in the little cabins aft - that the boatmen were all Welsh - +that they could read English, but little or no Welsh - that English +was a much more easy language to read than Welsh - that they passed +by many towns, among others Northampton, and that he liked no place +so much as Llangollen. I proceeded till I came to a place where +some people were putting huge slates into a canal boat. It was +near a bridge which crossed the Dee, which was on the left. I +stopped and entered into conversation with one, who appeared to be +the principal man. He told me amongst other things that he was a +blacksmith from the neighbourhood of Rhiwabon, and that the flags +were intended for the flooring of his premises. In the boat was an +old bareheaded, bare-armed fellow, who presently joined in the +conversation in very broken English. He told me that his name was +Joseph Hughes, and that he was a real Welshman and was proud of +being so; he expressed a great dislike for the English, who he said +were in the habit of making fun of him and ridiculing his language; +he said that all the fools that he had known were Englishmen. I +told him that all Englishmen were not fools; "but the greater part +are," said he. "Look how they work," said I. "Yes," said he, +"some of them are good at breaking stones for the road, but not +more than one in a hundred." "There seems to be something of the +old Celtic hatred to the Saxon in this old fellow," said I to +myself, as I walked away. + +I proceeded till I came to the head of the canal, where the +navigation first commences. It is close to a weir over which the +Dee falls. Here there is a little floodgate, through which water +rushes from an oblong pond or reservoir, fed by water from a corner +of the upper part of the weir. On the left, or south-west side, is +a mound of earth fenced with stones which is the commencement of +the bank of the canal. The pond or reservoir above the floodgate +is separated from the weir by a stone wall on the left, or south- +west side. This pond has two floodgates, the one already +mentioned, which opens into the canal, and another, on the other +side of the stone mound, opening to the lower part of the weir. +Whenever, as a man told me who was standing near, it is necessary +to lay the bed of the canal dry, in the immediate neighbourhood for +the purpose of making repairs, the floodgate to the canal is +closed, and the one to the lower part of the weir is opened, and +then the water from the pond flows into the Dee, whilst a sluice, +near the first lock, lets out the water of the canal into the +river. The head of the canal is situated in a very beautiful spot. +To the left or south is a lofty hill covered with wood. To the +right is a beautiful slope or lawn on the top of which is a pretty +villa, to which you can get by a little wooden bridge over the +floodgate of the canal, and indeed forming part of it. Few things +are so beautiful in their origin as this canal, which, be it known, +with its locks and its aqueducts, the grandest of which last is the +stupendous erection near Stockport, which by-the-bye filled my mind +when a boy with wonder, constitutes the grand work of England, and +yields to nothing in the world of the kind, with the exception of +the great canal of China. + +Retracing my steps some way I got upon the river's bank and then +again proceeded in the direction of the west. I soon came to a +cottage nearly opposite a bridge, which led over the river, not the +bridge which I have already mentioned, but one much smaller, and +considerably higher up the valley. The cottage had several dusky +outbuildings attached to it, and a paling before it. Leaning over +the paling in his shirt-sleeves was a dark-faced, short, thickset +man, who saluted me in English. I returned his salutation, +stopped, and was soon in conversation with him. I praised the +beauty of the river and its banks: he said that both were +beautiful and delightful in summer, but not at all in winter, for +then the trees and bushes on the banks were stripped of their +leaves, and the river was a frightful torrent. He asked me if I +had been to see the place called the Robber's Leap, as strangers +generally went to see it. I inquired where it was. + +"Yonder," said he, pointing to some distance down the river. + +"Why is it called the Robber's Leap?" said I. + +"It is called the Robber's Leap, or Llam y Lleidyr," said he, +"because a thief pursued by justice once leaped across the river +there and escaped. It was an awful leap, and he well deserved to +escape after taking it." I told him that I should go and look at +it on some future opportunity, and then asked if there were many +fish in the river. He said there were plenty of salmon and trout, +and that owing to the river being tolerably high, a good many had +been caught during the last few days. I asked him who enjoyed the +right of fishing in the river. He said that in these parts the +fishing belonged to two or three proprietors, who either preserved +the fishing for themselves, as they best could by means of keepers, +or let it out to other people; and that many individuals came not +only from England, but from France and Germany and even Russia for +the purpose of fishing, and that the keepers of the proprietors +from whom they purchased permission to fish, went with them, to +show them the best places, and to teach them how to fish. He added +that there was a report that the river would shortly be rhydd or +free and open to any one. I said that it would be a bad thing to +fling the river open, as in that event the fish would be killed at +all times and seasons, and eventually all destroyed. He replied +that he questioned whether more fish would be taken then than now, +and that I must not imagine that the fish were much protected by +what was called preserving; that the people to whom the lands in +the neighbourhood belonged, and those who paid for fishing did not +catch a hundredth part of the fish which were caught in the river: +that the proprietors went with their keepers, and perhaps caught +two or three stone of fish, or that strangers went with the +keepers, whom they paid for teaching them how to fish, and perhaps +caught half-a-dozen fish, and that shortly after the keepers would +return and catch on their own account sixty stone of fish from the +very spot where the proprietors or strangers had great difficulty +in catching two or three stone or the half-dozen fish, or the +poachers would go and catch a yet greater quantity. He added that +gentry did not understand how to catch fish, and that to attempt to +preserve was nonsense. I told him that if the river was flung open +everybody would fish; he said that I was much mistaken, that +hundreds who were now poachers, would then keep at home, mind their +proper trades, and never use line or spear; that folks always +longed to do what they were forbidden, and that Shimei would never +have crossed the brook provided he had not been told he should be +hanged if he did. That he himself had permission to fish in the +river whenever he pleased, but never availed himself of it, though +in his young time, when he had no leave, he had been an arrant +poacher. + +The manners and way of speaking of this old personage put me very +much in mind of those of Morgan, described by Smollett in his +immortal novel of "Roderick Random." I had more discourse with +him: I asked him in what line of business he was, he told me that +he sold coals. From his complexion, and the hue of his shirt, I +had already concluded that he was in some grimy trade. I then +inquired of what religion he was, and received for answer that he +was a Baptist. I thought that both himself and part of his apparel +would look all the better for a good immersion. We talked of the +war then raging - he said it was between the false prophet and the +Dragon. I asked him who the Dragon was - he said the Turk. I told +him that the Pope was far worse than either the Turk or the +Russian, that his religion was the vilest idolatry, and that he +would let no one alone. That it was the Pope who drove his fellow +religionists the Anabaptists out of the Netherlands. He asked me +how long ago that was. Between two and three hundred years I +replied. He asked me the meaning of the word Anabaptist; I told +him; whereupon he expressed great admiration for my understanding, +and said that he hoped he should see me again. + +I inquired of him to what place the bridge led; he told me that if +I passed over it, and ascended a high bank beyond, I should find +myself on the road from Llangollen to Corwen and that if I wanted +to go to Llangollen I must turn to the left. I thanked him, and +passing over the bridge, and ascending the bank, found myself upon +a broad road. I turned to the left, and walking briskly in about +half an hour reached our cottage in the northern suburb, where I +found my family and dinner awaiting me. + + + +CHAPTER IX + + + +The Dinner - English Foibles - Pengwern - The Yew-Tree - Carn- +Lleidyr - Applications of a Term. + + +FOR dinner we had salmon and leg of mutton; the salmon from the +Dee, the leg from the neighbouring Berwyn. The salmon was good +enough, but I had eaten better; and here it will not be amiss to +say, that the best salmon in the world is caught in the Suir, a +river that flows past the beautiful town of Clonmel in Ireland. As +for the leg of mutton it was truly wonderful; nothing so good had I +ever tasted in the shape of a leg of mutton. The leg of mutton of +Wales beats the leg of mutton of any other country, and I had never +tasted a Welsh leg of mutton before. Certainly I shall never +forget that first Welsh leg of mutton which I tasted, rich but +delicate, replete with juices derived from the aromatic herbs of +the noble Berwyn, cooked to a turn, and weighing just four pounds. + + +"O its savoury smell was great, +Such as well might tempt, I trow, +One that's dead to lift his brow." + + +Let any one who wishes to eat leg of mutton in perfection go to +Wales, but mind you to eat leg of mutton only. Welsh leg of mutton +is superlative; but with the exception of the leg, the mutton of +Wales is decidedly inferior to that of many other parts of Britain. + +Here, perhaps, as I have told the reader what we ate for dinner, it +will be as well to tell him what we drank at dinner. Let him know +then, that with our salmon we drank water, and with our mutton ale, +even ale of Llangollen; but not the best ale of Llangollen; it was +very fair; but I subsequently drank far better Llangollen ale than +that which I drank at our first dinner in our cottage at +Llangollen. + +In the evening I went across the bridge and strolled along in a +south-east direction. Just as I had cleared the suburb a man +joined me from a cottage, on the top of a high bank, whom I +recognised as the mower with whom I had held discourse in the +morning. He saluted me and asked me if I were taking a walk, I +told him I was, whereupon he said that if I were not too proud to +wish to be seen walking with a poor man like himself, he should +wish to join me. I told him I should be glad of his company, and +that I was not ashamed to be seen walking with any person, however +poor, who conducted himself with propriety. He replied that I must +be very different from my countrymen in general, who were ashamed +to be seen walking with any people, who were not, at least, as +well-dressed as themselves. I said that my country-folk in general +had a great many admirable qualities, but at the same time a great +many foibles, foremost amongst which last was a crazy admiration +for what they called gentility, which made them sycophantic to +their superiors in station, and extremely insolent to those whom +they considered below them. He said that I had spoken his very +thoughts, and then asked me whether I wished to be taken the most +agreeable walk near Llangollen. + +On my replying by all means, he led me along the road to the south- +east. A pleasant road it proved: on our right at some distance +was the mighty Berwyn; close on our left the hill called Pen y +Coed. I asked him what was beyond the Berwyn? + +"A very wild country, indeed," he replied, "consisting of wood, +rock, and river; in fact, an anialwch." + +He then asked if I knew the meaning of anialwch. + +"A wilderness," I replied, "you will find the word in the Welsh +Bible." + +"Very true, sir," said he, "it was there I met it, but I did not +know the meaning of it, till it was explained to me by one of our +teachers." + +On my inquiring of what religion he was, he told me he was a +Calvinistic-Methodist. + +We passed an ancient building which stood on our right. I turned +round to look at it. Its back was to the road: at its eastern end +was a fine arched window like the oriel window of a church + +"That building," said my companion, "is called Pengwern Hall. It +was once a convent of nuns; a little time ago a farm-house, but is +now used as a barn, and a place of stowage. Till lately it +belonged to the Mostyn family, but they disposed of it, with the +farm on which it stood, together with several other farms, to +certain people from Liverpool, who now live yonder," pointing to a +house a little way farther on. I still looked at the edifice. + +"You seem to admire the old building," said my companion. + +"I was not admiring it," said I; "I was thinking of the difference +between its present and former state. Formerly it was a place +devoted to gorgeous idolatry and obscene lust; now it is a quiet +old barn in which hay and straw are placed, and broken tumbrels +stowed away: surely the hand of God is visible here?" + +"It is so, sir," said the man in a respectful tone, "and so it is +in another place in this neighbourhood. About three miles from +here, in the north-west part of the valley, is an old edifice. It +is now a farm-house, but was once a splendid abbey, and was called +- " + +"The abbey of the vale of the cross," said I, "I have read a deal +about it. Iolo Goch, the bard of your celebrated hero, Owen +Glendower, was buried somewhere in its precincts." + +We went on: my companion took me over a stile behind the house +which he had pointed out, and along a path through hazel coppices. +After a little time I inquired whether there were any Papists in +Llangollen. + +"No," said he, "there is not one of that family at Llangollen, but +I believe there are some in Flintshire, at a place called Holywell, +where there is a pool or fountain, the waters of which it is said +they worship." + +"And so they do," said I, "true to the old Indian superstition, of +which their religion is nothing but a modification. The Indians +and sepoys worship stocks and stones, and the river Ganges, and our +Papists worship stocks and stones, holy wells and fountains." + +He put some questions to me about the origin of nuns and friars. I +told him they originated in India, and made him laugh heartily by +showing him the original identity of nuns and nautch-girls, begging +priests and begging Brahmins. We passed by a small house with an +enormous yew-tree before it; I asked him who lived there. + +"No one," he replied, "it is to let. It was originally a cottage, +but the proprietors have furbished it up a little, and call it Yew- +tree Villa." + +"I suppose they would let it cheap," said I. + +"By no means," he replied, "they ask eighty pounds a year for it." + +"What could have induced them to set such a rent upon it?" I +demanded. + +"The yew-tree, sir, which is said to be the largest in Wales. They +hope that some of the grand gentry will take the house for the +romance of the yew-tree, but somehow or other nobody has taken it, +though it has been to let for three seasons." + +We soon came to a road leading east and west. + +"This way," said he, pointing in the direction of the west, "leads +back to Llangollen, the other to Offa's Dyke and England." + +We turned to the west. He inquired if I had ever heard before of +Offa's Dyke. + +"Oh yes," said I, "it was built by an old Saxon king called Offa, +against the incursions of the Welsh." + +"There was a time," said my companion, "when it was customary for +the English to cut off the ears of every Welshman who was found to +the east of the dyke, and for the Welsh to hang every Englishman +whom they found to the west of it. Let us be thankful that we are +now more humane to each other. We are now on the north side of Pen +y Coed. Do you know the meaning of Pen y Coed, sir?" + +"Pen y Coed," said I, "means the head of the wood. I suppose that +in the old time the mountain looked over some extensive forest, +even as the nunnery of Pengwern looked originally over an alder- +swamp, for Pengwern means the head of the alder-swamp." + +"So it does, sir, I shouldn't wonder if you could tell me the real +meaning of a word, about which I have thought a good deal, and +about which I was puzzling my head last night as I lay in bed." + +"What may it be?" said I. + +"Carn-lleidyr," he replied: "now, sir, do you know the meaning of +that word?" + +"I think I do," said I. + +"What may it be, sir?" + +"First let me hear what you conceive its meaning to be," said I. + +"Why, sir, I should say that Carn-lleidyr is an out-and-out thief - +one worse than a thief of the common sort. Now, if I steal a +matrass I am a lleidyr, that is a thief of the common sort; but if +I carry it to a person, and he buys it, knowing it to be stolen, I +conceive he is a far worse thief than I; in fact, a carn-lleidyr." + +"The word is a double word," said I, "compounded of carn and +lleidyr. The original meaning of carn is a heap of stones, and +carn-lleidyr means properly a thief without house or home, and with +no place on which to rest his head, save the carn or heap of stones +on the bleak top of the mountain. For a long time the word was +only applied to a thief of that description, who, being without +house and home, was more desperate than other thieves, and as +savage and brutish as the wolves and foxes with whom he +occasionally shared his pillow, the carn. In course of time, +however, the original meaning was lost or disregarded, and the term +carn-lleidyr was applied to any particularly dishonest person. At +present there can be no impropriety in calling a person who +receives a matrass, knowing it to be stolen, a carn-lleidyr, seeing +that he is worse than the thief who stole it, or in calling a +knavish attorney a carn-lleidyr, seeing that he does far more harm +than a common pick-pocket; or in calling the Pope so, seeing that +he gets huge sums of money out of people by pretending to be able +to admit their souls to heaven, or to hurl them to the other place, +knowing all the time that he has no such power; perhaps, indeed, at +the present day the term carn-lleidyr is more applicable to the +Pope than to any one else, for he is certainly the arch thief of +the world. So much for Carn-lleidyr. But I must here tell you +that the term carn may be applied to any who is particularly bad or +disagreeable in any respect, and now I remember, has been applied +for centuries both in prose and poetry. One Lewis Glyn Cothi, a +poet, who lived more than three hundred years ago, uses the word +carn in the sense of arrant or exceedingly bad, for in his abusive +ode to the town of Chester, he says that the women of London itself +were never more carn strumpets than those of Chester, by which he +means that there were never more arrant harlots in the world than +those of the cheese capital. And the last of your great poets, +Gronwy Owen, who flourished about the middle of the last century, +complains in a letter to a friend, whilst living in a village of +Lancashire, that he was amongst Carn Saeson. He found all English +disagreeable enough, but those of Lancashire particularly so - +savage, brutish louts, out-and-out John Bulls, and therefore he +called them Carn Saeson." + +"Thank you, sir," said my companion; "I now thoroughly understand +the meaning of carn. Whenever I go to Chester, and a dressed-up +madam jostles against me, I shall call her carn-butein. The Pope +of Rome I shall in future term carn-lleidyr y byd, or the arch +thief of the world. And whenever I see a stupid, brutal Englishman +swaggering about Llangollen, and looking down upon us poor Welsh, I +shall say to myself Get home, you carn Sais! Well, sir, we are now +near Llangollen; I must turn to the left. You go straight forward. +I never had such an agreeable walk in my life. May I ask your +name?" + +I told him my name, and asked him for his. + +"Edward Jones," he replied. + + + +CHAPTER X + + + +The Berwyn - Mountain Cottage - The Barber's Pole. + + +ON the following morning I strolled up the Berwyn on the south-west +of the town, by a broad winding path, which was at first very +steep, but by degrees became less so. When I had accomplished +about three parts of the ascent I came to a place where the road, +or path, divided into two. I took the one to the left, which +seemingly led to the top of the mountain, and presently came to a +cottage from which a dog rushed barking towards me; an old woman, +however, coming to the door called him back. I said a few words to +her in Welsh, whereupon in broken English she asked me to enter the +cottage and take a glass of milk. I went in and sat down on a +chair which a sickly-looking young woman handed to me. I asked her +in English who she was, but she made no answer, whereupon the old +woman told me that she was her daughter and had no English. I then +asked her in Welsh what was the matter with her, she replied that +she had the cryd or ague. The old woman now brought me a glass of +milk, and said in the Welsh language that she hoped I should like +it. What further conversation we had was in the Cambrian tongue. +I asked the name of the dog, who was now fondling upon me, and was +told that his name was Pharaoh. I inquired if they had any books, +and was shown two, one a common Bible printed by the Bible Society, +and the other a volume in which the book of prayer of the Church of +England was bound up with the Bible, both printed at Oxford, about +the middle of the last century. I found that both mother and +daughter were Calvinistic-Methodists. After a little further +discourse I got up and gave the old woman twopence for the milk; +she accepted it, but with great reluctance. I inquired whether by +following the road I could get to the Pen y bryn or the top of the +hill. They shook their heads, and the young woman said that I +could not, as the road presently took a turn and went down. I +asked her how I could get to the top of the hill. "Which part of +the top?" said she. "I'r goruchaf," I replied. "That must be +where the barber's pole stands," said she. "Why does the barber's +pole stand there?" said I. "A barber was hanged there a long time +ago," said she, "and the pole was placed to show the spot." "Why +was he hanged?" said I. "For murdering his wife," said she. I +asked her some questions about the murder, but the only information +she could give me was, that it was a very bad murder and occurred a +long time ago. I had observed the pole from our garden, at +Llangollen, but had concluded that it was a common flagstaff. I +inquired the way to it. It was not visible from the cottage, but +they gave me directions how to reach it. I bade them farewell, and +in about a quarter of an hour reached the pole on the top of the +hill. I imagined that I should have a glorious view of the vale of +Llangollen from the spot where it stood; the view, however, did not +answer my expectations. I returned to Llangollen by nearly the +same way by which I had come. + +The remainder of the day I spent entirely with my family, whom at +their particular request I took in the evening to see Plas Newydd, +once the villa of the two ladies of Llangollen. It lies on the +farther side of the bridge, at a little distance from the back part +of the church. There is a thoroughfare through the grounds, which +are not extensive. Plas Newydd or the New Place is a small gloomy +mansion, with a curious dairy on the right-hand side, as you go up +to it, and a remarkable stone pump. An old man whom we met in the +grounds, and with whom I entered into conversation, said that he +remembered the building of the house, and that the place where it +now stands was called before its erection Pen y maes, or the head +of the field. + + + +CHAPTER XI + + + +Welsh Farm-House - A Poet's Grandson - Hospitality - Mountain +Village - Madoc - The Native Valley - Corpse Candles - The Midnight +Call. + + +MY curiosity having been rather excited with respect to the country +beyond the Berwyn, by what my friend, the intelligent flannel- +worker, had told me about it, I determined to go and see it. +Accordingly on Friday morning I set out. Having passed by Pengwern +Hall I turned up a lane in the direction of the south, with a brook +on the right running amongst hazels, I presently arrived at a small +farm-house standing on the left with a little yard before it. +Seeing a woman at the door I asked her in English if the road in +which I was would take me across the mountain - she said it would, +and forthwith cried to a man working in a field who left his work +and came towards us. "That is my husband," said she; "he has more +English than I." + +The man came up and addressed me in very good English: he had a +brisk, intelligent look, and was about sixty. I repeated the +question, which I had put to his wife, and he also said that by +following the road I could get across the mountain. We soon got +into conversation. He told me that the little farm in which he +lived belonged to the person who had bought Pengwern Hall. He said +that he was a good kind of gentleman, but did not like the Welsh. +I asked him, if the gentleman in question did not like the Welsh, +why he came to live among them. He smiled, and I then said that I +liked the Welsh very much, and was particularly fond of their +language. He asked me whether I could read Welsh, and on my +telling him I could, he said that if I would walk in he would show +me a Welsh book. I went with him and his wife into a neat kind of +kitchen, flagged with stone, where were several young people, their +children. I spoke some Welsh to them which appeared to give them +great satisfaction. The man went to a shelf and taking down a book +put it into my hand. It was a Welsh book, and the title of it in +English was "Evening Work of the Welsh." It contained the lives of +illustrious Welshmen, commencing with that of Cadwalader. I read a +page of it aloud, while the family stood round and wondered to hear +a Saxon read their language. I entered into discourse with the man +about Welsh poetry and repeated the famous prophecy of Taliesin +about the Coiling Serpent. I asked him if the Welsh had any poets +at the present day. "Plenty," said he, "and good ones - Wales can +never be without a poet." Then after a pause he said, that he was +the grandson of a great poet. + +"Do you bear his name?" said I. + +"I do," he replied. + +"What may it be?" + +"Hughes," he answered. + +"Two of the name of Hughes have been poets," said I - "one was Huw +Hughes, generally termed the Bardd Coch, or red bard; he was an +Anglesea man, and the friend of Lewis Morris and Gronwy Owen - the +other was Jonathan Hughes, where he lived I know not." + +"He lived here, in this very house," said the man. "Jonathan +Hughes was my grandfather!" and as he spoke his eyes flashed fire. + +"Dear me!" said I; "I read some of his pieces thirty-two years ago +when I was a lad in England. I think I can repeat some of the +lines." I then repeated a quartet which I chanced to remember. + +"Ah!" said the man, "I see you know his poetry. Come into the next +room and I will show you his chair." He led me into a sleeping- +room on the right hand, where in a corner he showed me an antique +three-cornered arm-chair. "That chair," said he, "my grandsire won +at Llangollen, at an Eisteddfod of Bards. Various bards recited +their poetry, but my grandfather won the prize. Ah, he was a good +poet. He also won a prize of fifteen guineas at a meeting of bards +in London." + +We returned to the kitchen, where I found the good woman of the +house waiting with a plate of bread-and-butter in one hand, and a +glass of buttermilk in the other - she pressed me to partake of +both - I drank some of the buttermilk, which was excellent, and +after a little more discourse shook the kind people by the hand and +thanked them for their hospitality. As I was about to depart the +man said that I should find the lane farther up very wet, and that +I had better mount through a field at the back of the house. He +took me to a gate, which he opened, and then pointed out the way +which I must pursue. As I went away he said that both he and his +family should be always happy to see me at Ty yn y Pistyll, which +words, interpreted, are the house by the spout of water. + +I went up the field with the lane on my right, down which ran a +runnel of water, from which doubtless the house derived its name. +I soon came to an unenclosed part of the mountain covered with +gorse and whin, and still proceeding upward reached a road, which I +subsequently learned was the main road from Llangollen over the +hill. I was not long in gaining the top which was nearly level. +Here I stood for some time looking about me, having the vale of +Llangollen to the north of me, and a deep valley abounding with +woods and rocks to the south. + +Following the road to the south, which gradually descended, I soon +came to a place where a road diverged from the straight one to the +left. As the left-hand road appeared to lead down a romantic +valley I followed it. The scenery was beautiful - steep hills on +each side. On the right was a deep ravine, down which ran a brook; +the hill beyond it was covered towards the top with a wood, +apparently of oak, between which and the ravine were small green +fields. Both sides of the ravine were fringed with trees, chiefly +ash. I descended the road which was zigzag and steep, and at last +arrived at the bottom of the valley, where there was a small +hamlet. On the further side of the valley to the east was a steep +hill on which were a few houses - at the foot of the hill was a +brook crossed by an antique bridge of a single arch. I directed my +course to the bridge, and after looking over the parapet for a +minute or two upon the water below, which was shallow and noisy, +ascended a road which led up the hill: a few scattered houses were +on each side. I soon reached the top of the hill, where were some +more houses, those which I had seen from the valley below. I was +in a Welsh mountain village, which put me much in mind of the +villages which I had strolled through of old in Castile and La +Mancha; there were the same silence and desolation here as yonder +away - the houses were built of the same material, namely stone. I +should perhaps have fancied myself for a moment in a Castilian or +Manchegan mountain pueblicito, but for the abundance of trees which +met my eye on every side. + +In walking up this mountain village I saw no one, and heard no +sound but the echo of my steps amongst the houses. As I returned, +however, I saw a man standing at a door - he was a short figure, +about fifty. He had an old hat on his head, a stick in his hand, +and was dressed in a duffel greatcoat. + +"Good-day, friend," said I; "what be the name of this place?" + +"Pont Fadog, sir, is its name, for want of a better." + +"That's a fine name," said I; "it signifies in English the bridge +of Madoc." + +"Just so, sir; I see you know Welsh." + +"And I see you know English," said I. + +"Very little, sir; I can read English much better than I can speak +it." + +"So can I Welsh," said I. "I suppose the village is named after +the bridge." + +"No doubt it is, sir." + +"And why was the bridge called the bridge of Madoc?" said I. + +"Because one Madoc built it, sir." + +"Was he the son of Owain Gwynedd?" said I. + +"Ah, I see you know all about Wales, sir. Yes, sir; he built it, +or I daresay he built it, Madawg ap Owain Gwynedd. I have read +much about him - he was a great sailor, sir, and was the first to +discover Tir y Gorllewin or America. Not many years ago his tomb +was discovered there with an inscription in old Welsh - saying who +he was, and how he loved the sea. I have seen the lines which were +found on the tomb." + +"So have I," said I; "or at least those which were said to be found +on a tomb: they run thus in English:- + + +"'Here, after sailing far I Madoc lie, +Of Owain Gwynedd lawful progeny: +The verdant land had little charms for me; +From earliest youth I loved the dark-blue sea.'" + + +"Ah, sir," said the man, "I see you know all about the son of Owain +Gwynedd. Well, sir, those lines, or something like them, were +found upon the tomb of Madoc in America." + +"That I doubt," said I. + +"Do you doubt, sir, that Madoc discovered America?" + +"Not in the least," said I; "but I doubt very much that his tomb +was ever discovered with the inscription which you allude to upon +it." + +"But it was, sir, I do assure you, and the descendants of Madoc and +his people are still to be found in a part of America speaking the +pure iaith Cymraeg better Welsh than we of Wales do." + +"That I doubt" said I. "However, the idea is a pretty one; +therefore cherish it. This is a beautiful country." + +"A very beautiful country, sir; there is none more beautiful in all +Wales." + +"What is the name of the river, which runs beneath the bridge?" + +"The Ceiriog, sir." + +"The Ceiriog," said I; "the Ceiriog!" + +"Did you ever hear the name before, sir?" + +"I have heard of the Eos Ceiriog," said I; "the Nightingale of +Ceiriog." + +"That was Huw Morris, sir; he was called the Nightingale of +Ceiriog." + +"Did he live hereabout?" + +"Oh no, sir; he lived far away up towards the head of the valley, +at a place called Pont y Meibion." + +"Are you acquainted with his works?" said I. + +"Oh yes, sir, at least with some of them. I have read the Marwnad +on Barbara Middleton; and likewise the piece on Oliver and his men. +Ah, it is a funny piece that - he did not like Oliver nor his men." + +"Of what profession are you?" said I; "are you a schoolmaster or +apothecary?" + +"Neither, sir, neither; I am merely a poor shoemaker." + +"You know a great deal for a shoemaker," said I. + +"Ah, sir; there are many shoemakers in Wales who know much more +than I." + +"But not in England," said I. "Well, farewell." + +"Farewell, sir. When you have any boots to mend or shoes, sir - I +shall be happy to serve you." + +"I do not live in these parts," said I. + +"No, sir; but you are coming to live here." + +"How do you know that?" said I. + +"I know it very well, sir; you left these parts very young, and +went far away - to the East Indies, sir, where you made a large +fortune in the medical line, sir; you are now coming back to your +own valley, where you will buy a property, and settle down, and try +to recover your language, sir, and your health, sir; for you are +not the person you pretend to be, sir: I know you very well, and +shall be happy to work for you." + +"Well," said I, "if I ever settle down here, I shall be happy to +employ you. Farewell." + +I went back the way I had come, till I reached the little hamlet. +Seeing a small public-house, I entered it. A good-looking woman, +who met me in the passage, ushered me into a neat sanded kitchen, +handed me a chair and inquired my commands; I sat down, and told +her to bring me some ale; she brought it, and then seated herself +by a bench close by the door. + +"Rather a quiet place this," said I, "I have seen but two faces +since I came over the hill, and yours is one." + +"Rather too quiet, sir," said the good woman, "one would wish to +have more visitors." + +"I suppose," said I, "people from Llangollen occasionally come to +visit you." + +"Sometimes, sir, for curiosity's sake; but very rarely - the way is +very steep." + +"Do the Tylwyth Teg ever pay you visits?" + +"The Tylwyth Teg, sir?" + +"Yes; the fairies. Do they never come to have a dance on the green +sward in this neighbourhood?" + +"Very rarely, sir; indeed, I do not know how long it is since they +have been seen." + +"You have never seen them?" + +"I have not, sir; but I believe there are people living who have." + +"Are corpse candles ever seen on the bank of that river?" + +"I have never heard of more than one being seen, sir, and that was +at a place where a tinker was drowned a few nights after - there +came down a flood; and the tinker in trying to cross by the usual +ford was drowned." + +"And did the candle prognosticate, I mean foreshow his death?" + +"It did, sir. When a person is to die his candle is seen a few +nights before the time of his death." + +"Have you ever seen a corpse candle?" + +"I have, sir; and as you seem to be a respectable gentleman, I will +tell you all about it. When I was a girl I lived with my parents a +little way from here. I had a cousin, a very good young man, who +lived with his parents in the neighbourhood of our house. He was +an exemplary young man, sir, and having a considerable gift of +prayer, was intended for the ministry; but he fell sick, and +shortly became very ill indeed. One evening when he was lying in +this state, as I was returning home from milking, I saw a candle +proceeding from my cousin's house. I stood still and looked at it. +It moved slowly forward for a little way, and then mounted high in +the air above the wood, which stood not far in front of the house, +and disappeared. Just three nights after that my cousin died." + +"And you think that what you saw was his corpse candle?" + +"I do, sir! what else should it be?" + +"Are deaths prognosticated by any other means than corpse candles?" + +"They are, sir; by the knockers, and by a supernatural voice heard +at night." + +"Have you ever heard the knockers, or the supernatural voice?" + +"I have not, sir; but my father and mother, who are now dead, heard +once a supernatural voice, and knocking. My mother had a sister +who was married like herself, and expected to be confined. Day +after day, however, passed away, without her confinement taking +place. My mother expected every moment to be summoned to her +assistance, and was so anxious about her that she could not rest at +night. One night, as she lay in bed, by the side of her husband, +between sleeping and waking, she heard of a sudden a horse coming +stump, stump, up to the door. Then there was a pause - she +expected every moment to hear some one cry out, and tell her to +come to her sister, but she heard no farther sound, neither voice +nor stump of horse. She thought she had been deceived, so, without +awakening her husband, she tried to go to sleep, but sleep she +could not. The next night, at about the same time, she again heard +a horse's feet come stump, stump, up to the door. She now waked +her husband and told him to listen. He did so, and both heard the +stumping. Presently, the stumping ceased, and then there was a +loud "Hey!" as if somebody wished to wake them. "Hey!" said my +father, and they both lay for a minute expecting to hear something +more, but they heard nothing. My father then sprang out of bed, +and looked out of the window; it was bright moonlight, but he saw +nothing. The next night, as they lay in bed both asleep, they were +suddenly aroused by a loud and terrible knocking. Out sprang my +father from the bed, flung open the window, and looked out, but +there was no one at the door. The next morning, however, a +messenger arrived with the intelligence that my aunt had had a +dreadful confinement with twins in the night, and that both she and +the babes were dead." + +"Thank you," said I; and paying for my ale, I returned to +Llangollen. + + + +CHAPTER XII + + + +A Calvinistic-Methodist - Turn for Saxon - Our Congregation - Pont +y Cyssyltau - Catherine Lingo. + + +I HAD inquired of the good woman of the house, in which we lived, +whether she could not procure a person to accompany me occasionally +in my walks, who was well acquainted with the strange nooks and +corners of the country, and who could speak no language but Welsh; +as I wished to increase my knowledge of colloquial Welsh by having +a companion who would be obliged, in all he had to say to me, to +address me in Welsh, and to whom I should perforce have to reply in +that tongue. The good lady had told me that there was a tenant of +hers who lived in one of the cottages, which looked into the +perllan, who, she believed, would be glad to go with me, and was +just the kind of man I was in quest of. The day after I had met +with the adventures, which I have related in the preceding chapter, +she informed me that the person in question was awaiting my orders +in the kitchen. I told her to let me see him. He presently made +his appearance. He was about forty-five years of age, of middle +stature, and had a good-natured open countenance. His dress was +poor, but clean. + +"Well," said I to him in Welsh, "are you the Cumro who can speak no +Saxon?" + +"In truth, sir, I am." + +"Are you sure that you know no Saxon?" + +"Sir! I may know a few words, but I cannot converse in Saxon, nor +understand a conversation in that tongue." + +"Can you read Cumraeg?" + +"In truth, sir, I can." + +"What have you read in it?" + +"I have read, sir, the Ysgrythyr-lan, till I have it nearly at the +ends of my fingers." + +"Have you read anything else besides the holy Scripture?" + +"I read the newspaper, sir, when kind friends lend it to me." + +"In Cumraeg?" + +"Yes, sir, in Cumraeg. I can read Saxon a little but not +sufficient to understand a Saxon newspaper." + +"What newspaper do you read?" + +"I read, sir, Yr Amserau." + +"Is that a good newspaper?" + +"Very good, sir, it is written by good men." + +"Who are they?" + +"They are our ministers, sir." + +"Of what religion are you?" + +"A Calvinistic Methodist, sir." + +"Why are you of the Methodist religion?" + +"Because it is the true religion, sir." + +"You should not be bigoted. If I had more Cumraeg than I have, I +would prove to you that the only true religion is that of the +Lloegrian Church." + +"In truth, sir, you could not do that; had you all the Cumraeg in +Cumru you could not do that." + +"What are you by trade?" + +"I am a gwehydd, sir." + +"What do you earn by weaving?" + +"About five shillings a week, sir." + +"Have you a wife? + +"I have, sir." + +"Does she earn anything?" + +"Very seldom, sir; she is a good wife, but is generally sick." + +"Have you children?" + +"I have three, sir." + +"Do they earn anything?" + +"My eldest son, sir, sometimes earns a few pence, the others are +very small." + +"Will you sometimes walk with me, if I pay you?" + +"I shall be always glad to walk with you, sir, whether you pay me +or not." + +"Do you think it lawful to walk with one of the Lloegrian Church?" + +"Perhaps, sir, I ought to ask the gentleman of the Lloegrian Church +whether he thinks it lawful to walk with the poor Methodist +weaver." + +"Well, I think we may venture to walk with one another. What is +your name?" + +"John Jones, sir." + +"Jones! Jones! I was walking with a man of that name the other +night." + +"The man with whom you walked the other night is my brother, sir, +and what he said to me about you made me wish to walk with you +also." + +"But he spoke very good English." + +"My brother had a turn for Saxon, sir; I had not. Some people have +a turn for the Saxon, others have not. I have no Saxon, sir, my +wife has digon iawn - my two youngest children speak good Saxon, +sir, my eldest son not a word." + +"Well; shall we set out?" + +"If you please, sir." + +"To what place shall we go?" + +"Shall we go to the Pont y Cyssylltau, sir?" + +"What is that?" + +"A mighty bridge, sir, which carries the Camlas over a valley on +its back." + +"Good! let us go and see the bridge of the junction, for that I +think is the meaning in Saxon of Pont y Cyssylltau." + +We set out; my guide conducted me along the bank of the Camlas in +the direction of Rhiwabon, that is towards the east. On the way we +discoursed on various subjects, and understood each other tolerably +well. I asked if he had been anything besides a weaver. He told +me that when a boy he kept sheep on the mountain. "Why did you not +go on keeping sheep?" said "I would rather keep sheep than weave." + +"My parents wanted me at home, sir," said he; "and I was not sorry +to go home; I earned little, and lived badly." + +"A shepherd," said I, "can earn more than five shillings a week." + +"I was never a regular shepherd, sir," said he. "But, sir, I would +rather be a weaver with five shillings a week in Llangollen, than a +shepherd with fifteen on the mountain. The life of a shepherd, +sir, is perhaps not exactly what you and some other gentlefolks +think. The shepherd bears much cold and wet, sir, and he is very +lonely; no society save his sheep and dog. Then, sir, he has no +privileges. I mean gospel privileges. He does not look forward to +Dydd Sul, as a day of llawenydd, of joy and triumph, as the weaver +does; that is if he is religiously disposed. The shepherd has no +chapel, sir, like the weaver. Oh, sir, I say again that I would +rather be a weaver in Llangollen with five shillings a week, than a +shepherd on the hill with fifteen." + +"Do you mean to say," said I, "that you live with your family on +five shillings a week?" + +"No, sir. I frequently do little commissions by which I earn +something. Then, sir, I have friends, very good friends. A good +lady of our congregation sent me this morning half-a-pound of +butter. The people of our congregation are very kind to each +other, sir." + +"That is more," thought I to myself, "than the people of my +congregation are; they are always cutting each other's throats." I +next asked if he had been much about Wales. + +"Not much, sir. However, I have been to Pen Caer Gybi, which you +call Holy Head, and to Beth Gelert, sir." + +"What took you to those places?" + +"I was sent to those places on business, sir; as I told you before, +sir, I sometimes execute commissions. At Beth Gelert I stayed some +time. It was there I married, sir; my wife comes from a place +called Dol Gellyn near Beth Gelert." + +"What was her name?" + +"Her name was Jones, sir." + +"What, before she married?" + +"Yes, sir, before she married. You need not be surprised, sir; +there are plenty of the name of Jones in Wales. The name of my +brother's wife, before she married, was also Jones." + +"Your brother is a clever man," said I. + +"Yes, sir, for a Cumro he is clebber enough." + +"For a Cumro?" + +"Yes, sir, he is not a Saxon, you know." + +"Are Saxons then so very clever?" + +"Oh yes, sir; who so clebber? The clebberest people in Llangollen +are Saxons; that is, at carnal things - for at spiritual things I +do not think them at all clebber. Look at Mr A., sir." + +"Who is he?" + +"Do you not know him, sir? I thought everybody knew Mr A. He is a +Saxon, sir, and keeps the inn on the road a little way below where +you live. He is the clebberest man in Llangollen, sir. He can do +everything. He is a great cook, and can wash clothes better than +any woman. Oh, sir, for carnal things, who so clebber as your +countrymen!" + +After walking about four miles by the side of the canal we left it, +and bearing to the right presently came to the aqueduct, which +strode over a deep and narrow valley, at the bottom of which ran +the Dee. "This is the Pont y Cysswllt, sir," said my guide; "it's +the finest bridge in the world, and no wonder, if what the common +people say be true, namely that every stone cost a golden +sovereign." + +We went along it; the height was awful. My guide, though he had +been a mountain shepherd, confessed that he was somewhat afraid. +"It gives me the pendro, sir," said he, "to look down." I too felt +somewhat dizzy, as I looked over the parapet into the glen. The +canal which this mighty bridge carries across the gulf is about +nine feet wide, and occupies about two-thirds of the width of the +bridge and the entire western side. The footway is towards the +east. From about the middle of the bridge there is a fine view of +the forges on the Cefn Bach and also of a huge hill near it called +the Cefn Mawr. We reached the termination, and presently crossing +the canal by a little wooden bridge we came to a village. My guide +then said, "If you please, sir, we will return by the old bridge, +which leads across the Dee in the bottom of the vale." He then led +me by a romantic road to a bridge on the west of the aqueduct, and +far below. It seemed very ancient. "This is the old bridge, sir," +said my guide; "it was built a hundred years before the Pont y +Cysswllt was dreamt of." We now walked to the west, in the +direction of Llangollen, along the bank of the river. Presently we +arrived where the river, after making a bend, formed a pool. It +was shaded by lofty trees, and to all appearance was exceedingly +deep. I stopped to look at it, for I was struck with its gloomy +horror. "That pool, sir," said John Jones, "is called Llyn y +Meddwyn, the drunkard's pool. It is called so, sir, because a +drunken man once fell into it, and was drowned. There is no deeper +pool in the Dee, sir, save one, a little below Llangollen, which is +called the pool of Catherine Lingo. A girl of that name fell into +it, whilst gathering sticks on the high bank above it. She was +drowned, and the pool was named after her. I never look at either +without shuddering, thinking how certainly I should be drowned if I +fell in, for I cannot swim, sir." + +"You should have learnt to swim when you were young," said I, "and +to dive too. I know one who has brought up stones from the bottom, +I daresay, of deeper pools than either, but he was a Saxon, and at +carnal things, you know, none so clebber as the Saxons." + +I found my guide a first-rate walker and a good botanist, knowing +the names of all the plants and trees in Welsh. By the time we +returned to Llangollen I had formed a very high opinion of him, in +which I was subsequently confirmed by what I saw of him during the +period of our acquaintance, which was of some duration. He was +very honest, disinterested, and exceedingly good-humoured. It is +true, he had his little skits occasionally at the Church, and +showed some marks of hostility to the church cat, more especially +when he saw it mounted on my shoulders; for the creature soon began +to take liberties, and in less than a week after my arrival at the +cottage, generally mounted on my back, when it saw me reading or +writing, for the sake of the warmth. But setting aside those same +skits at the Church, and that dislike of the church cat, venial +trifles after all, and easily to be accounted for, on the score of +his religious education, I found nothing to blame, and much to +admire, in John Jones, the Calvinistic Methodist of Llangollen. + + + +CHAPTER XIII + + + +Divine Service - Llangollen Bells - Iolo Goch - The Abbey - Twm o'r +Nant - Holy Well - Thomas Edwards + + +SUNDAY arrived - a Sunday of unclouded sunshine. We attended +Divine service at church in the morning. The congregation was very +numerous, but to all appearance consisted almost entirely of +English visitors, like ourselves. There were two officiating +clergymen, father and son. They both sat in a kind of oblong +pulpit on the southern side of the church, at a little distance +below the altar. The service was in English, and the elder +gentleman preached; there was good singing and chanting. + +After dinner I sat in an arbour in the perllan, thinking of many +things, amongst others, spiritual. Whilst thus engaged, the sound +of the church bells calling people to afternoon service came upon +my ears. I listened, and thought I had never heard bells with so +sweet a sound. I had heard them in the morning, but without paying +much attention to them, but as I now sat in the umbrageous arbour, +I was particularly struck with them. Oh how sweetly their voice +mingled with the low rush of the river, at the bottom of the +perllan. I subsequently found that the bells of Llangollen were +celebrated for their sweetness. Their merit indeed has even been +admitted by an enemy; for a poet of the Calvinistic Methodist +persuasion, one who calls himself Einion Du, in a very beautiful +ode, commencing with - + + +"Tangnefedd i Llangollen," + + +says that in no part of the world do bells call people so sweetly +to church as those of Llangollen town. + +In the evening, at about half-past six, I attended service again, +but without my family. This time the congregation was not +numerous, and was composed principally of poor people. The service +and sermon were now in Welsh, the sermon was preached by the +younger gentleman, and was on the building of the second temple, +and, as far as I understood it, appeared to me to be exceedingly +good. + +On the Monday evening, myself and family took a walk to the abbey. +My wife and daughter, who are fond of architecture and ruins, were +very anxious to see the old place. I too was anxious enough to see +it, less from love of ruins and ancient architecture, than from +knowing that a certain illustrious bard was buried in its +precincts, of whom perhaps a short account will not be unacceptable +to the reader. + +This man, whose poetical appellation was Iolo Goch, but whose real +name was Llwyd, was of a distinguished family, and Lord of +Llechryd. He was born and generally resided at a place called Coed +y Pantwn, in the upper part of the Vale of Clwyd. He was a warm +friend and partisan of Owen Glendower, with whom he lived, at +Sycharth, for some years before the great Welsh insurrection, and +whom he survived, dying at an extreme old age beneath his own roof- +tree at Coed y Pantwn. He composed pieces of great excellence on +various subjects; but the most remarkable of his compositions are +decidedly certain ones connected with Owen Glendower. Amongst +these is one in which he describes the Welsh chieftain's mansion at +Sycharth, and his hospitable way of living at that his favourite +residence; and another in which he hails the advent of the comet, +which made its appearance in the month of March, fourteen hundred +and two, as of good augury to his darling hero. + +It was from knowing that this distinguished man lay buried in the +precincts of the old edifice, that I felt so anxious to see it. +After walking about two miles we perceived it on our right hand. + +The abbey of the vale of the cross stands in a green meadow, in a +corner near the north-west end of the valley of Llangollen. The +vale or glen, in which the abbey stands, takes its name from a +certain ancient pillar or cross, called the pillar of Eliseg, and +which is believed to have been raised over the body of an ancient +British chieftain of that name, who perished in battle against the +Saxons, about the middle of the tenth century. In the Papist times +the abbey was a place of great pseudo-sanctity, wealth and +consequence. The territory belonging to it was very extensive, +comprising, amongst other districts, the vale of Llangollen and the +mountain region to the north of it, called the Eglwysig Rocks, +which region derived its name Eglwysig, or ecclesiastical, from the +circumstance of its pertaining to the abbey of the vale of the +cross. + +We first reached that part of the building which had once been the +church, having previously to pass through a farmyard, in which was +abundance of dirt and mire. + +The church fronts the west and contains the remains of a noble +window, beneath which is a gate, which we found locked. Passing on +we came to that part where the monks had lived, but which now +served as a farmhouse; an open doorway exhibited to us an ancient +gloomy hall, where was some curious old-fashioned furniture, +particularly an ancient rack, in which stood a goodly range of +pewter trenchers. A respectable dame kindly welcomed us and +invited us to sit down. We entered into conversation with her, and +asked her name, which she said was Evans. I spoke some Welsh to +her, which pleased her. She said that Welsh people at the present +day were so full of fine airs that they were above speaking the old +language - but that such was not the case formerly, and that she +had known a Mrs Price, who was housekeeper to the Countess of +Mornington, who lived in London upwards of forty years, and at the +end of that time prided herself upon speaking as good Welsh as she +did when a girl. I spoke to her about the abbey, and asked if she +had ever heard of Iolo Goch. She inquired who he was. I told her +he was a great bard, and was buried in the abbey. She said she had +never heard of him, but that she could show me the portrait of a +great poet, and going away, presently returned with a print in a +frame. + +"There," said she, "is the portrait of Twm o'r Nant, generally +called the Welsh Shakespeare." + +I looked at it. The Welsh Shakespeare was represented sitting at a +table with a pen in his hand; a cottage-latticed window was behind +him, on his left hand; a shelf with plates, and trenchers behind +him, on his right. His features were rude, but full of wild, +strange expression; below the picture was the following couplet:- + + +"Llun Gwr yw llawn gwir Awen; +Y Byd a lanwodd o'i Ben." + + +"Did you ever hear of Twm o'r Nant?" said the old dame. + +"I never heard of him by word of mouth," said I; "but I know all +about him - I have read his life in Welsh, written by himself, and +a curious life it is. His name was Thomas Edwards, but he +generally called himself Twm o'r Nant, or Tom of the Dingle, +because he was born in a dingle, at a place called Pen Porchell, in +the vale of Clwyd - which, by the bye, was on the estate which once +belonged to Iolo Goch, the poet I was speaking to you about just +now. Tom was a carter by trade, but once kept a toll-bar in South +Wales, which, however, he was obliged to leave at the end of two +years, owing to the annoyance which he experienced from ghosts and +goblins, and unearthly things, particularly phantom hearses, which +used to pass through his gate at midnight without paying, when the +gate was shut." + +"Ah," said the dame, "you know more about Tom o'r Nant than I do; +and was he not a great poet?" + +"I daresay he was," said I, "for the pieces which he wrote, and +which he called Interludes, had a great run, and he got a great +deal of money by them, but I should say the lines beneath the +portrait are more applicable to the real Shakespeare than to him." + +"What do the lines mean?" said the old lady; "they are Welsh, I +know, but they are far beyond my understanding." + +"They may be thus translated," said I: + + +"God in his head the Muse instill'd, +And from his head the world he fill'd." + + +"Thank you, sir," said the old lady. "I never found any one before +who could translate them." She then said she would show me some +English lines written on the daughter of a friend of hers who was +lately dead, and put some printed lines in a frame into my hand. +They were an Elegy to Mary, and were very beautiful, I read them +aloud, and when I had finished she thanked me and said she had no +doubt that if I pleased I could put them into Welsh - she then +sighed and wiped her eyes. + +On our enquiring whether we could see the interior of the abbey she +said we could, and that if we rang a bell at the gate a woman would +come to us, who was in the habit of showing the place. We then got +up and bade her farewell - but she begged that we would stay and +taste the dwr santaidd of the holy well. + +"What holy well is that?" said I. + +"A well," said she, "by the road's side, which in the time of the +popes was said to perform wonderful cures." + +"Let us taste it by all means," said I; whereupon she went out, and +presently returned with a tray on which were a jug and tumbler, the +jug filled with the water of the holy well; we drank some of the +dwr santaidd, which tasted like any other water, and then after +shaking her by the hand, we went to the gate, and rang at the bell. + +Presently a woman made her appearance at the gate - she was +genteelly drest, about the middle age, rather tall, and bearing in +her countenance the traces of beauty. When we told her the object +of our coming she admitted us, and after locking the gate conducted +us into the church. It was roofless, and had nothing remarkable +about it, save the western window, which we had seen from without. +Our attendant pointed out to us some tombs, and told us the names +of certain great people whose dust they contained. "Can you tell +us where Iolo Goch lies interred?" said I. + +"No," said she; "indeed I never heard of such a person." + +"He was the bard of Owen Glendower," said I, "and assisted his +cause wonderfully by the fiery odes, in which he incited the Welsh +to rise against the English." + +"Indeed!" said she; "well, I am sorry to say that I never heard of +him." + +"Are you Welsh?" said I. + +"I am," she replied. + +"Did you ever hear of Thomas Edwards?" + +"Oh, yes," said she; "I have frequently heard of him." + +"How odd," said I, "that the name of a great poet should be unknown +in the very place where he is buried, whilst that of one certainly +not his superior, should be well known in that same place, though +he is not buried there." + +"Perhaps," said she, "the reason is that the poet, whom you +mentioned, wrote in the old measures and language which few people +now understand, whilst Thomas Edwards wrote in common verse and in +the language of the present day." + +"I daresay it is so," said I. + +From the church she led us to other parts of the ruin - at first +she had spoken to us rather cross and loftily, but she now became +kind and communicative. She said that she resided near the ruins, +which she was permitted to show, that she lived alone, and wished +to be alone; there was something singular about her, and I believe +that she had a history of her own. After showing us the ruins she +conducted us to a cottage in which she lived; it stood behind the +ruins by a fish-pond, in a beautiful and romantic place enough; she +said that in the winter she went away, but to what place she did +not say. She asked us whether we came walking, and on our telling +her that we did, she said that she would point out to us a near way +home. She then pointed to a path up a hill, telling us we must +follow it. After making her a present we bade her farewell, and +passing through a meadow crossed a brook by a rustic bridge, formed +of the stem of a tree, and ascending the hill by the path which she +had pointed out, we went through a cornfield or two on its top, and +at last found ourselves on the Llangollen road, after a most +beautiful walk. + + + +CHAPTER XIV + + + +Expedition to Ruthyn - The Column - Slate Quarries - The Gwyddelod +- Nocturnal Adventure. + + +NOTHING worthy of commemoration took place during the two following +days, save that myself and family took an evening walk on the +Wednesday up the side of the Berwyn, for the purpose of botanizing, +in which we were attended by John Jones. There, amongst other +plants, we found a curious moss which our good friend said was +called in Welsh, Corn Carw, or deer's horn, and which he said the +deer were very fond of. On the Thursday he and I started on an +expedition on foot to Ruthyn, distant about fourteen miles, +proposing to return in the evening. + +The town and castle of Ruthyn possessed great interest for me from +being connected with the affairs of Owen Glendower. It was at +Ruthyn that the first and not the least remarkable scene of the +Welsh insurrection took place by Owen making his appearance at the +fair held there in fourteen hundred, plundering the English who had +come with their goods, slaying many of them, sacking the town and +concluding his day's work by firing it; and it was at the castle of +Ruthyn that Lord Grey dwelt, a minion of Henry the Fourth and +Glendower's deadliest enemy, and who was the principal cause of the +chieftain's entering into rebellion, having, in the hope of +obtaining his estates in the vale of Clwyd, poisoned the mind of +Harry against him, who proclaimed him a traitor, before he had +committed any act of treason, and confiscated his estates, +bestowing that part of them upon his favourite, which the latter +was desirous of obtaining. + +We started on our expedition at about seven o'clock of a brilliant +morning. We passed by the abbey and presently came to a small +fountain with a little stone edifice, with a sharp top above it. +"That is the holy well," said my guide: "Llawer iawn o barch yn yr +amser yr Pabyddion yr oedd i'r fynnon hwn - much respect in the +times of the Papists there was to this fountain." + +"I heard of it," said I, "and tasted of its water the other evening +at the abbey;" shortly after we saw a tall stone standing in a +field on our right hand at about a hundred yards' distance from the +road. "That is the pillar of Eliseg, sir," said my guide. "Let us +go and see it," said I. We soon reached the stone. It is a fine +upright column about seven feet high, and stands on a quadrate +base. "Sir," said my guide, "a dead king lies buried beneath this +stone. He was a mighty man of valour and founded the abbey. He +was called Eliseg." "Perhaps Ellis," said I, "and if his name was +Ellis the stone was very properly called Colofn Eliseg, in Saxon +the Ellisian column." The view from the column is very beautiful, +below on the south-east is the venerable abbey, slumbering in its +green meadow. Beyond it runs a stream, descending from the top of +a glen, at the bottom of which the old pile is situated; beyond the +stream is a lofty hill. The glen on the north is bounded by a +noble mountain, covered with wood. Struck with its beauty I +inquired its name. "Moel Eglwysig, sir," said my guide. "The Moel +of the Church," said I. "That is hardly a good name for it, for +the hill is not bald (moel)." "True, sir," said John Jones. "At +present its name is good for nothing, but estalom (of old) before +the hill was planted with trees its name was good enough. Our +fathers were not fools when they named their hills." "I daresay +not," said I, "nor in many other things which they did, for which +we laugh at them, because we do not know the reasons they had for +doing them." We regained the road; the road tended to the north up +a steep ascent. I asked John Jones the name of a beautiful +village, which lay far away on our right, over the glen, and near +its top. "Pentref y dwr, sir" (the village of the water). It is +called the village of the water, because the river below comes down +through part of it. I next asked the name of the hill up which we +were going, and he told me Allt Bwlch; that is, the high place of +the hollow road. + +This bwlch, or hollow way, was a regular pass, which put me +wonderfully in mind of the passes of Spain. It took us a long time +to get to the top. After resting a minute on the summit we began +to descend. My guide pointed out to me some slate-works, at some +distance on our left. "There is a great deal of work going on +there, sir," said he: "all the slates that you see descending the +canal at Llangollen came from there." The next moment we heard a +blast, and then a thundering sound: "Llais craig yn syrthiaw; the +voice of the rock in falling, sir," said John Jones; "blasting is +dangerous and awful work." We reached the bottom of the descent, +and proceeded for two or three miles up and down a rough and narrow +road; I then turned round and looked at the hills which we had +passed over. They looked bulky and huge. + +We continued our way, and presently saw marks of a fire in some +grass by the side of the road. "Have the Gipsiaid been there?" +said I to my guide. + +"Hardly, sir; I should rather think that the Gwyddelaid (Irish) +have been camping there lately." + +"The Gwyddeliad?" + +"Yes, sir, the vagabond Gwyddeliad, who at present infest these +parts much, and do much more harm than the Gipsiaid ever did." + +"What do you mean by the Gipsiaid?" + +"Dark, handsome people, sir, who occasionally used to come about in +vans and carts, the men buying and selling horses, and sometimes +tinkering, whilst the women told fortunes." + +"And they have ceased to come about?" + +"Nearly so, sir; I believe they have been frightened away by the +Gwyddelod." + +"What kind of people are these Gwyddelod? + +"Savage, brutish people, sir; in general without shoes and +stockings, with coarse features and heads of hair like mops." + +"How do they live?" + +"The men tinker a little, sir, but more frequently plunder. The +women tell fortunes, and steal whenever they can." + +"They live something like the Gipsiaid." + +"Something, sir; but the hen Gipsiaid were gentlefolks in +comparison." + +"You think the Gipsiaid have been frightened away by the +Gwyddelians?" + +"I do, sir; the Gwyddelod made their appearance in these parts +about twenty years ago, and since then the Gipsiaid have been +rarely seen." + +"Are these Gwyddelod poor?" + +"By no means, sir; they make large sums by plundering and other +means, with which, 'tis said, they retire at last to their own +country or America, where they buy land and settle down." + +"What language do they speak?" + +"English, sir; they pride themselves on speaking good English, that +is to the Welsh. Amongst themselves they discourse in their own +Paddy Gwyddel." + +"Have they no Welsh?" + +"Only a few words, sir; I never heard one of them speaking Welsh, +save a young girl - she fell sick by the roadside as she was +wandering by herself - some people at a farmhouse took her in, and +tended her till she was well. During her sickness she took a fancy +to their quiet way of life, and when she was recovered she begged +to stay with them and serve them. They consented; she became a +very good servant, and hearing nothing but Welsh spoken, soon +picked up the tongue." + +"Do you know what became of her?" + +"I do, sir; her own people found her out, and wished to take her +away with them, but she refused to let them, for by that time she +was perfectly reclaimed, had been to chapel, renounced her heathen +crefydd, and formed an acquaintance with a young Methodist who had +a great gift of prayer, whom she afterwards married - she and her +husband live at present not far from Mineira." + +"I almost wonder that her own people did not kill her." + +"They threatened to do so, sir, and would doubtless have put their +threat into execution, had they not been prevented by the Man on +High." + +And here my guide pointed with his finger reverently upward. + +"Is it a long time since you have seen any of these Gwyddeliaid?" + +"About two months, sir, and then a terrible fright they caused me." + +"How was that?" + +"I will tell you, sir; I had been across the Berwyn to carry home a +piece of weaving work to a person who employs me. It was night as +I returned, and when I was about halfway down the hill, at a place +which is called Allt Paddy, because the Gwyddelod are in the habit +of taking up their quarters there, I came upon a gang of them, who +had come there and camped and lighted their fire, whilst I was on +the other side of the hill. There were nearly twenty of them, men +and women, and amongst the rest was a man standing naked in a tub +of water with two women stroking him down with clouts. He was a +large fierce-looking fellow and his body, on which the flame of the +fire glittered, was nearly covered with red hair. I never saw such +a sight. As I passed they glared at me and talked violently in +their Paddy Gwyddel, but did not offer to molest me. I hastened +down the hill, and right glad I was when I found myself safe and +sound at my house in Llangollen, with my money in my pocket, for I +had several shillings there, which the man across the hill had paid +me for the work which I had done." + + + +CHAPTER XV + + + +The Turf Tavern - Don't Understand - The Best Welsh - The Maids of +Merion - Old and New - Ruthyn - The Ash Yggdrasill. + + +WE now emerged from the rough and narrow way which we had followed +for some miles, upon one much wider, and more commodious, which my +guide told me was the coach road from Wrexham to Ruthyn, and going +on a little farther we came to an avenue of trees which shaded the +road. It was chiefly composed of ash, sycamore and birch, and +looked delightfully cool and shady. I asked my guide if it +belonged to any gentleman's house. He told me that it did not, but +to a public-house, called Tafarn Tywarch, which stood near the end, +a little way off the road. "Why is it called Tafarn Tywarch?" +said I, struck by the name which signifies "the tavern of turf." + +"It was called so, sir," said John, "because it was originally +merely a turf hovel, though at present it consists of good brick +and mortar." + +"Can we breakfast there," said I, "for I feel both hungry and +thirsty?" + +"Oh yes, sir," said John, "I have heard there is good cheese and +cwrw there." + +We turned off to the "tafarn," which was a decent public-house of +rather an antiquated appearance. We entered a sanded kitchen, and +sat down by a large oaken table. "Please to bring us some bread, +cheese and ale," said I in Welsh to an elderly woman, who was +moving about. + +"Sar?" said she. + +"Bring us some bread, cheese and ale," I repeated in Welsh. + +"I do not understand you, sar," said she in English. + +"Are you Welsh?" said I in English. + +"Yes, I am Welsh!" + +"And can you speak Welsh?" + +"Oh yes, and the best." + +"Then why did you not bring what I asked for?" + +"Because I did not understand you." + +"Tell her," said I to John Jones, "to bring us some bread, cheese +and ale." + +"Come, aunt," said John, "bring us bread and cheese and a quart of +the best ale." + +The woman looked as if she was going to reply in the tongue in +which he addressed her, then faltered, and at last said in English +that she did not understand. + +"Now," said I, "you are fairly caught: this man is a Welshman, and +moreover understands no language but Welsh." + +"Then how can he understand you?" said she. + +"Because I speak Welsh," said I. + +"Then you are a Welshman?" said she. + +"No I am not," said I, "I am English." + +"So I thought," said she, "and on that account I could not +understand you." + +"You mean that you would not," said I. "Now do you choose to bring +what you are bidden?" + +"Come, aunt," said John, "don't be silly and cenfigenus, but bring +the breakfast." + +The woman stood still for a moment or two, and then biting her lips +went away. + +"What made the woman behave in this manner?" said I to my +companion. + +"Oh, she was cenfigenus, sir," he replied; "she did not like that +an English gentleman should understand Welsh; she was envious; you +will find a dozen or two like her in Wales; but let us hope not +more." + +Presently the woman returned with the bread, cheese and ale, which +she placed on the table. + +"Oh," said I, "you have brought what was bidden, though it was +never mentioned to you in English, which shows that your pretending +not to understand was all a sham. What made you behave so?" + +"Why I thought," said the woman, "that no Englishman could speak +Welsh, that his tongue was too short." + +"Your having thought so," said I, "should not have made you tell a +falsehood, saying that you did not understand, when you knew that +you understood very well. See what a disgraceful figure you cut." + +"I cut no disgraced figure," said the woman: "after all, what +right have the English to come here speaking Welsh, which belongs +to the Welsh alone, who in fact are the only people that understand +it." + +"Are you sure that you understand Welsh?" said I. + +"I should think so," said the woman, "for I come from the Vale of +Clwyd, where they speak the best Welsh in the world, the Welsh of +the Bible." + +"What do they call a salmon in the Vale of Clwyd?" said I. + +"What do they call a salmon?" said the woman. "Yes," said I, "when +they speak Welsh." + +"They call it - they call it - why a salmon." + +"Pretty Welsh!" said I. "I thought you did not understand Welsh." + +"Well, what do you call it?" said the woman. + +"Eawg," said I, "that is the word for a salmon in general - but +there are words also to show the sex - when you speak of a male +salmon you should say cemyw, when of a female hwyfell." + +"I never heard the words before," said the woman, "nor do I believe +them to be Welsh." + +"You say so," said I, "because you do not understand Welsh." + +"I not understand Welsh!" said she. "I'll soon show you that I do. +Come, you have asked me the word for salmon in Welsh, I will now +ask you the word for salmon-trout. Now tell me that, and I will +say you know something of the matter." + +"A tinker of my country can tell you that," said I. "The word for +salmon-trout is gleisiad." + +The countenance of the woman fell. + +"I see you know something about the matter," said she; "there are +very few hereabouts, though so near to the Vale of Clwyd, who know +the word for salmon-trout in Welsh, I shouldn't have known the word +myself, but for the song which says: + + +Glan yw'r gleisiad yn y llyn." + + +"And who wrote that song?" said I. + +"I don't know," said the woman. + +"But I do," said I; "one Lewis Morris wrote it.' + +"Oh," said she, "I have heard all about Huw Morris." + +"I was not talking of Huw Morris," said I, "but Lewis Morris, who +lived long after Huw Morris. He was a native of Anglesea, but +resided for some time in Merionethshire, and whilst there composed +a song about the Morwynion bro Meirionydd or the lasses of County +Merion of a great many stanzas, in one of which the gleisiad is +mentioned. Here it is in English: + + +"'Full fair the gleisiad in the flood, +Which sparkles 'neath the summer's sun, +And fair the thrush in green abode +Spreading his wings in sportive fun, +But fairer look if truth be spoke, +The maids of County Merion.'" + + +The woman was about to reply, but I interrupted her. + +"There," said I, "pray leave us to our breakfast, and the next time +you feel inclined to talk nonsense about no Englishman's +understanding Welsh, or knowing anything of Welsh matters, remember +that it was an Englishman who told you the Welsh word for salmon, +and likewise the name of the Welshman who wrote the song in which +the gleisiad is mentioned." + +The ale was very good and so were the bread and cheese. The ale +indeed was so good that I ordered a second jug. Observing a large +antique portrait over the mantel-piece I got up to examine it. It +was that of a gentleman in a long wig, and underneath it was +painted in red letters "Sir Watkin Wynn: 1742." It was doubtless +the portrait of the Sir Watkin who, in 1745 was committed to the +tower under suspicion of being suspected of holding Jacobite +opinions, and favouring the Pretender. The portrait was a very +poor daub, but I looked at it long and attentively as a memorial of +Wales at a critical and long past time. + +When we had dispatched the second jug of ale, and I had paid the +reckoning, we departed and soon came to where stood a turnpike +house at a junction of two roads, to each of which was a gate. + +"Now, sir," said John Jones, "the way straight forward is the +ffordd newydd, and the one on our right hand is the hen ffordd. +Which shall we follow, the new or the old?" + +"There is a proverb in the Gerniweg," said I, "which was the +language of my forefathers, saying, 'ne'er leave the old way for +the new,' we will therefore go by the hen ffordd." + +"Very good, sir," said my guide, "that is the path I always go, for +it is the shortest." So we turned to the right and followed the +old road. Perhaps, however, it would have been well had we gone by +the new, for the hen ffordd was a very dull and uninteresting road, +whereas the ffordd newydd, as I long subsequently found, is one of +the grandest passes in Wales. After we had walked a short distance +my guide said, "Now, sir, if you will turn a little way to the left +hand I will show you a house, built in the old style, such a house, +sir, as I daresay the original turf tavern was." Then leading me a +little way from the road he showed me, under a hollow bank, a small +cottage covered with flags. + +"That is a house, sir, built yn yr hen dull in the old fashion, of +earth, flags and wattles and in one night. It was the custom of +old when a house was to be built, for the people to assemble, and +to build it in one night of common materials, close at hand. The +custom is not quite dead. I was at the building of this myself, +and a merry building it was. The cwrw da passed quickly about +among the builders, I assure you." We returned to the road, and +when we had ascended a hill, my companion told me that if I looked +to the left I should see the Vale of Clwyd. + +I looked and perceived an extensive valley pleasantly dotted with +trees and farm-houses, and bounded on the west by a range of hills. + +"It is a fine valley, sir," said my guide, "four miles wide and +twenty long, and contains the richest land in all Wales. Cheese +made in that valley, sir, fetches a penny a pound more than cheese +made in any other valley." + +"And who owns it?" said I. + +"Various are the people who own it, sir, but Sir Watkin owns the +greater part." + +We went on, passed by a village called Craig Vychan, where we saw a +number of women washing at a fountain, and by a gentle descent soon +reached the Vale of Clwyd. + +After walking about a mile we left the road and proceeded by a +footpath across some meadows. The meadows were green and +delightful and were intersected by a beautiful stream. Trees in +abundance were growing about, some of which were oaks. We passed +by a little white chapel with a small graveyard before it, which my +guide told me belonged to the Baptists, and shortly afterwards +reached Ruthyn. + +We went to an inn called the Crossed Foxes, where we refreshed +ourselves with ale. We then sallied forth to look about, after I +had ordered a duck to be got ready for dinner, at three o'clock. +Ruthyn stands on a hill above the Clwyd, which in the summer is a +mere brook, but in the winter a considerable stream, being then fed +with the watery tribute of a hundred hills. About three miles to +the north is a range of lofty mountains, dividing the shire of +Denbigh from that of Flint, amongst which, almost parallel with the +town, and lifting its head high above the rest, is the mighty Moel +Vamagh, the mother heap, which I had seen from Chester. Ruthyn is +a dull town, but it possessed plenty of interest to me, for as I +strolled with my guide about the streets I remembered that I was +treading the ground which the wild bands of Glendower had trod, and +where the great struggle commenced, which for fourteen years +convulsed Wales, and for some time shook England to its centre. +After I had satisfied myself with wandering about the town we +proceeded to the castle. + +The original castle suffered terribly in the civil wars; it was +held for wretched Charles, and was nearly demolished by the cannon +of Cromwell, which were planted on a hill about half a mile +distant. The present castle is partly modern and partly ancient. +It belongs to a family of the name of W- who reside in the modern +part, and who have the character of being kind, hospitable and +intellectual people. We only visited the ancient part, over which +we were shown by a woman, who hearing us speaking Welsh, spoke +Welsh herself during the whole time she was showing us about. She +showed us dark passages, a gloomy apartment in which Welsh kings +and great people had been occasionally confined, that strange +memorial of the good old times, a drowning pit, and a large prison +room, in the middle of which stood a singular-looking column, +scrawled with odd characters, which had of yore been used for a +whipping-post, another memorial of the good old baronial times, so +dear to romance readers and minds of sensibility. Amongst other +things which our conductor showed us was an immense onen or ash; it +stood in one of the courts and measured, as she said, pedwar y +haner o ladd yn ei gwmpas, or four yards and a half in girth. As I +gazed on the mighty tree I thought of the Ash Yggdrasill mentioned +in the Voluspa, or prophecy of Vola, that venerable poem which +contains so much relating to the mythology of the ancient Norse. + +We returned to the inn and dined. The duck was capital, and I +asked John Jones if he had ever tasted a better. "Never, sir," +said he, "for to tell you the truth, I never tasted a duck before." +"Rather singular," said I. "What, that I should not have tasted +duck? Oh, sir, the singularity is, that I should now be tasting +duck. Duck in Wales, sir, is not fare for poor weavers. This is +the first duck I ever tasted, and though I never taste another, as +I probably never shall, I may consider myself a fortunate weaver, +for I can now say I have tasted duck once in my life. Few weavers +in Wales are ever able to say as much." + + + +CHAPTER XVI + + + +Baptist Tomb-Stone - The Toll-Bar - Rebecca - The Guitar. + + +THE sun was fast declining as we left Ruthyn. We retraced our +steps across the fields. When we came to the Baptist Chapel I got +over the wall of the little yard to look at the grave-stones. +There were only three. The inscriptions upon them were all in +Welsh. The following stanza was on the stone of Jane, the daughter +of Elizabeth Williams, who died on the second of May, 1843: + + +"Er myn'd i'r oerllyd annedd +Dros dymher hir i orwedd, +Cwyd i'r lan o'r gwely bridd +Ac hyfryd fydd ei hagwedd." + + +which is + + +"Though thou art gone to dwelling cold +To lie in mould for many a year, +Thou shalt, at length, from earthy bed, +Uplift thy head to blissful sphere." + + +As we went along I stopped to gaze at a singular-looking hill +forming part of the mountain range on the east. I asked John Jones +what its name was, but he did not know. As we were standing +talking about it, a lady came up from the direction in which our +course lay. John Jones, touching his hat to her, said: + +"Madam, this gwr boneddig wishes to know the name of that moel, +perhaps you can tell him." + +"Its name is Moel Agrik," said the lady, addressing me in English. + +"Does that mean Agricola's hill?" said I. + +"It does," said she, "and there is a tradition that the Roman +General Agricola, when he invaded these parts, pitched his camp on +that moel. The hill is spoken of by Pennant." + +"Thank you, madam," said I; "perhaps you can tell me the name of +the delightful grounds in which we stand, supposing they have a +name?" + +"They are called Oaklands," said the lady. + +"A very proper name," said I, "for there is plenty of oaks growing +about. But why are they called by a Saxon name, for Oaklands is +Saxon?" + +"Because," said the lady, "when the grounds were first planted with +trees they belonged to an English family." + +"Thank you," said I, and, taking off my hat, I departed with my +guide. I asked him her name, but he could not tell me. Before she +was out of sight, however, we met a labourer of whom John Jones +enquired her name. + +"Her name is W-s," said the man, "and a good lady she is." + +"Is she Welsh?" said I. + +"Pure Welsh, master," said the man. "Purer Welsh flesh and blood +need not be." + +Nothing farther worth relating occurred till we reached the toll- +bar at the head of the hen ffordd, by which time the sun was almost +gone down. We found the master of the gate, his wife and son +seated on a bench before the door. The woman had a large book on +her lap, in which she was reading by the last light of the +departing orb. I gave the group the sele of the evening in +English, which they all returned, the woman looking up from her +book. + +"Is that volume the Bible?" said I. + +"It is, sir," said the woman. + +"May I look at it?" said I. + +"Certainly," said the woman, and placed the book in my hand. It +was a magnificent Welsh Bible, but without the title-page. + +"That book must be a great comfort to you," said I to her. + +"Very great," said she. "I know not what we should do without it +in the long winter evenings." + +"Of what faith are you?" said I. + +"We are Methodists," she replied. + +"Then you are of the same faith as my friend here," said I. + +"Yes, yes," said she, "we are aware of that. We all know honest +John Jones." + +After we had left the gate I asked John Jones whether he had ever +heard of Rebecca of the toll-gates. + +"Oh, yes," said he; "I have heard of that chieftainess." + +"And who was she?" said I. + +"I cannot say, sir; I never saw her, nor any one who had seen her. +Some say that there were a hundred Rebeccas, and all of them men +dressed in women's clothes, who went about at night, at the head of +bands to break the gates. Ah, sir, something of the kind was +almost necessary at that time. I am a friend of peace, sir, no +head-breaker, house-breaker, nor gate-breaker, but I can hardly +blame what was done at that time, under the name of Rebecca. You +have no idea how the poor Welsh were oppressed by those gates, aye, +and the rich too. The little people and farmers could not carry +their produce to market owing to the exactions at the gates, which +devoured all the profit and sometimes more. So that the markets +were not half supplied, and people with money could frequently not +get what they wanted. Complaints were made to government, which +not being attended to, Rebecca and her byddinion made their +appearance at night, and broke the gates to pieces with sledge- +hammers, and everybody said it was gallant work, everybody save the +keepers of the gates and the proprietors. Not only the poor but +the rich, said so. Aye, and I have heard that many a fine young +gentleman had a hand in the work, and went about at night at the +head of a band dressed as Rebecca. Well, sir, those breakings were +acts of violence, I don't deny, but they did good, for the system +is altered; such impositions are no longer practised at gates as +were before the time of Rebecca." + +"Were any people ever taken up and punished for those nocturnal +breakings?" said I. + +"No, sir; and I have heard say that nobody's being taken up was a +proof that the rich approved of the work and had a hand in it." + +Night had come on by the time we reached the foot of the huge hills +we had crossed in the morning. We toiled up the ascent, and after +crossing the level ground on the top, plunged down the bwlch +between walking and running, occasionally stumbling, for we were +nearly in complete darkness, and the bwlch was steep and stony. We +more than once passed people who gave us the n's da, the hissing +night salutation of the Welsh. At length I saw the Abbey looming +amidst the darkness, and John Jones said that, we were just above +the fountain. We descended, and putting my head down I drank +greedily of the dwr santaidd, my guide following my example. We +then proceeded on our way, and in about half-an-hour reached +Llangollen. I took John Jones home with me. We had a cheerful cup +of tea. Henrietta played on the guitar, and sang a Spanish song, +to the great delight of John Jones, who at about ten o'clock +departed contented and happy to his own dwelling. + + + +CHAPTER XVII + + + +John Jones and his Bundle - A Good Lady - The Irishman's Dingle - +Ab Gwilym and the Mist - The Kitchen - The Two Individuals - The +Horse-Dealer - I can manage him - The Mist Again. + + +THE following day was gloomy. In the evening John Jones made his +appearance with a bundle under his arm, and an umbrella in his +hand. + +"Sir," said he, "I am going across the mountain with it piece of +weaving work, for the man on the other side, who employs me. +Perhaps you would like to go with me, as you are fond of walking." + +"I suppose," said I, "you wish to have my company for fear of +meeting Gwyddelians on the hill." + +John smiled. + +"Well, sir," said he, "if I do meet them I would sooner be with +company than without. But I dare venture by myself, trusting in +the Man on High, and perhaps I do wrong to ask you to go, as you +must be tired with your walk of yesterday." + +"Hardly more than yourself," said I. "Come; I shall be glad to go. +What I said about the Gwyddelians was only in jest." + +As we were about to depart John said: + +"It does not rain at present, sir, but I think it will. You had +better take an umbrella." + +I did so, and away we went. We passed over the bridge, and turning +to the right went by the back of the town through a field. As we +passed by the Plas Newydd John Jones said: + +"No one lives there now, sir; all dark and dreary; very different +from the state of things when the ladies lived there - all gay then +and cheerful. I remember the ladies, sir, particularly the last, +who lived by herself after her companion died. She was a good +lady, and very kind to the poor; when they came to her gate they +were never sent away without something to cheer them. She was a +grand lady too - kept grand company, and used to be drawn about in +a coach by four horses. But she too is gone, and the house is cold +and empty; no fire in it, sir; no furniture. There was an auction +after her death; and a grand auction it was and lasted four days. +Oh, what a throng of people there was, some of whom came from a +great distance to buy the curious things, of which there were +plenty." + +We passed over a bridge, which crosses a torrent, which descends +from the mountain on the south side of Llangollen, which bridge +John Jones told me was called the bridge of the Melin Bac, or mill +of the nook, from a mill of that name close by. Continuing our way +we came to a glen, down which the torrent comes which passes under +the bridge. There was little water in the bed of the torrent, and +we crossed easily enough by stepping-stones. I looked up the glen; +a wild place enough, its sides overgrown with trees. Dreary and +dismal it looked in the gloom of the closing evening. John Jones +said that there was no regular path up it, and that one could only +get along by jumping from stone to stone, at the hazard of breaking +one's legs. Having passed over the bed of the torrent, we came to +a path, which led up the mountain. The path was very steep and +stony; the glen with its trees and darkness on our right. We +proceeded some way. At length John Jones pointed to a hollow lane +on our right, seemingly leading into the glen. + +"That place, sir," said he, "is called Pant y Gwyddel - the +Irishman's dingle, and sometimes Pant Paddy, from the Irish being +fond of taking up their quarters there. It was just here, at the +entrance of the pant, that the tribe were encamped, when I passed +two months ago at night, in returning from the other side of the +hill with ten shillings in my pocket, which I had been paid for a +piece of my work, which I had carried over the mountain to the very +place where I am now carrying this. I shall never forget the +fright I was in, both on account of my life, and my ten shillings. +I ran down what remained of the hill as fast as I could, not +minding the stones. Should I meet a tribe now on my return I shall +not run; you will be with me, and I shall not fear for my life nor +for my money, which will be now more than ten shillings, provided +the man over the hills pays me, as I have no doubt he will." + +As we ascended higher we gradually diverged from the glen, though +we did not lose sight of it till we reached the top of the +mountain. The top was nearly level. On our right were a few +fields enclosed with stone walls. On our left was an open space +where whin, furze and heath were growing. We passed over the +summit, and began to descend by a tolerably good, though steep +road. But for the darkness of evening and a drizzling mist, which, +for some time past, had been coming on, we should have enjoyed a +glorious prospect down into the valley, or perhaps I should say +that I should have enjoyed a glorious prospect, for John Jones, +like a true mountaineer, cared not a brass farthing for prospects. +Even as it was, noble glimpses of wood and rock were occasionally +to be obtained. The mist soon wetted us to the skin +notwithstanding that we put up our umbrellas. It was a regular +Welsh mist, a niwl, like that in which the great poet Ab Gwilym +lost his way, whilst trying to keep an assignation with his beloved +Morfydd, and which he abuses in the following manner:- + + +"O ho! thou villain mist, O ho! +What plea hast thou to plague me so? +I scarcely know a scurril name, +But dearly thou deserv'st the same; +Thou exhalation from the deep +Unknown, where ugly spirits keep! +Thou smoke from hellish stews uphurl'd +To mock and mortify the world! +Thou spider-web of giant race, +Spun out and spread through airy space! +Avaunt, thou filthy, clammy thing, +Of sorry rain the source and spring! +Moist blanket dripping misery down, +Loathed alike by land and town! +Thou watery monster, wan to see, +Intruding 'twixt the sun and me, +To rob me of my blessed right, +To turn my day to dismal night. +Parent of thieves and patron best, +They brave pursuit within thy breast! +Mostly from thee its merciless snow +Grim January doth glean, I trow. +Pass off with speed, thou prowler pale, +Holding along o'er hill and dale, +Spilling a noxious spittle round, +Spoiling the fairies' sporting ground! +Move off to hell, mysterious haze; +Wherein deceitful meteors blaze; +Thou wild of vapour, vast, o'ergrown, +Huge as the ocean of unknown." + + +As we descended, the path became more steep; it was particularly so +at a part where it was overshadowed with trees on both sides. +Here, finding walking very uncomfortable, my knees suffering much, +I determined to run. So shouting to John Jones, "Nis gallav +gerdded rhaid rhedeg," I set off running down the pass. My +companion followed close behind, and luckily meeting no mischance, +we presently found ourselves on level ground, amongst a collection +of small houses. On our turning a corner a church appeared on our +left hand on the slope of the hill. In the churchyard, and close +to the road, grew a large yew-tree which flung its boughs far on +every side. John Jones stopping by the tree said, that if I looked +over the wall of the yard I should see the tomb of a Lord +Dungannon, who had been a great benefactor to the village. I +looked, and through the lower branches of the yew, which hung over +part of the churchyard, I saw what appeared to be a mausoleum. +Jones told me that in the church also there was the tomb of a great +person of the name of Tyrwhitt. + +We passed on by various houses till we came nearly to the bottom of +the valley. Jones then pointing to a large house, at a little +distance on the right, told me that it was a good gwesty, and +advised me to go and refresh myself in it, whilst he went and +carried home his work to the man who employed him, who he said +lived in a farm-house a few hundred yards off. I asked him where +we were. + +"At Llyn Ceiriog," he replied. + +I then asked if we were near Pont Fadog; and received for answer +that Pont Fadog was a good way down the valley, to the north-east, +and that we could not see it owing to a hill which intervened. + +Jones went his way and I proceeded to the gwestfa, the door of +which stood invitingly open. I entered a large kitchen, at one end +of which a good fire was burning in a grate, in front of which was +a long table, and a high settle on either side. Everything looked +very comfortable. There was nobody in the kitchen: on my calling, +however, a girl came, whom I bade in Welsh to bring me a pint of +the best ale. The girl stared, but went away apparently to fetch +it - presently came the landlady, a good-looking middle-aged woman. +I saluted her in Welsh and then asked her if she could speak +English. She replied "Tipyn bach," which interpreted, is, a little +bit. I soon, however, found that she could speak it very passably, +for two men coming in from the rear of the house she conversed with +them in English. These two individuals seated themselves on chairs +near the door, and called for beer. The girl brought in the ale, +and I sat down by the fire, poured myself out a glass, and made +myself comfortable. Presently a gig drove up to the door, and in +came a couple of dogs, one a tall black grey-hound, the other a +large female setter, the coat of the latter dripping with rain, and +shortly after two men from the gig entered; one who appeared to be +the principal was a stout bluff-looking person between fifty and +sixty, dressed in a grey stuff coat and with a slouched hat on his +head. This man bustled much about, and in a broad Yorkshire +dialect ordered a fire to be lighted in another room, and a chamber +to be prepared for him and his companion; the landlady, who +appeared to know him, and to treat him with a kind of deference, +asked if she should prepare two beds; whereupon he answered "No! +As we came together and shall start together, so shall we sleep +together; it will not be for the first time." + +His companion was a small mean-looking man, dressed in a black +coat, and behaved to him with no little respect. Not only the +landlady, but the two men, of whom I have previously spoken, +appeared to know him and to treat him with deference. He and his +companion presently went out to see after the horse. After a +little time they returned, and the stout man called lustily for two +fourpennyworths of brandy and water - "Take it into the other +room!" said he, and went into a side room with his companion, but +almost immediately came out saying that the room smoked and was +cold, and that he preferred sitting in the kitchen. He then took +his seat near me, and when the brandy was brought drank to my +health. I said thank you, but nothing farther. He then began +talking to the men and his companion upon indifferent subjects. +After a little time John Jones came in, called for a glass of ale, +and at my invitation seated himself between me and the stout +personage. The latter addressed him roughly in English, but +receiving no answer said, "Ah, you no understand. You have no +English and I no Welsh." + +"You have not mastered Welsh yet Mr - " said one of the men to him. + +"No!" said he: "I have been doing business with the Welsh forty +years, but can't speak a word of their language. I sometimes guess +at a word, spoken in the course of business, but am never sure." + +Presently John Jones began talking to me, saying that he had been +to the river, that the water was very low, and that there was +little but stones in the bed of the stream. + +I told him if its name was Ceiriog no wonder there were plenty of +stones in it, Ceiriog being derived from Cerrig, a rock. The men +stared to hear me speak Welsh. + +"Is the gentleman a Welshman?" said one of the men, near the door, +to his companion; "he seems to speak Welsh very well." + +"How should I know?" said the other, who appeared to be a low +working man. + +"Who are those people?" said I to John Jones. + +"The smaller man is a workman at a flannel manufactory," said +Jones. "The other I do not exactly know." + +"And who is the man on the other side of you?" said I. + +"I believe he is an English dealer in gigs and horses," replied +Jones, "and that he is come here either to buy or sell." + +The man, however, soon put me out of all doubt with respect to his +profession. + +"I was at Chirk," said he; "and Mr So-and-so asked me to have a +look at his new gig and horse, and have a ride. I consented. They +were both brought out - everything new; gig new, harness new, and +horse new. Mr So-and-so asked me what I thought of his turn-out. +I gave a look and said, 'I like the car very well, harness very +well, but I don't like the horse at all; a regular bolter, rearer +and kicker, or I'm no judge; moreover, he's pigeon-toed.' However, +we all got on the car - four of us, and I was of course +complimented with the ribbons. Well, we hadn't gone fifty yards +before the horse, to make my words partly good, began to kick like +a new 'un. However, I managed him, and he went on for a couple of +miles till we got to the top of the hill, just above the descent +with the precipice on the right hand. Here he began to rear like a +very devil. + +"'Oh dear me!' says Mr So-and-so; 'let me get out!' + +"'Keep where you are,' says I, 'I can manage him.' + +"However, Mr So-and-so would not be ruled, and got out; coming +down, not on his legs, but his hands and knees. And then the two +others said - + +"'Let us get out!' + +"'Keep where you are,' said I, 'I can manage him.' + +"But they must needs get out, or rather tumble out, for they both +came down on the road, hard on their backs. + +"'Get out yourself,' said they all, 'and let the devil go, or you +are a done man.' + +"'Getting out may do for you young hands,' says I, 'but it won't do +for I; neither my back nor bones will stand the hard road.' + +"Mr So-and-so ran to the horse's head. + +"'Are you mad?' says I, 'if you try to hold him he'll be over the +pree-si-pice in a twinkling, and then where am I? Give him head; I +can manage him.' + +"So Mr So-and-so got out of the way, and down flew the horse right +down the descent, as fast as he could gallop. I tell you what, I +didn't half like it! A pree-si-pice on my right, the rock on my +left, and a devil before me, going, like a cannon-ball, right down +the hill. However, I contrived, as I said I would, to manage him; +kept the car from the rock and from the edge of the gulf too. +Well, just when we had come to the bottom of the hill out comes the +people running from the inn, almost covering the road. + +"'Now get out of the way,' I shouts, 'if you don't wish to see your +brains knocked out, and what would be worse, mine too.' + +"So they gets out of the way, and on I spun, I and my devil. But +by this time I had nearly taken the devil out of him. Well, he +hadn't gone fifty yards on the level ground, when, what do you +think he did? why, went regularly over, tumbled down regularly on +the road, even as I knew he would some time or other, because why? +he was pigeon-toed. Well, I gets out of the gig, and no sooner did +Mr So-and-so come up than I says - + +"'I likes your car very well, and I likes your harness, but - me if +I likes your horse, and it will be some time before you persuade me +to drive him again.'" + +I am a great lover of horses, and an admirer of good driving, and +should have wished to have some conversation with this worthy +person about horses and their management. I should also have +wished to ask him some questions about Wales and the Welsh, as he +must have picked up a great deal of curious information about both +in his forty years' traffic, notwithstanding he did not know a word +of Welsh, but John Jones prevented my further tarrying by saying, +that it would be as well to get over the mountain before it was +entirely dark. So I got up, paid for my ale, vainly endeavoured to +pay for that of my companion, who insisted upon paying for what he +had ordered, made a general bow and departed from the house, +leaving the horse-dealer and the rest staring at each other and +wondering who we were, or at least who I was. We were about to +ascend the hill when John Jones asked me whether I should not like +to see the bridge and the river. I told him I should. The bridge +and the river presented nothing remarkable. The former was of a +single arch; and the latter anything but abundant in its flow. + +We now began to retrace our steps over the mountain. At first the +mist appeared to be nearly cleared away. As we proceeded, however, +large sheets began to roll up the mountain sides, and by the time +we reached the summit were completely shrouded in vapour. The +night, however, was not very dark, and we found our way tolerably +well, though once in descending I had nearly tumbled into the nant +or dingle, now on our left hand. The bushes and trees, seen +indistinctly through the mist, had something the look of goblins, +and brought to my mind the elves, which Ab Gwilym of old saw, or +thought he saw, in a somewhat similar situation:- + + +"In every hollow dingle stood +Of wry-mouth'd elves a wrathful brood." + + +Drenched to the skin, but uninjured in body and limb, we at length +reached Llangollen. + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + + + +Venerable Old Gentleman - Surnames in Wales - Russia and Britain - +Church of England - Yriarte - The Eagle and his Young - Poets of +the Gael - The Oxonian - Master Salisburie. + + +MY wife had told me that she had had some conversation upon the +Welsh language and literature with a venerable old man, who kept a +shop in the town, that she had informed him that I was very fond of +both, and that he had expressed a great desire to see me. One +afternoon I said: "Let us go and pay a visit to your old friend of +the shop. I think from two or three things which you have told me +about him, that he must be worth knowing." We set out. She +conducted me across the bridge a little way; then presently turning +to the left into the principal street, she entered the door of a +shop on the left-hand side, over the top of which was written: +"Jones; Provision Dealer and General Merchant." The shop was +small, with two little counters, one on each side. Behind one was +a young woman, and behind the other a venerable-looking old man. + +"I have brought my husband to visit you," said my wife, addressing +herself to him. + +"I am most happy to see him," said the old gentleman, making me a +polite bow. + +He then begged that we would do him the honour to walk into his +parlour, and led us into a little back room, the window of which +looked out upon the Dee a few yards below the bridge. On the left +side of the room was a large case, well stored with books. He +offered us chairs, and we all sat down. I was much struck with the +old man. He was rather tall, and somewhat inclined to corpulency. +His hair was grey; his forehead high; his nose aquiline; his eyes +full of intelligence; whilst his manners were those of a perfect +gentleman. + +I entered into conversation by saying that I supposed his name was +Jones, as I had observed that name over the door. + +"Jones is the name I bear at your service, sir," he replied. + +I said that it was a very common name in Wales, as I knew several +people who bore it, and observed that most of the surnames in Wales +appeared to be modifications of Christian names; for example Jones, +Roberts, Edwards, Humphreys, and likewise Pugh, Powel, and Probert, +which were nothing more than the son of Hugh, the son of Howel, and +the son of Robert. He said I was right, that there were very few +real surnames in Wales; that the three great families, however, had +real surnames; for that Wynn, Morgan and Bulkley were all real +surnames. I asked him whether the Bulkleys of Anglesea were not +originally an English family. He said they were, and that they +settled down in Anglesea in the time of Elizabeth. + +After some minutes my wife got up and left us. The old gentleman +and I had then some discourse in Welsh; we soon, however, resumed +speaking English. We got on the subject of Welsh bards, and after +a good deal of discourse the old gentleman said: + +"You seem to know something about Welsh poetry; can you tell me who +wrote the following line? + + +"'There will be great doings in Britain, and +I shall have no concern in them.'" + + +"I will not be positive," said I, "but I think from its tone and +tenor that it was composed by Merddyn, whom my countrymen call +Merlin." + +"I believe you are right," said the old gentleman, "I see you know +something of Welsh poetry. I met the line, a long time ago, in a +Welsh grammar. It then made a great impression upon me, and of +late it has always been ringing in my ears. I love Britain. +Britain has just engaged in a war with a mighty country, and I am +apprehensive of the consequences. I am old, upwards of four-score, +and shall probably not live to see the evil, if evil happens, as I +fear it will - 'There will be strange doings in Britain, but they +will not concern me.' I cannot get the line out of my head." + +I told him that the line probably related to the progress of the +Saxons in Britain, but that I did not wonder that it made an +impression upon him at the present moment. I said, however, that +we ran no risk from Russia; that the only power at all dangerous to +Britain was France, which though at present leagued with her +against Russia, would eventually go to war with and strive to +subdue her, and then of course Britain could expect no help from +Russia, her old friend and ally, who, if Britain had not outraged +her, would have assisted her, in any quarrel or danger, with four +or five hundred thousand men. I said that I hoped neither he nor I +should see a French invasion, but I had no doubt one would +eventually take place, and that then Britain must fight stoutly, as +she had no one to expect help from but herself; that I wished she +might be able to hold her own, but - + +"Strange things will happen in Britain, though they will concern me +nothing," said the old gentleman with a sigh. + +On my expressing a desire to know something of his history, he told +me that he was the son of a small farmer, who resided at some +distance from Llangollen; that he lost his father at an early age, +and was obliged to work hard, even when a child, in order to assist +his mother who had some difficulty, after the death of his father, +in keeping things together; that though he was obliged to work hard +he had been fond of study, and used to pore over Welsh and English +books by the glimmering light of the turf fire at night, for that +his mother could not afford to allow him anything in the shape of a +candle to read by; that at his mother's death he left rural labour, +and coming to Llangollen, commenced business in the little shop in +which he was at present; that he had been married, and had +children, but that his wife and family were dead; that the young +woman whom I had seen in the shop, and who took care of his house, +was a relation of his wife; that though he had always been +attentive to business, he had never abandoned study; that he had +mastered his own language, of which he was passionately fond, and +had acquired a good knowledge of English and of some other +languages. That his fondness for literature had shortly after his +arrival at Llangollen attracted the notice of some of the people, +who encouraged him in his studies, and assisted him by giving him +books; that the two celebrated ladies of Llangollen had +particularly noticed him; that he held the situation of church +clerk for upwards of forty years, and that it was chiefly owing to +the recommendation of the "great ladies" that he had obtained it. +He then added with a sigh, that about ten years ago he was obliged +to give it up, owing to something the matter with his eyesight, +which prevented him from reading, and, that his being obliged to +give it up was a source of bitter grief to him, as he had always +considered it a high honour to be permitted to assist in the +service of the Church of England, in the principles of which he had +been bred, and in whose doctrines he firmly believed. + +Here shaking him by the hand, I said that I too had been bred up in +the principles of the Church of England; that I too firmly believed +in its doctrines, and would maintain with my blood, if necessary, +that there was not such another church in the world. + +"So would I," said the old gentleman; "where is there a church in +whose liturgy there is so much Scripture as in that of the Church +of England?" + +"Pity," said I, "that so many traitors have lately sprung up in its +ministry." + +"If it be so," said the old church clerk, "they have not yet shown +themselves in the pulpit at Llangollen. All the clergymen who have +held the living in my time have been excellent. The present +incumbent is a model of a Church-of-England clergyman. Oh, how I +regret that the state of my eyes prevents me from officiating as +clerk beneath him." + +I told him that I should never from the appearance of his eyes have +imagined that they were not excellent ones. + +"I can see to walk about with them, and to distinguish objects," +said the old gentleman; "but see to read with them I cannot. Even +with the help of the most powerful glasses I cannot distinguish a +letter. I believe I strained my eyes at a very early age, when +striving to read at night by the glimmer of the turf fire in my +poor mother's chimney corner. Oh what an affliction is this state +of my eyes! I can't turn my books to any account, nor read the +newspapers; but I repeat that I chiefly lament it because it +prevents me from officiating as under-preacher." + +He showed me his books. Seeing amongst them "The Fables of +Yriarte" in Spanish, I asked how they came into his possession. + +"They were presented to me," said he, "by one of the ladies of +Llangollen, Lady Eleanor Butler." + +"Have you ever read them?" said I. + +"No," he replied; "I do not understand a word of Spanish; but I +suppose her ladyship, knowing I was fond of languages, thought that +I might one day set about learning Spanish, and that then they +might be useful to me." + +He then asked me if I knew Spanish, and on my telling him that I +had some knowledge of that language, he asked me to translate some +of the fables. I translated two of them, which pleased him much. + +I then asked if he had ever heard of a collection of Welsh fables +compiled about the year thirteen hundred. He said that he had not, +and inquired whether they had ever been printed. I told him that +some had appeared in the old Welsh magazine called "The Greal." + +"I wish you would repeat one of them," said the old clerk. + +"Here is one," said I, "which particularly struck me:- + +"It is the custom of the eagle, when his young are sufficiently +old, to raise them up above his nest in the direction of the sun; +and the bird which has strength enough of eye to look right in the +direction of the sun, he keeps and nourishes, but the one which has +not, he casts down into the gulf to its destruction. So does the +Lord deal with His children in the Catholic Church Militant: those +whom He sees worthy to serve Him in godliness and spiritual +goodness He keeps with Him and nourishes, but those who are not +worthy from being addicted to earthly things, He casts out into +utter darkness, where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth." + +The old gentleman, after a moment's reflection, said it was a +clever fable, but an unpleasant one. It was hard for poor birds to +be flung into a gulf, for not having power of eye sufficient to +look full in the face of the sun, and likewise hard that poor human +creatures should be lost for ever, for not doing that which they +had no power to do. + +"Perhaps," said I, "the eagle does not deal with his chicks, or the +Lord with His creatures as the fable represents." + +"Let us hope at any rate," said the old gentleman, "that the Lord +does not." + +"Have you ever seen this book?" said he, and put Smith's "Sean +Dana" into my hand. + +"Oh, yes," said I, "and have gone through it. It contains poems in +the Gaelic language by Oisin and others, collected in the +Highlands. I went through it a long time ago with great attention. +Some of the poems are wonderfully beautiful." + +"They are so," said the old clerk. "I too have gone through the +book; it was presented to me a great many years ago by a lady to +whom I gave some lessons in the Welsh language. I went through it +with the assistance of a Gaelic grammar and dictionary, which she +also presented to me, and I was struck with the high tone of the +poetry." + +"This collection is valuable indeed," said I; "it contains poems, +which not only possess the highest merit, but serve to confirm the +authenticity of the poems of Ossian, published by Macpherson, so +often called in question. All the pieces here attributed to Ossian +are written in the same metre, tone, and spirit, as those +attributed to him in the other collection, so if Macpherson's +Ossianic poems, which he said were collected by him in the +Highlands, are forgeries, Smith's Ossianic poems, which, according +to his account, were also collected in the Highlands, must be also +forged, and have been imitated from those published by the other. +Now as it is well known that Smith did not possess sufficient +poetic power to produce any imitation of Macpherson's Ossian, with +a tenth part the merit which the "Sean Dana" possess, and that even +if he had possessed it, his principles would not have allowed him +to attempt to deceive the world by imposing forgeries upon it, as +the authentic poems of another, he being a highly respectable +clergyman, the necessary conclusion is that the Ossianic poems +which both published are genuine, and collected in the manner in +which both stated they were." + +After a little more discourse about Ossian, the old gentleman asked +me if there was any good modern Gaelic poetry. "None very modern," +said I: "the last great poets of the Gael were Macintyre and +Buchanan, who flourished about the middle of the last century. The +first sang of love and of Highland scenery; the latter was a +religious poet. The best piece of Macintyre is an ode to Ben +Dourain, or the Hill of the Water-dogs - a mountain in the +Highlands. The master-piece of Buchanan is his La Breitheanas or +Day of Judgment, which is equal in merit, or nearly so, to the +Cywydd y Farn, or Judgment Day of your own immortal Gronwy Owen. +Singular that the two best pieces on the Day of Judgment should +have been written in two Celtic dialects, and much about the same +time; but such is the fact." + +"Really," said the old church clerk, "you seem to know something of +Celtic literature." + +"A little," said I; "I am a bit of a philologist; and when studying +languages dip a little into the literature which they contain." + +As I had heard him say that he had occasionally given lessons in +the Welsh language, I inquired whether any of his pupils had made +much progress in it. "The generality," said he, "soon became tired +of its difficulties, and gave it up without making any progress at +all. Two or three got on tolerably well. One, however, acquired +it in a time so short that it might be deemed marvellous. He was +an Oxonian, and came down with another in the vacation in order to +study hard against the yearly collegiate examination. He and his +friend took lodgings at Pengwern Hall, then a farm-house, and +studied and walked about for some time, as other young men from +college, who come down here, are in the habit of doing. One day he +and his friend came to me, who was then clerk, and desired to see +the interior of the church. So I took the key and went with them +into the church. When he came to the altar he took up the large +Welsh Common Prayer-Book, which was lying there, and looked into +it. 'A curious language this Welsh,' said he; 'I should like to +learn it.' 'Many have wished to learn it, without being able,' +said I; 'it is no easy language.' 'I should like to try,' he +replied; 'I wish I could find some one who would give me a few +lessons.' 'I have occasionally given instructions in Welsh,' said +I, 'and shall be happy to oblige you.' Well, it was agreed that he +should take lessons of me; and to my house he came every evening, +and I gave him what instructions I could. I was astonished at his +progress. He acquired the pronunciation in a lesson, and within a +week was able to construe and converse. By the time he left +Llangollen, and he was not here in all more than two months, he +understood the Welsh Bible as well as I did, and could speak Welsh +so well that the Welsh, who did not know him, took him to be one of +themselves, for he spoke the language with the very tone and manner +of a native. Oh, he was the cleverest man for language that I ever +knew; not a word that he heard did he ever forget." + +"Just like Mezzofanti," said I, "the great cardinal philologist. +But whilst learning Welsh, did he not neglect his collegiate +studies?" + +"Well, I was rather apprehensive on that point," said the old +gentleman, "but mark the event. At the examination he came off +most brilliantly in Latin, Greek, mathematics, and other things +too; in fact, a double first-class man, as I think they call it." + +"I have never heard of so extraordinary an individual," said I. "I +could no more have done what you say he did, than I could have +taken wings and flown. Pray, what was his name?" + +"His name," said the old gentleman, "was Earl." + +I was much delighted with my new acquaintance, and paid him +frequent visits; the more I saw him the more he interested me. He +was kind and benevolent, a good old Church of England Christian, +was well versed in several dialects of the Celtic, and possessed an +astonishing deal of Welsh heraldic and antiquarian lore. Often +whilst discoursing with him I almost fancied that I was with Master +Salisburie, Vaughan of Hengwrt, or some other worthy of old, deeply +skilled in everything remarkable connected with wild "Camber's +Lande." + + + +CHAPTER XIX + + + +The Vicar and his Family - Evan Evans - Foaming Ale - Llam y +Lleidyr - Baptism - Joost Van Vondel - Over to Rome - The Miller's +Man - Welsh and English. + + +WE had received a call from the Vicar of Llangollen and his lady; +we had returned it, and they had done us the kindness to invite us +to take tea with them. On the appointed evening we went, myself, +wife, and Henrietta, and took tea with the vicar and his wife, +their sons and daughters, all delightful and amiable beings - the +eldest son a fine intelligent young man from Oxford, lately +admitted into the Church, and now assisting his father in his +sacred office. A delightful residence was the vicarage, situated +amongst trees in the neighbourhood of the Dee. A large open window +in the room, in which our party sat, afforded us a view of a green +plat on the top of a bank running down to the Dee, part of the +river, the steep farther bank covered with umbrageous trees, and a +high mountain beyond, even that of Pen y Coed clad with wood. +During tea Mr E. and I had a great deal of discourse. I found him +to be a first-rate Greek and Latin scholar, and also a proficient +in the poetical literature of his own country. In the course of +discourse he repeated some noble lines of Evan Evans, the +unfortunate and eccentric Prydydd Hir, or tall poet, the friend and +correspondent of Gray, for whom he made literal translations from +the Welsh, which the great English genius afterwards wrought into +immortal verse. + +"I have a great regard for poor Evan Evans," said Mr E., after he +had finished repeating the lines, "for two reasons: first, because +he was an illustrious genius, and second, because he was a South- +Wallian like myself." + +"And I," I replied, "because he was a great poet, and like myself +fond of a glass of cwrw da." + +Some time after tea the younger Mr E. and myself took a walk in an +eastern direction along a path cut in the bank, just above the +stream. After proceeding a little way amongst most romantic +scenery, I asked my companion if he had ever heard of the pool of +Catherine Lingo - the deep pool, as the reader will please to +remember, of which John Jones had spoken. + +"Oh yes," said young Mr E.: "my brothers and myself are in the +habit of bathing there almost every morning. We will go to it if +you please." + +We proceeded, and soon came to the pool. The pool is a beautiful +sheet of water, seemingly about one hundred and fifty yards in +length, by about seventy in width. It is bounded on the east by a +low ridge of rocks forming a weir. The banks on both sides are +high and precipitous, and covered with trees, some of which shoot +their arms for some way above the face of the pool. This is said +to be the deepest pool in the whole course of the Dee, varying in +depth from twenty to thirty feet. Enormous pike, called in Welsh +penhwiaid, or ducks-heads, from the similarity which the head of a +pike bears to that of a duck, are said to be tenants of this pool. + +We returned to the vicarage, and at about ten we all sat down to +supper. On the supper-table was a mighty pitcher full of foaming +ale. + +"There," said my excellent host, as he poured me out a glass, +"there is a glass of cwrw, which Evan Evans himself might have +drunk." + +One evening my wife, Henrietta, and myself, attended by John Jones, +went upon the Berwyn, a little to the east of the Geraint or +Barber's Hill, to botanize. Here we found a fern which John Jones +called Coed llus y Bran, or the plant of the Crow's berry. There +was a hard kind of berry upon it, of which he said the crows were +exceedingly fond. We also discovered two or three other strange +plants, the Welsh names of which our guide told us, and which were +curious and descriptive enough. He took us home by a romantic path +which we had never before seen, and on our way pointed out to us a +small house in which he said he was born. + +The day after, finding myself on the banks of the Dee in the upper +part of the valley, I determined to examine the Llam Lleidyr or +Robber's Leap, which I had heard spoken of on a former occasion. A +man passing near me with a cart I asked him where the Robber's Leap +was. I spoke in English, and with a shake of his head he replied +"Dim Saesneg." On my putting the question to him in Welsh, +however, his countenance brightened up. + +"Dyna Llam Lleidyr, sir!" said he, pointing to a very narrow part +of the stream a little way down. + +"And did the thief take it from this side?" I demanded. + +"Yes, sir, from this side," replied the man. + +I thanked him, and passing over the dry part of the river's bed, +came to the Llam Lleidyr. The whole water of the Dee in the dry +season gurgles here through a passage not more than four feet +across, which, however, is evidently profoundly deep, as the water +is as dark as pitch. If the thief ever took the leap he must have +taken it in the dry season, for in the wet the Dee is a wide and +roaring torrent. Yet even in the dry season it is difficult to +conceive how anybody could take this leap, for on the other side is +a rock rising high above the dark gurgling stream. On observing +the opposite side, however, narrowly, I perceived that there was a +small hole a little way up the rock, in which it seemed possible to +rest one's foot for a moment. So I supposed that if the leap was +ever taken, the individual who took it darted the tip of his foot +into the hole, then springing up seized the top of the rock with +his hands, and scrambled up. From either side the leap must have +been a highly dangerous one - from the farther side the leaper +would incur the almost certain risk of breaking his legs on a ledge +of hard rock, from this of falling back into the deep horrible +stream, which would probably suck him down in a moment. + +From the Llam y Lleidyr I went to the canal and walked along it +till I came to the house of the old man who sold coals, and who had +put me in mind of Smollett's Morgan; he was now standing in his +little coal-yard, leaning over the pales. I had spoken to him on +two or three occasions subsequent to the one on which I made his +acquaintance, and had been every time more and more struck with the +resemblance which his ways and manners bore to those of Smollett's +character, on which account I shall call him Morgan, though such +was not his name. He now told me that he expected that I should +build a villa and settle down in the neighbourhood, as I seemed so +fond of it. After a little discourse, induced either by my +questions or from a desire to talk about himself, he related to me +his history, which, though not one of the most wonderful, I shall +repeat. He was born near Aberdarron in Caernarvonshire, and in +order to make me understand the position of the place, and its +bearing with regard to some other places, he drew marks in the +coal-dust on the earth. His father was a Baptist minister, who +when Morgan was about six years of age, went to live at Canol Lyn, +a place at some little distance from Port Heli. With his father he +continued till he was old enough to gain his own maintenance, when +he went to serve a farmer in the neighbourhood. Having saved some +money young Morgan departed to the foundries at Cefn Mawr, at which +he worked thirty years with an interval of four, which he had +passed partly in working in slate quarries, and partly upon the +canal. About four years before the present time he came to where +he now lived, where he commenced selling coals, at first on his own +account and subsequently for some other person. He concluded his +narration by saying that he was now sixty-two years of age, was +afflicted with various disorders, and believed that he was breaking +up. + +Such was Morgan's history; certainly not a very remarkable one. +Yet Morgan was a most remarkable individual, as I shall presently +make appear. + +Rather affected at the bad account he gave me of his health I asked +him if he felt easy in his mind? He replied perfectly so, and when +I inquired how he came to feel so comfortable, he said that his +feeling so was owing to his baptism into the faith of Christ Jesus. +On my telling him that I too had been baptized, he asked me if I +had been dipped; and on learning that I had not, but only been +sprinkled, according to the practice of my church, he gave me to +understand that my baptism was not worth three halfpence. Feeling +rather nettled at hearing the baptism of my church so undervalued, +I stood up for it, and we were soon in a dispute, in which I got +rather the worst, for though he spuffled and sputtered in a most +extraordinary manner, and spoke in a dialect which was neither +Welsh, English nor Cheshire, but a mixture of all three, he said +two or three things rather difficult to be got over. Finding that +he had nearly silenced me, he observed that he did not deny that I +had a good deal of book learning, but that in matters of baptism I +was as ignorant as the rest of the people of the church were, and +had always been. He then said that many church people had entered +into argument with him on the subject of baptism, but that he had +got the better of them all; that Mr P., the minister of the parish +of L., in which we then were, had frequently entered into argument +with him, but quite unsuccessfully, and had at last given up the +matter, as a bad job. He added that a little time before, as Mr P. +was walking close to the canal with his wife and daughter and a +spaniel dog, Mr P. suddenly took up the dog and flung it in, giving +it a good ducking, whereupon he, Morgan, cried out: "Dyna y gwir +vedydd! That is the right baptism, sir! I thought I should bring +you to it at last!" at which words Mr P. laughed heartily, but made +no particular reply. + +After a little time he began to talk about the great men who had +risen up amongst the Baptists, and mentioned two or three +distinguished individuals. + +I said that he had not mentioned the greatest man who had been born +amongst the Baptists. + +"What was his name?" said he. + +"His name was Joost Van Vondel," I replied. + +"I never heard of him before," said Morgan. + +"Very probably," said I: "he was born, bred, and died in Holland." + +"Has he been dead long?" said Morgan. + +"About two hundred years," said I. + +"That's a long time," said Morgan, "and maybe is the reason that I +never heard of him. So he was a great man?" + +"He was indeed," said I. "He was not only the greatest man that +ever sprang up amongst the Baptists, but the greatest, and by far +the greatest, that Holland ever produced, though Holland has +produced a great many illustrious men." + +"Oh I daresay he was a great man if he was a Baptist," said Morgan. +"Well, it's strange I never read of him. I thought I had read the +lives of all the eminent people who lived and died in our +communion." + +"He did not die in the Baptist communion," said I. + +"Oh, he didn't die in it," said Morgan; "What, did he go over to +the Church of England? a pretty fellow!" + +"He did not go over to the Church of England," said I, "for the +Church of England does not exist in Holland; he went over to the +Church of Rome." + +"Well, that's not quite so bad," said Morgan; "however, it's bad +enough. I daresay he was a pretty blackguard." + +"No," said I: "he was a pure virtuous character, and perhaps the +only pure and virtuous character that ever went over to Rome. The +only wonder is that so good a man could ever have gone over to so +detestable a church; but he appears to have been deluded." + +"Deluded indeed!" said Morgan. "However, I suppose he went over +for advancement's sake." + +"No," said I; "he lost every prospect of advancement by going over +to Rome: nine-tenths of his countrymen were of the reformed +religion, and he endured much poverty and contempt by the step he +took." + +"How did he support himself?" said Morgan. + +"He obtained a livelihood," said I, "by writing poems and plays, +some of which are wonderfully fine." + +"What," said Morgan, "a writer of Interludes? One of Twm o'r +Nant's gang! I thought he would turn out a pretty fellow." I told +him that the person in question certainly did write Interludes, for +example Noah, and Joseph at Goshen, but that he was a highly +respectable, nay venerable character. + +"If he was a writer of Interludes," said Morgan, "he was a +blackguard; there never yet was a writer of Interludes, or a person +who went about playing them, that was not a scamp. He might be a +clever man, I don't say he was not. Who was a cleverer man than +Twm o'r Nant with his Pleasure and Care, and Riches and Poverty, +but where was there a greater blackguard? Why, not in all Wales. +And if you knew this other fellow - what's his name - Fondle's +history, you would find that he was not a bit more respectable than +Twm o'r Nant, and not half so clever. As for his leaving the +Baptists I don't believe a word of it; he was turned out of the +connection, and then went about the country saying he left it. No +Baptist connection would ever have a writer of Interludes in it, +not Twm o'r Nant himself, unless he left his ales and Interludes +and wanton hussies, for the three things are sure to go together. +You say he went over to the Church of Rome; of course he did, if +the Church of England were not at hand to receive him, where should +he go but to Rome? No respectable church like the Methodist or the +Independent would have received him. There are only two churches +in the world that will take in anybody without asking questions, +and will never turn them out however bad they may behave; the one +is the Church of Rome, and the other the Church of Canterbury; and +if you look into the matter you will find that every rogue, rascal +and hanged person since the world began, has belonged to one or +other of those communions." + +In the evening I took a walk with my wife and daughter past the +Plas Newydd. Coming to the little mill called the Melyn Bac, at +the bottom of the gorge, we went into the yard to observe the +water-wheel. We found that it was turned by a very little water, +which was conveyed to it by artificial means. Seeing the miller's +man, a short dusty figure, standing in the yard, I entered into +conversation with him, and found to my great surprise that he had a +considerable acquaintance with the ancient language. On my +repeating to him verses from Taliesin he understood them, and to +show me that he did, translated some of the lines into English. +Two or three respectable-looking lads, probably the miller's sons, +came out, and listened to us. One of them said we were both good +Welshmen. After a little time the man asked me if I had heard of +Huw Morris, I told him that I was well acquainted with his +writings, and enquired whether the place in which he had lived was +not somewhere in the neighbourhood. He said it was; and that it +was over the mountains not far from Llan Sanfraid. I asked whether +it was not called Pont y Meibion. He answered in the affirmative, +and added that he had himself been there, and had sat in Huw +Morris's stone chair which was still to be seen by the road's side. +I told him that I hoped to visit the place in a few days. He +replied that I should be quite right in doing so, and that no one +should come to these parts without visiting Pont y Meibion, for +that Huw Morris was one of the columns of the Cumry. + +"What a difference," said I to my wife, after we had departed, +"between a Welshman and an Englishman of the lower class. What +would a Suffolk miller's swain have said if I had repeated to him +verses out of Beowulf or even Chaucer, and had asked him about the +residence of Skelton. + + + +CHAPTER XX + + + +Huw Morris - Immortal Elegy - The Valley of Ceiriog - Tangled +Wilderness - Perplexity - Chair of Huw Morris - The Walking Stick - +Huw's Descendant - Pont y Meibion. + + +Two days after the last adventure I set off, over the Berwyn, to +visit the birth-place of Huw Morris under the guidance of John +Jones, who was well acquainted with the spot. + +Huw Morus or Morris, was born in the year 1622 on the banks of the +Ceiriog. His life was a long one, for he died at the age of +eighty-four, after living in six reigns. He was the second son of +a farmer, and was apprenticed to a tanner, with whom, however, he +did not stay till the expiration of the term of his apprenticeship, +for not liking the tanning art, he speedily returned to the house +of his father, whom he assisted in husbandry till death called the +old man away. He then assisted his elder brother, and on his elder +brother's death, lived with his son. He did not distinguish +himself as a husbandman, and appears never to have been fond of +manual labour. At an early period, however, he applied himself +most assiduously to poetry, and before he had attained the age of +thirty was celebrated, throughout Wales, as the best poet of his +time. When the war broke out between Charles and his parliament, +Huw espoused the part of the king, not as soldier, for he appears +to have liked fighting little better than tanning or husbandry, but +as a poet, and probably did the king more service in that capacity +than he would if he had raised him a troop of horse, or a regiment +of foot, for he wrote songs breathing loyalty to Charles, and +fraught with pungent satire against his foes, which ran like wild- +fire through Wales, and had a great influence on the minds of the +people. Even when the royal cause was lost in the field, he still +carried on a poetical war against the successful party, but not so +openly as before, dealing chiefly in allegories, which, however, +were easy to be understood. Strange to say the Independents, when +they had the upper hand, never interfered with him though they +persecuted certain Royalist poets of far inferior note. On the +accession of Charles the Second he celebrated the event by a most +singular piece called the Lamentation of Oliver's men, in which he +assails the Roundheads with the most bitter irony. He was loyal to +James the Second, till that monarch attempted to overthrow the +Church of England, when Huw, much to his credit, turned against +him, and wrote songs in the interest of the glorious Prince of +Orange. He died in the reign of good Queen Anne. In his youth his +conduct was rather dissolute, but irreproachable and almost holy in +his latter days - a kind of halo surrounded his old brow. It was +the custom in those days in North Wales for the congregation to +leave the church in a row with the clergyman at their head, but so +great was the estimation in which old Huw was universally held, for +the purity of his life and his poetical gift, that the clergyman of +the parish abandoning his claim to precedence, always insisted on +the good and inspired old man's leading the file, himself following +immediately in his rear. Huw wrote on various subjects, mostly in +common and easily understood measures. He was great in satire, +great in humour, but when he pleased could be greater in pathos +than in either; for his best piece is an elegy on Barbara +Middleton, the sweetest song of the kind ever written. From his +being born on the banks of the brook Ceiriog, and from the flowing +melody of his awen or muse, his countrymen were in the habit of +calling him Eos Ceiriog, or the Ceiriog Nightingale. + +So John Jones and myself set off across the Berwyn to visit the +birthplace of the great poet Huw Morris. We ascended the mountain +by Allt Paddy. The morning was lowering and before we had half got +to the top it began to rain. John Jones was in his usual good +spirits. Suddenly taking me by the arm he told me to look to the +right across the gorge to a white house, which he pointed out. + +"What is there in that house?" said I. + +"An aunt of mine lives there," said he. + +Having frequently heard him call old women his aunts, I said, +"Every poor old woman in the neighbourhood seems to be your aunt." + +"This is no poor old woman," said he, "she is cyfoethawg iawn, and +only last week she sent me and my family a pound of bacon, which +would have cost me sixpence-halfpenny, and about a month ago a +measure of wheat." + +We passed over the top of the mountain, and descending the other +side reached Llansanfraid, and stopped at the public-house where we +had been before, and called for two glasses of ale. Whilst +drinking our ale Jones asked some questions about Huw Morris of the +woman who served us; she said that he was a famous poet, and that +people of his blood were yet living upon the lands which had +belonged to him at Pont y Meibion. Jones told her that his +companion, the gwr boneddig, meaning myself, had come in order to +see the birth-place of Huw Morris, and that I was well acquainted +with his works, having gotten them by heart in Lloegr, when a boy. +The woman said that nothing would give her greater pleasure than to +hear a Sais recite poetry of Huw Morris, whereupon I recited a +number of his lines addressed to the Gof Du, or blacksmith. The +woman held up her hands, and a carter who was in the kitchen +somewhat the worse for liquor, shouted applause. After asking a +few questions as to the road we were to take, we left the house, +and in a little time entered the valley of Ceiriog. The valley is +very narrow, huge hills overhanging it on both sides, those on the +east side lumpy and bare, those on the west precipitous, and +partially clad with wood; the torrent Ceiriog runs down it, +clinging to the east side; the road is tolerably good, and is to +the west of the stream. Shortly after we had entered the gorge, we +passed by a small farm-house on our right hand, with a hawthorn +hedge before it, upon which seems to stand a peacock, curiously cut +out of thorn. Passing on we came to a place called Pandy uchaf, or +the higher Fulling mill. The place so called is a collection of +ruinous houses, which put me in mind of the Fulling mills mentioned +in "Don Quixote." It is called the Pandy because there was +formerly a fulling mill here, said to have been the first +established in Wales; which is still to be seen, but which is no +longer worked. Just above the old mill there is a meeting of +streams, the Tarw from the west rolls down a dark valley into the +Ceiriog. + +At the entrance of this valley and just before you reach the Pandy, +which it nearly overhangs, is an enormous crag. After I had looked +at the place for some time with considerable interest we proceeded +towards the south, and in about twenty minutes reached a neat kind +of house, on our right hand, which John Jones told me stood on the +ground of Huw Morris. Telling me to wait, he went to the house, +and asked some questions. After a little time I followed him and +found him discoursing at the door with a stout dame about fifty- +five years of age, and a stout buxom damsel of about seventeen, +very short of stature. + +"This is the gentleman" said he, "who wishes to see anything there +may be here connected with Huw Morris." + +The old dame made me a curtsey, and said in very distinct Welsh, +"We have some things in the house which belonged to him, and we +will show them to the gentleman willingly." + +"We first of all wish to see his chair," said John Jones. + +"The chair is in a wall in what is called the hen ffordd (old +road)," said the old gentlewoman; "it is cut out of the stone wall, +you will have maybe some difficulty in getting to it, but the girl +shall show it to you." The girl now motioned to us to follow her, +and conducted us across the road to some stone steps, over a wall +to a place which looked like a plantation. + +"This was the old road," said Jones; "but the place has been +enclosed. The new road is above us on our right hand beyond the +wall." + +We were in a maze of tangled shrubs, the boughs of which, very wet +from the rain which was still falling, struck our faces, as we +attempted to make our way between them; the girl led the way, bare- +headed and bare-armed, and soon brought us to the wall, the +boundary of the new road. Along this she went with considerable +difficulty, owing to the tangled shrubs, and the nature of the +ground, which was very precipitous, shelving down to the other side +of the enclosure. In a little time we were wet to the skin, and +covered with the dirt of birds, which they had left while roosting +in the trees; on went the girl, sometimes creeping, and trying to +keep herself from falling by holding against the young trees; once +or twice she fell and we after her, for there was no path, and the +ground, as I have said before very shelvy; still as she went her +eyes were directed towards the wall, which was not always very easy +to be seen, for thorns, tall nettles and shrubs, were growing up +against it. Here and there she stopped, and said something, which +I could not always make out, for her Welsh was anything but clear; +at length I heard her say that she was afraid we had passed the +chair, and indeed presently we came to a place where the enclosure +terminated in a sharp corner. + +"Let us go back," said I; "we must have passed it." + +I now went first, breaking down with my weight the shrubs nearest +to the wall. + +"Is not this the place?" said I, pointing to a kind of hollow in +the wall, which looked something like the shape of a chair. + +"Hardly," said the girl, "for there should be a slab on the back, +with letters, but there's neither slab nor letters here." + +The girl now again went forward, and we retraced our way, doing the +best we could to discover the chair, but all to no purpose; no +chair was to be found. We had now been, as I imagined, half-an- +hour in the enclosure, and had nearly got back to the place from +which we had set out, when we suddenly heard the voice of the old +lady exclaiming, "What are ye doing there, the chair is on the +other side of the field; wait a bit, and I will come and show it +you;" getting over the stone stile, which led into the wilderness, +she came to us, and we now went along the wall at the lower end; we +had quite as much difficulty here as on the other side, and in some +places more, for the nettles were higher, the shrubs more tangled, +and the thorns more terrible. The ground, however, was rather more +level. I pitied the poor girl who led the way, and whose fat naked +arms were both stung and torn. She at last stopped amidst a huge +grove of nettles, doing the best she could to shelter her arms from +the stinging leaves. + +"I never was in such a wilderness in my life," said I to John +Jones, "is it possible that the chair of the mighty Huw is in a +place like this; which seems never to have been trodden by human +foot. Well does the Scripture say 'Dim prophwyd yw yn cael barch +yn ei dir ei hunan.'" + +This last sentence tickled the fancy of my worthy friend, the +Calvinistic-Methodist, he laughed aloud and repeated it over and +over again to the females, with amplifications. + +"Is the chair really here," said I, "or has it been destroyed? if +such a thing has been done it is a disgrace to Wales." + +"The chair is really here," said the old lady, "and though Huw +Morus was no prophet, we love and reverence everything belonging to +him. Get on Llances, the chair can't be far off;" the girl moved +on, and presently the old lady exclaimed, "There's the chair, +Diolch i Duw!" + +I was the last of the file, but I now rushed past John Jones, who +was before me, and next to the old lady, and sure enough there was +the chair, in the wall, of him who was called in his day, and still +is called by the mountaineers of Wales, though his body has been +below the earth in the quiet church-yard one hundred and forty +years, Eos Ceiriog, the Nightingale of Ceiriog, the sweet caroller +Huw Morus, the enthusiastic partizan of Charles and the Church of +England, and the never-tiring lampooner of Oliver and the +Independents. There it was, a kind of hollow in the stone wall, in +the hen ffordd, fronting to the west, just above the gorge at the +bottom of which murmurs the brook Ceiriog, there it was, something +like a half barrel chair in a garden, a mouldering stone slab +forming the seat, and a large slate stone, the back, on which were +cut these letters - + +H. M. B. + + +signifying Huw Morus Bard. + +"Sit down in the chair, Gwr Boneddig," said John Jones, "you have +taken trouble enough to get to it." + +"Do, gentleman," said the old lady; "but first let me wipe it with +my apron, for it is very wet and dirty." + +"Let it be," said I; then taking off my hat I stood uncovered +before the chair, and said in the best Welsh I could command, +"Shade of Huw Morus, supposing your shade haunts the place which +you loved so well when alive - a Saxon, one of the seed of the +Coiling Serpent, has come to this place to pay that respect to true +genius, the Dawn Duw, which he is ever ready to pay. He read the +songs of the Nightingale of Ceiriog in the most distant part of +Lloegr, when he was a brown-haired boy, and now that he is a grey- +haired man he is come to say in this place that they frequently +made his eyes overflow with tears of rapture." + +I then sat down in the chair, and commenced repeating verses of Huw +Morris. All which I did in the presence of the stout old lady, the +short, buxom and bare-armed damsel, and of John Jones the +Calvinistic weaver of Llangollen, all of whom listened patiently +and approvingly, though the rain was pouring down upon them, and +the branches of the trees and the tops of the tall nettles, +agitated by the gusts from the mountain hollows, were beating in +their faces, for enthusiasm is never scoffed at by the noble +simple-minded, genuine Welsh, whatever treatment it may receive +from the coarse-hearted, sensual, selfish Saxon. + +After some time, our party returned to the house - which put me +very much in mind of the farm-houses of the substantial yeomen of +Cornwall, particularly that of my friends at Penquite; a +comfortable fire blazed in the kitchen grate, the floor was +composed of large flags of slate. In the kitchen the old lady +pointed to me the ffon, or walking-stick, of Huw Morris; it was +supported against a beam by three hooks; I took it down and walked +about the kitchen with it; it was a thin polished black stick, with +a crome cut in the shape of an eagle's head; at the end was a brass +fence. The kind creature then produced a sword without a scabbard; +this sword was found by Huw Morris on the mountain - it belonged to +one of Oliver's officers who was killed there. I took the sword, +which was a thin two-edged one, and seemed to be made of very good +steel; it put me in mind of the blades which I had seen at Toledo - +the guard was very slight like those of all rapiers, and the hilt +the common old-fashioned English officer's hilt - there was no rust +on the blade, and it still looked a dangerous sword. A man like +Thistlewood would have whipped it through his adversary in a +twinkling. I asked the old lady if Huw Morris was born in this +house; she said no, but a little farther on at Pont y Meibion; she +said, however, that the ground had belonged to him, and that they +had some of his blood in their veins. I shook her by the hand, and +gave the chubby bare-armed damsel a shilling, pointing to the marks +of the nettle stings on her fat bacon-like arms. She laughed, made +me a curtsey, and said: "Llawer iawn o diolch." + +John Jones and I then proceeded to the house at Pont y Meibion, +where we saw two men, one turning a grind-stone, and the other +holding an adze to it. We asked if we were at the house of Huw +Morris, and whether they could tell us anything about him; they +made us no answer but proceeded with their occupation; John Jones +then said that the Gwr Boneddig was very fond of the verses of Huw +Morris, and had come a great way to see the place where he was +born. The wheel now ceased turning, and the man with the adze +turned his face full upon me - he was a stern-looking, dark man, +with black hair, of about forty; after a moment or two he said that +if I chose to walk into the house I should be welcome. He then +conducted us into the house, a common-looking stone tenement, and +bade us be seated. I asked him if he was a descendant of Huw +Morus; he said he was; I asked him his name, which he said was Huw +- . "Have you any of the manuscripts of Huw Morus?" said I. + +"None," said he, "but I have one of the printed copies of his +works." + +He then went to a drawer, and taking out a book, put it into my +hand, and seated himself in a blunt, careless manner. The book was +the first volume of the common Wrexham edition of Huw's works; it +was much thumbed - I commenced reading aloud a piece which I had +much admired in my boyhood. I went on for some time, my mind quite +occupied with my reading; at last lifting my eyes I saw the man +standing bolt upright before me, like a soldier of the days of my +childhood, during the time that the adjutant read prayers; his hat +was no longer upon his head, but on the ground, and his eyes were +reverently inclined to the book. After all what a beautiful thing +it is, not to be, but to have been a genius. Closing the book, I +asked him whether Huw Morris was born in the house where we were, +and received for answer that he was born about where we stood, but +that the old house had been pulled down, and that of all the +premises only a small out-house was coeval with Huw Morris. I +asked him the name of the house, and he said Pont y Meibion. + +"But where is the bridge?" said I. + +"The bridge," he replied, "is close by, over the Ceiriog. If you +wish to see it, you must go down yon field, the house is called +after the bridge." Bidding him farewell, we crossed the road and +going down the field speedily arrived at Pont y Meibion. The +bridge is a small bridge of one arch which crosses the brook +Ceiriog - it is built of rough moor stone; it is mossy, broken, and +looks almost inconceivably old; there is a little parapet to it +about two feet high. On the right-hand side it is shaded by an +ash. The brook when we viewed it, though at times a roaring +torrent, was stealing along gently, on both sides it is overgrown +with alders, noble hills rise above it to the east and west, John +Jones told me that it abounded with trout. I asked him why the +bridge was called Pont y Meibion, which signifies the bridge of the +children. "It was built originally by children," said he, "for the +purpose of crossing the brook." + +"That bridge," said I, "was never built by children." + +"The first bridge," said he, "was of wood, and was built by the +children of the houses above." + +Not quite satisfied with his explanation, I asked him to what place +the little bridge led, and was told that he believed it led to an +upland farm. After taking a long and wistful view of the bridge +and the scenery around it, I turned my head in the direction of +Llangollen. The adventures of the day were, however, not finished. + + + +CHAPTER XXI + + + +The Gloomy Valley - The Lonely Cottage - Happy Comparison - Clogs - +The Alder Swamp - The Wooden Leg - The Militiaman - Death-bed +Verses. + + +ON reaching the ruined village where the Pandy stood I stopped, and +looked up the gloomy valley to the west, down which the brook which +joins the Ceiriog at this place, descends, whereupon John Jones +said, that if I wished to go up it a little way he should have +great pleasure in attending me, and that he should show me a +cottage built in the hen ddull, or old fashion, to which he +frequently went to ask for the rent; he being employed by various +individuals in the capacity of rent-gatherer. I said that I was +afraid that if he was a rent-collector, both he and I should have a +sorry welcome. "No fear," he replied, "the people are very good +people, and pay their rent very regularly," and without saying +another word he led the way up the valley. At the end of the +village, seeing a woman standing at the door of one of the ruinous +cottages, I asked her the name of the brook, or torrent, which came +down the valley. "The Tarw," said she, "and this village is called +Pandy Teirw." + +"Why is the streamlet called the bull?" said I. "Is it because it +comes in winter weather roaring down the glen and butting at the +Ceiriog?" + +The woman laughed, and replied that perhaps it was. The valley was +wild and solitary to an extraordinary degree, the brook or torrent +running in the middle of it covered with alder trees. After we had +proceeded about a furlong we reached the house of the old fashion - +it was a rude stone cottage standing a little above the road on a +kind of platform on the right-hand side of the glen; there was a +paling before it with a gate, at which a pig was screaming, as if +anxious to get in. "It wants its dinner," said John Jones, and +opened the gate for me to pass, taking precautions that the +screamer did not enter at the same time. We entered the cottage, +very glad to get into it, a storm of wind and rain having just come +on. Nobody was in the kitchen when we entered, it looked +comfortable enough, however, there was an excellent fire of wood +and coals, and a very snug chimney corner. John Jones called +aloud, but for some time no one answered; at last a rather good- +looking woman, seemingly about thirty, made her appearance at a +door at the farther end of the kitchen. "Is the mistress at home," +said Jones, "or the master?" + +"They are neither at home," said the woman, "the master is abroad +at his work, and the mistress is at the farm-house of - three miles +off to pick feathers (trwsio plu)." She asked us to sit down. + +"And who are you?" said I. + +"I am only a lodger," said she, "I lodge here with my husband who +is a clog-maker." + +"Can you speak English?" said I. + +"Oh yes," said she, "I lived eleven years in England, at a place +called Bolton, where I married my husband, who is an Englishman." + +"Can he speak Welsh?" said I. + +"Not a word," said she. "We always speak English together." + +John Jones sat down, and I looked about the room. It exhibited no +appearance of poverty; there was plenty of rude but good furniture +in it; several pewter plates and trenchers in a rack, two or three +prints in frames against the wall, one of which was the likeness of +no less a person than the Rev. Joseph Sanders, on the table was a +newspaper. "Is that in Welsh?" said I. + +"No," replied the woman, "it is the BOLTON CHRONICLE, my husband +reads it." + +I sat down in the chimney-corner. The wind was now howling abroad, +and the rain was beating against the cottage panes - presently a +gust of wind came down the chimney, scattering sparks all about. +"A cataract of sparks!" said I, using the word Rhaiadr. + +"What is Rhaiadr?" said the woman; "I never heard the word before." + +"Rhaiadr means water tumbling over a rock," said John Jones - "did +you never see water tumble over the top of a rock?" + +"Frequently," said she. + +"Well," said he, "even as the water with its froth tumbles over the +rock, so did sparks and fire tumble over the front of that grate +when the wind blew down the chimney. It was a happy comparison of +the Gwr Boneddig, and with respect to Rhaiadr it is a good old +word, though not a common one; some of the Saxons who have read the +old writings, though they cannot speak the language as fast as we, +understand many words and things which we do not." + +"I forgot much of my Welsh in the land of the Saxons," said the +woman, "and so have many others; there are plenty of Welsh at +Bolton, but their Welsh is sadly corrupted." + +She then went out and presently returned with an infant in her arms +and sat down. "Was that child born in Wales?" I demanded. + +"No," said she, "he was born at Bolton, about eighteen months ago - +we have been here only a year." + +"Do many English," said I, "marry Welsh wives?" + +"A great many," said she. "Plenty of Welsh girls are married to +Englishmen at Bolton." + +"Do the Englishmen make good husbands?" said I. + +The woman smiled and presently sighed. + +"Her husband," said Jones, "is fond of a glass of ale and is often +at the public-house." + +"I make no complaint," said the woman, looking somewhat angrily at +John Jones. + +"Is your husband a tall bulky man?" said I. + +"Just so," said the woman. + +"The largest of the two men we saw the other night at the public- +house at Llansanfraid," said I to John Jones. + +"I don't know him," said Jones, "though I have heard of him, but I +have no doubt that was he." + +I asked the woman how her husband could carry on the trade of a +clog-maker in such a remote place - and also whether he hawked his +clogs about the country. + +"We call him a clog-maker," said the woman, "but the truth is that +he merely cuts down the wood and fashions it into squares, these +are taken by an under-master who sends them to the manufacturer at +Bolton, who employs hands, who make them into clogs." + +"Some of the English," said Jones, "are so poor that they cannot +afford to buy shoes; a pair of shoes cost ten or twelve shillings, +whereas a pair of clogs only cost two." + +"I suppose," said I, "that what you call clogs are wooden shoes." + +"Just so," said Jones - "they are principally used in the +neighbourhood of Manchester." + +"I have seen them at Huddersfield," said I, "when I was a boy at +school there; of what wood are they made?" + +"Of the gwern, or alder tree," said the woman, "of which there is +plenty on both sides of the brook." + +John Jones now asked her if she could give him a tamaid of bread; +she said she could, "and some butter with it." + +She then went out and presently returned with a loaf and some +butter. + +"Had you not better wait," said I, "till we get to the inn at +Llansanfraid?" + +The woman, however, begged him to eat some bread and butter where +he was, and cutting a plateful, placed it before him, having first +offered me some which I declined. + +"But you have nothing to drink with it," said I to him. + +"If you please," said the woman, "I will go for a pint of ale to +the public-house at the Pandy, there is better ale there than at +the inn at Llansanfraid. When my husband goes to Llansanfraid he +goes less for the ale than for the conversation, because there is +little English spoken at the Pandy however good the ale." + +John Jones said he wanted no ale - and attacking the bread and +butter speedily made an end of it; by the time he had done the +storm was over, and getting up I gave the child twopence, and left +the cottage with Jones. We proceeded some way farther up the +valley, till we came to a place where the ground descended a +little. Here Jones touching me on the shoulder pointed across the +stream. Following with my eye the direction of his finger, I saw +two or three small sheds with a number of small reddish blocks in +regular piles beneath them. Several trees felled from the side of +the torrent were lying near, some of them stripped of their arms +and bark. A small tree formed a bridge across the brook to the +sheds. + +"It is there," said John Jones, "that the husband of the woman with +whom we have been speaking works, felling trees from the alder +swamp and cutting them up into blocks. I see there is no work +going on at present or we would go over - the woman told me that +her husband was at Llangollen." + +"What a strange place to come to work at," said I, "out of crowded +England. Here is nothing to be heard but the murmuring of waters +and the rushing of wind down the gulleys. If the man's head is not +full of poetical fancies, which I suppose it is not, as in that +case he would be unfit for any useful employment, I don't wonder at +his occasionally going to the public-house." + +After going a little further up the glen and observing nothing more +remarkable than we had seen already, we turned back. Being +overtaken by another violent shower just as we reached the Pandy I +thought that we could do no better than shelter ourselves within +the public-house, and taste the ale, which the wife of the clog- +maker had praised. We entered the little hostelry which was one of +two or three shabby-looking houses, standing in contact, close by +the Ceiriog. In a kind of little back room, lighted by a good fire +and a window which looked up the Ceiriog valley, we found the +landlady, a gentlewoman with a wooden leg, who on perceiving me got +up from a chair, and made me the best curtsey that I ever saw made +by a female with such a substitute for a leg of flesh and bone. +There were three men, sitting with jugs of ale near them on a table +by the fire, two were seated on a bench by the wall, and the other +on a settle with a high back, which ran from the wall just by the +door, and shielded those by the fire from the draughts of the +doorway. He of the settle no sooner beheld me than he sprang up, +and placing a chair for me by the fire bade me in English be +seated, and then resumed his own seat. John Jones soon finding a +chair came and sat down by me, when I forthwith called for a quart +of cwrw da. The landlady bustled about on her wooden leg and +presently brought us the ale with two glasses, which I filled, and +taking one drank to the health of the company who returned us +thanks, the man of the settle in English rather broken. Presently +one of his companions getting up paid his reckoning and departed, +the other remained, a stout young fellow dressed something like a +stone-mason, which indeed I soon discovered that he was - he was +far advanced towards a state of intoxication and talked very +incoherently about the war, saying that he hoped it would soon +terminate, for that if it continued he was afraid he might stand a +chance of being shot, as he was a private in the Denbighshire +Militia. I told him that it was the duty of every gentleman in the +militia to be willing at all times to lay down his life in the +service of the Queen. The answer which he made I could not exactly +understand, his utterance being very indistinct and broken; it was, +however, made with some degree of violence, with two or three Myn +Diawls, and a blow on the table with his clenched fist. He then +asked me whether I thought the militia would be again called out. +"Nothing more probable," said I. + +"And where would they be sent to?" + +"Perhaps to Ireland," was my answer, whereupon he started up with +another Myn Diawl, expressing the greatest dread of being sent to +Iwerddon. + +"You ought to rejoice in your chance of going there," said I, +"Iwerddon is a beautiful country, and abounds with whisky." + +"And the Irish?" said he. + +"Hearty, jolly fellows," said I, "if you know how to manage them, +and all gentlemen." + +Here he became very violent, saying that I did not speak truth, for +that he had seen plenty of Irish camping amidst the hills, that the +men were half naked and the women were three parts so, and that +they carried their children on their backs. He then said that he +hoped somebody would speedily kill Nicholas, in order that the war +might be at an end and himself not sent to Iwerddon. He then asked +if I thought Cronstadt could be taken. I said I believed it could, +provided the hearts of those who were sent to take it were in the +right place. + +"Where do you think the hearts of those are who are gone against +it?" said he - speaking with great vehemence. + +I made no other answer than by taking my glass and drinking. + +His companion now looking at our habiliments which were in rather a +dripping condition asked John Jones if we had come from far. + +"We have been to Pont y Meibion," said Jones, "to see the chair of +Huw Morris," adding that the Gwr Boneddig was a great admirer of +the songs of the Eos Ceiriog. + +He had no sooner said these words than the intoxicated militiaman +started up, and striking the table with his fist said: "I am a +poor stone-cutter - this is a rainy day and I have come here to +pass it in the best way I can. I am somewhat drunk, but though I +am a poor stone-mason, a private in the militia, and not so sober +as I should be, I can repeat more of the songs of the Eos than any +man alive, however great a gentleman, however sober - more than Sir +Watkin, more than Colonel Biddulph himself." + +He then began to repeat what appeared to be poetry, for I could +distinguish the rhymes occasionally, though owing to his broken +utterance it was impossible for me to make out the sense of the +words. Feeling a great desire to know what verses of Huw Morris +the intoxicated youth would repeat, I took out my pocket-book and +requested Jones, who was much better acquainted with Welsh +pronunciation, under any circumstances, than myself, to endeavour +to write down from the mouth of the young fellow any verses +uppermost in his mind. Jones took the pocket-book and pencil and +went to the window, followed by the young man scarcely able to +support himself. Here a curious scene took place, the drinker +hiccuping up verses, and Jones dotting them down, in the best +manner he could, though he had evidently great difficulty to +distinguish what was said to him. At last, methought, the young +man said - "There they are, the verses of the Nightingale, on his +death-bed." + +I took the book and read aloud the following lines beautifully +descriptive of the eagerness of a Christian soul to leave its +perishing tabernacle, and get to Paradise and its Creator:- + + +"Myn'd i'r wyl ar redeg, +I'r byd a beryi chwaneg, +I Beradwys, y ber wiw deg, +Yn Enw Duw yn union deg." + + +"Do you understand those verses?" said the man on the settle, a +dark swarthy fellow with an oblique kind of vision, and dressed in +a pepper-and-salt coat. + +"I will translate them," said I; and forthwith put them into +English - first into prose and then into rhyme, the rhymed version +running thus:- + + +"Now to my rest I hurry away, +To the world which lasts for ever and aye, +To Paradise, the beautiful place, +Trusting alone in the Lord of Grace" - + + +"Well," said he of the pepper-and-salt, "if that isn't capital I +don't know what is." + +A scene in a public-house, yes! but in a Welsh public-house. Only +think of a Suffolk toper repeating the death-bed verses of a poet; +surely there is a considerable difference between the Celt and the +Saxon. + + + +CHAPTER XXII + + + +Llangollen Fair - Buyers and Sellers - The Jockey - The Greek Cap. + + +ON the twenty-first was held Llangollen Fair. The day was dull +with occasional showers. I went to see the fair about noon. It +was held in and near a little square in the south-east quarter of +the town, of which square the police-station is the principal +feature on the side of the west, and an inn, bearing the sign of +the Grapes, on the east. The fair was a little bustling fair, +attended by plenty of people from the country, and from the English +border, and by some who appeared to come from a greater distance +than the border. A dense row of carts extended from the police- +station half across the space, these carts were filled with pigs, +and had stout cord-nettings drawn over them, to prevent the animals +escaping. By the sides of these carts the principal business of +the fair appeared to be going on - there stood the owners male and +female, higgling with Llangollen men and women, who came to buy. +The pigs were all small, and the price given seemed to vary from +eighteen to twenty-five shillings. Those who bought pigs generally +carried them away in their arms; and then there was no little +diversion; dire was the screaming of the porkers, yet the purchaser +invariably appeared to know how to manage his bargain, keeping the +left arm round the body of the swine and with the right hand fast +gripping the ear - some few were led away by strings. There were +some Welsh cattle, small of course, and the purchasers of these +seemed to be Englishmen, tall burly fellows in general, far +exceeding the Welsh in height and size. + +Much business in the cattle-line did not seem, however, to be going +on. Now and then a big fellow made an offer, and held out his hand +for a little Pictish grazier to give it a slap - a cattle bargain +being concluded by a slap of the hand - but the Welshman generally +turned away, with a half resentful exclamation. There were a few +horses and ponies in the street leading into the fair from the +south. + +I saw none sold, however. A tall athletic figure was striding +amongst them, evidently a jockey and a stranger, looking at them +and occasionally asking a slight question of one or another of +their proprietors, but he did not buy. He might in age be about +eight-and-twenty, and about six feet and three-quarters of an inch +in height; in build he was perfection itself, a better built man I +never saw. He wore a cap and a brown jockey coat, trowsers, +leggings and high-lows, and sported a single spur. He had whiskers +- all jockeys should have whiskers - but he had what I did not +like, and what no genuine jockey should have, a moustache, which +looks coxcombical and Frenchified - but most things have terribly +changed since I was young. Three or four hardy-looking fellows, +policemen, were gliding about in their blue coats and leather hats, +holding their thin walking-sticks behind them; conspicuous amongst +whom was the leader, a tall lathy North Briton with a keen eye and +hard features. Now if I add there was much gabbling of Welsh round +about, and here and there some slight sawing of English - that in +the street leading from the north there were some stalls of +gingerbread and a table at which a queer-looking being with a red +Greek-looking cap on his head, sold rhubarb, herbs, and phials +containing the Lord knows what, and who spoke a low vulgar English +dialect - I repeat, if I add this, I think I have said all that is +necessary about Llangollen Fair. + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + + + +An Expedition - Pont y Pandy - The Sabbath - Glendower's Mount - +Burial Place of Old - Corwen - The Deep Glen - The Grandmother - +The Roadside Chapel. + + +I WAS now about to leave Llangollen, for a short time, and to set +out on an expedition to Bangor, Snowdon, and one or two places in +Anglesea. I had determined to make the journey on foot, in order +that I might have perfect liberty of action, and enjoy the best +opportunities of seeing the country. My wife and daughter were to +meet me at Bangor, to which place they would repair by the +railroad, and from which, after seeing some of the mountain +districts, they would return to Llangollen by the way they came, +where I proposed to join them, returning, however, by a different +way from the one I went, that I might traverse new districts. +About eleven o'clock of a brilliant Sunday morning I left +Llangollen, after reading the morning-service of the Church to my +family. I set out on a Sunday because I was anxious to observe the +general demeanour of the people, in the interior of the country, on +the Sabbath. + +I directed my course towards the west, to the head of the valley. +My wife and daughter after walking with me about a mile bade me +farewell, and returned. Quickening my pace I soon left Llangollen +valley behind me and entered another vale, along which the road +which I was following, and which led to Corwen and other places, +might be seen extending for miles. Lumpy hills were close upon my +left, the Dee running noisily between steep banks, fringed with +trees, was on my right; beyond it rose hills which form part of the +wall of the Vale of Clwyd; their tops bare, but their sides +pleasantly coloured with yellow corn-fields and woods of dark +verdure. About an hour's walking, from the time when I entered the +valley, brought me to a bridge over a gorge, down which water ran +to the Dee. I stopped and looked over the side of the bridge +nearest to the hill. A huge rock about forty feet long by twenty +broad, occupied the entire bed of the gorge, just above the bridge, +with the exception of a little gullet to the right, down which +between the rock and a high bank, on which stood a cottage, a run +of water purled and brawled. The rock looked exactly like a huge +whale lying on its side, with its back turned towards the runnel. +Above it was a glen of trees. After I had been gazing a little +time a man making his appearance at the door of the cottage just +beyond the bridge I passed on, and drawing nigh to him, after a +slight salutation, asked him in English the name of the bridge. + +"The name of the bridge, sir," said the man, in very good English, +"is Pont y Pandy." + +"Does not that mean the bridge of the fulling mill?" + +"I believe it does, sir," said the man. + +"Is there a fulling mill near?" + +"No, sir, there was one some time ago, but it is now a sawing +mill." + +Here a woman, coming out, looked at me steadfastly. + +"Is that gentlewoman your wife?" + +"She is no gentlewoman, sir, but she is my wife." + +"Of what religion are you?" + +"We are Calvinistic-Methodists, sir." + +"Have you been to chapel?" + +"We are just returned, sir." + +Here the woman said something to her husband, which I did not hear, +but the purport of which I guessed from the following question +which he immediately put. + +"Have you been to chapel, sir?" + +"I do not go to chapel; I belong to the Church." + +"Have you been to church, sir?" + +"I have not - I said my prayers at home, and then walked out." + +"It is not right to walk out on the Sabbath-day, except to go to +church or chapel." + +"Who told you so?" + +"The law of God, which says you shall keep holy the Sabbath-day." + +"I am not keeping it unholy." + +"You are walking about, and in Wales when we see a person walking +idly about, on the Sabbath-day, we are in the habit of saying, +Sabbath-breaker, where are you going?" + +"The Son of Man walked through the fields on the Sabbath-day, why +should I not walk along the roads?" + +"He who called Himself the Son of Man was God and could do what He +pleased, but you are not God." + +"But He came in the shape of a man to set an example. Had there +been anything wrong in walking about on the Sabbath-day, He would +not have done it." + +Here the wife exclaimed, "How worldly-wise these English are!" + +"You do not like the English," said I. + +"We do not dislike them," said the woman; "at present they do us no +harm, whatever they did of old." + +"But you still consider them," said I, "the seed of Y Sarfes +cadwynog, the coiling serpent." + +"I should be loth to call any people the seed of the serpent," said +the woman. + +"But one of your great bards did," said I. + +"He must have belonged to the Church, and not to the chapel then," +said the woman. "No person who went to chapel would have used such +bad words." + +"He lived," said I, "before people were separated into those of the +Church and the chapel; did you ever hear of Taliesin Ben Beirdd?" + +"I never did," said the woman. + +"But I have," said the man; "and of Owain Glendower too." + +"Do people talk much of Owen Glendower in these parts?" said I. + +"Plenty," said the man, "and no wonder, for when he was alive he +was much about here - some way farther on there is a mount, on the +bank of the Dee, called the mount of Owen Glendower, where it is +said he used to stand and look out after his enemies." + +"Is it easy to find?" said I. + +"Very easy," said the man, "it stands right upon the Dee and is +covered with trees; there is no mistaking it." + +I bade the man and his wife farewell, and proceeded on my way. +After walking about a mile, I perceived a kind of elevation which +answered to the description of Glendower's mount, which the man by +the bridge had given me. It stood on the right hand, at some +distance from the road, across a field. As I was standing looking +at it a man came up from the direction in which I myself had come. +He was a middle-aged man, plainly but decently dressed, and had +something of the appearance of a farmer. + +"What hill may that be?" said I in English, pointing to the +elevation. + +"Dim Saesneg, sir," said the man, looking rather sheepish, "Dim +gair o Saesneg." + +Rather surprised that a person of his appearance should not have a +word of English, I repeated my question in Welsh. + +"Ah, you speak Cumraeg, sir;" said the man evidently surprised that +a person of my English appearance should speak Welsh. "I am glad +of it! What hill is that, you ask - Dyna Mont Owain Glyndwr, sir." + +"Is it easy to get to?" said I. + +"Quite easy, sir," said the man. "If you please I will go with +you." + +I thanked him, and opening a gate he conducted me across the field +to the mount of the Welsh hero. + +The mount of Owen Glendower stands close upon the southern bank of +the Dee, and is nearly covered with trees of various kinds. It is +about thirty feet high from the plain, and about the same diameter +at the top. A deep black pool of the river which here runs far +beneath the surface of the field, purls and twists under the +northern side, which is very steep, though several large oaks +spring out of it. The hill is evidently the work of art, and +appeared to me to be some burying-place of old. + +"And this is the hill of Owain Glyndwr?" said I. + +"Dyma Mont Owain Glyndwr, sir, lle yr oedd yn sefyll i edrych am ei +elvnion yn dyfod o Gaer Lleon. This is the hill of Owain +Glendower, sir, where he was in the habit of standing to look out +for his enemies coming from Chester." + +"I suppose it was not covered with trees then?" said I. + +"No, sir; it has not been long planted with trees. They say, +however, that the oaks which hang over the river are very old." + +"Do they say who raised this hill?" + +"Some say that God raised it, sir; others that Owain Glendower +raised it. Who do you think raised it?" + +"I believe that it was raised by man, but not by Owen Glendower. +He may have stood upon it, to watch for the coming of his enemies, +but I believe it was here long before his time, and that it was +raised over some old dead king by the people whom he had governed." + +"Do they bury kings by the side of rivers, sir?" + +"In the old time they did, and on the tops of mountains; they burnt +their bodies to ashes, placed them in pots and raised heaps of +earth or stones over them. Heaps like this have frequently been +opened, and found to contain pots with ashes and bones." + +"I wish all English could speak Welsh, sir." + +"Why?" + +"Because then we poor Welsh who can speak no English could learn +much which we do not know." + +Descending the monticle we walked along the road together. After a +little time I asked my companion of what occupation he was and +where he lived. + +"I am a small farmer, sir," said he, "and live at Llansanfraid Glyn +Dyfrdwy across the river." + +"How comes it," said I, "that you do not know English?" + +"When I was young," said he, "and could have easily learnt it, I +cared nothing about it, and now that I am old and see its use, it +is too late to acquire it." + +"Of what religion are you?" said I. + +"I am of the Church," he replied. + +I was about to ask him if there were many people of his persuasion +in these parts; before, however, I could do so he turned down a +road to the right which led towards a small bridge, and saying that +was his way home, bade me farewell and departed. + +I arrived at Corwen which is just ten miles from Llangollen and +which stands beneath a vast range of rocks at the head of the +valley up which I had been coming, and which is called Glyndyfrdwy, +or the valley of the Dee water. It was now about two o'clock, and +feeling rather thirsty I went to an inn very appropriately called +the Owen Glendower, being the principal inn in the principal town +of what was once the domain of the great Owen. Here I stopped for +about an hour refreshing myself and occasionally looking into a +newspaper in which was an excellent article on the case of poor +Lieutenant P. I then started for Cerrig-y-Drudion, distant about +ten miles, where I proposed to pass the night. Directing my course +to the north-west, I crossed a bridge over the Dee water and then +proceeded rapidly along the road, which for some way lay between +corn-fields, in many of which sheaves were piled up, showing that +the Welsh harvest was begun. I soon passed over a little stream, +the name of which I was told was Alowan. "Oh, what a blessing it +is to be able to speak Welsh!" said I, finding that not a person to +whom I addressed myself had a word of English to bestow upon me. +After walking for about five miles I came to a beautiful but wild +country of mountain and wood with here and there a few cottages. +The road at length making an abrupt turn to the north, I found +myself with a low stone wall on my left, on the verge of a profound +ravine, and a high bank covered with trees on my right. Projecting +out over the ravine was a kind of looking place, protected by a +wall, forming a half-circle, doubtless made by the proprietor of +the domain for the use of the admirers of scenery. There I +stationed myself, and for some time enjoyed one of the wildest and +most beautiful scenes imaginable. Below me was the deep narrow +glen or ravine, down which a mountain torrent roared and foamed. +Beyond it was a mountain rising steeply, its nearer side, which was +in deep shade, the sun having long sunk below its top, hirsute with +all kinds of trees, from the highest pinnacle down to the torrent's +brink. Cut on the top surface of the wall, which was of slate, and +therefore easily impressible by the knife, were several names, +doubtless those of tourists, who had gazed from the look-out on the +prospect, amongst which I observed in remarkably bold letters that +of T . . . . + +"Eager for immortality, Mr T.," said I; "but you are no H. M., no +Huw Morris." + +Leaving the looking place I proceeded, and, after one or two +turnings, came to another, which afforded a view if possible yet +more grand, beautiful and wild, the most prominent objects of which +were a kind of devil's bridge flung over the deep glen and its +foaming water, and a strange-looking hill beyond it, below which, +with a wood on either side, stood a white farm-house - sending from +a tall chimney a thin misty reek up to the sky. I crossed the +bridge, which, however diabolically fantastical it looked at a +distance, seemed when one was upon it, capable of bearing any +weight, and soon found myself by the farm-house past which the way +led. An aged woman sat on a stool by the door. + +"A fine evening," said I in English. + +"Dim Saesneg;" said the aged woman. + +"Oh, the blessing of being able to speak Welsh," said I; and then +repeated in that language what I had said to her in the other +tongue. + +"I daresay," said the aged woman, "to those who can see." + +"Can you not see?" + +"Very little. I am almost blind." + +"Can you not see me?" + +"I can see something tall and dark before me; that is all." + +"Can you tell me the name of the bridge?" + +"Pont y Glyn bin - the bridge of the glen of trouble." + +"And what is the name of this place?" + +"Pen y bont - the head of the bridge." + +"What is your own name?" + +"Catherine Hughes." + +"How old are you?" + +"Fifteen after three twenties." + +"I have a mother three after four twenties; that is eight years +older than yourself." + +"Can she see?" + +"Better than I - she can read the smallest letters." + +"May she long be a comfort to you!" + +"Thank you - are you the mistress of the house?" + +"I am the grandmother." + +"Are the people in the house?" + +"They are not - they are at the chapel." + +"And they left you alone?" + +"They left me with my God." + +"Is the chapel far from here?" + +"About a mile." + +"On the road to Cerrig y Drudion?" + +"On the road to Cerrig y Drudion." + +I bade her farewell, and pushed on - the road was good, with high +rocky banks on each side. After walking about the distance +indicated by the old lady, I reached a building, which stood on the +right-hand side of the road, and which I had no doubt was the +chapel, from a half-groaning, half-singing noise which proceeded +from it. The door being open, I entered, and stood just within it, +bare-headed. A rather singular scene presented itself. Within a +large dimly-lighted room, a number of people were assembled, partly +seated in rude pews, and partly on benches. Beneath a kind of +altar, a few yards from the door, stood three men - the middlemost +was praying in Welsh in a singular kind of chant, with his arms +stretched out. I could distinguish the words, "Jesus descend among +us! sweet Jesus descend among us - quickly." He spoke very slowly, +and towards the end of every sentence dropped his voice, so that +what he said was anything but distinct. As I stood within the +door, a man dressed in coarse garments came up to me from the +interior of the building, and courteously, and in excellent Welsh, +asked me to come with him and take a seat. With equal courtesy, +but far inferior Welsh, I assured him that I meant no harm, but +wished to be permitted to remain near the door, whereupon with a +low bow he left me. When the man had concluded his prayer, the +whole of the congregation began singing a hymn, many of the voices +were gruff and discordant, two or three, however, were of great +power, and some of the female ones of surprising sweetness. At the +conclusion of the hymn, another of the three men by the altar began +to pray, just in the same manner as his comrade had done, and +seemingly using much the same words. When he had done, there was +another hymn, after which, seeing that the congregation was about +to break up, I bowed my head towards the interior of the building, +and departed. + +Emerging from the hollow way, I found myself on a moor, over which +the road lay in the direction of the north. Towards the west, at +an immense distance, rose a range of stupendous hills, which I +subsequently learned were those of Snowdon - about ten minutes' +walking brought me to Cerrig y Drudion, a small village near a +rocky elevation, from which, no doubt, the place takes its name, +which interpreted, is the Rock of Heroes. + + + +CHAPTER XXIV + + + +Cerrig y Drudion - The Landlady - Doctor Jones - Coll Gwynfa - The +Italian - Men of Como - Disappointment - Weather - Glasses - +Southey. + + +THE inn at Cerrig y Drudion was called the Lion - whether the +white, black, red or green Lion, I do not know, though I am certain +that it was a lion of some colour or other. It seemed as decent +and respectable a hostelry as any traveller could wish, to refresh +and repose himself in, after a walk of twenty miles. I entered a +well-lighted passage, and from thence a well-lighted bar room, on +the right hand, in which sat a stout, comely, elderly lady, dressed +in silks and satins, with a cambric coif on her head, in company +with a thin, elderly man with a hat on his head, dressed in a +rather prim and precise manner. "Madam!" said I, bowing to the +lady, "as I suppose you are the mistress of this establishment, I +beg leave to inform you that I am an Englishman, walking through +these regions, in order fully to enjoy their beauties and wonders. +I have this day come from Llangollen, and being somewhat hungry and +fatigued, hope I can be accommodated here with a dinner and a bed." + +"Sir!" said the lady, getting up and making me a profound curtsey, +"I am, as you suppose, the mistress of this establishment, and am +happy to say that I shall be able to accommodate you - pray sit +down, sir;" she continued, handing me a chair, "you must indeed be +tired, for Llangollen is a great way from here." + +I took the seat with thanks, and she resumed her own. + +"Rather hot weather for walking, sir!" said the precise-looking +gentleman. + +"It is," said I; "but as I can't observe the country well without +walking through it, I put up with the heat." + +"You exhibit a philosophic mind, sir," said the precise-looking +gentleman - "and a philosophic mind I hold in reverence." + +"Pray, sir," said I, "have I the honour of addressing a member of +the medical profession?" + +"Sir," said the precise-looking gentleman, getting up and making me +a bow, "your question does honour to your powers of discrimination +- a member of the medical profession I am, though an unworthy one." + +"Nay, nay, doctor," said the landlady briskly; "say not so - every +one knows that you are a credit to your profession - well would it +be if there were many in it like you - unworthy? marry come up! I +won't hear such an expression." + +"I see," said I, "that I have not only the honour of addressing a +medical gentleman, but a doctor of medicine - however, I might have +known as much by your language and deportment." + +With a yet lower bow than before he replied with something of a +sigh, "No, sir, no, our kind landlady and the neighbourhood are in +the habit of placing doctor before my name, but I have no title to +it - I am not Doctor Jones, sir, but plain Geffery Jones at your +service," and thereupon with another bow he sat down. + +"Do you reside here?" said I. + +"Yes, sir, I reside here in the place of my birth - I have not +always resided here - and I did not always expect to spend my +latter days in a place of such obscurity, but, sir, misfortunes - +misfortunes . . ." + +"Ah," said I, "misfortunes! they pursue every one, more especially +those whose virtues should exempt them from them. Well, sir, the +consciousness of not having deserved them should be your +consolation." + +"Sir," said the doctor, taking off his hat, "you are infinitely +kind." + +"You call this an obscure place," said I - "can that be an obscure +place which has produced a poet? I have long had a respect for +Cerrig y Drudion because it gave birth to, and was the residence of +a poet of considerable merit." + +"I was not aware of that fact," said the doctor, "pray what was his +name?" + +"Peter Lewis," said I; "he was a clergyman of Cerrig y Drudion +about the middle of the last century, and amongst other things +wrote a beautiful song called Cathl y Gair Mwys, or the melody of +the ambiguous word." + +"Surely you do not understand Welsh?" said the doctor. + +"I understand a little of it," I replied. + +"Will you allow me to speak to you in Welsh?" said the doctor. + +"Certainly," said I. + +He spoke to me in Welsh, and I replied. + +"Ha, ha," said the landlady in English; "only think, doctor, of the +gentleman understanding Welsh - we must mind what we say before +him." + +"And are you an Englishman?" said the doctor. + +"I am," I replied. + +"And how came you to learn it?" + +"I am fond of languages," said I, "and studied Welsh at an early +period." + +"And you read Welsh poetry?" + +"Oh yes." + +"How were you enabled to master its difficulties?" + +"Chiefly by going through Owen Pugh's version of 'Paradise Lost' +twice, with the original by my side. He has introduced into that +translation so many of the poetic terms of the old bards, that +after twice going through it, there was little in Welsh poetry that +I could not make out with a little pondering." + +"You pursued a very excellent plan, sir," said the doctor, "a very +excellent plan indeed. Owen Pugh!" + +"Owen Pugh! The last of your very great men," said I. + +"You say right, sir," said the doctor. "He was indeed our last +great man - Ultimus Romanorum. I have myself read his work, which +he called Coll Gwynfa, the Loss of the place of Bliss - an +admirable translation, sir; highly poetical, and at the same time +correct." + +"Did you know him?" said I. + +"I had not the honour of his acquaintance," said the doctor - "but, +sir, I am happy to say that I have made yours." + +The landlady now began to talk to me about dinner, and presently +went out to make preparations for that very important meal. I had +a great deal of conversation with the doctor, whom I found a person +of great and varied information, and one who had seen a vast deal +of the world. He was giving me an account of an island in the West +Indies, which he had visited, when a boy coming in, whispered into +his ear; whereupon, getting up he said: "Sir, I am called away. I +am a country surgeon, and of course an accoucheur. There is a lady +who lives at some distance requiring my assistance. It is with +grief I leave you so abruptly, but I hope that some time or other +we shall meet again." Then making me an exceedingly profound bow, +he left the room, followed by the boy. + +I dined upstairs in a very handsome drawing-room, communicating +with a sleeping apartment. During dinner I was waited upon by the +daughter of the landlady, a good-looking merry girl of twenty. +After dinner I sat for some time thinking over the adventures of +the day, then feeling rather lonely and not inclined to retire to +rest, I went down to the bar, where I found the landlady seated +with her daughter. I sat down with them and we were soon in +conversation. We spoke of Doctor Jones - the landlady said that he +had his little eccentricities, but was an excellent and learned +man. Speaking of herself she said that she had three daughters, +that the youngest was with her and that the two eldest kept the +principal inn at Ruthyn. We occasionally spoke a little Welsh. At +length the landlady said, "There is an Italian in the kitchen who +can speak Welsh too. It's odd the only two people not Welshmen I +have ever known who could speak Welsh, for such you and he are, +should be in my house at the same time." + +"Dear me," said I; "I should like to see him." + +"That you can easily do," said the girl; "I daresay he will be glad +enough to come in if you invite him." + +"Pray take my compliments to him," said I, "and tell him that I +shall be glad of his company." + +The girl went out and presently returned with the Italian. He was +a short, thick, strongly-built fellow of about thirty-seven, with a +swarthy face, raven-black hair, high forehead, and dark deep eyes, +full of intelligence and great determination. He was dressed in a +velveteen coat, with broad lappets, red waistcoat, velveteen +breeches, buttoning a little way below the knee; white stockings +apparently of lamb's-wool and high-lows. + +"Buona sera?" said I. + +"Buona sera, signore!" said the Italian. + +"Will you have a glass of brandy and water?" said I in English. + +"I never refuse a good offer," said the Italian. + +He sat down, and I ordered a glass of brandy and water for him and +another for myself. + +"Pray speak a little Italian to him," said the good landlady to me. +"I have heard a great deal about the beauty of that language, and +should like to hear it spoken." + +"From the Lago di Como?" said I, trying to speak Italian. + +"Si, signore! but how came you to think that I was from the Lake of +Como?" + +"Because," said I, "when I was a ragazzo I knew many from the Lake +of Como, who dressed much like yourself. They wandered about the +country with boxes on their backs and weather-glasses in their +hands, but had their head-quarters at N. where I lived." + +"Do you remember any of their names?" said the Italian. + +"Giovanni Gestra and Luigi Pozzi," I replied. + +"I have seen Giovanni Gestra myself," said the Italian, "and I have +heard of Luigi Pozzi. Giovanni Gestra returned to the Lago - but +no one knows what is become of Luigi Pozzi." + +"The last time I saw him," said I, "was about eighteen years ago at +Coruna in Spain; he was then in a sad drooping condition, and said +he bitterly repented ever quitting N." + +"E con ragione," said the Italian, "for there is no place like N. +for doing business in the whole world. I myself have sold seventy +pounds' worth of weather-glasses at N. in one day. One of our +people is living there now, who has done bene, molto bene." + +"That's Rossi," said I, "how is it that I did not mention him +first? He is my excellent friend, and a finer, cleverer fellow +never lived, nor a more honourable man. You may well say he has +done well, for he is now the first jeweller in the place. The last +time I was there I bought a diamond of him for my daughter +Henrietta. Let us drink his health!" + +"Willingly!" said the Italian. "He is the prince of the Milanese +of England - the most successful of all, but I acknowledge the most +deserving. Che viva." + +"I wish he would write his life," said I; "a singular life it would +be - he has been something besides a travelling merchant, and a +jeweller. He was one of Buonaparte's soldiers, and served in +Spain, under Soult, along with John Gestra. He once told me that +Soult was an old rascal, and stole all the fine pictures from the +convents, at Salamanca. I believe he spoke with some degree of +envy, for he is himself fond of pictures, and has dealt in them, +and made hundreds by them. I question whether if in Soult's place +he would not have done the same. Well, however that may be, che +viva." + +Here the landlady interposed, observing that she wished we would +now speak English, for that she had quite enough of Italian, which +she did not find near so pretty a language as she had expected. + +"You must not judge of the sound of Italian from what proceeds from +my mouth," said I. "It is not my native language. I have had +little practice in it, and only speak it very imperfectly." + +"Nor must you judge of Italian from what you have heard me speak," +said the man of Como; "I am not good at Italian, for the Milanese +speak amongst themselves a kind of jargon, composed of many +languages, and can only express themselves with difficulty in +Italian. I have been doing my best to speak Italian, but should be +glad now to speak English, which comes to me much more glibly." + +"Are there any books in your dialect, or jergo, as I believe you +call it?" said I. + +"I believe there are a few," said the Italian. + +"Do you know the word slandra?" said I. + +"Who taught you that word?" said the Italian. + +"Giovanni Gestra," said I; "he was always using it." + +"Giovanni Gestra was a vulgar illiterate man," said the Italian; +"had he not been so he would not have used it. It is a vulgar +word; Rossi would not have used it." + +"What is the meaning of it?" said the landlady eagerly. + +"To roam about in a dissipated manner," said I. + +"Something more," said the Italian. "It is considered a vulgar +word even in jergo." + +"You speak English remarkably well," said I; "have you been long in +Britain?" + +"I came over about four years ago," said the Italian. + +"On your own account?" said I. + +"Not exactly, signore; my brother, who was in business in +Liverpool, wrote to me to come over and assist him. I did so, but +soon left him, and took a shop for myself at Denbigh, where, +however, I did not stay long. At present I travel for an Italian +house in London, spending the summer in Wales, and the winter in +England." + +"And what do you sell?" said I. + +"Weather-glasses, signore - pictures and little trinkets, such as +the country people like." + +"Do you sell many weather-glasses in Wales?" said I. + +"I do not, signore. The Welsh care not for weather-glasses; my +principal customers for weather-glasses are the farmers of +England." + +"I am told that you can speak Welsh," said I; "is that true?" + +"I have picked up a little of it, signore." + +"He can speak it very well," said the landlady; "and glad should I +be, sir, to hear you and him speak Welsh together." + +"So should I," said the daughter who was seated nigh us, "nothing +would give me greater pleasure than to hear two who are not +Welshmen speaking Welsh together." + +"I would rather speak English," said the Italian; "I speak a little +Welsh, when my business leads me amongst people who speak no other +language, but I see no necessity for speaking Welsh here." + +"It is a pity," said I, "that so beautiful a country as Italy +should not be better governed." + +"It is, signore," said the Italian; "but let us hope that a time +will speedily come when she will be so." + +"I don't see any chance of it," said I. "How will you proceed in +order to bring about so desirable a result as the good government +of Italy?" + +"Why, signore, in the first place we must get rid of the +Austrians." + +"You will not find it an easy matter," said I, "to get rid of the +Austrians; you tried to do so a little time ago, but miserably +failed." + +"True, signore; but the next time we try perhaps the French will +help us." + +"If the French help you to drive the Austrians from Italy," said I, +"you must become their servants. It is true you had better be the +servants of the polished and chivalrous French, than of the brutal +and barbarous Germans, but it is not pleasant to be a servant to +anybody. However, I do not believe that you will ever get rid of +the Austrians, even if the French assist you. The Pope for certain +reasons of his own favours the Austrians, and will exert all the +powers of priestcraft to keep them in Italy. Alas, alas, there is +no hope for Italy! Italy, the most beautiful country in the world, +the birth-place of the cleverest people, whose very pedlars can +learn to speak Welsh, is not only enslaved, but destined always to +remain enslaved." + +"Do not say so, signore," said the Italian, with a kind of groan. + +"But I do say so," said I, "and what is more, one whose shoe- +strings, were he alive, I should not he worthy to untie, one of +your mighty ones, has said so. Did you ever hear of Vincenzio +Filicaia?" + +"I believe I have, signore; did he not write a sonnet on Italy?" + +"He did," said I; "would you like to hear it? + +"Very much, signore." + +I repeated Filicaia's glorious sonnet on Italy, and then asked him +if he understood it. + +"Only in part, signore; for it is composed in old Tuscan, in which +I am not much versed. I believe I should comprehend it better if +you were to say it in English." + +"Do say it in English," said the landlady and her daughter: "we +should so like to hear it in English." + +"I will repeat a translation," said I, "which I made when a boy, +which though far from good, has, I believe, in it something of the +spirit of the original:- + + +"O Italy! on whom dark Destiny +The dangerous gift of beauty did bestow, +From whence thou hast that ample dower of wo, +Which on thy front thou bear'st so visibly. +Would thou hadst beauty less or strength more high, +That more of fear, and less of love might show, +He who now blasts him in thy beauty's glow, +Or woos thee with a zeal that makes thee die; +Then down from Alp no more would torrents rage +Of armed men, nor Gallic coursers hot +In Po's ensanguin'd tide their thirst assuage; +Nor girt with iron, not thine own, I wot, +Wouldst thou the fight by hands of strangers wage +Victress or vanquish'd slavery still thy lot." + + + +CHAPTER XXV + + + +Lacing-up High-lows - The Native Village - Game Leg - Croppies Lie +Down - Keeping Faith - Processions - Croppies Get Up - Daniel +O'Connell. + + +I SLEPT in the chamber communicating with the room in which I had +dined. The chamber was spacious and airy, the bed first-rate, and +myself rather tired, so that no one will be surprised when I say +that I had excellent rest. I got up, and after dressing myself +went down. The morning was exceedingly brilliant. Going out I saw +the Italian lacing up his high-lows against a step. I saluted him, +and asked him if he was about to depart. + +"Yes, signore; I shall presently start for Denbigh." + +"After breakfast I shall start for Bangor," said I. + +"Do you propose to reach Bangor to-night, signore?" + +"Yes," said I. + +"Walking, signore?" + +"Yes," said I; "I always walk in Wales." + +"Then you will have rather a long walk, signore; for Bangor is +thirty-four miles from here." + +I asked him if he was married. + +"No, signore; but my brother in Liverpool is." + +"To an Italian?" + +"No, signore; to a Welsh girl." + +"And I suppose," said I, "you will follow his example by marrying +one; perhaps that good-looking girl the landlady's daughter we were +seated with last night?" + +"No, signore; I shall not follow my brother's example. If ever I +take a wife she shall be of my own village, in Como, whither I hope +to return, as soon as I have picked up a few more pounds." + +"Whether the Austrians are driven away or not?" said I. + +"Whether the Austrians are driven away or not - for to my mind +there is no country like Como, signore." + +I ordered breakfast; whilst taking it in the room above I saw +through the open window the Italian trudging forth on his journey, +a huge box on his back, and a weather-glass in his hand - looking +the exact image of one of those men, his country people, whom forty +years before I had known at N-. I thought of the course of time, +sighed and felt a tear gather in my eye. + +My breakfast concluded, I paid my bill, and after inquiring the way +to Bangor, and bidding adieu to the kind landlady and her daughter, +set out from Cerrig y Drudion. My course lay west, across a flat +country, bounded in the far distance by the mighty hills I had seen +on the preceding evening. After walking about a mile I overtook a +man with a game leg, that is a leg which, either by nature or +accident not being so long as its brother leg, had a patten +attached to it, about five inches high, to enable it to do duty +with the other - he was a fellow with red shock hair and very red +features, and was dressed in ragged coat and breeches and a hat +which had lost part of its crown, and all its rim, so that even +without a game leg he would have looked rather a queer figure. In +his hand he carried a fiddle. + +"Good morning to you," said I. + +"A good morning to your hanner, a merry afternoon and a roaring, +joyous evening - that is the worst luck I wish to ye." + +"Are you a native of these parts?" said I. + +"Not exactly, your hanner - I am a native of the city of Dublin, +or, what's all the same thing, of the village of Donnybrook, which +is close by it." + +"A celebrated place," said I. + +"Your hanner may say that; all the world has heard of Donnybrook, +owing to the humours of its fair. Many is the merry tune I have +played to the boys at that fair." + +"You are a professor of music, I suppose?" + +"And not a very bad one, as your hanner will say, if you allow me +to play you a tune." + +"Can you play Croppies Lie Down?" + +"I cannot, your hanner, my fingers never learnt to play such a +blackguard tune; but if you wish to hear Croppies Get Up I can +oblige ye." + +"You are a Roman Catholic, I suppose?" + +"I am not, your hanner - I am a Catholic to the back-bone, just +like my father before me. Come, your hanner, shall I play ye +Croppies Get Up?" + +"No," said I; "it's a tune that doesn't please my ears. If, +however, you choose to play Croppies Lie Down, I'll give you a +shilling." + +"Your hanner will give me a shilling?" + +"Yes," said I; "if you play Croppies Lie Down; but you know you +cannot play it, your fingers never learned the tune." + +"They never did, your hanner; but they have heard it played of ould +by the blackguard Orange fiddlers of Dublin on the first of July, +when the Protestant boys used to walk round Willie's statue on +College Green - so if your hanner gives me the shilling, they may +perhaps bring out something like it." + +"Very good," said I; "begin!" + +"But, your hanner, what shall we do for the words? though my +fingers may remember the tune my tongue does not remember the words +- that is unless . . ." + +"I give another shilling," said I; "but never mind you the words; I +know the words, and will repeat them." + +"And your hanner will give me a shilling?" + +"If you play the tune," said I. + +"Hanner bright, your hanner?" + +"Honour bright," said I. + +Thereupon the fiddler taking his bow and shouldering his fiddle, +struck up in first-rate style the glorious tune, which I had so +often heard with rapture in the days of my boyhood in the barrack- +yard of Clonmel; whilst I, walking by his side as he stumped along, +caused the welkin to resound with the words, which were the delight +of the young gentlemen of the Protestant academy of that beautiful +old town. + +"I never heard those words before," said the fiddler, after I had +finished the first stanza. + +"Get on with you," said I. + +"Regular Orange words!" said the fiddler, on my finishing the +second stanza. + +"Do you choose to get on?" said I. + +"More blackguard Orange words I never heard!" cried the fiddler, on +my coming to the conclusion of the third stanza. "Divil a bit +farther will I play; at any rate till I get the shilling." + +"Here it is for you," said I; "the song is ended, and, of course, +the tune." + +"Thank your hanner," said the fiddler, taking the money, "your +hanner has kept your word with me, which is more than I thought +your hanner would. And now your hanner let me ask you why did your +hanner wish for that tune, which is not only a blackguard one but +quite out of date; and where did your hanner get the words?" + +"I used to hear the tune in my boyish days," said I, "and wished to +hear it again, for though you call it a blackguard tune, it is the +sweetest and most noble air that Ireland, the land of music, has +ever produced. As for the words, never mind where I got them; they +are violent enough, but not half so violent as the words of some of +the songs made against the Irish Protestants by the priests." + +"Your hanner is an Orange man, I see. Well, your hanner, the +Orange is now in the kennel, and the Croppies have it all their own +way." + +"And perhaps," said I, "before I die, the Orange will be out of the +kennel and the Croppies in, even as they were in my young days." + +"Who knows, your hanner? and who knows that I may not play the old +tune round Willie's image in College Green, even as I used some +twenty-seven years ago?" + +"Oh then you have been an Orange fiddler?" + +"I have, your hanner. And now as your hanner has behaved like a +gentleman to me I will tell ye all my history. I was born in the +city of Dublin, that is in the village of Donnybrook, as I tould +your hanner before. It was to the trade of bricklaying I was bred, +and bricklaying I followed till at last, getting my leg smashed, +not by falling off the ladder, but by a row in the fair, I was +obliged to give it up, for how could I run up the ladder with a +patten on my foot, which they put on to make my broken leg as long +as the other. Well your hanner, being obliged to give up my +bricklaying, I took to fiddling, to which I had always a natural +inclination, and played about the streets, and at fairs, and wakes, +and weddings. At length some Orange men getting acquainted with +me, and liking my style of playing, invited me to their lodge, +where they gave me to drink and tould me that if I would change my +religion, and join them, and play their tunes, they would make it +answer my purpose. Well, your hanner, without much stickling I +gave up my Popery, joined the Orange lodge, learned the Orange +tunes, and became a regular Protestant boy, and truly the Orange +men kept their word, and made it answer my purpose. Oh the meat +and drink I got, and the money I made by playing at the Orange +lodges and before the processions when the Orange men paraded the +streets with their Orange colours. And oh, what a day for me was +the glorious first of July when with my whole body covered with +Orange ribbons, I fiddled Croppies Lie Down, Boyne Water, and the +Protestant Boys before the procession which walked round Willie's +figure on horseback in College Green, the man and horse all ablaze +with Orange colours. But nothing lasts under the sun, as your +hanner knows; Orangeism began to go down; the Government scowled at +it, and at last passed a law preventing the Protestant boys +dressing up the figure on the first of July, and walking round it. +That was the death-blow of the Orange party, your hanner; they +never recovered it, but began to despond and dwindle, and I with +them; for there was scarcely any demand for Orange tunes. Then Dan +O'Connell arose with his emancipation and repale cries, and then +instead of Orange processions and walkings, there were Papist +processions and mobs, which made me afraid to stir out, lest +knowing me for an Orange fiddler, they should break my head, as the +boys broke my leg at Donnybrook fair. At length some of the +repalers and emancipators knowing that I was a first-rate hand at +fiddling came to me and tould me, that if I would give over playing +Croppies Lie Down and other Orange tunes, and would play Croppies +Get Up, and what not, and become a Catholic and a repaler, and an +emancipator, they would make a man of me - so as my Orange trade +was gone, and I was half-starved, I consinted, not however till +they had introduced me to Daniel O'Connell, who called me a cridit +to my country, and the Irish Horpheus, and promised me a sovereign +if I would consint to join the cause, as he called it. Well, your +hanner, I joined with the cause and became a Papist, I mane a +Catholic once more, and went at the head of processions covered all +over with green ribbons, playing Croppies Get Up, Granny Whale, and +the like. But, your hanner, though I went the whole hog with the +repalers and emancipators, they did not make their words good by +making a man of me. Scant and sparing were they in the mate and +drink, and yet more sparing in the money, and Daniel O'Connell +never gave me the sovereign which he promised me. No, your hanner, +though I played Croppies Get Up, till my fingers ached, as I +stumped before him and his mobs and processions, he never gave me +the sovereign: unlike your hanner who gave me the shilling ye +promised me for playing Croppies Lie Down, Daniel O'Connell never +gave me the sovereign he promised me for playing Croppies Get Up. +Och, your hanner, I often wished the ould Orange days were back +again. However as I could do no better I continued going the whole +hog with the emancipators and repalers and Dan O'Connell; I went +the whole animal with them till they had got emancipation; and I +went the whole animal with them till they had nearly got repale - +when all of a sudden they let the whole thing drop - Dan and his +party having frighted the Government out of its seven senses, and +gotten all they could get, in money and places, which was all they +wanted, let the whole hullabaloo drop, and of course myself, who +formed part of it. I went to those who had persuaded me to give up +my Orange tunes, and to play Papist ones, begging them to give me +work; but they tould me very civilly that they had no further +occasion for my services. I went to Daniel O'Connell reminding him +of the sovereign he had promised me, and offering if he gave it me +to play Croppies Get Up under the nose of the lord-lieutenant +himself; but he tould me that he had not time to attend to me, and +when I persisted, bade me go to the Divil and shake myself. Well, +your hanner, seeing no prospect for myself in my own country, and +having incurred some little debts, for which I feared to be +arrested, I came over to England and Wales, where with little +content and satisfaction I have passed seven years." + +"Well," said I; "thank you for your history - farewell." + +"Stap, your hanner; does your hanner think that the Orange will +ever be out of the kennel, and that the Orange boys will ever walk +round the brass man and horse in College Green as they did of +ould?" + +"Who knows?" said I. "But suppose all that were to happen, what +would it signify to you?" + +"Why then divil be in my patten if I would not go back to +Donnybrook and Dublin, hoist the Orange cockade, and become as good +an Orange boy as ever." + +"What," said I, "and give up Popery for the second time?" + +"I would, your hanner; and why not? for in spite of what I have +heard Father Toban say, I am by no means certain that all +Protestants will be damned." + +"Farewell," said I. + +"Farewell, your hanner, and long life and prosperity to you! God +bless your hanner and your Orange face. Ah, the Orange boys are +the boys for keeping faith. They never served me as Dan O'Connell +and his dirty gang of repalers and emancipators did. Farewell, +your hanner, once more; and here's another scratch of the illigant +tune your hanner is so fond of, to cheer up your hanner's ears upon +your way." + +And long after I had left him I could hear him playing on his +fiddle in first-rate style the beautiful tune of "Down, down, +Croppies Lie Down." + + + +CHAPTER XXVI + + + +Ceiniog Mawr - Pentre Voelas - The Old Conway - Stupendous Pass - +The Gwedir Family - Capel Curig - The Two Children - Bread - +Wonderful Echo - Tremendous Walker. + + +I WALKED on briskly over a flat uninteresting country, and in about +an hour's time came in front of a large stone house. It stood near +the road, on the left-hand side, with a pond and pleasant trees +before it, and a number of corn-stacks behind. It had something +the appearance of an inn, but displayed no sign. As I was standing +looking at it, a man with the look of a labourer, and with a dog by +his side, came out of the house and advanced towards me. + +"What is the name of this place?" said I to him in English as he +drew nigh. + +"Sir," said the man, "the name of the house is Ceiniog Mawr." + +"Is it an inn?" said I. + +"Not now, sir; but some years ago it was an inn, and a very large +one, at which coaches used to stop; at present it is occupied by an +amaethwr - that is a farmer, sir." + +"Ceiniog Mawr means a great penny," said I, "why is it called by +that name?" + +"I have heard, sir, that before it was an inn it was a very +considerable place, namely a royal mint, at which pennies were +made, and on that account it was called Ceiniog Mawr." + +I was subsequently told that the name of this place was Cernioge +Mawr. If such be the real name the legend about the mint falls to +the ground, Cernioge having nothing to do with pence. Cern in +Welsh means a jaw. Perhaps the true name of the house is Corniawg, +which interpreted is a place with plenty of turrets or chimneys. A +mile or two further the ground began to rise, and I came to a small +village at the entrance of which was a water-wheel - near the +village was a gentleman's seat almost surrounded by groves. After +I had passed through the village, seeing a woman seated by the +roadside knitting, I asked her in English its name. Finding she +had no Saesneg I repeated the question in Welsh, whereupon she told +me that it was called Pentre Voelas. + +"And whom does the 'Plas' belong to yonder amongst the groves?" +said I. + +"It belongs to Mr Wynn, sir, and so does the village and a great +deal of the land about here. A very good gentleman is Mr Wynn, +sir; he is very kind to his tenants and a very good lady is Mrs +Wynn, sir; in the winter she gives much soup to the poor." + +After leaving the village of Pentre Voelas I soon found myself in a +wild hilly region. I crossed a bridge over a river, which, +brawling and tumbling amidst rocks, shaped its course to the north- +east. As I proceeded, the country became more and more wild; there +were dingles and hollows in abundance, and fantastic-looking hills, +some of which were bare, and others clad with trees of various +kinds. Came to a little well in a cavity, dug in a high bank on +the left-hand side of the road, and fenced by rude stone work on +either side; the well was about ten inches in diameter, and as many +deep. Water oozing from the bank upon a slanting tile fastened +into the earth fell into it. After damming up the end of the tile +with my hand, and drinking some delicious water, I passed on and +presently arrived at a cottage, just inside the door of which sat a +good-looking middle-aged woman engaged in knitting, the general +occupation of Welsh females. + +"Good-day," said I to her in Welsh. "Fine weather." + +"In truth, sir, it is fine weather for the harvest." + +"Are you alone in the house?" + +"I am, sir, my husband has gone to his labour." + +"Have you any children?" + +"Two, sir; but they are out at service." + +"What is the name of this place?" + +"Pant Paddock, sir." + +"Do you get your water from the little well yonder?" + +"We do, sir, and good water it is." + +"I have drunk of it." + +"Much good may what you have drunk do you, sir!" + +"What is the name of the river near here?" + +"It is called the Conway, sir." + +"Dear me; is that river the Conway?" + +"You have heard of it, sir?" + +"Heard of it! it is one of the famous rivers of the world. The +poets are very fond of it - one of the great poets of my country +calls it the old Conway." + +"Is one river older than another, sir?" + +"That's a shrewd question. Can you read?" + +"I can, sir." + +"Have you any books?" + +"I have the Bible, sir." + +"Will you show it me?" + +"Willingly, sir." + +Then getting up she took a book from a shelf and handed it to me, +at the same time begging me to enter the house and sit down. I +declined, and she again took her seat and resumed her occupation. +On opening the book the first words which met my eye were: "Gad i +mi fyned trwy dy dir! - Let me go through your country" (Numb. XX. +22). + +"I may say these words," said I, pointing to the passage. "Let me +go through your country." + +"No one will hinder you, sir, for you seem a civil gentleman." + +"No one has hindered me hitherto. Wherever I have been in Wales I +have experienced nothing but kindness and hospitality, and when I +return to my own country I will say so." + +"What country is yours, sir?" + +"England. Did you not know that by my tongue?" + +"I did not, sir. I knew by your tongue that you were not from our +parts - but I did not know that you were an Englishman. I took you +for a Cumro of the south country." + +Returning the kind woman her book, and bidding her farewell I +departed, and proceeded some miles through a truly magnificent +country of wood, rock, and mountain. At length I came to a steep +mountain gorge, down which the road ran nearly due north, the +Conway to the left running with great noise parallel with the road, +amongst broken rocks, which chafed it into foam. I was now amidst +stupendous hills, whose paps, peaks, and pinnacles seemed to rise +to the very heaven. An immense mountain on the right side of the +road particularly struck my attention, and on inquiring of a man +breaking stones by the roadside I learned that it was called Dinas +Mawr, or the large citadel, perhaps from a fort having been built +upon it to defend the pass in the old British times. Coming to the +bottom of the pass I crossed over by an ancient bridge, and, +passing through a small town, found myself in a beautiful valley +with majestic hills on either side. This was the Dyffryn Conway, +the celebrated Vale of Conway, to which in the summer time +fashionable gentry from all parts of Britain resort for shade and +relaxation. When about midway down the valley I turned to the +west, up one of the grandest passes in the world, having two +immense door-posts of rock at the entrance. the northern one +probably rising to the altitude of nine hundred feet. On the +southern side of this pass near the entrance were neat dwellings +for the accommodation of visitors with cool apartments on the +ground floor, with large windows, looking towards the precipitous +side of the mighty northern hill; within them I observed tables, +and books, and young men, probably English collegians, seated at +study. + +After I had proceeded some way up the pass, down which a small +river ran, a woman who was standing on the right-hand side of the +way, seemingly on the look-out, begged me in broken English to step +aside and look at the fall. + +"You mean a waterfall, I suppose?" said I. + +"Yes, sir." + +"And how do you call it?" said I. + +"The Fall of the Swallow, sir." + +"And in Welsh?" said I. + +"Rhaiadr y Wennol, sir." + +"And what is the name of the river?" said I. + +"We call the river the Lygwy, sir." + +I told the woman I would go, whereupon she conducted me through a +gate on the right-hand side and down a path overhung with trees to +a rock projecting into the river. The Fall of the Swallow is not a +majestic single fall, but a succession of small ones. First there +are a number of little foaming torrents, bursting through rocks +about twenty yards above the promontory on which I stood. Then +come two beautiful rolls of white water, dashing into a pool a +little way above the promontory; then there is a swirl of water +round its corner into a pool below on its right, black as death, +and seemingly of great depth; then a rush through a very narrow +outlet into another pool, from which the water clamours away down +the glen. Such is the Rhaiadr y Wennol, or Swallow Fall; called so +from the rapidity with which the waters rush and skip along. + +On asking the woman on whose property the fall was, she informed me +that it was on the property of the Gwedir family. The name of +Gwedir brought to my mind the "History of the Gwedir Family," a +rare and curious book which I had read in my boyhood, and which was +written by the representative of that family, a certain Sir John +Wynne, about the beginning of the seventeenth century. It gives an +account of the fortunes of the family, from its earliest rise; but +more particularly after it had emigrated, in order to avoid bad +neighbours, from a fair and fertile district into rugged Snowdonia, +where it found anything but the repose it came in quest of. The +book which is written in bold graphic English, flings considerable +light on the state of society in Wales, in the time of the Tudors, +a truly deplorable state, as the book is full of accounts of feuds, +petty but desperate skirmishes, and revengeful murders. To many of +the domestic sagas, or histories of ancient Icelandic families, +from the character of the events which it describes and also from +the manner in which it describes them, the "History of the Gwedir +Family," by Sir John Wynne, bears a striking resemblance. + +After giving the woman sixpence I left the fall, and proceeded on +my way. I presently crossed a bridge under which ran the river of +the fall, and was soon in a wide valley on each side of which were +lofty hills dotted with wood, and at the top of which stood a +mighty mountain, bare and precipitous, with two paps like those of +Pindus opposite Janina, but somewhat sharper. It was a region of +fairy beauty and of wild grandeur. Meeting an old bleared-eyed +farmer I inquired the name of the mountain and learned that it was +called Moel Siabod or Shabod. Shortly after leaving him, I turned +from the road to inspect a monticle which appeared to me to have +something of the appearance of a burial heap. It stood in a green +meadow by the river which ran down the valley on the left. Whether +it was a grave hill or a natural monticle, I will not say; but +standing in the fair meadow, the rivulet murmuring beside it, and +the old mountain looking down upon it, I thought it looked a very +meet resting-place for an old Celtic king. + +Turning round the northern side of the mighty Siabod I soon reached +the village of Capel Curig, standing in a valley between two hills, +the easternmost of which is the aforesaid Moel Siabod. Having +walked now twenty miles in a broiling day I thought it high time to +take some refreshment, and inquired the way to the inn. The inn, +or rather the hotel, for it was a very magnificent edifice, stood +at the entrance of a pass leading to Snowdon, on the southern side +of the valley, in a totally different direction from the road +leading to Bangor, to which place I was bound. There I dined in a +grand saloon amidst a great deal of fashionable company, who, +probably conceiving from my heated and dusty appearance that I was +some poor fellow travelling on foot from motives of economy, +surveyed me with looks of the most supercilious disdain, which, +however, neither deprived me of my appetite nor operated +uncomfortably on my feelings. + +My dinner finished, I paid my bill, and having sauntered a little +about the hotel garden, which is situated on the border of a small +lake and from which, through the vista of the pass, Snowdon may be +seen towering in majesty at the distance of about six miles, I +started for Bangor, which is fourteen miles from Capel Curig. + +The road to Bangor from Capel Curig is almost due west. An hour's +walking brought me to a bleak moor, extending for a long way amidst +wild sterile hills. + +The first of a chain on the left, was a huge lumpy hill with a +precipice towards the road probably three hundred feet high. When +I had come nearly parallel with the commencement of this precipice, +I saw on the left-hand side of the road two children looking over a +low wall behind which at a little distance stood a wretched hovel. +On coming up I stopped and looked at them; they were a boy and +girl; the first about twelve, the latter a year or two younger; +both wretchedly dressed and looking very sickly. + +"Have you any English?" said I, addressing the boy in Welsh. + +"Dim gair," said the boy; "not a word; there is no Saesneg near +here." + +"What is the name of this place?" + +"The name of our house is Helyg." + +"And what is the name of that hill?" said I, pointing to the hill +of the precipice. + +"Allt y Gog - the high place of the cuckoo." + +"Have you a father and mother?" + +"We have." + +"Are they in the house?" + +"They are gone to Capel Curig." + +"And they left you alone?" + +"They did. With the cat and the trin-wire." + +"Do your father and mother make wire-work?" + +"They do. They live by making it." + +"What is the wire-work for?" + +"It is for hedges to fence the fields with." + +"Do you help your father and mother?" + +"We do; as far as we can." + +"You both look unwell." + +"We have lately had the cryd" (ague). + +"Is there much cryd about here?" + +"Plenty." + +"Do you live well?" + +"When we have bread we live well." + +"If I give you a penny will you bring me some water?" + +"We will, whether you give us a penny or not. Come, sister, let us +go and fetch the gentleman water." + +They ran into the house and presently returned, the girl bearing a +pan of water. After I had drunk I gave each of the children a +penny, and received in return from each a diolch or thanks. + +"Can either of you read?" + +"Neither one nor the other." + +"Can your father and mother read?" + +"My father cannot, my mother can a little." + +"Are there books in the house?" + +"There are not." + +"No Bible?" + +"There is no book at all." + +"Do you go to church?" + +"We do not." + +"To chapel?" + +"In fine weather." + +"Are you happy?" + +"When there is bread in the house and no cryd we are all happy." + +"Farewell to you, children." + +"Farewell to you, gentleman!" exclaimed both. + +"I have learnt something," said I, "of Welsh cottage life and +feeling from that poor sickly child." + +I had passed the first and second of the hills which stood on the +left, and a huge long mountain on the right which confronted both, +when a young man came down from a gully on my left hand, and +proceeded in the same direction as myself. He was dressed in a +blue coat and corduroy trowsers, and appeared to be of a condition +a little above that of a labourer. He shook his head and scowled +when I spoke to him in English, but smiled on my speaking Welsh, +and said: "Ah, you speak Cumraeg: I thought no Sais could speak +Cumraeg." I asked him if he was going far. + +"About four miles," he replied. + +"On the Bangor road?" + +"Yes," said he; "down the Bangor road." + +I learned that he was a carpenter, and that he had been up the +gully to see an acquaintance - perhaps a sweetheart. We passed a +lake on our right which he told me was called Llyn Ogwen, and that +it abounded with fish. He was very amusing, and expressed great +delight at having found an Englishman who could speak Welsh; "it +will be a thing to talk of," said he, "for the rest of my life." +He entered two or three cottages by the side of the road, and each +time he came out I heard him say: "I am with a Sais who can speak +Cumraeg." At length we came to a gloomy-looking valley trending +due north; down this valley the road ran, having an enormous wall +of rocks on its right and a precipitous hollow on the left, beyond +which was a wall equally high as the other one. When we had +proceeded some way down the road my guide said. "You shall now +hear a wonderful echo," and shouting "taw, taw," the rocks replied +in a manner something like the baying of hounds. "Hark to the +dogs!" exclaimed my companion. "This pass is called Nant yr ieuanc +gwn, the pass of the young dogs, because when one shouts it answers +with a noise resembling the crying of hounds." + +The sun was setting when we came to a small village at the bottom +of the pass. I asked my companion its name. "Ty yn y maes," he +replied, adding as he stopped before a small cottage that he was +going no farther, as he dwelt there. + +"Is there a public-house here?" said I. + +"There is," he replied, "you will find one a little farther up on +the right hand." + +"Come, and take some ale," said I. + +"No," said he. + +"Why not?" I demanded. + +"I am a teetotaler," he replied. + +"Indeed," said I, and having shaken him by the hand, thanked him +for his company and bidding him farewell, went on. He was the +first person I had ever met of the fraternity to which he belonged, +who did not endeavour to make a parade of his abstinence and self- +denial. + +After drinking some tolerably good ale in the public house I again +started. As I left the village a clock struck eight. The evening +was delightfully cool; but it soon became nearly dark. I passed +under high rocks, by houses and by groves, in which nightingales +were singing, to listen to whose entrancing melody I more than once +stopped. On coming to a town, lighted up and thronged with people, +I asked one of a group of young fellows its name. + +"Bethesda," he replied. + +"A scriptural name," said I. + +"Is it?" said he; "well, if its name is scriptural the manners of +its people are by no means so." + +A little way beyond the town a man came out of a cottage and walked +beside me. He had a basket in his hand. I quickened my pace; but +he was a tremendous walker, and kept up with me. On we went side +by side for more than a mile without speaking a word. At length, +putting out my legs in genuine Barclay fashion, I got before him +about ten yards, then turning round laughed and spoke to him in +English. He too laughed and spoke, but in Welsh. We now went on +like brothers, conversing, but always walking at great speed. I +learned from him that he was a market-gardener living at Bangor, +and that Bangor was three miles off. On the stars shining out we +began to talk about them. + +Pointing to Charles's Wain I said, "A good star for travellers." + +Whereupon pointing to the North star, he said: + +"I forwyr da iawn - a good star for mariners." + +We passed a large house on our left. + +"Who lives there?" said I. + +"Mr Smith," he replied. "It is called Plas Newydd; milltir genom +etto - we have yet another mile." + +In ten minutes we were at Bangor. I asked him where the Albion +Hotel was. + +"I will show it you," said he, and so he did. + +As we came under it I heard the voice of my wife, for she, standing +on a balcony and distinguishing me by the lamplight, called out. I +shook hands with the kind six-mile-an-hour market-gardener, and +going into the inn found my wife and daughter, who rejoiced to see +me. We presently had tea. + + + +CHAPTER XXVII + + + +Bangor - Edmund Price - The Bridges - Bookselling - Future Pope - +Wild Irish - Southey. + + +BANGOR is seated on the spurs of certain high hills near the Menai, +a strait separating Mona or Anglesey from Caernarvonshire. It was +once a place of Druidical worship, of which fact, even without the +testimony of history and tradition, the name which signifies "upper +circle" would be sufficient evidence. On the decay of Druidism a +town sprang up on the site and in the neighbourhood of the "upper +circle," in which in the sixth century a convent or university was +founded by Deiniol, who eventually became Bishop of Bangor. This +Deiniol was the son of Deiniol Vawr, a zealous Christian prince who +founded the convent of Bangor Is Coed, or Bangor beneath the wood +in Flintshire, which was destroyed, and its inmates almost to a man +put to the sword by Ethelbert, a Saxon king, and his barbarian +followers at the instigation of the monk Austin, who hated the +brethren because they refused to acknowledge the authority of the +Pope, whose delegate he was in Britain. There were in all three +Bangors; the one at Is Coed, another in Powis, and this +Caernarvonshire Bangor, which was generally termed Bangor Vawr or +Bangor the great. The two first Bangors have fallen into utter +decay, but Bangor Vawr is still a bishop's see, boasts of a small +but venerable cathedral, and contains a population of above eight +thousand souls. + +Two very remarkable men have at different periods conferred a kind +of lustre upon Bangor by residing in it, Taliesin in the old, and +Edmund Price in comparatively modern time. Both of them were +poets. Taliesin flourished about the end of the fifth century, and +for the sublimity of his verses was for many centuries called by +his countrymen the Bardic King. Amongst his pieces is one +generally termed "The Prophecy of Taliesin," which announced long +before it happened the entire subjugation of Britain by the Saxons, +and which is perhaps one of the most stirring pieces of poetry ever +produced. Edmund Price flourished during the time of Elizabeth. +He was archdeacon of Merionethshire, but occasionally resided at +Bangor for the benefit of his health. Besides being one of the +best Welsh poets of his age he was a man of extraordinary learning, +possessing a thorough knowledge of no less than eight languages. + +The greater part of his compositions, however clever and elegant, +are, it must be confessed, such as do little credit to the pen of +an ecclesiastic, being bitter poignant satires, which were the +cause of much pain and misery to individuals; one of his works, +however, is not only of a kind quite consistent with his sacred +calling, but has been a source of considerable blessing. To him +the Cambrian Church is indebted for the version of the Psalms, +which for the last two centuries it has been in the habit of using. +Previous to the version of the Archdeacon a translation of the +Psalms had been made into Welsh by William Middleton, an officer in +the naval service of Queen Elizabeth, in the four-and-twenty +alliterative measures of the ancients bards. It was elegant and +even faithful, but far beyond the comprehension of people in +general, and consequently by no means fitted for the use of +churches, though intended for that purpose by the author, a sincere +Christian, though a warrior. Avoiding the error into which his +predecessor had fallen, the Archdeacon made use of a measure +intelligible to people of every degree, in which alliteration is +not observed, and which is called by the Welsh y mesur cyffredin, +or the common measure. His opinion of the four-and-twenty measures +the Archdeacon has given to the world in four cowydd lines to the +following effect: + + +"I've read the master-pieces great +Of languages no less than eight, +But ne'er have found a woof of song +So strict as that of Cambria's tongue." + + +After breakfast on the morning subsequent to my arrival, Henrietta +and I roamed about the town, and then proceeded to view the bridges +which lead over the strait to Anglesey. One, for common traffic, +is a most beautiful suspension bridge completed in 1820, the result +of the mental and manual labours of the ingenious Telford; the +other is a tubular railroad bridge, a wonderful structure, no +doubt, but anything but graceful. We remained for some time on the +first bridge, admiring the scenery, and were not a little +delighted, as we stood leaning over the principal arch, to see a +proud vessel pass beneath us in full sail. + +Satiated with gazing we passed into Anglesey, and making our way to +the tubular bridge, which is to the west of the suspension one, +entered one of its passages and returned to the main land. + +The air was exceedingly hot and sultry, and on coming to a stone +bench, beneath a shady wall, we both sat down, panting, on one end +of it; as we were resting ourselves, a shabby-looking man with a +bundle of books came and seated himself at the other end, placing +his bundle beside him; then taking out from his pocket a dirty red +handkerchief, he wiped his face, which was bathed in perspiration, +and ejaculated: "By Jasus, it is blazing hot!" + +"Very hot, my friend," said I; "have you travelled far to-day?" + +"I have not, your hanner; I have been just walking about the dirty +town trying to sell my books." + +"Have you been successful?" + +"I have not, your hanner; only three pence have I taken this +blessed day." + +"What do your books treat of?" + +"Why, that is more than I can tell your hanner; my trade is to sell +the books not to read them. Would your hanner like to look at +them?" + +"Oh dear no," said I; "I have long been tired of books; I have had +enough of them." + +"I daresay, your hanner; from the state of your hanner's eyes I +should say as much; they look so weak - picking up learning has +ruined your hanner's sight." + +"May I ask," said I, "from what country you are?" + +"Sure your hanner may; and it is a civil answer you will get from +Michael Sullivan. It is from ould Ireland I am, from Castlebar in +the county Mayo." + +"And how came you into Wales?" + +"From the hope of bettering my condition, your hanner, and a +foolish hope it was." + +"You have not bettered your condition, then?" + +"I have not, your hanner; for I suffer quite as much hunger and +thirst as ever I did in ould Ireland." + +"Did you sell books in Ireland?" + +"I did nat, yer hanner; I made buttons and clothes - that is I +pieced them. I was several trades in ould Ireland, your hanner; +but none of them answering, I came over here." + +"Where you commenced book-selling?" said I. + +"I did nat, your hanner. I first sold laces, and then I sold +loocifers, and then something else; I have followed several trades +in Wales, your hanner; at last I got into the book-selling trade, +in which I now am." + +"And it answers, I suppose, as badly as the others?" + +"Just as badly, your hanner; divil a bit better." + +"I suppose you never beg?" + +"Your hanner may say that; I was always too proud to beg. It is +begging I laves to the wife I have." + +"Then you have a wife?" + +"I have, your hanner; and a daughter, too; and a good wife and +daughter they are. What would become of me without them I do not +know." + +"Have you been long in Wales?" + +"Not very long, your hanner; only about twenty years." + +"Do you travel much about?" + +"All over North Wales, your hanner; to say nothing of the southern +country." + +"I suppose you speak Welsh?" + +"Not a word, your hanner. The Welsh speak their language so fast, +that divil a word could I ever contrive to pick up." + +"Do you speak Irish?" + +"I do, yer hanner; that is when people spake to me in it." + +I spoke to him in Irish; after a little discourse he said in +English: + +"I see your hanner is a Munster man. Ah! all the learned men comes +from Munster. Father Toban comes from Munster." + +"I have heard of him once or twice before," said I. + +"I daresay your hanner has. Every one has heard of Father Toban; +the greatest scholar in the world, who they, say stands a better +chance of being made Pope, some day or other, than any saggart in +Ireland." + +"Will you take sixpence?" + +"I will, your hanner; if your hanner offers it; but I never beg; I +leave that kind of work to my wife and daughter as I said before." + +After giving him the sixpence, which he received with a lazy "thank +your hanner," I got up, and followed by my daughter returned to the +town. + +Henrietta went to the inn, and I again strolled about the town. As +I was standing in the middle of one of the business streets I +suddenly heard a loud and dissonant gabbling, and glancing around +beheld a number of wild-looking people, male and female. Wild +looked the men, yet wilder the women. The men were very lightly +clad, and were all barefooted and bareheaded; they carried stout +sticks in their hands. The women were barefooted too, but had for +the most part head-dresses; their garments consisted of blue cloaks +and striped gingham gowns. All the females had common tin articles +in their hands which they offered for sale with violent gestures to +the people in the streets, as they walked along, occasionally +darting into the shops, from which, however, they were almost +invariably speedily ejected by the startled proprietors, with looks +of disgust and almost horror. Two ragged, red-haired lads led a +gaunt pony, drawing a creaking cart, stored with the same kind of +articles of tin, which the women bore. Poorly clad, dusty and +soiled as they were, they all walked with a free, independent, and +almost graceful carriage. + +"Are those people from Ireland?" said I to a decent-looking man, +seemingly a mechanic, who stood near me, and was also looking at +them, but with anything but admiration. + +"I am sorry to say they are, sir;" said the man, who from his +accent was evidently an Irishman, "for they are a disgrace to their +country." + +I did not exactly think so. I thought that in many respects they +were fine specimens of humanity. + +"Every one of those wild fellows," said I to myself, "is worth a +dozen of the poor mean-spirited book-tramper I have lately been +discoursing with." + +In the afternoon I again passed over into Anglesey, but this time +not by the bridge but by the ferry on the north-east of Bangor, +intending to go to Beaumaris, about two or three miles distant: an +excellent road, on the left side of which is a high bank fringed +with dwarf oaks, and on the right the Menai strait, leads to it. +Beaumaris is at present a watering-place. On one side of it, close +upon the sea, stand the ruins of an immense castle, once a Norman +stronghold, but built on the site of a palace belonging to the +ancient kings of North Wales, and a favourite residence of the +celebrated Owain Gwynedd, the father of the yet more celebrated +Madoc, the original discoverer of America. I proceeded at once to +the castle, and clambering to the top of one of the turrets, looked +upon Beaumaris Bay, and the noble rocky coast of the mainland to +the south-east beyond it, the most remarkable object of which is +the gigantic Penman Mawr, which interpreted is "the great head- +stone," the termination of a range of craggy hills descending from +the Snowdon mountains. + +"What a bay!" said I, "for beauty it is superior to the far-famed +one of Naples. A proper place for the keels to start from, which, +unguided by the compass, found their way over the mighty and +mysterious Western Ocean." + +I repeated all the Bardic lines I could remember connected with +Madoc's expedition, and likewise many from the Madoc of Southey, +not the least of Britain's four great latter poets, decidedly her +best prose writer, and probably the purest and most noble character +to which she has ever given birth; and then, after a long, +lingering look, descended from my altitude, and returned, not by +the ferry, but by the suspension bridge to the mainland. + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII + + + +Robert Lleiaf - Prophetic Englyn - The Second Sight - Duncan +Campbell - Nial's Saga - Family of Nial - Gunnar - The Avenger. + + +"AV i dir Mon, cr dwr Menai, +Tros y traeth, ond aros trai." + +"I will go to the land of Mona, notwithstanding the water of the +Menai, across the sand, without waiting for the ebb." + +SO sang a bard about two hundred and forty years ago, who styled +himself Robert Lleiaf, or the least of the Roberts. The meaning of +the couplet has always been considered to be, and doubtless is, +that a time would come when a bridge would be built across the +Menai, over which one might pass with safety and comfort, without +waiting till the ebb was sufficiently low to permit people to pass +over the traeth, or sand, which, from ages the most remote, had +been used as the means of communication between the mainland and +the Isle of Mona or Anglesey. Grounding their hopes upon that +couplet, people were continually expecting to see a bridge across +the Menai: more than two hundred years, however, elapsed before +the expectation was fulfilled by the mighty Telford flinging over +the strait an iron suspension bridge, which, for grace and beauty, +has perhaps no rival in Europe. + +The couplet is a remarkable one. In the time of its author there +was nobody in Britain capable of building a bridge, which could +have stood against the tremendous surges which occasionally vex the +Menai; yet the couplet gives intimation that a bridge over the +Menai there would be, which clearly argues a remarkable foresight +in the author, a feeling that a time would at length arrive when +the power of science would be so far advanced, that men would be +able to bridge over the terrible strait. The length of time which +intervened between the composition of the couplet and the +fulfilment of the promise, shows that a bridge over the Menai was +no pont y meibion, no children's bridge, nor a work for common men. +Oh, surely Lleiaf was a man of great foresight! + +A man of great foresight, but nothing more; he foretold a bridge +over the Menai, when no one could have built one, a bridge over +which people could pass, aye, and carts and horses; we will allow +him the credit of foretelling such a bridge; and when Telford's +bridge was flung over the Menai, Lleiaf's couplet was verified. +But since Telford's another bridge has been built over the Menai, +which enables things to pass which the bard certainly never dreamt +of. He never hinted at a bridge over which thundering trains would +dash, if required, at the rate of fifty miles an hour; he never +hinted at steam travelling, or a railroad bridge, and the second +bridge over the Menai is one. + +That Lleiaf was a man of remarkable foresight, cannot be denied, +but there are no grounds which entitle him to be considered a +possessor of the second sight. He foretold a bridge, but not a +railroad bridge; had he foretold a railroad bridge, or hinted at +the marvels of steam, his claim to the second sight would have been +incontestable. + +What a triumph for Wales; what a triumph for bardism, if Lleiaf had +ever written an englyn, or couplet, in which not a bridge for +common traffic, but a railroad bridge over the Menai was hinted at, +and steam travelling distinctly foretold! Well, though Lleiaf did +not write it, there exists in the Welsh language an englyn, almost +as old as Lleiaf's time, in which steam travelling in Wales and +Anglesea is foretold, and in which, though the railroad bridge over +the Menai is not exactly mentioned, it may be considered to be +included; so that Wales and bardism have equal reason to be proud. +This is the englyn alluded to:- + + +"Codais, ymolchais yn Mon, cyn naw awr +Ciniewa'n Nghaer Lleon, +Pryd gosber yn y Werddon, +Prydnawn wrth dan mawn yn Mon." + + +The above englyn was printed in the Greal, 1792, p. 316; the +language shows it to be a production of about the middle of the +seventeenth century. The following is nearly a literal +translation:- + + +"I got up in Mona as soon as 'twas light, +At nine in old Chester my breakfast I took; +In Ireland I dined, and in Mona, ere night, +By the turf fire sat, in my own ingle nook." + + +Now, as sure as the couplet by Robert Lleiaf foretells that a +bridge would eventually be built over the strait, by which people +would pass, and traffic be carried on, so surely does the above +englyn foreshadow the speed by which people would travel by steam, +a speed by which distance is already all but annihilated. At +present it is easy enough to get up at dawn at Holyhead, the point +of Anglesey the most distant from Chester, and to breakfast at that +old town by nine; and though the feat has never yet been +accomplished, it would be quite possible, provided proper +preparations were made, to start from Holyhead at daybreak, +breakfast at Chester at nine, or before, dine in Ireland at two, +and get back again to Holyhead ere the sun of the longest day has +set. And as surely as the couplet about the bridge argues great +foresight in the man that wrote it, so surely does the englyn prove +that its author must have been possessed of the faculty of second +sight, as nobody without it could, in the middle of the seventeenth +century, when the powers of steam were unknown, have written +anything in which travelling by steam is so distinctly alluded to. + +Truly some old bard of the seventeenth century must in a vision of +the second sight have seen the railroad bridge across the Menai, +the Chester train dashing across it, at high railroad speed, and a +figure exactly like his own seated comfortably in a third-class +carriage. + +And now a few words on the second sight, a few calm, quiet words, +in which there is not the slightest wish to display either +eccentricity or book-learning. + +The second sight is the power of seeing events before they happen, +or of seeing events which are happening far beyond the reach of the +common sight, or between which and the common sight barriers +intervene, which it cannot pierce. The number of those who possess +this gift or power is limited, and perhaps no person ever possessed +it in a perfect degree: some more frequently see coming events, or +what is happening at a distance, than others; some see things +dimly, others with great distinctness. The events seen are +sometimes of great importance, sometimes highly nonsensical and +trivial; sometimes they relate to the person who sees them, +sometimes to other people. This is all that can be said with +anything like certainty with respect to the nature of the second +sight, a faculty for which there is no accounting, which, were it +better developed, might be termed the sixth sense. + +The second sight is confined to no particular country, and has at +all times existed. Particular nations have obtained a celebrity +for it for a time, which they have afterwards lost, the celebrity +being transferred to other nations, who were previously not noted +for the faculty. The Jews were at one time particularly celebrated +for the possession of the second sight; they are no longer so. The +power was at one time very common amongst the Icelanders and the +inhabitants of the Hebrides, but it is so no longer. Many and +extraordinary instances of the second sight have lately occurred in +that part of England generally termed East Anglia, where in former +times the power of the second sight seldom manifested itself. + +There are various books in existence in which the second sight is +treated of or mentioned. Amongst others there is one called +"Martin's Description of the Western Isles of Scotland," published +in the year 1703, which is indeed the book from which most writers +in English, who have treated of the second sight, have derived +their information. The author gives various anecdotes of the +second sight, which he had picked up during his visits to those +remote islands, which until the publication of his tour were almost +unknown to the world. It will not be amiss to observe here that +the term second sight is of Lowland Scotch origin, and first made +its appearance in print in Martin's book. The Gaelic term for the +faculty is taibhsearachd, the literal meaning of which is what is +connected with a spectral appearance, the root of the word being +taibhse, a spectral appearance or vision. + +Then there is the History of Duncan Campbell. The father of this +person was a native of Shetland, who, being shipwrecked on the +coast of Swedish Lapland, and hospitably received by the natives, +married a woman of the country, by whom he had Duncan, who was born +deaf and dumb. On the death of his mother the child was removed by +his father to Scotland, where he was educated and taught the use of +the finger alphabet, by means of which people are enabled to hold +discourse with each other, without moving the lips or tongue. This +alphabet was originally invented in Scotland, and at the present +day is much in use there, not only amongst dumb people, but many +others, who employ it as a silent means of communication. Nothing +is more usual than to see passengers in a common conveyance in +Scotland discoursing with their fingers. Duncan at an early period +gave indications of possessing the second sight. After various +adventures he came to London, where for many years he practised as +a fortune-teller, pretending to answer all questions, whether +relating to the past or the future, by means of the second sight. +There can be no doubt that this man was to a certain extent an +impostor; no person exists having a thorough knowledge either of +the past or future by means of the second sight, which only visits +particular people by fits and starts, and which is quite +independent of individual will; but it is equally certain that he +disclosed things which no person could have been acquainted with +without visitations of the second sight. His papers fell into the +hands of Defoe, who wrought them up in his own peculiar manner, and +gave them to the world under the title of the Life of Mr Duncan +Campbell, the Deaf and Dumb Gentleman: with an appendix containing +many anecdotes of the second sight from Martin's tour. + +But by far the most remarkable book in existence, connected with +the second sight, is one in the ancient Norse language entitled +"Nial's Saga." (3) It was written in Iceland about the year 1200, +and contains the history of a certain Nial and his family, and +likewise notices of various other people. This Nial was what was +called a spamadr, that is, a spaeman or a person capable of +foretelling events. He was originally a heathen - when, however, +Christianity was introduced into Iceland, he was amongst the first +to embrace it, and persuaded his family and various people of his +acquaintance to do the same, declaring that a new faith was +necessary, the old religion of Odin, Thor, and Frey, being quite +unsuited to the times. The book is no romance, but a domestic +history compiled from tradition about two hundred years after the +events which it narrates had taken place. Of its style, which is +wonderfully terse, the following translated account of Nial and his +family will perhaps convey some idea:- + +"There was a man called Nial, who was the son of Thorgeir Gelling, +the son of Thorolf. The mother of Nial was called Asgerdr; she was +the daughter of Ar, the Silent, the Lord of a district in Norway. +She had come over to Iceland and settled down on land to the west +of Markarfliot, between Oldustein and Selialandsmul. Holtathorir +was her son, father of Thorlief Krak, from whom the Skogverjars are +come, and likewise of Thorgrim the big and Skorargeir. Nial dwelt +at Bergthorshval in Landey, but had another house at Thorolfell. +Nial was very rich in property, and handsome to look at, but had no +beard. He was so great a lawyer, that it was impossible to find +his equal, he was very wise, and had the gift of foretelling +events, he was good at counsel, and of a good disposition, and +whatever counsel he gave people was for their best; he was gentle +and humane, and got every man out of trouble who came to him in his +need. His wife was called Bergthora; she was the daughter of +Skarphethin. She was a bold-spirited woman who feared nobody, and +was rather rough of temper. They had six children, three daughters +and three sons, all of whom will be frequently mentioned in this +saga." + +In the history many instances are given of Nial's skill in giving +good advice and his power of seeing events before they happened. +Nial lived in Iceland during most singular times, in which though +there were laws provided for every possible case, no man could have +redress for any injury unless he took it himself, or his friends +took it for him, simply because there were no ministers of justice +supported by the State, authorised and empowered to carry the +sentence of the law into effect. For example, if a man were slain, +his death would remain unpunished, unless he had a son or a +brother, or some other relation to slay the slayer, or to force him +to pay "bod," that is, amends in money, to be determined by the +position of the man who was slain. Provided the man who was slain +had relations, his death was generally avenged, as it was +considered the height of infamy in Iceland to permit one's +relations to be murdered, without slaying their murderers, or +obtaining bod from them. The right, however, permitted to +relations of taking with their own hands the lives of those who had +slain their friends, produced incalculable mischiefs; for if the +original slayer had friends, they, in the event of his being slain +in retaliation for what he had done, made it a point of honour to +avenge his death, so that by the lex talionis feuds were +perpetuated. Nial was a great benefactor to his countrymen, by +arranging matters between people, at variance in which he was much +helped by his knowledge of the law, and by giving wholesome advice +to people in precarious situations, in which he was frequently +helped by the power which he possessed of the second sight. On +several occasions he settled the disputes in which his friend +Gunnar was involved, a noble, generous character, and the champion +of Iceland, but who had a host of foes, envious of his renown; and +it was not his fault if Gunnar was eventually slain, for if the +advice which he gave had been followed, the champion would have +died an old man; and if his own sons had followed his advice, and +not been over fond of taking vengeance on people who had wronged +them, they would have escaped a horrible death, in which he himself +was involved, as he had always foreseen he should be. + +"Dost thou know by what death thou thyself wilt die?" said Gunnar +to Nial, after the latter had been warning him that if he followed +a certain course he would die by a violent death. + +"I do," said Nial. + +"What is it?" said Gunnar. + +"What people would think the least probable," replied Nial. + +He meant that he should die by fire. The kind generous Nial, who +tried to get everybody out of difficulty, perished by fire. His +sons by their violent conduct had incensed numerous people against +them. The house in which they lived with their father was beset at +night by an armed party, who, unable to break into it owing to the +desperate resistance which they met with from the sons of Nial, +Skarphethin, Helgi, and Grimmr and a comrade of theirs called Kari, +(4) set it in a blaze, in which perished Nial, the lawyer and man +of the second sight, his wife Bergthora, and two of their sons, the +third, Helgi, having been previously slain, and Kari, who was +destined to be the avenger of the ill-fated family, having made his +escape, after performing deeds of heroism which for centuries after +were the themes of song and tale in the ice-bound isle. + + + +CHAPTER XXIX + + + +Snowdon - Caernarvon - Maxen Wledig - Moel y Cynghorion - The +Wyddfa - Snow of Snowdon - Rare Plant. + + +ON the third morning after our arrival at Bangor we set out for +Snowdon. + +Snowdon or Eryri is no single hill, but a mountainous region, the +loftiest part of which, called Y Wyddfa, nearly four thousand feet +above the level of the sea, is generally considered to be the +highest point of Southern Britain. The name Snowdon was bestowed +upon this region by the early English on account of its snowy +appearance in winter; Eryri by the Britons, because in the old time +it abounded with eagles, Eryri (5) in the ancient British language +signifying an eyrie or breeding-place of eagles. + +Snowdon is interesting on various accounts. It is interesting for +its picturesque beauty. Perhaps in the whole world there is no +region more picturesquely beautiful than Snowdon, a region of +mountains, lakes, cataracts, and, groves in which nature shows +herself in her most grand and beautiful forms. + +It is interesting from its connection with history: it was to +Snowdon that Vortigern retired from the fury of his own subjects, +caused by the favour which he showed to the detested Saxons. It +was there that he called to his counsels Merlin, said to be +begotten on a hag by an incubus, but who was in reality the son of +a Roman consul by a British woman. It was in Snowdon that he built +the castle, which he fondly deemed would prove impregnable, but +which his enemies destroyed by flinging wild-fire over its walls; +and it was in a wind-beaten valley of Snowdon, near the sea, that +his dead body decked in green armour had a mound of earth and +stones raised over it. It was on the heights of Snowdon that the +brave but unfortunate Llywelin ap Griffith made his last stand for +Cambrian independence; and it was to Snowdon that that very +remarkable man, Owen Glendower, retired with his irregular bands +before Harry the Fourth and his numerous and disciplined armies, +soon however, to emerge from its defiles and follow the foe, +retreating less from the Welsh arrows from the crags, than from the +cold, rain and starvation of the Welsh hills. + +But it is from its connection with romance that Snowdon derives its +chief interest. Who when he thinks of Snowdon does not associate +it with the heroes of romance, Arthur and his knights? whose +fictitious adventures, the splendid dreams of Welsh and Breton +minstrels, many of the scenes of which are the valleys and passes +of Snowdon, are the origin of romance, before which what is classic +has for more than half a century been waning, and is perhaps +eventually destined to disappear. Yes, to romance Snowdon is +indebted for its interest and consequently for its celebrity; but +for romance Snowdon would assuredly not be what it at present is, +one of the very celebrated hills of the world, and to the poets of +modern Europe almost what Parnassus was to those of old. + +To the Welsh, besides being the hill of the Awen or Muse, it has +always been the hill of hills, the loftiest of all mountains, the +one whose snow is the coldest, to climb to whose peak is the most +difficult of all feats; and the one whose fall will be the most +astounding catastrophe of the last day. + +To view this mountain I and my little family set off in a caleche +on the third morning after our arrival at Bangor. + +Our first stage was to Caernarvon. As I subsequently made a +journey to Caernarvon on foot, I shall say nothing about the road +till I give an account of that expedition, save that it lies for +the most part in the neighbourhood of the sea. We reached +Caernarvon, which is distant ten miles from Bangor, about eleven +o'clock, and put up at an inn to refresh ourselves and the horses. +It is a beautiful little town situated on the southern side of the +Menai Strait at nearly its western extremity. It is called +Caernarvon, because it is opposite Mona or Anglesey: Caernarvon +signifying the town or castle opposite Mona. Its principal feature +is its grand old castle, fronting the north, and partly surrounded +by the sea. This castle was built by Edward the First after the +fall of his brave adversary Llewelyn, and in it was born his son +Edward whom, when an infant, he induced the Welsh chieftains to +accept as their prince without seeing, by saying that the person +whom he proposed to be their sovereign was one who was not only +born in Wales, but could not speak a word of the English language. +The town Caernarvon, however, existed long before Edward's time, +and was probably originally a Roman station. According to Welsh +tradition it was built by Maxen Wledig or Maxentius, in honour of +his wife Ellen who was born in the neighbourhood. Maxentius, who +was a Briton by birth, and partly by origin contested +unsuccessfully the purple with Gratian and Valentinian, and to +support his claim led over to the Continent an immense army of +Britons, who never returned, but on the fall of their leader +settled down in that part of Gaul generally termed Armorica, which +means a maritime region, but which the Welsh call Llydaw, or +Lithuania, which was the name, or something like the name, which +the region bore when Maxen's army took possession of it, owing, +doubtless, to its having been the quarters of a legion composed of +barbarians from the country of Leth or Lithuania. + +After staying about an hour at Caernarvon we started for Llanberis, +a few miles to the east. Llanberis is a small village situated in +a valley, and takes its name from Peris, a British saint of the +sixth century, son of Helig ab Glanog. The valley extends from +west to east, having the great mountain of Snowdon on its south, +and a range of immense hills on its northern side. We entered this +valley by a pass called Nant y Glo or the ravine of the coal, and +passing a lake on our left, on which I observed a solitary +corracle, with a fisherman in it, were presently at the village. +Here we got down at a small inn, and having engaged a young lad to +serve as guide, I set out with Henrietta to ascend the hill, my +wife remaining behind, not deeming herself sufficiently strong to +encounter the fatigue of the expedition. + +Pointing with my finger to the head of Snowdon towering a long way +from us in the direction of the east, I said to Henrietta:- + +"Dacw Eryri, yonder is Snowdon. Let us try to get to the top. The +Welsh have a proverb: 'It is easy to say yonder is Snowdon; but +not so easy to ascend it.' Therefore I would advise you to brace +up your nerves and sinews for the attempt." + +We then commenced the ascent, arm-in-arm, followed by the lad, I +singing at the stretch of my voice a celebrated Welsh stanza, in +which the proverb about Snowdon is given, embellished with a fine +moral, and which may thus be rendered:- + + +"Easy to say, 'Behold Eryri,' +But difficult to reach its head; +Easy for him whose hopes are cheery +To bid the wretch be comforted." + + +We were far from being the only visitors to the hill this day; +groups of people, or single individuals, might be seen going up or +descending the path as far as the eye could reach. The path was +remarkably good, and for some way the ascent was anything but +steep. On our left was the Vale of Llanberis, and on our other +side a broad hollow, or valley of Snowdon, beyond which were two +huge hills forming part of the body of the grand mountain, the +lowermost of which our guide told me was called Moel Elia, and the +uppermost Moel y Cynghorion. On we went until we had passed both +these hills, and come to the neighbourhood of a great wall of rocks +constituting the upper region of Snowdon, and where the real +difficulty of the ascent commences. Feeling now rather out of +breath we sat down on a little knoll with our faces to the south, +having a small lake near us, on our left hand, which lay dark and +deep, just under the great wall. + +Here we sat for some time resting and surveying the scene which +presented itself to us, the principal object of which was the +north-eastern side of the mighty Moel y Cynghorion, across the wide +hollow or valley, which it overhangs in the shape of a sheer +precipice some five hundred feet in depth. Struck by the name of +Moel y Cynghorion, which in English signifies the hill of the +counsellors, I enquired of our guide why the hill was so called, +but as he could afford me no information on the point I presumed +that it was either called the hill of the counsellors from the +Druids having held high consultation on its top, in time of old, or +from the unfortunate Llewelyn having consulted there with his +chieftains, whilst his army lay encamped in the vale below. + +Getting up we set about surmounting what remained of the ascent. +The path was now winding and much more steep than it had hitherto +been. I was at one time apprehensive that my gentle companion +would be obliged to give over the attempt; the gallant girl, +however, persevered, and in little more than twenty minutes from +the time when we arose from our resting-place under the crags, we +stood, safe and sound, though panting, upon the very top of +Snowdon, the far-famed Wyddfa. + +The Wyddfa is about thirty feet in diameter and is surrounded on +three sides by a low wall. In the middle of it is a rude cabin, in +which refreshments are sold, and in which a person resides through +the year, though there are few or no visitors to the hill's top, +except during the months of summer. Below on all sides are +frightful precipices except on the side of the west. Towards the +east it looks perpendicularly into the dyffrin or vale, nearly a +mile below, from which to the gazer it is at all times an object of +admiration, of wonder and almost of fear. + +There we stood on the Wyddfa, in a cold bracing atmosphere, though +the day was almost stiflingly hot in the regions from which we had +ascended. There we stood enjoying a scene inexpressibly grand, +comprehending a considerable part of the mainland of Wales, the +whole of Anglesey, a faint glimpse of part of Cumberland; the Irish +Channel, and what might be either a misty creation or the shadowy +outline of the hills of Ireland. Peaks and pinnacles and huge +moels stood up here and there, about us and below us, partly in +glorious light, partly in deep shade. Manifold were the objects +which we saw from the brow of Snowdon, but of all the objects which +we saw, those which filled us with delight and admiration, were +numerous lakes and lagoons, which, like sheets of ice or polished +silver, lay reflecting the rays of the sun in the deep valleys at +his feet. + +"Here," said I to Henrietta, "you are on the top crag of Snowdon, +which the Welsh consider, and perhaps with justice, to be the most +remarkable crag in the world; which is mentioned in many of their +old wild romantic tales, and some of the noblest of their poems, +amongst others in the 'Day of Judgment,' by the illustrious Goronwy +Owen, where it is brought forward in the following manner: + + +"'Ail i'r ar ael Eryri, +Cyfartal hoewal a hi.' + +"'The brow of Snowdon shall be levelled with the ground, and the +eddying waters shall murmur round it.' + + +"You are now on the top crag of Snowdon, generally termed Y Wyddfa, +(6) which means a conspicuous place or tumulus, and which is +generally in winter covered with snow; about which snow there are +in the Welsh language two curious englynion or stanzas consisting +entirely of vowels with the exception of one consonant, namely the +letter R. + + +"'Oer yw'r Eira ar Eryri, - o'ryw +Ar awyr i rewi; +Oer yw'r ia ar riw 'r ri, +A'r Eira oer yw 'Ryri. + +"'O Ri y'Ryri yw'r oera, - o'r ar, +Ar oror wir arwa; +O'r awyr a yr Eira, +O'i ryw i roi rew a'r ia.' + +"'Cold is the snow on Snowdon's brow +It makes the air so chill; +For cold, I trow, there is no snow +Like that of Snowdon's hill. + +"'A hill most chill is Snowdon's hill, +And wintry is his brow; +From Snowdon's hill the breezes chill +Can freeze the very snow.'" + + +Such was the harangue which I uttered on the top of Snowdon; to +which Henrietta listened with attention; three or four English, who +stood nigh, with grinning scorn, and a Welsh gentleman with +considerable interest. The latter coming forward shook me by the +hand exclaiming - + +"Wyt ti Lydaueg?" + +"I am not a Llydauan," said I; "I wish I was, or anything but what +I am, one of a nation amongst whom any knowledge save what relates +to money-making and over-reaching is looked upon as a disgrace. I +am ashamed to say that I am an Englishman." + +I then returned his shake of the hand; and bidding Henrietta and +the guide follow me, went into the cabin, where Henrietta had some +excellent coffee and myself and the guide a bottle of tolerable +ale; very much refreshed we set out on our return. + +A little way from the top, on the right-hand side as you descend, +there is a very steep path running down in a zigzag manner to the +pass which leads to Capel Curig. Up this path it is indeed a task +of difficulty to ascend to the Wyddfa, the one by which we mounted +being comparatively easy. On Henrietta's pointing out to me a +plant, which grew on a crag by the side of this path some way down, +I was about to descend in order to procure it for her, when our +guide springing forward darted down the path with the agility of a +young goat, in less than a minute returned with it in his hand and +presented it gracefully to the dear girl, who on examining it said +it belonged to a species of which she had long been desirous of +possessing a specimen. Nothing material occurred in our descent to +Llanberis, where my wife was anxiously awaiting us. The ascent and +descent occupied four hours. About ten o'clock at night we again +found ourselves at Bangor. + + + +CHAPTER XXX + + + +Gronwy Owen - Struggles of Genius - The Stipend. + + +THE day after our expedition to Snowdon I and my family parted; +they returning by railroad to Chester and Llangollen whilst I took +a trip into Anglesey to visit the birth-place of the great poet +Goronwy Owen, whose works I had read with enthusiasm in my early +years. + +Goronwy or Gronwy Owen, was born in the year 1722, at a place +called Llanfair Mathafarn Eithaf in Anglesey. He was the eldest of +three children. His parents were peasants and so exceedingly poor +that they were unable to send him to school. Even, however, when +an unlettered child he gave indications that he was visited by the +awen or muse. At length the celebrated Lewis Morris chancing to be +at Llanfair became acquainted with the boy, and struck with his +natural talents, determined that he should have all the benefit +which education could bestow. He accordingly, at his own expense +sent him to school at Beaumaris, where he displayed a remarkable +aptitude for the acquisition of learning. He subsequently sent him +to Jesus College, Oxford, and supported him there whilst studying +for the church. Whilst at Jesus, Gronwy distinguished himself as a +Greek and Latin scholar, and gave such proofs of poetical talent in +his native language, that he was looked upon by his countrymen of +that Welsh college as the rising Bard of the age. After completing +his collegiate course he returned to Wales, where he was ordained a +minister of the Church in the year 1745. The next seven years of +his life were a series of cruel disappointments and pecuniary +embarrassments. The grand wish of his heart was to obtain a curacy +and to settle down in Wales. Certainly a very reasonable wish. To +say nothing of his being a great genius, he was eloquent, highly +learned, modest, meek and of irreproachable morals, yet Gronwy Owen +could obtain no Welsh curacy, nor could his friend Lewis Morris, +though he exerted himself to the utmost, procure one for him. It +is true that he was told that he might go to Llanfair, his native +place, and officiate there at a time when the curacy happened to be +vacant, and thither he went, glad at heart to get back amongst his +old friends, who enthusiastically welcomed him; yet scarcely had he +been there three weeks when he received notice from the Chaplain of +the Bishop of Bangor that he must vacate Llanfair in order to make +room for a Mr John Ellis, a young clergyman of large independent +fortune, who was wishing for a curacy under the Bishop of Bangor, +Doctor Hutton - so poor Gronwy the eloquent, the learned, the meek, +was obliged to vacate the pulpit of his native place to make room +for the rich young clergyman, who wished to be within dining +distance of the palace of Bangor. Truly in this world the full +shall be crammed, and those who have little, shall have the little +which they have taken away from them. Unable to obtain employment +in Wales Gronwy sought for it in England, and after some time +procured the curacy of Oswestry in Shropshire, where he married a +respectable young woman, who eventually brought him two sons and a +daughter. + +From Oswestry he went to Donnington near Shrewsbury, where under a +certain Scotchman named Douglas, who was an absentee, and who died +Bishop of Salisbury, he officiated as curate and master of a +grammar school for a stipend - always grudgingly and contumeliously +paid - of three-and-twenty pounds a year. From Donnington he +removed to Walton in Cheshire, where he lost his daughter who was +carried off by a fever. His next removal was to Northolt, a +pleasant village in the neighbourhood of London. + +He held none of his curacies long, either losing them from the +caprice of his principals, or being compelled to resign them from +the parsimony which they practised towards him. In the year 1756 +he was living in a garret in London vainly soliciting employment in +his sacred calling, and undergoing with his family the greatest +privations. At length his friend Lewis Morris, who had always +assisted him to the utmost of his ability, procured him the +mastership of a government school at New Brunswick in North America +with a salary of three hundred pounds a year. Thither he went with +his wife and family, and there he died sometime about the year +1780. + +He was the last of the great poets of Cambria and, with the +exception of Ab Gwilym, the greatest which she has produced. His +poems which for a long time had circulated through Wales in +manuscript were first printed in the year 1819. They are composed +in the ancient Bardic measures, and were with one exception, namely +an elegy on the death of his benefactor Lewis Morris, which was +transmitted from the New World, written before he had attained the +age of thirty-five. All his pieces are excellent, but his +masterwork is decidedly the Cywydd y Farn or "Day of Judgment." +This poem which is generally considered by the Welsh as the +brightest ornament of their ancient language, was composed at +Donnington, a small hamlet in Shropshire on the north-west spur of +the Wrekin, at which place, as has been already said, Gronwy toiled +as schoolmaster and curate under Douglas the Scot, for a stipend of +three-and-twenty pounds a year. + + + +CHAPTER XXXI + + + +Start for Anglesey - The Post-Master - Asking Questions - Mynydd +Lydiart - Mr Pritchard - Way to Llanfair. + + +WHEN I started from Bangor, to visit the birth-place of Gronwy +Owen, I by no means saw my way clearly before me. I knew that he +was born in Anglesey in a parish called Llanfair Mathafarn eithaf, +that is St Mary's of farther Mathafarn - but as to where this +Mathafarn lay, north or south, near or far, I knew positively +nothing. Passing through the northern suburb of Bangor I saw a +small house in front of which was written "post-office" in white +letters; before this house underneath a shrub in a little garden +sat an old man reading. Thinking that from this person, whom I +judged to be the post-master, I was as likely to obtain information +with respect to the place of my destination as from any one, I +stopped, and taking off my hat for a moment, inquired whether he +could tell me anything about the direction of a place called +Llanfair Mathafarn eithaf. He did not seem to understand my +question, for getting up he came towards me and asked what I +wanted: I repeated what I had said, whereupon his face became +animated. + +"Llanfair Mathafarn eithaf!" said he. "Yes, I can tell you about +it, and with good reason, for it lies not far from the place where +I was born." + +The above was the substance of what he said, and nothing more, for +he spoke in English somewhat broken. + +"And how far is Llanfair from here?" said I. + +"About ten miles," he replied. + +"That's nothing," said I: "I was afraid it was much farther." + +"Do you call ten miles nothing," said he, "in a burning day like +this? I think you will be both tired and thirsty before you get to +Llanfair, supposing you go there on foot. But what may your +business be at Llanfair?" said he, looking at me inquisitively. +"It is a strange place to go to, unless you go to buy hogs or +cattle." + +"I go to buy neither hogs nor cattle," said I, "though I am +somewhat of a judge of both; I go on a more important errand, +namely to see the birth-place of the great Gronwy Owen." + +"Are you any relation of Gronwy Owen?" said the old man, looking at +me more inquisitively than before, through a large pair of +spectacles which he wore. + +"None whatever," said I. + +"Then why do you go to see his parish, it is a very poor one." + +"From respect to his genius," said I; "I read his works long ago, +and was delighted with them." + +"Are you a Welshman?" said the old man. + +"No," said I, "I am no Welshman." + +"Can you speak Welsh?" said he, addressing me in that language. + +"A little," said I; "but not so well as I can read it." + +"Well," said the old man, "I have lived here a great many years, +but never before did a Saxon call upon me, asking questions about +Gronwy Owen, or his birth-place. Immortality to his memory! I owe +much to him, for reading his writings taught me to be a poet!" + +"Dear me!" said I, "are you a poet?" + +"I trust I am," said he; "though the humblest of Ynys Fon." + +A flash of proud fire, methought, illumined his features as he +pronounced these last words. + +"I am most happy to have met you," said I; "but tell me how am I to +get to Llanfair?" + +"You must go first," said he, "to Traeth Coch which in Saxon is +called the 'Red Sand.' In the village called the Pentraeth which +lies above that sand, I was born; through the village and over the +bridge you must pass, and after walking four miles due north you +will find yourself in Llanfair eithaf, at the northern extremity of +Mon. Farewell! That ever Saxon should ask me about Gronwy Owen, +and his birth-place! I scarcely believe you to be a Saxon, but +whether you be or not, I repeat farewell." + +Coming to the Menai Bridge I asked the man who took the penny toll +at the entrance, the way to Pentraeth Coch. + +"You see that white house by the wood," said he, pointing some +distance into Anglesey; "you must make towards it till you come to +a place where there are four cross roads and then you must take the +road to the right." + +Passing over the bridge I made my way towards the house by the wood +which stood on the hill till I came where the four roads met, when +I turned to the right as directed. + +The country through which I passed seemed tolerably well +cultivated, the hedge-rows were very high, seeming to spring out of +low stone walls. I met two or three gangs of reapers proceeding to +their work with scythes in their hands. + +In about half-an-hour I passed by a farm-house partly surrounded +with walnut trees. Still the same high hedges on both sides of the +road: are these hedges relics of the sacrificial groves of Mona? +thought I to myself. Then I came to a wretched village through +which I hurried at the rate of six miles an hour. I then saw a +long, lofty, craggy hill on my right hand towards the east. + +"What mountain is that?" said I to an urchin playing in the hot +dust of the road. + +"Mynydd Lydiart!" said the urchin, tossing up a handful of the hot +dust into the air, part of which in descending fell into my eyes. + +I shortly afterwards passed by a handsome lodge. I then saw +groves, mountain Lydiart forming a noble background. + +"Who owns this wood?" said I in Welsh to two men who were limbing a +felled tree by the road-side. + +"Lord Vivian," answered one, touching his hat. + +"The gentleman is our countryman," said he to the other after I had +passed. + +I was now descending the side of a pretty valley, and soon found +myself at Pentraeth Coch. The part of the Pentraeth where I now +was consisted of a few houses and a church, or something which I +judged to be a church, for there was no steeple; the houses and +church stood about a little open spot or square, the church on the +east, and on the west a neat little inn or public-house over the +door of which was written "The White Horse. Hugh Pritchard." By +this time I had verified in part the prediction of the old Welsh +poet of the post-office. Though I was not yet arrived at Llanfair, +I was, if not tired, very thirsty, owing to the burning heat of the +weather, so I determined to go in and have some ale. On entering +the house I was greeted in English by Mr Hugh Pritchard himself, a +tall bulky man with a weather-beaten countenance, dressed in a +brown jerkin and corduroy trowsers, with a broad low-crowned buff- +coloured hat on his head, and what might he called half shoes and +half high-lows on his feet. He had a short pipe in his mouth, +which when he greeted me he took out, but replaced as soon as the +greeting was over, which consisted of "Good-day, sir," delivered in +a frank, hearty tone. I looked Mr Hugh Pritchard in the face and +thought I had never seen a more honest countenance. On my telling +Mr Pritchard that I wanted a pint of ale, a buxom damsel came +forward and led me into a nice cool parlour on the right-hand side +of the door, and then went to fetch the ale. + +Mr Pritchard meanwhile went into a kind of tap-room, fronting the +parlour, where I heard him talking in Welsh about pigs and cattle +to some of his customers. I observed that he spoke with some +hesitation; which circumstance I mention as rather curious, he +being the only Welshman I have ever known who, when speaking his +native language, appeared to be at a loss for words. The damsel +presently brought me the ale, which I tasted and found excellent; +she was going away when I asked her whether Mr Pritchard was her +father; on her replying in the affirmative I inquired whether she +was born in that house. + +"No!" said she; "I was born in Liverpool; my father was born in +this house, which belonged to his fathers before him, but he left +it at an early age and married my mother in Liverpool, who was an +Anglesey woman, and so I was born in Liverpool." + +"And what did you do in Liverpool?" said I. + +"My mother kept a little shop," said the girl, "whilst my father +followed various occupations." + +"And how long have you been here?" said I. + +"Since the death of my grandfather," said the girl, "which happened +about a year ago. When he died my father came here and took +possession of his birth-right." + +"You speak very good English," said I; "have you any Welsh?" + +"Oh yes, plenty," said the girl; "we always speak Welsh together, +but being born at Liverpool, I of course have plenty of English." + +"And which language do you prefer?" said I. + +"I think I like English best," said the girl, "it is the most +useful language." + +"Not in Anglesey," said I. + +"Well," said the girl, "it is the most genteel." + +"Gentility," said I, "will be the ruin of Welsh, as it has been of +many other things - what have I to pay for the ale?" + +"Three pence," said she. + +I paid the money and the girl went out. I finished my ale, and +getting up made for the door; at the door I was met by Mr Hugh +Pritchard, who came out of the tap-room to thank me for my custom, +and to bid me farewell. I asked him whether I should have any +difficulty in finding the way to Llanfair. + +"None whatever," said he, "you have only to pass over the bridge of +the Traeth, and to go due north for about four miles, and you will +find yourself in Llanfair." + +"What kind of place is it?" said I. + +"A poor straggling village," said Mr Pritchard. + +"Shall I be able to obtain a lodging there for the night?" said I. + +"Scarcely one such as you would like," said Hugh. + +"And where had I best pass the night?" I demanded. + +"We can accommodate you comfortably here," said Mr Pritchard, +"provided you have no objection to come back." + +I told him that I should be only too happy, and forthwith departed, +glad at heart that I had secured a comfortable lodging for the +night. + + + +CHAPTER XXXII + + + +Leave Pentraeth - Tranquil Scene - The Knoll - The Miller and his +Wife - Poetry of Gronwy - Kind Offer - Church of Llanfair - No +English - Confusion of Ideas - The Gronwy - Notable Little Girl - +The Sycamore Leaf - Home from California. + + +THE village of Pentraeth Goch occupies two sides of a romantic dell +- that part of it which stands on the southern side, and which +comprises the church and the little inn, is by far the prettiest, +that which occupies the northern is a poor assemblage of huts, a +brook rolls at the bottom of the dell, over which there is a little +bridge: coming to the bridge I stopped, and looked over the side +into the water running briskly below. An aged man who looked like +a beggar, but who did not beg of me, stood by. + +"To what place does this water run?" said I in English. + +"I know no Saxon," said he in trembling accents. + +I repeated my question in Welsh. + +"To the sea," he said, "which is not far off, indeed it is so near, +that when there are high tides, the salt water comes up to this +bridge." + +"You seem feeble?" said I. + +"I am so," said he, "for I am old." + +"How old are you?" said I. + +"Sixteen after sixty," said the old man with a sigh; "and I have +nearly lost my sight and my hearing." + +"Are you poor?" said I. + +"Very," said the old man. + +I gave him a trifle which he accepted with thanks. + +"Why is this sand called the red sand?" said I. + +"I cannot tell you," said the old man, "I wish I could, for you +have been kind to me." + +Bidding him farewell I passed through the northern part of the +village to the top of the hill. I walked a little way forward and +then stopped, as I had done at the bridge in the dale, and looked +to the east, over a low stone wall. + +Before me lay the sea or rather the northern entrance of the Menai +Straits. To my right was mountain Lidiart projecting some way into +the sea; to my left, that is to the north, was a high hill, with a +few white houses near its base, forming a small village, which a +woman who passed by knitting told me was called Llan Peder Goch or +the Church of Red Saint Peter. Mountain Lidiart and the Northern +Hill formed the headlands of a beautiful bay into which the waters +of the Traeth dell, from which I had come, were discharged. A +sandbank, probably covered with the sea at high tide, seemed to +stretch from mountain Lidiart a considerable way towards the +northern hill. Mountain, bay and sandbank were bathed in sunshine; +the water was perfectly calm; nothing was moving upon it, nor upon +the shore, and I thought I had never beheld a more beautiful and +tranquil scene. + +I went on. The country which had hitherto been very beautiful, +abounding with yellow corn-fields, became sterile and rocky; there +were stone walls, but no hedges. I passed by a moor on my left, +then a moory hillock on my right; the way was broken and stony; all +traces of the good roads of Wales had disappeared; the habitations +which I saw by the way were miserable hovels into and out of which +large sows were stalking, attended by their farrows. + +"Am I far from Llanfair?" said I to a child. + +"You are in Llanfair, gentleman," said the child. + +A desolate place was Llanfair. The sea in the neighbourhood to the +south, limekilns with their stifling smoke not far from me. I sat +down on a little green knoll on the right-hand side of the road; a +small house was near me, and a desolate-looking mill at about a +furlong's distance, to the south. Hogs came about me grunting and +sniffing. I felt quite melancholy. + +"Is this the neighbourhood of the birth-place of Gronwy Owen?" said +I to myself. "No wonder that he was unfortunate through life, +springing from such a region of wretchedness." + +Wretched as the region seemed, however, I soon found there were +kindly hearts close by me. + +As I sat on the knoll I heard some one slightly cough very near me, +and looking to the left saw a man dressed like a miller looking at +me from the garden of the little house, which I have already +mentioned. + +I got up and gave him the sele of the day in English. He was a man +about thirty, rather tall than otherwise, with a very prepossessing +countenance. He shook his head at my English. + +"What," said I, addressing him in the language of the country, +"have you no English? Perhaps you have Welsh?" + +"Plenty," said he, laughing "there is no lack of Welsh amongst any +of us here. Are you a Welshman?" + +"No," said I, "an Englishman from the far east of Lloegr." + +"And what brings you here?" said the man. + +"A strange errand," I replied, "to look at the birth-place of a man +who has long been dead." + +"Do you come to seek for an inheritance?" said the man. + +"No," said I. "Besides the man whose birth-place I came to see, +died poor, leaving nothing behind him but immortality." + +"Who was he?" said the miller. + +"Did you ever hear a sound of Gronwy Owen?" said I. + +"Frequently," said the miller; "I have frequently heard a sound of +him. He was born close by in a house yonder," pointing to the +south. + +"Oh yes, gentleman," said a nice-looking woman, who holding a +little child by the hand was come to the house-door, and was +eagerly listening, "we have frequently heard speak of Gronwy Owen; +there is much talk of him in these parts." + +"I am glad to hear it," said I, "for I have feared that his name +would not be known here." + +"Pray, gentleman, walk in!" said the miller; "we are going to have +our afternoon's meal, and shall be rejoiced if you will join us." + +"Yes, do, gentleman," said the miller's wife, for such the good +woman was; "and many a welcome shall you have." + +I hesitated, and was about to excuse myself. + +"Don't refuse, gentleman!" said both, "surely you are not too proud +to sit down with us?" + +"I am afraid I shall only cause you trouble," said I. + +"Dim blinder, no trouble," exclaimed both at once; "pray do walk +in!" + +I entered the house, and the kitchen, parlour, or whatever it was, +a nice little room with a slate floor. They made me sit down at a +table by the window, which was already laid for a meal. There was +a clean cloth upon it, a tea-pot, cups and saucers, a large plate +of bread-and-butter, and a plate, on which were a few very thin +slices of brown, watery cheese. + +My good friends took their seats, the wife poured out tea for the +stranger and her husband, helped us both to bread-and-butter and +the watery cheese, then took care of herself. Before, however, I +could taste the tea, the wife, seeming to recollect herself, +started up, and hurrying to a cupboard, produced a basin full of +snow-white lump sugar, and taking the spoon out of my hand, placed +two of the largest lumps in my cup, though she helped neither her +husband nor herself; the sugar-basin being probably only kept for +grand occasions. + +My eyes filled with tears; for in the whole course of my life I had +never experienced so much genuine hospitality. Honour to the +miller of Mona and his wife; and honour to the kind hospitable +Celts in general! How different is the reception of this despised +race of the wandering stranger from that of -. However, I am a +Saxon myself, and the Saxons have no doubt their virtues; a pity +that they should be all uncouth and ungracious ones! + +I asked my kind host his name. + +"John Jones," he replied, "Melinydd of Llanfair." + +"Is the mill which you work your own property?" I inquired. + +"No," he answered, "I rent it of a person who lives close by." + +"And how happens it," said I, "that you speak no English?" + +"How should it happen," said he, "that I should speak any? I have +never been far from here; my wife who has lived at service at +Liverpool can speak some." + +"Can you read poetry?" said I. + +"I can read the psalms and hymns that they sing at our chapel," he +replied. + +"Then you are not of the Church?" said I. + +"I am not," said the miller; "I am a Methodist." + +"Can you read the poetry of Gronwy Owen?" said I. + +"I cannot," said the miller, "that is with any comfort; his poetry +is in the ancient Welsh measures, which make poetry so difficult +that few can understand it." + +"I can understand poetry in those measures," said I. + +"And how much time did you spend," said the miller, "before you +could understand the poetry of the measures?" + +"Three years," said I. + +The miller laughed. + +"I could not have afforded all that time," said he, "to study the +songs of Gronwy. However, it is well that some people should have +time to study them. He was a great poet as I have been told, and +is the glory of our land - but he was unfortunate; I have read his +life in Welsh and part of his letters; and in doing so have shed +tears." + +"Has his house any particular name?" said I. + +"It is called sometimes Ty Gronwy," said the miller; "but more +frequently Tafarn Goch." + +"The Red Tavern?" said I. "How is it that so many of your places +are called Goch? there is Pentraeth Goch; there is Saint Pedair +Goch, and here at Llanfair is Tafarn Goch." + +The miller laughed. + +"It will take a wiser man than I," said he, "to answer that +question." + +The repast over I rose up, gave my host thanks, and said, "I will +now leave you, and hunt up things connected with Gronwy." + +"And where will you find a lletty for night, gentleman?" said the +miller's wife. "This is a poor place, but if you will make use of +our home you are welcome." + +"I need not trouble you," said I, "I return this night to Pentraeth +Goch where I shall sleep." + +"Well," said the miller, "whilst you are at Llanfair I will +accompany you about. Where shall we go to first?" + +"Where is the church?" said I. "I should like to see the church +where Gronwy worshipped God as a boy." + +"The church is at some distance," said the man; "it is past my +mill, and as I want to go to the mill for a moment, it will be +perhaps well to go and see the church, before we go to the house of +Gronwy." + +I shook the miller's wife by the hand, patted a little yellow- +haired girl of about two years old on the head, who during the +whole time of the meal had sat on the slate floor looking up into +my face, and left the house with honest Jones. + +We directed our course to the mill, which lay some way down a +declivity, towards the sea. Near the mill was a comfortable- +looking house, which my friend told me belonged to the proprietor +of the mill. A rustic-looking man stood in the mill-yard, who he +said was the proprietor. The honest miller went into the mill, and +the rustic-looking proprietor greeted me in Welsh, and asked me if +I was come to buy hogs. + +"No," said I; "I am come to see the birth-place of Gronwy Owen;" he +stared at me for a moment, then seemed to muse, and at last walked +away saying, "Ah! a great man." + +The miller presently joined me, and we proceeded farther down the +hill. Our way lay between stone walls, and sometimes over them. +The land was moory and rocky, with nothing grand about it, and the +miller described it well when he said it was tir gwael - mean land. +In about a quarter of an hour we came to the churchyard into which +we got, the gate being locked, by clambering over the wall. + +The church stands low down the descent, not far distant from the +sea. A little brook, called in the language of the country a frwd, +washes its yard-wall on the south. It is a small edifice with no +spire, but to the south-west there is a little stone erection +rising from the roof, in which hangs a bell - there is a small +porch looking to the south. With respect to its interior I can say +nothing, the door being locked. It is probably like the outside, +simple enough. It seemed to be about two hundred and fifty years +old, and to be kept in tolerable repair. Simple as the edifice +was, I looked with great emotion upon it; and could I do else, when +I reflected that the greatest British poet of the last century had +worshipped God within it, with his poor father and mother, when a +boy? + +I asked the miller whether he could point out to me any tombs or +grave-stones of Gronwy's family, but he told me that he was not +aware of any. On looking about I found the name of Owen in the +inscription on the slate slab of a respectable-looking modern tomb, +on the north-east side of the church. The inscription was as +follows: + + +Er cof am JANE OWEN +Gwraig Edward Owen, +Monachlog Llanfair Mathafam eithaf, +A fu farw Chwefror 28 1842 +Yn 51 Oed. + + +I.E. "To the memory of JANE OWEN Wife of Edward Owen, of the +monastery of St Mary of farther Mathafarn, who died February 28, +1842, aged fifty-one." + + +Whether the Edward Owen mentioned here was any relation to the +great Gronwy, I had no opportunity of learning. I asked the miller +what was meant by the monastery, and he told that it was the name +of a building to the north-east near the sea, which had once been a +monastery but had been converted into a farm-house, though it still +retained its original name. "May all monasteries be converted into +farm-houses," said I, "and may they still retain their original +names in mockery of popery!" + +Having seen all I could well see of the church and its precincts I +departed with my kind guide. After we had retraced our steps some +way, we came to some stepping-stones on the side of a wall, and the +miller pointing to them said: + +"The nearest way to the house of Gronwy will be over the llamfa." + +I was now become ashamed of keeping the worthy fellow from his +business, and begged him to return to his mill. He refused to +leave me, at first, but on my pressing him to do so, and on my +telling him that I could find the way to the house of Gronwy very +well by myself, he consented. We shook hands, the miller wished me +luck, and betook himself to his mill, whilst I crossed the llamfa. +I soon, however, repented having left the path by which I had come. +I was presently in a maze of little fields with stone walls over +which I had to clamber. At last I got into a lane with a stone +wall on each side. A man came towards me and was about to pass me +- his look was averted, and he was evidently one of those who have +"no English." A Welshman of his description always averting his +look when he sees a stranger who he thinks has "no Welsh," lest the +stranger should ask him a question and he be obliged to confess +that he has "no English." + +"Is this the way to Llanfair?" said I to the man. The man made a +kind of rush in order to get past me. + +"Have you any Welsh?" I shouted as loud as I could bawl. + +The man stopped, and turning a dark sullen countenance half upon me +said, "Yes, I have Welsh." + +"Which is the way to Llanfair?" said I. + +"Llanfair, Llanfair?" said the man, "what do you mean?" + +"I want to get there," said I. + +"Are you not there already?" said the fellow stamping on the +ground, "are you not in Llanfair? + +"Yes, but I want to get to the town." + +"Town, town! Oh, I have no English," said the man; and off he +started like a frighted bullock. The poor fellow was probably at +first terrified at seeing an Englishman, then confused at hearing +an Englishman speak Welsh, a language which the Welsh in general +imagine no Englishman can speak, the tongue of an Englishman as +they say not being long enough to pronounce Welsh; and lastly +utterly deprived of what reasoning faculties he had still remaining +by my asking him for the town of Llanfair, there being properly no +town. + +I went on, and at last getting out of the lane, found myself upon +the road, along which I had come about two hours before; the house +of the miller was at some distance on my right. Near me were two +or three houses and part of the skeleton of one, on which some men, +in the dress of masons, seemed to be occupied. Going up to these +men I said in Welsh to one, whom I judged to be the principal, and +who was rather a tall fine-looking fellow: + +"Have you heard a sound of Gronwy Owain?" + +Here occurred another instance of the strange things people do when +their ideas are confused. The man stood for a moment or two, as if +transfixed, a trowel motionless in one of his hands, and a brick in +the other; at last giving a kind of gasp, he answered in very +tolerable Spanish: + +"Si, senor! he oido." + +"Is his house far from here?" said I in Welsh. + +"No, senor!" said the man, "no esta muy lejos." + +"I am a stranger here, friend, can anybody show me the way?" + +"Si senor! este mozo luego - acompanara usted." + +Then turning to a lad of about eighteen, also dressed as a mason, +he said in Welsh: + +"Show this gentleman instantly the way to Tafarn Goch." + +The lad flinging a hod down, which he had on his shoulder, +instantly set off, making me a motion with his head to follow him. +I did so, wondering what the man could mean by speaking to me in +Spanish. The lad walked by my side in silence for about two +furlongs till we came to a range of trees, seemingly sycamores, +behind which was a little garden, in which stood a long low house +with three chimneys. The lad stopping flung open a gate which led +into the garden, then crying to a child which he saw within: "Gad +roi tro" - let the man take a turn; he was about to leave me, when +I stopped him to put sixpence into his hand. He received the money +with a gruff "Diolch!" and instantly set off at a quick pace. +Passing the child who stared at me, I walked to the back part of +the house, which seemed to be a long mud cottage. After examining +the back part I went in front, where I saw an aged woman with +several children, one of whom was the child I had first seen. She +smiled and asked me what I wanted. + +I said that I had come to see the house of Gronwy. She did not +understand me, for shaking her head she said that she had no +English, and was rather deaf. Raising my voice to a very high tone +I said: + +"Ty Gronwy!" + +A gleam of intelligence flashed now in her eyes. + +"Ty Gronwy," she said, "ah! I understand. Come in sir." + +There were three doors to the house; she led me in by the midmost +into a common cottage room, with no other ceiling, seemingly, than +the roof. She bade me sit down by the window by a little table, +and asked me whether I would have a cup of milk and some bread-and- +butter; I declined both, but said I should be thankful for a little +water. + +This she presently brought me in a teacup, I drank it, the children +amounting to five standing a little way from me staring at me. I +asked her if this was the house in which Gronwy was born. She said +it was, but that it had been altered very much since his time - +that three families had lived in it, but that she believed he was +born about where we were now. + +A man now coming in who lived at the next door, she said I had +better speak to him and tell him what I wanted to know, which he +could then communicate to her, as she could understand his way of +speaking much better than mine. Through the man I asked her +whether there was any one of the blood of Gronwy Owen living in the +house. She pointed to the children and said they had all some of +his blood. I asked in what relationship they stood to Gronwy. She +said she could hardly tell, that tri priodas, three marriages stood +between, and that the relationship was on the mother's side. I +gathered from her that the children had lost their mother, that +their name was Jones, and that their father was her son. I asked +if the house in which they lived was their own; she said no, that +it belonged to a man who lived at some distance. I asked if the +children were poor. + +"Very," said she. + +I gave them each a trifle, and the poor old lady thanked me with +tears in her eyes. + +I asked whether the children could read; she said they all could, +with the exception of the two youngest. The eldest she said could +read anything, whether Welsh or English; she then took from the +window-sill a book, which she put into my hand, saying the child +could read it and understand it. I opened the book; it was an +English school-book treating on all the sciences. + +"Can you write?" said I to the child, a little stubby girl of about +eight, with a broad flat red face and grey eyes, dressed in a +chintz gown, a little bonnet on her head, and looking the image of +notableness. + +The little maiden, who had never taken her eyes off of me for a +moment during the whole time I had been in the room, at first made +no answer; being, however, bid by her grandmother to speak, she at +length answered in a soft voice, "Medraf, I can." + +"Then write your name in this book," said I, taking out a pocket- +book and a pencil, "and write likewise that you are related to +Gronwy Owen - and be sure you write in Welsh." + +The little maiden very demurely took the book and pencil, and +placing the former on the table wrote as follows: + +"Ellen Jones yn perthyn o bell i gronow owen." + +That is, "Ellen Jones belonging from afar to Gronwy Owen." + +When I saw the name of Ellen I had no doubt that the children were +related to the illustrious Gronwy. Ellen is a very uncommon Welsh +name, but it seems to have been a family name of the Owens; it was +borne by an infant daughter of the poet whom he tenderly loved, and +who died whilst he was toiling at Walton in Cheshire, - + + +"Ellen, my darling, +Who liest in the Churchyard at Walton." + + +says poor Gronwy in one of the most affecting elegies ever written. + +After a little farther conversation I bade the family farewell and +left the house. After going down the road a hundred yards I turned +back in order to ask permission to gather a leaf from one of the +sycamores. Seeing the man who had helped me in my conversation +with the old woman standing at the gate, I told him what I wanted, +whereupon he instantly tore down a handful of leaves and gave them +to me. Thrusting them into my coat-pocket I thanked him kindly and +departed. + +Coming to the half-erected house, I again saw the man to whom I had +addressed myself for information. I stopped, and speaking Spanish +to him, asked how he had acquired the Spanish language. + +"I have been in Chili, sir," said he in the same tongue, "and in +California, and in those places I learned Spanish." + +"What did you go to Chili for?" said I; "I need not ask you on what +account you went to California." + +"I went there as a mariner," said the man; "I sailed out of +Liverpool for Chili." + +"And how is it," said I, "that being a mariner and sailing in a +Liverpool ship you do not speak English?" + +"I speak English, senor," said the man, "perfectly well." + +"Then how in the name of wonder," said I, speaking English, "came +you to answer me in Spanish? I am an Englishman thorough bred." + +"I can scarcely tell you how it was, sir," said the man scratching +his head, "but I thought I would speak to you in Spanish." + +"And why not English?" said I. + +"Why, I heard you speaking Welsh," said the man; "and as for an +Englishman speaking Welsh -" + +"But why not answer me in Welsh?" said I. + +"Why, I saw it was not your language, sir," said the man, "and as I +had picked up some Spanish I thought it would be but fair to answer +you in it." + +"But how did you know that I could speak Spanish?" said I. + +"I don't know indeed, sir," said the man; "but I looked at you, and +something seemed to tell me that you could speak Spanish. I can't +tell you how it was sir," said he, looking me very innocently in +the face, "but I was forced to speak Spanish to you. I was +indeed!" + +"The long and the short of it was," said I, "that you took me for a +foreigner, and thought that it would be but polite to answer me in +a foreign language." + +"I daresay it was so, sir," said the man. "I daresay it was just +as you say." + +"How did you fare in California?" said I. + +"Very fairly indeed, sir," said the man. "I made some money there, +and brought it home, and with part of it I am building this house." + +"I am very happy to hear it," said I, "you are really a remarkable +man - few return from California speaking Spanish as you do, and +still fewer with money in their pockets." + +The poor fellow looked pleased at what I said, more especially at +that part of the sentence which touched upon his speaking Spanish +well. Wishing him many years of health and happiness in the house +he was building, I left him, and proceeded on my path towards +Pentraeth Goch. + +After walking some way, I turned round in order to take a last look +of the place which had so much interest for me. The mill may be +seen from a considerable distance; so may some of the scattered +houses, and also the wood which surrounds the house of the +illustrious Gronwy. Prosperity to Llanfair! and may many a +pilgrimage be made to it of the same character as my own. + + + +CHAPTER XXXIII + + + +Boxing Harry - Mr Bos - Black Robin - Drovers - Commercial +Travellers. + + +I ARRIVED at the hostelry of Mr Pritchard without meeting any +adventure worthy of being marked down. I went into the little +parlour, and, ringing the bell, was presently waited upon by Mrs +Pritchard, a nice matronly woman, whom I had not before seen, of +whom I inquired what I could have for dinner. + +"This is no great place for meat," said Mrs Pritchard, "that is +fresh meat, for sometimes a fortnight passes without anything being +killed in the neighbourhood. I am afraid at present there is not a +bit of fresh meat to be had. What we can get you for dinner I do +not know, unless you are willing to make shift with bacon and +eggs." + +"I'll tell you what I'll do," said I, "I will have the bacon and +eggs with tea and bread-and-butter, not forgetting a pint of ale - +in a word, I will box Harry." + +"I suppose you are a commercial gent," said Mrs Pritchard. + +"Why do you suppose me a commercial gent?" said I. "Do I look +one?" + +"Can't say you do much," said Mrs Pritchard; "you have no rings on +your fingers, nor a gilt chain at your waistcoat-pocket, but when +you said 'box Harry,' I naturally took you to be one of the +commercial gents, for when I was at Liverpool I was told that that +was a word of theirs." + +"I believe the word properly belongs to them," said I. "I am not +one of them; but I learnt it from them, a great many years ago, +when I was much amongst them. Those whose employers were in a +small way of business, or allowed them insufficient salaries, +frequently used to 'box Harry,' that is, have a beaf-steak, or +mutton-chop, or perhaps bacon and eggs, as I am going to have, +along with tea and ale, instead of the regular dinner of a +commercial gentleman, namely, fish, hot joint, and fowl, pint of +sherry, tart, ale and cheese, and bottle of old port, at the end of +all." + +Having made arrangements for "boxing Harry" I went into the tap- +room, from which I had heard the voice of Mr Pritchard proceeding +during the whole of my conversation with his wife. Here I found +the worthy landlord seated with a single customer; both were +smoking. The customer instantly arrested my attention. He was a +man, seemingly about forty years of age with a broad red face, with +certain somethings, looking very much like incipient carbuncles, +here and there, upon it. His eyes were grey and looked rather as +if they squinted; his mouth was very wide, and when it opened +displayed a set of strong, white, uneven teeth. He was dressed in +a pepper-and-salt coat of the Newmarket cut, breeches of corduroy +and brown top boots, and had on his head a broad, black, coarse, +low-crowned hat. In his left hand he held a heavy whale-bone whip +with a brass head. I sat down on a bench nearly opposite to him +and the landlord. + +"Well," said Mr Pritchard; "did you find your way to Llanfair?" + +"Yes," said I. + +"And did you execute the business satisfactorily which led you +there?" said Mr Pritchard. + +"Perfectly," said I. + +"Well, what did you give a stone for your live pork?" said his +companion glancing up at me, and speaking in a gruff voice. + +"I did not buy any live pork," said I; "do you take me for a pig- +jobber?" + +"Of course," said the man, in pepper-and-salt; "who but a pig +jobber could have business at Llanfair?" + +"Does Llanfair produce nothing but pigs?" said I. + +"Nothing at all," said the man in the pepper-and-salt, "that is, +nothing worth mentioning. You wouldn't go there for runts, that +is, if you were in your right senses; if you were in want of runts +you would have gone to my parish and have applied to me, Mr Bos; +that is if you were in your senses. Wouldn't he, John Pritchard?" + +Mr Pritchard thus appealed to took the pipe out of his mouth, and +with some hesitations said that he believed the gentleman neither +went to Llanfair for pigs nor black cattle but upon some particular +business. + +"Well," said Mr Bos, "it may be so, but I can't conceive how any +person, either gentle or simple, could have any business in +Anglesey save that business was pigs or cattle." + +"The truth is," said I, "I went to Llanfair to see the birth-place +of a great man - the cleverest Anglesey ever produced." + +"Then you went wrong," said Mr Bos, "you went to the wrong parish, +you should have gone to Penmynnydd; the clebber man of Anglesey was +born and buried at Penmynnydd, you may see his tomb in the church." + +"You are alluding to Black Robin," said I, "who wrote the ode in +praise of Anglesey - yes, he was a very clever young fellow, but +excuse me, he was not half such a poet as Gronwy Owen." + +"Black Robin," said Mr Bos, "and Gronow Owen, who the Devil were +they? I never heard of either. I wasn't talking of them, but of +the clebberest man the world ever saw. Did you never hear of Owen +Tiddir? If you didn't, where did you get your education?" + +"I have heard of Owen Tudor," said I, "but never understood that he +was particularly clever; handsome he undoubtedly was - but clever - +" + +"How not clebber?" interrupted Mr Bos. "If he wasn't clebber, who +was clebber? Didn't he marry a great queen, and was not Harry the +Eighth his great grandson?" + +"Really," said I, "you know a great deal of history." + +"I should hope I do," said Mr Bos. "Oh, I wasn't at school at +Blewmaris for six months for nothing; and I haven't been in +Northampton, and in every town in England, without learning +something of history. With regard to history I may say that few - +Won't you drink?" said he, patronizingly, as he pushed a jug of ale +which stood before him on a little table towards me. + +Begging politely to be excused on the plea that I was just about to +take tea, I asked him in what capacity he had travelled all over +England. + +"As a drover to be sure," said Mr Bos, "and I may say that there +are not many in Anglesey better known in England than myself - at +any rate I may say that there is not a public-house between here +and Worcester at which I am not known." + +"Pray excuse me," said I, "but is not droving rather a low-lifed +occupation?" + +"Not half so much as pig-jobbing," said Bos, "and that that's your +trade I am certain, or you would never have gone to Llanfair." + +"I am no pig-jobber," said I, "and when I asked you that question +about droving, I merely did so because one Ellis Wynn, in a book he +wrote, gives the drovers a very bad character, and puts them in +Hell for their mal-practices." + +"Oh, he does," said Mr Bos, "well, the next time I meet him at +Corwen I'll crack his head for saying so. Mal-practices - he had +better look at his own, for he is a pig-jobber too. Written a book +has he? then I suppose he has been left a legacy, and gone to +school after middle-age, for when I last saw him, which is four +years ago, he could neither read nor write." + +I was about to tell Mr Bos that the Ellis Wynn that I meant was no +more a pig-jobber than myself, but a respectable clergyman, who had +been dead considerably upwards of a hundred years, and that also, +notwithstanding my respect for Mr Bos's knowledge of history, I did +not believe that Owen Tudor was buried at Penmynnydd, when I was +prevented by the entrance of Mrs Pritchard, who came to inform me +that my repast was ready in the other room, whereupon I got up and +went into the parlour to "box Harry." + +Having dispatched my bacon and eggs, tea and ale, I fell into deep +meditation. My mind reverted to a long past period of my life, +when I was to a certain extent fixed up with commercial travellers, +and had plenty of opportunities of observing their habits, and the +terms employed by them in conversation. I called up several +individuals of the two classes into which they used to be divided, +for commercial travellers in my time were divided into two classes, +those who ate dinners and drank their bottle of port, and those who +"boxed Harry." What glorious fellows the first seemed! What airs +they gave themselves! What oaths they swore! and what influence +they had with hostlers and chambermaids! and what a sneaking- +looking set the others were! shabby in their apparel; no fine +ferocity in their countenances; no oaths in their mouths, except +such a trumpery apology for an oath as an occasional "confounded +hard;" with little or no influence at inns, scowled at by hostlers, +and never smiled at by chambermaids - and then I remembered how +often I had bothered my head in vain to account for the origin of +the term "box Harry," and how often I had in vain applied both to +those who did box and to those who did not "box Harry," for a clear +and satisfactory elucidation of the expression - and at last found +myself again bothering my head as of old in a vain attempt to +account for the origin of the term "boxing Harry." + + + +CHAPTER XXXIV + + + +Northampton - Horse - Breaking - Snoring. + + +TIRED at length with my vain efforts to account for the term which +in my time was so much in vogue amongst commercial gentlemen I left +the little parlour, and repaired to the common room. Mr Pritchard +and Mr Bos were still there smoking and drinking, but there was now +a candle on the table before them, for night was fast coming on. +Mr Bos was giving an account of his travels in England, sometimes +in Welsh, sometimes in English, to which Mr Pritchard was listening +with the greatest attention, occasionally putting in a "see there +now," and "what a fine thing it is to have gone about." After some +time Mr Bos exclaimed: + +"I think, upon the whole, of all the places I have seen in England +I like Northampton best." + +"I suppose," said I, "you found the men of Northampton good- +tempered, jovial fellows?" + +"Can't say I did," said Mr Bos; "they are all shoe-makers, and of +course quarrelsome and contradictory, for where was there ever a +shoemaker who was not conceited and easily riled? No, I have +little to say in favour of Northampton as far as the men are +concerned. It's not the men but the women that make me speak in +praise of Northampton. The men all are ill-tempered, but the women +quite the contrary. I never saw such a place for merched anladd as +Northampton. I was a great favourite with them, and could tell you +such tales." + +And then Mr Bos, putting his hat rather on one side of his head, +told us two or three tales of his adventures with the merched +anladd of Northampton, which brought powerfully to my mind part of +what Ellis Wynn had said with respect to the practices of drovers +in his day, detestation for which had induced him to put the whole +tribe into Hell. + +All of a sudden I heard a galloping down the road, and presently a +mighty plunging, seemingly of a horse, before the door of the inn. +I rushed out followed by my companions, and lo, on the open space +before the inn was a young horse, rearing and kicking, with a young +man on his back. The horse had neither bridle nor saddle, and the +young fellow merely rode him with a rope passed about his head - +presently the horse became tolerably quiet, and his rider jumping +off led him into the stable, where he made him fast to the rack and +then came and joined us, whereupon we all went into the room from +which I and the others had come on hearing the noise of the +struggle. + +"How came you on the colt's back, Jenkins?" said Mr Pritchard, +after we had all sat down and Jenkins had called for some cwrw. "I +did not know that he was broke in." + +"I am breaking him in myself," said Jenkins speaking Welsh. "I +began with him to-night." + +"Do you mean to say," said I, "that you have begun breaking him in +by mounting his back?" + +"I do," said the other. + +"Then depend upon it," said I, "that it will not be long before he +will either break his neck or knees or he will break your neck or +crown. You are not going the right way to work." + +"Oh, myn Diawl!" said Jenkins, "I know better. In a day or two I +shall have made him quite tame, and have got him into excellent +paces and shall have saved the money I must have paid away, had I +put him into a jockey's hands." + +Time passed, night came on, and other guests came in. There was +much talking of first-rate Welsh and very indifferent English, Mr +Bos being the principal speaker in both languages; his discourse +was chiefly on the comparative merits of Anglesey runts and Scotch +bullocks, and those of the merched anladd of Northampton and the +lasses of Wrexham. He preferred his own country runts to the +Scotch kine, but said upon the whole, though a Welshman, he must +give the preference to the merched of Northampton over those of +Wrexham, for free and easy demeanour, notwithstanding that in that +point which he said was the most desirable point in females, the +lasses of Wrexham were generally considered out-and-outers. + +Fond as I am of listening to public-house conversation, from which +I generally contrive to extract both amusement and edification, I +became rather tired of this, and getting up, strolled about the +little village by moonlight till I felt disposed to retire to rest, +when returning to the inn, I begged to be shown the room in which I +was to sleep. Mrs Pritchard forthwith taking a candle conducted me +to a small room upstairs. There were two beds in it. The good +lady pointing to one, next the window, in which there were nice +clean sheets, told me that was the one which I was to occupy, and +bidding me good-night, and leaving the candle, departed. Putting +out the light I got into bed, but instantly found that the bed was +not long enough by at least a foot. "I shall pass an uncomfortable +night," said I, "for I never yet could sleep comfortably in a bed +too short. However, as I am on my travels, I must endeavour to +accommodate myself to circumstances." So I endeavoured to compose +myself to sleep; before, however, I could succeed, I heard the +sound of stumping steps coming upstairs, and perceived a beam of +light through the crevices of the door, and in a moment more the +door opened and in came two loutish farming lads whom I had +observed below, one of them bearing a rushlight stuck into an old +blacking-bottle. Without saying a word they flung off part of +their clothes, and one of them having blown out the rushlight, they +both tumbled into bed, and in a moment were snoring most +sonorously. "I am in a short bed," said I, "and have snorers close +by me; I fear I shall have a sorry night of it." I determined, +however, to adhere to my resolution of making the best of +circumstances, and lay perfectly quiet, listening to the snorings +as they rose and fell; at last they became more gentle and I fell +asleep, notwithstanding my feet were projecting some way from the +bed. I might have lain ten minutes or a quarter of an hour when I +suddenly started up in the bed broad awake. There was a great +noise below the window of plunging and struggling interspersed with +Welsh oaths. Then there was a sound as if of a heavy fall, and +presently a groan. "I shouldn't wonder," said I, "if that fellow +with the horse has verified my words, and has either broken his +horse's neck or his own. However, if he has, he has no one to +blame but himself. I gave him fair warning, and shall give myself +no further trouble about the matter, but go to sleep," and so I +did. + + + +CHAPTER XXXV + + + +Brilliant Morning - Travelling with Edification - A Good Clergyman +- Gybi. + + +I AWOKE about six o'clock in the morning, having passed the night +much better than I anticipated. The sun was shining bright and +gloriously into the apartment. On looking into the other bed I +found that my chums, the young farm-labourers, had deserted it. +They were probably already in the field busy at labour. After +lying a little time longer I arose, dressed myself and went down. +I found my friend honest Pritchard smoking his morning pipe at the +front door, and after giving him the sele of the day, I inquired of +him the cause of the disturbance beneath my window the night +before, and learned that the man of the horse had been thrown by +the animal off its back, that the horse almost immediately after +had slipped down, and both had been led home very much hurt. We +then talked about farming and the crops, and at length got into a +discourse about Liverpool. I asked him how he liked that mighty +seaport; he said very well, but that he did not know much about it +- for though he had a house there where his family had resided, he +had not lived much at Liverpool himself, his absences from that +place having been many and long. + +"Have you travelled then much about England?" said I. + +"No," he replied. "When I have travelled it has chiefly been +across the sea to foreign places." + +"But what foreign places have you visited?" said I. + +"I have visited," said Pritchard, "Constantinople, Alexandria, and +some other cities in the south latitudes." + +"Dear me," said I, "you have seen some of the most celebrated +places in the world - and yet you were silent, and said nothing +about your travels whilst that fellow Bos was pluming himself at +having been at such places as Northampton and Worcester, the haunts +of shoe-makers and pig-jobbers." + +"Ah," said Pritchard, "but Mr Bos has travelled with edification; +it is a fine thing to have travelled when one has done so with +edification, but I have not. There is a vast deal of difference +between me and him - he is considered the 'cutest man in these +parts, and is much looked up to." + +"You are really," said I, "the most modest person I have ever known +and the least addicted to envy. Let me see whether you have +travelled without edification." + +I then questioned him about the places which he had mentioned, and +found he knew a great deal about them, amongst other things he +described Cleopatra's needle, and the At Maidan at Constantinople +with surprising exactness. + +"You put me out," said I; "you consider yourself inferior to that +droving fellow Bos, and to have travelled without edification, +whereas you know a thousand times more than he, and indeed much +more than many a person who makes his five hundred a year by going +about lecturing on foreign places, but as I am no flatterer I will +tell you that you have a fault which will always prevent your +rising in this world, you have modesty; those who have modesty +shall have no advancement, whilst those who can blow their own horn +lustily, shall be made governors. But allow me to ask you in what +capacity you went abroad?" + +"As engineer to various steamships," said Pritchard. + +"A director of the power of steam," said I, "and an explorer of the +wonders of Iscander's city willing to hold the candle to Mr Bos. I +will tell you what, you are too good for this world, let us hope +you will have your reward in the next." + +I breakfasted and asked for my bill; the bill amounted to little or +nothing - half-a-crown I think for tea-dinner, sundry jugs of ale, +bed and breakfast. I defrayed it, and then inquired whether it +would be possible for me to see the inside of the church. + +"Oh yes," said Pritchard. "I can let you in, for I am churchwarden +and have the key." + +The church was a little edifice of some antiquity, with a little +wing and without a spire; it was situated amidst a grove of trees. +As we stood with our hats off in the sacred edifice, I asked +Pritchard if there were many Methodists in those parts. + +"Not so many as there were," said Pritchard, "they are rapidly +decreasing, and indeed dissenters in general. The cause of their +decrease is that a good clergyman has lately come here, who visits +the sick and preaches Christ, and in fact does his duty. If all +our clergymen were like him there would not be many dissenters in +Ynis Fon." + +Outside the church, in the wall, I observed a tablet with the +following inscription in English. + + +Here lieth interred the body of Ann, wife of Robert Paston, who +deceased the sixth day of October, Anno Domini. + + 1671. + P. +R. A. + + +"You seem struck with that writing?" said Pritchard, observing that +I stood motionless, staring at the tablet. + +"The name of Paston," said I, "struck me; it is the name of a +village in my own native district, from which an old family, now +almost extinct, derived its name. How came a Paston into Ynys Fon? +Are there any people bearing that name at present in these parts?" + +"Not that I am aware," said Pritchard, + +"I wonder who his wife Ann was?" said I, "from the style of that +tablet she must have been a considerable person." + +"Perhaps she was the daughter of the Lewis family of Llan Dyfnant," +said Pritchard; "that's an old family and a rich one. Perhaps he +came from a distance and saw and married a daughter of the Lewis of +Dyfnant - more than one stranger has done so. Lord Vivian came +from a distance and saw and married a daughter of the rich Lewis of +Dyfnant." + +I shook honest Pritchard by the hand, thanked him for his kindness +and wished him farewell, whereupon he gave mine a hearty squeeze, +thanking me for my custom. + +"Which is my way," said I, "to Pen Caer Gybi?" + +"You must go about a mile on the Bangor road, and then turning to +the right pass through Penmynnydd, but what takes you to Holyhead?" + +"I wish to see," said I, "the place where Cybi the tawny saint +preached and worshipped. He was called tawny because from his +frequent walks in the blaze of the sun his face had become much +sun-burnt. This is a furiously hot day, and perhaps by the time I +get to Holyhead, I may be so sun-burnt as to be able to pass for +Cybi himself." + + + +CHAPTER XXXVI + + + +Moelfre - Owain Gwynedd - Church of Penmynnydd - The Rose of Mona. + + +LEAVING Pentraeth Coch I retraced my way along the Bangor road till +I came to the turning on the right. Here I diverged from the +aforesaid road, and proceeded along one which led nearly due west; +after travelling about a mile I stopped, on the top of a little +hill; cornfields were on either side, and in one an aged man was +reaping close to the road; I looked south, west, north and east; to +the south was the Snowdon range far away, with the Wyddfa just +discernible; to the west and north was nothing very remarkable, but +to the east or rather north-east, was mountain Lidiart and the tall +hill confronting it across the bay. + +"Can you tell me," said I to the old reaper, "the name of that bald +hill, which looks towards Lidiart?" + +"We call that hill Moelfre," said the old man desisting from his +labour, and touching his hat. + +"Dear me," said I; "Moelfre, Moelfre!" + +"Is there anything wonderful in the name, sir?" said the old man +smiling. + +"There is nothing wonderful in the name," said I, "which merely +means the bald hill, but it brings wonderful recollections to my +mind. I little thought when I was looking from the road near +Pentraeth Coch yesterday on that hill, and the bay and strand below +it, and admiring the tranquillity which reigned over all, that I +was gazing upon the scene of one of the most tremendous conflicts +recorded in history or poetry." + +"Dear me," said the old reaper; "and whom may it have been between? +the French and English, I suppose." + +"No," said I; "it was fought between one of your Welsh kings, the +great Owain Gwynedd, and certain northern and Irish enemies of +his." + +"Only think," said the old man, "and it was a fierce battle, sir?" + +"It was, indeed," said I; "according to the words of a poet, who +described it, the Menai could not ebb on account of the torrent of +blood which flowed into it, slaughter was heaped upon slaughter, +shout followed shout, and around Moelfre a thousand war flags +waved." + +"Well, sir," said the old man, "I never before heard anything about +it, indeed I don't trouble my head with histories, unless they be +Bible histories." + +"Are you a Churchman?" said I. + +"No," said the old man, shortly; "I am a Methodist." + +"I belong to the Church," said I. + +"So I should have guessed, sir, by your being so well acquainted +with pennillion and histories. Ah, the Church. . . . ." + +"This is dreadfully hot weather, said I, "and I should like to +offer you sixpence for ale, but as I am a Churchman I suppose you +would not accept it from my hands." + +"The Lord forbid, sir," said the old man, "that I should be so +uncharitable! If your honour chooses to give me sixpence, I will +receive it willingly. Thank your honour! Well, I have often said +there is a great deal of good in the Church of England." + +I once more looked at the hill which overlooked the scene of Owen +Gwynedd's triumph over the united forces of the Irish Lochlanders +and Normans, and then after inquiring of the old man whether I was +in the right direction for Penmynnydd, and finding that I was, I +set off at a great pace, singing occasionally snatches of Black +Robin's ode in praise of Anglesey, amongst others the following +stanza:- + + +"Bread of the wholesomest is found +In my mother-land of Anglesey; +Friendly bounteous men abound +In Penmynnydd of Anglesey." + + +I reached Penmynnydd, a small village consisting of a few white +houses and a mill. The meaning of Penmynnydd is literally the top +of a hill. The village does not stand on a hill, but the church +which is at some distance, stands on one, or rather on a hillock. +And it is probable from the circumstance of the church standing on +a hillock, that the parish derives its name. Towards the church +after a slight glance at the village, I proceeded with hasty steps, +and was soon at the foot of the hillock. A house, that of the +clergyman, stands near the church, on the top of the hill. I +opened a gate, and entered a lane which seemed to lead up to the +church. + +As I was passing some low buildings, probably offices pertaining to +the house, a head was thrust from a doorway, which stared at me. +It was a strange hirsute head, and probably looked more strange and +hirsute than it naturally was, owing to its having a hairy cap upon +it. + +"Good day," said I. + +"Good day, sar," said the head, and in a moment more a man of +middle stature, about fifty, in hairy cap, shirt-sleeves, and green +apron round his waist, stood before me. He looked the beau-ideal +of a servant of all work. + +"Can I see the church?" said I. + +"Ah, you want to see the church," said honest Scrub. "Yes, sar! +you shall see the church. You go up road there past church - come +to house, knock at door - say what you want - and nice little girl +show you church. Ah, you quite right to come and see church - fine +tomb there and clebber man sleeping in it with his wife, clebber +man that - Owen Tiddir; married great queen - dyn clebber iawn." + +Following the suggestions of the man of the hairy cap I went round +the church and knocked at the door of the house, a handsome +parsonage. A nice little servant-girl presently made her +appearance at the door, of whom I inquired whether I could see the +church. + +"Certainly, sir," said she; "I will go for the key and accompany +you." + +She fetched the key and away we went to the church. It is a +venerable chapel-like edifice, with a belfry towards the west; the +roof sinking by two gradations, is lower at the eastern or altar +end, than at the other. The girl, unlocking the door, ushered me +into the interior. + +"Which is the tomb of Tudor?" said I to the pretty damsel. + +"There it is, sir," said she, pointing to the north side of the +church; "there is the tomb of Owen Tudor." + +Beneath a low-roofed arch lay sculptured in stone on an altar tomb, +the figures of a man and woman; that of the man in armour; that of +the woman in graceful drapery. The male figure lay next the wall. + +"And you think," said I to the girl; "that yonder figure is that of +Owen Tudor?" + +"Yes, sir," said the girl; "yon figure is that of Owen Tudor; the +other is that of his wife, the great queen; both their bodies rest +below." + +I forbore to say that the figures were not those of Owen Tudor and +the great queen, his wife; and I forbore to say that their bodies +did not rest in that church, nor anywhere in the neighbourhood, for +I was unwilling to dispel a pleasing delusion. The tomb is +doubtless a tomb of one of the Tudor race, and of a gentle partner +of his, but not of the Rose of Mona and Catherine of France. Her +bones rest in some corner of Westminster's noble abbey; his moulder +amongst those of thousands of others, Yorkists and Lancastrians, +under the surface of the plain, where Mortimer's Cross once stood, +that plain on the eastern side of which meanders the murmuring Lug; +that noble plain, where one of the hardest battles which ever +blooded English soil was fought; where beautiful young Edward +gained a crown, and old Owen lost a head, which when young had been +the most beautiful of heads, which had gained for him the +appellation of the Rose of Anglesey, and which had captivated the +glances of the fair daughter of France, the widow of Monmouth's +Harry, the immortal victor of Agincourt. + +Nevertheless, long did I stare at that tomb which though not that +of the Rose of Mona and his queen, is certainly the tomb of some +mighty one of the mighty race of Theodore. Then saying something +in Welsh to the pretty damsel, at which she started, and putting +something into her hand, at which she curtseyed, I hurried out of +the church. + + + +CHAPTER XXXVII + + + +Mental Excitation - Land of Poets - The Man in Grey - Drinking +Healths - The Greatest Prydydd - Envy - Welshmen not Hogs - +Gentlemanly Feeling - What Pursuit? - Tell him to Walk Up - Editor +of the TIMES - Careful Wife - Departure. + + +I REGAINED the high road by a short cut, which I discovered, across +a field. I proceeded rapidly along for some time. My mind was +very much excited: I was in the birthplace of the mighty Tudors - +I had just seen the tomb of one of them; I was also in the land of +the bard; a country which had produced Gwalchmai who sang the +triumphs of Owain, and him who had sung the Cowydd of Judgment, +Gronwy Owen. So no wonder I was excited. On I went reciting +bardic snatches connected with Anglesey. At length I began +repeating Black Robin's ode in praise of the island, or rather my +own translation of it, executed more than thirty years before, +which amongst others, contains the following lines:- + + +"Twelve sober men the muses woo, +Twelve sober men in Anglesey, +Dwelling at home, like patriots true, +In reverence for Anglesey." + + +"Oh," said I, after I had recited that stanza, "what would I not +give to see one of those sober patriotic bards, or at least one of +their legitimate successors, for by this time no doubt, the sober +poets, mentioned by Black Robin, are dead. That they left +legitimate successors who can doubt? for Anglesey is never to be +without bards. Have we not the words, not of Robin the Black, but +Huw the Red to that effect? + + +"'Brodir, gnawd ynddi prydydd; +Heb ganu ni bu ni bydd.' + + +"That is: a hospitable country, in which a poet is a thing of +course. It has never been and will never be without song." + +Here I became silent, and presently arrived at the side of a little +dell or ravine, down which the road led, from east to west. The +northern and southern sides of this dell were precipitous. Beneath +the southern one stood a small cottage. Just as I began to descend +the eastern side, two men began to descend the opposite one, and it +so happened that we met at the bottom of the dingle, just before +the house, which bore a sign, and over the door of which was an +inscription to the effect that ale was sold within. They saluted +me; I returned their salutation, and then we all three stood still, +looking at one another. One of the men was rather a tall figure, +about forty, dressed in grey, or pepper-and-salt, with a cap of +some kind on his head, his face was long and rather good-looking, +though slightly pock-broken. There was a peculiar gravity upon it. +The other person was somewhat about sixty - he was much shorter +than his companion, and much worse dressed - he wore a hat that had +several holes in it, a dusty rusty black coat, much too large for +him; ragged yellow velveteen breeches, indifferent fustian gaiters, +and shoes, cobbled here and there, one of which had rather an ugly +bulge by the side near the toes. His mouth was exceedingly wide, +and his nose remarkably long; its extremity of a deep purple; upon +his features was a half-simple smile or leer; in his hand was a +long stick. After we had all taken a full view of one another I +said in Welsh, addressing myself to the man in grey, "Pray may I +take the liberty of asking the name of this place." + +"I believe you are an Englishman, sir," said the man in grey, +speaking English, "I will therefore take the liberty of answering +your question in the English tongue. The name of this place is +Dyffryn Gaint." + +"Thank you," said I; "you are quite right with regard to my being +an Englishman, perhaps you are one yourself?" + +"Sir," said the man in grey, "I have not the honour to be so. I am +a native of the small island in which we are." + +"Small," said I, "but famous, particularly for producing +illustrious men." + +"That's very true indeed, sir," said the man in grey, drawing +himself up; "it is particularly famous for producing illustrious +men." + +"There was Owen Tudor?" said I. + +"Very true," said the man in grey, "his tomb is in the church a +little way from hence." + +"Then," said I, "there was Gronwy Owen, one of the greatest bards +that ever lived. Out of reverence to his genius I went yesterday +to see the place of his birth." + +"Sir," said the man in grey, "I should be sorry to leave you +without enjoying your conversation at some length. In yonder house +they sell good ale, perhaps you will not be offended if I ask you +to drink some with me and my friend?" + +"You are very kind," said I, "I am fond of good ale and fonder +still of good company - suppose we go in?" + +We went into the cottage, which was kept by a man and his wife, +both of whom seemed to be perfectly well acquainted with my two new +friends. We sat down on stools, by a clean white table in a little +apartment with a clay floor - notwithstanding the heat of the +weather, the little room was very cool and pleasant owing to the +cottage being much protected from the sun by its situation. The +man in grey called for a jug of ale, which was presently placed +before us along with three glasses. The man in grey having filled +the glasses from the jug which might contain three pints, handed +one to me, another to his companion, and then taking the third +drank to my health. I drank to his and that of his companion; the +latter, after nodding to us both, emptied his at a draught, and +then with a kind of half-fatuous leer, exclaimed, "Da iawn, very +good." + +The ale, though not very good, was cool and neither sour nor +bitter; we then sat for a moment or two in silence, my companions +on one side of the table, and I on the other. After a little time +the man in grey looking at me said: + +"Travelling I suppose in Anglesey for pleasure?" + +"To a certain extent," said I; "but my chief object in visiting +Anglesey was to view the birth-place of Gronwy Owen; I saw it +yesterday, and am now going to Holyhead chiefly with a view to see +the country." + +"And how came you, an Englishman, to know anything of Gronwy Owen?" + +"I studied Welsh literature when young," said I, "and was much +struck with the verses of Gronwy: he was one of the great bards of +Wales, and certainly the most illustrious genius that Anglesey ever +produced." + +"A great genius, I admit," said the man in grey, "but pardon me, +not exactly the greatest Ynis Fon has produced. The race of the +bards is not quite extinct in the island, sir. I could name one or +two - however, I leave others to do so - but I assure you the race +of bards is not quite extinct here." + +"I am delighted to hear you say so," said I, "and make no doubt +that you speak correctly, for the Red Bard has said that Mona is +never to be without a poet - but where am I to find one? just +before I saw you I was wishing to see a poet; I would willingly +give a quart of ale to see a genuine Anglesey poet." + +"You would, sir, would you?" said the man in grey, lifting his head +on high, and curling his upper lip. + +"I would, indeed," said I, "my greatest desire at present is to see +an Anglesey poet, but where am I to find one?" + +"Where is he to find one?" said he of the tattered hat; "where's +the gwr boneddig to find a prydydd? No occasion to go far, he, +he, he." + +"Well" said I, "but where is he?" + +"Where is he? why, there," said he, pointing to the man in grey - +"the greatest prydydd in tir Fon or the whole world." + +"Tut, tut, hold your tongue," said the man in grey. + +"Hold my tongue, myn Diawl, not I - I speak the truth," then +filling his glass he emptied it exclaiming, "I'll not hold, my +tongue. The greatest prydydd in the whole world." + +"Then I have the honour to be seated with a bard of Anglesey?" said +I, addressing the man in grey. + +"Tut, tut," said he of the grey suit. + +"The greatest prydydd in the whole world," iterated he of the +bulged shoe, with a slight hiccup, as he again filled his glass. + +"Then," said I, "I am truly fortunate." + +"Sir," said the man in grey, "I had no intention of discovering +myself, but as my friend here has betrayed my secret, I confess +that I am a bard of Anglesey - my friend is an excellent individual +but indiscreet, highly indiscreet, as I have frequently told him," +and here he looked most benignantly reproachful at him of the +tattered hat. + +"The greatest prydydd," said the latter, "the greatest prydydd that +- " and leaving his sentence incomplete he drank off the ale which +he had poured into his glass. + +"Well," said I, "I cannot sufficiently congratulate myself for +having met an Anglesey bard - no doubt a graduate one. Anglesey, +was always famous for graduate bards, for what says Black Robin? + + +"'Though Arvon graduate bards can boast, +Yet more canst thou, O Anglesey.'" + + +"I suppose by graduate bard you mean one who has gained the chair +at an eisteddfod?" said the man in grey. "No, I have never gained +the silver chair - I have never had an opportunity. I have been +kept out of the eisteddfodau. There is such a thing as envy, sir - +but there is one comfort, that envy will not always prevail." + +"No," said I; "envy will not always prevail - envious scoundrels +may chuckle for a time at the seemingly complete success of the +dastardly arts to which they have recourse, in order to crush merit +- but Providence is not asleep. All of a sudden they see their +supposed victim on a pinnacle far above their reach. Then there is +weeping, and gnashing of teeth with a vengeance, and the long, +melancholy howl. Oh, there is nothing in this world which gives +one so perfect an idea of retribution as the long melancholy howl +of the disappointed envious scoundrel when he sees his supposed +victim smiling on an altitude far above his reach." + +"Sir," said the man in grey, "I am delighted to hear you. Give me +your hand, your honourable hand. Sir, you have now felt the hand- +grasp of a Welshman, to say nothing of an Anglesey bard, and I have +felt that of a Briton, perhaps a bard, a brother, sir? Oh, when I +first saw your face out there in the dyffryn, I at once recognised +in it that of a kindred spirit, and I felt compelled to ask you to +drink. Drink, sir! but how is this? the jug is empty - how is +this? - Oh, I see - my friend sir, though an excellent individual, +is indiscreet, sir - very indiscreet. Landlord, bring this moment +another jug of ale!" + +"The greatest prydydd," stuttered he of bulged shoe - "the greatest +prydydd - Oh - " + +"Tut, tut," said the man in grey. + +"I speak the truth and care for no one," said he of the tattered +hat. "I say the greatest prydydd. If any one wishes to gainsay me +let him show his face and Myn Diawl - " + +The landlord brought the ale, placed it on the table, and then +stood as if waiting for something. + +"I suppose you are waiting to be paid," said I; "what is your +demand?" + +"Sixpence for this jug, and sixpence for the other," said the +landlord. + +I took out a shilling and said: "It is but right that I should pay +half of the reckoning, and as the whole affair is merely a shilling +matter, I should feel obliged in being permitted to pay the whole, +so, landlord, take the shilling and remember you are paid." I then +delivered the shilling to the landlord, but had no sooner done so +than the man in grey, starting up in violent agitation, wrested the +money from the other, and flung it down on the table before me +saying:- + +"No, no, that will never do. I invited you in here to drink, and +now you would pay for the liquor which I ordered. You English are +free with your money, but you are sometimes free with it at the +expense of people's feelings. I am a Welshman, and I know +Englishmen consider all Welshmen hogs. But we are not hogs, mind +you! for we have little feelings which hogs have not. Moreover, I +would have you know that we have money, though perhaps not so much +as the Saxon." Then putting his hand into his pocket, he pulled +out a shilling, and giving it to the landlord, said in Welsh: "Now +thou art paid, and mayst go thy ways till thou art again called +for. I do not know why thou didst stay after thou hadst put down +the ale. Thou didst know enough of me to know that thou didst run +no risk of not being paid." + +"But," said I, after the landlord had departed, "I must insist on +being my share. Did you not hear me say that I would give a quart +of ale to see a poet?" + +"A poet's face," said the man in grey, "should be common to all, +even like that of the sun. He is no true poet, who would keep his +face from the world." + +"But," said I, "the sun frequently hides his head from the world, +behind a cloud." + +"Not so," said the man in grey. "The sun does not hide his face, +it is the cloud that hides it. The sun is always glad enough to be +seen, and so is the poet. If both are occasionally hid, trust me +it is no fault of theirs. Bear that in mind; and now pray take up +your money." + +"The man is a gentleman," thought I to myself, "whether a poet or +not; but I really believe him to be a poet; were he not he could +hardly talk in the manner I have just heard him." + +The man in grey now filled my glass, his own, and that of his +companion. The latter emptied his in a minute, not forgetting +first to say "the best prydydd in all the world!" the man in grey +was also not slow to empty his own. The jug now passed rapidly +between my two friends, for the poet seemed determined to have his +full share of the beverage. I allowed the ale in my glass to +remain untasted, and began to talk about the bards, and to quote +from their works. I soon found that the man in grey knew quite as +much of the old bards and their works as myself. In one instance +he convicted me of a mistake. + +I had quoted those remarkable lines in which an old bard, doubtless +seeing the Menai Bridge by means of second sight, says:- "I will +pass to the land of Mona notwithstanding the waters of the Menai, +without waiting for the ebb" - and was feeling not a little proud +of my erudition, when the man in grey after looking at me for a +moment fixedly, asked me the name of the bard who composed them. +"Sion Tudor," I replied. + +"There you are wrong," said the man in grey; "his name was not Sion +Tudor but Robert Vychan, in English, Little Bob. Sion Tudor wrote +an englyn on the Skerries whirlpool in the Menai; but it was Little +Bob who wrote the stanza in which the future bridge over the Menai +is hinted at." + +"You are right," said I, "you are right. Well, I am glad that all +song and learning are not dead in Ynis Fon." + +"Dead," said the man in grey, whose features began to be rather +flushed, "they are neither dead nor ever will be. There are plenty +of poets in Anglesey - why, I can mention twelve, and amongst them +and not the least - pooh, what was I going to say? twelve there +are, genuine Anglesey poets, born there, and living there for the +love they bear their native land. When I say they all live in +Anglesey, perhaps I am not quite accurate, for one of the dozen +does not exactly live in Anglesey, but just over the bridge. He is +an elderly man, but his awen, I assure you, is as young and +vigorous as ever." + +"I shouldn't be at all surprised," said I, "if he was a certain +ancient gentleman, from whom I obtained information yesterday, with +respect to the birth-place of Gronwy Owen." + +"Very likely," said the man in grey; "well, if you have seen him +consider yourself fortunate, for he is a genuine bard, and a +genuine son of Anglesey, notwithstanding he lives across the +water." + +"If he is the person I allude to," said I, "I am doubly fortunate, +for I have seen two bards of Anglesey." + +"Sir," said the man in grey, "I consider myself quite as fortunate, +in having met such a Saxon as yourself, as it is possible for you +to do, in having seen two bards of Ynis Fon." + +"I suppose you follow some pursuit besides bardism?" said I; "I +suppose you farm?" + +"I do not farm," said the man in grey, "I keep an inn." + +"Keep an inn?" said I. + +"Yes," said the man in grey. "The - Arms at L-." + +"Sure," said I, "inn-keeping and bardism are not very cognate +pursuits?" + +"You are wrong," said the man in grey; "I believe the awen, or +inspiration, is quite as much at home in the bar as in the barn, +perhaps more. It is that belief which makes me tolerably satisfied +with my position and prevents me from asking Sir Richard to give me +a farm instead of an inn." + +"I suppose," said I, "that Sir Richard is your landlord?" + +"He is," said the man in grey, "and a right noble landlord too." + +"I suppose," said I, 'that he is right proud of his tenant?" + +"He is," said the man in grey, "and I am proud of my landlord, and +will here drink his health. I have often said that if I were not +what I am, I should wish to be Sir Richard." + +"You consider yourself his superior?" said I. + +"Of course," said the man in grey - "a baronet is a baronet; but a +bard, is a bard you know - I never forget what I am, and the +respect due to my sublime calling. About a month ago I was seated +in an upper apartment in a fit of rapture. There was a pen in my +hand, and paper before me on the table, and likewise a jug of good +ale, for I always find that the awen is most prodigal of her +favours when a jug of good ale is before me. All of a sudden my +wife came running up, and told me that Sir Richard was below, and +wanted to speak to me. 'Tell him to walk up,' said I. 'Are you +mad?' said my wife. 'Don't you know who Sir Richard is?' 'I do,' +said I, 'a baronet is a baronet, but a bard is a bard. Tell him to +walk up.' Well, my wife went and told Sir Richard that I was +writing, and could not come down, and that she hoped he would not +object to walk up. 'Certainly not; certainly not,' said Sir +Richard. 'I shall be only too happy to ascend to a genius on his +hill. You may be proud of such a husband, Mrs W.' And here it +will be as well to tell you that my name is W.-J. W. of -. Sir +Richard then came up, and I received him with gravity and +politeness. I did not rise of course, for I never forget myself a +moment, but I told him to sit down, and added, that after I had +finished the pennill I was engaged upon, I would speak to him. +Well, Sir Richard smiled and sat down, and begged me not to hurry +myself, for that he could wait. So I finished the pennill, +deliberately, mind you, for I did not forget who I was, and then +turning to Sir Richard entered upon business with him." + +"I suppose Sir Richard is a very good-tempered man?" said I. + +"I don't know," said the man in grey. "I have seen Sir Richard in +a devil of a passion, but never with me - no, no! Trust Sir +Richard for not riding the high horse with me - a baronet is a +baronet, but a bard is a bard; and that Sir Richard knows." + +"The greatest prydydd," said the man of the tattered hat, emptying +the last contents of the jug into his glass, "the greatest prydydd +that - " + +"Well," said I, "you appear to enjoy very great consideration, and +yet you were talking just now of being ill-used." + +"So I have been," said the man in grey, "I have been kept out of +the eisteddfoddau - and then - what do you think? That fellow, the +editor of the TIMES - " + +"Oh," said I, "if you have anything to do with the editor of the +TIMES you may, of course, expect nothing but shabby treatment, but +what business could you have with him?" + +"Why I sent him some pennillion for insertion, and he did not +insert them." + +"Were they in Welsh or English?" + +"In Welsh, of course." + +"Well, then the man had some excuse for disregarding them - because +you know the TIMES is written in English." + +"Oh, you mean the London TIMES," said the man in grey. "Pooh! I +did not allude to that trumpery journal, but the Liverpool TIMES, +the Amserau. I sent some pennillion to the editor for insertion +and he did not insert them. Peth a clwir cenfigen yn Saesneg?" + +"We call cenfigen in English envy," said I; "but as I told you +before, envy will not always prevail." + +"You cannot imagine how pleased I am with your company," said the +man in grey. "Landlord, landlord!" + +"The greatest prydydd," said the man of the tattered hat, "the +greatest prydydd." + +"Pray don't order any more on my account," said I, "as you see my +glass is still full. I am about to start for Caer Gybi. Pray, +where are you bound for?" + +"For Bangor," said the man in grey. "I am going to the market." + +"Then I would advise you to lose no time," said I, "or you will +infallibly be too late; it must now be one o'clock." + +"There is no market to-day," said the man in grey, "the market is +to-morrow, which is Saturday. I like to take things leisurely, on +which account, when I go to market, I generally set out the day +before, in order that I may enjoy myself upon the road. I feel +myself so happy here that I shall not stir till the evening. Now +pray stay with me and my friend till then." + +"I cannot," said I, "if I stay longer here I shall never reach Caer +Gybi to-night. But allow me to ask whether your business at L- +will not suffer by your spending so much time on the road to +market?" + +"My wife takes care of the business whilst I am away," said the man +in grey, "so it won't suffer much. Indeed it is she who chiefly +conducts the business of the inn. I spend a good deal of time from +home, for besides being a bard and inn-keeper, I must tell you I am +a horse-dealer and a jobber, and if I go to Bangor it is in the +hope of purchasing a horse or pig worth the money." + +"And is your friend going to market too?" said I. + +"My friend goes with me to assist me and bear me company. If I buy +a pig he will help me to drive it home; if a horse, he will get up +upon its back behind me. I might perhaps do without him, but I +enjoy his company highly. He is sometimes rather indiscreet, but I +do assure you he is exceedingly clever." + +"The greatest prydydd," said the man of the bulged shoe, "the +greatest prydydd in the world." + +"Oh, I have no doubt of his cleverness," said I, "from what I have +observed of him. Now before I go allow me to pay for your next jug +of ale." + +"I will do no such thing," said the man in grey. "No farthing do +you pay here for me or my friend either. But I will tell you what +you may do. I am, as I have told you, an inn-keeper as well as a +bard. By the time you get to L- you will be hot and hungry and in +need of refreshment, and if you think proper to patronise my house, +the - Arms, by taking your chop and pint there, you will oblige me. +Landlord, some more ale." + +"The greatest prydydd," said he of the bulged shoe, "the greatest +prydydd - " + +"I will most certainly patronise your house," said I to the man in +grey, and shaking him heartily by the hand I departed. + + + +CHAPTER XXXVIII + + + +Inn at L- The Handmaid - The Decanter - Religious Gentleman - +Truly Distressing - Sententiousness - Way to Pay Bills. + + +I PROCEEDED on my way in high spirits indeed, having now seen not +only the tomb of the Tudors, but one of those sober poets for which +Anglesey has always been so famous. The country was pretty, with +here and there a hill, a harvest-field, a clump of trees or a +grove. + +I soon reached L-, a small but neat town. "Where is the - Arms?" +said I to a man whom I met. + +"Yonder, sir, yonder," said he, pointing to a magnificent structure +on the left. + +I went in and found myself in a spacious hall. A good-looking +young woman in a white dress with a profusion of pink ribbons +confronted me with a curtsey. "A pint and a chop!" I exclaimed, +with a flourish of my hand and at the top of my voice. The damsel +gave a kind of start, and then, with something like a toss of the +head, led the way into a very large room, on the left, in which +were many tables, covered with snowy-white cloths, on which were +plates, knives and forks, the latter seemingly of silver, tumblers, +and wine-glasses. + +"I think you asked for a pint and a chop, sir?" said the damsel, +motioning me to sit down at one of the tables. + +"I did," said I, as I sat down, "let them be brought with all +convenient speed, for I am in something of a hurry." + +"Very well, sir," said the damsel, and then with another kind of +toss of the head, she went away, not forgetting to turn half round, +to take a furtive glance at me, before she went out of the door. + +"Well," said I, as I looked at the tables, with their snowy-white +cloths, tumblers, wine-glasses and what not, and at the walls of +the room glittering with mirrors, "surely a poet never kept so +magnificent an inn before; there must be something in this fellow +besides the awen, or his house would never exhibit such marks of +prosperity and good taste - there must be something in this fellow; +though he pretends to be a wild erratic son of Parnassus, he must +have an eye to the main chance, a genius for turning the penny, or +rather the sovereign, for the accommodation here is no penny +accommodation, as I shall probably find. Perhaps, however, like +myself, he has an exceedingly clever wife who, whilst he is making +verses, or running about the country swigging ale with people in +bulged shoes, or buying pigs or glandered horses, looks after +matters at home, drives a swinging trade, and keeps not only +herself, but him respectable - but even in that event he must have +a good deal of common-sense in him, even like myself, who always +allows my wife to buy and sell, carry money to the bank, draw +cheques, inspect and pay tradesmen's bills, and transact all my +real business, whilst I myself pore over old books, walk about +shires, discoursing with gypsies, under hedgerows, or with sober +bards - in hedge ale-houses." I continued musing in this manner +until the handmaid made her appearance with a tray, on which were +covers and a decanter, which she placed before me. "What is that?" +said I, pointing to a decanter. + +"Only a pint of sherry, sir," said she of the white dress and +ribbons. + +"Dear me," said I, "I ordered no sherry, I wanted some ale - a pint +of ale." + +"You called for a pint, sir," said the handmaid, "but you mentioned +no ale, and I naturally supposed that a gentleman of your +appearance" - here she glanced at my dusty coat - "and speaking in +the tone you did, would not condescend to drink ale with his chop; +however, as it seems I have been mistaken, I can take away the +sherry and bring you the ale." + +"Well, well," said I, "you can let the sherry remain; I do not like +sherry, and am very fond of ale, but you can let the wine remain; +upon the whole I am glad you brought it - indeed I merely came to +do a good turn to the master of the house." + +"Thank you, sir," said the handmaid. + +"Are you his daughter?" said I. + +"Oh no, sir," said the handmaid reverently; "only his waiter." + +"You may be proud to wait on him," said I. + +"I am, sir," said the handmaid, casting down her eyes. + +"I suppose he is much respected in the neighbourhood?" said I. + +"Very much so, sir," said the damsel, "especially amidst the +connection." + +"The connection," said I. "Ah, I see, he has extensive +consanguinity, most Welsh have. But," I continued, "there is such +a thing as envy in the world, and there are a great many malicious +people in the world, who speak against him." + +"A great many, sir, but we take what they say from whence it +comes." + +"You do quite right," said I. "Has your master written any poetry +lately?" + +"Sir!" said the damsel staring at me. + +"Any poetry," said I, "any pennillion?" + +"No, sir," said the damsel; "my master is a respectable man, and +would scorn to do anything of the kind." + +"Why," said I, "is not your master a bard as well as an innkeeper?" + +"My master, sir, is an innkeeper," said the damsel; "but as for the +other, I don't know what you mean." + +"A bard," said I, "is a prydydd, a person who makes verses - +pennillion; does not your master make them?" + +"My master make them? No, sir; my master is a religious gentleman, +and would scorn to make such profane stuff." + +"Well," said I, "he told me he did within the last two hours. I +met him at Dyffrin Gaint, along with another man, and he took me +into the public-house, where we had a deal of discourse." + +"You met my master at Dyffryn Gaint?" said the damsel. + +"Yes," said I, "and he treated me with ale, told me that he was a +poet, and that he was going to Bangor to buy a horse or a pig." + +"I don't see how that could be, sir," said the damsel; "my master +is at present in the house, rather unwell, and has not been out for +the last three days - there must be some mistake." + +"Mistake," said I. "Isn't this the - Arms?" + +"Yes, sir, it is." + +"And isn't your master's name W-?" + +"No, sir, my master's name is H-, and a more respectable man - " + +"Well," said I interrupting her - "all I can say is that I met a +man in Dyffryn Gaint, who treated me with ale, told me that his +name was W-, that he was a prydydd and kept the - Arms at L-." + +"Well," said the damsel, "now I remember, there is a person of that +name in L-, and he also keeps a house which he calls the - Arms, +but it is only a public-house." + +"But," said I, "is he not a prydydd, an illustrious poet; does he +not write pennillion which everybody admires?" + +"Well," said the damsel, "I believe he does write things which he +calls pennillions, but everybody laughs at them." + +"Come, come," said I, "I will not hear the productions of a man who +treated me with ale, spoken of with disrespect. I am afraid that +you are one of his envious maligners, of which he gave me to +understand that he had a great many." + +"Envious, sir! not I indeed; and if I were disposed to be envious +of anybody it would not be of him; oh dear, why he is - " + +"A bard of Anglesey," said I, interrupting her, "such a person as +Gronwy Owen describes in the following lines, which by-the-bye were +written upon himself:- + + +"'Where'er he goes he's sure to find +Respectful looks and greetings kind.' + + +"I tell you that it was out of respect to that man that I came to +this house. Had I not thought that he kept it, I should not have +entered it and called for a pint and chop - how distressing! how +truly distressing!" + +"Well, sir," said the damsel, "if there is anything distressing you +have only to thank your acquaintance who chooses to call his mug- +house by the name of a respectable hotel, for I would have you know +that this is an hotel, and kept by a respectable and a religious +man, and not kept by - However, I scorn to say more, especially as +I might be misinterpreted. Sir, there's your pint and chop, and if +you wish for anything else you can ring. Envious, indeed, of such +- Marry come up!" and with a toss of her head, higher than any she +had hitherto given, she bounced out of the room. + +Here was a pretty affair! I had entered the house and ordered the +chop and pint in the belief that by so doing I was patronising the +poet, and lo, I was not in the poet's house, and my order would +benefit a person for whom, however respectable and religious, I +cared not one rush. Moreover, the pint which I had ordered +appeared in the guise not of ale, which I am fond of, but of +sherry, for which I have always entertained a sovereign contempt, +as a silly, sickly compound, the use of which will transform a +nation, however bold and warlike by nature, into a race of +sketchers, scribblers, and punsters, in fact into what Englishmen +are at the present day. But who was to blame? Why, who but the +poet and myself? The poet ought to have told me that there were +two houses in L- bearing the sign of the - Arms, and that I must +fight shy of the hotel and steer for the pot-house, and when I gave +the order I certainly ought to have been a little more explicit; +when I said a pint I ought to have added - of ale. Sententiousness +is a fine thing sometimes, but not always. By being sententious +here, I got sherry, which I dislike, instead of ale which I like, +and should have to pay more for what was disagreeable, than I +should have had to pay for what was agreeable. Yet I had merely +echoed the poet's words in calling for a pint and chop, so after +all the poet was to blame for both mistakes. But perhaps he meant +that I should drink sherry at his house, and when he advised me to +call for a pint, he meant a pint of sherry. But the maid had said +he kept a pot-house, and no pot-houses have wine-licences; but the +maid after all might be an envious baggage, and no better than she +should be. But what was now to be done? Why, clearly make the +best of the matter, eat the chop and leave the sherry. So I +commenced eating the chop, which was by this time nearly cold. +After eating a few morsels I looked at the sherry: "I may as well +take a glass," said I. So with a wry face I poured myself out a +glass. + +"What detestable stuff!" said I, after I had drunk it. "However, +as I shall have to pay for it I may as well go through with it." +So I poured myself out another glass, and by the time I had +finished the chop I had finished the sherry also. + +And now what was I to do next? Why, my best advice seemed to be to +pay my bill and depart. But I had promised the poet to patronize +his house, and had by mistake ordered and despatched a pint and +chop in a house which was not the poet's. Should I now go to his +house and order a pint and chop there? Decidedly not! I had +patronised a house which I believed to be the poet's; if I +patronised the wrong one, the fault was his, not mine - he should +have been more explicit. I had performed my promise, at least in +intention. + +Perfectly satisfied with the conclusion I had come to, I rang the +bell. "The bill?" said I to the handmaid. + +"Here it is!" said she, placing a strip of paper in my hand. + +I looked at the bill, and, whether moderate or immoderate, paid it +with a smiling countenance, commanded the entertainment highly, and +gave the damsel something handsome for her trouble in waiting on +me. + +Reader, please to bear in mind that as all bills must be paid, it +is much more comfortable to pay them with a smile than with a +frown, and that it is much better by giving sixpence, or a shilling +to a poor servant, which you will never miss at the year's end, to +be followed from the door of an inn by good wishes, than by giving +nothing to be pursued by cutting silence, or the yet more cutting +Hm! + +"Sir," said the good-looking, well-ribboned damsel, "I wish you a +pleasant journey, and whenever you please again to honour our +establishment with your presence, both my master and myself shall +be infinitely obliged to you." + + + +CHAPTER XXXIX + + + +Oats and Methodism - The Little Girl - Ty Gwyn - Bird of the Roof - +Purest English - Railroads - Inconsistency - The Boots. + + +IT might be about four in the afternoon when I left L- bound for +Pen Caer Gybi, or Holyhead, seventeen miles distant. I reached the +top of the hill on the west of the little town, and then walked +briskly forward. The country looked poor and mean - on my right +was a field of oats, on my left a Methodist chapel - oats and +Methodism! what better symbols of poverty and meanness? + +I went onward a long way, the weather was broiling hot, and I felt +thirsty. On the top of a long ascent stood a house by the +roadside. I went to the door and knocked - no answer - "Oes neb yn +y ty?" said I. + +"Oes!" said an infantine voice. + +I opened the door and saw a little girl. "Have you any water?" +said I. + +"No," said the child, "but I have this," and she brought me some +butter-milk in a basin. I just tasted it, gave the child a penny +and blessed her. + +"Oes genoch tad?" + +"No," said she; "but I have a mam." Tad in mam; blessed sounds; in +all languages expressing the same blessed things. + +After walking for some hours I saw a tall blue hill in the far +distance before me. "What is the name of that hill?" said I to a +woman whom I met. + +"Pen Caer Gybi," she replied. + +Soon after I came to a village near to a rocky gully. On inquiring +the name of the village, I was told it was Llan yr Afon, or the +church of the river. I passed on; the country was neither grand +nor pretty - it exhibited a kind of wildness, however, which did +not fail to interest me - there were stones, rocks and furze in +abundance. Turning round the corner of a hill, I observed through +the mists of evening, which began to gather about me, what seemed +to be rather a genteel house on the roadside; on my left, and a +little way behind it a strange kind of monticle, on which I thought +I observed tall upright stones. Quickening my pace, I soon came +parallel with the house, which as I drew nigh, ceased to look like +a genteel house, and exhibited an appearance of great desolation. +It was a white, or rather grey structure of some antiquity. It was +evidently used as a farm-house, for there was a yard adjoining to +it, in which were stacks and agricultural implements. Observing +two men in the yard, I went in. They were respectable, farm- +looking men, between forty and fifty; one had on a coat and hat, +the other a cap and jacket. "Good evening," I said in Welsh. + +"Good evening," they replied in the same language, looking +inquiringly at me. + +"What is the name of this place?" said I. + +"It is called Ty gwyn," said the man of the hat. + +"On account of its colour, I suppose?" said I. + +"Just so," said the man of the hat. + +"It looks old," said I. + +"And it is old," he replied. "In the time of the Papists it was +one of their chapels." + +"Does it belong to you?" I demanded. + +"Oh no, it belongs to one Mr Sparrow from Liverpool. I am his +bailiff, and this man is a carpenter who is here doing a job for +him." + +Here ensued a pause, which was broken by the man of the hat saying +in English, to the man of the cap: + +"Who can this strange fellow be? he has not a word of English, and +though he speaks Welsh his Welsh sounds very different from ours. +Who can he be?" + +"I am sure I don't know," said the other. + +"I know who he is," said the first, "he comes from Llydaw, or +Armorica, which was peopled from Britain estalom, and where I am +told the real old Welsh language is still spoken." + +"I think I heard you mention the word Llydaw?" said I, to the man +of the hat. + +"Ah," said the man of the hat, speaking Welsh, "I was right after +all; oh, I could have sworn you were Llydaweg. Well, how are the +descendants of the ancient Britons getting on in Llydaw?" + +"They are getting on tolerably well," said I, "when I last saw +them, though all things do not go exactly as they could wish." + +"Of course not," said he of the hat. "We too have much to complain +of here; the lands are almost entirely taken possession of by +Saxons, wherever you go you will find them settled, and a Saxon +bird of the roof must build its nest in Gwyn dy." + +"You call a sparrow in your Welsh a bird of the roof, do you not?" +said I. + +"We do," said he of the hat. "You speak Welsh very well +considering you were not born in Wales. It is really surprising +that the men of Llydaw should speak the iaith so pure as they do." + +"The Welsh when they went over there," said I, "took effectual +means that their descendants should speak good Welsh, if all tales +be true." + +"What means?" said he of the hat. + +"Why," said I; "after conquering the country they put all the men +to death, and married the women, but before a child was born they +cut out all the women's tongues, so that the only language the +children heard when they were born was pure Cumraeg. What do you +think of that?" + +"Why, that it was a cute trick," said he of the hat. + +"A more clever trick I never heard," said the man of the cap. + +"Have you any memorials in the neighbourhood of the old Welsh?" +said I. + +"What do you mean?" said the man of the hat. + +"Any altars of the Druids?" said I; "any stone tables?" + +"None," said the man of the hat. + +"What may those stones be?" said I, pointing to the stones which +had struck my attention. + +"Mere common rocks," said the man. + +"May I go and examine them?" said I. + +"Oh yes!" said he of the hat, "and we will go with you." + +We went to the stones, which were indeed common rocks, and which +when I reached them presented quite a different appearance from +that which they presented to my eye when I viewed them from afar. + +"Are there many altars of the Druids in Llydaw?" said the man of +the hat. + +"Plenty," said I, "but those altars are older than the time of the +Welsh colonists, and were erected by the old Gauls." + +"Well," said the man of the cap, "I am glad I have seen the man of +Llydaw." + +"Whom do you call a man of Llydaw?" said I. + +"Whom but yourself?" said he of the hat. + +"I am not a man of Llydaw," said I in English, "but Norfolk, where +the people eat the best dumplings in the world, and speak the +purest English. Now a thousand thanks for your civility. I would +have some more chat with you, but night is coming on, and I am +bound to Holyhead." + +Then leaving the men staring after me, I bent my steps towards +Holyhead. + +I passed by a place called Llan something, standing lonely on its +hill. The country round looked sad and desolate. It is true night +had come on when I saw it. + +On I hurried. The voices of children sounded sweetly at a distance +across the wild champaign on my left. + +It grew darker and darker. On I hurried along the road; at last I +came to lone, lordly groves. On my right was an open gate and a +lodge. I went up to the lodge. The door was open, and in a little +room I beheld a nice-looking old lady sitting by a table, on which +stood a lighted candle, with her eyes fixed on a large book. + +"Excuse me," said I; "but who owns this property?" + +The old lady looked up from her book, which appeared to be a Bible, +without the slightest surprise, though I certainly came upon her +unawares, and answered: + +"Mr John Wynn." + +I shortly passed through a large village, or rather town, the name +of which I did not learn. I then went on for a mile or two, and +saw a red light at some distance. The road led nearly up to it, +and then diverged towards the north. Leaving the road I made +towards the light by a lane, and soon came to a railroad station. + +"You won't have long to wait, sir," said a man, "the train to +Holyhead will be here presently." + +"How far is it to Holyhead?" said I. + +"Two miles, sir, and the fare is only sixpence." + +"I despise railroads," said I, "and those who travel by them," and +without waiting for an answer returned to the road. Presently I +heard the train - it stopped for a minute at the station, and then +continuing its course passed me on my left hand, voiding fierce +sparks, and making a terrible noise - the road was a melancholy +one; my footsteps sounded hollow upon it. I seemed to be its only +traveller - a wall extended for a long, long way on my left. At +length I came to a turnpike. I felt desolate and wished to speak +to somebody. I tapped at the window, at which there was a light; a +woman opened it. "How far to Holyhead?" said I in English. + +"Dim Saesneg," said the woman. + +I repeated my question in Welsh. + +"Two miles," said she. + +"Still two miles to Holyhead by the road," thought I. "Nos da," +said I to the woman and sped along. At length I saw water on my +right, seemingly a kind of bay, and presently a melancholy ship. I +doubled my pace, which was before tolerably quick, and soon saw a +noble-looking edifice on my left, brilliantly lighted up. "What a +capital inn that would make," said I, looking at it wistfully, as I +passed it. Presently I found myself in the midst of a poor, dull, +ill-lighted town. + +"Where is the inn?" said I to a man. + +"The inn, sir; you have passed it. The inn is yonder," he +continued, pointing towards the noble-looking edifice. + +"What, is that the inn?" said I. + +"Yes, sir, the railroad hotel - and a first-rate hotel it is." + +"And are there no other inns?" + +"Yes, but they are all poor places. No gent puts up at them - all +the gents by the railroad put up at the railroad hotel." + +What was I to do? after turning up my nose at the railroad, was I +to put up at its hotel? Surely to do so would be hardly acting +with consistency. "Ought I not rather to go to some public-house, +frequented by captains of fishing smacks, and be put in a bed a +foot too short for me," said I, as I reflected on my last night's +couch at Mr Pritchard's. "No, that won't do - I shall go to the +hotel, I have money in my pocket, and a person with money in his +pocket has surely a right to be inconsistent if he pleases." + +So I turned back and entered the railroad hotel with lofty port and +with sounding step, for I had twelve sovereigns in my pocket, +besides a half one, and some loose silver, and feared not to +encounter the gaze of any waiter or landlord in the land. "Send +boots!" I roared to the waiter, as I flung myself down in an arm- +chair in a magnificent coffee-room. "What the deuce are you +staring at? send boots can't you, and ask what I can have for +dinner." + +"Yes, sir," said the waiter, and with a low bow departed. + +"These boots are rather dusty," said the boots, a grey-haired, +venerable-looking man, after he had taken off my thick, solid, +square-toed boots. "I suppose you came walking from the railroad?" + +"Confound the railroad!" said I. "I came walking from Bangor. I +would have you know that I have money in my pocket, and can afford +to walk. I am fond of the beauties of nature; now it is impossible +to see much of the beauties of nature unless you walk. I am +likewise fond of poetry, and take especial delight in inspecting +the birth-places and haunts of poets. It is because I am fond of +poetry, poets and their haunts, that I am come to Anglesey. +Anglesey does not abound in the beauties of nature, but there never +was such a place for poets; you meet a poet, or the birth-place of +a poet, everywhere." + +"Did your honour ever hear of Gronwy Owen?" said the old man. + +"I have," I replied, "and yesterday I visited his birth-place; so +you have heard of Gronwy Owen?" + +"Heard of him, your honour; yes, and read his works. That 'Cowydd +y Farn' of his is a wonderful poem." + +"You say right," said I; "the 'Cowydd of Judgment' contains some of +the finest things ever written - that description of the toppling +down of the top crag of Snowdon, at the day of Judgment, beats +anything in Homer." + +"Then there was Lewis Morris, your honour," said the old man, "who +gave Gronwy his education and wrote 'The Lasses of Meirion' - and - +" + +"And 'The Cowydd to the Snail,'" said I, interrupting him - "a +wonderful man he was." + +"I am rejoiced to see your honour in our house," said boots; "I +never saw an English gentleman before who knew so much about Welsh +poetry, nor a Welsh one either. Ah, if your honour is fond of +poets and their places you did right to come to Anglesey - and your +honour was right in saying that you can't stir a step without +meeting one; you have an example of the truth of that in me - for +to tell your honour the truth, I am a poet myself, and no bad one +either." + +Then tucking the dusty boots under his arm, the old man with a low +congee, and a "Good-night, your honour!" shuffled out of the room. + + + +CHAPTER XL + + + +Caer Gyby - Lewis Morris - Noble Character. + + +I DINED or rather supped well at the Railroad Inn - I beg its +pardon, Hotel, for the word Inn at the present day is decidedly +vulgar. I likewise slept well; how could I do otherwise, passing +the night, as I did, in an excellent bed in a large, cool, quiet +room? I arose rather late, went down to the coffee-room and took +my breakfast leisurely, after which I paid my bill and strolled +forth to observe the wonders of the place. + +Caer Gybi or Cybi's town is situated on the southern side of a bay +on the north-western side of Anglesey. Close to it on the south- +west is a very high headland called in Welsh Pen Caer Gybi, or the +head of Cybi's city, and in English Holy Head. On the north, +across the bay, is another mountain of equal altitude, which if I +am not mistaken bears in Welsh the name of Mynydd Llanfair, or +Saint Mary's Mount. It is called Cybi's town from one Cybi, who +about the year 500 built a college here to which youths noble and +ignoble resorted from far and near. He was a native of Dyfed or +Pembrokeshire, and was a friend and for a long time a fellow- +labourer of Saint David. Besides being learned, according to the +standard of the time, he was a great walker, and from bronzing his +countenance by frequent walking in the sun was generally called +Cybi Velin, which means tawny or yellow Cybi. + +So much for Cybi, and his town! And now something about one whose +memory haunted me much more than that of Cybi during my stay at +Holyhead. + +Lewis Morris was born at a place called Tref y Beirdd, in Anglesey, +in the year 1700. Anglesey, or Mona, has given birth to many +illustrious men, but few, upon the whole, entitled to more +honourable mention than himself. From a humble situation in life, +for he served an apprenticeship to a cooper at Holyhead, he raised +himself by his industry and talents to affluence and distinction, +became a landed proprietor in the county of Cardigan, and inspector +of the royal domains and mines in Wales. Perhaps a man more +generally accomplished never existed; he was a first-rate mechanic, +an expert navigator, a great musician, both in theory and practice, +and a poet of singular excellence. Of him it was said, and with +truth, that he could build a ship and sail it, frame a harp and +make it speak, write an ode and set it to music. Yet that saying, +eulogistic as it is, is far from expressing all the vast powers and +acquirements of Lewis Morris. Though self-taught, he was +confessedly the best Welsh scholar of his age, and was well-versed +in those cognate dialects of the Welsh - the Cornish, Armoric, +Highland Gaelic and Irish. He was likewise well acquainted with +Hebrew, Greek and Latin, had studied Anglo-Saxon with some success, +and was a writer of bold and vigorous English. He was besides a +good general antiquary, and for knowledge of ancient Welsh customs, +traditions, and superstitions, had no equal. Yet all has not been +said which can be uttered in his praise; he had qualities of mind +which entitled him to higher esteem than any accomplishment +connected with intellect or skill. Amongst these were his noble +generosity and sacrifice of self for the benefit of others. Weeks +and months he was in the habit of devoting to the superintendence +of the affairs of the widow and fatherless: one of his principal +delights was to assist merit, to bring it before the world and to +procure for it its proper estimation: it was he who first +discovered the tuneful genius of blind Parry; it was he who first +put the harp into his hand; it was he who first gave him scientific +instruction; it was he who cheered him with encouragement and +assisted him with gold. It was he who instructed the celebrated +Evan Evans in the ancient language of Wales, enabling that talented +but eccentric individual to read the pages of the Red Book of +Hergest as easily as those of the Welsh Bible; it was he who +corrected his verses with matchless skill, refining and polishing +them till they became well worthy of being read by posterity; it +was he who gave him advice, which, had it been followed, would have +made the Prydydd Hir, as he called himself, one of the most +illustrious Welshmen of the last century; and it was he who first +told his countrymen that there was a youth of Anglesey whose +genius, if properly encouraged, promised fair to rival that of +Milton: one of the most eloquent letters ever written is one by +him, in which he descants upon the beauties of certain poems of +Gronwy Owen, the latent genius of whose early boyhood he had +observed, whom he had clothed, educated and assisted up to the +period when he was ordained a minister of the Church, and whom he +finally rescued from a state bordering on starvation in London, +procuring for him an honourable appointment in the New World. +Immortality to Lewis Morris! But immortality he has won, even as +his illustrious pupil has said, who in his elegy upon his +benefactor, written in America, in the four-and-twenty measures, at +a time when Gronwy had not heard the Welsh language spoken for more +than twenty years, has words to the following effect:- + + +"As long as Bardic lore shall last, science and learning be +cherished, the language and blood of the Britons undefiled, song be +heard on Parnassus, heaven and earth be in existence, foam be on +the surge, and water in the river, the name of Lewis of Mon shall +be held in grateful remembrance." + + + +CHAPTER XLI + + + +The Pier - Irish Reapers - Wild Irish Face - Father Toban - The +Herd of Swine - Latin Blessing. + + +THE day was as hot as the preceding one. I walked slowly towards +the west, and presently found myself upon a pier, or breakwater, at +the mouth of the harbour. A large steamer lay at a little distance +within the pier. There were fishing-boats on both sides, the +greater number on the outer side, which lies towards the hill of +Holy Head. On the shady side of the breakwater under the wall were +two or three dozen of Irish reapers; some were lying asleep, others +in parties of two or three were seated with their backs against the +wall, and were talking Irish; these last all appeared to be well- +made middle-sized young fellows, with rather a ruffianly look; they +stared at me as I passed. The whole party had shillealahs either +in their hands or by their sides. I went to the extremity of the +pier, where was a little lighthouse, and then turned back. As I +again drew near the Irish, I heard a hubbub and observed a great +commotion amongst them. All, whether those whom I had seen +sitting, or those whom I had seen reclining, had got, or were +getting on their legs. As I passed them they were all standing up, +and their eyes were fixed upon me with a strange kind of +expression, partly of wonder, methought, partly of respect. "Yes, +'tis he, sure enough," I heard one whisper. On I went, and at +about thirty yards from the last I stopped, turned round and leaned +against the wall. All the Irish were looking at me - presently +they formed into knots and began to discourse very eagerly in +Irish, though in an undertone. At length I observed a fellow going +from one knot to the other, exchanging a few words with each. +After he had held communication with all he nodded his head, and +came towards me with a quick step; the rest stood silent and +motionless with their eyes turned in the direction in which I was, +and in which he was advancing. He stopped within a yard of me and +took off his hat. He was an athletic fellow of about twenty-eight, +dressed in brown frieze. His features were swarthy, and his eyes +black; in every lineament of his countenance was a jumble of +savagery and roguishness. I never saw a more genuine wild Irish +face - there he stood looking at me full in the face, his hat in +one hand and his shillealah in the other. + +"Well, what do you want?" said I, after we had stared at each other +about half a minute. + +"Sure, I'm just come on the part of the boys and myself to beg a +bit of a favour of your reverence." + +"Reverence," said I, "what do you mean by styling me reverence?" + +"Och sure, because to be styled your reverence is the right of your +reverence." + +"Pray what do you take me for?" + +"Och sure, we knows your reverence very well." + +"Well, who am I?" + +"Och, why Father Toban to be sure." + +"And who knows me to be Father Toban?" + +"Och, a boy here knows your reverence to be Father Toban." + +"Where is that boy?" + +"Here he stands, your reverence." + +"Are you that boy?" + +"I am, your reverence." + +"And you told the rest that I was Father Toban?" + +"I did, your reverence." + +"And you know me to be Father Toban?" + +"I do, your reverence." + +"How do you know me to be Father Toban?" + +"Och, why because many's the good time that I have heard your +reverence, Father Toban, say mass." + +"And what is it you want me to do?" + +"Why, see here, your reverence, we are going to embark in the dirty +steamer yonder for ould Ireland, which starts as soon as the tide +serves, and we want your reverence to bless us before we goes." + +"You want me to bless you?" + +"We do, your reverence, we want you to spit out a little bit of a +blessing upon us before we goes on board." + +"And what good would my blessing do you?" + +"All kinds of good, your reverence; it would prevent the dirty +steamer from catching fire, your reverence, or from going down, +your reverence, or from running against the blackguard Hill of +Howth in the mist, provided there should be one." + +"And suppose I were to tell you that I am not Father Toban?" + +"Och, your reverence, will never think of doing that." + +"Would you believe me if I did?" + +"We would not, your reverence." + +"If I were to swear that I am not Father Toban?" + +"We would not, your reverence." + +"On the evangiles?" + +"We would not, your reverence." + +"On the Cross?" + +"We would not, your reverence." + +"And suppose I were to refuse to give you a blessing?" + +"Och, your reverence will never refuse to bless the poor boys." + +"But suppose I were to refuse?" + +"Why, in such a case, which by-the-bye is altogether impossible, we +should just make bould to give your reverence a good big bating." + +"You would break my head?" + +"We would, your reverence." + +"Kill me?" + +"We would, your reverence." + +"You would really put me to death?" + +"We would not, your reverence." + +"And what's the difference between killing and putting to death?" + +"Och, sure there's all the difference in the world. Killing manes +only a good big bating, such as every Irishman is used to, and +which your reverence would get over long before matins, whereas +putting your reverence to death would prevent your reverence from +saying mass for ever and a day." + +"And you are determined on having a blessing?" + +"We are, your reverence." + +"By hook or by crook?" + +"By crook or by hook, your reverence." + +"Before I bless you, will you answer me a question or two?" + +"I will, your reverence." + +"Are you not a set of great big blackguards?" + +"We are, your reverence." + +"Without one good quality?" + +"We are, your reverence." + +"Would it not be quite right to saddle and bridle you all, and ride +you violently down Holyhead or the Giant's Causeway into the +waters, causing you to perish there, like the herd of swine of +old?" + +"It would, your reverence." + +"And knowing and confessing all this, you have the cheek to come +and ask me for a blessing?" + +"We have, your reverence." + +"Well, how shall I give the blessing?" + +"Och, sure your reverence knows very well how to give it." + +"Shall I give it in Irish?" + +"Och, no, your reverence - a blessing in Irish is no blessing at +all." + +"In English?" + +"Och, murder, no, your reverence, God preserve us all from an +English blessing!" + +"In Latin?" + +"Yes, sure, your reverence; in what else should you bless us but in +holy Latin?" + +"Well then prepare yourselves." + +"We will, your reverence - stay one moment whilst I whisper to the +boys that your reverence is about to bestow your blessing upon us." + +Then turning to the rest who all this time had kept their eyes +fixed intently upon us, he bellowed with the voice of a bull: + +"Down on your marrow bones, ye sinners, for his reverence Toban is +about to bless us all in holy Latin." + +He then flung himself on his knees on the pier, and all his +countrymen, baring their heads, followed his example - yes, there +knelt thirty bare-headed Eirionaich on the pier of Caer Gybi +beneath the broiling sun. I gave them the best Latin blessing I +could remember, out of two or three which I had got by memory out +of an old Popish book of devotion, which I bought in my boyhood at +a stall. Then turning to the deputy I said, "Well, now are you +satisfied?" + +"Sure, I have a right to be satisfied, your reverence; and so have +we all - sure we can now all go on board the dirty steamer, without +fear of fire or water, or the blackguard Hill of Howth either." + +"Then get up, and tell the rest to get up, and please to know and +let the rest know, that I do not choose to receive farther trouble, +either by word or look, from any of ye, as long as I remain here." + +"Your reverence shall be obeyed in all things," said the fellow, +getting up. Then walking away to his companions he cried, "Get up, +boys, and plase to know that his reverence Toban is not to be +farther troubled by being looked at or spoken to by any one of us +as long as he remains upon this dirty pier." + +"Divil a bit farther trouble shall he have from us!" exclaimed many +a voice, as the rest of the party arose from their knees. + +In half a minute they disposed themselves in much the same manner +as that in which they were when I first saw them - some flung +themselves again to sleep under the wall, some seated themselves +with their backs against it, and laughed and chatted, but without +taking any notice of me; those who sat and chatted took, or +appeared to take, as little notice as those who lay and slept of +his reverence Father Toban. + + + +CHAPTER XLII + + + +Gage of Suffolk - Fellow in a Turban - Town of Holyhead - Father +Boots - An Expedition - Holy Head and Finisterrae - Gryffith ab +Cynan - The Fairies' Well. + + +LEAVING the pier I turned up a street to the south, and was not +long before I arrived at a kind of market-place, where were carts +and stalls, and on the ground, on cloths, apples and plums, and +abundance of greengages, - the latter, when good, decidedly the +finest fruit in the world, a fruit, for the introduction of which +into England, the English have to thank one Gage of an ancient +Suffolk family, at present extinct, after whose name the fruit +derives the latter part of its appellation. Strolling about the +market-place I came in contact with a fellow dressed in a turban +and dirty blue linen robes and trowsers. He bore a bundle of +papers in his hand, one of which he offered to me. I asked him who +he was. + +"Arap," he replied. + +He had a dark, cunning, roguish countenance, with small eyes, and +had all the appearance of a Jew. I spoke to him in what Arabic I +could command on a sudden, and he jabbered to me in a corrupt +dialect, giving me a confused account of a captivity which he had +undergone amidst savage Mahometans. At last I asked him what +religion he was of. + +"The Christian," he replied. + +"Have you ever been of the Jewish?" said I. + +He returned no answer save by a grin. + +I took the paper, gave him a penny, and then walked away. The +paper contained an account in English of how the bearer, the son of +Christian parents, had been carried into captivity by two Mahometan +merchants, a father and son, from whom he had escaped with the +greatest difficulty. + +"Pretty fools," said I, "must any people have been who ever stole +you; but oh what fools if they wished to keep you after they had +got you!" + +The paper was stuffed with religious and anti-slavery cant, and +merely wanted a little of the teetotal nonsense to be a perfect +specimen of humbug. + +I strolled forward, encountering more carts and more heaps of +greengages; presently I turned to the right by a street, which led +some way up the hill. The houses were tolerably large and all +white. The town, with its white houses placed by the seaside, on +the skirt of a mountain, beneath a blue sky and a broiling sun, put +me something in mind of a Moorish piratical town, in which I had +once been. Becoming soon tired of walking about, without any +particular aim, in so great a heat, I determined to return to the +inn, call for ale, and deliberate on what I had best next do. So I +returned and called for ale. The ale which was brought was not ale +which I am particularly fond of. The ale which I am fond of is ale +about nine or ten months old, somewhat hard, tasting well of malt +and little of the hop - ale such as farmers, and noblemen too, of +the good old time, when farmers' daughters did not play on pianos +and noblemen did not sell their game, were in the habit of offering +to both high and low, and drinking themselves. The ale which was +brought me was thin washy stuff, which though it did not taste much +of hop, tasted still less of malt, made and sold by one Allsopp, +who I am told calls himself a squire and a gentleman - as he +certainly may with quite as much right as many a lord calls himself +a nobleman and a gentleman; for surely it is not a fraction more +trumpery to make and sell ale than to fatten and sell game. The +ale of the Saxon squire, for Allsopp is decidedly an old Saxon +name, however unakin to the practice of old Saxon squires the +selling of ale may be, was drinkable for it was fresh, and the day, +as I have said before, exceedingly hot; so I took frequent draughts +out of the shining metal tankard in which it was brought, +deliberating both whilst drinking, and in the intervals of +drinking, on what I had next best do. I had some thoughts of +crossing to the northern side of the bay, then, bearing the north- +east, wend my way to Amlwch, follow the windings of the sea-shore +to Mathafarn eithaf and Pentraeth Coch, and then return to Bangor, +after which I could boast that I had walked round the whole of +Anglesey, and indeed trodden no inconsiderable part of the way +twice. Before coming, however, to any resolution, I determined to +ask the advice of my friend the boots on the subject. So I +finished my ale, and sent word by the waiter that I wished to speak +to him; he came forthwith, and after communicating my deliberations +to him in a few words I craved his counsel. The old man, after +rubbing his right forefinger behind his right ear for about a +quarter of a minute, inquired if I meant to return to Bangor, and +on my telling him that it would be necessary for me to do so, as I +intended to walk back to Llangollen by Caernarvon and Beth Gelert, +strongly advised me to return to Bangor by the railroad train, +which would start at seven in the evening, and would convey me +thither in an hour and a half. I told him that I hated railroads, +and received for answer that he had no particular liking for them +himself, but that he occasionally made use of them on a pinch, and +supposed that I likewise did the same. I then observed, that if I +followed his advice I should not see the north side of the island +nor its principal town Amlwch, and received for answer that if I +never did, the loss would not be great - that as for Amlwch it was +a poor poverty-stricken place - the inn a shabby affair - the +master a very so-so individual, and the boots a fellow without +either wit or literature. That upon the whole he thought I might +be satisfied with what I had seen for after having visited Owen +Tudor's tomb, Caer Gybi and his hotel, I had in fact seen the cream +of Mona. I then said that I had one objection to make, which was +that I really did not know how to employ the time till seven +o'clock, for that I had seen all about the town. + +"But has your honour ascended the Head?" demanded Father Boots. + +"No," said I; "I have not." + +"Then," said he, "I will soon find your honour ways and means to +spend the time agreeably till the starting of the train. Your +honour shall ascend the Head under the guidance of my nephew, a +nice intelligent lad, your honour, and always glad to earn a +shilling or two. By the time your honour has seen all the wonders +of the Head and returned, it will be five o'clock. Your honour can +then dine, and after dinner trifle away the minutes over your wine +or brandy-and-water till seven, when your honour can step into a +first-class for Bangor." + +I was struck with the happy manner in which he had removed the +difficulty in question, and informed him that I was determined to +follow his advice. He hurried away, and presently returned with +his nephew, to whom I offered half-a-crown provided he would show +me all about Pen Caer Gyby. He accepted my offer with evident +satisfaction, and we lost no time in setting out upon our +expedition. + +We had to pass over a great deal of broken ground, sometimes +ascending, sometimes descending, before we found ourselves upon the +side of what may actually be called the headland. Shaping our +course westward we came to the vicinity of a lighthouse standing on +the verge of a precipice, the foot of which was washed by the sea. + +Leaving the lighthouse on our right we followed a steep winding +path which at last brought us to the top of the pen or summit, +rising, according to the judgment which I formed, about six hundred +feet from the surface of the sea. Here was a level spot some +twenty yards across, in the middle of which stood a heap of stones +or cairn. I asked the lad whether this cairn bore a name, and +received for answer that it was generally called Bar-cluder y Cawr +Glas, words which seem to signify the top heap of the Grey Giant. + +"Some king, giant, or man of old renown lies buried beneath this +cairn," said I. "Whoever he may be, I trust he will excuse me for +mounting it, seeing that I do so with no disrespectful spirit." I +then mounted the cairn, exclaiming:- + + +"Who lies 'neath the cairn on the headland hoar, +His hand yet holding his broad claymore, +Is it Beli, the son of Benlli Gawr?" + + +There stood I on the cairn of the Grey Giant, looking around me. +The prospect, on every side, was noble: the blue interminable sea +to the west and north; the whole stretch of Mona to the east; and +far away to the south the mountainous region of Eryri, comprising +some of the most romantic hills in the world. In some respects +this Pen Santaidd, this holy headland, reminded me of Finisterrae, +the Gallegan promontory which I had ascended some seventeen years +before, whilst engaged in battling the Pope with the sword of the +gospel in his favourite territory. Both are bold, bluff headlands +looking to the west, both have huge rocks in their vicinity, rising +from the bosom of the brine. For a time, as I stood on the cairn, +I almost imagined myself on the Gallegan hill; much the same +scenery presented itself as there, and a sun equally fierce struck +upon my head as that which assailed it on the Gallegan hill. For a +time all my thoughts were of Spain. It was not long, however, +before I bethought me that my lot was now in a different region, +that I had done with Spain for ever, after doing for her all that +lay in the power of a lone man, who had never in this world +anything to depend upon, but God and his own slight strength. Yes, +I had done with Spain, and was now in Wales; and, after a slight +sigh, my thoughts became all intensely Welsh. I thought on the old +times when Mona was the grand seat of Druidical superstition, when +adoration was paid to Dwy Fawr, and Dwy Fach, the sole survivors of +the apocryphal Deluge; to Hu the Mighty and his plough; to Ceridwen +and her cauldron; to Andras the Horrible; to Wyn ab Nudd, Lord of +Unknown, and to Beli, Emperor of the Sun. I thought on the times +when the Beal fire blazed on this height, on the neighbouring +promontory, on the cope-stone of Eryri, and on every high hill +throughout Britain on the eve of the first of May. I thought on +the day when the bands of Suetonius crossed the Menai strait in +their broad-bottomed boats, fell upon the Druids and their +followers, who with wild looks and brandished torches lined the +shore, slew hundreds with merciless butchery upon the plains, and +pursued the remainder to the remotest fastnesses of the isle. I +figured to myself long-bearded men with white vestments toiling up +the rocks, followed by fierce warriors with glittering helms and +short broad two-edged swords; I thought I heard groans, cries of +rage, and the dull, awful sound of bodies precipitated down rocks. +Then as I looked towards the sea I thought I saw the fleet of +Gryffith Ab Cynan steering from Ireland to Aber Menai, Gryffith, +the son of a fugitive king, born in Ireland, in the Commot of +Columbcille, Gryffith the frequently baffled, the often victorious; +once a manacled prisoner sweating in the sun, in the market-place +of Chester, eventually king of North Wales; Gryffith, who "though +he loved well the trumpet's clang loved the sound of the harp +better"; who led on his warriors to twenty-four battles, and +presided over the composition of the twenty-four measures of +Cambrian song. Then I thought -. But I should tire the reader +were I to detail all the intensely Welsh thoughts which crowded +into my head as I stood on the Cairn of the Grey Giant. + +Satiated with looking about and thinking, I sprang from the cairn +and rejoined my guide. We now descended the eastern side of the +hill till we came to a singular looking stone, which had much the +appearance of a Druid's stone. I inquired of my guide whether +there was any tale connected with this stone. + +"None," he replied; "but I have heard people say that it was a +strange stone, and on that account I brought you to look at it." + +A little farther down he showed me part of a ruined wall. + +"What name does this bear?" said I. + +"Clawdd yr Afalon," he replied. "The dyke of the orchard." + +"A strange place for an orchard," I replied. "If there was ever an +orchard on this bleak hill, the apples must have been very sour." + +Over rocks and stones we descended till we found ourselves on a +road, not very far from the shore, on the south-east side of the +hill. + +"I am very thirsty," said I, as I wiped the perspiration from my +face; "how I should like now to drink my fill of cool spring +water." + +"If your honour is inclined for water," said my guide, "I can take +you to the finest spring in all Wales." + +"Pray do so," said I, "for I really am dying of thirst." + +"It is on our way to the town," said the lad, "and is scarcely a +hundred yards off." + +He then led me to the fountain. It was a little well under a stone +wall, on the left side of the way. It might be about two feet +deep, was fenced with rude stones, and had a bottom of sand. + +"There," said the lad, "is the fountain. It is called the Fairies' +Well, and contains the best water in Wales." + +I lay down and drank. Oh, what water was that of the Fairies' +Well! I drank and drank, and thought I could never drink enough of +that delicious water; the lad all the time saying that I need not +be afraid to drink, as the water of the Fairies' Well had never +done harm to anybody. At length I got up, and standing by the +fountain repeated the lines of a bard on a spring, not of a Welsh +but a Gaelic bard, which are perhaps the finest lines ever composed +on the theme. Yet MacIntyre, for such was his name, was like +myself an admirer of good ale, to say nothing of whiskey, and loved +to indulge in it at a proper time and place. But there is a time +and place for everything, and sometimes the warmest admirer of ale +would prefer the lymph of the hill-side fountain to the choicest +ale that ever foamed in tankard from the cellars of Holkham. Here +are the lines most faithfully rendered:- + + +"The wild wine of nature, +Honey-like in its taste, +The genial, fair, thin element +Filtering through the sands, +Which is sweeter than cinnamon, +And is well known to us hunters. +O, that eternal, healing draught, +Which comes from under the earth, +Which contains abundance of good +And costs no money!" + + +Returning to the hotel I satisfied my guide and dined. After +dinner I trifled agreeably with my brandy-and-water till it was +near seven o'clock, when I paid my bill, thought of the waiter and +did not forget Father Boots. I then took my departure, receiving +and returning bows, and walking to the station got into a first- +class carriage and soon found myself at Bangor. + + + +CHAPTER XLIII + + + +The Inn at Bangor - Port Dyn Norwig - Sea Serpent - Thoroughly +Welsh Place - Blessing of Health. + + +I WENT to the same inn at Bangor at which I had been before. It +was Saturday night and the house was thronged with people who had +arrived by train from Manchester and Liverpool, with the intention +of passing the Sunday in the Welsh town. I took tea in an immense +dining or ball-room, which was, however, so crowded with guests +that its walls literally sweated. Amidst the multitude I felt +quite solitary - my beloved ones had departed for Llangollen, and +there was no one with whom I could exchange a thought or a word of +kindness. I addressed several individuals, and in every instance +repented; from some I got no answers, from others what was worse +than no answers at all - in every countenance near me suspicion, +brutality, or conceit, was most legibly imprinted - I was not +amongst Welsh, but the scum of manufacturing England. + +Every bed in the house was engaged - the people of the house, +however, provided me a bed at a place which they called the +cottage, on the side of a hill in the outskirts of the town. There +I passed the night comfortably enough. At about eight in the +morning I arose, returned to the inn, breakfasted, and departed for +Beth Gelert by way of Caernarvon. + +It was Sunday, and I had originally intended to pass the day at +Bangor, and to attend divine service twice at the Cathedral, but I +found myself so very uncomfortable, owing to the crowd of +interlopers, that I determined to proceed on my journey without +delay; making up my mind, however, to enter the first church I +should meet in which service was being performed; for it is really +not good to travel on the Sunday without going into a place of +worship. + +The day was sunny and fiercely hot, as all the days had lately +been. In about an hour I arrived at Port Dyn Norwig: it stood on +the right side of the road. The name of this place, which I had +heard from the coachman who drove my family and me to Caernarvon +and Llanberis a few days before, had excited my curiosity with +respect to it, as it signifies the Port of the Norway man, so I now +turned aside to examine it. "No doubt," said I to myself, "the +place derives its name from the piratical Danes and Norse having +resorted to it in the old time." Port Dyn Norwig seems to consist +of a creek, a staithe, and about a hundred houses: a few small +vessels were lying at the staithe. I stood about ten minutes upon +it staring about, and then feeling rather oppressed by the heat of +the sun, I bent my way to a small house which bore a sign, and from +which a loud noise of voices proceeded. "Have you good ale?" said +I in English to a good-looking buxom dame of about forty, whom I +saw in the passage. + +She looked at me but returned no answer. + +"Oes genoch cwrw da?" said I. + +"Oes!" she replied with a smile, and opening the door of a room on +the left-hand bade me walk in. + +I entered the room; six or seven men, seemingly sea-faring people, +were seated drinking and talking vociferously in Welsh. Their +conversation was about the sea-serpent: some believed in the +existence of such a thing, others did not. After a little time one +said, "Let us ask this gentleman for his opinion." + +"And what would be the use of asking him?" said another, "we have +only Cumraeg, and he has only Saesneg." + +"I have a little broken Cumraeg, at the service of this good +company," said I. "With respect to the snake of the sea I beg +leave to say that I believe in the existence of such a creature; +and am surprised that any people in these parts should not believe +in it: why, the sea-serpent has been seen in these parts." + +"When was that, Gwr Boneddig?" said one of the company. + +"About fifty years ago," said I. "Once in October, in the year +1805, as a small vessel of the Traeth was upon the Menai, sailing +very slowly, the weather being very calm, the people on board saw a +strange creature like an immense worm swimming after them. It soon +overtook them, climbed on board through the tiller-hole, and coiled +itself on the deck under the mast - the people at first were +dreadfully frightened, but taking courage they attacked it with an +oar and drove it overboard; it followed the vessel for some time, +but a breeze springing up they lost sight of it." + +"And how did you learn this?" said the last who had addressed me. + +"I read the story," said I, "in a pure Welsh book called the +Greal." + +"I now remember hearing the same thing," said an old man, "when I +was a boy; it had slipt out of my memory, but now I remember all +about it. The ship was called the ROBERT ELLIS. Are you of these +parts, gentleman?" + +"No," said I, "I am not of these parts." + +"Then you are of South Wales - indeed your Welsh is very different +from ours." + +"I am not of South Wales," said I, "I am the seed not of the sea- +snake but of the coiling serpent, for so one of the old Welsh poets +called the Saxons." + +"But how did you learn Welsh?" said the old man. + +"I learned it by the grammar," said I, "a long time ago." + +"Ah, you learnt it by the grammar," said the old man; "that +accounts for your Welsh being different from ours. We did not +learn our Welsh by the grammar - your Welsh is different from ours, +and of course better, being the Welsh of the grammar. Ah, it is a +fine thing to be a grammarian." + +"Yes, it is a fine thing to be a grammarian," cried the rest of the +company, and I observed that everybody now regarded me with a kind +of respect. + +A jug of ale which the hostess had brought me had been standing +before me some time. I now tasted it and found it very good. +Whilst despatching it, I asked various questions about the old +Danes, the reason why the place was called the port of the +Norwegian, and about its trade. The good folks knew nothing about +the old Danes, and as little as to the reason of its being called +the port of the Norwegian - but they said that besides that name it +bore that of Melin Heli, or the mill of the salt pool, and that +slates were exported from thence, which came from quarries close +by. + +Having finished my ale, I bade the company adieu and quitted Port +Dyn Norwig, one of the most thoroughly Welsh places I had seen, for +during the whole time I was in it, I heard no words of English +uttered, except the two or three spoken by myself. In about an +hour I reached Caernarvon. + +The road from Bangor to Caernarvon is very good and the scenery +interesting - fine hills border it on the left, or south-east, and +on the right at some distance is the Menai with Anglesey beyond it. +Not far from Caernarvon a sandbank commences, extending for miles +up the Menai, towards Bangor, and dividing the strait into two. + +I went to the Castle Inn which fronts the square or market-place, +and being shown into a room ordered some brandy-and-water, and sat +down. Two young men were seated in the room. I spoke to them and +received civil answers, at which I was rather astonished, as I +found by the tone of their voices that they were English. The air +of one was far superior to that of the other, and with him I was +soon in conversation. In the course of discourse he informed me +that being a martyr to ill-health he had come from London to Wales, +hoping that change of air, and exercise on the Welsh hills, would +afford him relief, and that his friend had been kind enough to +accompany him. That he had been about three weeks in Wales, had +taken all the exercise that he could, but that he was still very +unwell, slept little and had no appetite. I told him not to be +discouraged, but to proceed in the course which he had adopted till +the end of summer, by which time I thought it very probable that he +would be restored to his health, as he was still young. At these +words of mine a beam of hope brightened his countenance, and he +said that he had no other wish than to regain his health, and that +if he did he should be the happiest of men. The intense wish of +the poor young man for health caused me to think how insensible I +had hitherto been to the possession of the greatest of all +terrestrial blessings. I had always had the health of an elephant, +but I never remembered to have been sensible to the magnitude of +the blessing or in the slightest degree grateful to God who gave +it. I shuddered to think how I should feel if suddenly deprived of +my health. Far worse, no doubt, than that poor invalid. He was +young, and in youth there is hope - but I was no longer young. At +last, however, I thought that if God took away my health He might +so far alter my mind that I might be happy even without health, or +the prospect of it; and that reflection made me quite comfortable. + + + +CHAPTER XLIV + + + +National School - The Young Preacher - Pont Bettws - Spanish Words +- Two Tongues, Two Faces - The Elephant's Snout - Llyn Cwellyn - +The Snowdon Ranger - My House - Castell y Cidwm - Descent to Beth +Gelert. + + +IT might be about three o'clock in the afternoon when I left +Caernarvon for Beth Gelert, distant about thirteen miles. I +journeyed through a beautiful country of hill and dale, woods and +meadows, the whole gilded by abundance of sunshine. After walking +about an hour without intermission I reached a village, and asked a +man the name of it. + +"Llan - something," he replied. + +As he was standing before a long building, through the open door of +which a sound proceeded like that of preaching, I asked him what +place it was, and what was going on in it, and received for answer +that it was the National School, and that there was a clergyman +preaching in it. I then asked if the clergyman was of the Church, +and on learning that he was, I forthwith entered the building, +where in one end of a long room I saw a young man in a white +surplice preaching from a desk to about thirty or forty people, who +were seated on benches before him. I sat down and listened. The +young man preached with great zeal and fluency. The sermon was a +very seasonable one, being about the harvest, and in it things +temporal and spiritual were very happily blended. The part of the +sermon which I heard - I regretted that I did not hear the whole - +lasted about five-and-twenty minutes: a hymn followed, and then +the congregation broke up. I inquired the name of the young man +who preached, and was told that it was Edwards, and that he came +from Caernarvon. The name of the incumbent of the parish was +Thomas. + +Leaving the village of the harvest sermon I proceeded on my way +which lay to the south-east. I was now drawing nigh to the +mountainous district of Eryri; a noble hill called Mount Eilio +appeared before me to the north; an immense mountain called Pen +Drws Coed lay over against it on the south, just like a couchant +elephant with its head lower than the top of its back. After a +time I entered a most beautiful sunny valley, and presently came to +a bridge over a pleasant stream running in the direction of the +south. As I stood upon that bridge I almost fancied myself in +Paradise; everything looked so beautiful or grand - green, sunny +meadows lay all around me, intersected by the brook, the waters of +which ran with tinkling laughter over a shingly bottom. Noble +Eilio to the north; enormous Pen Drws Coed to the south; a tall +mountain far beyond them to the east. "I never was in such a +lovely spot!" I cried to myself in a perfect rapture. "Oh, how +glad I should be to learn the name of this bridge, standing on +which I have had 'Heaven opened to me,' as my old friends the +Spaniards used to say." Scarcely had I said these words when I +observed a man and a woman coming towards the bridge in the +direction in which I was bound. I hastened to meet them in the +hope of obtaining information. They were both rather young, and +were probably a couple of sweethearts taking a walk or returning +from meeting. The woman was a few steps in advance of the man; +seeing that I was about to address her, she averted her head and +quickened her steps, and before I had completed the question, which +I put to her in Welsh, she had bolted past me screaming "Ah Dim +Seasneg," and was several yards distant. + +I then addressed myself to the man who had stopped, asking him the +name of the bridge. + +"Pont Bettws," he replied. + +"And what may be the name of the river?" said I. + +"Afon - something," said he. + +And on my thanking him he went forward to the woman who was waiting +for him by the bridge. + +"Is that man Welsh or English?" I heard her say when he had +rejoined her. + +"I don't know," said the man - "he was civil enough; why were you +such a fool?" + +"Oh, I thought he would speak to me in English," said the woman, +"and the thought of that horrid English puts me into such a +flutter; you know I can't speak a word of it." + +They proceeded on their way and I proceeded on mine, and presently +coming to a little inn on the left side of the way, at the entrance +of a village, I went in. + +A respectable-looking man and woman were seated at tea at a table +in a nice clean kitchen. I sat down on a chair near the table, and +called for ale - the ale was brought me in a jug - I drank some, +put the jug on the table, and began to discourse with the people in +Welsh. A handsome dog was seated on the ground; suddenly it laid +one of its paws on its master's knee. + +"Down, Perro," said he. + +"Perro!" said I; "why do you call the dog Perro?" + +"We call him Perro," said the man, "because his name is Perro." + +"But how came you to give him that name?" said I. + +"We did not give it to him," said the man - "he bore that name when +he came into our hands; a farmer gave him to us when he was very +young, and told us his name was Perro." + +"And how came the farmer to call him Perro?" said I. + +"I don't know," said the man - "why do you ask?" + +"Perro," said I, "is a Spanish word, and signifies a dog in +general. I am rather surprised that a dog in the mountains of +Wales should be called by the Spanish word for dog." I fell into a +fit of musing. "How Spanish words are diffused! Wherever you go +you will find some Spanish word or other in use. I have heard +Spanish words used by Russian mujiks and Turkish fig-gatherers - I +have this day heard a Spanish word in the mountains of Wales, and I +have no doubt that were I to go to Iceland I should find Spanish +words used there. How can I doubt it; when I reflect that more +than six hundred years ago, one of the words to denote a bad woman +was Spanish. In the oldest of Icelandic domestic Sagas, +Skarphedin, the son of Nial the seer, called Hallgerdr, widow of +Gunnar, a puta - and that word so maddened Hallgerdr that she never +rested till she had brought about his destruction. Now, why this +preference everywhere for Spanish words over those of every other +language? I never heard French words or German words used by +Russian mujiks and Turkish fig-gatherers. I question whether I +should find any in Iceland forming part of the vernacular. I +certainly never found a French or even a German word in an old +Icelandic Saga. Why this partiality everywhere for Spanish words? +the question is puzzling; at any rate it puts me out - " + +"Yes, it puts me out!" I exclaimed aloud, striking my fist on the +table with a vehemence which caused the good folks to start half up +from their seats. Before they could say anything, however, a +vehicle drove up to the door, and a man getting out came into the +room. He had a glazed hat on his head, and was dressed something +like the guard of a mail. He touched his hat to me, and called for +a glass of whiskey. I gave him the sele of the evening and entered +into conversation with him in English. In the course of discourse +I learned that he was the postman, and was going his rounds in his +cart - he was more than respectful to me, he was fawning and +sycophantic. The whiskey was brought, and he stood with the glass +in his hand. Suddenly he began speaking Welsh to the people; +before, however, he had uttered two sentences the woman lifted her +hand with an alarmed air, crying "Hush! he understands." The +fellow was turning me to ridicule. I flung my head back, closed my +eyes, opened my mouth and laughed aloud. The fellow stood aghast; +his hand trembled, and he spilt the greater part of the whiskey +upon the ground. At the end of about half a minute I got up, asked +what I had to pay, and on being told twopence, I put down the +money. Then going up to the man I put my right forefinger very +near to his nose, and said "Dwy o iaith dwy o wyneb, two languages, +two faces, friend!" Then after leering at him for a moment I +wished the people of the house good-evening and departed. + +Walking rapidly on towards the east I soon drew near the +termination of the valley. The valley terminates in a deep gorge +or pass between Mount Eilio - which by-the-bye is part of the chine +of Snowdon - and Pen Drws Coed. The latter, that couchant elephant +with its head turned to the north-east, seems as if it wished to +bar the pass with its trunk; by its trunk I mean a kind of jaggy +ridge which descends down to the road. I entered the gorge, +passing near a little waterfall which with much noise runs down the +precipitous side of Mount Eilio; presently I came to a little mill +by the side of a brook running towards the east. I asked the +miller-woman, who was standing near the mill, with her head turned +towards the setting sun, the name of the mill and the stream. "The +mill is called 'The mill of the river of Lake Cwellyn,'" said she, +"and the river is called the river of Lake Cwellyn." + +"And who owns the land?" said I. + +"Sir Richard," said she. "I Sir Richard yw yn perthyn y tir. Mr +Williams, however, possesses some part of Mount Eilio." + +"And who is Mr Williams?" said I. + +"Who is Mr Williams?" said the miller's wife. "Ho, ho! what a +stranger you must be to ask me who is Mr Williams." + +I smiled and passed on. The mill was below the level of the road, +and its wheel was turned by the water of a little conduit supplied +by the brook at some distance above the mill. I had observed +similar conduits employed for similar purposes in Cornwall. A +little below the mill was a weir, and a little below the weir the +river ran frothing past the extreme end of the elephant's snout. +Following the course of the river I at last emerged with it from +the pass into a valley surrounded by enormous mountains. Extending +along it from west to east, and occupying its entire southern part +lay an oblong piece of water, into which the streamlet of the pass +discharged itself. This was one of the many beautiful lakes, which +a few days before I had seen from the Wyddfa. As for the Wyddfa I +now beheld it high above me in the north-east looking very grand +indeed, shining like a silver helmet whilst catching the glories of +the setting sun. + +I proceeded slowly along the road, the lake below me on my right +hand, whilst the shelvy side of Snowdon rose above me on the left. +The evening was calm and still, and no noise came upon my ear save +the sound of a cascade falling into the lake from a black mountain, +which frowned above it on the south, and cast a gloomy shadow far +over it. + +This cataract was in the neighbourhood of a singular-looking rock, +projecting above the lake from the mountain's side. I wandered a +considerable way without meeting or seeing a single human being. +At last when I had nearly gained the eastern end of the valley I +saw two men seated on the side of the hill, on the verge of the +road, in the vicinity of a house which stood a little way up the +hill. The lake here was much wider than I had hitherto seen it, +for the huge mountain on the south had terminated and the lake +expanded considerably in that quarter, having instead of the black +mountain a beautiful hill beyond it. + +I quickened my steps and soon came up to the two individuals. One +was an elderly man, dressed in a smock frock and with a hairy cap +on his head. The other was much younger, wore a hat, and was +dressed in a coarse suit of blue nearly new, and doubtless his +Sunday's best. He was smoking a pipe. I greeted them in English +and sat down near them. They responded in the same language, the +younger man with considerable civility and briskness, the other in +a tone of voice denoting some reserve. + +"May I ask the name of this lake?" said I, addressing myself to the +young man who sat between me and the elderly one. + +"Its name is Llyn Cwellyn, sir," said he, taking the pipe out of +his mouth. "And a fine lake it is." + +"Plenty of fish in it?" I demanded. + +"Plenty, sir; plenty of trout and pike and char." + +"Is it deep?" said I. + +"Near the shore it is shallow, sir, but in the middle and near the +other side it is deep, so deep that no one knows how deep it is." + +"What is the name," said I, "of the great black mountain there on +the other side?" + +"It is called Mynydd Mawr or the Great Mountain. Yonder rock, +which bulks out from it, down the lake yonder, and which you passed +as you came along, is called Castell Cidwm, which means Wolf's rock +or castle." + +"Did a wolf ever live there?" I demanded. + +"Perhaps so," said the man, "for I have heard say that there were +wolves of old in Wales." + +"And what is the name of the beautiful hill yonder, before us +across the water?" + +"That, sir, is called Cairn Drws y Coed," said the man. + +"The stone heap of the gate of the wood," said I. + +"Are you Welsh, sir?" said the man. + +"No," said I, "but I know something of the language of Wales. I +suppose you live in that house?" + +"Not exactly, sir, my father-in-law here lives in that house, and +my wife with him. I am a miner, and spend six days in the week at +my mine, but every Sunday I come here and pass the day with my wife +and him." + +"And what profession does he follow?" said I; "is he a fisherman?" + +"Fisherman!" said the elderly man contemptuously, "not I. I am the +Snowdon Ranger." + +"And what is that?" said I. + +The elderly man tossed his head proudly, and made no reply. + +"A ranger means a guide, sir," said the younger man; "my father-in- +law is generally termed the Snowdon Ranger because he is a tip-top +guide, and he has named the house after him the Snowdon Ranger. He +entertains gentlemen in it who put themselves under his guidance in +order to ascend Snowdon and to see the country." + +"There is some difference in your professions," said "he deals in +heights, you in depths, both, however, are break-necky trades." + +"I run more risk from gunpowder than anything else," said the +younger man. "I am a slate-miner, and am continually blasting. I +have, however, had my falls. Are you going far to-night, sir?" + +"I am going to Beth Gelert," said I. + +"A good six miles, sir, from here. Do you come from Caernarvon?" + +"Farther than that," said I. "I come from Bangor." + +"To-day, sir, and walking?" + +"To-day, and walking." + +"You must be rather tired, sir, you came along the valley very +slowly." + +"I am not in the slightest degree tired," said I; "when I start +from here, I shall put on my best pace, and soon get to Beth +Gelert." + +"Anybody can get along over level ground," said the old man, +laconically. + +"Not with equal swiftness," said I. "I do assure you, friend, to +be able to move at a good swinging pace over level ground is +something not to be sneezed at. Not," said I, lifting up my voice, +"that I would for a moment compare walking on the level ground to +mountain ranging, pacing along the road to springing up crags like +a mountain goat, or assert that even Powell himself, the first of +all road walkers, was entitled to so bright a wreath of fame as the +Snowdon Ranger." + +"Won't you walk in, sir?" said the elderly man. + +"No, I thank you," said I, "I prefer sitting out here gazing on the +lake and the noble mountains." + +"I wish you would, sir," said the elderly man, "and take a glass of +something; I will charge you nothing." + +"Thank you," said I, "I am in want of nothing, and shall presently +start. Do many people ascend Snowdon from your house?" + +"Not so many as I could wish," said the ranger; "people in general +prefer ascending Snowdon from that trumpery place Beth Gelert; but +those who do are fools - begging your honour's pardon. The place +to ascend Snowdon from is my house. The way from my house up +Snowdon is wonderful for the romantic scenery which it affords; +that from Beth Gelert can't be named in the same day with it for +scenery; moreover, from my house you may have the best guide in +Wales; whereas the guides of Beth Gelert - but I say nothing. If +your honour is bound for the Wyddfa, as I suppose you are, you had +better start from my house to-morrow under my guidance." + +"I have already been up the Wyddfa from Llanberis," said I, "and am +now going through Beth Gelert to Llangollen, where my family are; +were I going up Snowdon again I should most certainly start from +your house under your guidance, and were I not in a hurry at +present, I would certainly take up my quarters here for a week, and +every day snake excursions with you into the recesses of Eryri. I +suppose you are acquainted with all the secrets of the hills?" + +"Trust the old ranger for that, your honour. I would show your +honour the black lake in the frightful hollow in which the fishes +have monstrous heads and little bodies, the lake on which neither +swan, duck nor any kind of wildfowl was ever seen to light. Then I +would show your honour the fountain of the hopping creatures, +where, where - " + +"Were you ever at that Wolf's crag, that Castell y Cidwm?" said I. + +"Can't say I ever was, your honour. You see it lies so close by, +just across the lake, that - " + +"You thought you could see it any day, and so never went," said I. +"Can you tell me whether there are any ruins upon it?" + +"I can't, your honour." + +"I shouldn't wonder," said I, "if in old times it was the +stronghold of some robber-chieftain; cidwm in the old Welsh is +frequently applied to a ferocious man. Castell Cidwm, I should +think, rather ought to be translated the robber's castle than the +wolf's rock. If I ever come into these parts again you and I will +visit it together, and see what kind of place it is. Now farewell! +It is getting late." I then departed. + +"What a nice gentleman!" said the younger man, when I was a few +yards distant. + +"I never saw a nicer gentleman," said the old ranger. + +I sped along, Snowdon on my left, the lake on my right, and the tip +of a mountain peak right before me in the east. After a little +time I looked back; what a scene! The silver lake and the shadowy +mountain over its southern side looking now, methought, very much +like Gibraltar. I lingered and lingered, gazing and gazing, and at +last only by an effort tore myself away. The evening had now +become delightfully cool in this land of wonders. On I sped, +passing by two noisy brooks coming from Snowdon to pay tribute to +the lake. And now I had left the lake and the valley behind, and +was ascending a hill. As I gained its summit, up rose the moon to +cheer my way. In a little time, a wild stony gorge confronted me, +a stream ran down the gorge with hollow roar, a bridge lay across +it. I asked a figure whom I saw standing by the bridge the place's +name. "Rhyd du" - the black ford - I crossed the bridge. The +voice of the Methodist was yelling from a little chapel on my left. +I went to the door and listened: "When the sinner takes hold of +God, God takes hold of the sinner." The voice was frightfully +hoarse. I passed on: night fell fast around me, and the mountain +to the south-east, towards which I was tending, looked blackly +grand. And now I came to a milestone on which I read with +difficulty: "Three miles to Beth Gelert." The way for some time +had been upward, but now it was downward. I reached a torrent, +which coming from the north-west rushed under a bridge, over which +I passed. The torrent attended me on my right hand the whole way +to Beth Gelert. The descent now became very rapid. I passed a +pine wood on my left, and proceeded for more than two miles at a +tremendous rate. I then came to a wood - this wood was just above +Beth Gelert - proceeding in the direction of a black mountain, I +found myself amongst houses, at the bottom of a valley. I passed +over a bridge, and inquiring of some people whom I met the way to +the inn, was shown an edifice brilliantly lighted up, which I +entered. + + + +CHAPTER XLV + + + +Inn at Beth Gelert - Delectable Company - Lieutenant P-. + + +THE inn or hotel at Beth Gelert was a large and commodious +building, and was anything but thronged with company; what company, +however, there was, was disagreeable enough, perhaps more so than +that in which I had been the preceding evening, which was composed +of the scum of Manchester and Liverpool; the company amongst which +I now was, consisted of seven or eight individuals, two of them +were military puppies, one a tallish fellow, who though evidently +upwards of thirty, affected the airs of a languishing girl, and +would fain have made people believe that he was dying of ENNUI and +lassitude. The other was a short spuddy fellow, with a broad ugly +face and with spectacles on his nose, who talked very +consequentially about "the service" and all that, but whose tone of +voice was coarse and his manner that of an under-bred person; then +there was an old fellow about sixty-five, a civilian, with a red +carbuncled face; he was father of the spuddy military puppy, on +whom he occasionally cast eyes of pride and almost adoration, and +whose sayings he much applauded, especially certain DOUBLES +ENTENDRES, to call them by no harsher term, directed to a fat girl, +weighing some fifteen stone, who officiated in the coffee-room as +waiter. Then there was a creature to do justice to whose +appearance would require the pencil of a Hogarth. He was about +five feet three inches and a quarter high, and might have weighed, +always provided a stone weight had been attached to him, about half +as much as the fat girl. His countenance was cadaverous and was +eternally agitated by something between a grin and a simper. He +was dressed in a style of superfine gentility, and his skeleton +fingers were bedizened with tawdry rings. His conversation was +chiefly about his bile and his secretions, the efficacy of licorice +in producing a certain effect, and the expediency of changing one's +linen at least three times a day; though had he changed his six, I +should have said that the purification of the last shirt would have +been no sinecure to the laundress. His accent was decidedly +Scotch: he spoke familiarly of Scott and one or two other Scotch +worthies, and more than once insinuated that he was a member of +Parliament. With respect to the rest of the company I say nothing, +and for the very sufficient reason that, unlike the above described +batch, they did not seem disposed to be impertinent towards me. + +Eager to get out of such society I retired early to bed. As I left +the room the diminutive Scotch individual was describing to the old +simpleton, who on the ground of the other's being a "member," was +listening to him with extreme attention, how he was labouring under +an access of bile owing to his having left his licorice somewhere +or other. I passed a quiet night, and in the morning breakfasted, +paid my bill, and departed. As I went out of the coffee-room the +spuddy, broad-faced military puppy with spectacles was vociferating +to the languishing military puppy, and to his old simpleton of a +father, who was listening to him with his usual look of undisguised +admiration, about the absolute necessity of kicking Lieutenant P- +out of the army for having disgraced "the service." Poor P-, whose +only crime was trying to defend himself with fist and candlestick +from the manual attacks of his brutal messmates. + + + +CHAPTER XLVI + + + +The Valley of Gelert - Legend of the Dog - Magnificent Scenery - +The Knicht - Goats in Wales - The Frightful Crag - Temperance House +- Smile and Curtsey. + + +BETH GELERT is situated in a valley surrounded by huge hills, the +most remarkable of which are Moel Hebog and Cerrig Llan; the former +fences it on the south, and the latter, which is quite black and +nearly perpendicular, on the east. A small stream rushes through +the valley, and sallies forth by a pass at its south-eastern end. +The valley is said by some to derive its name of Beddgelert, which +signifies the grave of Celert, from being the burial-place of +Celert, a British saint of the sixth century, to whom Llangeler in +Carmarthenshire is believed to have been consecrated, but the +popular and most universally received tradition is that it has its +name from being the resting-place of a faithful dog called Celert +or Gelert, killed by his master, the warlike and celebrated +Llywelyn ab Jorwerth, from an unlucky misapprehension. Though the +legend is known to most people, I shall take the liberty of +relating it. + +Llywelyn during his contests with the English had encamped with a +few followers in the valley, and one day departed with his men on +an expedition, leaving his infant son in a cradle in his tent, +under the care of his hound Gelert, after giving the child its fill +of goat's milk. Whilst he was absent a wolf from the neighbouring +mountains, in quest of prey, found its way into the tent, and was +about to devour the child, when the watchful dog interfered, and +after a desperate conflict, in which the tent was torn down, +succeeded in destroying the monster. Llywelyn returning at evening +found the tent on the ground, and the dog, covered with blood, +sitting beside it. Imagining that the blood with which Gelert was +besmeared was that of his own son devoured by the animal to whose +care he had confided him, Llywelyn in a paroxysm of natural +indignation forthwith transfixed the faithful creature with his +spear. Scarcely, however, had he done so when his ears were +startled by the cry of a child from beneath the fallen tent, and +hastily removing the canvas he found the child in its cradle, quite +uninjured, and the body of an enormous wolf, frightfully torn and +mangled, lying near. His breast was now filled with conflicting +emotions, joy for the preservation of his son, and grief for the +fate of his dog, to whom he forthwith hastened. The poor animal +was not quite dead, but presently expired, in the act of licking +his master's hand. Llywelyn mourned over him as over a brother, +buried him with funeral honours in the valley, and erected a tomb +over him as over a hero. From that time the valley was called Beth +Gelert. + +Such is the legend, which, whether true or fictitious, is +singularly beautiful and affecting. + +The tomb, or what is said to be the tomb, of Gelert, stands in a +beautiful meadow just below the precipitous side of Cerrig Llan: +it consists of a large slab lying on its side, and two upright +stones. It is shaded by a weeping willow, and is surrounded by a +hexagonal paling. Who is there acquainted with the legend, whether +he believes that the dog lies beneath those stones or not, can +visit them without exclaiming with a sigh, "Poor Gelert!" + +After wandering about the valley for some time, and seeing a few of +its wonders, I inquired my way for Festiniog, and set off for that +place. The way to it is through the pass at the south-east end of +the valley. Arrived at the entrance of the pass I turned round to +look at the scenery I was leaving behind me; the view which +presented itself to my eyes was very grand and beautiful. Before +me lay the meadow of Gelert with the river flowing through it +towards the pass. Beyond the meadow the Snowdon range; on the +right the mighty Cerrig Llan; on the left the equally mighty, but +not quite so precipitous, Hebog. Truly, the valley of Gelert is a +wondrous valley - rivalling for grandeur and beauty any vale either +in the Alps or Pyrenees. After a long and earnest view I turned +round again and proceeded on my way. + +Presently I came to a bridge bestriding the stream, which a man +told me was called Pont Aber Glas Lyn, or the bridge of the +debouchement of the grey lake. I soon emerged from the pass, and +after proceeding some way stopped again to admire the scenery. To +the west was the Wyddfa; full north was a stupendous range of +rocks; behind them a conical peak seemingly rivalling the Wyddfa +itself in altitude; between the rocks and the road, where I stood, +was beautiful forest scenery. I again went on, going round the +side of a hill by a gentle ascent. After a little time I again +stopped to look about me. There was the rich forest scenery to the +north, behind it were the rocks and behind the rocks rose the +wonderful conical hill impaling heaven; confronting it to the +south-east, was a huge lumpish hill. As I stood looking about me I +saw a man coming across a field which sloped down to the road from +a small house. He presently reached me, stopped and smiled. A +more open countenance than his I never saw in all the days of my +life. + +"Dydd dachwi, sir," said the man of the open countenance, "the +weather is very showy." + +"Very showy, indeed," said I; "I was just now wishing for somebody, +of whom I might ask a question or two." + +"Perhaps I can answer those questions, sir?" + +"Perhaps you can. What is the name of that wonderful peak sticking +up behind the rocks to the north?" + +"Many people have asked that question, sir, and I have given them +the answer which I now give you. It is called the 'Knicht,' sir; +and a wondrous hill it is." + +"And what is the name of yonder hill opposite to it, to the south, +rising like one big lump." + +"I do not know the name of that hill, sir, farther than that I have +heard it called the Great Hill." + +"And a very good name for it," said I; "do you live in that house?" + +"I do, sir, when I am at home." + +"And what occupation do you follow?" + +"I am a farmer, though a small one." + +"Is your farm your own?" + +"It is not, sir: I am not so far rich." + +"Who is your landlord?" + +"Mr Blicklin, sir. He is my landlord." + +"Is he a good landlord?" + +"Very good, sir, no one can wish for a better landlord." + +"Has he a wife?" + +"In truth, sir, he has; and a very good wife she is." + +"Has he children?" + +"Plenty, sir; and very fine children they are." + +"Is he Welsh?" + +"He is, sir! Cumro pur iawn." + +"Farewell," said I; "I shall never forget you; you are the first +tenant I ever heard speak well of his landlord, or any one +connected with him." + +"Then you have not spoken to the other tenants of Mr Blicklin, sir. +Every tenant of Mr Blicklin would say the same of him as I have +said, and of his wife and his children too. Good-day, sir!" + +I wended on my way; the sun was very powerful; saw cattle in a pool +on my right, maddened with heat and flies, splashing and fighting. +Presently I found myself with extensive meadows on my right, and a +wall of rocks on my left, on a lofty bank below which I saw goats +feeding; beautiful creatures they were, white and black, with long +silky hair, and long upright horns. They were of large size, and +very different in appearance from the common race. These were the +first goats which I had seen in Wales; for Wales is not at present +the land of goats, whatever it may have been. + +I passed under a crag exceedingly lofty, and of very frightful +appearance. It hung menacingly over the road. With this crag the +wall of rocks terminated; beyond it lay an extensive strath, +meadow, or marsh bounded on the cast by a lofty hill. The road lay +across the marsh. I went forward, crossed a bridge over a +beautiful streamlet, and soon arrived at the foot of the hill. The +road now took a turn to the right, that is to the south, and seemed +to lead round the hill. Just at the turn of the road stood a small +neat cottage. There was a board over the door with an inscription. +I drew nigh and looked at it, expecting that it would tell me that +good ale was sold within, and read: "Tea made here, the draught +which cheers but not inebriates." I was before what is generally +termed a temperance house. + +"The bill of fare does not tempt you, sir," said a woman who made +her appearance at the door, just as I was about to turn away with +an exceedingly wry face. + +"It does not," said I, "and you ought to be ashamed of yourself to +have nothing better to offer to a traveller than a cup of tea. I +am faint; and I want good ale to give me heart, not wishy-washy tea +to take away the little strength I have." + +"What would you have me do, sir? Glad should I be to have a cup of +ale to offer you, but the magistrates, when I applied to them for a +licence, refused me one; so I am compelled to make a cup of tea, in +order to get a crust of bread. And if you choose to step in, I +will make you a cup of tea, not wishy-washy, I assure you, but as +good as ever was brewed." + +"I had tea for my breakfast at Beth Gelert," said I, "and want no +more till to-morrow morning. What's the name of that strange- +looking crag across the valley?" + +"We call it Craig yr hyll ddrem, sir; which means - I don't know +what it means in English." + +"Does it mean the crag of the frightful look?" + +"It does, sir," said the woman; "ah, I see you understand Welsh. +Sometimes it's called Allt Traeth." + +"The high place of the sandy channel," said I; "did the sea ever +come up here?" + +"I can't say, sir; perhaps it did; who knows?" + +"I shouldn't wonder," said I, "if there was once an arm of the sea +between that crag and this hill. Thank you! Farewell." + +"Then you won't walk in, sir? + +"Not to drink tea," said I, "tea is a good thing at a proper time, +but were I to drink it now, it would make me ill." + +"Pray, sir, walk in," said the woman, "and perhaps I can +accommodate you." + +"Then you have ale?" said I. + +"No, sir; not a drop, but perhaps I can set something before you +which you will like as well." + +"That I question," said I, "however, I will walk in." + +The woman conducted me into a nice little parlour, and, leaving me, +presently returned with a bottle and tumbler on a tray. + +"Here, sir," said she, "is something, which though not ale, I hope +you will be able to drink." + +"What is it?" said I. + +"It is -, sir; and better never was drunk." + +I tasted it; it was terribly strong. Those who wish for either +whisky or brandy far above proof, should always go to a temperance +house. + +I told the woman to bring me some water, and she brought me a jug +of water cold from the spring. With a little of the contents of +the bottle, and a deal of the contents of the jug, I made myself a +beverage tolerable enough; a poor substitute, however, to a genuine +Englishman for his proper drink, the liquor which, according to the +Edda, is called by men ale, and by the gods beer. + +I asked the woman whether she could read; she told me that she +could, both Welsh and English; she likewise informed me that she +had several books in both languages. I begged her to show me some, +whereupon she brought me some half dozen, and placing them on the +table left me to myself. Amongst the books was a volume of poems +in Welsh, written by Robert Williams of Betws Fawr, styled in +poetic language, Gwilym Du O Eifion. The poems were chiefly on +religious subjects. The following lines which I copied from +"Pethau a wnaed mewn Gardd," or things written in a garden, +appeared to me singularly beautiful:- + + +"Mewn gardd y cafodd dyn ei dwyllo; +Mewn gardd y rhoed oddewid iddo; +Mewn gardd bradychwyd Iesu hawddgar; +Mewn gardd amdowyd ef mewn daear." + +"In a garden the first of our race was deceived; +In a garden the promise of grace he received; +In a garden was Jesus betrayed to His doom; +In a garden His body was laid in the tomb." + + +Having finished my glass of "summut" and my translation, I called +to the woman and asked her what I had to pay. + +"Nothing," said she, "if you had had a cup of tea I should have +charged sixpence." + +"You make no charge," said I, "for what I have had?" + +"Nothing, sir, nothing." + +"But suppose," said I, "I were to give you something by way of +present would you - " and here I stopped. The woman smiled. + +"Would you fling it in my face?" said I. + +"Oh dear, no, sir," said the woman, smiling more than before. + +I gave her something - it was not a sixpence - at which she not +only smiled but curtseyed; then bidding her farewell I went out of +the door. + +I was about to take the broad road, which led round the hill, when +she inquired of me where I was going, and on my telling her to +Festiniog, she advised me to go by a by-road behind the house which +led over the hill. + +"If you do, sir," said she, "you will see some of the finest +prospects in Wales, get into the high road again, and save a mile +and a half of way." + +I told the temperance woman I would follow her advice, whereupon +she led me behind the house, pointed to a rugged path, which with a +considerable ascent seemed to lead towards the north, and after +giving certain directions, not very intelligible, returned to her +temperance temple. + + + +CHAPTER XLVII + + + +Spanish Proverb - The Short Cut - Predestinations - Rhys Goch - Old +Crusty - Undercharging - The Cavalier. + + +THE Spaniards have a proverb: "No hay atajo sin trabajo," there is +no short cut without a deal of labour. This proverb is very true, +as I know by my own experience, for I never took a short cut in my +life, and I have taken many in my wanderings, without falling down, +getting into a slough, or losing my way. On the present occasion I +lost my way, and wandered about for nearly two hours amidst rocks, +thickets, and precipices, without being able to find it. The +temperance woman, however, spoke nothing but the truth when she +said I should see some fine scenery. From a rock I obtained a +wonderful view of the Wyddfa towering in sublime grandeur in the +west, and of the beautiful, but spectral, Knicht shooting up high +in the north; and from the top of a bare hill I obtained a prospect +to the south, noble indeed - waters, forests, hoary mountains, and +in the far distance the sea. But all these fine prospects were a +poor compensation for what I underwent: I was scorched by the sun, +which was insufferably hot, and my feet were bleeding from the +sharp points of the rocks which cut through my boots like razors. +At length coming to a stone wall I flung myself down under it, and +almost thought that I should give up the ghost. After some time, +however, I recovered, and getting up tried to find my way out of +the anialwch. Sheer good fortune caused me to stumble upon a path, +by following which I came to a lone farm-house, where a good- +natured woman gave me certain directions by means of which I at +last got out of the hot stony wilderness, for such it was, upon a +smooth royal road. + +"Trust me again taking any short cuts," said I, "after the specimen +I have just had." This, however, I had frequently said before, and +have said since after taking short cuts - and probably shall often +say again before I come to my great journey's end. + +I turned to the east which I knew to be my proper direction, and +being now on smooth ground put my legs to their best speed. The +road by a rapid descent conducted me to a beautiful valley with a +small town at its southern end. I soon reached the town, and on +inquiring its name found I was in Tan y Bwlch, which interpreted +signifieth "Below the Pass." Feeling much exhausted I entered the +Grapes Inn. + +On my calling for brandy and water I was shown into a handsome +parlour. The brandy and water soon restored the vigour which I had +lost in the wilderness. In the parlour was a serious-looking +gentleman, with a glass of something before him. With him, as I +sipped my brandy and water, I got into discourse. The discourse +soon took a religious turn, and terminated in a dispute. He told +me he believed in divine predestination; I told him I did not, but +that I believed in divine prescience. He asked me whether I hoped +to be saved; I told him I did, and asked him whether he hoped to be +saved. He told me he did not, and as he said so, he tapped with a +silver tea-spoon on the rim of his glass. I said that he seemed to +take very coolly the prospect of damnation; he replied that it was +of no use taking what was inevitable otherwise than coolly. I +asked him on what ground he imagined he should be lost; he replied +on the ground of being predestined to be lost. I asked him how he +knew he was predestined to be lost; whereupon he asked me how I +knew I was to be saved. I told him I did not know I was to be +saved, but trusted I should be so by belief in Christ, who came +into the world to save sinners, and that if he believed in Christ +he might be as easily saved as myself, or any other sinner who +believed in Him. Our dispute continued a considerable time longer. +At last, finding him silent, and having finished my brandy and +water, I got up, rang the bell, paid for what I had had, and left +him looking very miserable, perhaps at finding that he was not +quite so certain of eternal damnation as he had hitherto supposed. +There can be no doubt that the idea of damnation is anything but +disagreeable to some people; it gives them a kind of gloomy +consequence in their own eyes. We must be something particular +they think, or God would hardly think it worth His while to torment +us for ever. + +I inquired the way to Festiniog, and finding that I had passed by +it on my way to the town, I went back, and as directed turned to +the east up a wide pass, down which flowed a river. I soon found +myself in another and very noble valley, intersected by the river +which was fed by numerous streams rolling down the sides of the +hills. The road which I followed in the direction of the east lay +on the southern side of the valley and led upward by a steep +ascent. On I went, a mighty hill close on my right. My mind was +full of enthusiastic fancies; I was approaching Festiniog the +birthplace of Rhys Goch, who styled himself Rhys Goch of Eryri or +Red Rhys of Snowdon, a celebrated bard, and a partisan of Owen +Glendower, who lived to an immense age, and who, as I had read, was +in the habit of composing his pieces seated on a stone which formed +part of a Druidical circle, for which reason the stone was called +the chair of Rhys Goch; yes, my mind was full of enthusiastic +fancies all connected with this Rhys Goch, and as I went along +slowly, I repeated stanzas of furious war songs of his exciting his +countrymen to exterminate the English, and likewise snatches of an +abusive ode composed by him against a fox who had run away with his +favourite peacock, a piece so abounding with hard words that it was +termed the Drunkard's chokepear, as no drunkard was ever able to +recite it, and ever and anon I wished I could come in contact with +some native of the region with whom I could talk about Rhys Goch, +and who could tell me whereabouts stood his chair. + +Strolling along in this manner I was overtaken by an old fellow +with a stick in his hand, walking very briskly. He had a crusty +and rather conceited look. I spoke to him in Welsh, and he +answered in English, saying that I need not trouble myself by +speaking Welsh, as he had plenty of English, and of the very best. +We were from first to last at cross purposes. I asked him about +Rhys Goch and his chair. He told me that he knew nothing of +either, and began to talk of Her Majesty's ministers and the fine +sights of London. I asked him the name of a stream which, +descending a gorge on our right, ran down the side of a valley, to +join the river at its bottom. He told me that he did not know, and +asked me the name of the Queen's eldest daughter. I told him I did +not know, and remarked that it was very odd that he could not tell +me the name of a stream in his own vale. He replied that it was +not a bit more odd than that I could not tell him the name of the +eldest daughter of the Queen of England: I told him that when I +was in Wales I wanted to talk about Welsh matters, and he told me +that when he was with English he wanted to talk about English +matters. I returned to the subject of Rhys Goch and his chair, and +he returned to the subject of Her Majesty's ministers, and the fine +folks of London. I told him that I cared not a straw about Her +Majesty's ministers and the fine folks of London, and he replied +that he cared not a straw for Rhys Goch, his chair or old women's +stories of any kind. + +Regularly incensed against the old fellow, I told him he was a bad +Welshman, and he retorted by saying I was a bad Englishman. I said +he appeared to know next to nothing. He retorted by saying I knew +less than nothing, and almost inarticulate with passion added that +he scorned to walk in such illiterate company, and suiting the +action to the word sprang up a steep and rocky footpath on the +right, probably a short cut to his domicile, and was out of sight +in a twinkling. We were both wrong: I most so. He was crusty and +conceited, but I ought to have humoured him and then I might have +got out of him anything he knew, always supposing that he knew +anything. + +About an hour's walk from Tan y Bwlch brought me to Festiniog, +which is situated on the top of a lofty hill looking down from the +south-east, on the valley which I have described, and which as I +know not its name I shall style the Valley of the numerous streams. +I went to the inn, a large old-fashioned house standing near the +church; the mistress of it was a queer-looking old woman, +antiquated in her dress and rather blunt in her manner. Of her, +after ordering dinner, I made inquiries respecting the chair of +Rhys Goch, but she said that she had never heard of such a thing, +and after glancing at me askew, for a moment, with a curiously- +formed left eye which she had, went away muttering chair, chair; +leaving me in a large and rather dreary parlour, to which she had +shown me. I felt very fatigued, rather I believe from that unlucky +short cut than from the length of the way, for I had not come more +than eighteen miles. Drawing a chair towards a table I sat down, +and placing my elbows upon the board I leaned my face upon my +upturned hands, and presently fell into a sweet sleep, from which I +awoke exceedingly refreshed just as a maid opened the room door to +lay the cloth. + +After dinner I got up, went out and strolled about the place. It +was small, and presented nothing very remarkable. Tired of +strolling I went and leaned my back against the wall of the +churchyard and enjoyed the cool of the evening, for evening with +its coolness and shadows had now come on. + +As I leaned against the wall, an elderly man came up and entered +into discourse with me. He told me he was a barber by profession, +had travelled all over Wales, and had seen London. I asked him +about the chair of Rhys Goch. He told me that he had heard of some +such chair a long time ago, but could give me no information as to +where it stood. I know not how it happened that he came to speak +about my landlady, but speak about her he did. He said that she +was a good kind of woman, but totally unqualified for business, as +she knew not how to charge. On my observing that that was a piece +of ignorance with which few landladies or landlords either were +taxable, he said that however other publicans might overcharge, +undercharging was her foible, and that she had brought herself very +low in the world by it - that to his certain knowledge she might +have been worth thousands instead of the trifle which she was +possessed of, and that she was particularly notorious for +undercharging the English, a thing never before dreamt of in Wales. +I told him that I was very glad that I had come under the roof of +such a landlady; the old barber, however, said that she was setting +a bad example, that such goings on could not last long, that he +knew how things would end, and finally working himself up into a +regular tiff left me abruptly without wishing me good-night. + +I returned to the inn, and called for lights; the lights were +placed upon the table in the old-fashioned parlour, and I was left +to myself. I walked up and down the room some time. At length, +seeing some old books lying in a corner, I laid hold of them, +carried them to the table, sat down and began to inspect them; they +were the three volumes of Scott's "Cavalier" - I had seen this work +when a youth, and thought it a tiresome trashy publication. +Looking over it now when I was grown old I thought so still, but I +now detected in it what from want of knowledge I had not detected +in my early years, what the highest genius, had it been manifested +in every page, could not have compensated for, base fulsome +adulation of the worthless great, and most unprincipled libelling +of the truly noble ones of the earth, because they the sons of +peasants and handycraftsmen, stood up for the rights of outraged +humanity, and proclaimed that it is worth makes the man and not +embroidered clothing. The heartless, unprincipled son of the +tyrant was transformed in that worthless book into a slightly- +dissipated, it is true, but upon the whole brave, generous and +amiable being; and Harrison, the English Regulus, honest, brave, +unflinching Harrison, into a pseudo-fanatic, a mixture of the rogue +and fool. Harrison, probably the man of the most noble and +courageous heart that England ever produced, who when all was lost +scorned to flee, like the second Charles from Worcester, but, +braved infamous judges and the gallows, who when reproached on his +mock trial with complicity in the death of the king, gave the noble +answer that "It was a thing not done in a corner," and when in the +cart on the way to Tyburn, on being asked jeeringly by a lord's +bastard in the crowd, "Where is the good old cause now?" thrice +struck his strong fist on the breast which contained his courageous +heart, exclaiming, "Here, here, here!" Yet for that "Cavalier," +that trumpery publication, the booksellers of England, on its first +appearance, gave an order to the amount of six thousand pounds. +But they were wise in their generation; they knew that the book +would please the base, slavish taste of the age, a taste which the +author of the work had had no slight share in forming. + +Tired after a while with turning over the pages of the trashy +"Cavalier" I returned the volumes to their place in the corner, +blew out one candle, and taking the other in my hand marched off to +bed. + + + +CHAPTER XLVIII + + + +The Bill - The Two Mountains - Sheet of Water - The Afanc-Crocodile +- The Afanc-Beaver - Tai Hirion - Kind Woman - Arenig Vawr - The +Beam and Mote - Bala. + + +AFTER breakfasting I demanded my bill. I was curious to see how +little the amount would be, for after what I had heard from the old +barber the preceding evening about the utter ignorance of the +landlady in making a charge, I naturally expected that I should +have next to nothing to pay. When it was brought, however, and the +landlady brought it herself, I could scarcely believe my eyes. +Whether the worthy woman had lately come to a perception of the +folly of undercharging, and had determined to adopt a different +system; whether it was that seeing me the only guest in the house +she had determined to charge for my entertainment what she usually +charged for that of two or three - strange by-the-bye that I should +be the only guest in a house notorious for undercharging - I know +not, but certain it is the amount of the bill was far, far from the +next to nothing which the old barber had led me to suppose I should +have to pay, who perhaps after all had very extravagant ideas with +respect to making out a bill for a Saxon. It was, however, not a +very unconscionable bill, and merely amounted to a trifle more than +I had paid at Beth Gelert for somewhat better entertainment. + +Having paid the bill without demur and bidden the landlady +farewell, who displayed the same kind of indifferent bluntness +which she had manifested the day before, I set off in the direction +of the east, intending that my next stage should be Bala. Passing +through a tollgate I found myself in a kind of suburb consisting of +a few cottages. Struck with the neighbouring scenery, I stopped to +observe it. A mighty mountain rises in the north almost abreast of +Festiniog; another towards the east divided into two of unequal +size. Seeing a woman of an interesting countenance seated at the +door of a cottage I pointed to the hill towards the north, and +speaking the Welsh language, inquired its name. + +"That hill, sir," said she, "is called Moel Wyn." + +Now Moel Wyn signifies the white, bare hill. + +"And how do you call those two hills towards the east?" + +"We call one, sir, Mynydd Mawr, the other Mynydd Bach." + +Now Mynydd Mawr signifies the great mountain and Mynydd Bach the +little one. + +"Do any people live in those hills?" + +"The men who work the quarries, sir, live in those hills. They and +their wives and their children. No other people." + +"Have you any English?" + +"I have not, sir. No people who live on this side the talcot +(tollgate) for a long way have any English." + +I proceeded on my journey. The country for some way eastward of +Festiniog is very wild and barren, consisting of huge hills without +trees or verdure. About three miles' distance, however, there is a +beautiful valley, which you look down upon from the southern side +of the road, after having surmounted a very steep ascent. This +valley is fresh and green and the lower parts of the hills on its +farther side are, here and there, adorned with groves. At the +eastern end is a deep, dark gorge, or ravine, down which tumbles a +brook in a succession of small cascades. The ravine is close by +the road. The brook after disappearing for a time shows itself +again far down in the valley, and is doubtless one of the +tributaries of the Tan y Bwlch river, perhaps the very same brook +the name of which I could not learn the preceding day in the vale. + +As I was gazing on the prospect an old man driving a peat cart came +from the direction in which I was going. I asked him the name of +the ravine and he told me it was Ceunant Coomb or hollow-dingle +coomb. I asked the name of the brook, and he told me that it was +called the brook of the hollow-dingle coomb, adding that it ran +under Pont Newydd, though where that was I knew not. Whilst he was +talking with me he stood uncovered. Yes, the old peat driver stood +with his hat in his hand whilst answering the questions of the +poor, dusty foot-traveller. What a fine thing to be an Englishman +in Wales! + +In about an hour I came to a wild moor; the moor extended for miles +and miles. It was bounded on the east and south by immense hills +and moels. On I walked at a round pace, the sun scorching me sore, +along a dusty, hilly road, now up, now down. Nothing could be +conceived more cheerless than the scenery around. The ground on +each side of the road was mossy and rushy - no houses - instead of +them were neat stacks, here and there, standing in their blackness. +Nothing living to be seen except a few miserable sheep picking the +wretched herbage, or lying panting on the shady side of the peat +clumps. At length I saw something which appeared to be a sheet of +water at the bottom of a low ground on my right. It looked far off +- "Shall I go and see what it is?" thought I to myself. "No," +thought I. "It is too far off" - so on I walked till I lost sight +of it, when I repented and thought I would go and see what it was. +So I dashed down the moory slope on my right, and presently saw the +object again - and now I saw that it was water. I sped towards it +through gorse and heather, occasionally leaping a deep drain. At +last I reached it. It was a small lake. Wearied and panting I +flung myself on its bank and gazed upon it. + +There lay the lake in the low bottom, surrounded by the heathery +hillocks; there it lay quite still, the hot sun reflected upon its +surface, which shone like a polished blue shield. Near the shore +it was shallow, at least near that shore upon which I lay. But +farther on, my eye, practised in deciding upon the depths of +waters, saw reason to suppose that its depth was very great. As I +gazed upon it my mind indulged in strange musings. I thought of +the afanc, a creature which some have supposed to be the harmless +and industrious beaver, others the frightful and destructive +crocodile. I wondered whether the afanc was the crocodile or the +beaver, and speedily had no doubt that the name was originally +applied to the crocodile. + +"Oh, who can doubt," thought I, "that the word was originally +intended for something monstrous and horrible? Is there not +something horrible in the look and sound of the word afanc, +something connected with the opening and shutting of immense jaws, +and the swallowing of writhing prey? Is not the word a fitting +brother of the Arabic timsah, denoting the dread horny lizard of +the waters? Moreover, have we not the voice of tradition that the +afanc was something monstrous? Does it not say that Hu the Mighty, +the inventor of husbandry, who brought the Cumry from the summer- +country, drew the old afanc out of the lake of lakes with his four +gigantic oxen? Would he have had recourse to them to draw out the +little harmless beaver? Oh, surely not. Yet have I no doubt that +when the crocodile had disappeared from the lands, where the Cumric +language was spoken, the name afanc was applied to the beaver, +probably his successor in the pool, the beaver now called in Cumric +Llostlydan, or the broad-tailed, for tradition's voice is strong +that the beaver has at one time been called the afanc." Then I +wondered whether the pool before me had been the haunt of the +afanc, considered both as crocodile and beaver. I saw no reason to +suppose that it had not. "If crocodiles," thought I, "ever existed +in Britain, and who shall say that they have not, seeing that there +remains have been discovered, why should they not have haunted this +pool? If beavers ever existed in Britain, and do not tradition and +Giraldus say that they have, why should they not have existed in +this pool? + +"At a time almost inconceivably remote, when the hills around were +covered with woods, through which the elk and the bison and the +wild cow strolled, when men were rare throughout the lands and +unlike in most things to the present race - at such a period - and +such a period there has been - I can easily conceive that the +afanc-crocodile haunted this pool, and that when the elk or bison +or wild cow came to drink of its waters the grim beast would +occasionally rush forth, and seizing his bellowing victim, would +return with it to the deeps before me to luxuriate at his ease upon +its flesh. And at a time less remote, when the crocodile was no +more, and though the woods still covered the hills, and wild cattle +strolled about, men were more numerous than before, and less unlike +the present race, I can easily conceive this lake to have been the +haunt of the afanc-beaver, that he here built cunningly his house +of trees and clay, and that to this lake the native would come with +his net and his spear to hunt the animal for his precious fur. +Probably if the depths of that pool were searched relics of the +crocodile and the beaver might be found, along with other strange +things connected with the periods in which they respectively lived. +Happy were I if for a brief space I could become a Cingalese that I +might swim out far into that pool, dive down into its deepest part +and endeavour to discover any strange things which beneath its +surface may lie." Much in this guise rolled my thoughts as I lay +stretched on the margin of the lake. + +Satiated with musing I at last got up and endeavoured to regain the +road. I found it at last, though not without considerable +difficulty. I passed over moors, black and barren, along a dusty +road till I came to a valley; I was now almost choked with dust and +thirst, and longed for nothing in the world so much as for water; +suddenly I heard its blessed sound, and perceived a rivulet on my +left hand. It was crossed by two bridges, one immensely old and +terribly dilapidated, the other old enough, but in better repair - +went and drank under the oldest bridge of the two. The water +tasted of the peat of the moors, nevertheless I drank greedily of +it, for one must not be over-delicate upon the moors. + +Refreshed with my draught I proceeded briskly on my way, and in a +little time saw a range of white buildings, diverging from the road +on the right hand, the gable of the first abutting upon it. A kind +of farm-yard was before them. A respectable-looking woman was +standing in the yard. I went up to her and inquired the name of +the place. + +"These houses, sir," said she, "are called Tai Hirion Mignaint. +Look over that door and you will see T. H. which letters stand for +Tai Hirion. Mignaint is the name of the place where they stand." + +I looked, and upon a stone which formed the lintel of the +middlemost door I read "T. H 1630." + +The words Tai Hirion it will be as well to say signify the long +houses. + +I looked long and steadfastly at the inscription, my mind full of +thoughts of the past. + +"Many a year has rolled by since these houses were built," said I, +as I sat down on a stepping-stone. + +"Many indeed, sir," said the woman, "and many a strange thing has +happened." + +"Did you ever hear of one Oliver Cromwell?" said I. + +"Oh, yes, sir, and of King Charles too. The men of both have been +in this yard and have baited their horses; aye, and have mounted +their horses from the stone on which you sit." + +"I suppose they were hardly here together?" said I. + +"No, no, sir," said the woman, "they were bloody enemies, and could +never set their horses together." + +"Are these long houses," said I, "inhabited by different families?" + +"Only by one, sir, they make now one farm-house." + +"Are you the mistress of it," said I. + +"I am, sir, and my husband is the master. Can I bring you +anything, sir?" + +"Some water," said I, "for I am thirsty, though I drank under the +old bridge." + +The good woman brought me a basin of delicious milk and water. + +"What are the names of the two bridges," said I, "a little way from +here?" + +"They are called, sir, the old and new bridge of Tai Hirion; at +least we call them so." + +"And what do you call the ffrwd that runs beneath them?" + +"I believe, sir, it is called the river Twerin." + +"Do you know a lake far up there amidst the moors?" + +"I have seen it, sir; they call it Llyn Twerin." + +"Does the river Twerin flow from it?" + +"I believe it does, sir, but I do not know." + +"Is the lake deep?" + +"I have heard that it is very deep, sir, so much so that nobody +knows it's depth." + +"Are there fish in it?" + +"Digon, sir, digon iawn, and some very large. I once saw a Pen- +hwyad from that lake which weighed fifty pounds." + +After a little farther conversation I got up, and thanking the kind +woman departed. I soon left the moors behind me and continued +walking till I came to a few houses on the margin of a meadow or +fen in a valley through which the way trended to the east. They +were almost overshadowed by an enormous mountain which rose beyond +the fen on the south. Seeing a house which bore a sign, and at the +door of which a horse stood tied, I went in, and a woman coming to +meet me in a kind of passage, I asked her if I could have some ale. + +"Of the best, sir," she replied, and conducted me down the passage +into a neat room, partly kitchen, partly parlour, the window of +which looked out upon the fen. A rustic-looking man sat smoking at +a table with a jug of ale before him. I sat down near him, and the +good woman brought me a similar jug of ale, which on tasting I +found excellent. My spirits which had been for some time very +flagging presently revived, and I entered into conversation with my +companion at the table. From him I learned that he was a farmer of +the neighbourhood, that the horse tied before the door belonged to +him, that the present times were very bad for the producers of +grain, with very slight likelihood of improvement; that the place +at which we were was called Rhyd y fen, or the ford across the fen; +that it was just half way between Festiniog and Bala, that the +clergyman of the parish was called Mr Pughe, a good kind of man, +but very purblind in a spiritual sense; and finally that there was +no safe religion in the world, save that of the Calvinistic- +Methodists, to which my companion belonged. + +Having finished my ale I paid for it, and leaving the Calvinistic +farmer still smoking, I departed from Rhyd y fen. On I went along +the valley, the enormous hill on my right, a moel of about half its +height on my left, and a tall hill bounding the prospect in the +east, the direction in which I was going. After a little time, +meeting two women, I asked them the name of the mountain to the +south. + +"Arenig Vawr," they replied, or something like it. + +Presently meeting four men I put the same question to the foremost, +a stout, burly, intelligent-looking fellow, of about fifty. He +gave me the same name as the women. I asked if anybody lived upon +it. + +"No," said he, "too cold for man." + +"Fox?" said I. + +"No! too cold for fox." + +"Crow?" said I. + +"No, too cold for crow; crow would be starved upon it." He then +looked me in the face, expecting probably that I should smile. + +I, however, looked at him with all the gravity of a judge, +whereupon he also observed the gravity of a judge, and we continued +looking at each other with all the gravity of judges till we both +simultaneously turned away, he followed by his companions going his +path, and I going mine. + +I subsequently remembered that Arenig is mentioned in a Welsh poem, +though in anything but a flattering and advantageous manner. The +writer calls it Arenig ddiffaith or barren Arenig, and says that it +intercepts from him the view of his native land. Arenig is +certainly barren enough, for there is neither tree nor shrub upon +it, but there is something majestic in its huge bulk. Of all the +hills which I saw in Wales none made a greater impression upon me. + +Towards evening I arrived at a very small and pretty village in the +middle of which was a tollgate. Seeing an old woman seated at the +door of the gate-house I asked her the name of the village. "I +have no Saesneg!" she screamed out. + +"I have plenty of Cumraeg," said I, and repeated my question. +Whereupon she told me that it was called Tref y Talcot - the +village of the tollgate. That it was a very nice village, and that +she was born there. She then pointed to two young women who were +walking towards the gate at a very slow pace and told me they were +English. "I do not know them," said I. The old lady, who was +somewhat deaf, thinking that I said I did not know English, leered +at me complacently, and said that in that case, I was like herself, +for she did not speak a word of English, adding that a body should +not be considered a fool for not speaking English. She then said +that the young women had been taking a walk together, and that they +were much in each other's company for the sake of conversation, and +no wonder, as the poor simpletons could not speak a word of Welsh. +I thought of the beam and mote mentioned in Scripture, and then +cast a glance of compassion on the two poor young women. For a +moment I fancied myself in the times of Owen Glendower, and that I +saw two females, whom his marauders had carried off from Cheshire +or Shropshire to toil and slave in the Welshery, walking together +after the labours of the day were done, and bemoaning their +misfortunes in their own homely English. + +Shortly after leaving the village of the tollgate I came to a +beautiful valley. On my right hand was a river the farther bank of +which was fringed with trees; on my left was a gentle ascent, the +lower part of which was covered with rich grass, and the upper with +yellow luxuriant corn; a little farther on was a green grove, +behind which rose up a moel. A more bewitching scene I never +beheld. Ceres and Pan seemed in this place to have met to hold +their bridal. The sun now descending shone nobly upon the whole. +After staying for some time to gaze, I proceeded, and soon met +several carts, from the driver of one of which I learned that I was +yet three miles from Bala. I continued my way and came to a +bridge, a little way beyond which I overtook two men, one of whom, +an old fellow, held a very long whip in his hand, and the other, a +much younger man with a cap on his head, led a horse. When I came +up the old fellow took off his hat to me, and I forthwith entered +into conversation with him. I soon gathered from him that he was a +horsedealer from Bala, and that he had been out on the road with +his servant to break a horse. I astonished the old man with my +knowledge of Welsh and horses, and learned from him - for +conceiving I was one of the right sort, he was very communicative - +two or three curious particulars connected with the Welsh mode of +breaking horses. Discourse shortened the way to both of us, and we +were soon in Bala. In the middle of the town he pointed to a large +old-fashioned house on the right hand, at the bottom of a little +square, and said, "Your honour was just asking me about an inn. +That is the best inn in Wales, and if your honour is as good a +judge of an inn as of a horse, I think you will say so when you +leave it. Prydnawn da 'chwi!" + + + +CHAPTER XLIX + + + +Tom Jenkins - Ale of Bala - Sober Moments - Local Prejudices - The +States - Unprejudiced Man - Welsh Pensilvanian Settlers - Drapery +Line - Evening Saunter. + + +SCARCELY had I entered the door of the inn when a man presented +himself to me with a low bow. He was about fifty years of age, +somewhat above the middle size, and had grizzly hair and a dark, +freckled countenance, in which methought I saw a considerable dash +of humour. He wore brown clothes, had no hat on his head, and held +a napkin in his hand. "Are you the master of this hotel?" said I. + +"No, your honour," he replied, "I am only the waiter, but I +officiate for my master in all things; my master has great +confidence in me, sir." + +"And I have no doubt," said I, "that he could not place his +confidence in any one more worthy." + +With a bow yet lower than the preceding one the waiter replied with +a smirk and a grimace, "Thanks, your honour, for your good opinion. +I assure your honour that I am deeply obliged." + +His air, manner, and even accent, were so like those of a +Frenchman, that I could not forbear asking him whether he was one. + +He shook his head and replied, "No, your honour, no, I am not a +Frenchman, but a native of this poor country, Tom Jenkins by name." + +"Well," said I, "you really look and speak like a Frenchman, but no +wonder; the Welsh and French are much of the same blood. Please +now to show me into the parlour." + +He opened the door of a large apartment, placed a chair by a table +which stood in the middle, and then, with another bow, requested to +know my farther pleasure. After ordering dinner I said that as I +was thirsty I should like to have some ale forthwith. + +"Ale you shall have, your honour," said Tom, "and some of the best +ale that can be drunk. This house is famous for ale." + +"I suppose you get your ale from Llangollen," said I, "which is +celebrated for its ale over Wales." + +"Get our ale from Llangollen?" said Tom, with sneer of contempt, +"no, nor anything else. As for the ale it was brewed in this house +by your honour's humble servant." + +"Oh," said I, "if you brewed it, it must of course be good. Pray +bring me some immediately, for I am anxious to drink ale of your +brewing." + +"Your honour shall be obeyed," said Tom, and disappearing returned +in a twinkling with a tray on which stood a jug filled with liquor +and a glass. He forthwith filled the glass, and pointing to its +contents said: + +"There, your honour, did you ever see such ale? Observe its +colour! Does it not look for all the world as pale and delicate as +cowslip wine?" + +"I wish it may not taste like cowslip wine," said I; "to tell you +the truth, I am no particular admirer of ale that looks pale and +delicate; for I always think there is no strength in it." + +"Taste it, your honour," said Tom, "and tell me if you ever tasted +such ale." + +I tasted it, and then took a copious draught. The ale was indeed +admirable, equal to the best that I had ever before drunk - rich +and mellow, with scarcely any smack of the hop in it, and though so +pale and delicate to the eye nearly as strong as brandy. I +commended it highly to the worthy Jenkins, who exultingly +exclaimed: + +"That Llangollen ale indeed! no, no! ale like that, your honour, +was never brewed in that trumpery hole Llangollen." + +"You seem to have a very low opinion of Llangollen?" said I. + +"How can I have anything but a low opinion of it, your honour? A +trumpery hole it is, and ever will remain so." + +"Many people of the first quality go to visit it," said I. + +"That is because it lies so handy for England, your honour. If it +did not, nobody would go to see it. What is there to see in +Llangollen?" + +"There is not much to see in the town, I admit," said I, "but the +scenery about it is beautiful: what mountains!" + +"Mountains, your honour, mountains! well, we have mountains too, +and as beautiful as those of Llangollen. Then we have our lake, +our Llyn Tegid, the lake of beauty. Show me anything like that +near Llangollen?" + +"Then," said I, "there is your mound, your Tomen Bala. The +Llangollen people can show nothing like that." + +Tom Jenkins looked at me for a moment with some surprise, and then +said: "I see you have been here before, sir." + +"No," said I, "never, but I have read about the Tomen Bala in +books, both Welsh and English." + +"You have, sir," said Tom. "Well, I am rejoiced to see so book- +learned a gentleman in our house. The Tomen Bala has puzzled many +a head. What do the books which mention it say about it, your +honour?" + +"Very little," said I, "beyond mentioning it; what do the people +here say of it?" + +"All kinds of strange things, your honour." + +"Do they say who built it?" + +"Some say the Tylwyth Teg built it, others that it was cast up over +a dead king by his people. The truth is, nobody here knows who +built it, or anything about it, save that it is a wonder. Ah, +those people of Llangollen can show nothing like it." + +"Come," said I, "you must not be so hard upon the people of +Llangollen. They appear to me upon the whole to be an eminently +respectable body." + +The Celtic waiter gave a genuine French shrug. "Excuse me, your +honour, for being of a different opinion. They are all drunkards." + +"I have occasionally seen drunken people at Llangollen," said I, +"but I have likewise seen a great many sober." + +"That is, your honour, you have seen them in their sober moments; +but if you had watched, your honour, if you had kept your eye on +them, you would have seen them reeling too." + +"That I can hardly believe," said I. + +"Your honour can't! but I can who know them. They are all +drunkards, and nobody can live among them without being a drunkard. +There was my nephew - " + +"What of him?" said I. + +"Why he went to Llangollen, your honour, and died of a drunken +fever in less than a month." + +"Well, but might he not have died of the same, if he had remained +at home?" + +"No, your honour, no! he lived here many a year, and never died of +a drunken fever; he was rather fond of liquor, it is true, but he +never died at Bala of a drunken fever; but when he went to +Llangollen he did. Now, your honour, if there is not something +more drunken about Llangollen than about Bala, why did my nephew +die at Llangollen of a drunken fever?" + +"Really," said I, "you are such a close reasoner, that I do not +like to dispute with you. One observation however, I wish to make: +I have lived at Llangollen, without, I hope, becoming a drunkard." + +"Oh, your honour is out of the question," said the Celtic waiter +with a strange grimace. "Your honour is an Englishman, an English +gentleman, and of course could live all the days of your life at +Llangollen without being a drunkard, he, he! Who ever heard of an +Englishman, especially an English gentleman, being a drunkard, he, +he, he. And now, your honour, pray excuse me, for I must go and +see that your honour's dinner is being got ready in a suitable +manner." + +Thereupon he left me with a bow yet lower than any I had previously +seen him make. If his manners put me in mind of those of a +Frenchman, his local prejudices brought powerfully to my +recollection those of a Spaniard. Tom Jenkins swears by Bala and +abuses Llangollen, and calls its people drunkards, just as a +Spaniard exalts his own village and vituperates the next and its +inhabitants, whom, though he will not call them drunkards, unless +indeed he happens to be a Gallegan, he will not hesitate to term +"una caterva de pillos y embusteros." + +The dinner when it appeared was excellent, and consisted of many +more articles than I had ordered. After dinner, as I sat +"trifling" with my cold brandy and water, an individual entered, a +short thick dumpy man about thirty, with brown clothes and a broad +hat, and holding in his hand a large leather bag. He gave me a +familiar nod, and passing by the table at which I sat, to one near +the window, he flung the bag upon it, and seating himself in a +chair with his profile towards me, he untied the bag, from which he +poured a large quantity of sovereigns upon the table and fell to +counting them. After counting them three times he placed them +again in the bag which he tied up, then taking a small book, +seemingly an account-book, out of his pocket, he wrote something in +it with a pencil, then putting it in his pocket he took the bag and +unlocking a beaufet which stood at some distance behind him against +the wall, he put the bag into a drawer; then again locking the +beaufet he sat down in the chair, then tilting the chair back upon +its hind legs he kept swaying himself backwards and forwards upon +it, his toes sometimes upon the ground, sometimes mounting until +they tapped against the nether side of the table, surveying me all +the time with a queer kind of a side glance, and occasionally +ejecting saliva upon the carpet in the direction of place where I +sat. + +"Fine weather, sir," said I, at last, rather tired of being skewed +and spit at in this manner. + +"Why yaas," said the figure; "the day is tolerably fine, but I have +seen a finer." + +"Well, I don't remember to have seen one," said I; "it is as fine a +day as I have seen during the present season, and finer weather +than I have seen during this season I do not think I ever saw +before." + +"The weather is fine enough for Britain," said the figure, "but +there are other countries besides Britain." + +"Why," said I, "there's the States, 'tis true." + +"Ever been in the States, Mr?" said the figure quickly. + +"Have I ever been in the States," said I, "have I ever been in the +States?" + +"Perhaps you are of the States, Mr; I thought so from the first." + +"The States are fine countries," said I. + +"I guess they are, Mr." + +"It would be no easy matter to whip the States." + +"So I should guess, Mr." + +"That is, single-handed," said I. + +"Single-handed, no nor double-handed either. Let England and +France and the State which they are now trying to whip without +being able to do it, that's Russia, all unite in a union to whip +the Union, and if instead of whipping the States they don't get a +whipping themselves, call me a braying jackass - " + +"I see, Mr," said I, "that you are a sensible man, because you +speak very much my own opinion. However, as I am an unprejudiced +person, like yourself, I wish to do justice to other countries - +the States are fine countries - but there are other fine countries +in the world. I say nothing of England; catch me saying anything +good of England; but I call Wales a fine country; gainsay it who +may, I call Wales a fine country." + +"So it is, Mr." + +"I'll go farther," said I; "I wish to do justice to everything: I +call the Welsh a fine language." + +"So it is, Mr. Ah, I see you are an unprejudiced man. You don't +understand Welsh, I guess." + +"I don't understand Welsh," said I; "I don't understand Welsh. +That's what I call a good one." + +"Medrwch siarad Cumraeg?" said the short figure spitting on the +carpet. + +"Medraf," said I. + +"You can, Mr! Well, if that don't whip the Union. But I see: you +were born in the States of Welsh parents." + +"No harm in being born in the States of Welsh parents," said I. + +"None at all, Mr; I was myself, and the first language I learnt to +speak was Welsh. Did your people come from Bala, Mr?" + +"Why no! Did yourn?" + +"Why yaas - at least from the neighbourhood. What State do you +come from? Virginny?" + +"Why no!" + +"Perhaps Pensilvany country?" + +"Pensilvany is a fine State," said I. + +"So it is, Mr. Oh, that is your State, is it? I come from +Varmont." + +"You do, do you? Well, Varmont is not a bad state, but not equal +to Pensilvany, and I'll tell you two reasons why; first it has not +been so long settled, and second there is not so much Welsh blood +in it as there is in Pensilvany." + +"Is there much Welsh blood in Pensilvany then?" + +"Plenty, Mr, plenty. Welsh flocked over to Pensilvany even as far +back as the time of William Pen, who as you know, Mr, was the first +founder of the Pensilvany State. And that puts me in mind that +there is a curious account extant of the adventures of one of the +old Welsh settlers in Pensilvania. It is to be found in a letter +in an old Welsh book. The letter is dated 1705, and is from one +Huw Jones, born of Welsh parents in Pensilvany country, to a cousin +of his of the same name residing in the neighbourhood of this very +town of Bala in Merionethshire, where you and I, Mr, now are. It +is in answer to certain inquiries made by the cousin, and is +written in pure old Welsh language. It gives an account of how the +writer's father left this neighbourhood to go to Pensilvania; how +he embarked on board the ship WILLIAM PEN; how he was thirty weeks +on the voyage from the Thames to the Delaware. Only think, Mr, of +a ship now-a-days being thirty weeks on the passage from the Thames +to the Delaware river; how he learnt the English language on the +voyage; how he and his companions nearly perished with hunger in +the wild wood after they landed; how Pensilvania city was built; +how he became a farmer and married a Welsh woman, the widow of a +Welshman from shire Denbigh, by whom he had the writer and several +other children; how the father used to talk to his children about +his native region and the places round about Bala, and fill their +breasts with longing for the land of their fathers; and finally how +the old man died leaving his children and their mother in +prosperous circumstances. It is a wonderful letter, Mr, all +written in the pure old Welsh language." + +"I say, Mr, you are a cute one and know a thing or two. I suppose +Welsh was the first language you learnt, like myself?" + +"No, it wasn't - I like to speak the truth - never took to either +speaking or reading the Welsh language till I was past sixteen." + +"'Stonishing! but see the force of blood at last. In any line of +business?" + +"No, Mr, can't say I am." + +"Have money in your pocket, and travel for pleasure. Come to see +father's land." + +"Come to see old Wales. And what brings you here, Hiraeth?" + +"That's longing. No, not exactly. Came over to England to see +what I could do. Got in with house at Liverpool in the drapery +business. Travel for it hereabouts, having connections and +speaking the language. Do branch business here for a banking-house +besides. Manage to get on smartly." + +"You look a smart 'un. But don't you find it sometimes hard to +compete with English travellers in the drapery line?" + +"I guess not. English travellers! set of nat'rals. Don't know the +language and nothing else. Could whip a dozen any day. Regularly +flummox them." + +"You do, Mr? Ah, I see you're a cute 'un. Glad to have met you." + +"I say, Mr, you have not told me from what county your forefathers +were." + +"From Norfolk and Cornwall counties." + +"Didn't know there were such counties in Wales." + +"But there are in England." + +"Why, you told me you were of Welsh parents." + +"No, I didn't. You told yourself so." + +"But how did you come to know Welsh?" + +"Why, that's my bit of a secret." + +"But you are of the United States?" + +"Never knew that before." + +"Mr, you flummox me." + +"Just as you do the English drapery travellers. Ah, you're a cute +'un - but do you think it altogether a cute trick to stow all those +sovereigns in that drawer?" + +"Who should take them out, Mr?" + +"Who should take them out? Why, any of the swell mob that should +chance to be in the house might unlock the drawer with their flash +keys as soon as your back is turned, and take out all the coin." + +"But there are none of the swell mob here." + +"How do you know, that?" said I, "the swell mob travel wide about - +how do you know that I am not one of them?" + +"The swell mob don't speak Welsh, I guess." + +"Don't be too sure of that," said I - "the swell coves spare no +expense for their education - so that they may be able to play +parts according to circumstances. I strongly advise you, Mr, to +put that bag somewhere else lest something should happen to it." + +"Well, Mr, I'll take your advice. These are my quarters, and I was +merely going to keep the money here for convenience' sake. The +money belongs to the bank, so it is but right to stow it away in +the bank safe. I certainly should be loth to leave it here with +you in the room, after what you have said." He then got up, +unlocked the drawer, took out the bag, and with a "Goodnight, Mr," +left the room. + +I "trifled" over my brandy and water till I finished it, and then +walked forth to look at the town. I turned up a street, which led +to the east, and soon found myself beside the lake at the north- +west extremity of which Bala stands. It appeared a very noble +sheet of water stretching from north to south for several miles. +As, however, night was fast coming on I did not see it to its full +advantage. After gazing upon it for a few minutes I sauntered back +to the square, or marketplace, and leaning my back against a wall, +listened to the conversation of two or three groups of people who +were standing near, my motive for doing so being a desire to know +what kind of Welsh they spoke. Their language as far as I heard it +differed in scarcely any respect from that of Llangollen. I, +however, heard very little of it, for I had scarcely kept my +station a minute when the good folks became uneasy, cast side- +glances at me, first dropped their conversation to whispers, next +held their tongues altogether, and finally moved off, some going to +their homes, others moving to a distance and then grouping together +- even certain ragged boys who were playing and chattering near me +became uneasy, first stood still, then stared at me, and then took +themselves off and played and chattered at a distance. Now what +was the cause of all this? Why, suspicion of the Saxon. The Welsh +are afraid lest an Englishman should understand their language, +and, by hearing their conversation, become acquainted with their +private affairs, or by listening to it, pick up their language +which they have no mind that he should know - and their very +children sympathise with them. All conquered people are suspicious +of their conquerors, The English have forgot that they ever +conquered the Welsh, but some ages will elapse before the Welsh +forget that the English have conquered them. + + + +CHAPTER L + + + +The Breakfast - The Tomen Bala - El Punto de la Vana. + + +I SLEPT soundly that night, as well I might, my bed being good and +my body weary. I arose about nine, dressed and went down to the +parlour which was vacant. I rang the bell, and on Tom Jenkins +making his appearance I ordered breakfast, and then asked for the +Welsh American, and learned that he had breakfasted very early and +had set out in a gig on a journey to some distance. In about +twenty minutes after I had ordered it my breakfast made its +appearance. A noble breakfast it was; such indeed as I might have +read of, but had never before seen. There was tea and coffee, a +goodly white loaf and butter; there were a couple of eggs and two +mutton chops. There was broiled and pickled salmon - there was +fried trout - there were also potted trout and potted shrimps. +Mercy upon me! I had never previously seen such a breakfast set +before me, nor indeed have I subsequently. Yes, I have +subsequently, and at that very house when I visited it some months +after. + +After breakfast I called for the bill. I forget the exact amount +of the bill, but remember that it was very moderate. I paid it and +gave the noble Thomas a shilling, which he received with a bow and +truly French smile, that is a grimace. When I departed the +landlord and landlady, highly respectable-looking elderly people, +were standing at the door, one on each side, and dismissed me with +suitable honour, he with a low bow, she with a profound curtsey. + +Having seen little of the town on the preceding evening, I +determined before setting out for Llangollen to become better +acquainted with it, and accordingly took another stroll about it. + +Bala is a town containing three or four thousand inhabitants, +situated near the northern end of an oblong valley, at least two- +thirds of which are occupied by Llyn Tegid. It has two long +streets, extending from north to south, a few narrow cross ones, an +ancient church, partly overgrown with ivy, with a very pointed +steeple, and a town-hall of some antiquity, in which Welsh +interludes used to be performed. After gratifying my curiosity +with respect to the town, I visited the mound - the wondrous Tomen +Bala. + +The Tomen Bala stands at the northern end of the town. It is +apparently formed of clay, is steep and of difficult ascent. In +height it is about thirty feet, and in diameter at the top about +fifty. On the top grows a gwern or alder-tree, about a foot thick, +its bark terribly scotched with letters and uncouth characters, +carved by the idlers of the town who are fond of resorting to the +top of the mound in fine weather, and lying down on the grass which +covers it. The Tomen is about the same size as Glendower's Mount +on the Dee, which it much resembles in shape. Both belong to that +brotherhood of artificial mounds of unknown antiquity, found +scattered, here and there, throughout Europe and the greater part +of Asia, the most remarkable specimen of which is, perhaps, that +which stands on the right side of the way from Adrianople to +Stamboul, and which is called by the Turks Mourad Tepehsi, or the +tomb of Mourad. Which mounds seem to have been originally intended +as places of sepulture, but in many instances were afterwards used +as strongholds, bonhills or beacon-heights, or as places on which +adoration was paid to the host of heaven. + +From the Tomen there is a noble view of the Bala valley, the Lake +of Beauty up to its southern extremity, and the neighbouring and +distant mountains. Of Bala, its lake and Tomen, I shall have +something to say on a future occasion. + +Leaving Bala I passed through the village of Llanfair and found +myself by the Dee, whose course I followed for some way. Coming to +the northern extremity of the Bala valley, I entered a pass tending +due north. Here the road slightly diverged from the river. I sped +along, delighted with the beauty of the scenery. On my left was a +high bank covered with trees, on my right a grove, through openings +in which I occasionally caught glimpses of the river, over whose +farther side towered noble hills. An hour's walking brought me +into a comparatively open country, fruitful and charming. At about +one o'clock I reached a large village, the name of which, like +those of most Welsh villages, began with Llan. There I refreshed +myself for an hour or two in an old-fashioned inn, and then resumed +my journey. + +I passed through Corwen; again visited Glendower's monticle upon +the Dee, and reached Llangollen shortly after sunset, where I found +my beloved two well and glad to see me. + +That night, after tea, Henrietta played on the guitar the old +muleteer tune of "El Punto de la Vana," or the main point at the +Havanna, whilst I sang the words - + + +"Never trust the sample when you go your cloth to buy: +The woman's most deceitful that's dressed most daintily. +The lasses of Havanna ride to mass in coaches yellow, +But ere they go they ask if the priest's a handsome fellow. +The lasses of Havanna as mulberries are dark, +And try to make them fairer by taking Jesuit's bark." + + + +CHAPTER LI + + + +The Ladies of Llangollen - Sir Alured - Eisteddfodau - Pleasure and +Care. + + +SHORTLY after my return I paid a visit to my friends at the +Vicarage, who were rejoiced to see me back, and were much +entertained with the account I gave of my travels. I next went to +visit the old church clerk of whom I had so much to say on a former +occasion. After having told him some particulars of my expedition, +to all of which he listened with great attention, especially to +that part which related to the church of Penmynydd and the tomb of +the Tudors, I got him to talk about the ladies of Llangollen, of +whom I knew very little save what I had heard from general report. +I found he remembered their first coming to Llangollen, their +living in lodgings, their purchasing the ground called Pen y maes, +and their erecting upon it the mansion to which the name of Plas +Newydd was given. He said they were very eccentric, but good and +kind, and had always shown most particular favour to himself; that +both were highly connected, especially Lady Eleanor Butler, who was +connected by blood with the great Duke of Ormond who commanded the +armies of Charles in Ireland in the time of the great rebellion, +and also with the Duke of Ormond who succeeded Marlborough in the +command of the armies in the Low Countries in the time of Queen +Anne, and who fled to France shortly after the accession of George +the First to the throne, on account of being implicated in the +treason of Harley and Bolingbroke; and that her ladyship was +particularly fond of talking of both these dukes, and relating +anecdotes concerning them. He said that the ladies were in the +habit of receiving the very first people in Britain, "amongst +whom," said the old church clerk, "was an ancient gentleman of most +engaging appearance and captivating manners, called Sir Alured C-. +He was in the army, and in his youth, owing to the beauty of his +person, was called , 'the handsome captain.' It was said that one +of the royal princesses was desperately in love with him, and that +on that account George the Third insisted on his going to India. +Whether or not there was truth in the report, to India he went, +where he served with distinction for a great many years. On his +return, which was not till he was upwards of eighty, he was +received with great favour by William the Fourth, who amongst other +things made him a field-marshal. As often as October came round +did this interesting and venerable gentleman make his appearance at +Llangollen to pay his respects to the ladies, especially to Lady +Eleanor, whom he had known at Court as far back they say as the +American war. It was rumoured at Llangollen that Lady Eleanor's +death was a grievous blow to Sir Alured, and that he would never be +seen there again. However, when October came round he made his +appearance at the Vicarage, where he had always been in the habit +of taking up his quarters, and called on and dined with Miss +Ponsonby at Plas Newydd, but it was observed that he was not so gay +as he had formerly been. In the evening, on his taking leave of +Miss Ponsonby, she said that he had used her ill. Sir Alured +coloured, and asked her what she meant, adding that he had not to +his knowledge used any person ill in the course of his life. 'But +I say you have used me ill, very ill,' said Miss Ponsonby, raising +her voice, and the words 'very ill' she repeated several times. At +last the old soldier waxing rather warm demanded an explanation. +'I'll give it you,' said Miss Ponsonby; 'were you not going away +after having only kissed my hand?' 'Oh,' said the general, 'if +that is my offence, I will soon make you reparation,' and instantly +gave her a hearty smack on the lips, which ceremony he never forgot +to repeat after dining with her on subsequent occasions." + +We got on the subject of bards, and I mentioned to him Gruffydd +Hiraethog, the old poet buried in the chancel of Llangollen church. +The old clerk was not aware that he was buried there, and said that +though he had heard of him he knew little or nothing about him. + +"Where was he born?" said he. + +"In Denbighshire," I replied, "near the mountain Hiraethog, from +which circumstance he called himself in poetry Gruffydd Hiraethog." + +"When did he flourish?" + +"About the middle of the sixteenth century." + +"What did he write?" + +"A great many didactic pieces," said I in one of which is a famous +couplet to this effect: + + +"He who satire loves to sing +On himself will satire bring." + + +"Did you ever hear of William Lleyn?" said the old gentleman. + +"Yes," said I; "he was a pupil of Hiraethog, and wrote an elegy on +his death, in which he alludes to Gruffydd's skill in an old Welsh +metre, called the Cross Consonancy, in the following manner: + + +'"In Eden's grove from Adam's mouth +Upsprang a muse of noble growth; +So from thy grave, O poet wise, +Cross Consonancy's boughs shall rise.'" + + +"Really," said the old clerk, "you seem to know something about +Welsh poetry. But what is meant by a muse springing up from Adam's +mouth in Eden?" + +"Why, I suppose," said I, "that Adam invented poetry." + +I made inquiries of him about the eisteddfodau or sessions of +bards, and expressed a wish to be present at one of them. He said +that they were very interesting; that bards met at particular +periods and recited poems on various subjects which had been given +out beforehand, and that prizes were allotted to those whose +compositions were deemed the best by the judges. He said that he +had himself won the prize for the best englyn on a particular +subject at an eisteddfod at which Sir Watkin Williams Wynn +presided, and at which Heber, afterwards Bishop of Calcutta, was +present, who appeared to understand Welsh well, and who took much +interest in the proceedings of the meeting. + +Our discourse turning on the latter Welsh poets I asked him if he +had been acquainted with Jonathan Hughes, who the reader will +remember was the person whose grandson I met and in whose arm-chair +I sat at Ty yn y pistyll, shortly after my coming to Llangollen. +He said that he had been well acquainted with him, and had helped +to carry him to the grave, adding, that he was something of a poet, +but that he had always considered his forte lay in strong good +sense rather than poetry. I mentioned Thomas Edwards, whose +picture I had seen in Valle Crucis Abbey. He said that he knew him +tolerably well, and that the last time he saw him was when he, +Edwards, was about seventy years of age, when he sent him in a cart +to the house of a great gentleman near the aqueduct where he was +going to stay on a visit. That Tom was about five feet eight +inches high, lusty, and very strongly built; that he had something +the matter with his right eye; that he was very satirical and very +clever; that his wife was a very clever woman and satirical; his +two daughters both clever and satirical, and his servant-maid +remarkably satirical and clever, and that it was impossible to live +with Twm O'r Nant without learning to be clever and satirical; that +he always appeared to be occupied with something, and that he had +heard him say there was something in him that would never let him +be idle; that he would walk fifteen miles to a place where he was +to play an interlude, and that as soon as he got there he would +begin playing it at once, however tired he might be. The old +gentleman concluded by saying that he had never read the works of +Twm O'r Nant, but he had heard that his best piece was the +interlude called "Pleasure and Care." + + + +CHAPTER LII + + + +The Treachery of the Long Knives - The North Briton - The Wounded +Butcher - The Prisoner. + + +ON the tenth of September our little town was flung into some +confusion by one butcher having attempted to cut the throat of +another. The delinquent was a Welshman, who it was said had for +some time past been somewhat out of his mind; the other party was +an Englishman, who escaped without further injury than a deep gash +in the cheek. The Welshman might be mad, but it appeared to me +that there was some method in his madness. He tried to cut the +throat of a butcher: didn't this look like wishing to put a rival +out of the way? and that butcher an Englishman: didn't this look +like wishing to pay back upon the Saxon what the Welsh call +bradwriaeth y cyllyll hirion, the treachery of the long knives? So +reasoned I to myself. But here perhaps the reader will ask what is +meant by "the treachery of the long knives?" whether he does or not +I will tell him. + +Hengist wishing to become paramount in Southern Britain thought +that the easiest way to accomplish his wish would be by destroying +the South British chieftains. Not believing that he should be able +to make away with them by open force he determined to see what he +could do by treachery. Accordingly he invited the chieftains to a +banquet to be held near Stonehenge, or the Hanging Stones, on +Salisbury Plains. The unsuspecting chieftains accepted the +invitation, and on the appointed day repaired to the banquet, which +was held in a huge tent. Hengist received them with a smiling +countenance and every appearance of hospitality, and caused them to +sit down to table, placing by the side of every Briton one of his +own people. The banquet commenced, and all seemingly was mirth and +hilarity. Now Hengist had commanded his people that when he should +get up and cry "nemet eoure saxes," that is, take your knives, each +Saxon should draw his long sax, or knife, which he wore at his +side, and should plunge it into the throat of his neighbour. The +banquet went on, and in the midst of it, when the unsuspecting +Britons were revelling on the good cheer which had been provided +for them, and half-drunken with the mead and beer which flowed in +torrents, uprose Hengist, and with a voice of thunder uttered the +fatal words "nemet eoure saxes:" the cry was obeyed, each Saxon +grasped his knife and struck with it at the throat of his +defenceless neighbour. Almost every blow took effect; only three +British chieftains escaping from the banquet of blood. This +infernal carnage the Welsh have appropriately denominated the +treachery of the long knives. It will be as well to observe that +the Saxons derived their name from the saxes, or long knives, which +they wore at their sides, and at the use of which they were +terribly proficient. + +Two or three days after the attempt at murder at Llangollen, +hearing that the Welsh butcher was about to be brought before the +magistrates, I determined to make an effort to be present at the +examination. Accordingly I went to the police station and inquired +of the superintendent whether I could be permitted to attend. He +was a North Briton, as I have stated somewhere before, and I had +scraped acquaintance with him, and had got somewhat into his good +graces by praising Dumfries, his native place, and descanting to +him upon the beauties of the poetry of his celebrated countryman, +my old friend, Allan Cunningham, some of whose works he had +perused, and with whom as he said, he had once the honour of +shaking hands. In reply to my question he told me that it was +doubtful whether any examination would take place, as the wounded +man was in a very weak state, but that if I would return in half- +an-hour he would let me know. I went away, and at the end of the +half-hour returned, when he told me that there would be no public +examination, owing to the extreme debility of the wounded man, but +that one of the magistrates was about to proceed to his house and +take his deposition in the presence of the criminal and also of the +witnesses of the deed, and that if I pleased I might go along with +him, and he had no doubt that the magistrate would have no +objection to my being present. We set out together; as we were +going along I questioned him about the state of the country, and +gathered from him that there was occasionally a good deal of crime +in Wales. + +"Are the Welsh a clannish people?" I demanded. + +"Very," said he. + +"As clannish as the Highlanders?" said I. + +"Yes," said he, "and a good deal more." + +We came to the house of the wounded butcher, which was some way out +of the town in the north-western suburb. The magistrate was in the +lower apartment with the clerk, one or two officials, and the +surgeon of the town. He was a gentleman of about two or three and +forty, with a military air and large moustaches, for besides being +a justice of the peace and a landed proprietor, he was an officer +in the army. He made me a polite bow when I entered, and I +requested of him permission to be present at the examination. He +hesitated a moment and then asked me my motive for wishing to be +present at it. + +"Merely curiosity," said I. + +He then observed that as the examination would be a private one, my +being permitted or not was quite optional. + +"I am aware of that," said I, "and if you think my remaining is +objectionable I will forthwith retire." He looked at the clerk, +who said there could be no objection to my staying, and turning +round to his superior said something to him which I did not hear, +whereupon the magistrate again bowed and said that he should he +very happy to grant my request. + +We went upstairs and found the wounded man in bed with a bandage +round his forehead, and his wife sitting by his bedside. The +magistrate and his officials took their seats, and I was +accommodated with a chair. Presently the prisoner was introduced +under the charge of a policeman. He was a fellow somewhat above +thirty, of the middle size, and wore a dirty white frock coat; his +right arm was partly confined by a manacle. A young girl was +sworn, who deposed that she saw the prisoner run after the other +with something in his hand. The wounded man was then asked whether +he thought he was able to make a deposition; he replied in a very +feeble tone that he thought he was, and after being sworn deposed +that on the preceding Saturday, as he was going to his stall, the +prisoner came up to him and asked whether he had ever done him any +injury? he said no. "I then," said he, "observed the prisoner's +countenance undergo a change, and saw him put his hand to his +waistcoat-pocket and pull out a knife. I straight became +frightened, and ran away as fast as I could; the prisoner followed, +and overtaking me, stabbed me in the face. I ran into the yard of +a public-house and into the shop of an acquaintance, where I fell +down, the blood spouting out of my wound." Such was the deposition +of the wounded butcher. He was then asked whether there had been +any quarrel between him and the prisoner? He said there had been +no quarrel, but that he had refused to drink with the prisoner when +he requested him, which he had done very frequently, and had more +than once told him that he did not wish for his acquaintance. The +prisoner, on being asked, after the usual caution, whether he had +anything to say, said that he merely wished to mark the man but not +to kill him. The surgeon of the place deposed to the nature of the +wound, and on being asked his opinion with respect to the state of +the prisoner's mind, said that he believed that he might be +labouring under a delusion. After the prisoner's bloody weapon and +coat had been produced he was committed. + +It was generally said that the prisoner was disordered in his mind; +I held my tongue, but judging from his look and manner I saw no +reason to suppose that he was any more out of his senses than I +myself, or any person present, and I had no doubt that what induced +him to commit the act was rage at being looked down upon by a +quondam acquaintance, who was rising a little in the world, +exacerbated by the reflection that the disdainful quondam +acquaintance was one of the Saxon race, against which every +Welshman entertains a grudge more or less virulent, which, though +of course, very unchristianlike, is really, brother Englishman, +after the affair of the long knives, and two or three other actions +of a somewhat similar character of our noble Anglo-Saxon +progenitors, with which all Welshmen are perfectly well acquainted, +not very much to be wondered at. + + + +CHAPTER LIII + + + +The Dylluan - The Oldest Creatures. + + +MUCH rain fell about the middle of the month; in the intervals of +the showers I occasionally walked by the banks of the river which +speedily became much swollen; it was quite terrible both to the +sight and ear near the "Robber's Leap;" there were breakers above +the higher stones at least five feet high and a roar around almost +sufficient "to scare a hundred men." The pool of Lingo was +strangely altered; it was no longer the quiet pool which it was in +summer, verifying the words of the old Welsh poet that the deepest +pool of the river is always the stillest in the summer and of the +softest sound, but a howling turbid gulf, in which branches of +trees, dead animals and rubbish were whirling about in the wildest +confusion. The nights were generally less rainy than the days, and +sometimes by the pallid glimmer of the moon I would take a stroll +along some favourite path or road. One night as I was wandering +slowly along the path leading through the groves of Pen y Coed I +was startled by an unearthly cry - it was the shout of the dylluan +or owl, as it flitted over the tops of the trees on its nocturnal +business. + +Oh, that cry of the dylluan! what a strange wild cry it is; how +unlike any other sound in nature! a cry which no combination of +letters can give the slightest idea of. What resemblance does +Shakespear's to-whit-to-whoo bear to the cry of the owl? none +whatever; those who hear it for the first time never know what it +is, however accustomed to talk of the cry of the owl and to-whit- +to-whoo. A man might be wandering through a wood with Shakespear's +owl-chorus in his mouth, but were he then to hear for the first +time the real shout of the owl he would assuredly stop short and +wonder whence that unearthly cry could proceed. + +Yet no doubt that strange cry is a fitting cry for the owl, the +strangest in its habits and look of all birds, the bird of whom by +all nations the strangest tales are told. Oh, what strange tales +are told of the owl, especially in connection with its long- +lifedness; but of all the strange wild tales connected with the age +of the owl, strangest of all is the old Welsh tale. When I heard +the owl's cry in the groves of Pen y Coed that tale rushed into my +mind. I had heard it from the singular groom who had taught me to +gabble Welsh in my boyhood, and had subsequently read it in an old +tattered Welsh story-book, which by chance fell into my hands. The +reader will perhaps be obliged by my relating it. + +"The eagle of the alder grove, after being long married and having +had many children by his mate, lost her by death, and became a +widower. After some time he took it into his head to marry the owl +of the Cowlyd Coomb; but fearing he should have issue by her, and +by that means sully his lineage, he went first of all to the oldest +creatures in the world in order to obtain information about her +age. First he went to the stag of Ferny-side Brae, whom he found +sitting by the old stump of an oak, and inquired the age of the +owl. The stag said: 'I have seen this oak an acorn which is now +lying on the ground without either leaves or bark: nothing in the +world wore it up but my rubbing myself against it once a day when I +got up, so I have seen a vast number of years, but I assure you +that I have never seen the owl older or younger than she is to-day. +However, there is one older than myself, and that is the salmon- +trout of Glyn Llifon.' To him went the eagle and asked him the age +of the owl and got for answer: 'I have a year over my head for +every gem on my skin and for every egg in my roe, yet have I always +seen the owl look the same; but there is one older than myself, and +that is the ousel of Cilgwry.' Away went the eagle to Cilgwry, and +found the ousel standing upon a little rock, and asked him the age +of the owl. Quoth the ousel: 'You see that the rock below me is +not larger than a man can carry in one of his hands: I have seen +it so large that it would have taken a hundred oxen to drag it, and +it has never been worn save by my drying my beak upon it once every +night, and by my striking the tip of my wing against it in rising +in the morning, yet never have I known the owl older or younger +than she is to-day. However, there is one older than I, and that +is the toad of Cors Fochnod; and unless he knows her age no one +knows it.' To him went the eagle and asked the age of the owl, and +the toad replied: 'I have never eaten anything save what I have +sucked from the earth, and have never eaten half my fill in all the +days of my life; but do you see those two great hills beside the +cross? I have seen the place where they stand level ground, and +nothing produced those heaps save what I discharged from my body, +who have ever eaten so very little - yet never have I known the owl +anything else but an old hag who cried Too-hoo-hoo, and scared +children with her voice even as she does at present.' So the eagle +of Gwernabwy; the stag of Ferny-side Brae; the salmon trout of Glyn +Llifon; the ousel of Cilgwry; the toad of Cors Fochnod, and the owl +of Coomb Cowlyd are the oldest creatures in the world; the oldest +of them all being the owl." + + + +CHAPTER LIV + + + +Chirk - The Middleton Family - Castell y Waen - The Park - The +Court Yard - The Young Housekeeper - The Portraits - Melin y +Castell - Humble Meal - Fine Chests for the Dead - Hales and +Hercules. + + +THE weather having become fine, myself and family determined to go +and see Chirk Castle, a mansion ancient and beautiful, and +abounding with all kinds of agreeable and romantic associations. +It was founded about the beginning of the fifteenth century by a St +John, Lord of Bletsa, from a descendant of whom it was purchased in +the year 1615 by Sir Thomas Middleton, the scion of an ancient +Welsh family who, following commerce, acquired a vast fortune, and +was Lord Mayor of London. In the time of the great civil war it +hoisted the banner of the king, and under Sir Thomas, the son of +the Lord Mayor, made a brave defence against Lambert, the +Parliamentary General, though eventually compelled to surrender. +It was held successively by four Sir Thomas Middletons, and if it +acquired a war-like celebrity under the second, it obtained a +peculiarly hospitable one under the fourth, whose daughter, the +fruit of a second marriage, became Countess of Warwick and +eventually the wife of the poet and moralist Addison. In his time +the hospitality of Chirk became the theme of many a bard, +particularly of Huw Morris, who, in one of his songs, has gone so +far as to say that were the hill Cefn Uchaf turned into beef and +bread, and the rill Ceiriog into beer or wine, they would be +consumed in half a year by the hospitality of Chirk. Though no +longer in the hands of one of the name of Middleton, Chirk Castle +is still possessed by one of the blood, the mother of the present +proprietor being the eldest of three sisters, lineal descendants of +the Lord Mayor, between whom in default of an heir male the wide +possessions of the Middleton family were divided. This gentleman, +who bears the name of Biddulph, is Lord Lieutenant of the county of +Denbigh, and notwithstanding his war-breathing name, which is +Gothic, and signifies Wolf of Battle, is a person of highly amiable +disposition, and one who takes great interest in the propagation of +the Gospel of peace and love. + +To view this place, which, though in English called Chirk Castle, +is styled in Welsh Castell y Waen, or the Castle of the Meadow, we +started on foot about ten o'clock of a fine bright morning, +attended by John Jones. There are two roads from Llangollen to +Chirk, one the low or post road, and the other leading over the +Berwyn. We chose the latter. We passed by the Yew Cottage, which +I have described on a former occasion, and began to ascend the +mountain, making towards its north-eastern corner. The road at +first was easy enough, but higher up became very steep, and +somewhat appalling, being cut out of the side of the hill which +shelves precipitously down towards the valley of the Dee. Near the +top of the mountain were three lofty beech-trees growing on the +very verge of the precipice. Here the road for about twenty yards +is fenced on its dangerous side by a wall, parts of which are built +between the stems of the trees. Just beyond the wall a truly noble +prospect presented itself to our eyes. To the north were bold +hills, their sides and skirts adorned with numerous woods and white +farm-houses; a thousand feet below us was the Dee and its wondrous +Pont y Cysultau. John Jones said that if certain mists did not +intervene we might descry "the sea of Liverpool"; and perhaps the +only thing wanting to make the prospect complete, was that sea of +Liverpool. We were, however, quite satisfied with what we saw, and +turning round the corner of the hill, reached its top, where for a +considerable distance there is level ground, and where, though at a +great altitude, we found ourselves in a fair and fertile region, +and amidst a scene of busy rural life. We saw fields and +inclosures, and here and there corn-stacks, some made, and others +not yet completed, about which people were employed, and waggons +and horses moving. Passing over the top of the hill, we began to +descend the southern side, which was far less steep than the one we +had lately surmounted. After a little way, the road descended +through a wood, which John Jones told us was the beginning of "the +Park of Biddulph." + +"There is plenty of game in this wood," said he; "pheasant cocks +and pheasant hens, to say nothing of hares and coneys; and in the +midst of it there is a space sown with a particular kind of corn +for the support of the pheasant hens and pheasant cocks, which in +the shooting-season afford pleasant sport for Biddulph and his +friends." + +Near the foot of the descent, just where the road made a turn to +the east, we passed by a building which stood amidst trees, with a +pond and barns near it. + +"This," said John Jones, "is the house where the bailiff lives who +farms and buys and sells for Biddulph, and fattens the beeves and +swine, and the geese, ducks, and other poultry which Biddulph +consumes at his table." + +The scenery was now very lovely, consisting of a mixture of hill +and dale, open space and forest, in fact the best kind of park +scenery. We caught a glimpse of a lake in which John Jones said +there were generally plenty of swans, and presently saw the castle, +which stands on a green grassy slope, from which it derives its +Welsh name of Castell y Waen; gwaen in the Cumrian language +signifying a meadow or uninclosed place. It fronts the west, the +direction from which we were coming; on each side it shows five +towers, of which the middlemost, which protrudes beyond the rest, +and at the bottom of which is the grand gate, is by far the +bulkiest. A noble edifice it looked, and to my eye bore no slight +resemblance to Windsor Castle. + +Seeing a kind of ranger, we inquired of him what it was necessary +for us to do, and by his direction proceeded to the southern side +of the castle, and rung the bell at a small gate. The southern +side had a far more antique appearance than the western; huge +towers with small windows, and partly covered with ivy, frowned +down upon us. A servant making his appearance, I inquired whether +we could see the house; he said we could, and that the housekeeper +would show it to us in a little time but that at present she was +engaged. We entered a large quadrangular court: on the left-hand +side was a door and staircase leading into the interior of the +building, and farther on was a gateway, which was no doubt the +principal entrance from the park. On the eastern side of the +spacious court was a kennel, chained to which was an enormous dog, +partly of the bloodhound, partly of the mastiff species, who +occasionally uttered a deep magnificent bay. As the sun was hot, +we took refuge from it under the gateway, the gate of which, at the +further end, towards the park, was closed. Here my wife and +daughter sat down on a small brass cannon, seemingly a six-pounder, +which stood on a very dilapidated carriage; from the appearance of +the gun, which was of an ancient form, and very much battered, and +that of the carriage, I had little doubt that both had been in the +castle at the time of the siege. As my two loved ones sat, I +walked up and down, recalling to my mind all I had heard and read +in connection with this castle. I thought of its gallant defence +against the men of Oliver; I thought of its roaring hospitality in +the time of the fourth Sir Thomas; and I thought of the many +beauties who had been born in its chambers, had danced in its +halls, had tripped across its court, and had subsequently given +heirs to illustrious families. + +At last we were told that she housekeeper was waiting for us. The +housekeeper, who was a genteel, good-looking young woman, welcomed +us at the door which led into the interior of the house. After we +had written our names, she showed us into a large room or hall on +the right-hand side on the ground floor, where were some helmets +and ancient halberts, and also some pictures of great personages. +The floor was of oak, and so polished and slippery, that walking +upon it was attended with some danger. Wishing that John Jones, +our faithful attendant, who remained timidly at the doorway, should +participate with us in the wonderful sights we were about to see, I +inquired of the housekeeper whether he might come with us. She +replied with a smile that it was not the custom to admit guides +into the apartments, but that he might come, provided he chose to +take off his shoes; adding, that the reason she wished him to take +off his shoes was, an apprehension that if he kept them on he would +injure the floors with their rough nails. She then went to John +Jones, and told him in English that he might attend us, provided he +took off his shoes; poor John, however, only smiled and said "Dim +Saesneg!" + +"You must speak to him in your native language," said I, "provided +you wish him to understand you - he has no English." + +"I am speaking to him in my native language," said the young +housekeeper, with another smile - "and if he has no English, I have +no Welsh." + +"Then you are English?" said I. + +"Yes," she replied, "a native of London." + +"Dear me," said I. "Well, it's no bad thing to be English after +all; and as for not speaking Welsh, there are many in Wales who +would be glad to have much less Welsh than they have." I then told +John Jones the condition on which he might attend us, whereupon he +took off his shoes with great glee and attended us, holding them in +his hand. + +We presently went upstairs, to what the housekeeper told us was the +principal drawing-room, and a noble room it was, hung round with +the portraits of kings and queens, and the mighty of the earth. +Here, on canvas, was noble Mary, the wife of William of Orange, and +her consort by her side, whose part like a true wife she always +took. Here was wretched Mary of Scotland, the murderess of her own +lord. Here were the two Charleses and both the Dukes of Ormond - +the great Duke who fought stoutly in Ireland against Papist and +Roundhead; and the Pretender's Duke who tried to stab his native +land, and died a foreign colonel. And here, amongst other +daughters of the house, was the very proud daughter of the house, +the Warwick Dowager who married the Spectator, and led him the life +of a dog. She looked haughty and cold, and not particularly +handsome; but I could not help gazing with a certain degree of +interest and respect on the countenance of the vixen, who served +out the gentility worshipper in such prime style. Many were the +rooms which we entered, of which I shall say nothing, save that +they were noble in size and rich in objects of interest. At last +we came to what was called the picture gallery. It was a long +panelled room, extending nearly the whole length of the northern +side. The first thing which struck us on entering was the huge +skin of a lion stretched out upon the floor; the head, however, +which was towards the door, was stuffed, and with its monstrous +teeth looked so formidable and life-like, that we were almost +afraid to touch it. Against every panel was a portrait; amongst +others was that of Sir Thomas Middleton, the stout governor of the +castle, during the time of the siege. Near to it was the portrait +of his rib, Dame Middleton. Farther down on the same side were two +portraits of Nell Gwynn; the one painted when she was a girl; the +other when she had attained a more mature age. They were both by +Lely, the Apelles of the Court of wanton Charles. On the other +side was one of the Duke of Gloucester, the son of Queen Anne, who, +had he lived, would have kept the Georges from the throne. In this +gallery on the southern side was a cabinet of ebony and silver, +presented by Charles the Second to the brave warrior Sir Thomas, +and which, according to tradition, cost seven thousand pounds. +This room, which was perhaps the most magnificent in the castle, +was the last we visited. The candle of God, whilst we wandered +through these magnificent halls, was flaming in the firmament, and +its rays, penetrating through the long narrow windows, showed them +off, and all the gorgeous things which they contained to great +advantage. When we left the castle we all said, not excepting John +Jones, that we had never seen in our lives anything more princely +and delightful than the interior. + +After a little time, my wife and daughter complaining of being +rather faint, I asked John Jones whether there was an inn in the +neighbourhood where some refreshment could be procured. He said +there was, and that he would conduct us to it. We directed our +course towards the east, rousing successively, and setting a- +scampering, three large herds of deer - the common ones were yellow +and of no particular size - but at the head of each herd we +observed a big old black fellow with immense antlers; one of these +was particularly large, indeed as huge as a bull. We soon came to +the verge of a steep descent, down which we went, not without some +risk of falling. At last we came to a gate; it was locked; +however, on John Jones shouting, an elderly man with his right hand +bandaged, came and opened it. I asked him what was the matter with +his hand, and he told me that he had lately lost three fingers +whilst working at a saw-mill up at the castle. On my inquiring +about the inn he said he was the master of it, and led the way to a +long neat low house, nearly opposite to a little bridge over a +brook, which ran down the valley towards the north. I ordered some +ale and bread-and-butter, and whilst our repast was being got ready +John Jones and I went to the bridge. + +"This bridge, sir," said John, "is called Pont y Velin Castell, the +bridge of the Castle Mill; the inn was formerly the mill of the +castle, and is still called Melin y Castell. As soon as you are +over this bridge you are in shire Amwythig, which the Saxons call +Shropshire. A little way up on yon hill is Clawdd Offa or Offa's +dyke, built of old by the Brenin Offa in order to keep us poor +Welsh within our bounds." + +As we stood on the bridge I inquired of Jones the name of the brook +which was running merrily beneath it. + +"The Ceiriog, sir," said John, "the same river that we saw at Pont +y Meibion." + +"The river," said I, "which Huw Morris loved so well, whose praises +he has sung, and which he has introduced along with Cefn Uchaf in a +stanza in which he describes the hospitality of Chirk Castle in his +day, and which runs thus: + + +"Pe byddai 'r Cefn Ucha, +Yn gig ac yn fara, +A Cheiriog fawr yma'n fir aml bob tro, +Rhy ryfedd fae iddyn' +Barhau hanner blwyddyn, +I wyr bob yn gan-nyn ar ginio." + + +"A good penill that, sir," said John Jones. "Pity that the halls +of great people no longer flow with rivers of beer, nor have +mountains of bread and beef for all comers." + +"No pity at all," said I; "things are better as they are. Those +mountains of bread and beef, and those rivers of ale merely +encouraged vassalage, fawning and idleness; better to pay for one's +dinner proudly and independently at one's inn, than to go and +cringe for it at a great man's table." + +We crossed the bridge, walked a little way up the hill which was +beautifully wooded, and then retraced our steps to the little inn, +where I found my wife and daughter waiting for us, and very hungry. +We sat down, John Jones with us, and proceeded to despatch our +bread-and-butter and ale. The bread-and-butter were good enough, +but the ale poorish. Oh, for an Act of Parliament to force people +to brew good ale! After finishing our humble meal, we got up and +having paid our reckoning went back into the park, the gate of +which the landlord again unlocked for us. + +We strolled towards the north along the base of the hill. The +imagination of man can scarcely conceive a scene more beautiful +than the one which we were now enjoying. Huge oaks studded the +lower side of the hill, towards the top was a belt of forest, above +which rose the eastern walls of the castle; the whole forest, +castle and the green bosom of the hill glorified by the lustre of +the sun. As we proceeded we again roused the deer, and again saw +three old black fellows, evidently the patriarchs of the herds, +with their white enormous horns; with these ancient gentlefolks I +very much wished to make acquaintance, and tried to get near them, +but no! they would suffer no such thing; off they glided, their +white antlers, like the barked top boughs of old pollards, glancing +in the sunshine, the smaller dapple creatures following them +bounding and frisking. We had again got very near the castle, when +John Jones told me that if we would follow him he would show us +something very remarkable; I asked him what it was. + +"Llun Cawr," he replied. "The figure of a giant." + +"What giant?" said I. + +But on this point he could give me no information. I told my wife +and daughter what he had said, and finding that they wished to see +the figure, I bade John Jones lead us to it. He led us down an +avenue just below the eastern side of the castle; noble oaks and +other trees composed it, some of them probably near a hundred feet +high; John Jones observing me looking at them with admiration, +said: + +"They would make fine chests for the dead, sir." + +What an observation! how calculated, amidst the most bounding joy +and bliss, to remind man of his doom! A moment before I had felt +quite happy, but now I felt sad and mournful. I looked at my wife +and daughter, who were gazing admiringly on the beauteous scenes +around them, and remembered that in a few short years at most we +should all three be laid in the cold narrow house formed of four +elm or oaken boards, our only garment the flannel shroud, the cold +damp earth above us, instead of the bright glorious sky. Oh, how +sad and mournful I became! I soon comforted myself, however, by +reflecting that such is the will of Heaven, and that Heaven is +good. + +After we had descended the avenue some way John Jones began to look +about him, and getting on the bank on the left side disappeared. +We went on, and in a little time saw him again beckoning to us some +way farther down, but still on the bank. When we drew nigh to him +he bade us get on the bank; we did so and followed him some way, +midst furze and lyng. All of a sudden he exclaimed, "There it is!" +We looked and saw a large figure standing on a pedestal. On going +up to it we found it to be a Hercules leaning on his club, indeed a +copy of the Farnese Hercules, as we gathered from an inscription in +Latin partly defaced. We felt rather disappointed, as we expected +that it would have turned out to be the figure of some huge Welsh +champion of old. We, however, said nothing to our guide. John +Jones, in order that we might properly appreciate the size of the +statue by contrasting it with his own body, got upon the pedestal +and stood up beside the figure, to the elbow of which his head +little more than reached. + +I told him that in my country, the eastern part of Lloegr, I had +seen a man quite as tall as the statue. + +"Indeed, sir," said he; "who is it?" + +"Hales the Norfolk giant," I replied, "who has a sister seven +inches shorter than himself, who is yet seven inches taller than +any man in the county when her brother is out of it." + +When John Jones got down he asked me who the man was whom the +statue was intended to represent. + +"Erchwl," I replied, "a mighty man of old, who with club cleared +the country of thieves, serpents, and monsters." + +I now proposed that we should return to Llangollen, whereupon we +retraced our steps, and had nearly reached the farm-house of the +castle when John Jones said that we had better return by the low +road, by doing which we should see the castle-lodge and also its +gate which was considered one of the wonders of Wales. We followed +his advice and passing by the front of the castle northwards soon +came to the lodge. The lodge had nothing remarkable in its +appearance, but the gate which was of iron was truly magnificent. + +On the top were two figures of wolves which John Jones supposed to +be those of foxes. The wolf of Chirk is not intended to be +expressive of the northern name of its proprietor, but as the +armorial bearing of his family by the maternal side, and originated +in one Ryred, surnamed Blaidd or Wolf from his ferocity in war, +from whom the family, which only assumed the name of Middleton in +the beginning of the thirteenth century, on the occasion of its +representative marrying a rich Shropshire heiress of that name, +traces descent. + +The wolf of Chirk is a Cambrian not a Gothic wolf, and though "a +wolf of battle," is the wolf not of Biddulph but of Ryred. + + + +CHAPTER LV + + + +A Visitor - Apprenticeship to the Law - Croch Daranau - Lope de +Vega - No Life like the Traveller's. + + +ONE morning as I sat alone a gentleman was announced. On his +entrance I recognised in him the magistrate's clerk, owing to whose +good word, as it appeared to me, I had been permitted to remain +during the examination into the affair of the wounded butcher. He +was a stout, strong-made man, somewhat under the middle height, +with a ruddy face, and very clear, grey eyes. I handed him a +chair, which he took, and said that his name was R-, and that he +had taken the liberty of calling, as he had a great desire to be +acquainted with me. On my asking him his reason for that desire he +told me that it proceeded from his having read a book of mine about +Spain, which had much interested him. + +"Good," said I, "you can't give an author a better reason for +coming to see him than being pleased with his book. I assure you +that you are most welcome." + +After a little general discourse I said that I presumed he was in +the law. + +"Yes," said he, "I am a member of that much-abused profession." + +"And unjustly abused," said I; "it is a profession which abounds +with honourable men, and in which I believe there are fewer scamps +than in any other. The most honourable men I have ever known have +been lawyers; they were men whose word was their bond, and who +would have preferred ruin to breaking it. There was my old master, +in particular, who would have died sooner than broken his word. +God bless him! I think I see him now with his bald, shining pate, +and his finger on an open page of 'Preston's Conveyancing.'" + +"Sure you are not a limb of the law?" said Mr R-. + +"No," said I, "but I might be, for I served an apprenticeship to +it." + +"I am glad to hear it," said Mr R-, shaking me by the hand. "Take +my advice, come and settle at Llangollen and be my partner." + +"If I did," said I, "I am afraid that our partnership would be of +short duration; you would find me too eccentric and flighty for the +law. Have you a good practice?" I demanded after a pause. + +"I have no reason to complain of it," said he, with a contented +air. + +"I suppose you are married?" said I. + +"Oh yes," said he, "I have both a wife and family." + +"A native of Llangollen?" said I. + +"No," said he: "I was born at Llan Silin, a place some way off +across the Berwyn." + +"Llan Silin?" said I, "I have a great desire to visit it some day +or other." + +"Why so?" said he, "it offers nothing interesting." + +"I beg your pardon," said I; "unless I am much mistaken, the tomb +of the great poet Huw Morris is in Llan Silin churchyard." + +"Is it possible that you have ever heard of Huw Morris?" + +"Oh yes," said I; "and I have not only heard of him but am +acquainted with his writings; I read them when a boy." + +"How very extraordinary," said he; "well, you are quite right about +his tomb; when a boy I have played dozens of times on the flat +stone with my schoolfellows." + +We talked of Welsh poetry; he said he had not dipped much into it, +owing to its difficulty; that he was master of the colloquial +language of Wales, but understood very little of the language of +Welsh poetry, which was a widely different thing. I asked him +whether he had seen Owen Pugh's translation of Paradise Lost. He +said he had, but could only partially understand it, adding, +however, that those parts which he could make out appeared to him +to be admirably executed, that amongst these there was one which +had particularly struck him namely: + + +"Ar eu col o rygnu croch +Daranau." + + +The rendering of Milton's + + +"And on their hinges grate +Harsh thunder." + + +which, grand as it was, was certainly equalled by the Welsh +version, and perhaps surpassed, for that he was disposed to think +that there was something more terrible in "croch daranau," than in +"harsh thunder." + +"I am disposed to think so too," said I. "Now can you tell me +where Owen Pugh is buried?" + +"I cannot," said he; "but I suppose you can tell me; you, who know +the burying-place of Huw Morris are probably acquainted with the +burying-place of Owen Pugh." + +"No," said I, "I am not. Unlike Huw Morris, Owen Pugh has never +had his history written, though perhaps quite as interesting a +history might be made out of the life of the quiet student as out +of that of the popular poet. As soon as ever I learn where his +grave is I shall assuredly make a pilgrimage to it." Mr R- then +asked me a good many questions about Spain, and a certain singular +race of people about whom I have written a good deal. Before going +away he told me that a friend of his, of the name of J-, would call +upon me, provided he thought I should not consider his doing so an +intrusion. "Let him come by all means," said I; "I shall never +look upon a visit from a friend of yours in the light of an +intrusion." + +In a few days came his friend, a fine tall athletic man of about +forty. "You are no Welshman," said I, as I looked at him. + +"No," said he, "I am a native of Lincolnshire, but I have resided +in Llangollen for thirteen years." + +"In what capacity?" said I. + +"In the wine-trade," said he. + +"Instead of coming to Llangollen," said I, "and entering into the +wine-trade, you should have gone to London, and enlisted into the +Life Guards." + +"Well," said he, with a smile, "I had once or twice thought of +doing so. However, fate brought me to Llangollen, and I am not +sorry that she did, for I have done very well here." + +I soon found out that he was a well-read and indeed highly +accomplished man. Like his friend R-, Mr J- asked me a great many +questions about Spain. By degrees we got on the subject of Spanish +literature. I said that the literature of Spain was a first-rate +literature, but that it was not very extensive. He asked me +whether I did not think that Lope de Vega was much overrated. + +"Not a bit," said I; "Lope de Vega was one of the greatest geniuses +that ever lived. He was not only a great dramatist and lyric poet, +but a prose writer of marvellous ability, as he proved by several +admirable tales, amongst which is the best ghost story in the +world." + +Another remarkable person whom I got acquainted with about this +time was A-, the innkeeper, who lived a little way down the road, +of whom John Jones had spoken so highly, saying, amongst other +things, that he was the clebberest man in Llangollen. One day as I +was looking in at his gate, he came forth, took off his hat, and +asked me to do him the honour to come in and look at his grounds. +I complied, and as he showed me about he told me his history in +nearly the following words:- + +"I am a Devonian by birth. For many years I served a travelling +gentleman, whom I accompanied in all his wanderings. I have been +five times across the Alps, and in every capital of Europe. My +master at length dying left me in his will something handsome, +whereupon I determined to be a servant no longer, but married, and +came to Llangollen, which I had visited long before with my master, +and had been much pleased with. After a little time these premises +becoming vacant, I took them, and set up in the public line, more +to have something to do, than for the sake of gain, about which, +indeed, I need not trouble myself much, my poor, dear master, as I +said before, having done very handsomely by me at his death. Here +I have lived for several years, receiving strangers, and improving +my house and grounds. I am tolerably comfortable, but confess I +sometimes look back to my former roving life rather wistfully, for +there is no life so merry as the traveller's." + +He was about the middle age and somewhat under the middle size. I +had a good deal of conversation with him, and was much struck with +his frank, straightforward manner. He enjoyed a high character at +Llangollen for probity and likewise for cleverness, being reckoned +an excellent gardener, and an almost unequalled cook. His master, +the travelling gentleman, might well leave him a handsome +remembrance in his will, for he had not only been an excellent and +trusty servant to him, but had once saved his life at the hazard of +his own, amongst the frightful precipices of the Alps. Such +retired gentlemen's servants, or such publicans either, as honest +A-, are not every day to be found. His grounds, principally laid +out by his own hands, exhibited an infinity of taste, and his +house, into which I looked, was a perfect picture of neatness. Any +tourist visiting Llangollen for a short period could do no better +than take up his abode at the hostelry of honest A-. + + + +CHAPTER LVI + + + +Ringing of Bells - Battle of Alma - The Brown Jug - Ale of +Llangollen - Reverses. + + +ON the third of October - I think that was the date - as my family +and myself, attended by trusty John Jones, were returning on foot +from visiting a park not far from Rhiwabon we heard, when about a +mile from Llangollen, a sudden ringing of the bells of the place, +and a loud shouting. Presently we observed a postman hurrying in a +cart from the direction of the town. "Peth yw y matter?" said John +Jones. "Y matter, y matter!" said the postman in a tone of +exultation, "Sebastopol wedi cymmeryd. Hurrah!" + +"What does he say?" said my wife anxiously to me. + +"Why, that Sebastopol is taken," said I. + +"Then you have been mistaken," said my wife smiling, "for you +always said that the place would either not be taken at all or +would cost the allies to take it a deal of time and an immense +quantity of blood and treasure, and here it is taken at once, for +the allies only landed the other day. Well, thank God, you have +been mistaken!" + +"Thank God, indeed," said I, "always supposing that I have been +mistaken - but I hardly think from what I have known of the +Russians that they would let their town - however, let us hope that +they have let it be taken. Hurrah!" + +We reached our dwelling. My wife and daughter went in. John Jones +betook himself to his cottage, and I went into the town, in which +there was a great excitement; a wild running troop of boys were +shouting "Sebastopol wedi cymmeryd. Hurrah! Hurrah!" Old Mr Jones +was standing bare-headed at his door. "Ah," said the old +gentleman, "I am glad to see you. Let us congratulate each other," +he added, shaking me by the hand. "Sebastopol taken, and in so +short a time. How fortunate!" + +"Fortunate indeed," said I, returning his hearty shake; "I only +hope it may be true." + +"Oh, there can be no doubt of its being true," said the old +gentleman. "The accounts are most positive. Come in, and I will +tell you all the circumstances." I followed him into his little +back parlour, where we both sat down. + +"Now," said the old church clerk, "I will tell you all about it. +The allies landed about twenty miles from Sebastopol and proceeded +to march against it. When nearly half way they found the Russians +posted on a hill. Their position was naturally very strong, and +they had made it more so by means of redoubts and trenches. +However, the allies undismayed, attacked the enemy, and after a +desperate resistance, drove them over the hill, and following fast +at their heels entered the town pell-mell with them, taking it and +all that remained alive of the Russian army. And what do you +think? The Welsh highly distinguished themselves. The Welsh +fusileers were the first to mount the hill. They suffered horribly +- indeed almost the whole regiment was cut to pieces; but what of +that? they showed that the courage of the Ancient Britons still +survives in their descendants. And now I intend to stand beverage. +I assure you I do. No words! I insist upon it. I have heard you +say you are fond of good ale, and I intend to fetch you a pint of +such ale as I am sure you never drank in your life." Thereupon he +hurried out of the room, and through the shop into the street. + +"Well," said I, when I was by myself, "if this news does not +regularly surprise me! I can easily conceive that the Russians +would be beaten in a pitched battle by the English and French - but +that they should have been so quickly followed up by the allies, as +not to be able to shut their gates and man their walls, is to me +inconceivable. Why, the Russians retreat like the wind, and have a +thousand ruses at command, in order to retard an enemy. So at +least I thought, but it is plain that I know nothing about them, +nor indeed much of my own countrymen; I should never have thought +that English soldiers could have marched fast enough to overtake +Russians, more especially with such a being to command them, as -, +whom I, and indeed almost every one else have always considered a +dead weight on the English service. I suppose, however, that both +they and their commander were spurred on by the active French." + +Presently the old church clerk made his appearance with a glass in +one hand, and a brown jug of ale in the other. + +"Here," said he, filling the glass, "is some of the real Llangollen +ale. I got it from the little inn, the Eagle, over the way, which +was always celebrated for its ale. They stared at me when I went +in and asked for a pint of ale, as they knew that for twenty years +I have drunk no liquor whatever, owing to the state of my stomach, +which will not allow me to drink anything stronger than water and +tea. I told them, however, it was for a gentleman, a friend of +mine, whom I wished to treat in honour of the fall of Sebastopol." + +I would fain have excused myself, but the old gentleman insisted on +my drinking. + +"Well," said I, taking the glass, "thank God that our gloomy +forebodings are not likely to be realised. Oes y byd i'r glod +Frythoneg! May Britain's glory last as long as the world!" + +Then, looking for a moment at the ale, which was of a dark-brown +colour, I put the glass to my lips and drank. + +"Ah!" said the old church clerk, "I see you like it, for you have +emptied the glass at a draught." + +"It is good ale," said I. + +"Good," said the old gentleman rather hastily, "good; did you ever +taste any so good in your life?" + +"Why, as to that," said I, "I hardly know what to say; I have drunk +some very good ale in my day. However, I'll trouble you for +another glass." + +"Oh ho, you will," said the old gentleman; "that's enough; if you +did not think it first-rate, you would not ask for more. This," +said he, as he filled the glass again, "is genuine malt and hop +liquor, brewed in a way only known, they say, to some few people in +this place. You must, however, take care how much you take of it. +Only a few glasses will make you dispute with your friends, and a +few more quarrel with them. Strange things are said of what +Llangollen ale made people do of yore; and I remember that when I +was young and could drink ale, two or three glasses of the +Llangollen juice of the barleycorn would make me - however, those +times are gone by." + +"Has Llangollen ale," said I, after tasting the second glass, "ever +been sung in Welsh? is there no englyn upon it?" + +"No," said the old church clerk, "at any rate, that I am aware." + +"Well," said I, "I can't sing its praises in a Welsh englyn, but I +think I can contrive to do so in an English quatrain, with the help +of what you have told me. What do you think of this? - + + +"Llangollen's brown ale is with malt and hop rife; +'Tis good; but don't quaff it from evening till dawn; +For too much of that ale will incline you to strife; +Too much of that ale has caused knives to be drawn." + + +"That's not so bad," said the old church clerk, "but I think some +of our bards could have produced something better - that is, in +Welsh; for example old - What's the name of the old bard who wrote +so many englynion on ale?" + +"Sion Tudor," said I; "O yes; but he was a great poet. Ah, he has +written some wonderful englynion on ale; but you will please to +bear in mind that all his englynion are upon bad ale, and it is +easier to turn to ridicule what is bad, than to do anything like +justice to what is good." + +O, great was the rejoicing for a few days at Llangollen for the +reported triumph; and the share of the Welsh in that triumph +reconciled for a time the descendants of the Ancient Britons to the +seed of the coiling serpent. "Welsh and Saxons together will +conquer the world!" shouted brats, as they stood barefooted in the +kennel. In a little time, however, news not quite so cheering +arrived. There had been a battle fought, it is true, in which the +Russians had been beaten, and the little Welsh had very much +distinguished themselves, but no Sebastopol had been taken. The +Russians had retreated to their town, which, till then almost +defenceless on the land side, they had, following their old maxim +of "never despair," rendered almost impregnable in a few days, +whilst the allies, chiefly owing to the supineness of the British +commander, were loitering on the field of battle. In a word, all +had happened which the writer, from his knowledge of the Russians +and his own countrymen, had conceived likely to happen from the +beginning. Then came the news of the commencement of a seemingly +interminable siege, and of disasters and disgraces on the part of +the British; there was no more shouting at Llangollen in connection +with the Crimean expedition. But the subject is a disagreeable +one, and the writer will dismiss it after a few brief words. + +It was quite right and consistent with the justice of God that the +British arms should be subjected to disaster and ignominy about +that period. A deed of infamous injustice and cruelty had been +perpetrated, and the perpetrators, instead of being punished, had +received applause and promotion; so if the British expedition to +Sebastopol was a disastrous and ignominious one, who can wonder? +Was it likely that the groans of poor Parry would be unheard from +the corner to which he had retired to hide his head by "the Ancient +of days," who sits above the cloud, and from thence sends +judgments? + + + +CHAPTER LVII + + + +The Newspaper - A New Walk - Pentre y Dwr - Oatmeal and Barley-Meal +- The Man on Horseback - Heavy News. + +"DEAR me," said I to my wife, as I sat by the fire one Saturday +morning, looking at a newspaper which had been sent to us from our +own district, "what is this? Why, the death of our old friend Dr - +. He died last Tuesday week after a short illness, for he preached +in his church at - the previous Sunday." + +"Poor man!" said my wife. "How sorry I am to hear of his death! +However, he died in the fulness of years, after a long and +exemplary life. He was an excellent man and good Christian +shepherd. I knew him well; you I think only saw him once." + +"But I shall never forget him," said I, "nor how animated his +features became when I talked to him about Wales, for he, you know, +was a Welshman. I forgot to ask what part of Wales he came from. +I suppose I shall never know now." + +Feeling indisposed either for writing or reading, I determined to +take a walk to Pentre y Dwr, a village in the north-west part of +the valley which I had not yet visited. I purposed going by a path +under the Eglwysig crags which I had heard led thither, and to +return by the monastery. I set out. The day was dull and gloomy. +Crossing the canal I pursued my course by romantic lanes till I +found myself under the crags. The rocky ridge here turns away to +the north, having previously run from the east to the west. + +After proceeding nearly a mile amidst very beautiful scenery, I +came to a farm-yard where I saw several men engaged in repairing a +building. This farm-yard was in a very sequestered situation; a +hill overhung it on the west, half-way up whose side stood a farm- +house to which it probably pertained. On the north-west was a most +romantic hill covered with wood to the very top. A wild valley +led, I knew not whither, to the north between crags and the wood- +covered hill. Going up to a man of respectable appearance, who +seemed to be superintending the others, I asked him in English the +way to Pentre y Dwr. He replied that I must follow the path up the +hill towards the house, behind which I should find a road which +would lead me through the wood to Pentre Dwr. As he spoke very +good English, I asked him where he had learnt it. + +"Chiefly in South Wales," said he, "where they speak less Welsh +than here." + +I gathered from him that he lived in the house on the hill and was +a farmer. I asked him to what place the road up the valley to the +north led. + +"We generally go by that road to Wrexham," he replied; "it is a +short but a wild road through the hills." + +After a little discourse on the times, which he told me were not +quite so bad for farmers as they had been, I bade him farewell. + +Mounting the hill I passed round the house, as the farmer had +directed me, and turned to the west along a path on the side of the +mountain. A deep valley was on my left, and on my right above me a +thick wood, principally of oak. About a mile further on the path +winded down a descent, at the bottom of which I saw a brook and a +number of cottages beyond it. + +I passed over the brook by means of a long slab laid across, and +reached the cottages. I was now as I supposed in Pentre y Dwr, and +a pentre y dwr most truly it looked, for those Welsh words signify +in English the village of the water, and the brook here ran through +the village, in every room of which its pretty murmuring sound must +have been audible. I looked about me in the hope of seeing +somebody of whom I could ask a question or two, but seeing no one, +I turned to the south intending to regain Llangollen by the way of +the monastery. Coming to a cottage I saw a woman, to all +appearance very old, standing by the door, and asked her in Welsh +where I was. + +"In Pentre Dwr," said she. "This house, and those yonder," +pointing to the cottages past which I had come, "are Pentre y Dwr. +There is, however, another Pentre Dwr up the glen yonder," said +she, pointing towards the north - "which is called Pentre Dwr uchaf +(the upper) -this is Pentre Dwr isaf (the lower)." + +"Is it called Pentre Dwr," said I, "because of the water of the +brook?" + +"Likely enough," said she, "but I never thought of the matter +before." + +She was blear-eyed, and her skin, which seemed drawn tight over her +forehead and cheek-bones, was of the colour of parchment. I asked +her how old she was. + +"Fifteen after three twenties," she replied; meaning that she was +seventy-five. + +From her appearance I should almost have guessed that she had been +fifteen after four twenties. I, however, did not tell her so, for +I am always cautious not to hurt the feelings of anybody, +especially of the aged. + +Continuing my way I soon overtook a man driving five or six very +large hogs. One of these which was muzzled was of a truly immense +size, and walked with considerable difficulty on account of its +fatness. I walked for some time by the side of the noble porker, +admiring it. At length a man rode up on horseback from the way we +had come; he said something to the driver of the hogs, who +instantly unmuzzled the immense creature, who gave a loud grunt on +finding his snout and mouth free. From the conversation which +ensued between the two men I found that the driver was the servant +and the other the master. + +"Those hogs are too fat to drive along the road," said I at last to +the latter. + +"We brought them in a cart as far as the Pentre Dwr," said the man +on horseback, "but as they did not like the jolting we took them +out." + +"And where are you taking them to?" said. I. + +"To Llangollen," said the man, "for the fair on Monday." + +"What does that big fellow weigh?" said I, pointing to the largest +hog. + +"He'll weigh about eighteen score," said the man. + +"What do you mean by eighteen score?" said I. + +"Eighteen score of pounds," said the man. + +"And how much do you expect to get for him?" + +"Eight pounds; I shan't take less." + +"And who will buy him?" said I. + +"Some gent from Wolverhampton or about there," said the man; "there +will be plenty of gents from Wolverhampton at the fair." + +"And what do you fatten your hogs upon?" said I. + +"Oatmeal," said the man. + +"And why not on barley-meal?" + +"Oatmeal is the best," said the man; "the gents from Wolverhampton +prefer them fattened on oatmeal." + +"Do the gents of Wolverhampton," said I, "eat the hogs?" + +"They do not," said the man; "they buy them to sell again; and they +like hogs fed on oatmeal best, because they are the fattest." + +"But the pork is not the best," said I; "all hog-flesh raised on +oatmeal is bitter and wiry; because do you see - " + +"I see you are in the trade," said the man, "and understand a thing +or two." + +"I understand a thing or two," said I, "but I am not in the trade. +Do you come from far?" + +"From Llandeglo," said the man. + +"Are you a hog-merchant?" said I. + +"Yes," said he, "and a horse-dealer, and a farmer, though rather a +small one." + +"I suppose as you are a horse-dealer," said I, "you travel much +about?" + +"Yes," said the man; "I have travelled a good deal about Wales and +England." + +"Have you been in Ynys Fon?" said I. + +"I see you are a Welshman," said the man. + +"No," said I, "but I know a little Welsh." + +"Ynys Fon!" said the man. "Yes, I have been in Anglesey more times +than I can tell." + +"Do you know Hugh Pritchard," said I, "who lives at Pentraeth +Coch?" + +"I know him well," said the man, "and an honest fellow he is." + +"And Mr Bos?" said I. + +"What Bos?" said he. "Do you mean a lusty, red-faced man in top- +boots and grey coat?" + +"That's he," said I. + +"He's a clever one," said the man. "I suppose by your knowing +these people you are a drover or a horse-dealer. Yes," said he, +turning half-round in his saddle and looking at me, "you are a +horse-dealer. I remember you well now, and once sold a horse to +you at Chelmsford." + +"I am no horse-dealer," said I, "nor did I ever buy a horse at +Chelmsford. I see you have been about England. Have you ever been +in Norfolk or Suffolk?" + +"No," said the man, "but I know something of Suffolk. I have an +uncle there." + +"Whereabouts in Suffolk?" said I. + +"At a place called -," said the man. + +"In what line of business?" said I. + +"In none at all; he is a clergyman." + +"Shall I tell you his name?" said I. + +"It is not likely you should know his name," said the man. + +"Nevertheless," said I, "I will tell it you - his name was - " + +"Well," said the man, "sure enough that is his name." + +"It was his name," said I, "but I am sorry to tell you he is no +more. To-day is Saturday. He died last Tuesday week and was +probably buried last Monday. An excellent man was Dr. H. O. A +credit to his country and to his order." + +The man was silent for some time and then said with a softer voice +and a very different manner from that he had used before, "I never +saw him but once, and that was more than twenty years ago - but I +have heard say that he was an excellent man - I see, sir, that you +are a clergyman." + +"I am no clergyman," said I, "but I knew your uncle and prized him. +What was his native place?" + +"Corwen," said the man, then taking out his handkerchief he wiped +his eyes, and said with a faltering voice: "This will be heavy +news there." + +We were now past the monastery, and bidding him farewell I +descended to the canal, and returned home by its bank, whilst the +Welsh drover, the nephew of the learned, eloquent and exemplary +Welsh doctor, pursued with his servant and animals his way by the +high road to Llangollen. + +Many sons of Welsh yeomen brought up to the Church have become +ornaments of it in distant Saxon land, but few, very few, have by +learning, eloquence and Christian virtues reflected so much lustre +upon it as Hugh O- of Corwen. + + + +CHAPTER LVIII + + + +Sunday Night - Sleep, Sin, and Old Age - The Dream - Lanikin Figure +- A Literary Purchase. + + +THE Sunday morning was a gloomy one. I attended service at church +with my family. The service was in English, and the younger Mr E- +preached. The text I have forgotten, but I remember perfectly well +that the sermon was scriptural and elegant. When we came out the +rain was falling in torrents. Neither I nor my family went to +church in the afternoon. I however attended the evening service +which is always in Welsh. The elder Mr E- preached. Text, 2 Cor. +x. 5. The sermon was an admirable one, admonitory, pathetic and +highly eloquent; I went home very much edified, and edified my wife +and Henrietta, by repeating to them in English the greater part of +the discourse which I had been listening to in Welsh. After +supper, in which I did not join, for I never take supper, provided +I have taken dinner, they went to bed whilst I remained seated +before the fire, with my back near the table and my eyes fixed upon +the embers which were rapidly expiring, and in this posture sleep +surprised me. Amongst the proverbial sayings of the Welsh, which +are chiefly preserved in the shape of triads, is the following one: +"Three things come unawares upon a man, sleep, sin, and old age." +This saying holds sometimes good with respect to sleep and old age, +but never with respect to sin. Sin does not come unawares upon a +man: God is just, and would never punish a man, as He always does, +for being overcome by sin if sin were able to take him unawares; +and neither sleep nor old age always come unawares upon a man. +People frequently feel themselves going to sleep and feel old age +stealing upon them; though there can be no doubt that sleep and old +age sometimes come unawares - old age came unawares upon me; it was +only the other day that I was aware that I was old, though I had +long been old, and sleep came unawares upon me in that chair in +which I had sat down without the slightest thought of sleeping. +And there as I sat I had a dream - what did I dream about? the +sermon, musing upon which I had been overcome by sleep? not a bit! +I dreamt about a widely-different matter. Methought I was in +Llangollen fair in the place where the pigs were sold, in the midst +of Welsh drovers, immense hogs and immense men whom I took to be +the gents of Wolverhampton. What huge fellows they were! almost as +huge as the hogs for which they higgled; the generality of them +dressed in brown sporting coats, drab breeches, yellow-topped +boots, splashed all over with mud, and with low-crowned broad- +brimmed hats. One enormous fellow particularly caught my notice. +I guessed he must have weighed eleven score, he had a half-ruddy, +half-tallowy face, brown hair, and rather thin whiskers. He was +higgling with the proprietor of an immense hog, and as he higgled +he wheezed as if he had a difficulty of respiration, and frequently +wiped off, with a dirty-white pocket-handkerchief, drops of +perspiration which stood upon his face. At last methought he +bought the hog for nine pounds, and had no sooner concluded his +bargain than turning round to me, who was standing close by staring +at him, he slapped me on the shoulder with a hand of immense +weight, crying with a half-piping, half-wheezing voice, "Coom, +neighbour, coom, I and thou have often dealt; gi' me noo a poond +for my bargain, and it shall be all thy own." I felt in a great +rage at his unceremonious behaviour, and, owing to the flutter of +my spirits, whilst I was thinking whether or not I should try and +knock him down, I awoke and found the fire nearly out and the +ecclesiastical cat seated on my shoulders. The creature had not +been turned out, as it ought to have been, before my wife and +daughter retired, and feeling cold had got upon the table and +thence had sprung upon my back for the sake of the warmth which it +knew was to be found there; and no doubt the springing on my +shoulders by the ecclesiastical cat was what I took in my dream to +be the slap on my shoulders by the Wolverhampton gent. + +The day of the fair was dull and gloomy, an exact counterpart of +the previous Saturday. Owing to some cause I did not go into the +fair till past one o'clock, and then seeing neither immense hogs +nor immense men I concluded that the gents of Wolverhampton had +been there, and after purchasing the larger porkers had departed +with their bargains to their native district. After sauntering +about a little time I returned home. After dinner I went again +into the fair along with my wife; the stock business had long been +over, but I observed more stalls than in the morning, and a far +greater throng, for the country people for miles round had poured +into the little town. By a stall on which were some poor legs and +shoulders of mutton I perceived the English butcher, whom the Welsh +one had attempted to slaughter. I recognised him by a patch which +he wore on his cheek. My wife and I went up and inquired how he +was. He said that he still felt poorly, but that he hoped he +should get round. I asked him if he remembered me; and received +for answer that he remembered having seen me when the examination +took place into "his matter." I then inquired what had become of +his antagonist and was told that he was in prison awaiting his +trial. I gathered from him that he was a native of the Southdown +country and a shepherd by profession; that he had been engaged by +the squire of Porkington in Shropshire to look after his sheep, and +that he had lived there a year or two, but becoming tired of his +situation he had come to Llangollen, where he had married a +Welshwoman and set up as a butcher. We told him that as he was our +countryman we should be happy to deal with him sometimes; he, +however, received the information with perfect apathy, never so +much as saying "thank you." He was a tall lanikin figure with a +pair of large, lack-lustre staring eyes, and upon the whole +appeared to be good for very little. Leaving him we went some way +up the principal street; presently my wife turned into a shop, and +I observing a little bookstall went up to it and began to inspect +the books. They were chiefly in Welsh. Seeing a kind of chap +book, which bore on its title-page the name of Twm O'r Nant, I took +it up. It was called Y Llwyn Celyn or the Holy Grove, and +contained the life and one of the interludes of Tom O' the Dingle +or Thomas Edwards. It purported to be the first of four numbers, +each of which amongst other things was to contain one of his +interludes. The price, of the number was one shilling. I +questioned the man of the stall about the other numbers, but found +that this was the only one which he possessed. Eager, however, to +read an interlude of the celebrated Tom, I purchased it and turned +away from the stall. Scarcely had I done so when I saw a wild- +looking woman with two wild children looking at me. The woman +curtseyed to me, and I thought I recognised the elder of the two +Irish females whom I had seen in the tent on the green meadow near +Chester. I was going to address her, but just then my wife called +to me from the shop and I went to her, and when I returned to look +for the woman she and her children had disappeared, and though I +searched about for her I could not see her, for which I was sorry, +as I wished very much to have some conversation with her about the +ways of the Irish wanderers. I was thinking of going to look for +her up "Paddy's dingle," but my wife meeting me, begged me to go +home with her, as it was getting late. So I went home with my +better half, bearing my late literary acquisition in my hand. + +That night I sat up very late reading the life of Twm O'r Nant, +written by himself in choice Welsh, and his interlude which was +styled "Cyfoeth a Thylody; or, Riches and Poverty." The life I had +read in my boyhood in an old Welsh magazine, and I now read it +again with great zest, and no wonder, as it is probably the most +remarkable autobiography ever penned. The interlude I had never +seen before, nor indeed any of the dramatic pieces of Twm O'r Nant, +though I had frequently wished to procure some of them - so I read +the present one with great eagerness. Of the life I shall give +some account and also some extracts from it, which will enable the +reader to judge of Tom's personal character, and also an extract of +the interlude, from which the reader may form a tolerably correct +idea of the poetical powers of him whom his countrymen delight to +call "the Welsh Shakespear." + + + +CHAPTER LIX + + + +History of Twm O'r Nant - Eagerness for Learning - The First +Interlude - The Cruel Fighter - Raising Wood - The Luckless Hour - +Turnpike-Keeping - Death in the Snow - Tom's Great Feat - The Muse +a Friend - Strength in Old Age - Resurrection of the Dead. + + +"I AM the first-born of my parents," says Thomas Edwards. "They +were poor people and very ignorant. I was brought into the world +in a place called Lower Pen Parchell, on land which once belonged +to the celebrated Iolo Goch. My parents afterwards removed to the +Nant (or dingle) near Nantglyn, situated in a place called Coom +Pernant. The Nant was the middlemost of three homesteads, which +are in the Coom, and are called the Upper, Middle, and Lower Nant; +and it so happened that in the Upper Nant there were people who had +a boy of about the same age as myself, and forasmuch as they were +better to do in the world than my parents, they having only two +children whilst mine had ten, I was called Tom of the Dingle, +whilst he was denominated Thomas Williams." + +After giving some anecdotes of his childhood he goes on thus:- +"Time passed on till I was about eight years old, and then in the +summer I was lucky enough to be sent to school for three weeks; and +as soon as I had learnt to spell and read a few words I conceived a +mighty desire to learn to write; so I went in quest of elderberries +to make me ink, and my first essay in writing was trying to copy on +the sides of the leaves of books the letters of the words I read. +It happened, however, that a shop in the village caught fire, and +the greater part of it was burnt, only a few trifles being saved, +and amongst the scorched articles my mother got for a penny a +number of sheets of paper burnt at the edges, and sewed them +together to serve as copy-books for me. Without loss of time I +went to the smith of Waendwysog, who wrote for me the letters on +the upper part of the leaves; and careful enough was I to fill the +whole paper with scrawlings which looked for all the world like +crow's feet. I went on getting paper and ink, and something to +copy now from this person, and now from that, until I learned to +read Welsh and to write it at the same time." + +He copied out a great many carols and songs, and the neighbours +observing his fondness for learning persuaded his father to allow +him to go to the village school to learn English. At the end of +three weeks, however, his father, considering that he was losing +his time, would allow him to go no longer, but took him into the +fields in order that the boy might assist him in his labour. +Nevertheless Tom would not give up his literary pursuits, but +continued scribbling, and copying out songs and carols. When he +was about ten he formed an acquaintance with an old man, chapel- +reader in Pentre y Foelas, who had a great many old books in his +possession, which he allowed Tom to read; he then had the honour of +becoming an amanuensis to a poet. + +"I became very intimate," says he, "with a man who was a poet; he +could neither read nor write; but he was a poet by nature, having a +muse wonderfully glib at making triplets and quartets. He was +nicknamed Tum Tai of the Moor. He made an englyn for me to put in +a book in which I was inserting all the verses I could collect: + + +"'Tom Evans' the lad for hunting up songs, +Tom Evans to whom the best learning belongs; +Betwixt his two pasteboards he verses has got, +Sufficient to fill the whole country, I wot.' + + +"I was in the habit of writing my name Tom or Thomas Evans before I +went to school for a fortnight in order to learn English; but then +I altered it, into Thomas Edwards, for Evan Edwards was the name of +my father, and I should have been making myself a bastard had I +continued calling myself by my first name. However, I had the +honour of being secretary to the old poet. When he had made a song +he would keep it in his memory till I came to him. Sometimes after +the old man had repeated his composition to me I would begin to +dispute with him, asking whether the thing would not be better +another way, and he could hardly keep from flying into a passion +with me for putting his work to the torture." + +It was then the custom for young lads to go about playing what were +called interludes, namely dramatic pieces on religious or moral +subjects, written by rustic poets. Shortly after Tom had attained +the age of twelve he went about with certain lads of Nantglyn +playing these pieces, generally acting the part of a girl, because, +as he says, he had the best voice. About this time he wrote an +interlude himself, founded on "John Bunyan's Spiritual Courtship," +which was, however, stolen from him by a young fellow from +Anglesey, along with the greater part of the poems and pieces which +he had copied. This affair at first very much disheartened Tom: +plucking up his spirits, however, he went on composing, and soon +acquired amongst his neighbours the title of "the poet," to the +great mortification of his parents, who were anxious to see him +become an industrious husbandman. + +"Before I was quite fourteen," says he, "I had made another +interlude, but when my father and mother heard about it they did +all they could to induce me to destroy it. However, I would not +burn it, but gave it to Hugh of Llangwin, a celebrated poet of the +time, who took it to Landyrnog, where he sold it for ten shillings +to the lads of the place, who performed it the following summer; +but I never got anything for my labour, save a sup of ale from the +players when I met them. This at the heel of other things would +have induced me to give up poetry, had it been in the power of +anything to do so. I made two interludes," he continues, "one for +the people of Llanbedr in the Vale of Clwyd, and the other for the +lads of Llanarmon in Yale, one on the subject of Naaman's leprosy, +and the other about hypocrisy, which was a re-fashionment of the +work of Richard Parry of Ddiserth. When I was young I had such a +rage or madness for poetizing, that I would make a song on almost +anything I saw - and it was a mercy that many did not kill me or +break my bones, on account of my evil tongue. My parents often +told me I should have some mischief done me if I went on in the way +in which I was going. Once on a time being with some companions as +bad as myself, I happened to use some very free language in a place +where three lovers were with a young lass of my neighbourhood, who +lived at a place called Ty Celyn, with whom they kept company. I +said in discourse that they were the cocks of Ty Celyn. The girl +heard me, and conceived a spite against me on account of my +scurrilous language. She had a brother, who was a cruel fighter; +he took the part of his sister, and determined to chastise me. One +Sunday evening he shouted to me as I was coming from Nantglyn - our +ways were the same till we got nearly home - he had determined to +give me a thrashing, and he had with him a piece of oak stick just +suited for the purpose. After we had taunted each other for some +time, as we went along, he flung his stick on the ground, and +stripped himself stark naked. I took off my hat and my neck-cloth, +and took his stick in my hand, whereupon running to the hedge he +took a stake, and straight we set to like two furies. After +fighting some time, our sticks were shivered to pieces and quite +short; sometimes we were upon the ground, but did not give up +fighting on that account. Many people came up and would fain have +parted us, but he would by no means let them. At last we agreed to +go and pull fresh stakes, and then we went at it again until he +could no longer stand. The marks of this battle are upon him and +me to this day. At last, covered with a gore of blood, he was +dragged home by his neighbours. He was in a dreadful condition, +and many thought he would die. On the morrow there came an alarm +that he was dead, whereupon I escaped across the mountain to Pentre +y Foelas to the old man Sion Dafydd to read his old books." + +After staying there a little time, and getting his wounds tended by +an old woman, he departed and skulked about in various places, +doing now and then a little work, until hearing his adversary was +recovering, he returned to his home. He went on writing and +performing interludes till he fell in love with a young woman +rather religiously inclined, whom he married in the year 1763, when +he was in his twenty-fourth year. The young couple settled down on +a little place near the town of Denbigh, called Ale Fowlio. They +kept three cows and four horses. The wife superintended the cows, +and Tom with his horses carried wood from Gwenynos to Ruddlan, and +soon excelled all other carters "in loading and in everything +connected with the management of wood." Tom in the pride of his +heart must needs be helping his fellow-carriers, whilst labouring +with them in the forests, till his wife told him he was a fool for +his pains, and advised him to go and load in the afternoon, when +nobody would be about, offering to go and help him. He listened to +her advice and took her with him. + +"The dear creature," says he, "assisted me for some time, but as +she was with child, and on that account not exactly fit to turn the +roll of the crane with levers of iron, I formed the plan of hooking +the horses to the rope, in order to raise up the wood which was to +be loaded, and by long teaching the horses to pull and to stop, I +contrived to make loading a much easier task, both to my wife and +myself. Now this was the first hooking of horses to the rope of +the crane which was ever done either in Wales or England. +Subsequently I had plenty of leisure and rest instead of toiling +amidst other carriers." + +Leaving Ale Fowlio he took up his abode nearer to Denbigh, and +continued carrying wood. Several of his horses died, and he was +soon in difficulties, and was glad to accept an invitation from +certain miners of the county of Flint to go and play them an +interlude. As he was playing them one called "A Vision of the +Course of the World," which he had written for the occasion, and +which was founded on, and named after, the first part of the work +of Master Ellis Wyn, he was arrested at the suit of one Mostyn of +Calcoed. He, however, got bail, and partly by carrying and partly +by playing interludes, soon raised money enough to pay his debt. +He then made another interlude, called "Riches and Poverty," by +which he gained a great deal of money. He then wrote two others, +one called "The Three Associates of Man, namely, the World, Nature, +and Conscience;" the other entitled "The King, the Justice, the +Bishop and the Husbandman," both of which he and certain of his +companions acted with great success. After he had made all that he +could by acting these pieces he printed them. When printed they +had a considerable sale, and Tom was soon able to set up again as a +carter. He went on carting and carrying for upwards of twelve +years, at the end of which time he was worth, with one thing and +the other, upwards of three hundred pounds, which was considered a +very considerable property about ninety years ago in Wales. He +then, in a luckless hour, "when," to use his own words, "he was at +leisure at home, like King David on the top of his house," mixed +himself up with the concerns of an uncle of his, a brother of his +father. He first became bail for him, and subsequently made +himself answerable for the amount of a bill, due by his uncle to a +lawyer. His becoming answerable for the bill nearly proved the +utter ruin of our hero. His uncle failed, and left him to pay it. +The lawyer took out a writ against him. It would have been well +for Tom if he had paid the money at once, but he went on dallying +and compromising with the lawyer, till he became terribly involved +in his web. To increase his difficulties work became slack; so at +last he packed his things upon his carts, and with his family, +consisting of his wife and three daughters, fled into +Montgomeryshire. The lawyer, however, soon got information of his +whereabouts, and threatened to arrest him. Tom, after trying in +vain to arrange matters with him, fled into South Wales, to +Carmarthenshire, where he carried wood for a timber-merchant, and +kept a turnpike gate, which belonged to the same individual. But +the "old cancer" still followed him, and his horses were seized for +the debt. His neighbours, however, assisted him, and bought the +horses in at a low price when they were put up for sale, and +restored them to him for what they had given. Even then the matter +was not satisfactorily settled, for, years afterwards, on the +decease of Tom's father, the lawyer seized upon the property, which +by law descended to Tom O'r Nant, and turned his poor old mother +out upon the cold mountain's side. + +Many strange adventures occurred to Tom in South Wales, but those +which befell him whilst officiating as a turnpike-keeper were +certainly the most extraordinary. If what he says be true, as of +course it is - for who shall presume to doubt Tom O' the Dingle's +veracity? - whosoever fills the office of turnpike-keeper in Wild +Wales should be a person of very considerable nerve. + +"We were in the habit of seeing," says Tom, "plenty of passengers +going through the gate without paying toll; I mean such things as +are called phantoms or illusions - sometimes there were hearses and +mourning coaches, sometimes funeral processions on foot, the whole +to be seen as distinctly as anything could be seen, especially at +night-time. I saw myself on a certain night a hearse go through +the gate whilst it was shut; I saw the horses and the harness, the +postillion, and the coachman, and the tufts of hair such as are +seen on the tops of hearses, and I saw the wheels scattering the +stones in the road, just as other wheels would have done. Then I +saw a funeral of the same character, for all the world like a real +funeral; there was the bier and the black drapery. I have seen +more than one. If a young man was to be buried there would be a +white sheet, or something that looked like one - and sometimes I +have seen a flaring candle going past. + +"Once a traveller passing through the gate called out to me: +'Look! yonder is a corpse candle coming through the fields beside +the highway.' So we paid attention to it as it moved, making +apparently towards the church from the other side. Sometimes it +would be quite near the road, another time some way into the +fields. And sure enough after the lapse of a little time a body +was brought by exactly the same route by which the candle had come, +owing to the proper road being blocked up with snow. + +"Another time there happened a great wonder connected with an old +man of Carmarthen, who was in the habit of carrying fish to Brecon, +Menny, and Monmouth, and returning with the poorer kind of +Gloucester cheese: my people knew he was on the road and had made +ready for him, the weather being dreadful, wind blowing and snow +drifting. Well, in the middle of the night, my daughters heard the +voice of the old man at the gate, and their mother called to them +to open it quick, and invite the old man to come in to the fire! +One of the girls got up forthwith, but when she went out there was +nobody to be seen. On the morrow, lo and behold! the body of the +old man was brought past on a couch, he having perished in the snow +on the mountain of Tre 'r Castell. Now this is the truth of the +matter." + +Many wonderful feats did Tom perform connected with loading and +carrying, which acquired for him the reputation of being the best +wood carter of the south. His dexterity at moving huge bodies was +probably never equalled. Robinson Crusoe was not half so handy. +Only see how he moved a ship into the water, which a multitude of +people were unable to do. + +"After keeping the gate for two or three years," says he, "I took +the lease of a piece of ground in Llandeilo Fawr and built a house +upon it, which I got licensed as a tavern for my daughters to keep. +I myself went on carrying wood as usual. Now it happened that my +employer, the merchant at Abermarlais, had built a small ship of +about thirty or forty tons in the wood about a mile and a quarter +from the river Towy, which is capable of floating small vessels as +far as Carmarthen. He had resolved that the people should draw it +to the river by way of sport, and had caused proclamation to be +made in four parish churches, that on such a day a ship would be +launched at Abermarlais, and that food and drink would be given to +any one who would come and lend a hand at the work. Four hogsheads +of ale were broached, a great oven full of bread was baked, plenty +of cheese and butter bought, and meat cooked for the more +respectable people. The ship was provided with four wheels, or +rather four great rolling stocks, fenced about with iron, with +great big axle-trees in them, well greased against the appointed +day. I had been loading in the wood that day, and sending the team +forward, I went to see the business - and a pretty piece of +business it turned out. All the food was eaten, the drink +swallowed to the last drop, the ship drawn about three roods, and +then left in a deep ditch. By this time night was coming on, and +the multitude went away, some drunk, some hungry for want of food, +but the greater part laughing as if they would split their sides. +The merchant cried like a child, bitterly lamenting his folly, and +told me that he should have to take the ship to pieces before he +could ever get it out of the ditch. + +"I told him that I could take it to the river, provided I could but +get three or four men to help me; whereupon he said that if I could +but get the vessel to the water he would give me anything I asked, +and earnestly begged me to come the next morning, if possible. I +did come with the lad and four horses. I went before the team, and +set the men to work to break a hole through a great old wall, which +stood as it were before the ship. We then laid a piece of timber +across the hole from which was a chain, to which the tackle, that +is the rope and pulleys, was hooked. We then hooked one end of the +rope to the ship, and set the horses to pull at the other. The +ship came out of the hole prosperously enough, and then we had to +hook the tackle to a tree, which was growing near, and by this +means we got the ship forward; but when we came to soft ground we +were obliged to put planks under the wheels to prevent their +sinking under the immense weight; when we came to the end of the +foremost planks we put the hinder ones before, and so on; when +there was no tree at hand to which we could hook the tackle, we +were obliged to drive a post down to hook it to. So from tree to +post it got down to the river in a few days. I was promised noble +wages by the merchant, but I never got anything from him but +promises and praises. Some people came to look at us, and gave us +money to get ale, and that was all." + +The merchant subsequently turned out a very great knave, cheating +Tom on various occasions, and finally broke very much in his debt. +Tom was obliged to sell off everything, and left South Wales +without horses or waggon; his old friend the Muse, however, stood +him in good stead. + +"Before I left," says he, "I went to Brecon, and printed the +'Interlude of the King, the Justice, the Bishop, and the +Husbandman,' and got an old acquaintance of mine to play it with +me, and help me to sell the books. I likewise busied myself in +getting subscribers to a book of songs called the 'Garden of +Minstrelsy.' It was printed at Trefecca. The expense attending +the printing amounted to fifty-two pounds, but I was fortunate +enough to dispose of two thousand copies. I subsequently composed +an interlude called 'Pleasure and Care,' and printed it; and after +that I made an interlude called the 'Three Powerful Ones of the +World: Poverty, Love, and Death.'" + +The poet's daughters were not successful in the tavern speculation +at Llandeilo, and followed their father into North Wales. The +second he apprenticed to a milliner, the other two lived with him +till the day of his death. He settled at Denbigh in a small house +which he was enabled to furnish by means of two or three small sums +which he recovered for work done a long time before. Shortly after +his return, his father died, and the lawyer seized the little +property "for the old curse," and turned Tom's mother out. + +After his return from the South Tom went about for some time +playing interludes, and then turned his hand to many things. He +learnt the trade of stonemason, took jobs, and kept workmen. He +then went amongst certain bricklayers, and induced them to teach +him their craft; "and shortly," as he says, "became a very lion at +bricklaying. For the last four or five years," says he, towards +the conclusion of his history, "my work has been to put up iron +ovens and likewise furnaces of all kinds, also grates, stoves and +boilers, and not unfrequently I have practised as a smoke doctor." + +The following feats of strength he performed after his return from +South Wales, when he was probably about sixty years of age:- + +"About a year after my return from the South," says he, "I met with +an old carrier of wood, who had many a time worked along with me. +He and I were at the Hand at Ruthyn along with various others, and +in the course of discourse my friend said to me: 'Tom, thou art +much weaker than thou wast when we carted wood together.' I +answered that in my opinion I was not a bit weaker than I was then. +Now it happened that at the moment we were talking there were some +sacks of wheat in the hall which were going to Chester by the +carrier's waggon. They might hold about three bushels each, and I +said that if I could get three of the sacks upon the table, and had +them tied together, I would carry them into the street and back +again; and so I did; many who were present tried to do the same +thing, but all failed. + +"Another time when I was at Chester I lifted a barrel of porter +from the street to the hinder part of the waggon solely by strength +of back and arms." + +He was once run over by a loaded waggon, but strange to say escaped +without the slightest injury. + +Towards the close of his life he had strong religious convictions, +and felt a loathing for the sins which he had committed. "On their +account," says he in the concluding page of his biography, "there +is a strong necessity for me to consider my ways and to inquire +about a Saviour, since it is utterly impossible for me to save +myself without obtaining knowledge of the merits of the Mediator, +in which I hope I shall terminate my short time on earth in the +peace of God enduring unto all eternity." + +He died in the year 1810, at the age of 71, shortly after the death +of his wife, who seems to have been a faithful, loving partner. By +her side he was buried in the earth of the graveyard of the White +Church, near Denbigh. There can be little doubt that the souls of +both will be accepted on the great day when, as Gronwy Owen says:- + + +"Like corn from the belly of the ploughed field, in a thick crop, +those buried in the earth shall arise, and the sea shall cast forth +a thousand myriads of dead above the deep billowy way." + + + +CHAPTER LX + + + +Mystery Plays - The Two Prime Opponents - Analysis of Interlude - +Riches and Poverty - Tom's Grand Qualities. + + +IN the preceding chapter I have given an abstract of the life of +Tom O' the Dingle; I will now give an analysis of his interlude; +first, however, a few words on interludes in general. It is +difficult to say with anything like certainty what is the meaning +of the word interlude. It may mean, as Warton supposes in his +history of English Poetry, a short play performed between the +courses of a banquet or festival; or it may mean the playing of +something by two or more parties, the interchange of playing or +acting which occurs when two or more people act. It was about the +middle of the fifteenth century that dramatic pieces began in +England to be called Interludes; for some time previous they had +been styled Moralities; but the earliest name by which they were +known was Mysteries. The first Mysteries composed in England were +by one Ranald, or Ranulf, a monk of Chester, who flourished about +1322, whose verses are mentioned rather irreverently in one of the +visions of Piers Plowman, who puts them in the same rank as the +ballads about Robin Hood and Maid Marion, making Sloth say: + + +"I cannon perfitly my Paternoster as the priest it singeth, +But I can rhymes of Robin Hood and Ranald of Chester." + + +Long, however, before the time of this Ranald Mysteries had been +composed and represented both in Italy and France. The Mysteries +were very rude compositions, little more, as Warton says, than +literal representations of portions of Scripture. They derived +their name of Mysteries from being generally founded on the more +mysterious parts of Holy Writ, for example the Incarnation, the +Atonement, and the Resurrection. The Moralities displayed +something more of art and invention than the Mysteries; in them +virtues, vices and qualities were personified, and something like a +plot was frequently to be discovered. They were termed Moralities +because each had its moral, which was spoken at the end of the +piece by a person called the Doctor. (7) Much that has been said +about the moralities holds good with respect to the interludes. +Indeed, for some time dramatic pieces were called moralities and +interludes indifferently. In both there is a mixture of allegory +and reality. The latter interludes, however, display more of +every-day life than was ever observable in the moralities; and more +closely approximate to modern plays. Several writers of genius +have written interludes, amongst whom are the English Skelton and +the Scottish Lindsay, the latter of whom wrote eight pieces of that +kind, the most celebrated of which is called "The Puir Man and the +Pardoner." Both of these writers flourished about the same period, +and made use of the interlude as a means of satirizing the vices of +the popish clergy. In the time of Charles the First the interlude +went much out of fashion in England; in fact, the play or regular +drama had superseded it. In Wales, however, it continued to the +beginning of the present century, when it yielded to the influence +of Methodism. Of all Welsh interlude composers Twm O'r Nant or Tom +of the Dingle was the most famous. Here follows the promised +analysis of his "Riches and Poverty." + +The entire title of the interlude is to this effect. The two prime +opponents Riches and Poverty. A brief exposition of their contrary +effects on the world; with short and appropriate explanations of +their quality and substance according to the rule of the four +elements, Water, Fire, Earth, and Air. + +First of all enter Fool, Sir Jemant Wamal, who in rather a foolish +speech tells the audience that they are about to hear a piece +composed by Tom the poet. Then appears Captain Riches, who makes a +long speech about his influence in the world and the general +contempt in which Poverty is held; he is, however, presently +checked by the Fool, who tells him some home truths, and asks him, +among other questions, whether Solomon did not say that it is not +meet to despise a poor man, who conducts himself rationally. Then +appears Howel Tightbelly, the miser, who in capital verse, with +very considerable glee and exultation, gives an account of his +manifold rascalities. Then comes his wife, Esther Steady, home +from the market, between whom and her husband there is a pithy +dialogue. Captain Riches and Captain Poverty then meet, without +rancour, however, and have a long discourse about the providence of +God, whose agents they own themselves to be. Enter then an old +worthless scoundrel called Diogyn Trwstan, or Luckless Lazybones, +who is upon the parish, and who, in a very entertaining account of +his life, confesses that he was never good for anything, but was a +liar and an idler from his infancy. Enter again the Miser along +with poor Lowry, who asks the Miser for meal and other articles, +but gets nothing but threatening language. There is then a very +edifying dialogue between Mr Contemplation and Mr Truth, who, when +they retire, are succeeded on the stage by the Miser and John the +Tavern-keeper. The publican owes the Miser money, and begs that he +will be merciful to him. The Miser, however, swears that he will +be satisfied with nothing but bond and judgment on his effects. +The publican very humbly says that he will go to a friend of his in +order to get the bond made out; almost instantly comes the Fool who +reads an inventory of the publican's effects. The Miser then sings +for very gladness, because everything in the world has hitherto +gone well with him; turning round, however, what is his horror and +astonishment to behold Mr Death, close by him. Death hauls the +Miser away, and then appears the Fool to moralise and dismiss the +audience. + +The appropriate explanations mentioned in the title are given in +various songs which the various characters sing after describing +themselves, or after dialogues with each other. The announcement +that the whole exposition, etc., will be after the rule of the four +elements, is rather startling; the dialogue, however, between +Captain Riches and Captain Poverty shows that Tom was equal to his +subject, and promised nothing that he could not perform. + + +ENTER CAPTAIN POVERTY + +O Riches, thy figure is charming and bright, +And to speak in thy praise all the world doth delight, +But I'm a poor fellow all tatter'd and torn, +Whom all the world treateth with insult and scorn. + + +RICHES + + +However mistaken the judgment may be +Of the world which is never from ignorance free, +The parts we must play, which to us are assign'd, +According as God has enlightened our mind. + +Of elements four did our Master create +The earth and all in it with skill the most great; +Need I the world's four materials declare - +Are they not water, fire, earth, and air? + +Too wise was the mighty Creator to frame +A world from one element, water or flame; +The one is full moist and the other full hot, +And a world made of either were useless, I wot. + +And if it had all of mere earth been compos'd +And no water nor fire been within it enclos'd, +It could ne'er have produc'd for a huge multitude +Of all kinds of living things suitable food. + +And if God what was wanted had not fully known, +But created the world of these three things alone, +How would any creature the heaven beneath, +Without the blest air have been able to breathe? + +Thus all things created, the God of all grace, +Of four prime materials, each good in its place. +The work of His hands, when completed, He view'd, +And saw and pronounc'd that 'twas seemly and good. + + +POVERTY + + +In the marvellous things, which to me thou hast told +The wisdom of God I most clearly behold, +And did He not also make man of the same +Materials He us'd when the world He did frame? + + +RICHES + + +Creation is all, as the sages agree, +Of the elements four in man's body that be; +Water's the blood, and fire is the nature, +Which prompts generation in every creature. + +The earth is the flesh which with beauty is rife +The air is the breath, without which is no life; +So man must be always accounted the same +As the substances four which exist in his frame. + +And as in their creation distinction there's none +'Twixt man and the world, so the Infinite One +Unto man a clear wisdom did bounteously give +The nature of everything to perceive. + + +POVERTY + + +But one thing to me passing strange doth appear +Since the wisdom of man is so bright and so clear +How comes there such jarring and warring to be +In the world betwixt Riches and Poverty? + + +RICHES + + +That point we'll discuss without passion or fear +With the aim of instructing the listeners here; +And haply some few who instruction require +May profit derive like the bee from the briar. + +Man as thou knowest, in his generation +Is a type of the world and of all the creation; +Difference there's none in the manner of birth +'Twixt the lowliest hinds and the lords of the earth. + +The world which the same thing as man we account +In one place is sea, in another is mount; +A part of it rock, and a part of it dale - +God's wisdom has made every place to avail. + +There exist precious treasures of every kind +Profoundly in earth's quiet bosom enshrin'd; +There's searching about them, and ever has been, +And by some they are found, and by some never seen. + +With wonderful wisdom the Lord God on high +Has contriv'd the two lights which exist in the sky; +The sun's hot as fire, and its ray bright as gold, +But the moon's ever pale, and by nature is cold. + +The sun, which resembles a huge world of fire, +Would burn up full quickly creation entire +Save the moon with its temp'rament cool did assuage +Of its brighter companion the fury and rage. + +Now I beg you the sun and the moon to behold, +The one that's so bright and the other so cold. +And say if two things in creation there be +Better emblems of Riches and Poverty. + + +POVERTY + + +In manner most brief, yet convincing and clear, +You have told the whole truth to my wond'ring ear, +And I see that 'twas God, who in all things is fair, +Has assign'd us the forms, in this world which we bear. + +In the sight of the world doth the wealthy man seem +Like the sun which doth warm everything with its beam; +Whilst the poor needy wight with his pitiable case +Resembles the moon which doth chill with its face. + + +RICHES + + +You know that full oft, in their course as they run, +An eclipse cometh over the moon or the sun; +Certain hills of the earth with their summits of pride +The face of the one from the other do hide. + +The sun doth uplift his magnificent head, +And illumines the moon, which were otherwise dead, +Even as Wealth from its station on high, +Giveth work and provision to Poverty. + + +POVERTY + + +I know, and the thought mighty sorrow instils, +The sins of the world are the terrible hills +An eclipse which do cause, or a dread obscuration, +To one or another in every vocation. + + +RICHES + + +It is true that God gives unto each from his birth +Some task to perform while he wends upon earth, +But He gives correspondent wisdom and force +To the weight of the task, and the length of the course. + +[Exit. + + +POVERTY + + +I hope there are some, who 'twixt me and the youth +Have heard this discourse, whose sole aim is the truth, +Will see and acknowledge, as homeward they plod, +Each thing is arrang'd by the wisdom of God. + + +There can be no doubt that Tom was a poet, or he could never have +treated the hackneyed subjects of Riches and Poverty in a manner so +original and at the same time so masterly as he has done in the +interlude above analyzed: I cannot, however, help thinking that he +was greater as a man than a poet, and that his fame depends more on +the cleverness, courage and energy, which it is evident by his +biography that he possessed, than on his interludes. A time will +come when his interludes will cease to be read, but his making ink +out of elderberries, his battle with the "cruel fighter," his +teaching his horses to turn the crane, and his getting the ship to +the water, will be talked of in Wales till the peak of Snowdon +shall fall down. + + + +CHAPTER LXI + + + +Set out for Wrexham - Craig y Forwyn - Uncertainty - The Collier - +Cadogan Hall - Methodistical Volume. + + +HAVING learnt from a newspaper that a Welsh book on Welsh Methodism +had been just published at Wrexham, I determined to walk to that +place and purchase it. I could easily have procured the work +through a bookseller at Llangollen, but I wished to explore the +hill-road which led to Wrexham, what the farmer under the Eglwysig +rocks had said of its wildness having excited my curiosity, which +the procuring of the book afforded me a plausible excuse for +gratifying. If one wants to take any particular walk it is always +well to have some business, however trifling, to transact at the +end of it; so having determined to go to Wrexham by the mountain +road, I set out on the Saturday next after the one on which I had +met the farmer who had told me of it. + +The day was gloomy, with some tendency to rain. I passed under the +hill of Dinas Bran. About a furlong from its western base I turned +round and surveyed it - and perhaps the best view of the noble +mountain is to be obtained from the place where I turned round. +How grand though sad from there it looked, that grey morning, with +its fine ruin on its brow above which a little cloud hovered! It +put me in mind of some old king, unfortunate and melancholy but a +king still, with the look of a king, and the ancestral crown still +on his furrowed forehead. I proceeded on my way, all was wild and +solitary, and the yellow leaves were falling from the trees of the +groves. I passed by the farmyard, where I had held discourse with +the farmer on the preceding Saturday, and soon entered the glen, +the appearance of which had so much attracted my curiosity. A +torrent, rushing down from the north, was on my right. It soon +began to drizzle, and mist so filled the glen that I could only +distinguish objects a short way before me, and on either side. I +wandered on a considerable way, crossing the torrent several times +by rustic bridges. I passed two lone farm-houses and at last saw +another on my left hand. The mist had now cleared up, but it still +slightly rained - the scenery was wild to a degree - a little way +before me was a tremendous pass, near it an enormous crag of a +strange form rising to the very heavens, the upper part of it of a +dull white colour. Seeing a respectable-looking man near the house +I went up to him. + +"Am I in the right way to Wrexham?" said I, addressing him in +English. + +"You can get to Wrexham this way, sir," he replied. + +"Can you tell me the name of that crag?" said I, pointing to the +large one. + +"That crag, sir, is called Craig y Forwyn." + +"The maiden's crag," said I; "why is it called so?" + +"I do not know sir; some people say that it is called so because +its head is like that of a woman, others because a young girl in +love leaped from the top of it and was killed." + +"And what is the name of this house?" said I. + +"This house, sir, is called Plas Uchaf." + +"Is it called Plas Uchaf," said I, "because it is the highest house +in the valley?" + +"It is, sir; it is the highest of three homesteads; the next below +it is Plas Canol - and the one below that Plas Isaf." + +"Middle place and lower place," said I. "It is very odd that I +know in England three people who derive their names from places so +situated. One is Houghton, another Middleton, and the third +Lowdon; in modern English, Hightown, Middletown, and Lowtown." + +"You appear to be a person of great intelligence, sir." + +"No, I am not - but I am rather fond of analysing words, +particularly the names of persons and places. Is the road to +Wrexham hard to find?" + +"Not very, sir; that is, in the day-time. Do you live at Wrexham?" + +"No," I replied, "I am stopping at Llangollen." + +"But you won't return there to-night?" + +"Oh yes, I shall!" + +"By this road?" + +"No, by the common road. This is not a road to travel by night." + +"Nor is the common road, sir, for a respectable person on foot; +that is, on a Saturday night. You will perhaps meet drunken +colliers who may knock you down." + +"I will take my chance for that," said I, and bade him farewell. I +entered the pass, passing under the strange-looking crag. After I +had walked about half a mile the pass widened considerably and a +little way further on debauched on some wild moory ground. Here +the road became very indistinct. At length I stopped in a state of +uncertainty. A well-defined path presented itself, leading to the +east, whilst northward before me there seemed scarcely any path at +all. After some hesitation I turned to the east by the well- +defined path, and by so doing went wrong, as I soon found. + +I mounted the side of a brown hill covered with moss-like grass, +and here and there heather. By the time I arrived at the top of +the hill the sun shone out, and I saw Rhiwabon and Cefn Mawr before +me in the distance. "I am going wrong," said I; "I should have +kept on due north. However, I will not go back, but will steeple- +chase it across the country to Wrexham, which must be towards the +north-east." So turning aside from the path, I dashed across the +hills in that direction; sometimes the heather was up to my knees, +and sometimes I was up to the knees in quags. At length I came to +a deep ravine which I descended; at the bottom was a quagmire, +which, however, I contrived to cross by means of certain stepping- +stones, and came to a cart path up a heathery hill which I +followed. I soon reached the top of the hill, and the path still +continuing, I followed it till I saw some small grimy-looking huts, +which I supposed were those of colliers. At the door of the first +I saw a girl. I spoke to her in Welsh, and found she had little or +none. I passed on, and seeing the door of a cabin open I looked in +- and saw no adult person, but several grimy but chubby children. +I spoke to them in English, and found they could only speak Welsh. +Presently I observed a robust woman advancing towards me; she was +barefooted and bore on her head an immense lump of coal. I spoke +to her in Welsh, and found she could only speak English. "Truly," +said I to myself, "I am on the borders. What a mixture of races +and languages!" The next person I met was a man in a collier's +dress; he was a stout-built fellow of the middle age, with a coal- +dusty surly countenance. I asked him in Welsh if I was in the +right direction for Wrexham, he answered in a surly manner in +English, that I was. I again spoke to him in Welsh, making some +indifferent observation on the weather, and he answered in English +yet more gruffly than before. For the third time I spoke to him in +Welsh, whereupon looking at me with a grin of savage contempt, and +showing a set of teeth like those of a mastiff, he said, "How's +this? why you haven't a word of English? A pretty fellow you, with +a long coat on your back and no English on your tongue, an't you +ashamed of yourself? Why, here am I in a short coat, yet I'd have +you to know that I can speak English as well as Welsh, aye and a +good deal better." "All people are not equally clebber," said I, +still speaking Welsh. "Clebber," said he, "clebber! what is +clebber? why can't you say clever! Why, I never saw such a low, +illiterate fellow in my life;" and with these words he turned away +with every mark of disdain, and entered a cottage near at hand. + +"Here I have had," said I to myself, as I proceeded on my way, "to +pay for the over-praise which I lately received. The farmer on the +other side of the mountain called me a person of great +intelligence, which I never pretended to be, and now this collier +calls me a low, illiterate fellow, which I really don't think I am. +There is certainly a Nemesis mixed up with the affairs of this +world; every good thing which you get, beyond what is strictly your +due, is sure to be required from you with a vengeance. A little +over-praise by a great deal of underrating - a gleam of good +fortune by a night of misery." + +I now saw Wrexham Church at about the distance of three miles, and +presently entered a lane which led gently down from the hills, +which were the same heights I had seen on my right hand, some +months previously, on my way from Wrexham to Rhiwabon. The scenery +now became very pretty - hedge-rows were on either side, a +luxuriance of trees and plenty of green fields. I reached the +bottom of the lane, beyond which I saw a strange-looking house upon +a slope on the right hand. It was very large, ruinous, and +seemingly deserted. A little beyond it was a farm-house, connected +with which was a long row of farming buildings along the road-side. +Seeing a woman seated knitting at the door of a little cottage, I +asked her in English the name of the old, ruinous house? + +"Cadogan Hall, sir," she replied. + +"And whom does it belong to?" said I. + +"I don't know exactly," replied the woman, "but Mr Morris at the +farm holds it, and stows his things in it." + +"Can you tell me anything about it?" said I. + +"Nothing farther," said the woman, "than that it is said to be +haunted, and to have been a barrack many years ago." + +"Can you speak Welsh?" said I. + +"No," said the woman, "I are Welsh but have no Welsh language." + +Leaving the woman I put on my best speed and in about half an hour +reached Wrexham. + +The first thing I did on my arrival was to go to the bookshop and +purchase the Welsh Methodistic book. It cost me seven shillings, +and was a thick, bulky octavo with a cut-and-come-again expression +about it, which was anything but disagreeable to me, for I hate +your flimsy publications. The evening was now beginning to set in, +and feeling somewhat hungry I hurried off to the Wynstay Arms +through streets crowded with market people. On arriving at the inn +I entered the grand room and ordered dinner. The waiters, +observing me splashed with mud from head to foot, looked at me +dubiously; seeing, however, the respectable-looking volume which I +bore in my hand - none of your railroad stuff - they became more +assured, and I presently heard one say to the other, "It's all +right - that's Mr So-and-So, the great Baptist preacher. He has +been preaching amongst the hills - don't you see his Bible?" + +Seating myself at a table I inspected the volume. And here perhaps +the reader expects that I shall regale him with an analysis of the +Methodistical volume at least as long as that of the life of Tom O' +the Dingle. In that case, however, he will be disappointed; all +that I shall at present say of it is, that it contained a history +of Methodism in Wales, with the lives of the principal Welsh +Methodists. That it was fraught with curious and original matter, +was written in a straightforward, Methodical style, and that I have +no doubt it will some day or other be extensively known and highly +prized. + +After dinner I called for half a pint of wine. Whilst I was +trifling over it, a commercial traveller entered into conversation +with me. After some time he asked me if I was going further that +night. + +"To Llangollen," said I. + +"By the ten o'clock train?" said he. + +"No," I replied, "I'm going on foot." + +"On foot!" said he; "I would not go on foot there this night for +fifty pounds." + +"Why not?" said I. + +"For fear of being knocked down by the colliers, who will be all +out and drunk." + +"If not more than two attack me," said I, "I shan't much mind. +With this book I am sure I can knock down one, and I think I can +find play for the other with my fists." + +The commercial traveller looked at me. "A strange kind of Baptist +minister," I thought I heard him say. + + + +CHAPTER LXII + + + +Rhiwabon Road - The Public-house Keeper - No Welsh - The Wrong Road +- The Good Wife. + + +I PAID my reckoning and started. The night was now rapidly closing +in. I passed the toll-gate and hurried along the Rhiwabon road, +overtaking companies of Welsh going home, amongst whom were many +individuals, whom, from their thick and confused speech, as well as +from their staggering gait, I judged to be intoxicated. As I +passed a red public-house on my right hand, at the door of which +stood several carts, a scream of Welsh issued from it. + +"Let any Saxon," said I, "who is fond of fighting and wishes for a +bloody nose go in there." + +Coming to the small village about a mile from Rhiwabon, I felt +thirsty, and seeing a public-house, in which all seemed to be +quiet, I went in. A thick-set man with a pipe in his mouth sat in +the tap-room, and also a woman. + +"Where is the landlord?" said I. + +"I am the landlord," said the man, huskily. "What do you want?" + +"A pint of ale," said I. + +The man got up and with his pipe in his mouth went staggering out +of the room. In about a minute he returned holding a mug in his +hand, which he put down on a table before me, spilling no slight +quantity of the liquor as he did so. I put down three-pence on the +table. He took the money up slowly piece by piece, looked at it +and appeared to consider, then taking the pipe out of his mouth he +dashed it to seven pieces against the table, then staggered out of +the room into the passage, and from thence apparently out of the +house. I tasted the ale which was very good, then turning to the +woman who seemed about three-and-twenty and was rather good- +looking, I spoke to her in Welsh. + +"I have no Welsh, sir," said she. + +"How is that?" said I; "this village is I think in the Welshery." + +"It is," said she, "but I am from Shropshire." + +"Are you the mistress of the house?" said I. + +"No," said she, "I am married to a collier;" then getting up she +said, "I must go and see after my husband." + +"Won't you take a glass of ale first?" said I, offering to fill a +glass which stood on the table. + +"No," said she; "I am the worst in the world for a glass of ale;" +and without saying anything more she departed. + +"I wonder whether your husband is anything like you with respect to +a glass of ale," said I to myself; then finishing my ale I got up +and left the house, which when I departed appeared to be entirely +deserted. + +It was now quite night, and it would have been pitchy-dark but for +the glare of forges. There was an immense glare to the south-west, +which I conceived proceeded from those of Cefn Mawr. It lighted up +the south-western sky; then there were two other glares nearer to +me, seemingly divided by a lump of something, perhaps a grove of +trees. + +Walking very fast I soon overtook a man. I knew him at once by his +staggering gait. + +"Ah, landlord!" said I; "whither bound?" + +"To Rhiwabon," said he, huskily, "for a pint." + +"Is the ale so good at Rhiwabon," said I, "that you leave home for +it?" + +"No," said he, rather shortly, "there's not a glass of good ale in +Rhiwabon." + +"Then why do you go thither?" said I. + +"Because a pint of bad liquor abroad is better than a quart of good +at home," said the landlord, reeling against the hedge. + +"There are many in a higher station than you who act upon that +principle," thought I to myself as I passed on. + +I soon reached Rhiwabon. There was a prodigious noise in the +public-houses as I passed through it. "Colliers carousing," said +I. "Well, I shall not go amongst them to preach temperance, though +perhaps in strict duty I ought." At the end of the town, instead +of taking the road on the left side of the church, I took that on +the right. It was not till I had proceeded nearly a mile that I +began to be apprehensive that I had mistaken the way. Hearing some +people coming towards me on the road I waited till they came up; +they proved to be a man and a woman. On my inquiring whether I was +right for Llangollen, the former told me that I was not, and in +order to get there it was necessary that I should return to +Rhiwabon. I instantly turned round. About half-way back I met a +man who asked me in English where I was hurrying to. I said to +Rhiwabon, in order to get to Llangollen. "Well, then," said he, +"you need not return to Rhiwabon - yonder is a short cut across the +fields," and he pointed to a gate. I thanked him, and said I would +go by it; before leaving him I asked to what place the road led +which I had been following. + +"To Pentre Castren," he replied. I struck across the fields and +should probably have tumbled half-a-dozen times over pales and the +like, but for the light of the Cefn furnaces before me which cast +their red glow upon my path. I debauched upon the Llangollen road +near to the tramway leading to the collieries. Two enormous sheets +of flame shot up high into the air from ovens, illumining two +spectral chimneys as high as steeples, also smoky buildings, and +grimy figures moving about. There was a clanging of engines, a +noise of shovels and a falling of coals truly horrible. The glare +was so great that I could distinctly see the minutest lines upon my +hand. Advancing along the tramway I obtained a nearer view of the +hellish buildings, the chimneys, and the demoniac figures. It was +just such a scene as one of those described by Ellis Wynn in his +Vision of Hell. Feeling my eyes scorching I turned away, and +proceeded towards Llangollen, sometimes on the muddy road, +sometimes on the dangerous causeway. For three miles at least I +met nobody. Near Llangollen, as I was walking on the causeway, +three men came swiftly towards me. I kept the hedge, which was my +right; the two first brushed roughly past me, the third came full +upon me and was tumbled into the road. There was a laugh from the +two first and a loud curse from the last as he sprawled in the +mire. I merely said "Nos Da'ki," and passed on, and in about a +quarter of an hour reached home, where I found my wife awaiting me +alone, Henrietta having gone to bed being slightly indisposed. My +wife received me with a cheerful smile. I looked at her and the +good wife of the Triad came to my mind. + +"She is modest, void of deceit, and obedient. + +"Pure of conscience, gracious of tongue, and true to her husband. + +"Her heart not proud, her manners affable, and her bosom full of +compassion for the poor. + +"Labouring to be tidy, skilful of hand, and fond of praying to God. + +"Her conversation amiable, her dress decent, and her house orderly. + +"Quick of hand, quick of eye, and quick of understanding. + +"Her person shapely, her manners agreeable, and her heart innocent. + +"Her face benignant, her head intelligent, and provident. + +"Neighbourly, gentle, and of a liberal way of thinking. + +"Able in directing, providing what is wanting, and a good mother to +her children. + +"Loving her husband, loving peace, and loving God. + +"Happy the man," adds the Triad, "who possesses such a wife." Very +true, O Triad, always provided he is in some degree worthy of her; +but many a man leaves an innocent wife at home for an impure +Jezebel abroad, even as many a one prefers a pint of hog's wash +abroad to a tankard of generous liquor at home. + + + +CHAPTER LXIII + + + +Preparations for Departure - Cat provided for - A Pleasant Party - +Last Night at Llangollen. + + +I WAS awakened early on the Sunday morning by the howling of wind. +There was a considerable storm throughout the day, but +unaccompanied by rain. I went to church both in the morning and +the evening. The next day there was a great deal of rain. It was +now the latter end of October; winter was coming on, and my wife +and daughter were anxious to return home. After some consultation +it was agreed that they should depart for London, and that I should +join them there after making a pedestrian tour in South Wales. + +I should have been loth to quit Wales without visiting the +Deheubarth or Southern Region, a land differing widely, as I had +heard, both in language and customs from Gwynedd or the Northern, a +land which had given birth to the illustrious Ab Gwilym, and where +the great Ryce family had flourished, which very much distinguished +itself in the Wars of the Roses - a member of which Ryce ap Thomas +placed Henry the Seventh on the throne of Britain - a family of +royal extraction, and which after the death of Roderic the Great +for a long time enjoyed the sovereignty of the south. + +We set about making the necessary preparations for our respective +journeys. Those for mine were soon made. I bought a small leather +satchel with a lock and key, in which I placed a white linen shirt, +a pair of worsted stockings, a razor and a prayer-book. Along with +it I bought a leather strap with which to sling it over my +shoulder: I got my boots new soled, my umbrella, which was rather +dilapidated, mended; put twenty sovereigns into my purse, and then +said I am all right for the Deheubarth. + +As my wife and daughter required much more time in making +preparations for their journey than I for mine, and as I should +only be in their way whilst they were employed, it was determined +that I should depart on my expedition on Thursday, and that they +should remain at Llangollen till the Saturday. + +We were at first in some perplexity with respect to the disposal of +the ecclesiastical cat; it would of course not do to leave it in +the garden to the tender mercies of the Calvinistic Methodists of +the neighbourhood, more especially those of the flannel +manufactory, and my wife and daughter could hardly carry it with +them. At length we thought of applying to a young woman of sound +church principles, who was lately married and lived over the water +on the way to the railroad station, with whom we were slightly +acquainted, to take charge of the animal, and she on the first +intimation of our wish, willingly acceded to it. So with her poor +puss was left along with a trifle for its milk-money, and with her, +as we subsequently learned, it continued in peace and comfort till +one morning it sprang suddenly from the hearth into the air, gave a +mew, and died. So much for the ecclesiastical cat! + +The morning of Tuesday was rather fine, and Mr Ebenezer E-, who had +heard of our intended departure, came to invite us to spend the +evening at the Vicarage. His father had left Llangollen the day +before for Chester, where he expected to be detained some days. I +told him we should be most happy to come. He then asked me to take +a walk. I agreed with pleasure, and we set out, intending to go to +Llansilio at the western end of the valley and look at the church. +The church was an ancient building. It had no spire, but had the +little erection on its roof, so usual to Welsh churches, for +holding a bell. + +In the churchyard is a tomb in which an old squire of the name of +Jones was buried about the middle of the last century. There is a +tradition about this squire and tomb to the following effect. +After the squire's death there was a lawsuit about his property, in +consequence of no will having been found. It was said that his +will had been buried with him in the tomb, which after some time +was opened, but with what success the tradition sayeth not. + +In the evening we went to the Vicarage. Besides the family and +ourselves there was Mr R- and one or two more. We had a very +pleasant party; and as most of those present wished to hear +something connected with Spain, I talked much about that country, +sang songs of Germania, and related in an abridged form Lope de +Vega's ghost story, which is decidedly the best ghost story in the +world. + +In the afternoon of Wednesday I went and took leave of certain +friends in the town; amongst others of old Mr Jones. On my telling +him that I was about to leave Llangollen, he expressed considerable +regret, but said that it was natural for me to wish to return to my +native country. I told him that before returning to England I +intended to make a pedestrian tour in South Wales. He said that he +should die without seeing the south; that he had had several +opportunities of visiting it when he was young, which he had +neglected, and that he was now too old to wander far from home. He +then asked me which road I intended to take. I told him that I +intended to strike across the Berwyn to Llan Rhyadr, then visit +Sycharth, once the seat of Owain Glendower, lying to the east of +Llan Rhyadr, then return to that place, and after seeing the +celebrated cataract across the mountains to Bala - whence I should +proceed due south. I then asked him whether he had ever seen +Sycharth and the Rhyadr; he told me that he had never visited +Sycharth, but had seen the Rhyadr more than once. He then smiled +and said that there was a ludicrous anecdote connected with the +Rhyadr, which he would relate to me. "A traveller once went to see +the Rhyadr, and whilst gazing at it a calf which had fallen into +the stream above, whilst grazing upon the rocks, came tumbling down +the cataract. 'Wonderful!' said the traveller, and going away +reported that it was not only a fall of water, but of calves, and +was very much disappointed, on visiting the waterfall on another +occasion, to see no calf come tumbling down." I took leave of the +kind old gentleman with regret, never expecting to see him again, +as he was in his eighty-fourth year - he was a truly excellent +character, and might be ranked amongst the venerable ornaments of +his native place. + +About half-past eight o'clock at night John Jones came to bid me +farewell. I bade him sit down, and sent for a pint of ale to +regale him with. Notwithstanding the ale, he was very melancholy +at the thought that I was about to leave Llangollen, probably never +to return. To enliven him I gave him an account of my late +expedition to Wrexham, which made him smile more than once. When I +had concluded he asked me whether I knew the meaning of the word +Wrexham: I told him I believed I did, and gave him the derivation +which the reader will find in an early chapter of this work. He +told me that with all due submission, he thought he could give me a +better, which he had heard from a very clever man, gwr deallus +iawn, who lived about two miles from Llangollen on the Corwen road. +In the old time a man of the name of Sam kept a gwestfa, or inn, at +the place where Wrexham flow stands; when he died he left it to his +wife, who kept it after him, on which account the house was first +called Ty wraig Sam, the house of Sam's wife, and then for +shortness Wraig Sam, and a town arising about it by degrees, the +town too was called Wraig Sam, which the Saxons corrupted into +Wrexham. + +I was much diverted with this Welsh derivation of Wrexham, which I +did not attempt to controvert. After we had had some further +discourse John Jones got up, shook me by the hand, gave a sigh, +wished me a "taith hyfryd," and departed. Thus terminated my last +day at Llangollen. + + + +CHAPTER LXIV + + + +Departure for South Wales - Tregeiriog - Pleasing Scene - Trying to +Read - Garmon and Lupus - The Cracked Voice - Effect of a +Compliment - Llan Rhyadr. + + +THE morning of the 21st of October was fine and cold; there was a +rime frost on the ground. At about eleven o'clock I started on my +journey for South Wales, intending that my first stage should be +Llan Rhyadr. My wife and daughter accompanied me as far as Plas +Newydd. As we passed through the town I shook hands with honest A- +, whom I saw standing at the door of a shop, with a kind of Spanish +hat on his head, and also with my venerable friend old Mr Jones, +whom I encountered close beside his own domicile. At the Plas +Newydd I took an affectionate farewell of my two loved ones, and +proceeded to ascend the Berwyn. Near the top I turned round to +take a final look at the spot where I had lately passed many a +happy hour. There lay Llangollen far below me, with its chimneys +placidly smoking, its pretty church rising in its centre, its blue +river dividing it into two nearly equal parts, and the mighty hill +of Brennus overhanging it from the north. + +I sighed, and repeating Einion Du's verse + + +"Tangnefedd i Llangollen!" + + +turned away. + +I went over the top of the hill and then began to descend its +southern side, obtaining a distant view of the plains of Shropshire +on the east. I soon reached the bottom of the hill, passed through +Llansanfraid, and threading the vale of the Ceiriog at length found +myself at Pont y Meibion in front of the house of Huw Morris, or +rather of that which is built on the site of the dwelling of the +poet. I stopped and remained before the house thinking of the +mighty Huw, till the door opened, and out came the dark-featured +man, the poet's descendant, whom I saw when visiting the place in +company with honest John Jones - he had now a spade in his hand and +was doubtless going to his labour. As I knew him to be of a rather +sullen unsocial disposition, I said nothing to him, but proceeded +on my way. As I advanced the valley widened, the hills on the west +receding to some distance from the river. Came to Tregeiriog a +small village, which takes its name from the brook; Tregeiriog +signifying the hamlet or village on the Ceiriog. Seeing a bridge +which crossed the rivulet at a slight distance from the road, a +little beyond the village, I turned aside to look at it. The +proper course of the Ceiriog is from south to north; where it is +crossed by the bridge, however, it runs from west to east, +returning to its usual course, a little way below the bridge. The +bridge was small and presented nothing remarkable in itself: I +obtained, however, as I looked over its parapet towards the west a +view of a scene, not of wild grandeur, but of something which I +like better, which richly compensated me for the slight trouble I +had taken in stepping aside to visit the little bridge. About a +hundred yards distant was a small water-mill, built over the +rivulet, the wheel going slowly, slowly round; large quantities of +pigs, the generality of them brindled, were either browsing on the +banks or lying close to the sides half immersed in the water; one +immense white hog, the monarch seemingly of the herd, was standing +in the middle of the current. Such was the scene which I saw from +the bridge, a scene of quiet rural life well suited to the brushes +of two or three of the old Dutch painters, or to those of men +scarcely inferior to them in their own style, Gainsborough, +Moreland, and Crome. My mind for the last half-hour had been in a +highly excited state; I had been repeating verses of old Huw +Morris, brought to my recollection by the sight of his dwelling- +place; they were ranting roaring verses, against the Roundheads. I +admired the vigour but disliked the principles which they +displayed; and admiration on the one hand and disapproval on the +other, bred a commotion in my mind like that raised on the sea when +tide runs one way and wind blows another. The quiet scene from the +bridge, however, produced a sedative effect on my mind, and when I +resumed my journey I had forgotten Huw, his verses, and all about +Roundheads and Cavaliers. + +I reached Llanarmon, another small village, situated in a valley +through which the Ceiriog or a river very similar to it flows. It +is half-way between Llangollen and Llan Rhyadr, being ten miles +from each. I went to a small inn or public-house, sat down and +called for ale. A waggoner was seated at a large table with a +newspaper before him on which he was intently staring. + +"What news?" said I in English. + +"I wish I could tell you," said he in very broken English, "but I +cannot read." + +"Then why are you looking at the paper?" said I. + +"Because," said he, "by looking at the letters I hope in time to +make them out." + +"You may look at them," said I, "for fifty years without being able +to make out one. You should go to an evening school." + +"I am too old," said he, "to do so now; if I did the children would +laugh at me." + +"Never mind their laughing at you," said I, "provided you learn to +read; let them laugh who win!" + +"You give good advice, mester," said he, "I think I shall follow +it." + +"Let me look at the paper," said I. + +He handed it to me. It was a Welsh paper, and full of dismal +accounts from the seat of war. + +"What news, mester?" said the waggoner. + +"Nothing but bad," said I; "the Russians are beating us and the +French too." + +"If the Rusiaid beat us," said the waggoner, "it is because the +Francod are with us. We should have gone alone." + +"Perhaps you are right," said I; "at any rate we could not have +fared worse than we are faring now." + +I presently paid for what I had had, inquired the way to Llan +Rhyadr, and departed. + +The village of Llanarmon takes its name from its church, which is +dedicated to Garmon, an Armorican bishop, who with another called +Lupus came over into Britain in order to preach against the heresy +of Pelagius. He and his colleague resided for some time in +Flintshire, and whilst there enabled in a remarkable manner the +Britons to achieve a victory over those mysterious people the +Picts, who were ravaging the country far and wide. Hearing that +the enemy were advancing towards Mold, the two bishops gathered +together a number of the Britons, and placed them in ambush in a +dark valley through which it was necessary for the Picts to pass in +order to reach Mold, strictly enjoining them to remain quiet till +all their enemies should have entered the valley and then do +whatever they should see them, the two bishops, do. The Picts +arrived, and when they were about half-way through the valley the +two bishops stepped forward from a thicket and began crying aloud, +"Alleluia!" The Britons followed their example, and the wooded +valley resounded with cries of "Alleluia! Alleluia!" The shouts +and the unexpected appearance of thousands of men caused such +terror to the Picts that they took to flight in the greatest +confusion; hundreds were trampled to death by their companions, and +not a few were drowned in the river Alan (8) which runs through the +valley. + +There are several churches dedicated to Garmon in Wales, but +whether there are any dedicated to Lupus I am unable to say. After +leaving Llanarmon I found myself amongst lumpy hills through which +the road led in the direction of the south. Arriving where several +roads met I followed one and became bewildered amidst hills and +ravines. At last I saw a small house close by a nant or dingle, +and turned towards it for the purpose of inquiring my way. On my +knocking at the door a woman made her appearance, of whom I asked +in Welsh whether I was in the road to Llan Rhyadr. She said that I +was out of it, but that if I went towards the south I should see a +path on my left which would bring me to it. I asked her how far it +was to Llan Rhyadr. + +"Four long miles," she replied. + +"And what is the name of the place where we are now?" said I. + +"Cae Hir" (the long inclosure), said she. + +"Are you alone in the house?" said I. + +"Quite alone," said she; "but my husband and people will soon be +home from the field, for it is getting dusk." + +"Have you any Saxon?" said I. + +"Not a word," said she, "have I of the iaith dieithr, nor has my +husband, nor any one of my people." + +I bade her farewell, and soon reached the road, which led south and +north. As I was bound for the south I strode forward briskly in +that direction. The road was between romantic hills; heard Welsh +songs proceeding from the hill fields on my right, and the murmur +of a brook rushing down a deep nant on my left. I went on till I +came to a collection of houses which an old woman, with a cracked +voice and a small tin milk-pail, whom I assisted in getting over a +stile into the road, told me was called Pen Strit - probably the +head of the street. She spoke English, and on my asking her how +she had learnt the English tongue, she told me that she had learnt +it of her mother who was an English woman. She said that I was two +miles from Llan Rhyadr, and that I must go straight forward. I did +so till I reached a place where the road branched into two, one +bearing somewhat to the left, and the other to the right. After +standing a minute in perplexity I took the right-hand road, but +soon guessed that I had taken the wrong one, as the road dwindled +into a mere footpath. Hearing some one walking on the other side +of the hedge I inquired in Welsh whether I was going right for Llan +Rhyadr, and was answered by a voice in English, apparently that of +a woman, that I was not, and that I must go back. I did so, and +presently a woman came through a gate to me. + +"Are you the person," said I, "who just now answered me in English +after I had spoken in Welsh?" + +"In truth I am," said she, with a half laugh. + +"And how came you to answer me in English after I had spoken to you +in Welsh?" + +"Because," said she, "it was easy enough to know by your voice that +you were an Englishman." + +"You speak English remarkably well," said I. + +"And so do you Welsh," said the woman; "I had no idea that it was +possible for any Englishman to speak Welsh half so well." + +"I wonder," thought I to myself, "what you would have answered if I +had said that you speak English execrably." By her own account she +could read both Welsh and English. She walked by my side to the +turn, and then up the left-hand road, which she said was the way to +Llan Rhyadr. Coming to a cottage she bade me good-night and went +in. The road was horribly miry: presently, as I was staggering +through a slough, just after I had passed a little cottage, I heard +a cracked voice crying, "I suppose you lost your way?" I +recognised it as that of the old woman whom I had helped over the +stile. She was now standing behind a little gate which opened into +a garden before the cottage. The figure of a man was standing near +her. I told her that she was quite right in her supposition. + +"Ah," said she, "you should have gone straight forward." + +"If I had gone straight forward," said I, "I must have gone over a +hedge, at the corner of a field which separated two roads; instead +of bidding me go straight forward you should have told me to follow +the left-hand road." + +"Well," said she, "be sure you keep straight forward now." + +I asked her who the man was standing near her. + +"It is my husband," said she. + +"Has he much English?" said I. + +"None at all," said she, "for his mother was not English, like +mine." I bade her good-night and went forward. Presently I came +to a meeting of roads, and to go straight forward it was necessary +to pass through a quagmire; remembering, however, the words of my +friend the beldame I went straight forward, though in so doing I +was sloughed up to the knees. In a little time I came to rapid +descent, and at the bottom of it to a bridge. It was now very +dark; only the corner of the moon was casting a faint light. After +crossing the bridge I had one or two ascents and descents. At last +I saw lights before me which proved to be those of Llan Rhyadr. I +soon found myself in a dirty little street, and, inquiring for the +inn, was kindly shown by a man to one which he said was the best, +and which was called the Wynstay Arms. + + + +CHAPTER LXV + + + +Inn at Llan Rhyadr - A low Englishman - Enquiries - The Cook - A +Precious Couple. + + +THE inn seemed very large, but did not look very cheerful. No +other guest than myself seemed to be in it, except in the kitchen, +where I heard a fellow talking English and occasionally yelling an +English song: the master and the mistress of the house were civil, +and lighted me a fire in what was called the Commercial Room, and +putting plenty of coals in the grate soon made the apartment warm +and comfortable. I ordered dinner or rather supper, which in about +half-an-hour was brought in by the woman. The supper whether good +or bad I despatched with the appetite of one who had walked twenty +miles over hill and dale. + +Occasionally I heard a dreadful noise in the kitchen, and the woman +told me that the fellow there was making himself exceedingly +disagreeable, chiefly she believed because she had refused to let +him sleep in the house. She said that he was a low fellow that +went about the country with fish, and that he was the more ready to +insult her as the master of the house was now gone out. I asked if +he was an Englishman, "Yes," said she, "a low Englishman." + +"Then he must be low indeed," said I. "A low Englishman is the +lowest of the low." After a little time I heard no more noise, and +was told that the fellow was gone away. I had a little whisky and +water, and then went to bed, sleeping in a tolerable chamber but +rather cold. There was much rain during the night and also wind; +windows rattled, and I occasionally heard the noise of falling +tiles. + +I arose about eight. Notwithstanding the night had been so +tempestuous the morning was sunshiny and beautiful. Having ordered +breakfast I walked out in order to look at the town. Llan Rhyadr +is a small place, having nothing remarkable in it save an ancient +church and a strange little antique market-house, standing on +pillars. It is situated at the western end of an extensive valley +and at the entrance of a glen. A brook or rivulet runs through it, +which comes down the glen from the celebrated cataract, which is +about four miles distant to the west. Two lofty mountains form the +entrance of the glen, and tower above the town, one on the south +and the other on the north. Their names, if they have any, I did +not learn. + +After strolling about the little place for about a quarter of an +hour, staring at the things and the people, and being stared at by +the latter, I returned to my inn, a structure built in the modern +Gothic style, and which stands nearly opposite to the churchyard. +Whilst breakfasting I asked the landlady, who was bustling about +the room, whether she had ever heard of Owen Glendower. + +"In truth, sir, I have. He was a great gentleman who lived a long +time ago, and, and - " + +"Gave the English a great deal of trouble," said I. + +"Just so, sir; at least I daresay it is so, as you say it." + +"And do you know where he lived?" + +"I do not, sir; I suppose a great way off, somewhere in the south." + +"Do you mean South Wales?" + +"In truth, sir, I do." + +"There you are mistaken," said I; "and also in supposing he lived a +great way off. He lived in North Wales, and not far from this +place." + +"In truth, sir, you know more about him than I." + +"Did you ever hear of a place called Sycharth? + +"Sycharth! Sycharth! I never did, sir." + +"It is the place where Glendower lived, and it is not far off. I +want to go there, but do not know the way." + +"Sycharth! Sycharth!" said the landlady musingly: "I wonder if it +is the place we call Sychnant." + +"Is there such a place?" + +"Yes, sure; about six miles from here, near Langedwin." + +"What kind of place is it?" + +"In truth, sir, I do not know, for I was never there. My cook, +however, in the kitchen, knows all about it, for she comes from +there." + +"Can I see her?" + +"Yes, sure; I will go at once and fetch her." + +She then left the room and presently returned with the cook, a +short, thick girl with blue staring eyes. + +"Here she is, sir," said the landlady, "but she has no English." + +"All the better," said I. "So you come from a place called +Sychnant?" said I to the cook in Welsh. + +"In truth, sir, I do;" said the cook. + +"Did you ever hear of a gwr boneddig called Owen Glendower?" + +"Often, sir, often; he lived in our place." + +"He lived in a place called Sycharth?" said I. + +"Well, sir; and we of the place call it Sycharth as often as +Sychnant; nay, oftener." + +"Is his house standing?" + +"It is not; but the hill on which it stood is still standing." + +"Is it a high hill?" + +"It is not; it is a small, light hill." + +"A light hill!" said I to myself. "Old Iolo Goch, Owen Glendower's +bard, said the chieftain dwelt in a house on a light hill. + + +"'There dwells the chief we all extol +In timber house on lightsome knoll.' + + +"Is there a little river near it," said I to the cook, "a ffrwd?" + +"There is; it runs just under the hill." + +"Is there a mill upon the ffrwd?" + +"There is not; that is, now - but there was in the old time; a +factory of woollen stands now where the mill once stood." + + +"'A mill a rushing brook upon +And pigeon tower fram'd of stone.' + + +"So says Iolo Goch," said I to myself, "in his description of +Sycharth; I am on the right road." + +I asked the cook to whom the property of Sycharth belonged and was +told of course to Sir Watkin, who appears to be the Marquis of +Denbighshire. After a few more questions I thanked her and told +her she might go. I then finished my breakfast, paid my bill, and +after telling the landlady that I should return at night, started +for Llangedwin and Sycharth. + +A broad and excellent road led along the valley in the direction in +which I was proceeding. + +The valley was beautiful and dotted with various farm-houses, and +the land appeared to be in as high a state of cultivation as the +soil of my own Norfolk, that county so deservedly celebrated for +its agriculture. The eastern side is bounded by lofty hills, and +towards the north the vale is crossed by three rugged elevations, +the middlemost of which, called, as an old man told me, Bryn Dinas, +terminates to the west in an exceedingly high and picturesque crag. + +After an hour's walking I overtook two people, a man and a woman +laden with baskets which hung around them on every side. The man +was a young fellow of about eight-and-twenty, with a round face, +fair flaxen hair, and rings in his ears; the female was a blooming +buxom lass of about eighteen. After giving them the sele of the +day I asked them if they were English. + +"Aye, aye, master," said the man; "we are English." + +"Where do you come from?" said I. + +"From Wrexham," said the man. + +"I thought Wrexham was in Wales," said + +"If it be," said the man, "the people are not Welsh; a man is not a +horse because he happens to be born in a stable." + +"Is that young woman your wife?" said I. + +"Yes;" said he, "after a fashion" - and then he leered at the lass, +and she leered at him. + +"Do you attend any place of worship?" said I. + +"A great many, master!" + +"What place do you chiefly attend?" said I. + +"The Chequers, master!" + +"Do they preach the best sermons there?" said I. + +"No, master! but they sell the best ale there." + +"Do you worship ale?" said I. + +"Yes, master, I worships ale." + +"Anything else?" said I. + +"Yes, master! I and my mort worships something besides good ale; +don't we, Sue?" and then he leered at the mort, who leered at him, +and both made odd motions backwards and forwards, causing the +baskets which hung round them to creak and rustle, and uttering +loud shouts of laughter, which roused the echoes of the +neighbouring hills. + +"Genuine descendants, no doubt," said I to myself as I walked +briskly on, "of certain of the old heathen Saxons who followed Rag +into Wales and settled down about the house which he built. +Really, if these two are a fair specimen of the Wrexham population, +my friend the Scotch policeman was not much out when he said that +the people of Wrexham were the worst people in Wales." + + + +CHAPTER LXVI + + + +Sycharth - The Kindly Welcome - Happy Couple - Sycharth - Recalling +the Dead - Ode to Sycharth. + + +I WAS now at the northern extremity of the valley near a great +house past which the road led in the direction of the north-east. +Seeing a man employed in breaking stones I inquired the way to +Sychnant. + +"You must turn to the left," said he, "before you come to yon great +house, follow the path which you will find behind it, and you will +soon be in Sychnant." + +"And to whom does the great house belong?" + +"To whom? why, to Sir Watkin." + +"Does he reside there?" + +"Not often. He has plenty of other houses, but he sometimes comes +there to hunt." + +"What is the place's name?" + +"Llan Gedwin." + +I turned to the left, as the labourer had directed me. The path +led upward behind the great house round a hill thickly planted with +trees. Following it I at length found myself on a broad road on +the top extending east and west, and having on the north and south +beautiful wooded hills. I followed the road which presently began +to descend. On reaching level ground I overtook a man in a +waggoner's frock, of whom I inquired the way to Sycharth. He +pointed westward down the vale to what appeared to be a collection +of houses, near a singular-looking monticle, and said, "That is +Sycharth." + +We walked together till we came to a road which branched off on the +right to a little bridge. + +"That is your way," said he, and pointing to a large building +beyond the bridge, towering up above a number of cottages, he said, +"that is the factory of Sycharth;" he then left me, following the +high road, whilst I proceeded towards the bridge, which I crossed, +and coming to the cottages entered one on the right hand of a +remarkably neat appearance. + +In a comfortable kitchen by a hearth on which blazed a cheerful +billet sat a man and woman. Both arose when I entered: the man +was tall, about fifty years of age, and athletically built; he was +dressed in a white coat, corduroy breeches, shoes, and grey worsted +stockings. The woman seemed many years older than the man; she was +tall also, and strongly built, and dressed in the ancient female +costume, namely, a kind of round, half Spanish hat, long blue +woollen kirtle or gown, a crimson petticoat, and white apron, and +broad, stout shoes with buckles. + +"Welcome, stranger," said the man, after looking me a moment or two +full in the face. + +"Croesaw, dyn dieithr - welcome, foreign man," said the woman, +surveying me with a look of great curiosity. + +"Won't you sit down?" said the man, handing me a chair. + +I sat down, and the man and woman resumed their seats. + +"I suppose you come on business connected with the factory?" said +the man. + +"No," said I, "my business is connected with Owen Glendower." + +"With Owen Glendower?" said the man, staring. + +"Yes," said I, "I came to see his place." + +"You will not see much of his house now," said the man - "it is +down; only a few bricks remain." + +"But I shall see the place where his house stood," said I, "which +is all I expected to see." + +"Yes, you can see that." + +"What does the dyn dieithr say?" said the woman in Welsh with an +inquiring look. + +"That he is come to see the place of Owen Glendower." + +"Ah!" said the woman with a smile. + +"Is that good lady your wife?" said I. + +"She is." + +"She looks much older than yourself." + +"And no wonder. She is twenty-one years older." + +"How old are you?" + +"Fifty-three." + +"Dear me," said I, "what a difference in your ages. How came you +to marry?" + +"She was a widow and I had lost my wife. We were lone in the +world, so we thought we would marry." + +"Do you live happily together?" + +"Very." + +"Then you did quite right to marry. What is your name?" + +"David Robert." + +"And that of your wife?" + +"Gwen Robert." + +"Does she speak English?" + +"She speaks some, but not much." + +"Is the place where Owen lived far from here?" + +"It is not. It is the round hill a little way above the factory." + +"Is the path to it easy to find?" + +"I will go with you," said the man. "I work at the factory, but I +need not go there for an hour at least." + +He put on his hat and bidding me follow him went out. He led me +over a gush of water which passing under the factory turns the +wheel; thence over a field or two towards a house at the foot of +the mountain where he said the steward of Sir Watkin lived, of whom +it would be as well to apply for permission to ascend the hill, as +it was Sir Watkin's ground. The steward was not at home; his wife +was, however, and she, when we told her we wished to go to the top +of Owain Glendower's Hill, gave us permission with a smile. We +thanked her and proceeded to mount the hill or monticle once the +residence of the great Welsh chieftain, whom his own deeds and the +pen of Shakespear have rendered immortal. + +Owen Glendower's hill or mount at Sycharth, unlike the one bearing +his name on the banks of the Dee, is not an artificial hill, but +the work of nature, save and except that to a certain extent it has +been modified by the hand of man. It is somewhat conical and +consists of two steps or gradations, where two fosses scooped out +of the hill go round it, one above the other, the lower one +embracing considerably the most space. Both these fosses are about +six feet deep, and at one time doubtless were bricked, as stout +large, red bricks are yet to be seen, here and there, in their +sides. The top of the mount is just twenty-five feet across. When +I visited it it was covered with grass, but had once been subjected +to the plough as various furrows indicated. The monticle stands +not far from the western extremity of the valley, nearly midway +between two hills which confront each other north and south, the +one to the south being the hill which I had descended, and the +other a beautiful wooded height which is called in the parlance of +the country Llwyn Sycharth or the grove of Sycharth, from which +comes the little gush of water which I had crossed, and which now +turns the wheel of the factory and once turned that of Owen +Glendower's mill, and filled his two moats, part of the water by +some mechanical means having been forced up the eminence. On the +top of this hill or monticle in a timber house dwelt the great +Welshman Owen Glendower, with his wife, a comely, kindly woman, and +his progeny, consisting of stout boys and blooming girls, and +there, though wonderfully cramped for want of room, he feasted +bards who requited his hospitality with alliterative odes very +difficult to compose, and which at the present day only a few book- +worms understand. There he dwelt for many years, the virtual if +not the nominal king of North Wales, occasionally no doubt looking +down with self-complaisance from the top of his fastness on the +parks and fish-ponds of which he had several; his mill, his pigeon +tower, his ploughed lands, and the cottages of a thousand +retainers, huddled round the lower part of the hill, or strewn +about the valley; and there he might have lived and died had not +events caused him to draw the sword and engage in a war, at the +termination of which Sycharth was a fire-scathed ruin, and himself +a broken-hearted old man in anchorite's weeds, living in a cave on +the estate of Sir John Scudamore, the great Herefordshire +proprietor, who married his daughter Elen, his only surviving +child. + +After I had been a considerable time on the hill looking about me +and asking questions of my guide, I took out a piece of silver and +offered it to him, thanking him at the same time for the trouble he +had taken in showing me the place. He refused it, saying that I +was quite welcome. + +I tried to force it upon him. + +"I will not take it," said he; "but if you come to my house and +have a cup of coffee, you may give sixpence to my old woman." + +"I will come," said I, "in a short time. In the meanwhile do you +go; I wish to be alone." + +"What do you want to do?" + +"To sit down and endeavour to recall Glendower, and the times that +are past." + +The fine fellow looked puzzled; at last he said, "Very well," +shrugged his shoulders, and descended the hill. + +When he was gone I sat down on the brow of the hill, and with my +face turned to the east began slowly to chant a translation made by +myself in the days of my boyhood of an ode to Sycharth composed by +Iolo Goch when upwards of a hundred years old, shortly after his +arrival at that place, to which he had been invited by Owen +Glendower:- + + +Twice have I pledg'd my word to thee +To come thy noble face to see; +His promises let every man +Perform as far as e'er he can! +Full easy is the thing that's sweet, +And sweet this journey is and meet; +I've vowed to Owain's court to go, +And I'm resolved to keep my vow; +So thither straight I'll take my way +With blithesome heart, and there I'll stay, +Respect and honour, whilst I breathe, +To find his honour'd roof beneath. +My chief of long lin'd ancestry +Can harbour sons of poesy; +I've heard, for so the muse has told, +He's kind and gentle to the old; +Yes, to his castle I will hie; +There's none to match it 'neath the sky: +It is a baron's stately court, +Where bards for sumptuous fare resort; +There dwells the lord of Powis land, +Who granteth every just demand. +Its likeness now I'll limn you out: +'Tis water girdled wide about; +It shows a wide and stately door +Reached by a bridge the water o'er; +'Tis formed of buildings coupled fair, +Coupled is every couple there; +Within a quadrate structure tall +Muster the merry pleasures all. +Conjointly are the angles bound - +No flaw in all the place is found. +Structures in contact meet the eye +Upon the hillock's top on high; +Into each other fastened they +The form of a hard knot display. +There dwells the chief we all extol +In timber house on lightsome knoll; +Upon four wooden columns proud +Mounteth his mansion to the cloud; +Each column's thick and firmly bas'd, +And upon each a loft is plac'd; +In these four lofts, which coupled stand, +Repose at night the minstrel band; +Four lofts they were in pristine state, +But now partitioned form they eight. +Tiled is the roof, on each house-top +Rise smoke-ejecting chimneys up. +All of one form there are nine halls +Each with nine wardrobes in its walls +With linen white as well supplied +As fairest shops of fam'd Cheapside. +Behold that church with cross uprais'd +And with its windows neatly glaz'd; +All houses are in this comprest - +An orchard's near it of the best, +Also a park where void of fear +Feed antler'd herds of fallow deer. +A warren wide my chief can boast, +Of goodly steeds a countless host. +Meads where for hay the clover grows, +Corn-fields which hedges trim inclose, +A mill a rushing brook upon, +And pigeon tower fram'd of stone; +A fish-pond deep and dark to see, +To cast nets in when need there be, +Which never yet was known to lack +A plenteous store of perch and jack. +Of various plumage birds abound; +Herons and peacocks haunt around, +What luxury doth his hall adorn, +Showing of cost a sovereign scorn; +His ale from Shrewsbury town he brings; +His usquebaugh is drink for kings; +Bragget he keeps, bread white of look, +And, bless the mark! a bustling cook. +His mansion is the minstrels' home, +You'll find them there whene'er you come +Of all her sex his wife's the best; +The household through her care is blest +She's scion of a knightly tree, +She's dignified, she's kind and free. +His bairns approach me, pair by pair, +O what a nest of chieftains fair! +Here difficult it is to catch +A sight of either bolt or latch; +The porter's place here none will fill; +Her largess shall be lavish'd still, +And ne'er shall thirst or hunger rude +In Sycharth venture to intrude. +A noble leader, Cambria's knight, +The lake possesses, his by right, +And midst that azure water plac'd, +The castle, by each pleasure grac'd. + + +And when I had finished repeating these lines I said, "How much +more happy, innocent, and holy, I was in the days of my boyhood +when I translate Iolo's ode than I am at the present time!" Then +covering my face with my hands I wept like a child. + + + +CHAPTER LXVII + + + +Cup of Coffee - Gwen - Bluff old Fellow - A Rabble Rout - All from +Wrexham. + + +AFTER a while I arose from my seat and descending the hill returned +to the house of my honest friends, whom I found sitting by their +fire as I had first seen them. + +"Well," said the man, "did you bring back Owen Glendower?" + +"Not only him," said I, "but his house, family, and all relating to +him." + +"By what means?" said the man. + +"By means of a song made a long time ago, which describes Sycharth +as it was in his time, and his manner of living there." + +Presently Gwen, who had been preparing coffee in expectation of my +return, poured out a cupful, which she presented to me, at the same +time handing me some white sugar in a basin. + +I took the coffee, helped myself to some sugar, and returned her +thanks in her own language. + +"Ah," said the man, in Welsh, "I see you are a Cumro. Gwen and I +have been wondering whether you were Welsh or English; but I see +you are one of ourselves." + +"No," said I in the same language, "I am an Englishman, born in a +part of England the farthest of any from Wales. In fact, I am a +Carn Sais." + +"And how came you to speak Welsh?" said the man. + +"I took it into my head to learn it when I was a boy," said I. +"Englishmen sometimes do strange things." + +"So I have heard," said the man, "but I never heard before of an +Englishman learning Welsh." + +I proceeded to drink my coffee, and having finished it, and had a +little more discourse I got up, and having given Gwen a piece of +silver, which she received with a smile and a curtsey, I said I +must now be going, + +"Won't you take another cup?" said Gwen, "you are welcome." + +"No, thank you," said I, "I have had enough." + +"Where are you going?" said the man in English. + +"To Llan Rhyadr," said I, "from which I came this morning." + +"Which way did you come?" said the man. + +"By Llan Gedwin," I replied, "and over the hill. Is there another +way?" + +"There is," said the man, "by Llan Silin." + +"Llan Silin!" said I; "is not that the place where Huw Morris is +buried?" + +"It is," said the man. + +"I will return by Llan Silin," said I, "and in passing through pay +a visit to the tomb of the great poet. Is Llan Silin far off?" + +"About half a mile," said the man. "Go over the bridge, turn to +the right, and you will be there presently." + +I shook the honest couple by the hand and bade them farewell. The +man put on his hat and went with me a few yards from the door, and +then proceeded towards the factory. I passed over the bridge, +under which was a streamlet, which a little below the bridge +received the brook which once turned Owen Glendower's corn-mill. I +soon reached Llan Silin, a village or townlet, having some high +hills at a short distance to the westward, which form part of the +Berwyn. + +I entered the kitchen of an old-fashioned public-house, and sitting +down by a table told the landlord, a red-nosed elderly man, who +came bowing up to me, to bring me a pint of ale. The landlord +bowed and departed. A bluff-looking old fellow, somewhat under the +middle size, sat just opposite to me at the table. He was dressed +in a white frieze coat, and had a small hat on his head set rather +consequentially on one side. Before him on the table stood a jug +of ale, between which and him lay a large crabstick. Three or four +other people stood or sat in different parts of the room. +Presently the landlord returned with the ale. + +"I suppose you come on sessions business, sir?" said he, as he +placed it down before me. + +"Are the sessions being held here to-day?" said I. + +"They are," said the landlord, "and there is plenty of business; +two bad cases of poaching, Sir Watkin's keepers are up at court and +hope to convict." + +"I am not come on sessions business," said I; "I am merely +strolling a little about to see the country." + +"He is come from South Wales," said the old fellow in the frieze +coat, to the landlord, "in order to see what kind of country the +north is. Well at any rate he has seen a better country than his +own." + +"How do you know that I come from South Wales?" said I. + +"By your English," said the old fellow; "anybody may know you are +South Welsh by your English; it is so cursedly bad. But let's hear +you speak a little Welsh; then I shall be certain as to who you +are." + +I did as he bade me, saying a few words in Welsh. + +"There's Welsh," said the old fellow, "who but a South Welshman +would talk Welsh in that manner? It's nearly as bad as your +English." + +I asked him if he had ever been in South Wales. + +"Yes," said he; "and a bad country I found it; just like the +people." + +"If you take me for a South Welshman," said I, "you ought to speak +civilly both of the South Welsh and their country." + +"I am merely paying tit for tat," said the old fellow. "When I was +in South Wales your people laughed at my folks and country, so when +I meet one of them here I serve him out as I was served out there." + +I made no reply to him, but addressing myself to the landlord +inquired whether Huw Morris was not buried in Llan Silin +churchyard. He replied in the affirmative. + +"I should like to see his tomb," said I. + +"Well, sir," said the landlord, "I shall be happy to show it to you +whenever you please." + +Here again the old fellow put in his word. + +"You never had a prydydd like Huw Morris in South Wales," said he; +"nor Twm o'r Nant either." + +"South Wales has produced good poets," said I. + +"No, it hasn't," said the old fellow; "it never produced one. If +it had, you wouldn't have needed to come here to see the grave of a +poet; you would have found one at home." + +As he said these words he got up, took his stick, and seemed about +to depart. Just then in burst a rabble rout of game-keepers and +river-watchers who had come from the petty sessions, and were in +high glee, the two poachers whom the landlord had mentioned having +been convicted and heavily fined. Two or three of them were +particularly boisterous, running against some of the guests who +were sitting or standing in the kitchen, and pushing the landlord +about, crying at the same time that they would stand by Sir Watkin +to the last, and would never see him plundered. One of them, a +fellow of about thirty, in a hairy cap, black coat, dirty yellow +breeches, and dirty white top-boots, who was the most obstreperous +of them all, at last came up to the old chap who disliked South +Welshmen and tried to knock off his hat, swearing that he would +stand by Sir Watkin; he, however, met a Tartar. The enemy of the +South Welsh, like all crusty people, had lots of mettle, and with +the stick which he held in his hand forthwith aimed a blow at the +fellow's poll, which, had he not jumped back, would probably have +broken it. + +"I will not be insulted by you, you vagabond," said the old chap, +"nor by Sir Watkin either; go and tell him so." + +The fellow looked sheepish, and turning away proceeded to take +liberties with other people less dangerous to meddle with than old +crabstick. He, however, soon desisted, and sat down evidently +disconcerted. + +"Were you ever worse treated in South Wales by the people there +than you have been here by your own countrymen?" said I to the old +fellow. + +"My countrymen?" said he; "this scamp is no countryman of mine; nor +is one of the whole kit. They are all from Wrexham, a mixture of +broken housekeepers and fellows too stupid to learn a trade; a set +of scamps fit for nothing in the world but to swear bodily against +honest men. They say they will stand up for Sir Watkin, and so +they will, but only in a box in the Court to give false evidence. +They won't fight for him on the banks of the river. Countrymen of +mine, indeed! they are no countrymen of mine; they are from +Wrexham, where the people speak neither English nor Welsh, not even +South Welsh as you do." + +Then giving a kind of flourish with his stick he departed. + + + +CHAPTER LXVIII + + + +Llan Silin Church - Tomb of Huw Morris - Barbara and Richard - +Welsh Country Clergyman - The Swearing Lad - Anglo-Saxon Devils. + + +HAVING discussed my ale I asked the landlord if he would show me +the grave of Huw Morris. "With pleasure, sir," said he; "pray +follow me." He led me to the churchyard, in which several enormous +yew trees were standing, probably of an antiquity which reached as +far back as the days of Henry the Eighth, when the yew bow was +still the favourite weapon of the men of Britain. The church +fronts the south, the portico being in that direction. The body of +the sacred edifice is ancient, but the steeple which bears a gilded +cock on its top is modern. The innkeeper led me directly up to the +southern wall, then pointing to a broad discoloured slab, which lay +on the ground just outside the wall, about midway between the +portico and the oriel end, he said: + +"Underneath this stone lies Huw Morris, sir." Forthwith taking off +my hat I went down on my knees and kissed the cold slab covering +the cold remains of the mighty Huw, and then, still on my knees, +proceeded to examine it attentively. It is covered over with +letters three parts defaced. All I could make out of the +inscription was the date of the poet's death, 1709. "A great +genius, a very great genius, sir," said the inn-keeper, after I had +got on my feet and put on my hat. + +"He was indeed," said I; "are you acquainted with his poetry?" + +"Oh yes," said the innkeeper, and then repeated the four lines +composed by the poet shortly before his death, which I had heard +the intoxicated stonemason repeat in the public-house of the Pandy, +the day I went to visit the poet's residence with John Jones. + +"Do you know any more of Huw's poetry?" said I. + +"No," said the innkeeper. "Those lines, however, I have known ever +since I was a child and repeated them, more particularly of late +since age has come upon me and I have felt that I cannot last +long." + +It is very odd how few of the verses of great poets are in people's +mouths. Not more than a dozen of Shakespear's lines are in +people's mouths: of those of Pope not more than half that number. +Of Addison's poetry two or three lines may be in people's mouths, +though I never heard one quoted, the only line which I ever heard +quoted as Addison's not being his but Garth's: + + +"'Tis best repenting in a coach and six.' + + +Whilst of the verses of Huw Morris I never knew any one but myself, +who am not a Welshman, who could repeat a line beyond the four +which I have twice had occasion to mention, and which seem to be +generally known in North if not in South Wales. + +From the flagstone I proceeded to the portico and gazed upon it +intensely. It presented nothing very remarkable, but it had the +greatest interest for me, for I remembered how many times Huw +Morris had walked out of that porch at the head of the +congregation, the clergyman yielding his own place to the inspired +bard. I would fain have entered the church, but the landlord had +not the key, and told me that he imagined there would be some +difficulty in procuring it. I was therefore obliged to content +myself with peeping through a window into the interior, which had a +solemn and venerable aspect. + +"Within there," said I to myself, "Huw Morris, the greatest +songster of the seventeenth century, knelt every Sunday during the +latter thirty years of his life, after walking from Pont y Meibion +across the bleak and savage Berwyn. Within there was married +Barbara Wynn, the Rose of Maelai, to Richard Middleton, the +handsome cavalier of Maelor, and within there she lies buried, even +as the songster who lamented her untimely death in immortal verse +lies buried out here in the graveyard. What interesting +associations has this church for me, both outside and in, but all +connected with Huw; for what should I have known of Barbara, the +Rose, and gallant Richard but for the poem on their affectionate +union and untimely separation, the dialogue between the living and +the dead, composed by humble Huw, the farmer's son of Ponty y +Meibion?" + +After gazing through the window till my eyes watered I turned to +the innkeeper, and inquired the way to Llan Rhyadr. Having +received from him the desired information I thanked him for his +civility, and set out on my return. + +Before I could get clear of the town I suddenly encountered my +friend R-, the clever lawyer and magistrate's clerk of Llangollen. + +"I little expected to see you here," said he. + +"Nor I you," I replied. + +"I came in my official capacity," said he; "the petty sessions have +been held here to-day." + +"I know they have," I replied; "and that two poachers have been +convicted. I came here on my way to South Wales to see the grave +of Huw Morris, who, as you know, is buried in the churchyard." + +"Have you seen the clergyman?" said R-. + +"No," I replied. + +"Then come with me," said he; "I am now going to call upon him. I +know he will be rejoiced to make your acquaintance." + +He led me to the clergyman's house, which stood at the south-west +end of the village within a garden fenced with an iron paling. We +found the clergyman in a nice comfortable parlour or study, the +sides of which were decorated with books. He was a sharp clever- +looking man, of about the middle age. On my being introduced to +him he was very glad to see me, as my friend R- told me he would +be. He seemed to know all about me, even that I understood Welsh. +We conversed on various subjects: on the power of the Welsh +language; its mutable letters; on Huw Morris, and likewise on ale, +with an excellent glass of which he regaled me. I was much pleased +with him, and thought him a capital specimen of the Welsh country +clergyman. His name was Walter Jones. + +After staying about half-an-hour I took leave of the good kind man, +who wished me all kind of happiness, spiritual and temporal, and +said that he should always be happy to see me at Llan Silin. My +friend R- walked with me a little way and then bade me farewell. +It was now late in the afternoon, the sky was grey and gloomy, and +a kind of half wintry wind was blowing. In the forenoon I had +travelled along the eastern side of the valley, which I will call +that of Llan Rhyadr, directing my course to the north, but I was +now on the western side of the valley, journeying towards the +south. In about half-an-hour I found myself nearly parallel with +the high crag which I had seen from a distance in the morning. It +was now to the east of me. Its western front was very precipitous, +but on its northern side it was cultivated nearly to the summit. +As I stood looking at it from near the top of a gentle acclivity a +boy with a team, whom I had passed a little time before, came up. +He was whipping his horses, who were straining up the ascent, and +was swearing at them most frightfully in English. I addressed him +in that language, inquiring the name of the crag, but he answered +Dim Saesneg, and then again fell to cursing; his horses in English. +I allowed him and his team to get to the top of the ascent, and +then overtaking him, I said in Welsh: "What do you mean by saying +you have no English? You were talking English just now to your +horses." + +"Yes," said the lad, "I have English enough for my horses, and that +is all." + +"You seem to have plenty of Welsh," said I; "why don't you speak +Welsh to your horses?" + +"It's of no use speaking Welsh to them," said the boy; "Welsh isn't +strong enough." + +"Isn't Myn Diawl tolerably strong?" said I. + +"Not strong enough for horses," said the boy "if I were to say Myn +Diawl to my horses, or even Cas Andras, they would laugh at me." + +"Do the other carters," said I, "use the same English to their +horses which you do to yours?" + +"Yes" said the boy, "they'll all use the same English words; if +they didn't the horses wouldn't mind them." + +"What a triumph," thought I, "for the English language that the +Welsh carters are obliged to have recourse to its oaths and +execrations to make their horses get on!" + +I said nothing more to the boy on the subject of language, but +again asked him the name of the crag. "It is called Craig y +Gorllewin," said he. I thanked him, and soon left him and his team +far behind. + +Notwithstanding what the boy said about the milk-and-water +character of native Welsh oaths, the Welsh have some very pungent +execrations, quite as efficacious, I should say, to make a horse +get on as any in the English swearing vocabulary. Some of their +oaths are curious, being connected with heathen times and Druidical +mythology; for example that Cas Andras, mentioned by the boy, which +means hateful enemy or horrible Andras. Andras or Andraste was the +fury or Demigorgon of the Ancient Cumry, to whom they built temples +and offered sacrifices out of fear. Curious that the same oath +should be used by the Christian Cumry of the present day, which was +in vogue amongst their pagan ancestors some three thousand years +ago. However, the same thing is observable amongst us Christian +English: we say the Duse take you! even as our heathen Saxon +forefathers did, who worshipped a kind of Devil so called, and +named a day of the week after him, which name we still retain in +our hebdomadal calendar like those of several other Anglo-Saxon +devils. We also say: Go to old Nick! and Nick or Nikkur was a +surname of Woden, and also the name of a spirit which haunted fords +and was in the habit of drowning passengers. + +Night came quickly upon me after I had passed the swearing lad. +However, I was fortunate enough to reach Llan Rhyadr, without +having experienced any damage or impediment from Diawl, Andras, +Duse, or Nick. + + + +CHAPTER LXIX + + + +Church of Llan Rhyadr - The Clerk - The Tablet - Stone - First View +of the Cataract. + + +THE night was both windy and rainy like the preceding one, but the +morning which followed, unlike that of the day before, was dull and +gloomy. After breakfast I walked out to take another view of the +little town. As I stood looking at the church a middle-aged man of +a remarkably intelligent countenance came up and asked me if I +should like to see the inside. I told him I should, whereupon he +said that he was the clerk and would admit me with pleasure. +Taking a key out of his pocket he unlocked the door of the church +and we went in. The inside was sombre, not so much owing to the +gloominess of the day as the heaviness of the architecture. It +presented something in the form of a cross. I soon found the clerk +what his countenance represented him to be, a highly intelligent +person. His answers to my questions were in general ready and +satisfactory. + +"This seems rather an ancient edifice," said I; "when was it +built?" + +"In the sixteenth century," said the clerk; "in the days of Harry +Tudor." + +"Have any remarkable men been clergymen of this church?" + +"Several, sir; amongst its vicars was Doctor William Morgan, the +great South Welshman, the author of the old Welsh version of the +Bible, who flourished in the time of Queen Elizabeth. Then there +was Doctor Robert South, an eminent divine, who, though not a +Welshman, spoke and preached Welsh better than many of the native +clergy. Then there was the last vicar, Walter D-, a great preacher +and writer, who styled himself in print Gwalter Mechain." + +"Are Morgan and South buried here?" said I. + +"They are not, sir," said the clerk; "they had been transferred to +other benefices before they died." + +I did not inquire whether Walter D- was buried there, for of him I +had never heard before, but demanded whether the church possessed +any ancient monuments. + +"This is the oldest which remains, sir," said the clerk, and he +pointed with his finger to a tablet-stone over a little dark pew on +the right side of the oriel window. There was an inscription upon +it, but owing to the darkness I could not make out a letter. The +clerk, however, read as follows. + + +1694. 21 Octr. +Hic Sepultus Est +Sidneus Bynner. + + +"Do you understand Latin?" said I to the clerk. + +"I do not, sir; I believe, however, that the stone is to the memory +of one Bynner." + +"That is not a Welsh name," said I. + +"It is not, sir," said the clerk. + +"It seems to be radically the same as Bonner," said I, "the name of +the horrible Popish Bishop of London in Mary's time. Do any people +of the name of Bynner reside in this neighbourhood at present?" + +"None, sir," said the clerk; "and if the Bynners are descendants of +Bonner, it is, perhaps, well that there are none." + +I made the clerk, who appeared almost fit to be a clergyman, a +small present, and returned to the inn. After paying my bill I +flung my satchel over my shoulder, took my umbrella by the middle +in my right hand, and set off for the Rhyadr. + +I entered the narrow glen at the western extremity of the town and +proceeded briskly along. The scenery was romantically beautiful; +on my left was the little brook, the waters of which run through +the town; beyond it a lofty hill; on my right was a hill covered +with wood from the top to the bottom. I enjoyed the scene, and +should have enjoyed it more had there been a little sunshine to +gild it. + +I passed through a small village, the name of which I think was +Cynmen, and presently overtook a man and boy. The man saluted me +in English, and I entered into conversation with him in that +language. He told me that he came from Llan Gedwin, and was going +to a place called Gwern something, in order to fetch home some +sheep. After a time he asked me where I was going. + +"I am going to see the Pistyll Rhyadr," said I + +We had then just come to the top of a rising ground. + +"Yonder's the Pistyll!" said he, pointing to the west. + +I looked in the direction of his finger, and saw something at a +great distance, which looked like a strip of grey linen hanging +over a crag. + +"That is the waterfall," he continued, "which so many of the Saxons +come to see. And now I must bid you good-bye, master; for my way +to the Gwern is on the right" + +Then followed by the boy he turned aside into a wild road at the +corner of a savage, precipitous rock. + + + +CHAPTER LXX + + + +Mountain Scenery - The Rhyadr - Wonderful Feat. + + +AFTER walking about a mile with the cataract always in sight, I +emerged from the glen into an oblong valley extending from south to +north, having lofty hills on all sides, especially on the west, +from which direction the cataract comes. I advanced across the +vale till within a furlong of this object, when I was stopped by a +deep hollow or nether vale into which the waters of the cataract +tumble. On the side of this hollow I sat down, and gazed down +before me and on either side. The water comes spouting over a crag +of perhaps two hundred feet in altitude between two hills, one +south-east and the other nearly north. The southern hill is wooded +from the top, nearly down to where the cataract bursts forth; and +so, but not so thickly, is the northern hill, which bears a +singular resemblance to a hog's back. Groves of pine are on the +lower parts of both; in front of a grove low down on the northern +hill is a small white house of a picturesque appearance. The water +of the cataract, after reaching the bottom of the precipice, rushes +in a narrow brook down the vale in the direction of Llan Rhyadr. +To the north-east, between the hog-backed hill and another strange- +looking mountain, is a wild glen, from which comes a brook to swell +the waters discharged by the Rhyadr. The south-west side of the +vale is steep, and from a cleft of a hill in that quarter a slender +stream rushing impetuously joins the brook of the Rhyadr, like the +rill of the northern glen. The principal object of the whole is of +course the Rhyadr. What shall I liken it to? I scarcely know, +unless to an immense skein of silk agitated and disturbed by +tempestuous blasts, or to the long tail of a grey courser at +furious speed. Through the profusion of long silvery threads or +hairs, or what looked such, I could here and there see the black +sides of the crag down which the Rhyadr precipitated itself with +something between a boom and a roar. + +After sitting on the verge of the hollow for a considerable time I +got up, and directed my course towards the house in front of the +grove. I turned down the path which brought me to the brook which +runs from the northern glen into the waters discharged by the +Rhyadr, and crossing it by stepping-stones, found myself on the +lowest spur of the hog-backed hill. A steep path led towards the +house. As I drew near two handsome dogs came rushing to welcome +the stranger. Coming to a door on the northern side of the house I +tapped, and a handsome girl of about thirteen making her +appearance, I inquired in English the nearest way the waterfall; +she smiled, and in her native language said that she had no Saxon. +On my telling her in Welsh that I was come to see the Pistyll she +smiled again, and said that I was welcome, then taking me round the +house, she pointed to a path and bade me follow it. I followed the +path which led downward to a tiny bridge of planks, a little way +below the fall. I advanced to the middle of the bridge, then +turning to the west, looked at the wonderful object before me. + +There are many remarkable cataracts in Britain and the neighbouring +isles, even the little Celtic Isle of Man has its remarkable +waterfall; but this Rhyadr, the grand cataract of North Wales, far +exceeds them all in altitude and beauty, though it is inferior to +several of them in the volume of its flood. I never saw water +falling so gracefully, so much like thin beautiful threads, as +here. Yet even this cataract has its blemish. What beautiful +object has not something which more or less mars its loveliness? +There is an ugly black bridge or semi-circle of rock, about two +feet in diameter and about twenty feet high, which rises some +little way below it, and under which the water, after reaching the +bottom, passes, which intercepts the sight, and prevents it from +taking in the whole fall at once. This unsightly object has stood +where it now stands since the day of creation, and will probably +remain there to the day of judgment. It would be a desecration of +nature to remove it by art, but no one could regret if nature in +one of her floods were to sweep it away. + +As I was standing on the planks a woman plainly but neatly dressed +came from the house. She addressed me in very imperfect English, +saying that she was the mistress of the house and should be happy +to show me about. I thanked her for her offer, and told her that +she might speak Welsh, whereupon she looked glad, and said in that +tongue that she could speak Welsh much better than Saesneg. She +took me by a winding path up a steep bank on the southern side of +the fall to a small plateau, and told me that was the best place to +see the Pistyll from. I did not think so, for we were now so near +that we were almost blinded by the spray, though, it is true, the +semicircle of rock no longer impeded the sight; this object we now +saw nearly laterally rising up like a spectral arch, spray and foam +above it, and water rushing below. "That is a bridge rather for +ysprydoedd (9) to pass over than men," said I. + +"It is," said the woman; "but I once saw a man pass over it." + +"How did he get up?" said I. "The sides are quite steep and +slippery." + +"He wriggled to the sides like a llysowen, (10) till he got to the +top, when he stood upright for a minute, and then slid down on the +other side." + +"Was he any one from these parts?" said I. + +"He was not. He was a dyn dieithr, a Russian; one of those with +whom we are now at war." + +"Was there as much water tumbling then as now?" + +"More, for there had fallen more rain." + +"I suppose the torrent is sometimes very dreadful?" said I. + +"It is indeed, especially in winter; for it is then like a sea, and +roars like thunder or a mad bull." + +After I had seen all I wished of the cataract, the woman asked me +to come to the house and take some refreshment. I followed her to +a neat little room where she made me sit down and handed me a bowl +of butter-milk. On the table was a book in which she told me it +was customary for individuals who visited the cataract to insert +their names. I took up the book which contained a number of names +mingled here and there with pieces of poetry. Amongst these +compositions was a Welsh englyn on the Rhyadr, which, though +incorrect in its prosody, I thought stirring and grand. I copied +it, and subjoin it with a translation which I made on the spot. + + +"Crychiawg, ewynawg anian - yw y Rhyadr +Yn rhuo mal taran; +Colofn o dwr, gloyw-dwr glan, +Gorwyllt, un lliw ag arian." + +Foaming and frothing from mountainous height, +Roaring like thunder the Rhyadr falls; +Though its silvery splendour the eye may delight, +Its fury the heart of the bravest appals. + + + +CHAPTER LXXI + + + +Wild Moors - The Guide - Scientific Discourse - The Land of Arthur +- The Umbrella - Arrival at Bala. + + +WHEN I had rested myself and finished the buttermilk, I got up, and +making the good woman a small compensation for her civility, +inquired if I could get to Bala without returning to Llan Rhyadr. + +"Oh yes," said she, "if you cross the hills for about five miles +you will find yourself upon a road which will take you straight to +Bala." + +"Is there anyone here," said I, "who will guide me over the hills, +provided I pay him for his trouble?" + +"Oh yes," said she, "I know one who will be happy to guide you +whether you pay him or not." + +She went out and presently returned with a man about thirty-five, +stout and well-looking, and dressed in a waggoner's frock. + +"There," said she, "this is the man to show you over the hills; few +know the paths better." + +I thanked her, and telling the man I was ready, bade him lead the +way. We set out, the two dogs of which I have spoken attending us, +and seemingly very glad to go. We ascended the side of the hog- +backed hill to the north of the Rhyadr. We were about twenty +minutes in getting to the top, close to which stood a stone or +piece of rock, very much resembling a church altar, and about the +size of one. We were now on an extensive moory elevation, having +the brook which forms the Rhyadr a little way on our left. We went +nearly due west, following no path, for path there was none, but +keeping near the brook. Sometimes we crossed water-courses which +emptied their tribute into the brook, and every now and then +ascended and descended hillocks covered with gorse and whin. After +a little time I entered into conversation with my guide. He had +not a word of English. + +"Are you married?" said I. + +"In truth I am, sir." + +"What family have you?" + +"I have a daughter." + +"Where do you live?" + +"At the house of the Rhyadr." + +"I suppose you live there as servant?" + +"No, sir, I live there as master." + +"Is the good woman I saw there your wife?" + +"In truth, sir, she is." + +"And the young girl I saw your daughter?" + +"Yes, sir, she is my daughter." + +"And how came the good woman not to tell me you were her husband?" + +"I suppose, sir, you did not ask who I was, and she thought you did +not care to know." + +"But can you be spared from home?" + +"Oh yes, sir, I was not wanted at home." + +"What business are you?" + +"I am a farmer, sir." + +"A sheep farmer?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"Who is your landlord." + +"Sir Watkin." + +"Well, it was very kind of you to come with me." + +"Not at all, sir; I was glad to come with you, for we are very +lonesome at Rhyadr, except during a few weeks in the summer, when +the gentry come to see the Pistyll. Moreover, I have sheep lying +about here which need to be looked at now and then, and by coming +hither with you I shall have an opportunity of seeing them." + +We frequently passed sheep feeding together in small numbers. In +two or three instances my guide singled out individuals, caught +them, and placing their heads between his knees examined the +insides of their eyelids, in order to learn by their colour whether +or not they were infected with the pwd or moor disorder. We had +some discourse about that malady. At last he asked me if there was +a remedy for it. + +"Oh yes," said I; "a decoction of hoarhound." + +"What is hoarhound?" said he. + +"Llwyd y Cwn," said I. "Pour some of that down the sheep's throat +twice a day, by means of a horn, and the sheep will recover, for +the bitterness, do you see, will destroy the worm (11) in the +liver, which learned men say is the cause of the disorder." + +We left the brook on our left hand and passed by some ruined walls +which my guide informed me had once belonged to houses but were now +used as sheepfolds. After walking several miles, according to my +computation, we began to ascend a considerable elevation covered +with brown heath and ling. As we went on the dogs frequently put +up a bird of a black colour, which flew away with a sharp whirr. + +"What bird is that?" said I. + +"Ceiliog y grug, the cock of the heath," replied my guide. "It is +said to be very good eating, but I have never tasted it. The +ceiliog y grug is not food for the like of me. It goes to feed the +rich Saxons in Caer Ludd." + +We reached the top of the elevation. + +"Yonder," said my guide, pointing to a white bare place a great way +off to the west, "is Bala road." + +"Then I will not trouble you to go any further," said I; "I can +find my way thither." + +"No, you could not," said my guide; "if you were to make straight +for that place you would perhaps fall down a steep, or sink into a +peat hole up to your middle, or lose your way and never find the +road, for you would soon lose sight of that place. Follow me, and +I will lead you into a part of the road more to the left, and then +you can find your way easily enough to that bare place, and from +thence to Bala." Thereupon he moved in a southerly direction down +the steep and I followed him. In about twenty minutes we came to +the road. + +"Now," said my guide, "you are on the road; bear to the right and +you cannot miss the way to Bala." + +"How far is it to Bala?" said I. + +"About twelve miles," he replied. + +I gave him a trifle, asking at the same time if it was sufficient. +"Too much by one-half," he replied; "many, many thanks." He then +shook me by the hand, and accompanied by his dogs departed, not +back over the moor, but in a southerly direction down the road. + +Wending my course to the north, I came to the white bare spot which +I had seen from the moor, and which was in fact the top of a +considerable elevation over which the road passed. Here I turned +and looked at the hills I had come across. There they stood, +darkly blue, a rain cloud, like ink, hanging over their summits. +Oh, the wild hills of Wales, the land of old renown and of wonder, +the land of Arthur and Merlin! + +The road now lay nearly due west. Rain came on, but it was at my +back, so I expanded my umbrella, flung it over my shoulder and +laughed. Oh, how a man laughs who has a good umbrella when he has +the rain at his back, aye and over his head too, and at all times +when it rains except when the rain is in his face, when the +umbrella is not of much service. Oh, what a good friend to a man +is an umbrella in rain time, and likewise at many other times. +What need he fear if a wild bull or a ferocious dog attacks him, +provided he has a good umbrella? He unfurls the umbrella in the +face of the bull or dog, and the brute turns round quite scared, +and runs away. Or if a footpad asks him for his money, what need +he care provided he has an umbrella? He threatens to dodge the +ferrule into the ruffian's eye, and the fellow starts back and +says, "Lord, sir! I meant no harm. I never saw you before in all +my life. I merely meant a little fun." Moreover, who doubts that +you are a respectable character provided you have an umbrella? You +go into a public-house and call for a pot of beer, and the publican +puts it down before you with one hand without holding out the other +for the money, for he sees that you have an umbrella and +consequently property. And what respectable man, when you overtake +him on the way and speak to him, will refuse to hold conversation +with you, provided you have an umbrella? No one. The respectable +man sees you have an umbrella, and concludes that you do not intend +to rob him, and with justice, for robbers never carry umbrellas. +Oh, a tent, a shield, a lance, and a voucher for character is an +umbrella. Amongst the very best friends of man must be reckoned an +umbrella. (12) + +The way lay over dreary, moory hills; at last it began to descend, +and I saw a valley below me with a narrow river running through it, +to which wooded hills sloped down; far to the west were blue +mountains. The scene was beautiful but melancholy; the rain had +passed away, but a gloomy almost November sky was above, and the +mists of night were coming down apace. + +I crossed a bridge at the bottom of the valley and presently saw a +road branching to the right. I paused, but after a little time +went straight forward. Gloomy woods were on each side of me and +night had come down. Fear came upon me that I was not on the right +road, but I saw no house at which I could inquire, nor did I see a +single individual for miles of whom I could ask. At last I heard +the sound of hatchets in a dingle on my right, and catching a +glimpse of a gate at the head of a path, which led down into it, I +got over it. After descending some time I hallooed. The noise of +the hatchets ceased. I hallooed again, and a voice cried in Welsh, +"What do you want?" "To know the way to Bala," I replied. There +was no answer, but presently I heard steps, and the figure of a man +drew nigh, half undistinguishable in the darkness, and saluted me. +I returned his salutation, and told him I wanted to know the way to +Bala. He told me, and I found I had been going right. I thanked +him and regained the road. I sped onward, and in about half-an- +hour saw some houses, then a bridge, then a lake on my left, which +I recognised as the lake of Bala. I skirted the end of it, and +came to a street cheerfully lighted up, and in a minute more was in +the White Lion Inn. + + + +CHAPTER LXXII + + + +Cheerful Fire - Immense Man - Doctor Jones - Recognition - A Fast +Young Man - Excellent Remarks - Disappointment. + + +I WAS conducted into the coffee-room of the White Lion by a little +freckled maid whom I saw at the bar, and whom I told that I was +come to pass the night at the inn. The room presented an agreeable +contrast to the gloomy, desolate places through which I had lately +come. A good fire blazed in the grate, and there were four lights +on the table. Lolling in a chair by one side of the fire was an +individual at the sight of whom I almost started. He was an +immense man, weighing I should say at least eighteen stone, with +brown hair, thinnish whiskers, half-ruddy, half-tallowy complexion, +and dressed in a brown sporting coat, drab breeches, and yellow- +topped boots - in every respect the exact image of the +Wolverhampton gent or hog-merchant who had appeared to me in my +dream at Llangollen, whilst asleep before the fire. Yes, the very +counterpart of that same gent looked this enormous fellow, save and +except that he did not appear to be more than seven or eight and +twenty, whereas the hog-merchant looked at least fifty. Laying my +satchel down I took a seat and ordered the maid to get some dinner +for me, and then asked what had become of the waiter, Tom Jenkins. + +"He is not here at present, sir," said the freckled maid; "he is at +his own house." + +"And why is he not here?" said I. + +"Because he is not wanted, sir; he only comes in summer when the +house is full of people." + +And having said this the little freckled damsel left the room. + +"Reither a cool night, sir!" said the enormous man after we had +been alone together a few minutes. + +I again almost started, for he spoke with the same kind of half- +piping, half-wheezing voice, with which methought the Wolverhampton +gent had spoken to me in my dream. + +"Yes," said I; "it is rather cold out abroad, but I don't care as I +am not going any farther to-night." + +"That's not my case," said the stout man, "I have got to go ten +miles, as far as Cerrig Drudion, from which place I came this +afternoon in a wehicle." + +"Do you reside at Cerrig Drudion?" said I. + +"No," said the stout man, whose dialect I shall not attempt further +to imitate, "but I have been staying there some time; for happening +to go there a month or two ago I was tempted to take up my quarters +at the inn. A very nice inn it is, and the landlady a very +agreeable woman, and her daughters very agreeable young ladies." + +"Is this the first time you have been at Bala?" + +"Yes, the first time. I had heard a good deal about it, and wished +to see it. So to-day, having the offer of a vehicle at a cheap +rate, I came over with two or three other gents, amongst whom is +Doctor Jones." + +"Dear me" said I, "is Doctor Jones in Bala?" + +"Yes," said the stout man. "Do you know him?" + +"Oh yes," said I, "and have a great respect for him; his like for +politeness and general learning is scarcely to be found in +Britain." + +"Only think," said the stout man. "Well, I never heard that of him +before." + +Wishing to see my sleeping room before I got my dinner, I now rose +and was making for the door, when it opened, and in came Doctor +Jones. He had a muffler round his neck, and walked rather slowly +and disconsolately, leaning upon a cane. He passed without +appearing to recognise me, and I, thinking it would be as well to +defer claiming acquaintance with him till I had put myself a little +to rights, went out without saying anything to him. I was shown by +the freckled maid to a nice sleeping apartment, where I stayed some +time adjusting myself. On my return to the coffee-room I found the +doctor sitting near the fire-place. The stout man had left the +room. I had no doubt that he had told Doctor Jones that I had +claimed acquaintance with him, and that the doctor, not having +recollected me, had denied that he knew anything of me, for I +observed that he looked at me very suspiciously. + +I took my former seat, and after a minute's silence said to Doctor +Jones, "I think, sir, I had the pleasure of seeing you some time +ago at Cerrig Drudion?" + +"It's possible, sir," said Doctor Jones in a tone of considerable +hauteur, and tossing his head so that the end of his chin was above +his comforter, "but I have no recollection of it." + +I held my head down for a little time, then raising it and likewise +my forefinger, I looked Doctor Jones full in the face and said, +"Don't you remember talking to me about Owen Pugh and Coll Gwynfa?" + +"Yes, I do," said Doctor Jones in a very low voice, like that of a +person who deliberates; "yes, I do. I remember you perfectly, +sir," he added almost immediately in a tone of some animation; "you +are the gentleman with whom I had a very interesting conversation +one evening last summer in the bar of the inn at Cerrig Drudion. I +regretted very much that our conversation was rather brief, but I +was called away to attend to a case, a professional case, sir, of +some delicacy, and I have since particularly regretted that I was +unable to return that night, as it would have given me much +pleasure to have been present at a dialogue, which I have been told +by my friend the landlady, you held with a certain Italian who was +staying at the house, which was highly agreeable and instructive to +herself and her daughter." + +"Well," said I, "I am rejoiced that fate has brought us together +again. How have you been in health since I had the pleasure of +seeing you?" + +"Rather indifferent, sir, rather indifferent. I have of late been +afflicted with several ailments, the original cause of which, I +believe, was a residence of several years in the Ynysoedd y +Gorllewin - the West India Islands - where I had the honour of +serving her present gracious Majesty's gracious uncle, George the +Fourth - in a medical capacity, sir. I have likewise been +afflicted with lowness of spirits, sir. It was this same lowness +of spirits which induced me to accept an invitation made by the +individual lately in the room to accompany him in a vehicle with +some other people to Bala. I shall always consider my coming as a +fortunate circumstance, inasmuch as it has given me an opportunity +of renewing my acquaintance with you." + +"Pray," said I, "may I take the liberty of asking who that +individual is?" + +"Why," said Doctor Jones, "he is what they call a Wolverhampton +gent." + +"A Wolverhampton gent," said I to myself; "only think!" + +"Were you pleased to make any observation, sir?" said the doctor. + +"I was merely saying something to myself," said I. "And in what +line of business may he be? I suppose in the hog line." + +"Oh no!" said Doctor Jones. "His father, it is true, is a hog- +merchant, but as for himself he follows no business; he is what is +called a fast young man, and goes about here and there on the +spree, as I think they term it, drawing, whenever he wants money, +upon his father, who is in affluent circumstances. Some time ago +he came to Cerrig Drudion, and was so much pleased with the place, +the landlady, and her daughters, that he has made it his +headquarters ever since. Being frequently at the house I formed an +acquaintance with him, and have occasionally made one in his +parties and excursions, though I can't say I derive much pleasure +from his conversation, for he is a person of little or no +literature." + +"The son of a hog-merchant," thought I to myself. "Depend upon it, +that immense fellow whom I saw in my dream purchase the big hog at +Llangollen fair, and who wanted me to give him a poond for his +bargain, was this gent's father. Oh, there is much more in dreams +than is generally dreamt of by philosophy!" + +Doctor Jones presently began to talk of Welsh literature, and we +were busily engaged in discussing the subject when in walked the +fast young man, causing the floor to quake beneath his ponderous +tread. He looked rather surprised at seeing the doctor and me +conversing, but Doctor Jones turning to him, said, "Oh, I remember +this gentleman perfectly." + +"Oh!" said the fast young man; "very good!" then flinging himself +down in a chair with a force that nearly broke it, and fixing his +eyes upon me, said, "I think I remember the gentleman too. If I am +not much mistaken, sir, you are one of our principal engineers at +Wolverhampton. Oh yes! I remember you now perfectly. The last +time I saw you was at a public dinner given to you at +Wolverhampton, and there you made a speech, and a capital speech it +was." + +Just as I was about to reply Doctor Jones commenced speaking Welsh, +resuming the discourse on Welsh literature. Before, however, he +had uttered a dozen words he was interrupted by the Wolverhampton +gent, who exclaimed in a blubbering tone: "O Lord, you are surely +not going to speak Welsh. If I had thought I was to be bothered +with Welsh I wouldn't have asked you to come." + +"If I spoke Welsh, sir," said the doctor, "it was out of compliment +to this gentleman, who is a proficient in the ancient language of +my country. As, however, you dislike Welsh, I shall carry on the +conversation with him in English, though peradventure you may not +be more edified by it in that language than if it were held in +Welsh." + +He then proceeded to make some very excellent remarks on the +history of the Gwedir family, written by Sir John Wynn, to which +the Wolverhampton gent listened with open mouth and staring eyes. +My dinner now made its appearance, brought in by the little +freckled maid - the cloth had been laid during my absence from the +room. I had just begun to handle my knife and fork, Doctor Jones +still continuing his observations on the history of the Gwedir +family, when I heard a carriage drive up to the inn, and almost +immediately after, two or three young fellows rollicked into the +room: "Come let's be off," said one of them to the Wolverhampton +gent; "the carriage is ready." "I'm glad of it," said the fast +young man, "for it's rather slow work here. Come, doctor! are you +going with us or do you intend to stay here all night?" Thereupon +the doctor got up, and coming towards me leaning on his cane, said: +"Sir! it gives me infinite pleasure that I have met a second time a +gentleman of so much literature. That we shall ever meet a third +time I may wish but can scarcely hope, owing to certain ailments +under which I suffer, brought on, sir, by a residence of many years +in the Occidental Indies. However, at all events, I wish you +health and happiness." He then shook me gently by the hand and +departed with the Wolverhampton gent and his companions; the gent +as he stumped out of the room saying, "Good-night, sir; I hope it +will not be long before I see you at another public dinner at +Wolverhampton, and hear another speech from you as good as the +last." In a minute or two I heard them drive off. Left to myself +I began to discuss my dinner. Of the dinner I had nothing to +complain, but the ale which accompanied it was very bad. This was +the more mortifying, for, remembering the excellent ale I had drunk +at Bala some months previously, I had, as I came along the gloomy +roads the present evening, been promising myself a delicious treat +on my arrival. + +"This is very bad ale!" said I to the freckled maid, "very +different from what I drank in the summer, when I was waited on by +Tom Jenkins." + +"It is the same ale, sir," said the maid, "but the last in the +cask; and we shan't have any more for six months, when he will come +again to brew for the summer; but we have very good porter, sir, +and first-rate Allsopp." + +"Allsopp's ale," said I, "will do for July and August, but scarcely +for the end of October. However, bring me a pint; I prefer it at +all times to porter." + +My dinner concluded, I trifled away my time till about ten o'clock, +and then went to bed. + + + +CHAPTER LXXIII + + + +Breakfast - The Freckled Maid - Llan uwch Llyn - The Landlady - +Llewarch Hen - Conversions to the Church. + + +AWAKING occasionally in the night I heard much storm and rain. The +following morning it was gloomy and lowering. As it was Sunday I +determined to pass the day at Bala, and accordingly took my Prayer +Book out of my satchel, and also my single white shirt, which I put +on. + +Having dressed myself I went to the coffee-room and sat down to +breakfast. What a breakfast! - pot of hare; ditto of trout; pot of +prepared shrimps; dish of plain shrimps; tin of sardines; beautiful +beef-steak; eggs, muffin; large loaf, and butter, not forgetting +capital tea. There's a breakfast for you! + +As the little freckled maid was removing the breakfast things I +asked her how old she was. + +"Eighteen, sir, last Candlemas," said the freckled maid. + +"Are your parents alive?" + +"My mother is, sir, but my father is dead." + +"What was your father?" + +"He was an Irishman, sir! and boots to this inn." + +"Is your mother Irish?" + +"No, sir, she is of this place; my father married her shortly after +he came here." + +"Of what religion are you?" + +"Church, sir, Church." + +"Was your father of the Church?" + +"Not always, sir; he was once what is called a Catholic. He turned +to the Church after he came here." + +"A'n't there a great many Methodists in Bala?" + +"Plenty, sir, plenty." + +"How came your father not to go over to the Methodists instead of +the Church?" + +"'Cause he didn't like them, sir; he used to say they were a +trumpery, cheating set; that they wouldn't swear, but would lie +through a three-inch board." + +"I suppose your mother is a Church-woman?" + +"She is now, sir; but before she knew my father she was a +Methodist." + +"Of what religion is the master of the house?" + +"Church, sir, Church; so is all the family." + +"Who is the clergyman of the place?" + +"Mr Pugh, sir!" + +"Is he a good preacher?" + +"Capital, sir! and so is each of his curates; he and they are +converting the Methodists left and right." + +"I should like to hear him." + +"Well, sir! that you can do. My master, who is going to church +presently, will be happy to accommodate you in his pew." + +I went to church with the landlord, a tall gentlemanly man of the +name of Jones - Oh that eternal name of Jones! Rain was falling +fast, and we were glad to hold up our umbrellas. We did not go to +the church at Bala, at which there was no service that morning, but +to that of a little village close by, on the side of the lake, the +living of which is incorporated with that of Bala. The church +stands low down by the lake at the bottom of a little nook. Its +name which is Llan uwch Llyn, is descriptive of its position, +signifying the Church above the Lake. It is a long, low, ancient +edifice, standing north-east by south-west. The village is just +above it on a rising ground, behind which are lofty hills +pleasantly dotted with groves, trees, and houses. The interior of +the edifice has a somewhat dilapidated appearance. The service was +in Welsh. The clergyman was about forty years of age, and had a +highly-intelligent look. His voice was remarkably clear and +distinct. He preached an excellent practical sermon, text, 14th +chapter, 22nd verse of Luke, about sending out servants to invite +people to the supper. After the sermon there was a gathering for +the poor. + +As I returned to the inn I had a good deal of conversation with the +landlord on religious subjects. He told me that the Church of +England, which for a long time had been a down-trodden Church in +Wales, had of late begun to raise its head, and chiefly owing to +the zeal and activity of its present ministers; that the former +ministers of the Church were good men, but had not energy enough to +suit the times in which they lived; that the present ministers +fought the Methodist preachers with their own weapons, namely, +extemporary preaching, and beat them, winning shoals from their +congregations. He seemed to think that the time was not far +distant when the Anglican Church would be the popular as well as +the established Church of Wales. + +Finding myself rather dull in the inn, I went out again, +notwithstanding that it rained. I ascended the toman or mound +which I had visited on a former occasion. Nothing could be more +desolate and dreary than the scene around. The woods were stripped +of their verdure and the hills were half shrouded in mist. How +unlike was this scene to the smiling, glorious prospect which had +greeted my eyes a few months before. The rain coming down with +redoubled violence, I was soon glad to descend and regain the inn. + +Shortly before dinner I was visited by the landlady, a fine tall +woman of about fifty, with considerable remains of beauty in her +countenance. She came to ask me if I was comfortable. I told her +that it was my own fault if I was not. We were soon in very +friendly discourse. I asked her her maiden name. + +"Owen," said she, laughing, "which, after my present name of Jones, +is the most common name in Wales." + +"They were both one and the same originally," said I, "Owen and +Jones both mean John." + +She too was a staunch member of the Church of England, which she +said was the only true Church. She spoke in terms of high respect +and admiration of her minister, and said that a new church was +being built, the old one not being large enough to accommodate the +numbers who thronged to hear him. + +I had a noble goose for dinner, to which I did ample justice. +About four o'clock, the weather having cleared up, I took a stroll. +It was a beautiful evening, though rain clouds still hovered about. +I wandered to the northern end of Llyn Tegid, which I had passed in +the preceding evening. The wind was blowing from the south, and +tiny waves were beating against the shore, which consisted of small +brown pebbles. The lake has certainly not its name, which +signifies Lake of Beauty, for nothing. It is a beautiful sheet of +water, and beautifully situated. It is oblong and about six miles +in length. On all sides, except to the north, it is bounded by +hills. Those at the southern end are very lofty, the tallest of +which is Arran, which lifts its head to the clouds like a huge +loaf. As I wandered on the strand I thought of a certain British +prince and poet, who in the very old time sought a refuge in the +vicinity of the lake from the rage of the Saxons. His name was +Llewarch Hen, of whom I will now say a few words. + +Llewarch Hen, or Llewarch the Aged, was born about the commencement +of the sixth and died about the middle of the seventh century, +having attained to the prodigious age of one hundred and forty or +fifty years, which is perhaps the lot of about forty individuals in +the course of a millennium. If he was remarkable for his years he +was no less so for the number of his misfortunes. He was one of +the princes of the Cumbrian Britons; but Cumbria was invaded by the +Saxons, and a scene of horrid war ensued. Llewarch and his sons, +of whom he had twenty-four, put themselves at the head of their +forces, and in conjunction with the other Cumbrian princes made a +brave but fruitless opposition to the invaders. Most of his sons +were slain, and he himself with the remainder sought shelter in +Powys, in the hall of Cynddylan, its prince. But the Saxon bills +and bows found their way to Powys too. Cynddylan was slain, and +with him the last of the sons of Llewarch, who, reft of his +protector, retired to a hut by the side of the lake of Bala, where +he lived the life of a recluse, and composed elegies on his sons +and slaughtered friends, and on his old age, all of which abound +with so much simplicity and pathos that the heart of him must be +hard indeed who can read them unmoved. Whilst a prince he was +revered for his wisdom and equity, and he is said in one of the +historical triads to have been one of the three consulting warriors +of Arthur. + +In the evening I attended service in the old church at Bala. The +interior of the edifice was remarkably plain; no ornament of any +kind was distinguishable; the congregation was overflowing, amongst +whom I observed the innkeeper and his wife, the little freckled +maid and the boots. The entire service was in Welsh. Next to the +pew in which I sat was one filled with young singing women, all of +whom seemed to have voices of wonderful power. The prayers were +read by a strapping young curate at least six feet high. The +sermon was preached by the rector, and was a continuation of the +one which I had heard him preach in the morning. It was a very +comforting discourse, as the preacher clearly proved that every +sinner will be pardoned who comes to Jesus. I was particularly +struck with one part. The preacher said that Jesus' arms being +stretched out upon the cross was emblematic of His surprising love +and His willingness to receive anybody. The service concluded with +the noble anthem Teyrnasa Jesu Mawr, "May Mighty Jesus reign!" + +The service over I returned to the parlour of the inn. There I sat +for a long-time, lone and solitary, staring at the fire in the +grate. I was the only guest in the house; a great silence +prevailed both within and without; sometimes five minutes elapsed +without my hearing a sound, and then, perhaps, the silence would be +broken by a footstep at a distance in the street. At length, +finding myself yawning, I determined to go to bed. The freckled +maid as she lighted me to my room inquired how I liked the sermon. +"Very much," said I. "Ah," said she, "did I not tell you that Mr +Pugh was a capital preacher?" She then asked me how I liked the +singing of the gals who sat in the next pew to mine. I told her +that I liked it exceedingly. "Ah," said she, "them gals have the +best voices in Bala. They were once Methody gals, and sang in the +chapels, but were converted, and are now as good Church as myself. +Them gals have been the cause of a great many convarsions, for all +the young fellows of their acquaintance amongst the Methodists - " + +"Follow them to church," said I, "and in time become converted. +That's a thing of course. If the Church gets the girls she is +quite sure of the fellows." + + + +CHAPTER LXXIV + + + +Proceed on Journey - The Lad and Dog - Old Bala - The Pass - +Extensive View - The Two Men - The Tap Nyth - The Meeting of the +Waters - The Wild Valley - Dinas Mawddwy. + + +THE Monday morning was gloomy and misty, but it did not rain, a +circumstance which gave me no little pleasure, as I intended to +continue my journey without delay. After breakfast I bade farewell +to my kind host, and also to the freckled maid, and departed, my +satchel o'er my shoulder and my umbrella in my hand. + +I had consulted the landlord on the previous day as to where I had +best make my next halt, and had been advised by him to stop at +Mallwyd. He said that if I felt tired I could put up at Dinas +Mawddwy, about two miles on this side of Mallwyd, but that if I +were not he would advise me to go on, as I should find very poor +accommodation at Dinas. On my inquiring as to the nature of the +road, he told me that the first part of it was tolerably good, +lying along the eastern side of the lake, but that the greater part +of it was very rough, over hills and mountains, belonging to the +great chain of Arran, which constituted upon the whole the wildest +part of all Wales. + +Passing by the northern end of the lake I turned to the south, and +proceeded along a road a little way above the side of the lake. +The day had now to a certain extent cleared up, and the lake was +occasionally gilded by beams of bright sunshine. After walking a +little way I overtook a lad dressed in a white greatcoat and +attended by a tolerably large black dog. I addressed him in +English, but finding that he did not understand me I began to talk +to him in Welsh. + +"That's a fine dog," said I. + +LAD. - Very fine, sir, and a good dog; though young he has been +known to kill rats. + +MYSELF. - What is his name? + +LAD. - His name is Toby, sir. + +MYSELF. - And what is your name? + +LAD. - John Jones, sir. + +MYSELF. - And what is your father's? + +LAD. - Waladr Jones, sir. + +MYSELF. - Is Waladr the same as Cadwaladr? + +LAD. - In truth, sir, it is. + +MYSELF. - That is a fine name. + +LAD. - It is, sir; I have heard my father say that it was the name +of a king. + +MYSELF. - What is your father? + +LAD. - A farmer, sir. + +MYSELF. - Does he farm his own land? + +LAD. - He does not, sir; he is tenant to Mr Price of Hiwlas. + +MYSELF. - Do you live far from Bala? + +LAD. - Not very far, sir. + +MYSELF. - Are you going home now? + +LAD. - I am not, sir; our home is on the other side of Bala. I am +going to see a relation up the road. + +MYSELF. - Bala is a nice place. + +LAD. - It is, sir; but not so fine as old Bala. + +MYSELF. - I never heard of such a place. Where is it? + +LAD. - Under the lake, sir. + +MYSELF. - What do you mean? + +LAD. - It stood in the old time where the lake now is, and a fine +city it was, full of fine houses, towers, and castles, but with +neither church nor chapel, for the people neither knew God nor +cared for Him, and thought of nothing but singing and dancing and +other wicked things. So God was angry with them, and one night, +when they were all busy at singing and dancing and the like, God +gave the word, and the city sank down into Unknown, and the lake +boiled up where it once stood. + +MYSELF. - That was a long time ago. + +LAD. - In truth, sir, it was. + +MYSELF. - Before the days of King Cadwaladr. + +LAD. - I daresay it was, sir. + +I walked fast, but the lad was a shrewd walker, and though +encumbered with his greatcoat contrived to keep tolerably up with +me. The road went over hill and dale, but upon the whole more +upward than downward. After proceeding about an hour and a half we +left the lake, to the southern extremity of which we had nearly +come, somewhat behind, and bore away to the south-east, gradually +ascending. At length the lad, pointing to a small farm-house on +the side of a hill, told me he was bound thither, and presently +bidding me farewell, turned aside up a footpath which led towards +it. + +About a minute afterwards a small delicate furred creature with a +white mark round its neck and with a little tail trailing on the +ground ran swiftly across the road. It was a weasel or something +of that genus; on observing it I was glad that the lad and the dog +were gone, as between them they would probably have killed it. I +hate to see poor wild animals persecuted and murdered, lose my +appetite for dinner at hearing the screams of a hare pursued by +greyhounds, and am silly enough to feel disgust and horror at the +squeals of a rat in the fangs of a terrier, which one of the +sporting tribe once told me were the sweetest sounds in "natur." + +I crossed a bridge over a deep gulley which discharged its waters +into a river in a valley on the right. Arran rose in great majesty +on the farther side of this vale, its head partly shrouded in mist. +The day now became considerably overcast. I wandered on over much +rough ground till I came to a collection of houses at the bottom of +a pass leading up a steep mountain. Seeing the door of one of the +houses open I peeped in, and a woman who was sitting knitting in +the interior rose and came out to me. I asked the name of the +place. The name which she told me sounded something like Ty Capel +Saer - the House of the Chapel of the Carpenter. I inquired the +name of the river in the valley. Cynllwyd, hoary-headed, she +seemed to say; but here, as well as with respect to her first +answer, I speak under correction, for her Welsh was what my old +friends, the Spaniards, would call muy cerrado, that is, close or +indistinct. She asked me if I was going up the bwlch. I told her +I was. + +"Rather you than I," said she, looking up to the heavens, which had +assumed a very dismal, not to say awful, appearance. + +Presently I began to ascend the pass or bwlch, a green hill on my +right intercepting the view of Arran, another very lofty hill on my +left with wood towards the summit. Coming to a little cottage +which stood on the left I went to the door and knocked. A smiling +young woman opened it, of whom I asked the name of the house. + +"Ty Nant - the House of the Dingle," she replied. + +"Do you live alone?" said I. + +"No; mother lives here." + +"Any Saesneg?" + +"No," said she with a smile, "S'sneg of no use here." + +Her face looked the picture of kindness. I was now indeed in Wales +amongst the real Welsh. I went on some way. Suddenly there was a +moaning sound, and rain came down in torrents. Seeing a deserted +cottage on my left I went in. There was fodder in it, and it +appeared to serve partly as a barn, partly as a cow-house. The +rain poured upon the roof, and I was glad I had found shelter. +Close behind this place a small brook precipitated itself down +rocks in four successive falls. + +The rain having ceased I proceeded, and after a considerable time +reached the top of the pass. From thence I had a view of the +valley and lake of Bala, the lake looking like an immense sheet of +steel. A round hill, however, somewhat intercepted the view of the +latter. The scene in my immediate neighbourhood was very desolate; +moory hillocks were all about me of a wretched russet colour; on my +left, on the very crest of the hill up which I had so long been +toiling, stood a black pyramid of turf, a pole on the top of it. +The road now wore nearly due west down a steep descent. Arran was +slightly to the north of me. I, however, soon lost sight of it, as +I went down the farther side of the hill, which lies over against +it to the south-east. The sun, now descending, began to shine out. +The pass down which I was now going was yet wilder than the one up +which I had lately come. Close on my right was the steep hill's +side out of which the road or path had been cut, which was here and +there overhung by crags of wondrous forms; on my left was a very +deep glen, beyond which was a black, precipitous, rocky wall, from +a chasm near the top of which tumbled with a rushing sound a +slender brook, seemingly the commencement of a mountain stream, +which hurried into a valley far below towards the west. When +nearly at the bottom of the descent I stood still to look around +me. Grand and wild was the scenery. On my left were noble green +hills, the tops of which were beautifully gilded by the rays of the +setting sun. On my right a black, gloomy, narrow valley or glen +showed itself; two enormous craggy hills of immense altitude, one +to the west and the other to the east of the entrance; that to the +east terminating in a peak. The background to the north was a wall +of rocks forming a semicircle, something like a bent bow with the +head downward; behind this bow, just in the middle, rose the black +loaf of Arran. A torrent tumbled from the lower part of the +semicircle, and after running for some distance to the south turned +to the west, the way I was going. + +Observing a house a little way within the gloomy vale I went +towards it, in the hope of finding somebody in it who could give me +information respecting this wild locality. As I drew near the door +two tall men came forth, one about sixty, and the other about half +that age. The elder had a sharp, keen look; the younger a lumpy +and a stupid one. They were dressed like farmers. On my saluting +them in English the elder returned my salutation in that tongue, +but in rather a gruff tone. The younger turned away his head and +said nothing. + +"What is the name of this house?" said I, pointing to the building. + +"The name of it," said the old man, "is Ty Mawr." + +"Do you live in it?" said I. + +"Yes, I live in it." + +"What waterfall is that?" said I, pointing to the torrent tumbling +down the crag at the farther end of the gloomy vale. + +"The fountain of the Royal Dyfi." + +"Why do you call the Dyfy royal?" said I. + +"Because it is the king of the rivers in these parts." + +"Does the fountain come out of a rock?" + +"It does not; it comes out of a lake, a llyn." + +"Where is the llyn?" + +"Over that crag at the foot of Aran Vawr." + +"Is it a large lake?" + +"It is not; it is small." + +"Deep?" + +"Very." + +"Strange things in it?" + +"I believe there are strange things in it." His English now became +broken. + +"Crocodiles?" + +"I do not know what cracadailes be." + +"Efync?" + +"Ah! No, I do not tink there be efync dere. Hu Gadarn in de old +time kill de efync dere and in all de lakes in Wales. He draw them +out of the water with his ychain banog his humpty oxen, and when he +get dem out he burn deir bodies on de fire, he good man for dat." + +"What do you call this allt?" said I, looking up to the high +pinnacled hill on my right. + +"I call that Tap Nyth yr Eryri." + +"Is not that the top nest of the eagles?" + +"I believe it is. Ha! I see you understand Welsh." + +"A little," said I. "Are there eagles there now?" + +"No, no eagle now." + +"Gone like avanc?" + +"Yes, gone like avanc, but not so long. My father see eagle on Tap +Nyth, but my father never see avanc in de llyn." + +"How far to Dinas?" + +"About three mile." + +"Any thieves about?" + +"No, no thieves here, but what come from England," and he looked at +me with a strange, grim smile. + +"What is become of the red-haired robbers of Mawddwy?" + +"Ah," said the old man, staring at me, "I see you are a Cumro. The +red-haired thieves of Mawddwy! I see you are from these parts." + +"What's become of them?" + +"Oh, dead, hung. Lived long time ago; long before eagle left Tap +Nyth." + +He spoke true. The red-haired banditti of Mawddwy were +exterminated long before the conclusion of the sixteenth century, +after having long been the terror not only of these wild regions +but of the greater part of North Wales. They were called the red- +haired banditti because certain leading individuals amongst them +had red foxy hair. + +"Is that young man your son?" said I, after a little pause. + +"Yes, he my son." + +"Has he any English?" + +"No, he no English, but he plenty of Welsh - that is if he see +reason." + +I spoke to the young man in Welsh, asking him if he had ever been +up to the Tap Nyth, but he made no answer. + +"He no care for your question," said the old man; "ask him price of +pig." I asked the young fellow the price of hogs, whereupon his +face brightened up, and he not only answered my question, but told +me that he had fat hog to sell. "Ha, ha," said the old man; "he +plenty of Welsh now, for he see reason. To other question he no +Welsh at all, no more than English, for he see no reason. What +business he on Tap Nyth with eagle? His business down below in sty +with pig. Ah, he look lump, but he no fool; know more about pig +than you or I, or any one 'twixt here and Mahuncleth." + +He now asked me where I came from, and on my telling him from Bala, +his heart appeared to warm towards me, and saying that I must be +tired, he asked me to step in and drink buttermilk, but I declined +his offer with thanks, and bidding the two adieu, returned to the +road. + +I hurried along and soon reached a valley which abounded with trees +and grass; I crossed a bridge over a brook, not what the old man +had called the Dyfi, but the stream whose source I had seen high up +the bwlch, and presently came to a place where the two waters +joined. Just below the confluence on a fallen tree was seated a +man decently dressed; his eyes were fixed on the rushing stream. I +stopped and spoke to him. + +He had no English, but I found him a very sensible man. I talked +to him about the source of the Dyfi. He said it was a disputed +point which was the source. He himself was inclined to believe +that it was the Pistyll up the bwlch. I asked him of what religion +he was. He said he was of the Church of England, which was the +Church of his father and his grandfather, and which he believed to +be the only true Church. I inquired if it flourished. He said it +did, but that it was dreadfully persecuted by all classes of +dissenters, who, though they were continually quarrelling with one +another, agreed in one thing, namely, to persecute the Church. I +asked him if he ever read. He said he read a great deal, +especially the works of Huw Morris, and that reading them had given +him a love for the sights of nature. He added that his greatest +delight was to come to the place where he then was of an evening, +and look at the waters and hills. I asked him what trade he was. +"The trade of Joseph," said he, smiling. "Saer." "Farewell, +brother," said I; "I am not a carpenter, but like you I read the +works of Huw Morris and am of the Church of England." I then shook +him by the hand and departed. + +I passed a village with a stupendous mountain just behind it to the +north, which I was told was called Moel Vrith or the party-coloured +moel. I was now drawing near to the western end of the valley. +Scenery of the wildest and most picturesque description was rife +and plentiful to a degree: hills were here, hills were there; some +tall and sharp, others huge and humpy; hills were on every side; +only a slight opening to the west seemed to present itself. "What +a valley!" I exclaimed. But on passing through the opening I found +myself in another, wilder and stranger, if possible. Full to the +west was a long hill rising up like the roof of a barn, an enormous +round hill on its north-east side, and on its south-east the tail +of the range which I had long had on my left - there were trees and +groves and running waters, but all in deep shadow, for night was +now close at hand. + +"What is the name of this place?" I shouted to a man on horseback, +who came dashing through a brook with a woman in a Welsh dress +behind him. + +"Aber Cowarch, Saxon!" said the man in a deep guttural voice, and +lashing his horse disappeared rapidly in the night. + +"Aber Cywarch!" I cried, springing half a yard into the air. "Why, +that's the place where Ellis Wynn composed his immortal 'Sleeping +Bard,' the book which I translated in the blessed days of my youth. +Oh, no wonder that the 'Sleeping Bard' is a wild and wondrous work, +seeing that it was composed amidst the wild and wonderful scenes +which I here behold." + +I proceeded onwards up an ascent; after some time I came to a +bridge across a stream, which a man told me was called Avon Gerres. +It runs into the Dyfi, coming down with a rushing sound from a wild +vale to the north-east between the huge barn-like hill and Moel +Vrith. The barn-like hill I was informed was called Pen Dyn. I +soon reached Dinas Mawddwy, which stands on the lower part of a +high hill connected with the Pen Dyn. Dinas, trough at one time a +place of considerable importance, if we may judge from its name, +which signifies a fortified city, is at present little more than a +collection of filthy huts. But though a dirty squalid place, I +found it anything but silent and deserted. Fierce-looking, red- +haired men, who seemed as if they might be descendants of the red- +haired banditti of old, were staggering about, and sounds of +drunken revelry echoed from the huts. I subsequently learned that +Dinas was the head-quarters of miners, the neighbourhood abounding +with mines both of lead and stone. I was glad to leave it behind +me. Mallwyd is to the south of Dinas - the way to it is by a +romantic gorge down which flows the Royal Dyfi. As I proceeded +along this gorge the moon rising above Moel Vrith illumined my +path. In about half-an-hour I found myself before the inn at +Mallwyd. + + + +CHAPTER LXXV + + + +Inn at Mallwyd - A Dialogue - The Cumro. + + +I ENTERED the inn, and seeing a comely-looking damsel at the bar, I +told her that I was in need of supper and a bed. She conducted me +into a neat sanded parlour, where a good fire was blazing, and +asked me what I would have for supper. "Whatever you can most +readily provide," said I; "I am not particular." The maid retired, +and taking off my hat, and disencumbering myself of my satchel, I +sat down before the fire and fell into a doze, in which I dreamed +of some of the wild scenes through which I had lately passed. + +I dozed and dozed till I was roused by the maid touching me on the +shoulder and telling me that supper was ready. I got up and +perceived that during my doze she had laid the cloth and put supper +upon the table. It consisted of bacon and eggs. During supper I +had some conversation with the maid. + +MYSELF. - Are you a native of this place? + +MAID. - I am not, sir; I come from Dinas. + +MYSELF. - Are your parents alive? + +MAID. - My mother is alive, sir, but my father is dead. + +MYSELF. - Where does your mother live? + +MAID. - At Dinas, sir. + +MYSELF. - How does she support herself? + +MAID. - By letting lodgings to miners, sir. + +MYSELF. - Are the miners quiet lodgers? + +MAID. - Not always, sir; sometimes they get up at night and fight +with each other. + +MYSELF. - What does your mother do on those occasions? + +MAID. - She draws the quilt over her head, and says her prayers, +sir. + +MYSELF. - Why doesn't she get up and part them? + +MAID. - Lest she should get a punch or a thwack for her trouble, +sir. + +MYSELF. - Of what religion are the miners? + +MAID. - They are Methodists, if they are anything; but they don't +trouble their heads much about religion. + +MYSELF. - Of what religion are you? + +MAID. - I am of the Church, sir. + +MYSELF. - Did you always belong to the Church? + +MAID. - Not always. When I was at Dinas I used to hear the +preacher, but since I have been here I have listened to the +clergyman. + +MYSELF. - Is the clergyman here a good man? + +MAID. - A very good man indeed, sir. He lives close by. Shall I +go and tell him you want to speak to him? + +MYSELF. - Oh dear me, no! He can employ his time much more +usefully than in waiting upon me. + +After supper I sat quiet for about an hour. Then ringing the bell, +I inquired of the maid whether there was a newspaper in the house. +She told me there was not, but that she thought she could procure +me one. In a little time she brought me a newspaper, which she +said she had borrowed at the parsonage. It was the CUMRO, an +excellent Welsh journal written in the interest of the Church. In +perusing its columns I passed a couple of hours very agreeably, and +then went to bed. + + + +CHAPTER LXXVI + + + +Mallwyd and its Church - Sons of Shoemakers - Village Inn - +Dottings. + + +THE next day was the thirty-first of October, and was rather fine +for the season. As I did not intend to journey farther this day +than Machynlleth, a principal town in Montgomeryshire, distant only +twelve miles, I did not start from Mallwyd till just before noon. + +Mallwyd is a small but pretty village. The church is a long +edifice standing on a slight elevation on the left of the road. +Its pulpit is illustrious from having for many years been occupied +by one of the very celebrated men of Wales, namely Doctor John +Davies, author of the great Welsh and Latin dictionary, an +imperishable work. An immense yew tree grows in the churchyard, +and partly overshadows the road with its branches. The parsonage +stands about a hundred yards to the south of the church, near a +grove of firs. The village is overhung on the north by the +mountains of the Arran range, from which it is separated by the +murmuring Dyfi. To the south for many miles the country is not +mountainous, but presents a pleasant variety of hill and dale. + +After leaving the village a little way behind me I turned round to +take a last view of the wonderful region from which I had emerged +on the previous evening. Forming the two sides of the pass down +which comes "the royal river" stood the Dinas mountain and Cefn +Coch, the first on the left, and the other on the right. Behind, +forming the background of the pass, appearing, though now some +miles distant, almost in my proximity, stood Pen Dyn. This hill +has various names, but the one which I have noted here, and which +signifies the head of a man, perhaps describes it best. From where +I looked at it on that last day of October it certainly looked like +an enormous head, and put me in mind of the head of Mambrino, +mentioned in the master work which commemorates the achievements of +the Manchegan knight. This mighty mountain is the birthplace of +more than one river. If the Gerres issues from its eastern side, +from its western springs the Maw, that singularly picturesque +stream, which enters the ocean at the place which the Saxons +corruptly call Barmouth and the Cumry with great propriety Aber +Maw, or the disemboguement of the Maw. + +Just as I was about to pursue my journey two boys came up, bound in +the same direction as myself. One was a large boy dressed in a +waggoner's frock, the other was a little fellow in a brown coat and +yellowish trowsers. As we walked along together I entered into +conversation with them. They came from Dinas Mawddwy. The large +boy told me that he was the son of a man who carted mwyn or lead +ore, and the little fellow that he was the son of a shoemaker. The +latter was by far the cleverest, and no wonder, for the son of +shoemakers are always clever, which assertion should anybody doubt +I beg him to attend the examinations at Cambridge, at which he will +find that in three cases out of four the senior wranglers are the +sons of shoemakers. From this little chap I got a great deal of +information about Pen Dyn, every part of which he appeared to have +traversed. He told me amongst other things that there was a castle +upon it. Like a true son of a shoemaker, however, he was an arch +rogue. Coming to a small house with a garden attached to it in +which there were apple-trees, he stopped, whilst I went on with the +other boy, and after a minute or two came up running with a couple +of apples in his hand. + +"Where did you get those apples?" said I; "I hope you did not steal +them." + +He made no reply, but bit one, then making a wry face he flung it +away, and so he served the other. Presently afterwards, coming to +a side lane, the future senior wrangler, for a senior wrangler he +is destined to be, always provided he finds his way to Cambridge, +darted down it like an arrow, and disappeared. + +I continued my way with the other lad, occasionally asking him +questions about the mines of Mawddwy. The information, however, +which I obtained from him was next to nothing, for he appeared to +be as heavy as the stuff which his father carted. At length we +reached a village forming a kind of semicircle on a green which +looked something like a small English common. To the east were +beautiful green hills; to the west the valley with the river +running through it, beyond which rose other green hills yet more +beautiful than the eastern ones. I asked the lad the name of the +place, but I could not catch what he said, for his answer was +merely an indistinct mumble, and before I could question him again +he left me, without a word of salutation, and trudged away across +the green. + +Descending a hill I came to a bridge, under which ran a beautiful +river, which came foaming down from a gulley between two of the +eastern hills. From a man whom I met I learned that the bridge was +called Pont Coomb Linau, and that the name of the village I had +passed was Linau. The river carries an important tribute to the +Dyfi, at least it did when I saw it, though perhaps in summer it is +little more than a dry water-course. + +Half-an-hour's walking brought me from this place to a small town +or large village, with a church at the entrance and the usual yew +tree in the churchyard. Seeing a kind of inn I entered it, and was +shown by a lad-waiter into a large kitchen, in which were several +people. I had told him in Welsh that I wanted some ale, and as he +opened the door he cried with a loud voice, "Cumro!" as much as to +say, Mind what you say before this chap, for he understands Cumraeg +- that word was enough. The people, who were talking fast and +eagerly as I made my appearance, instantly became silent and stared +at me with most suspicious looks. I sat down, and when my ale was +brought I took a hearty draught, and observing that the company +were still watching me suspiciously and maintaining the same +suspicious silence, I determined to comport myself in a manner +which should to a certain extent afford them ground for suspicion. +I therefore slowly and deliberately drew my note-book out of my +waistcoat pocket, unclasped it, took my pencil from the loops at +the side of the book, and forthwith began to dot down observations +upon the room and company, now looking to the left, now to the +right, now aloft, now alow, now skewing at an object, now leering +at an individual, my eyes half closed and my mouth drawn +considerably aside. Here follow some of my dottings:- + +"A very comfortable kitchen with a chimney-corner on the south side +- immense grate and brilliant fire - large kettle hanging over it +by a chain attached to a transverse iron bar - a settle on the +left-hand side of the fire - seven fine large men near the fire - +two upon the settle, two upon chairs, one in the chimney-corner +smoking a pipe, and two standing up - table near the settle with +glasses, amongst which is that of myself, who sit nearly in the +middle of the room a little way on the right-hand side of the fire. + +"The floor is of slate; a fine brindled greyhound lies before it on +the hearth, and a shepherd's dog wanders about, occasionally going +to the door and scratching as if anxious to get out. The company +are dressed mostly in the same fashion, brown coats, broad-brimmed +hats, and yellowish corduroy breeches with gaiters. One who looks +like a labouring man has a white smock and a white hat, patched +trowsers, and highlows covered with gravel - one has a blue coat. + +"There is a clock on the right-hand side of the kitchen; a warming- +pan hangs close by it on the projecting side of the chimney-corner. +On the same side is a large rack containing many plates and dishes +of Staffordshire ware. Let me not forget a pair of fire-irons +which hang on the right-hand side of the chimney-corner!" + +I made a great many more dottings, which I shall not insert here. +During the whole time I was dotting the most marvellous silence +prevailed in the room, broken only by the occasional scratching of +the dog against the inside of the door, the ticking of the clock, +and the ruttling of the smoker's pipe in the chimney-corner. After +I had dotted to my heart's content I closed my book, put the pencil +into the loops, then the book into my pocket, drank what remained +of my ale, got up, and, after another look at the apartment and its +furniture, and a leer at the company, departed from the house +without ceremony, having paid for the ale when I received it. +After walking some fifty yards down the street I turned half round +and beheld, as I knew I should, the whole company at the door +staring after me. I leered sideways at them for about half a +minute, but they stood my leer stoutly. Suddenly I was inspired by +a thought. Turning round I confronted them, and pulling my note- +book out of my pocket, and seizing my pencil, I fell to dotting +vigorously. That was too much for them. As if struck by a panic, +my quondam friends turned round and bolted into the house; the +rustic-looking man with the smock-frock and gravelled highlows +nearly falling down in his eagerness to get in. + +The name of the place where this adventure occurred was Cemmaes. + + + +CHAPTER LXXVII + + + +The Deaf Man - Funeral Procession - The Lone Family - The Welsh and +their Secrets - The Vale of the Dyfi - The Bright Moon. + + +A LITTLE way from Cemmaes I saw a respectable-looking old man like +a little farmer, to whom I said: + +"How far to Machynlleth?" + +Looking at me in a piteous manner in the face he pointed to the +side of his head, and said - "Dim clywed." + +It was no longer no English, but no hearing. + +Presently I met one yet more deaf. A large procession of men came +along the road. Some distance behind them was a band of women and +between the two bands was a kind of bier drawn by a horse with +plumes at each of the four corners. I took off my hat and stood +close against the hedge on the right-hand side till the dead had +passed me some way to its final home. + +Crossed a river, which like that on the other side of Cemmaes +streamed down from a gulley between two hills into the valley of +the Dyfi. Beyond the bridge on the right-hand side of the road was +a pretty cottage, just as there was in the other locality. A fine +tall woman stood at the door, with a little child beside her. I +stopped and inquired in English whose body it was that had just +been borne by. + +"That of a young man, sir, the son of a farmer, who lives a mile or +so up the road." + +MYSELF. - He seems to have plenty of friends. + +WOMAN. - Oh yes, sir, the Welsh have plenty of friends both in life +and death. + +MYSELF. - A'n't you Welsh, then? + +WOMAN. - Oh no, sir, I am English, like yourself, as I suppose. + +MYSELF. - Yes, I am English. What part of England do you come +from? + +WOMAN. - Shropshire, sir. + +MYSELF. - Is that little child yours? + +WOMAN. - Yes, sir, it is my husband's child and mine. + +MYSELF. - I suppose your husband is Welsh. + +WOMAN. - Oh no, sir, we are all English. + +MYSELF. - And what is your husband? + +WOMAN. - A little farmer, sir, he farms about forty acres under Mrs +-. + +MYSELF. - Well, are you comfortable here? + +WOMAN. - Oh dear me, no, sir, we are anything but comfortable. +Here we are three poor lone creatures in a strange land, without a +soul to speak to but one another. Every day of our lives we wish +we had never left Shropshire. + +MYSELF. - Why don't you make friends amongst your neighbours? + +WOMAN. - Oh, sir, the English cannot make friends amongst the +Welsh. The Welsh won't neighbour with them, or have anything to do +with them, except now and then in the way of business. + +MYSELF. - I have occasionally found the Welsh very civil. + +WOMAN. - Oh yes, sir, they can be civil enough to passers-by, +especially those who they think want nothing from them - but if you +came and settled amongst them you would find them, I'm afraid, +quite the contrary. + +MYSELF. - Would they be uncivil to me if I could speak Welsh? + +WOMAN. - Most particularly, sir; the Welsh don't like any +strangers, but least of all those who speak their language. + +MYSELF. - Have you picked up anything of their language? + +WOMAN. - Not a word, sir, nor my husband neither. They take good +care that we shouldn't pick up a word of their language. I stood +the other day and listened whilst two women were talking just where +you stand now, in the hope of catching a word, and as soon as they +saw me they passed to the other side of the bridge, and began +buzzing there. My poor husband took it into his head that he might +possibly learn a word or two at the public-house, so he went there, +called for a jug of ale and a pipe, and tried to make himself at +home just as he might in England, but it wouldn't do. The company +instantly left off talking to one another and stared at him, and +before he could finish his pot and pipe took themselves off to a +man, and then came the landlord, and asked him what he meant by +frightening away his customers. So my poor husband came home as +pale as a sheet, and sitting down in a chair said, "Lord, have +mercy upon me!" + +MYSELF. - Why are the Welsh afraid that strangers should pick up +their language? + +WOMAN. - Lest, perhaps, they should learn their secrets, sir! + +MYSELF. - What secrets have they? + +WOMAN. - The Lord above only knows, sir! + +MYSELF. - Do you think they are hatching treason against Queen +Victoria? + +WOMAN. - Oh dear no, sir. + +MYSELF. - Is there much murder going on amongst them? + +WOMAN. - Nothing of the kind, sir. + +MYSELF. - Cattle-stealing? + +WOMAN. - Oh no, sir! + +MYSELF. - Pig-stealing? + +WOMAN. - No, sir! + +MYSELF. - Duck or hen stealing? + +WOMAN. - Haven't lost a duck or hen since I have been here, sir. + +MYSELF. - Then what secrets can they possibly have? + +WOMAN. - I don't know, sir! perhaps none at all, or at most only a +pack of small nonsense that nobody would give three farthings to +know. However, it is quite certain they are as jealous of +strangers hearing their discourse as if they were plotting +gunpowder treason or something worse. + +MYSELF. - Have you been long here? + +WOMAN. - Only since last May, sir! and we hope to get away by next, +and return to our own country, where we shall have some one to +speak to. + +MYSELF. - Good-bye! + +WOMAN. - Good-bye, sir, and thank you for your conversation; I +haven't had such a treat of talk for many a weary day. + +The Vale of the Dyfi became wider and more beautiful as I advanced. +The river ran at the bottom amidst green and seemingly rich +meadows. The hills on the farther side were cultivated a great way +up, and various neat farm-houses were scattered here and there on +their sides. At the foot of one of the most picturesque of these +hills stood a large white village. I wished very much to know its +name, but saw no one of whom I could inquire. I proceeded for +about a mile, and then perceiving a man wheeling stones in a barrow +for the repairing of the road I thought I would inquire of him. I +did so, but the village was then out of sight, and though I pointed +in its direction and described its situation I could not get its +name out of him. At last I said hastily, "Can you tell me your own +name?" + +"Dafydd Tibbot, sir," said he. + +"Tibbot, Tibbot," said I; "why, you are a Frenchman." + +"Dearie me, sir," said the man, looking very pleased, "am I, +indeed?" + +"Yes, you are," said I, rather repenting of my haste, and giving +him sixpence, I left him. + +"I'd bet a trifle," said I to myself, as I walked away, that this +poor creature is the descendant of some desperate Norman Tibault +who helped to conquer Powisland under Roger de Montgomery or Earl +Baldwin. How striking that the proud old Norman names are at +present only borne by people in the lowest station. Here's a +Tibbot or Tibault harrowing stones on a Welsh road, and I have +known a Mortimer munching poor cheese and bread under a hedge on an +English one. How can we account for this save by the supposition +that the descendants of proud, cruel, and violent men - and who so +proud, cruel and violent, as the old Normans - are doomed by God to +come to the dogs?" + +Came to Pont Velin Cerrig, the bridge of the mill of the Cerrig, a +river which comes foaming down from between two rocky hills. This +bridge is about a mile from Machynlleth, at which place I arrived +at about five o'clock in the evening - a cool, bright moon shining +upon me. I put up at the principal inn, which was of course called +the Wynstay Arms. + + + +CHAPTER LXXVIII + + + +Welsh Poems - Sessions Business - The Lawyer and his Client - The +Court - The Two Keepers - The Defence. + + +DURING supper I was waited upon by a brisk, buxom maid who told me +that her name was Mary Evans. The repast over, I ordered a glass +of whiskey and water, and when it was brought I asked the maid if +she could procure me some book to read. She said she was not aware +of any book in the house which she could lay her hand on except one +of her own, which if I pleased she would lend me. I begged her to +do so. Whereupon she went out and presently returned with a very +small volume, which she laid on the table and then retired. After +taking a sip of my whiskey and water I proceeded to examine it. It +turned out to be a volume of Welsh poems entitled "Blodau Glyn +Dyfi"; or, Flowers of Glyn Dyfi, by one Lewis Meredith, whose +poetical name is Lewis Glyn Dyfi. The author indites his preface +from Cemmaes, June, 1852. The best piece is called Dyffryn Dyfi, +and is descriptive of the scenery of the vale through which the +Dyfi runs. It commences thus: + + +"Heddychol ddyffryn tlws," +Peaceful, pretty vale, + + +and contains many lines breathing a spirit of genuine poetry. + +The next day I did not get up till nine, having no journey before +me, as I intended to pass that day at Machynlleth. When I went +down to the parlour I found another guest there, breakfasting. He +was a tall, burly, and clever-looking man of about thirty-five. As +we breakfasted together at the same table we entered into +conversation. I learned from him that he was an attorney from a +town at some distance, and was come over to Machynlleth to the +petty sessions, to be held that day, in order to defend a person +accused of spearing a salmon in the river. I asked him who his +client was. + +"A farmer," said he, "a tenant of Lord V-, who will probably +preside over the bench which will try the affair." + +"Oh," said I, "a tenant spearing his landlord's fish - that's bad." + +"No," said he, "the fish which he speared, that is, which he is +accused of spearing, did not belong to his landlord but to another +person; he hires land of Lord V-, but the fishing of the river +which runs through that land belongs to Sir Watkin." + +"Oh, then," said I, "supposing he did spear the salmon I shan't +break my heart if you get him off: do you think you shall?" + +"I don't know," said he. "There's the evidence of two keepers +against him; one of whom I hope, however, to make appear a +scoundrel, in whose oath the slightest confidence is not to be +placed. I shouldn't wonder if I make my client appear a persecuted +lamb. The worst is, that he has the character of being rather fond +of fish, indeed of having speared more salmon than any other six +individuals in the neighbourhood." + +"I really should like to see him," said I; "what kind of person is +he? - some fine, desperate-looking fellow, I suppose?" + +"You will see him presently," said the lawyer; "he is in the +passage waiting till I call him in to take some instructions from +him; and I think I had better do so now, for I have breakfasted, +and time is wearing away." + +He then got up, took some papers out of a carpet bag, sat down, and +after glancing at them for a minute or two, went to the door and +called to somebody in Welsh to come in. Forthwith in came a small, +mean, wizzened-faced man of about sixty, dressed in a black coat +and hat, drab breeches and gaiters, and looking more like a decayed +Methodist preacher than a spearer of imperial salmon. + +"Well," said the attorney, "This is my client, what do you think of +him?" + +"He is rather a different person from what I had expected to see," +said I; "but let us mind what we say or we shall offend him." + +"Not we," said the attorney; "that is, unless we speak Welsh, for +he understands not a word of any other language." + +Then sitting down at the further table he said to his client in +Welsh: "Now, Mr So-and-so, have you learnt anything more about +that first keeper?" + +The client bent down, and placing both his hands upon the table +began to whisper in Welsh to his professional adviser. Not wishing +to hear any of their conversation I finished my breakfast as soon +as possible and left the room. Going into the inn-yard I had a +great deal of learned discourse with an old ostler about the +glanders in horses. From the inn-yard I went to my own private +room and made some dottings in my note-book, and then went down +again to the parlour, which I found unoccupied. After sitting some +time before the fire I got up, and strolling out, presently came to +a kind of marketplace, in the middle of which stood an old- +fashioned-looking edifice supported on pillars. Seeing a crowd +standing round it I asked what was the matter, and was told that +the magistrates were sitting in the town-hall above, and that a +grand poaching case was about to be tried. "I may as well go and +hear it," said I. + +Ascending a flight of steps I found myself in the hall of justice, +in the presence of the magistrates and amidst a great many people, +amongst whom I observed my friend the attorney and his client. The +magistrates, upon the whole, were rather a fine body of men. Lord +V- was in the chair, a highly intelligent-looking person, with +fresh complexion, hooked nose, and dark hair. A policeman very +civilly procured me a commodious seat. I had scarcely taken +possession of it when the poaching case was brought forward. The +first witness against the accused was a fellow dressed in a dirty +snuff-coloured suit, with a debauched look, and having much the +appearance of a town shack. He deposed that he was a hired keeper, +and went with another to watch the river at about four o'clock in +the morning; that they placed themselves behind a bush, and that a +little before day-light they saw the farmer drive some cattle +across the river. He was attended by a dog. Suddenly they saw him +put a spear upon a stick which he had in his hand, run back to the +river, and plunging the spear in, after a struggle, pull out a +salmon; that they then ran forward, and he himself asked the farmer +what he was doing, whereupon the farmer flung the salmon and spear +into the river and said that if he did not take himself off he +would fling him in too. The attorney then got up and began to +cross-question him. "How long have you been a keeper?" + +"About a fortnight." + +"What do you get a week?" + +"Ten shillings." + +"Have you not lately been in London?" + +"I have." + +"What induced you to go to London?" + +"The hope of bettering my condition." + +"Were you not driven out of Machynlleth?" + +"I was not." + +"Why did you leave London?" + +"Because I could get no work, and my wife did not like the place." + +"Did you obtain possession of the salmon and the spear?" + +"I did not." + +"Why didn't you?" + +"The pool was deep where the salmon was struck, and I was not going +to lose my life by going into it." + +"How deep was it?" + +"Over the tops of the houses," said the fellow, lifting up his +hands. + +The other keeper then came forward; he was brother to the former, +but had much more the appearance of a keeper, being rather a fine +fellow, and dressed in a wholesome, well-worn suit of velveteen. +He had no English, and what he said was translated by a sworn +interpreter. He gave the same evidence as his brother about +watching behind the bush, and seeing the farmer strike a salmon. +When cross-questioned, however, he said that no words passed +between the farmer and his brother, at least, that he heard. The +evidence for the prosecution being given, my friend the attorney +entered upon the defence. He said that he hoped the court were not +going to convict his client, one of the most respectable farmers in +the county, on the evidence of two such fellows as the keepers, one +of whom was a well-known bad one, who for his evil deeds had been +driven from Machynlleth to London, and from London back again to +Machynlleth, and the other, who was his brother, a fellow not much +better, and who, moreover, could not speak a word of English - the +honest lawyer forgetting no doubt that his own client had just as +little English as the keeper. He repeated that he hoped the court +would not convict his respectable client on the evidence of these +fellows, more especially as they flatly contradicted each other in +one material point, one saying that words had passed between the +farmer and himself, and the other that no words at all had passed, +and were unable to corroborate their testimony by anything visible +or tangible. If his client speared the salmon and then flung the +salmon with the spear sticking in its body into the pool, why +didn't they go into the pool and recover the spear and salmon? +They might have done so with perfect safety, there being an old +proverb - he need not repeat it - which would have secured them +from drowning had the pool been not merely over the tops of the +houses but over the tops of the steeples. But he would waive all +the advantage which his client derived from the evil character of +the witnesses, the discrepancy of their evidence, and their not +producing the spear and salmon in court. He would rest the issue +of the affair with confidence, on one argument, on one question; it +was this. Would any man in his senses - and it was well known that +his client was a very sensible man - spear a salmon not his own +when he saw two keepers close at hand watching him - staring at +him? Here the chairman observed that there was no proof that he +saw them - that they were behind a bush. But my friend the +attorney very properly, having the interest of his client and his +own character for consistency in view, stuck to what he had said, +and insisted that the farmer must have seen them, and he went on +reiterating that he must have seen them, notwithstanding that +several magistrates shook their heads. + +Just as he was about to sit down I moved up behind him and +whispered: "Why don't you mention the dog? Wouldn't the dog have +been likely to have scented the fellows out even if they had been +behind the bush?" + +He looked at me for a moment and then said with a kind of sigh: +"No, no! twenty dogs would be of no use here. It's no go - I shall +leave the case as it is." + +The court was cleared for a time, and when the audience were again +admitted Lord V- said that the Bench found the prisoner guilty; +that they had taken into consideration what his counsel had said in +his defence, but that they could come to no other conclusion, more +especially as the accused was known to have been frequently guilty +of similar offences. They fined him four pounds, including costs. + +As the people were going out I said to the farmer in Welsh: "A bad +affair this." + +"Drwg iawn" - very bad indeed, he replied. + +"Did these fellows speak truth?" said I. + +"Nage - Dim ond celwydd" - not they! nothing but lies. + +"Dear me!" said I to myself, "what an ill-treated individual!" + + + +CHAPTER LXXIX + + + +Machynlleth - Remarkable Events - Ode to Glendower - Dafydd Gam - +Lawdden's Hatchet. + + +MACHYNLLETH, pronounced Machuncleth, is one of the principal towns +of the district which the English call Montgomeryshire, and the +Welsh Shire Trefaldwyn or the Shire of Baldwin's town, Trefaldwyn +or the town of Baldwin being the Welsh name for the town which is +generally termed Montgomery. It is situated in nearly the centre +of the valley of the Dyfi, amidst pleasant green meadows, having to +the north the river, from which, however, it is separated by a +gentle hill. It possesses a stately church, parts of which are of +considerable antiquity, and one or two good streets. It is a +thoroughly Welsh town, and the inhabitants, who amount in number to +about four thousand, speak the ancient British language with +considerable purity. + +Machynlleth has been the scene of remarkable events, and is +connected with remarkable names, some of which have rung through +the world. At Machynlleth, in 1402, Owen Glendower, after several +brilliant victories over the English, held a parliament in a house +which is yet to be seen in the Eastern Street, and was formally +crowned King of Wales; in his retinue was the venerable bard Iolo +Goch, who, imagining that he now saw the old prophecy fulfilled, +namely, that a prince of the race of Cadwaladr should rule the +Britons, after emancipating them from the Saxon yoke, greeted the +chieftain with an ode, to the following effect:- + + +"Here's the life I've sigh'd for long: +Abash'd is now the Saxon throng, +And Britons have a British lord +Whose emblem is the conquering sword; +There's none I trow but knows him well, +The hero of the watery dell, +Owain of bloody spear in field, +Owain his country's strongest shield; +A sovereign bright in grandeur drest, +Whose frown affrights the bravest breast. +Let from the world upsoar on high +A voice of splendid prophecy! +All praise to him who forth doth stand +To 'venge his injured native land! +Of him - of him a lay I'll frame +Shall bear through countless years his name, +In him are blended portents three, +Their glories blended sung shall be: +There's Oswain, meteor of the glen, +The head of princely generous men; +Owain the lord of trenchant steel, +Who makes the hostile squadrons reel; +Owain, besides, of warlike look, +A conqueror who no stay will brook; +Hail to the lion leader gay! +Marshaller of Griffith's war array; +The scourger of the flattering race, +For them a dagger has his face; +Each traitor false he loves to smite, +A lion is he for deeds of might; +Soon may he tear, like lion grim, +All the Lloegrians limb from limb! +May God and Rome's blest father high +Deck him in surest panoply! +Hail to the valiant carnager, +Worthy three diadems to bear! +Hail to the valley's belted king! +Hail to the widely conquering, +The liberal, hospitable, kind, +Trusty and keen as steel refined! +Vigorous of form he nations bows, +Whilst from his breast-plate bounty flows. +Of Horsa's seed on hill and plain +Four hundred thousand he has slain. +The copestone of our nation's he, +In him our weal, our all we see; +Though calm he looks his plans when breeding, +Yet oaks he'd break his clans when leading. +Hail to this partisan of war, +This bursting meteor flaming far! +Where'er he wends, Saint Peter guard him, +And may the Lord five lives award him!" + + +To Machynlleth on the occasion of the parliament came Dafydd Gam, +so celebrated in after time; not, however, with the view of +entering into the councils of Glendower, or of doing him homage, +but of assassinating him. This man, whose surname Gam signifies +crooked, was a petty chieftain of Breconshire. He was small of +stature and deformed in person, though possessed of great strength. +He was very sensitive of injury, though quite as alive to kindness; +a thorough-going enemy and a thorough-going friend. In the earlier +part of his life he had been driven from his own country for +killing a man, called Big Richard of Slwch, in the High Street of +Aber Honddu or Brecon, and had found refuge in England and kind +treatment in the house of John of Gaunt, for whose son Henry, +generally called Bolingbroke, he formed one of his violent +friendships. Bolingbroke, on becoming King Henry the Fourth, not +only restored the crooked little Welshman to his possessions, but +gave him employments of great trust and profit in Herefordshire. +The insurrection of Glendower against Henry was quite sufficient to +kindle against him the deadly hatred of Dafydd, who swore "by the +nails of God" that he would stab his countryman for daring to rebel +against his friend King Henry, the son of the man who had received +him in his house and comforted him when his own countrymen were +threatening his destruction. He therefore went to Machynlleth with +the full intention of stabbing Glendower, perfectly indifferent as +to what might subsequently be his own fate. Glendower, however, +who had heard of his threat, caused him to be seized and conducted +in chains to a prison which he had in the mountains of Sycharth. +Shortly afterwards, passing through Breconshire with his host, he +burnt Dafydd's house - a fair edifice called the Cyrnigwen, +situated on a hillock near the river Honddu - to the ground, and +seeing one of Gam's dependents gazing mournfully on the smouldering +ruins he uttered the following taunting englyn:- + + +"Shouldst thou a little red man descry +Asking about his dwelling fair, +Tell him it under the bank doth lie, +And its brow the mark of the coal doth bear." + + +Dafydd remained confined till the fall of Glendower, shortly after +which event he followed Henry the Fifth to France, where he +achieved that glory which will for ever bloom, dying, covered with +wounds, on the field of Agincourt after saving the life of the +king, to whom in the dreadest and most critical moment of the fight +he stuck closer than a brother, not from any abstract feeling of +loyalty, but from the consideration that King Henry the Fifth was +the son of King Henry the Fourth, who was the son of the man who +received and comforted him in his house, after his own countrymen +had hunted him from house and land. + +Connected with Machynlleth is a name not so widely celebrated as +those of Glendower and Dafydd Gam, but well known to and cherished +by the lovers of Welsh song. It is that of Lawdden, a Welsh bard +in holy orders, who officiated as priest at Machynlleth from 1440 +to 1460. But though Machynlleth was his place of residence for +many years, it was not the place of his birth, Lychwr in +Carmarthenshire being the spot where he first saw the light. He +was an excellent poet, and displayed in his compositions such +elegance of language, and such a knowledge of prosody, that it was +customary, long after his death, when any masterpiece of vocal song +or eloquence was produced, to say that it bore the traces of +Lawdden's hatchet. At the request of Griffith ap Nicholas, a +powerful chieftain of South Wales, and a great patron of the Muse, +he drew up a statute relating to poets and poetry, and at the great +Eisteddfodd, or poetical congress, held at Carmarthen in the year +1450, under the auspices of Griffith, which was attended by the +most celebrated bards of the north and south, he officiated as +judge, in conjunction with the chieftain, upon the compositions of +the bards who competed for the prize - a little silver chair. Not +without reason, therefore, do the inhabitants of Machynlleth +consider the residence of such a man within their walls, though at +a far by-gone period, as conferring a lustre on their town, and +Lewis Meredith has probability on his side when, in his pretty poem +on Glen Dyfi, he says:- + + +"Whilst fair Machynlleth decks thy quiet plain, +Conjoined with it shall Lawdden's name remain." + + + +CHAPTER LXXX + + + +The Old Ostler - Directions - Church of England Man - The Deep +Dingle - The Two Women - The Cutty Pipe - Waen y Bwlch - The Deaf +and Dumb - The Glazed Hat. + + +I ROSE on the morning of the 2nd of November intending to proceed +to the Devil's Bridge, where I proposed halting a day or two, in +order that I might have an opportunity of surveying the far-famed +scenery of that locality. After paying my bill I went into the +yard to my friend the old ostler, to make inquiries with respect to +the road. + +"What kind of road," said I, "is it to the Devil's Bridge?" + +"There are two roads, sir, to the Pont y Gwr Drwg; which do you +mean to take?" + +"Why do you call the Devil's Bridge the Pont y Gwr Drwg, or the +bridge of the evil man?" + +"That we may not bring a certain gentleman upon us, sir, who +doesn't like to have his name taken in vain." + +"Is their much difference between the roads?" + +"A great deal, sir; one is over the hills, and the other round by +the valleys." + +"Which is the shortest?" + +"Oh, that over the hills, sir; it is about twenty miles from here +to the Pont y Gwr Drwg over the hills, but more than twice that by +the valleys." + +"Well, I suppose you would advise me to go by the hills?" + +"Certainly, sir - that is, if you wish to break your neck, or to +sink in a bog, or to lose your way, or perhaps, if night comes on, +to meet the Gwr Drwg himself taking a stroll. But to talk soberly. +The way over the hills is an awful road, and, indeed, for the +greater part is no road at all." + +"Well, I shall go by it. Can't you give me some directions?" + +"I'll do my best, sir, but I tell you again that the road is a +horrible one, and very hard to find." + +He then went with me to the gate of the inn, where he began to give +me directions, pointing to the south, and mentioning some names of +places through which I must pass, amongst which were Waen y Bwlch +and Long Bones. At length he mentioned Pont Erwyd, and said: "If +you can but get there, you are all right, for from thence there is +a very fair road to the bridge of the evil man; though I dare say +if you get to Pont Erwyd - and I wish you may get there - you will +have had enough of it and will stay there for the night, more +especially as there is a good inn." + +Leaving Machynlleth, I ascended a steep hill which rises to the +south of it. From the top of this hill there is a fine view of the +town, the river, and the whole valley of the Dyfi. After stopping +for a few minutes to enjoy the prospect I went on. The road at +first was exceedingly good, though up and down, and making frequent +turnings. The scenery was beautiful to a degree: lofty hills were +on either side, clothed most luxuriantly with trees of various +kinds, but principally oaks. "This is really very pleasant," said +I, "but I suppose it is too good to last long." However, I went on +for a considerable way, the road neither deteriorating nor the +scenery decreasing in beauty. "Surely I can't be in the right +road," said I; "I wish I had an opportunity of asking." Presently +seeing an old man working with a spade in a field near a gate, I +stopped and said in Welsh: "Am I in the road to the Pont y Gwr +Drwg?" The old man looked at me for a moment, then shouldering his +spade he came up to the gate, and said in English: "In truth, sir, +you are." + +"I was told that the road thither was a very bad one," said I, "but +this is quite the contrary." + +"This road does not go much farther, sir," said he; "it was made to +accommodate grand folks who live about here." + +"You speak very good English," said I; "where did you get it?" + +He looked pleased, and said that in his youth he had lived some +years in England. + +"Can you read?" said I. + +"Oh yes," said he, "both Welsh and English." + +"What have you read in Welsh?" said I. + +"The Bible and Twm O'r Nant." + +"What pieces of Twm O'r Nant have you read?" + +"I have read two of his interludes and his life." + +"And which do you like best - his life or his interludes?" + +"Oh, I like his life best." + +"And what part of his life do you like best?" + +"Oh, I like that part best where he gets the ship into the water at +Abermarlais." + +"You have a good judgment," said I; "his life is better than his +interludes, and the best part of his life is where he describes his +getting the ship into the water. But do the Methodists about here +in general read Twm O'r Nant?" + +"I don't know," said be; "I am no Methodist." + +"Do you belong to the Church?" + +"I do." + +"And why do you belong to the Church?" + +"Because I believe it is the best religion to get to heaven by." + +"I am much of your opinion," said I. "Are there many Church people +about here?" + +"Not many," said he, "but more than when I was young." + +"How old are you?" + +"Sixty-nine." + +"You are not very old," said I. + +"An't I? I only want one year of fulfilling my proper time on +earth." + +"You take things very easily," said I. + +"Not so very easily, sir; I have often my quakings and fears, but +then I read my Bible, say my prayers, and find hope and comfort." + +"I really am very glad to have seen you," said I; "and now can you +tell me the way to the bridge?" + +"Not exactly, sir, for I have never been there; but you must follow +this road some way farther, and then bear away to the right along +yon hill" - and he pointed to a distant mountain. + +I thanked him, and proceeded on my way. I passed through a deep +dingle, and shortly afterwards came to the termination of the road; +remembering, however, the directions of the old man,, I bore away +to the right, making for the distant mountain. My course lay now +over very broken ground where there was no path, at least that I +could perceive. I wandered on for some time; at length on turning +round a bluff I saw a lad tending a small herd of bullocks. "Am I +in the road," said I, "to the Pont y Gwr Drwg?" + +"Nis gwn! I don't know," said he sullenly. "I am a hired servant, +and have only been here a little time." + +"Where's the house," said I, "where you serve?" + +But as he made no answer I left him. Some way farther on I saw a +house on my left, a little way down the side of a deep dingle which +was partly overhung with trees, and at the bottom of which a brook +murmured. Descending a steep path, I knocked at the door. After a +little time it was opened, and two women appeared, one behind the +other. The first was about sixty; she was very powerfully made, +had stern grey eyes and harsh features, and was dressed in the +ancient Welsh female fashion, having a kind of riding-habit of blue +and a high conical hat like that of the Tyrol. The other seemed +about twenty years younger; she had dark features, was dressed like +the other, but had no hat. I saluted the first in English, and +asked her the way to the Bridge, whereupon she uttered a deep +guttural "augh" and turned away her head, seemingly in abhorrence. +I then spoke to her in Welsh, saying I was a foreign man - I did +not say a Saxon - was bound to the Devil's Bridge, and wanted to +know the way. The old woman surveyed me sternly for some time, +then turned to the other and said something, and the two began to +talk to each other, but in a low, buzzing tone, so that I could not +distinguish a word. In about half a minute the eldest turned to +me, and extending her arm and spreading out her five fingers wide, +motioned to the side of the hill in the direction which I had been +following. + +"If I go that way shall I get to the bridge of the evil man?" said +I, but got no other answer than a furious grimace and violent +agitations of the arm and fingers in the same direction. I turned +away, and scarcely had I done so when the door was slammed to +behind me with great force, and I heard two "aughs," one not quite +so deep and abhorrent as the other, probably proceeding from the +throat of the younger female. + +"Two regular Saxon-hating Welsh women," said I, philosophically; +"just of the same sort no doubt as those who played such pranks on +the slain bodies of the English soldiers, after the victory +achieved by Glendower over Mortimer on the Severn's side." + +I proceeded in the direction indicated, winding round the side of +the hill, the same mountain which the old man had pointed out to me +some time before. At length, on making a turn I saw a very lofty +mountain in the far distance to the south-west, a hill right before +me to the south, and, on my left, a meadow overhung by the southern +hill, in the middle of which stood a house from which proceeded a +violent barking of dogs. I would fain have made immediately up to +it for the purpose of inquiring my way, but saw no means of doing +so, a high precipitous bank lying between it and me. I went +forward and ascended the side of the hill before me, and presently +came to a path running east and west. I followed it a little way +towards the east. I was now just above the house, and saw some +children and some dogs standing beside it. Suddenly I found myself +close to a man who stood in a hollow part of the road, from which a +narrow path led down to the house; a donkey with panniers stood +beside him. He was about fifty years of age, with a carbuncled +countenance, high but narrow forehead, grey eyebrows, and small, +malignant grey eyes. He had a white hat, with narrow eaves and the +crown partly knocked out, a torn blue coat, corduroy breeches, long +stockings and highlows. He was sucking a cutty pipe, but seemed +unable to extract any smoke from it. He had all the appearance of +a vagabond, and of a rather dangerous vagabond. I nodded to him, +and asked him in Welsh the name of the place. He glared at me +malignantly, then, taking the pipe out of his mouth, said that he +did not know, that he had been down below to inquire and light his +pipe, but could get neither light nor answer from the children. I +asked him where he came from, but he evaded the question by asking +where I was going to. + +"To the Pont y Gwr Drwg," said I. + +He then asked me if I was an Englishman. + +"Oh yes," said I, "I am Carn Sais;" whereupon, with a strange +mixture in his face of malignity and contempt, he answered in +English that he didn't understand me. + +"You understood me very well," said I, without changing my +language, "till I told you I was an Englishman. Harkee, man with +the broken hat, you are one of the bad Welsh who don't like the +English to know the language, lest they should discover your lies +and rogueries." He evidently understood what I said, for he +gnashed his teeth, though he said nothing. "Well," said I, "I +shall go down to those children and inquire the name of the house;" +and I forthwith began to descend the path, the fellow uttering a +contemptuous "humph" behind me, as much as to say, "Much you'll +make out down there." I soon reached the bottom and advanced +towards the house. The dogs had all along been barking violently; +as I drew near to them, however, they ceased, and two of the +largest came forward wagging their tails. "The dogs were not +barking at me," said I, "but at that vagabond above." I went up to +the children; they were four in number, two boys and two girls, all +red-haired, but tolerably good-looking. They had neither shoes nor +stockings. "What is the name of this house?" said I to the eldest, +a boy about seven years old. He looked at me, but made no answer. +I repeated my question; still there was no answer, but methought I +heard a humph of triumph from the hill. "Don't crow quite yet, old +chap," thought I to myself, and putting my hand into my pocket, I +took out a penny, and offering it to the child said: "Now, small +man, Peth yw y enw y lle hwn?" Instantly the boy's face became +intelligent, and putting out a fat little hand, he took the ceiniog +and said in an audible whisper, "Waen y Bwlch." "I am all right," +said I to myself; "that is one of the names of the places which the +old ostler said I must go through." Then addressing myself to the +child I said: "Where's your father and mother?" + +"Out on the hill," whispered the child. + +"What's your father?" + +"A shepherd." + +"Good," said I. "Now can you tell me the way to the bridge of the +evil man?" But the features became blank, the finger was put to +the mouth, and the head was hung down. That question was evidently +beyond the child's capacity. "Thank you!" said I, and turning +round I regained the path on the top of the bank. The fellow and +his donkey were still there. "I had no difficulty," said I, "in +obtaining information; the place's name is Waen y Bwlch. But oes +genoch dim Cumraeg - you have no Welsh." Thereupon I proceeded +along the path in the direction of the east. Forthwith the fellow +said something to his animal, and both came following fast behind. +I quickened my pace, but the fellow and his beast were close in my +rear. Presently I came to a place where another path branched off +to the south. I stopped, looked at it, and then went on, but +scarcely had done so when I heard another exulting "humph" behind. +"I am going wrong," said I to myself; "that other path is the way +to the Devil's Bridge, and the scamp knows it or he would not have +grunted." Forthwith I faced round, and brushing past the fellow +without a word turned into the other path and hurried along it. By +a side glance which I cast I could see him staring after me; +presently, however, he uttered a sound very much like a Welsh +curse, and, kicking his beast, proceeded on his way, and I saw no +more of him. In a little time I came to a slough which crossed the +path. I did not like the look of it at all, and to avoid it +ventured upon some green mossy-looking ground to the left, and had +scarcely done so when I found myself immersed to the knees in a +bog. I, however, pushed forward, and with some difficulty got to +the path on the other side of the slough. I followed the path, and +in about half-an-hour saw what appeared to be houses at a distance. +"God grant that I maybe drawing near some inhabited place!" said I. +The path now grew very miry, and there were pools of water on +either side. I moved along slowly. At length I came to a place +where some men were busy in erecting a kind of building. I went up +to the nearest and asked him the name of the place. He had a +crowbar in his hand, was half naked, had a wry mouth and only one +eye. He made me no answer, but mowed and gibbered at me. + +"For God's sake," said I, "don't do so, but tell me where I am!" +He still uttered no word, but mowed and gibbered yet more +frightfully than before. As I stood staring at him another man +came to me and said in broken English: "It is of no use speaking +to him, sir, he is deaf and dumb." + +"I am glad he is no worse," said I, "for I really thought he was +possessed with the evil one. My good person, can you tell me the +name of this place?" + +"Esgyrn Hirion, sir," said he. + +"Esgyrn Hirion," said I to myself; "Esgyrn means 'bones,' and +Hirion means 'long.' I am doubtless at the place which the old +ostler called Long Bones. I shouldn't wonder if I get to the +Devil's Bridge to-night after all." I then asked the man if he +could tell me the way to the bridge of the evil man, but he shook +his head and said that he had never heard of such a place, adding, +however, that he would go with me to one of the overseers, who +could perhaps direct me. He then proceeded towards a row of +buildings, which were, in fact, those objects which I had guessed +to be houses in the distance. He led me to a corner house, at the +door of which stood a middle-aged man, dressed in a grey coat, and +saying to me, "This person is an overseer," returned to his labour. +I went up to the man, and, saluting him in English, asked whether +he could direct me to the Devil's Bridge, or rather to Pont Erwyd. + +"It would be of no use directing you, sir," said he, "for with all +the directions in the world it would be impossible for you to find +the way. You would not have left these premises five minutes +before you would be in a maze without knowing which way to turn. +Where do you come from?" + +"From Machynlleth," I replied. + +"From Machynlleth!" said he. "Well, I only wonder you ever got +here, but it would be madness to go farther alone." + +"Well," said I, "can I obtain a guide?" + +"I really don't know," said he; "I am afraid all the men are +engaged." + +As we were speaking a young man made his appearance at the door +from the interior of the house. He was dressed in a brown short +coat, had a glazed hat on his head, and had a pale but very +intelligent countenance. + +"What is the matter?" said he to the other man. + +"This gentleman," replied the latter, "is going to Pont Erwyd, and +wants a guide." + +"Well," said the young man, "we must find him one. It will never +do to let him go by himself." + +"If you can find me a guide," said I, "I shall be happy to pay him +for his trouble." + +"Oh, you can do as you please about that," said the young man; +"but, pay or not, we would never suffer you to leave this place +without a guide, and as much for our own sake as yours; for the +directors of the Company would never forgive us if they heard we +had suffered a gentleman to leave these premises without a guide, +more especially if he were lost, as it is a hundred to one you +would be if you went by yourself." + +"Pray," said I, "what Company is this, the directors of which are +so solicitous about the safety of strangers?" + +"The Potosi Mining Company," said he, "the richest in all Wales. +But pray walk in and sit down, for you must be tired." + + + +CHAPTER LXXXI + + + +The Mining Compting Room - Native of Aberystwyth - Story of a +Bloodhound - The Young Girls - The Miner's Tale - Gwen Frwd - The +Terfyn. + + +I FOLLOWED the young man with the glazed hat into a room, the other +man following behind me. He of the glazed hat made me sit down +before a turf fire, apologising for its smoking very much. The +room seemed half compting-room, half apartment. There was a wooden +desk with a ledger upon it by the window, which looked to the west, +and a camp bedstead extended from the southern wall nearly up to +the desk. After I had sat for about a minute, the young man asked +me if I would take any refreshment. I thanked him for his kind +offer, which I declined, saying, however, that if he would obtain +me a guide I should feel much obliged. He turned to the other man +and told him to go and inquire whether there was any one who would +be willing to go. The other nodded, and forthwith went out. + +"You think, then," said I, "that I could not find the way by +myself?" + +"I am sure of it," said he, "for even the people best acquainted +with the country frequently lose their way. But I must tell you, +that if we do find you a guide, it will probably be one who has no +English." + +"Never mind," said I, "I have enough Welsh to hold a common +discourse." + +A fine girl about fourteen now came in, and began bustling about. + +"Who is this young lady?" said I. + +"The daughter of a captain of a neighbouring mine," said he; "she +frequently comes here with messages, and is always ready to do a +turn about the house, for she is very handy." + +"Has she any English?" said I. + +"Not a word," he replied. "The young people of these hills have no +English, except they go abroad to learn it." + +"What hills are these?" said I. + +"Part of the Plynlimmon range," said he. + +"Dear me," said I, "am I near Plynlimmon?" + +"Not very far from it," said the young man, "and you will be nearer +when you reach Pont Erwyd." + +"Are you a native of these parts?" said I. + +"I am not," he replied; "I am a native of Aberystwyth, a place on +the sea-coast about a dozen miles from here." + +"This seems to be a cold, bleak spot," said I; "is it healthy?" + +"I have reason to say so," said he; "for I came here from +Aberystwyth about four months ago very unwell, and am now perfectly +recovered. I do not believe there is a healthier spot in all +Wales." + +We had some further discourse. I mentioned to him the adventure +which I had on the hill with the fellow with the donkey. The young +man said that he had no doubt that he was some prowling thief. + +"The dogs of the shepherd's house," said I, "didn't seem to like +him, and dogs generally know an evil customer. A long time ago I +chanced to be in a posada, or inn, at Valladolid in Spain. One hot +summer's afternoon I was seated in a corridor which ran round a +large open court in the middle of the inn; a fine yellow, three- +parts-grown bloodhound was lying on the ground beside me with whom +I had been playing, a little time before. I was just about to fall +asleep, when I heard a 'hem' at the outward door of the posada, +which was a long way below at the end of a passage which +communicated with the court. Instantly the hound started upon his +legs, and with a loud yell, and with eyes flashing fire, ran nearly +round the corridor, down a flight of steps, and through the passage +to the gate. There was then a dreadful noise, in which the cries +of a human being and the yells of the hound were blended. I +forthwith started up and ran down, followed by several other +guests, who came rushing out of their chambers round the corridor. +At the gate we saw a man on the ground and the hound trying to +strangle him. It was with the greatest difficulty, and chiefly +through the intervention of the master of the dog, who happened to +be present, that the animal could be made to quit his hold. The +assailed person was a very powerful man, but had an evil +countenance, was badly dressed, and had neither hat, shoes nor +stockings. We raised him up and gave him wine, which he drank +greedily, and presently, without saying a word, disappeared. The +guests said they had no doubt that he was a murderer flying from +justice, and that the dog by his instinct, even at a distance, knew +him to be such. The master said that it was the first time that +the dog had ever attacked any one or shown the slightest symptom of +ferocity. Not the least singular part of the matter was, that the +dog did not belong to the house, but to one of the guests from a +distant village; the creature therefore could not consider itself +the house's guardian." + +I had scarcely finished my tale when the other man came in and said +that he had found a guide, a young man from Pont Erwyd, who would +be glad of such an opportunity to go and see his parents, that he +was then dressing himself, and would shortly make his appearance. +In about twenty minutes he did so. He was a stout young fellow +with a coarse blue coat, and coarse white felt hat; he held a stick +in his hand. The kind young book-keeper now advised us to set out +without delay, as the day was drawing to a close and the way was +long. I shook him by the hand, told him that I should never forget +his civility, and departed with the guide. + +The fine young girl, whom I have already mentioned, and another +about two years younger, departed with us. They were dressed in +the graceful female attire of old Wales. + +We bore to the south down a descent, and came to some moory, quaggy +ground intersected with water-courses. The agility of the young +girls surprised me; they sprang over the water-courses, some of +which were at least four feet wide, with the ease and alacrity of +lawns. After a short time we came to a road, which, however, we +did not long reap the benefit of, as it only led to a mine. Seeing +a house on the top of a hill, I asked my guide whose it was. + +"Ty powdr," said he, "a powder house," by which I supposed he meant +a magazine of powder used for blasting in the mines. He had not a +word of English. . If the young girls were nimble with their feet, +they were not less so with their tongues, as they kept up an +incessant gabble with each other and with the guide. I understood +little of what they said, their volubility preventing me from +catching more than a few words. After we had gone about two miles +and a half, they darted away with surprising swiftness down a hill +towards a distant house, where, as I learned from my guide, the +father of the eldest lived. We ascended a hill, passed between two +craggy elevations, and then wended to the south-east over a +strange, miry place, in which I thought any one at night not +acquainted with every inch of the way would run imminent risk of +perishing. I entered into conversation with my guide. After a +little time he asked me if I was a Welshman. I told him no. + +"You could teach many a Welshman," said he. + +"Why do you think so?" said I. + +"Because many of your words are quite above my comprehension," said +he. + +"No great compliment," thought I to myself; but putting a good face +upon the matter I told him that I knew a great many old Welsh +words. + +"Is Potosi an old Welsh word?" said he. + +"No," said I; "it is the name of a mine in the Deheubarth of +America." + +"Is it a lead mine?" + +"No!" said I, "it is a silver mine." + +"Then why do they call our mine, which is a lead mine, by the name +of a silver mine?" + +"Because they wish to give people to understand," said I, "that it +is very rich - as rich in lead as Potosi in silver. Potosi is, or +was, the richest silver mine in the world, and from it has come at +least one half of the silver which we use in the shape of money and +other things." + +"Well," said he, "I have frequently asked, but could never learn +before why our mine was called Potosi." + +"You did not ask at the right quarter," said I; "the young man with +the glazed hat could have told you as well as I." I inquired why +the place where the mine was bore the name of Esgyrn Hirion or Long +Bones. He told me that he did not know, but believed that the +bones of a cawr or giant had been found there in ancient times. I +asked him if the mine was deep. + +"Very deep," he replied. + +"Do you like the life of a miner?" said I. + +"Very much," said he, "and should like it more, but for the noises +of the hill." + +"Do you mean the powder blasts?" said I. + +"Oh no!" said he, "I care nothing for them; I mean the noises made +by the spirits of the hill in the mine. Sometimes they make such +noises as frighten the poor fellow who works underground out of his +senses. Once on a time I was working by myself very deep +underground, in a little chamber to which a very deep shaft led. I +had just taken up my light to survey my work, when all of a sudden +I heard a dreadful rushing noise, as if an immense quantity of +earth had come tumbling down. 'Oh God!' said I, and fell +backwards, letting the light fall, which instantly went out. I +thought the whole shaft had given way, and that I was buried alive. +I lay for several hours half stupefied, thinking now and then what +a dreadful thing it was to be buried alive. At length I thought I +would get up, go to the mouth of the shaft, feel the mould, with +which it was choked up, and then come back, lie down, and die. So +I got up and tottered to the mouth of the shaft, put out my hand +and felt - nothing; all was clear. I went forward, and presently +felt the ladder. Nothing had fallen; all was just the same as when +I came down. I was dreadfully afraid that I should never be able +to get up in the dark without breaking my neck; however, I tried, +and at last, with a great deal of toil and danger, got to a place +where other men were working. The noise was caused by the spirits +of the hill in the hope of driving the miner out of his senses. +They very nearly succeeded. I shall never forget how I felt when I +thought I was buried alive. If it were not for those noises in the +hill, the life of a miner would be quite heaven below." + +We came to a cottage standing under a hillock, down the side of +which tumbled a streamlet close by the northern side of the +building. The door was open, and inside were two or three females +and some children. "Have you any enwyn?" said the lad, peeping in. + +"Oh yes!" said a voice - "digon! digon!" Presently a buxom, +laughing girl brought out two dishes of buttermilk, one of which +she handed to me and the other to the guide. I asked her the name +of the place. + +"Gwen Frwd - the 'Fair Rivulet,'" said she. + +"Who lives here?" + +"A shepherd." + +"Have you any English?" + +"Nagos!" said she, bursting into a loud laugh. "What should we do +with English here?" After we had drunk the buttermilk I offered the +girl some money, but she drew back her hand angrily, and said: "We +don't take money from tired strangers for two drops of buttermilk; +there's plenty within, and there are a thousand ewes on the hill. +Farvel!" + +"Dear me!" thought I to myself as I walked away; "that I should +once in my days have found shepherd life something as poets have +represented it!" + +I saw a mighty mountain at a considerable distance on the right, +the same I believe which I had noted some hours before. I inquired +of my guide whether it was Plynlimmon. + +"Oh no!" said he, "that is Gaverse; Pumlimmon is to the left." + +"Plynlimmon is a famed hill," said I; "I suppose it is very high." + +"Yes!" said he, "it is high; but it is not famed because it is +high, but because the three grand rivers of the world issue from +its breast, the Hafren, the Rheidol, and the Gwy." + +Night was now coming rapidly on, attended with a drizzling rain. I +inquired if we were far from Pont Erwyd. "About a mile," said my +guide; "we shall soon be there." We quickened our pace. After a +little time he asked me if I was going farther than Pont Erwyd. + +"I am bound for the bridge of the evil man," said I; "but I daresay +I shall stop at Pont Erwyd to-night." + +"You will do right," said he; "it is only three miles from Pont +Erwyd to the bridge of the evil man, but I think we shall have a +stormy night." + +"When I get to Pont Erwyd," said I, "how far shall I be from South +Wales?" + +"From South Wales!" said he; "you are in South Wales now; you +passed the Terfyn of North Wales a quarter of an hour ago." + +The rain now fell fast and there was so thick a mist that I could +only see a few yards before me. We descended into a valley, at the +bottom of which I heard a river roaring. + +"That's the Rheidol," said my guide, "coming from Pumlimmon, +swollen with rain." + +Without descending to the river, we turned aside up a hill, and, +after passing by a few huts, came to a large house, which my guide +told me was the inn of Pont Erwyd. + + + +CHAPTER LXXXII + + + +Consequential Landlord - Cheek - Darfel Gatherel - Dafydd Nanmor - +Sheep Farms - Wholesome Advice - The Old Postman - The Plant de Bat +- The Robber's Cavern. + + +MY guide went to a side door, and opening it without ceremony went +in. I followed and found myself in a spacious and comfortable- +looking kitchen: a large fire blazed in a huge grate, on one side +of which was a settle; plenty of culinary utensils, both pewter and +copper, hung around on the walls, and several goodly rows of hams +and sides of bacon were suspended from the roof. There were +several people present, some on the settle and others on chairs in +the vicinity of the fire. As I advanced, a man arose from a chair +and came towards me. He was about thirty-five years of age, well +and strongly made, with a fresh complexion, a hawk nose, and a keen +grey eye. He wore top-boots and breeches, a half jockey coat, and +had a round cap made of the skin of some animal on his head. + + "Servant, sir!" said he in rather a sharp tone, and surveying me +with something of a supercilious air. + +"Your most obedient humble servant!" said I; "I presume you are the +landlord of this house." + +"Landlord!" said he, "landlord! It is true I receive guests +sometimes into my house, but I do so solely with the view of +accommodating them; I do not depend upon innkeeping for a +livelihood. I hire the principal part of the land in this +neighbourhood." + +"If that be the case," said I, "I had better continue my way to the +Devil's Bridge; I am not at all tired, and I believe it is not very +far distant." + +"Oh, as you are here," said the farmer-landlord, "I hope you will +stay. I should be very sorry if any gentleman should leave my +house at night after coming with an intention of staying, more +especially in a night like this. Martha!" said he, turning to a +female between thirty and forty - who I subsequently learned was +the mistress - "prepare the parlour instantly for this gentleman, +and don't fail to make up a good fire." + +Martha forthwith hurried away, attended by a much younger female. + +"Till your room is prepared, sir," said he, "perhaps you will have +no objection to sit down before our fire?" + +"Not the least," said I; "nothing gives me greater pleasure than to +sit before a kitchen fire. First of all, however, I must settle +with my guide, and likewise see that he has something to eat and +drink." + +"Shall I interpret for you?" said the landlord; "the lad has not a +word of English; I know him well." + +"I have not been under his guidance for the last three hours," said +I, "without knowing that he cannot speak English; but I want no +interpreter." + +"You do not mean to say, sir," said the landlord, with a surprised +and dissatisfied air, "that you understand Welsh?" + +I made no answer, but turning to the guide thanked him for his +kindness, and giving him some money asked him if it was enough. + +"More than enough, sir," said the lad; "I did not expect half as +much. Farewell!" + +He was then about to depart, but I prevented him saying: + +"You must not go till you have eaten and drunk. What will you +have?" + +"Merely a cup of ale, sir," said the lad. + +"That won't do," said I; "you shall have bread and cheese and as +much ale as you can drink. Pray," said I to the landlord, "let +this young man have some bread and cheese and a large quart of +ale." + +The landlord looked at me for a moment, then turning to the lad he +said: + +"What do you think of that, Shon? It is some time since you had a +quart of ale to your own cheek." + +"Cheek," said I - "cheek! Is that a Welsh word? Surely it is an +importation from the English, and not a very genteel one." + +"Oh come, sir!" said the landlord, "we can dispense with your +criticisms. A pretty thing indeed for you, on the strength of +knowing half-a-dozen words of Welsh, to set up for a Welsh critic +in the house of a person who knows the ancient British language +perfectly." + +"Dear me!" said I, "how fortunate I am! a person thoroughly versed +in the ancient British language is what I have long wished to see. +Pray what is the meaning of Darfel Gatherel?" + +"Oh sir!" said the landlord, "you must answer that question +yourself; I don't pretend to understand gibberish!" + +"Darfel Gatherel," said I, "is not gibberish; it was the name of +the great wooden image at Ty Dewi, or Saint David's, in +Pembrokeshire, to which thousands of pilgrims in the days of popery +used to repair for the purpose of adoring it, and which at the time +of the Reformation was sent up to London as a curiosity, where it +eventually served as firewood to burn the monk Forrest upon, who +was sentenced to the stake by Henry the Eighth for denying his +supremacy. What I want to know is, the meaning of the name, which +I could never get explained, but which you who know the ancient +British language perfectly can doubtless interpret." + +"Oh, sir," said the landlord, "when I said I knew the British +language perfectly, I perhaps went too far there are, of course, +some obsolete terms in the British tongue, which I don't +understand. Dar, Dar - what is it? Darmod Cotterel amongst the +rest; but to a general knowledge of the Welsh language I think I +may lay some pretensions; were I not well acquainted with it, I +should not have carried off the prize at various eisteddfodau, as I +have done. I am a poet, sir - a prydydd." + +"It is singular enough," said I, "that the only two Welsh poets I +have seen have been innkeepers - one is yourself, the other a +person I met in Anglesey. I suppose the Muse is fond of cwrw da." + +"You would fain be pleasant, sir," said the landlord; "but I beg +leave to inform you that I am not fond of pleasantries; and now, as +my wife and the servant are returned, I will have the pleasure of +conducting you to the parlour." + +"Before I go," said I, "I should like to see my guide provided with +what I ordered." I stayed till the lad was accommodated with bread +and cheese and a foaming tankard of ale, and then bidding him +farewell, I followed the landlord into the parlour, where I found a +fire kindled, which, however, smoked exceedingly. I asked my host +what I could have for supper, and was told that he did not know, +but that if I would leave the matter to him he would send the best +he could. As he was going away, I said: "So you are a poet? +Well, I am very glad to hear it, for I have been fond of Welsh +poetry from my boyhood. What kind of verse do you employ in +general? Did you ever write an awdl in the four-and-twenty +measures? What are the themes of your songs? The deeds of the +ancient heroes of South Wales, I suppose, and the hospitality of +the great men of the neighbourhood who receive you as an honoured +guest at their tables. I'll bet a guinea that however clever a +fellow you may be you never sang anything in praise of your +landlord's housekeeping equal to what Dafydd Nanmor sang in praise +of that of Ryce of Twyn four hundred years ago: + + +'For Ryce if hundred thousands plough'd +The lands around his fair abode; +Did vines of thousand vineyards bleed, +Still corn and wine great Ryce would need; +If all the earth had bread's sweet savour, +And water all had cyder's flavour, +Three roaring feasts in Ryce's hall +Would swallow earth and ocean all.' + + +Hey?" + +"Really, sir," said the landlord, "I don't know how to reply to +you, for the greater part of your discourse is utterly +unintelligible to me. Perhaps you are a better Welshman than +myself; but however that may be, I shall take the liberty of +retiring in order to give orders about your supper." + +In about half-an-hour the supper made its appearance in the shape +of some bacon and eggs. On tasting them I found them very good, +and calling for some ale I made a very tolerable supper. After the +things had been removed I drew near to the fire, but as it still +smoked, I soon betook myself to the kitchen. My guide had taken +his departure, but the others whom I had left were still there. +The landlord was talking in Welsh to a man in a rough great-coat, +about sheep. Setting himself down near the fire I called for a +glass of whiskey and water, and then observing that the landlord +and his friend had suddenly become silent, I said: "Pray go on +with your discourse; don't let me be any hindrance to you." + +"Yes, sir!" said the landlord snappishly, "go on with our discourse +for your edification, I suppose?" + +"Well," said I, "suppose it is for my edification; surely you don't +grudge a stranger a little edification which will cost you +nothing?" + +"I don't know that, sir," said the landlord; "I don't know that. +Really, sir, the kitchen is not the place for a gentleman." + +"Yes, it is," said I, "provided the parlour smokes. Come, come, I +am going to have a glass of whiskey and water; perhaps you will +take one with me." + +"Well, sir!" said the landlord, in rather a softened tone, "I have +no objection to take a glass with you." + +Two glasses of whiskey and water were presently brought, and the +landlord and I drank to each other's health. + +"Is this a sheep district?" said I, after a pause of a minute or +two. + +"Yes, sir," said the landlord; "it may to a certain extent be +called a sheep district." + +"I suppose the Southdown and Norfolk breeds would not do for these +here parts," said I, with a regular Norfolk whine. + +"No, sir, I don't think they would exactly," said the landlord, +staring at me. "Do you know anything about sheep?" + +"Plenty, plenty," said I; "quite as much indeed as about Welsh +words and poetry." Then in a yet more whining tone than before, I +said: "Do you think that a body with money in his pocket could +hire a nice comfortable sheep farm hereabouts?" + +"Oh, sir!" said the landlord in a furious tone, "you have come to +look out for a farm, I see, and to outbid us poor Welshmen: it is +on that account you have studied Welsh; but, sir, I would have you +know - " + +"Come!" said I, "don't be afraid; I wouldn't have all the farms in +your country, provided you would tie them in a string and offer +them to me. If I talked about a farm, it was because I am in the +habit of talking about everything, being versed in all matters, do +you see, or affecting to be so, which comes much to the same thing. +My real business in this neighbourhood is to see the Devil's Bridge +and the scenery about it." + +"Very good, sir," said the landlord; "I thought so at first. A +great many English go to see the Devil's Bridge and the scenery +near it, though I really don't know why, for there is nothing so +very particular in either. We have a bridge here too, quite as +good as the Devil's Bridge; and as for scenery, I'll back the +scenery about this house against anything of the kind in the +neighbourhood of the Devil's Bridge. Yet everybody goes to the +Devil's Bridge and nobody comes here!" + +"You might easily bring everybody here," said I, "if you would but +employ your talent. You should celebrate the wonders of your +neighbourhood in cowydds, and you would soon have plenty of +visitors; but you don't want them, you know, and prefer to be +without them." + +The landlord looked at me for a moment, then taking sip of his +whiskey and water he turned to the man with whom he had previously +been talking and recommenced the discourse about sheep. I make no +doubt, however, that I was a restraint upon them; they frequently +glanced at me, and soon fell to whispering. At last both got up +and left the room, the landlord finishing his glass of whiskey and +water before he went away. + +"So you are going to the Devil's Bridge, sir!" said an elderly man, +dressed in a grey coat, with a broad-brimmed hat, who sat on the +settle smoking a pipe in company with another elderly man with a +leather hat, with whom I had heard him discourse sometimes in +Welsh, sometimes in English, the Welsh which he spoke being rather +broken. + +"Yes," said I, "I am going to have a sight of the bridge and the +neighbouring scenery." + +"Well, sir, I don't think you will be disappointed, for both are +wonderful." + +"Are you a Welshman?" said I. + +"No, sir, I am not; I am an Englishman from Durham, which is the +best county in England." + +"So it is," said I - "for some things at any rate. For example, +where do you find such beef as in Durham?" + +"Ah, where indeed, sir? I have always said that neither the +Devonshire nor the Lincolnshire beef is to be named in the same day +with that of Durham." + +"Well," said I, "what business do you follow in these parts? I +suppose you farm?" + +"No, sir, I do not; I am what they call a mining captain." + +"I suppose that gentleman," said I, motioning to the man in the +leather hat, "is not from Durham?" + +"No, sir, he is not; he is from this neighbourhood." + +"And does he follow mining?" + +"No, sir, he does not; he carries about the letters." + +"Is your mine near this place?" + +"Not very, sir; it is nearer the Devil's Bridge." + +"Why is the bridge called the Devil's Bridge?" said + +"Because, sir, 'tis said that the Devil built it in the old time, +though that I can hardly believe; for the Devil, do ye see, +delights in nothing but mischief, and it is not likely that such +being the case he would have built a thing which must have been of +wonderful service to people by enabling them to pass in safety over +a dreadful gulf." + +"I have heard," said the old postman with the leather hat, "that +the Devil had no hand in de work at all, but that it was built by a +Mynach, or monk, on which account de river over which de bridge is +built is called Afon y Mynach - dat is de Monk's River." + +"Did you ever hear," said I, "of three creatures who lived a long +time ago near the Devil's Bridge, called the Plant de Bat?" + +"Ah, master!" said the old postman, "I do see that you have been in +these parts before; had you not, you would not know of the Plant de +Bat." + +"No," said I, "I have never been here before; but I heard of them +when I was a boy, from a Cumro who taught me Welsh, and had lived +for some time in these parts. Well, what do they say here about +the Plant de Bat? for he who mentioned them to me could give me no +further information about them than that they were horrid creatures +who lived in a cave near the Devil's Bridge several hundred years +ago." + +"Well, master," said the old postman, thrusting his forefinger +twice or thrice into the bowl of his pipe, "I will tell you what +they says here about the Plant de Bat. In de old time - two, three +hundred year ago - a man lived somewhere about here called Bat or +Bartholomew; this man had three children, two boys and one girl, +who, because their father's name was Bat, were generally called +'Plant de Bat,' or Bat's children. Very wicked children they were +from their cradle, giving their father and mother much trouble and +uneasiness; no good in any one of them, neither in the boys nor the +girl. Now the boys, once when they were rambling idly about, +lighted by chance upon a cave near the Devil's Bridge. Very +strange cave it was, with just one little hole at top to go in by; +so the boys said to one another: 'Nice cave this for thief to live +in. Suppose we come here when we are a little more big and turn +thief ourselves.' Well, they waited till they were a little more +big, and then leaving their father's house they came to de cave and +turned thief, lying snug there all day and going out at night to +rob upon the roads. Well, there was soon much talk in the country +about the robberies which were being committed, and people often +went out in search of de thieves, but all in vain; and no wonder, +for they were in a cave very hard to light upon, having, as I said +before, merely one little hole at top to go in by. So, Bat's boys +went on swimmingly for a long time, lying snug in cave by day and +going out at night to rob, letting no one know where they were but +their sister, who was as bad as themselves, and used to come to +them and bring them food and stay with them for weeks, and +sometimes go out and rob with them. But as de pitcher which goes +often to de well comes home broke at last, so it happened with +Bat's children. After robbing people upon the roads by night many +a long year and never being found out, they at last met one great +gentleman upon the roads by night and not only robbed, but killed +him, leaving his body all cut and gashed near to Devil's Bridge. +That job was the ruin of Plant de Bat, for the great gentleman's +friends gathered together and hunted after his murderers with dogs, +and at length came to the cave, and going in, found it stocked with +riches, and the Plant de Bat sitting upon the riches, not only the +boys but the girl also. So they took out the riches and the Plant +de Bat, and the riches they did give to churches and spyttys, and +the Plant de Bat they did execute, hanging the boys and burning the +girl. That, master, is what they says in dese parts about the +Plant de Bat." + +"Thank you!" said I. "Is the cave yet to be seen?" + +"Oh yes! it is yet to be seen, or part of it, for it is not now +what it was, having been partly flung open to hinder other thieves +from nestling in it. It is on the bank of the river Mynach, just +before it joins the Rheidol. Many gentlefolk in de summer go to +see the Plant de Bat's cave." + +"Are you sure," said I, "that Plant de Bat means Bat's children?" + +"I am not sure, master; I merely says what I have heard other +people say. I believe some says that it means 'the wicked +children,' or 'the Devil's children.' And now, master, we may as +well have done with them, for should you question me through the +whole night, I could tell you nothing more about the Plant de Bat." + +After a little further discourse, chiefly about sheep and the +weather, I retired to the parlour, where the fire was now burning +brightly; seating myself before it, I remained for a considerable +time staring at the embers and thinking over the events of the day. +At length I rang the bell and begged to be shown to my chamber, +where I soon sank to sleep, lulled by the pattering of rain against +the window and the sound of a neighbouring cascade. + + + +CHAPTER LXXXIII + + + +Wild Scenery - Awful Chasm - John Greaves - Durham County - Queen +Philippa - The Two Aldens - Welsh Wife - The Noblest Business - The +Welsh and the Salve - The Lad John. + + +A RAINY and boisterous night was succeeded by a bright and +beautiful morning. I arose and having ordered breakfast went forth +to see what kind of country I had got into. I found myself amongst +wild, strange-looking hills, not, however, of any particular +height. The house, which seemed to front the east, stood on the +side of a hill, on a wide platform abutting on a deep and awful +chasm, at the bottom of which chafed and foamed the Rheidol. This +river enters the valley of Pont Erwyd from the north-west, then +makes a variety of snake-like turns, and at last bears away to the +south-east just below the inn. The banks are sheer walls, from +sixty to a hundred feet high, and the bed of the river has all the +appearance of a volcanic rent. A brook, running from the south +past the inn, tumbles into the chasm at an angle, and forms the +cascade whose sound had lulled me to sleep the preceding night. + +After breakfasting I paid my bill, and set out for the Devil's +Bridge without seeing anything more of that remarkable personage in +whom were united landlord, farmer, poet, and mighty fine gentleman +- the master of the house. I soon reached the bottom of the +valley, where are a few houses and the bridge from which the place +takes its name, Pont Erwyd signifying the bridge of Erwyd. As I +was looking over the bridge, near which are two or three small +waterfalls, an elderly man in a grey coat, followed by a young lad +and dog, came down the road which I had myself just descended. + +"Good day, sir," said he, stopping, when he came upon the bridge. +"I suppose you are bound my road?" + +"Ah," said I, recognising the old mining captain with whom I had +talked in the kitchen the night before, "is it you? I am glad to +see you. Yes, I am bound your way, provided you are going to the +Devil's Bridge." + +"Then, sir, we can go together, for I am bound to my mine, which +lies only a little way t'other side of the Devil's Bridge." + +Crossing the bridge of Erwyd, we directed our course to the south- +east. + +"What young man is that," said I, "who is following behind us?" + +"The young man, sir, is my son John, and the dog with him is his +dog Joe." + +"And what may your name be, if I may take the liberty of asking?" + +"Greaves, sir; John Greaves from the county of Durham." + +"Ah! a capital county that," said I. + +"You like the county, sir? God bless you! John!" said he in a +loud voice, turning to the lad, "why don't you offer to carry the +gentleman's knapsack?" + +"Don't let him trouble himself," said I. "As I was just now +saying, a capital county is Durham county." + +"You really had better let the boy carry your bag, sir." + +"No," said I, "I would rather carry it myself. I question upon the +whole whether there is a better county in England." + +"Is it long since your honour was in Durham county?" + +"A good long time. A matter of forty years." + +"Forty years! - why that's the life of a man. That's longer than I +have been out of the county myself. I suppose your honour can't +remember much about the county." + +"Oh yes, I can! I remember a good deal." + +"Please, your honour, tell me what you remember about the county. +It would do me good to hear it." + +"Well, I remember it was a very fine county in more respects than +one. One part of it was full of big hills and mountains, where +there were mines of coal and lead, with mighty works with tall +chimneys spouting out black smoke, and engines roaring, and big +wheels going round, some turned by steam, and others by what they +call forces, that is, brooks of water dashing down steep channels. +Another part was a more level country, with beautiful woods, happy- +looking farm-houses well-filled fields and rich, glorious meadows, +in which stood stately, with brown sides and short horns, the +Durham ox." + +"Oh dear, oh dear!" said my companion. "Ah! I see your honour +knows everything about Durham county. Forces? none but one who had +been in Durham county would have used that word. I haven't heard +it for five-and-thirty years. Forces! there was a force close to +my village. I wonder if your honour has ever been in Durham city?" + +"Oh yes! I have been there." + +"Does your honour remember anything about Durham city?" + +"Oh yes! I remember a good deal about it." + +"Then, your honour, pray tell us what you remember about it - pray +do I perhaps it will do me good." + +"Well then, I remember that it was a fine old city standing on a +hill with a river running under it, and that it had a fine old +church, one of the finest in the of Britain; likewise a fine old +castle; and last, not least, a capital old inn, where I got a +capital dinner off roast Durham beef, and a capital glass of ale, +which I believe was the cause, of my being ever after fond of ale." + + "Dear me! Ah, I see your honour knows all about Durham city. And +now let me ask one question. How came your honour to Durham, city +and county? I don't think your honour is a Durham man either of +town or field." + +"I am not; but when I was a little boy I passed through Durham +county with my mother and brother to a place called Scotland." + +"Scotland! a queer country that, your honour!" + +"So it is," said I; "a queerer country I never saw in all my life." + +"And a queer set of people, your honour." + +"So they are," said I; "a queerer set of people than the Scotch you +would scarcely see in a summer's day." + +"The Durham folks, neither of town or field, have much reason to +speak well of the Scotch, your honour." + +"I dare say not," said I; "very few people have." + +"And yet the Durham folks, your honour, generally contrived to give +them as good as they brought." + +"That they did," said I; "a pretty licking the Durham folks once +gave the Scots under the walls of Durham city, after the scamps had +been plundering the country for three weeks - a precious licking +they gave them, slaying I don't know how many thousands, and taking +their king prisoner." + +"So they did, your honour, and under the command of a woman too." + +"Very true," said I; "Queen Philippa." + +"Just so, your honour! The idea that your honour should know so +much about Durham, both field and town!" + +"Well," said I, "since I have told you so much about Durham, +perhaps you will tell me something about yourself. How did you +come here?" + +"I had better begin from the beginning, your honour. I was born in +Durham county close beside the Great Force, which no doubt your +honour has seen. My father was a farmer, and had a bit of a share +in a mining concern. I was brought up from my childhood both to +farming and mining work, but most to mining, because, do you see, I +took most pleasure in it, being the more noble business of the two. +Shortly after I had come to man's estate my father died, leaving me +a decent little property, whereupon I forsook farming altogether +and gave myself up, body, soul, and capital, to mining, which at +last I thoroughly understand in all its branches. Well, your +honour, about five-and-thirty years ago - that was when I was about +twenty-eight - a cry went through the north country that a great +deal of money might be made by opening Wales, that is, by mining in +Wales in the proper fashion, which means the north country fashion, +for there is no other fashion of mining good for much. There had +long been mines in Wales, but they had always been worked in a +poor, weak, languid manner, very different from that of the north +country. So a company was formed, at the head of which were the +Aldens, George and Thomas, for opening Wales, and they purchased +certain mines in these districts which they knew to be productive, +and which might be made yet more so, and settling down here called +themselves the Rheidol United. Well, after they had been here a +little time they found themselves in want of a man to superintend +their concerns, above all in the smelting department. So they +thought of me, who was known to most of the mining gentry in the +north country, and they made a proposal to me through George Alden, +afterwards Sir George, to come here and superintend. I said no at +first, for I didn't like the idea of leaving Durham county to come +to such an outlandish place as Wales; howsomeover, I at last +allowed myself to be overpersuaded by George Alden, afterwards Sir +George, and here I came with my wife and family - for I must tell +your honour I had married a respectable young woman of Durham +county, by whom I had two little ones - here I came and did my best +for the service of the Rheidol United. The company was terribly +set to it for a long time, spending a mint of money and getting +very poor returns. To my certain knowledge, the two Aldens, George +and Tom, spent between them thirty thousand pounds. The company, +however, persevered, chiefly at the instigation of the Aldens, who +were in the habit of saying, 'Never say die!' and at last got the +better of all their difficulties and rolled in riches, and had the +credit of being the first company that ever opened Wales, which +they richly deserved, for I will uphold it that the Rheidol United, +particularly the Aldens, George and Thomas, were the first people +who really opened Wales. In their service I have been for five- +and-thirty years, and daresay shall continue so till I die. I have +been tolerably comfortable, your honour, though I have had my +griefs, the bitterest of which was the death of my wife, which +happened about eight years after I came to this country. I thought +I should have gone wild at first, your honour; having, however, +always plenty to do, I at last got the better of my affliction. I +continued single till my English family grew up and left me, when, +feeling myself rather lonely, I married a decent young Welshwoman, +by whom I had one son, the lad John who is following behind with +his dog Joe. And now your honour knows the whole story of John +Greaves, miner from the county of Durham." + +"And a most entertaining and instructive history it is," said I. +"You have not told me, however, how you contrived to pick up Welsh: +I heard you speaking it last night with the postman." + +"Why, through my Welsh wife, your honour! Without her I don't +think I should ever have picked up the Welsh manner of discoursing +- she is a good kind of woman, my Welsh wife, though - " + +"The loss of your Durham wife must have been a great grief to you," +said I. + +"It was the bitterest grief, your honour, as I said before, that I +ever had; my next worst I think was the death of a dear friend." + +"Who was that?" said I + +"Who was it, your honour? why, the Duke of Newcastle." + +"Dear me!" said I, "how came you to know him?" + +"Why, your honour, he lived at a place not far from here, called +Hafod, and so - " + +"Hafod?" said I; "I have often heard of Hafod and its library; but +I thought it belonged to an old Welsh family called Johnes." + +"Well, so it did, your honour, but the family died away, and the +estate was put up for sale, and purchased by the Duke, who built a +fine house upon it, which he made his chief place of residence - +the old family house, I must tell your honour, in which the library +was, had been destroyed by fire. Well, he hadn't been long settled +there before he found me out and took wonderfully to me, +discoursing with me and consulting me about his farming and +improvements. Many is the pleasant chat and discourse I have had +with his Grace for hours and hours together, for his Grace had not +a bit of pride, at least he never showed any to me, though perhaps +the reason of that was that we were both north country people. +Lord! I would have laid down my life for his Grace and have done +anything but one which he once asked me to do. 'Greaves,' said the +Duke to me one day, 'I wish you would give up mining and become my +steward.' 'Sorry I can't oblige your Grace,' said I, 'but give up +mining I cannot. I will at any time give your Grace all the advice +I can about farming and such like, but give up mining I cannot; +because why? - I conceive mining to be the noblest business in the +'versal world.' Whereupon his Grace laughed, and said he dare say +I was right, and never mentioned the subject again." + +"Was his Grace very fond of farming and improving?" + +"Oh yes, your honour. Like all the great gentry, especially the +north country gentry, his Grace was wonderfully fond of farming and +improving; and a wonderful deal of good he did, reclaiming +thousands of acres of land which was before good for nothing, and +building capital farm-houses and offices for his tenants. His +grand feat, however, was bringing the Durham bull into this +country, which formed a capital cross with the Welsh cows. Pity +that he wasn't equally fortunate with the north country sheep." + +"Did he try to introduce them into Wales?" + +"Yes, but they didn't answer, as I knew they wouldn't. Says I to +the Duke: 'It won't do, your Grace, to bring the north country +sheep here: because why? the hills are too wet and cold for their +constitutions'; but his Grace, who had sometimes a will of his own, +persisted and brought the north country sheep to these parts, and +it turned out as I said - the sheep caught the disease, and the +wool parted and - " + +"But," said I, "you should have told him about the salve made of +bran, butter and oil; you should have done that." + +"Well, so I did, your honour. I told him about the salve, and the +Duke listened to me, and the salve was made by these very hands; +but when it was made, what do you think? the foolish Welsh wouldn't +put it on, saying that it was against their laws and statties and +religion to use it, and talked about Devil's salves and the Witch +of Endor, and the sin against the Holy Ghost, and such like +nonsense. So to prevent a regular rebellion, the Duke gave up the +salve, and the poor sheep pined away and died, till at last there +was not one left." + +"Who holds the estate at present?" said I. + +"Why, a great gentleman from Lancashire, your honour, who bought it +when the Duke died; but he doesn't take the same pleasure in it +which the Duke did, nor spend so much money about it, the +consequence being that everything looks very different from what it +looked in the Duke's time. The inn at the Devil's Bridge and the +grounds look very different from what they looked in the Duke's +time, for you must know that the inn and the grounds form part of +the Hafod estate, and are hired from the proprietor." + +By this time we had arrived at a small village, with a toll-bar and +a small church or chapel at some little distance from the road, +which here made a turn nearly full south. The road was very good, +but the country was wild and rugged; there was a deep vale on the +right, at the bottom of which rolled the Rheidol in its cleft, +rising beyond which were steep, naked hills. + +"This village," said my companion, "is called Ysbytty Cynfyn. Down +on the right, past the church, is a strange bridge across the +Rheidol, which runs there through a horrid kind of a place. The +bridge is called Pont yr Offeiriad, or the Parson's Bridge, because +in the old time the clergyman passed over it every Sunday to do +duty in the church here." + +"Why is this place called Ysbytty Cynfyn?" said I, "which means the +hospital of the first boundary; is there a hospital of the second +boundary near here?" + +"I can't say anything about boundaries, your honour; all I know is, +that there is another Spytty farther on beyond Hafod called Ysbytty +Ystwyth, or the 'Spytty upon the Ystwyth. But to return to the +matter of the Minister's Bridge: I would counsel your honour to go +and see that bridge before you leave these parts. A vast number of +gentry go to see it in the summer time. It was the bridge which +the landlord was mentioning last night, though it scarcely belongs +to his district, being quite as near the Devil's Bridge inn as it +is to his own, your honour." + +We went on discoursing for about half a mile farther, when, +stopping by a road which branched off to the hills on the left, my +companion said. "I must now wish your honour good day, being +obliged to go a little way up here to a mining work on a small bit +of business; my son, however, and his dog Joe will show your honour +the way to the Devil's Bridge, as they are bound to a place a +little way past it. I have now but one word to say, which is, that +should ever your honour please to visit me at my mine, your honour +shall receive every facility for inspecting the works, and moreover +have a bellyful of drink and victuals from Jock Greaves, miner from +the county of Durham." + +I shook the honest fellow by the hand, and went on in company with +the lad John and his dog as far as the Devil's Bridge. John was a +highly-intelligent lad, spoke Welsh and English fluently, could +read, as he told me, both languages, and had some acquaintance with +the writings of Twm o'r Nant, as he showed by repeating the +following lines of the carter poet, certainly not the worst which +he ever wrote:- + + +"Twm or Nant mae cant a'm galw, +Tomas Edwards yw fy enw," + +Tom O Nant is a nickname I've got, +My name's Thomas Edwards, I wot." + + + +CHAPTER LXXXIV + + + +The Hospice - The Two Rivers - The Devil's Bridge - Pleasant +Recollections. + + +I ARRIVED at the Devil's Bridge at about eleven o'clock of a fine +but cold day, and took up my quarters at the inn, of which I was +the sole guest during the whole time that I continued there; for +the inn, standing in a lone, wild district, has very few guests +except in summer, when it is thronged with tourists, who avail +themselves of that genial season to view the wonders of Wales, of +which the region close by is considered amongst the principal. + +The inn, or rather hospice - for the sounding name of hospice is +more applicable to it than the common one of inn - was built at a +great expense by the late Duke of Newcastle. It is an immense +lofty cottage with projecting eaves, and has a fine window to the +east which enlightens a stately staircase and a noble gallery. It +fronts the north, and stands in the midst of one of the most +remarkable localities in the world, of which it would require a far +more vigorous pen than mine to convey an adequate idea. + +Far to the west is a tall, strange-looking hill, the top of which +bears no slight resemblance to that of a battlemented castle. This +hill, which is believed to have been in ancient times a stronghold +of the Britons, bears the name of Bryn y Castell, or the hill of +the castle. To the north-west are russet hills, to the east two +brown paps, whilst to the south is a high, swelling mountain. To +the north, and just below the hospice, is a profound hollow with +all the appearance of the crater of an extinct volcano; at the +bottom of this hollow the waters of two rivers unite; those of the +Rheidol from the north, and those of the Afon y Mynach, or the +Monks' River, from the south-east. The Rheidol, falling over a +rocky precipice at the northern side of the hollow, forms a +cataract very pleasant to look upon from the middle upper window of +the inn. Those of the Mynach which pass under the celebrated +Devil's Bridge are not visible, though they generally make +themselves heard. The waters of both, after uniting, flow away +through a romantic glen towards the west. The sides of the hollow, +and indeed of most of the ravines in the neighbourhood, which are +numerous, are beautifully clad with wood. + +Penetrate now into the hollow above which the hospice stands. You +descend by successive flights of steps, some of which are very +slippery and insecure. On your right is the Monks' River, roaring +down its dingle in five successive falls, to join its brother the +Rheidol. Each of the falls has its own peculiar basin, one or two +of which are said to be of awful depth. The length which these +falls with their basins occupy is about five hundred feet. On the +side of the basin of the last but one is the cave, or the site of +the cave, said to have been occupied in old times by the Wicked +Children - the mysterious Plant de Bat - two brothers and a sister, +robbers and murderers. At present it is nearly open on every side, +having, it is said, been destroyed to prevent its being the haunt +of other evil people. There is a tradition in the country that the +fall at one time tumbled over its mouth. This tradition, however, +is evidently without foundation, as from the nature of the ground +the river could never have run but in its present channel. Of all +the falls, the fifth or last is the most considerable: you view it +from a kind of den, to which the last flight of steps, the +ruggedest and most dangerous of all, has brought you. Your +position here is a wild one. The fall, which is split into two, is +thundering beside you; foam, foam, foam is flying all about you; +the basin or cauldron is boiling frightfully below you; hirsute +rocks are frowning terribly above you, and above them forest trees, +dank and wet with spray and mist, are distilling drops in showers +from their boughs. + +But where is the bridge, the celebrated bridge of the Evil Man? +From the bottom of the first flight of steps leading down into the +hollow you see a modern-looking bridge, bestriding a deep chasm or +cleft to the south-east, near the top of the dingle of the Monks' +River; over it lies the road to Pont Erwyd. That, however, is not +the Devil's Bridge; but about twenty feet below that bridge, and +completely overhung by it, don't you see a shadowy, spectral +object, something like a bow, which likewise bestrides the chasm? +You do! Well, that shadowy, spectral object is the celebrated +Devil's Bridge, or, as the timorous peasants of the locality call +it, the Pont y Gwr Drwg. It is now merely preserved as an object +of curiosity, the bridge above being alone used for transit, and is +quite inaccessible except to birds and the climbing wicked boys of +the neighbourhood, who sometimes at the risk of their lives +contrive to get upon it from the frightfully steep northern bank, +and snatch a fearful joy, as, whilst lying on their bellies, they +poke their heads over its sides worn by age, without parapet to +prevent them from falling into the horrid gulf below. But from the +steps in the hollow the view of the Devil's Bridge, and likewise of +the cleft, is very slight and unsatisfactory. To view it properly, +and the wonders connected with it, you must pass over the bridge +above it, and descend a precipitous dingle on the eastern side till +you come to a small platform in a crag. Below you now is a +frightful cavity, at the bottom of which the waters of the Monks' +River, which comes tumbling from a glen to the east, whirl, boil, +and hiss in a horrid pot or cauldron, called in the language of the +country Twll yn y graig, or the hole in the rock, in a manner truly +tremendous. On your right is a slit, probably caused by volcanic +force, through which the waters after whirling in the cauldron +eventually escape. The slit is wonderfully narrow, considering its +altitude which is very great - considerably upwards of a hundred +feet. Nearly above you, crossing the slit, which is partially +wrapt in darkness, is the far-famed bridge, the Bridge of the Evil +Man, a work which, though crumbling and darkly grey, does much +honour to the hand which built it, whether it was the hand of Satan +or of a monkish architect; for the arch is chaste and beautiful, +far superior in every respect, except in safety and utility, to the +one above it, which from this place you have not the mortification +of seeing. Gaze on these objects, namely, the horrid seething pot +or cauldron, the gloomy volcanic slit, and the spectral, shadowy +Devil's Bridge for about three minutes, allowing a minute to each, +then scramble up the bank and repair to your inn, and have no more +sight-seeing that day, for you have seen enough. And if pleasant +recollections 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. + + + +CHAPTER LXXXV + + + +Dinner at the Hospice - Evening Gossip - A Day of Rain - A Scanty +Flock - The Bridge of the Minister - Legs in Danger. + + +I DINED in a parlour of the inn commanding an excellent view of the +hollow and the Rheidol fall. Shortly after I had dined, a fierce +storm of rain and wind came on. It lasted for an hour, and then +everything again became calm. Just before evening was closing in I +took a stroll to a village which stands a little way to the west of +the inn. It consists only of a few ruinous edifices, and is +chiefly inhabited by miners and their families. I saw no men, but +plenty of women and children. Seeing a knot of women and girls +chatting I went up and addressed them. Some of the girls were very +good-looking; none of the party had any English; all of them were +very civil. I first talked to them about religion, and found that, +without a single exception, they were Calvinistic-Methodists. I +next talked to them about the Plant de Bat. They laughed heartily +at the first mention of their name, but seemed to know very little +about their history. After some twenty minutes' discourse I bade +them good-night and returned to my inn. + +The night was very cold; the people of the house, however, made up +for me a roaring fire of turf, and I felt very comfortable. About +ten o'clock I went to bed, intending next morning to go and see +Plynlimmon, which I had left behind me on entering Cardiganshire. +When the morning came, however, I saw at once that I had entered +upon a day by no means adapted for excursions of any considerable +length, for it rained terribly; but this gave me very little +concern; my time was my own, and I said to myself: "If I can't go +to-day I can perhaps go to-morrow." After breakfast I passed some +hours in a manner by no means disagreeable, sometimes meditating +before my turf fire, with my eyes fixed upon it, and sometimes +sitting by the window, with my eyes fixed upon the cascade of the +Rheidol, which was every moment becoming more magnificent. At +length about twelve o'clock, fearing that if I stayed within I +should lose my appetite for dinner, which has always been one of +the greatest of my enjoyments, I determined to go and see the +Minister's Bridge which my friend the old mining captain had spoken +to me about. I knew that I should get a wetting by doing so, for +the weather still continued very bad, but I don't care much for a +wetting provided I have a good roof, a good fire, and good fare to +betake myself to afterwards. + +So I set out. As I passed over the bridge of the Mynach River I +looked down over the eastern balustrade. The Bridge of the Evil +One, which is just below it, was quite invisible. I could see, +however, the pot or crochan distinctly enough, and a horrible sight +it presented. The waters were whirling round in a manner to +describe which any word but frenzied would be utterly powerless. +Half-an-hour's walking brought me to the little village through +which I had passed the day before. Going up to a house I knocked +at the door, and a middle-aged man opening it, I asked him the way +to the Bridge of the Minister. He pointed to the little chapel to +the west, and said that the way lay past it, adding that he would +go with me himself, as he wanted to go to the hills on the other +side to see his sheep. + +We got presently into discourse. He at first talked broken +English, but soon began to speak his native language. I asked him +if the chapel belonged to the Methodists. + +"It is not a chapel," said he, "it is a church." + +"Do many come to it?" said I. + +"Not many, sir, for the Methodists are very powerful here. Not +more than forty or fifty come." + +"Do you belong to the Church?" said I. + +"I do, sir - thank God!" + +"You may well be thankful," said I, "for it is a great privilege to +belong to the Church of England." + +"It is so, sir," said the man, 'though few, alas! think so." + +I found him a highly-intelligent person. On my talking to him +about the name of the place, he said that some called it Spytty +Cynfyn, and others Spytty Cynwyl, and that both Cynwyl and Cynfyn +were the names of people, to one or other of which the place was +dedicated, and that, like the place farther on called Spytty +Ystwyth, it was in the old time a hospital or inn for the +convenience of the pilgrims going to the great monastery of Ystrad +Flur or Strata Florida. + +Passing through a field or two we came to the side of a very deep +ravine, down which there was a zigzag path leading to the bridge. +The path was very steep, and, owing to the rain, exceedingly +slippery. For some way it led through a grove of dwarf oaks, by +grasping the branches of which I was enabled to support myself +tolerably well; nearly at the bottom, however, where the path was +most precipitous, the trees ceased altogether. Fearing to trust my +legs, I determined to slide down, and put my resolution in +practice, arriving at a little shelf close by the bridge without +any accident. The man, accustomed to the path, went down in the +usual manner. The bridge consisted of a couple of planks and a +pole flung over a chasm about ten feet wide, on the farther side of +which was a precipice with a path at least quite as steep as the +one down which I had come, and without any trees or shrubs by which +those who used it might support themselves. The torrent rolled +about nine feet below the bridge; its channel was tortuous; on the +south-east side of the bridge was a cauldron, like that on which I +had looked down from the bridge over the river of the monks. The +man passed over the bridge and I followed him; on the other side we +stopped and turned round. The river was rushing and surging, the +pot was boiling and roaring, and everything looked wild and savage; +but the locality, for awfulness and mysterious gloom, could not +compare with that on the east side of the Devil's Bridge, nor for +sublimity and grandeur with that on the west. + +"Here you see, sir," said the man, "the Bridge of the Offeiriad, +called so, it is said, because the popes used to pass over it in +the old time; and here you have the Rheidol, which, though not so +smooth nor so well off for banks as the Hafren and the Gwy, gets to +the sea before either of them, and, as the pennill says, is quite +as much entitled to honour:- + + +"'Hafren a Wy yn hyfryd eu wedd +A Rheidol vawr ei anrhydedd.' + + +Good rhyme, sir, that. I wish you would put it into Saesneg." + +"I am afraid I shall make a poor hand of it," said I; "however, I +will do my best:- + + +"'Oh pleasantly do glide along the Severn and the Wye; +But Rheidol's rough, and yet he's held by all in honour high.' + + +"Very good rhyme that, sir! though not so good as the pennill +Cymraeg. Ha, I do see that you know the two languages and are one +poet. And now, sir, I must leave you, and go to the hills to my +sheep, who I am afraid will be suffering in this dreadful weather. +However, before I go, I should wish to see you safe over the +bridge." + +I shook him by the hand, and retracing my steps over the bridge, +began clambering up the bank on my knees. + +"You will spoil your trousers, sir!" cried the man from the other +side. + +"I don't care if I do," said I, "provided I save my legs, which are +in some danger in this place, as well as my neck, which is of less +consequence." + +I hurried back amidst rain and wind to my friendly hospice, where, +after drying my wet clothes as well as I could, I made an excellent +dinner on fowl and bacon. Dinner over, I took up a newspaper which +was brought me, and read an article about the Russian war, which +did not seem to be going on much to the advantage of the allies. +Soon flinging the paper aside, I stuck my feet on the stove, one on +each side of the turf fire, and listened to the noises without. +The bellowing of the wind down the mountain passes and the roaring +of the Rheidol fall at the north side of the valley, and the +rushing of the five cascades of the river Mynach, were truly awful. +Perhaps I ought not to have said the five cascades of the Mynach, +but the Mynach cascade, for now its five cascades had become one, +extending from the chasm over which hung the bridge of Satan to the +bottom of the valley. + +After a time I fell into a fit of musing. I thought of the Plant +de Bat; I thought of the spitties or hospitals connected with the +great monastery of Ystrad Flur or Strata Florida; I thought of the +remarkable bridge close by, built by a clever monk of that place to +facilitate the coming of pilgrims with their votive offerings from +the north to his convent; I thought of the convent built in the +time of our Henry the Second by Ryce ab Gruffyd, prince of South +Wales; and lastly, I thought of a wonderful man who was buried in +its precincts, the greatest genius which Wales, and perhaps +Britain, ever produced, on whose account, and not because of old it +had been a magnificent building, and the most celebrated place of +popish pilgrimage in Wales, I had long ago determined to visit it +on my journey, a man of whose life and works the following is a +brief account. + + + +CHAPTER LXXXVI + + + +Birth and Early Years of Ab Gwilym - Morfudd - Relic of Druidism - +The Men of Glamorgan - Legend of Ab Gwilym - Ab Gwilym as a Writer +- Wonderful Variety - Objects of Nature - Gruffydd Gryg. + + +DAFYDD AB GWILYM was born about the year 1320, at a place called +Bro Gynnin in the county of Cardigan. Though born in wedlock he +was not conceived legitimately. His mother being discovered by her +parents to be pregnant, was turned out of doors by them, whereupon +she went to her lover, who married her, though in so doing he acted +contrary to the advice of his relations. After a little time, +however, a general reconciliation took place. The parents of Ab +Gwilym, though highly connected, do not appear to have possessed +much property. The boy was educated by his mother's brother +Llewelyn ab Gwilym Fychan, a chief of Cardiganshire; but his +principal patron in after life was Ifor, a cousin of his father, +surnamed Hael, or the bountiful, a chieftain of Glamorganshire. +This person received him within his house, made him his steward and +tutor to his daughter. With this young lady Ab Gwilym speedily +fell in love, and the damsel returned his passion. Ifor, however, +not approving of the connection, sent his daughter to Anglesey, and +eventually caused her to take the veil in a nunnery of that island. +Dafydd pursued her, but not being able to obtain an interview, he +returned to his patron, who gave him a kind reception. Under +Ifor's roof he cultivated poetry with great assiduity and wonderful +success. Whilst very young, being taunted with the circumstances +of his birth by a brother bard called Rhys Meigan, he retorted in +an ode so venomously bitter that his adversary, after hearing it, +fell down and expired. Shortly after this event he was made head +bard of Glamorgan by universal acclamation. + +After a stay of some time with Ifor, he returned to his native +county and lived at Bro Gynnin. Here he fell in love with a young +lady of birth called Dyddgu, who did not favour his addresses. He +did not break his heart, however, on her account, but speedily +bestowed it on the fair Morfudd, whom he first saw at Rhosyr in +Anglesey, to which place both had gone on a religious account. The +lady after some demur consented to become his wife. Her parents +refusing to sanction the union, their hands were joined beneath the +greenwood tree by one Madawg Benfras, a bard, and a great friend of +Ab Gwilym. The joining of people's hands by bards, which was +probably a relic of Druidism, had long been practised in Wales, and +marriages of this kind were generally considered valid, and seldom +set aside. The ecclesiastical law, however, did not recognise +these poetical marriages, and the parents of Morfudd by appealing +to the law soon severed the union. After confining the lady for a +short time, they bestowed her hand in legal fashion upon a +chieftain of the neighbourhood, very rich but rather old, and with +a hump on his back, on account which he was nicknamed bow-back, or +little hump-back. Morfudd, however, who passed her time in rather +a dull manner with this person, which would not have been the case +had she done her duty by endeavouring to make the poor man +comfortable, and by visiting the sick and needy around her, was +soon induced by the bard to elope with him. The lovers fled to +Glamorgan, where Ifor Hael, not much to his own credit, received +them with open arms, probably forgetting how he had immured his OWN +daughter in a convent, rather than bestow her on Ab Gwilym. Having +a hunting-lodge in a forest on the banks of the lovely Taf, he +allotted it to the fugitives as a residence. Ecclesiastical law, +however, as strong in Wild Wales as in other parts of Europe, soon +followed them into Glamorgan, and, very properly, separated them. +The lady was restored to her husband, and Ab Gwilym fined to a very +high amount. Not being able to pay the fine, he was cast into +prison; but then the men of Glamorgan arose to a man, swearing that +their head bard should not remain in prison. "Then pay his fine!" +said the ecclesiastical law, or rather the ecclesiastical lawyer. +"So we will!" said the men of Glamorgan, and so they did. Every +man put his hand into his pocket; the amount was soon raised, the +fine paid, and the bard set free. + +Ab Gwilym did not forget this kindness of the men of Glamorgan, +and, to requite it, wrote an address to the sun, in which he +requests that luminary to visit Glamorgan, to bless it, and to keep +it from harm. The piece concludes with some noble lines somewhat +to this effect + + +"If every strand oppression strong +Should arm against the son of song, +The weary wight would find, I ween, +A welcome in Glamorgan green." + + +Some time after his release he meditated a second elopement with +Morfudd, and even induced her to consent to go off with him. A +friend, to whom he disclosed what he was thinking of doing, asking +him whether he would venture a second time to take such a step, "I +will," said the bard, "in the name of God and the men of +Glamorgan." No second elopement, however, took place, the bard +probably thinking, as has been well observed, that neither God nor +the men of Glamorgan would help him a second time out of such an +affair. He did not attain to any advanced age, but died when about +sixty, some twenty years before the rising of Glendower. Some time +before his death his mind fortunately took a decidedly religious +turn. + +He is said to have been eminently handsome in his youth, tall, +slender, with yellow hair falling in ringlets down his shoulders. +He is likewise said to have been a great libertine. The following +story is told of him:- + +"In a certain neighbourhood he had a great many mistresses, some +married and others not. Once upon a time, in the month of June he +made a secret appointment with each of his lady-loves, the place +and hour of meeting being the same for all; each was to meet him at +the same hour beneath a mighty oak which stood in the midst of a +forest glade. Some time before the appointed hour he went, and +climbing up the oak, hid himself amidst the dense foliage of its +boughs. When the hour arrived he observed all the nymphs tripping +to the place of appointment; all came, to the number of twenty-four +- not one stayed away. For some time they remained beneath the oak +staring at each other. At length an explanation ensued, and it +appeared that they had all come to meet Ab Gwilym. + +"'Oh, the treacherous monster!' cried they with one accord; 'only +let him show himself and we will tear him to pieces.' + +"'Will you?' said Ab Gwilym from the oak; 'here I am; let her who +has been most wanton with me make the first attack upon me!' + +"The females remained for some time speechless; all of a sudden, +however, their anger kindled, not against the bard, but against +each other. From harsh and taunting words they soon came to +actions: hair was torn off, faces were scratched, blood flowed +from cheek and nose. Whilst the tumult was at its fiercest Ab +Gwilym slipped away." + +The writer merely repeats this story, and he repeats it as +concisely as possible, in order to have an opportunity of saying +that he does not believe one particle of it. If he believed it, he +would forthwith burn the most cherished volume of the small +collection of books from which he derives delight and recreation, +namely, that which contains the songs of Ab Gwilym, for he would +have nothing in his possession belonging to such a heartless +scoundrel as Ab Gwilym must have been had he got up the scene above +described. Any common man who would expose to each other and the +world a number of hapless, trusting females who had favoured him +with their affections, and from the top of a tree would feast his +eyes upon their agonies of shame and rage, would deserve to be - +emasculated. Had Ab Gwilym been so dead to every feeling of +gratitude and honour as to play the part which the story makes him +play, he would have deserved not only to be emasculated, but to be +scourged with harp-strings in every market-town in Wales, and to be +dismissed from the service of the Muse. But the writer repeats +that he does not believe one tittle of the story, though Ab +Gwilym's biographer, the learned and celebrated William Owen, not +only seems to believe it, but rather chuckles over it. It is the +opinion of the writer that the story is of Italian origin, and that +it formed part of one of the many rascally novels brought over to +England after the marriage of Lionel, Duke of Clarence, the third +son of Edward the Third, with Violante, daughter of Galeazzo, Duke +of Milan. + +Dafydd Ab Gwilym has been in general considered as a songster who +never employed his muse on any subject save that of love, and there +can be no doubt that by far the greater number of his pieces are +devoted more or less to the subject of love. But to consider him +merely in the light of an amatory poet would be wrong. He has +written poems of wonderful power on almost every conceivable +subject. Ab Gwilym has been styled the Welsh Ovid, and with great +justice, but not merely because like the Roman he wrote admirably +on love. The Roman was not merely an amatory poet: let the shade +of Pythagoras say whether the poet who embodied in immortal verse +the oldest, the most wonderful, and at the same time the most +humane, of all philosophy was a mere amatory poet. Let the shade +of blind Homer be called up to say whether the bard who composed +the tremendous line - + + +"Surgit ad hos clypei dominus septemplicis Ajax" - + + +equal to any save ONE of his own, was a mere amatory songster. +Yet, diversified as the genius of the Roman was, there is no +species of poetry in which he shone in which the Welshman may not +be said to display equal merit. Ab Gwilym, then, has been fairly +styled the Welsh Ovid. But he was something more - and here let +there be no sneers about Welsh: the Welsh are equal in genius, +intellect and learning to any people under the sun, and speak a +language older than Greek, and which is one of the immediate +parents of the Greek. He was something more than the Welsh Ovid: +he was the Welsh Horace, and wrote light, agreeable, sportive +pieces, equal to any things of the kind composed by Horace in his +best moods. But he was something more: he was the Welsh Martial, +and wrote pieces equal in pungency to those of the great Roman +epigrammatist, - perhaps more than equal, for we never heard that +any of Martial's epigrams killed anybody, whereas Ab Gwilym's piece +of vituperation on Rhys Meigan - pity that poets should be so +virulent - caused the Welshman to fall down dead. But he was yet +something more: he could, if he pleased, be a Tyrtaeus; he was no +fighter - where was there ever a poet that was? - but he wrote an +ode on a sword, the only warlike piece that he ever wrote, the best +poem on the subject ever written in any language. Finally, he was +something more: he was what not one of the great Latin poets was, +a Christian; that is, in his latter days, when he began to feel the +vanity of all human pursuits, when his nerves began to be unstrung, +his hair to fall off, and his teeth to drop out, and he then +composed sacred pieces entitling him to rank with - we were going +to say Caedmon; had we done so we should have done wrong; no +uninspired poet ever handled sacred subjects like the grand Saxon +Skald - but which entitle him to be called a great religious poet, +inferior to none but the protege of Hilda. + +Before ceasing to speak of Ab Gwilym, it will be necessary to state +that his amatory pieces, which constitute more than one-half of his +productions, must be divided into two classes: the purely amatory +and those only partly devoted to love. His poems to Dyddgu and the +daughter of Ifor Hael are productions very different from those +addressed to Morfudd. There can be no doubt that he had a sincere +affection for the two first; there is no levity in the cowydds +which he addressed to them, and he seldom introduces any other +objects than those of his love. But in his cowydds addressed to +Morfudd is there no levity? Is Morfudd ever prominent? His +cowydds to that woman abound with humorous levity, and for the most +part have far less to do with her than with natural objects - the +snow, the mist, the trees of the forest, the birds of the air, and +the fishes of the stream. His first piece to Morfudd is full of +levity quite inconsistent with true love. It states how, after +seeing her for the first time at Rhosyr in Anglesey, and falling in +love with her, he sends her a present of wine by the hands of a +servant, which present she refuses, casting the wine contemptuously +over the head of the valet. This commencement promises little in +the way of true passion, so that we are not disappointed when we +read a little farther on that the bard is dead and buried, all on +account of love, and that Morfudd makes a pilgrimage to Mynyw to +seek for pardon for killing him, nor when we find him begging the +popish image to convey a message to her. Then presently we almost +lose sight of Morfudd amidst birds, animals and trees, and we are +not sorry that we do; for though Ab Gwilym is mighty in humour, +great in describing the emotions of love and the beauties of the +lovely, he is greatest of all in describing objects of nature; +indeed in describing them he has no equal, and the writer has no +hesitation in saying that in many of his cowydds in which he +describes various objects of nature, by which he sends messages to +Morfudd, he shows himself a far greater poet than Ovid appears in +any one of his Metamorphoses. There are many poets who attempt to +describe natural objects without being intimately acquainted with +them, but Ab Gwilym was not one of these. No one was better +acquainted with nature; he was a stroller, and there is every +probability that during the greater part of the summer he had no +other roof than the foliage, and that the voices of birds and +animals were more familiar to his ears than was the voice of man. +During the summer months, indeed, in the early part of his life, he +was, if we may credit him, generally lying perdue in the woodland +or mountain recesses near the habitation of his mistress, before or +after her marriage, awaiting her secret visits, made whenever she +could escape the vigilance of her parents, or the watchful of her +husband, and during her absence he had nothing better to do than to +observe objects of nature and describe them. His ode to the Fox, +one of the most admirable of his pieces, was composed on one of +these occasions. + +Want of space prevents the writer from saying as much as he could +wish about the genius of this wonderful man, the greatest of his +country's songsters, well calculated by nature to do honour to the +most polished age and the most widely-spoken language. The bards +his contemporaries, and those who succeeded him for several hundred +years, were perfectly convinced of his superiority, not only over +themselves, but over all the poets of the past; and one, and a +mighty one, old Iolo the bard of Glendower, went so far as to +insinuate that after Ab Gwilym it would be of little avail for any +one to make verses - + + +"Aed lle mae'r eang dangneff, +Ac aed y gerdd gydag ef." + +"To Heaven's high peace let him depart, +And with him go the minstrel art." + + +He was buried at Ystrad Flur, and a yew tree was planted over his +grave, to which Gruffydd Gryg, a brother bard, who was at one time +his enemy, but eventually became one of the most ardent of his +admirers, addressed an ode, of part of which the following is a +paraphrase:- + + +"Thou noble tree, who shelt'rest kind +The dead man's house from winter's wind; +May lightnings never lay thee low; +Nor archer cut from thee his bow, +Nor Crispin peel thee pegs to frame; +But may thou ever bloom the same, +A noble tree the grave to guard +Of Cambria's most illustrious bard!" + + + +CHAPTER LXXXVII + + + +Start for Plynlimmon - Plynlimmon's Celebrity - Troed Rhiw Goch. + + +THE morning of the fifth of November looked rather threatening. +As, however, it did not rain, I determined to set off for +Plynlimmon, and, returning at night to the inn, resume my journey +to the south on the following day. On looking into a pocket +almanac I found it was Sunday. This very much disconcerted me, and +I thought at first of giving up my expedition. Eventually, +however, I determined to go, for I reflected that I should be doing +no harm, and that I might acknowledge the sacredness of the day by +attending morning service at the little Church of England chapel +which lay in my way. + +The mountain of Plynlimmon to which I was bound is the third in +Wales for altitude, being only inferior to Snowdon and Cadair +Idris. Its proper name is Pum, or Pump, Lumon, signifying the five +points, because towards the upper part it is divided into five +hills or points. Plynlimmon is a celebrated hill on many accounts. +It has been the scene of many remarkable events. In the tenth +century a dreadful battle was fought on one of its spurs between +the Danes and the Welsh, in which the former sustained a bloody +overthrow; and in 1401 a conflict took place in one of its valleys +between the Welsh, under Glendower, and the Flemings of +Pembrokeshire, who, exasperated at having their homesteads +plundered and burned by the chieftain who was the mortal enemy of +their race, assembled in considerable numbers and drove Glendower +and his forces before them to Plynlimmon, where, the Welshmen +standing at bay, a contest ensued, in which, though eventually +worsted, the Flemings were at one time all but victorious. What, +however, has more than anything else contributed to the celebrity +of the hill is the circumstance of its giving birth to three +rivers, the first of which, the Severn, is the principal stream in +Britain; the second, the Wye, the most lovely river, probably, +which the world can boast of; and the third, the Rheidol, entitled +to high honour from its boldness and impetuosity, and the +remarkable banks between which it flows in its very short course, +for there are scarcely twenty miles between the ffynnon or source +of the Rheidol and the aber or place where it disembogues itself +into the sea. + +I started about ten o'clock on my expedition, after making, of +course, a very hearty breakfast. Scarcely had I crossed the +Devil's Bridge when a shower of hail and rain came on. As, +however, it came down nearly perpendicularly, I put up my umbrella +and laughed. The shower pelted away till I had nearly reached +Spytty Cynwyl, when it suddenly left off and the day became +tolerably fine. On arriving at the Spytty, I was sorry to find +that there would be no service till three in the afternoon. As +waiting till that time was out of the question, I pushed forward on +my expedition. Leaving Pont Erwyd at some distance on my left, I +went duly north till I came to a place amongst hills where the road +was crossed by an angry-looking rivulet, the same, I believe which +enters the Rheidol near Pont Erwyd, and which is called the Castle +River. I was just going to pull off my boots and stockings in +order to wade through, when I perceived a pole and a rail laid over +the stream at little distance above where I was. This rustic +bridge enabled me to cross without running the danger of getting a +regular sousing, for these mountain streams, even when not reaching +so high as the knee, occasionally sweep the wader off his legs, as +I know by my own experience. From a lad whom I presently met I +learned that the place where I crossed the water was called Troed +rhiw goch, or the Foot of the Red Slope. + +About twenty minutes' walk from hence brought me to Castell +Dyffryn, an inn about six miles distant from the Devil's Bridge, +and situated near a spur of the Plynlimmon range. Here I engaged a +man to show me the sources of the rivers and the other wonders of +the mountain. He was a tall, athletic fellow, dressed in brown +coat, round buff hat, corduroy trousers, linen leggings and +highlows, and, though a Cumro, had much more the appearance of a +native of Tipperary than a Welshman. He was a kind of shepherd to +the people of the house, who, like many others in South Wales, +followed farming and inn-keeping at the same time. + + + +CHAPTER LXXXVIII + + + +The Guide - The Great Plynlimmon - A Dangerous Path - Source of the +Rheidol - Source of the Severn - Pennillion - Old Times and New - +The Corpse Candle - Supper. + + +LEAVING the inn, my guide and myself began to ascend a steep hill +just behind it. When we were about halfway up I asked my +companion, who spoke very fair English, why the place was called +the Castle. + +"Because, sir," said he, "there was a castle here in the old time." + +"Whereabouts was it?" said I. + +"Yonder," said the man, standing still and pointing to the right. +"Don't you see yonder brown spot in the valley? There the castle +stood." + +"But are there no remains of it?" said I. "I can see nothing but a +brown spot." + +"There are none, sir; but there a castle once stood, and from it +the place we came from had its name, and likewise the river that +runs down to Pont Erwyd." + +"And who lived there?" said I. + +"I don't know, sir," said the man; "but I suppose they were grand +people, or they would not have lived in a castle." + +After ascending the hill and passing over its top, we went down its +western side and soon came to a black, frightful bog between two +hills. Beyond the bog and at some distance to the west of the two +hills rose a brown mountain, not abruptly, but gradually, and +looking more like what the Welsh call a rhiw, or slope, than a +mynydd, or mountain. + +"That, sir," said my guide, "is the grand Plynlimmon." + +"It does not look much of a hill," said I. + +"We are on very high ground, sir, or it would look much higher. I +question, upon the whole, whether there is a higher hill in the +world. God bless Pumlummon Mawr!" said he, looking with reverence +towards the hill. "I am sure I have a right to say so, for many is +the good crown I have got by showing gentlefolks like yourself to +the top of him." + +"You talk of Plynlimmon Mawr, or the great Plynlymmon," said I; +"where are the small ones?" + +"Yonder they are," said the guide, pointing to two hills towards +the north; "one is Plynlimmon Canol, and the other Plynlimmon Bach +- the middle and the small Plynlimmon." + +"Pumlummon," said I, "means five summits. You have pointed out +only three; now, where are the other two?" + +"Those two hills which we have just passed make up the five. +However, I will tell your worship that there is a sixth summit. +Don't you see that small hill connected with the big Pumlummon, on +the right?" + +"I see it very clearly," said I. + +"Well, your worship, that's called Bryn y Llo - the Hill of the +Calf, or the Calf Plynlimmon, which makes the sixth summit." + +"Very good," said I, "and perfectly satisfactory. Now let us +ascend the Big Pumlummon." + +In about a quarter of an hour we reached the summit of the hill, +where stood a large carn or heap of stones. I got upon the top and +looked around me. + +A mountainous wilderness extended on every side, a waste of russet +coloured hills, with here and there a black, craggy summit. No +signs of life or cultivation were to be discovered, and the eye +might search in vain for a grove or even a single tree. The scene +would have been cheerless in the extreme had not a bright sun +lighted up the landscape. + +"This does not seem to be a country of much society," said I to my +guide. + +"It is not, sir. The nearest house is the inn we came from, which +is now three miles behind us. Straight before you there is not one +for at least ten, and on either side it is an anialwch to a vast +distance. Plunlummon is not a sociable country, sir; nothing to be +found in it, but here and there a few sheep or a shepherd." + +"Now," said I, descending from the carn, "we will proceed to the +sources of the rivers." + +"The ffynnon of the Rheidol is not far off," said the guide; "it is +just below the hill." + +We descended the western side of the hill for some way; at length, +coming to a very craggy and precipitous place, my guide stopped, +and pointing with his finger into the valley below, said:- + +"There, sir, if you look down you can see the source of the +Rheidol." + +I looked down, and saw far below what appeared to be part of a +small sheet of water. + +"And that is the source of the Rheidol?" said I. + +"Yes, sir," said my guide; "that is the ffynnon of the Rheidol." + +"Well," said I; "is there no getting to it?" + +"Oh yes! but the path, sir, as you see, is rather steep and +dangerous." + +"Never mind," said I. "Let us try it." + +"Isn't seeing the fountain sufficient for you, sir?" + +"By no means," said I. "It is not only necessary for me to see the +sources of the rivers, but to drink of them, in order that in after +times I may be able to harangue about them with a tone of +confidence and authority." + +"Then follow me, sir; but please to take care, for this path is +more fit for sheep or shepherds than gentlefolk." + +And a truly bad path I found it; so bad indeed that before I had +descended twenty yards I almost repented having ventured. I had a +capital guide, however, who went before and told me where to plant +my steps. There was one particularly bad part, being little better +than a sheer precipice; but even here I got down in safety with the +assistance of my guide, and a minute afterwards found myself at the +source of the Rheidol. + +The source of the Rheidol is a small beautiful lake, about a +quarter of a mile in length. It is overhung on the east and north +by frightful crags, from which it is fed by a number of small +rills. The water is of the deepest blue, and of very considerable +depth. The banks, except to the north and east, slope gently down, +and are clad with soft and beautiful moss. The river, of which it +is the head, emerges at the south-western side, and brawls away in +the shape of a considerable brook, amidst moss, and rushes down a +wild glen tending to the south. To the west the prospect is +bounded, at a slight distance, by high, swelling ground. If few +rivers have a more wild and wondrous channel than the Rheidol, +fewer still have a more beautiful and romantic source. + +After kneeling down and drinking freely of the lake I said: + +"Now, where are we to go to next?" + +"The nearest ffynnon to that of the Rheidol, sir, is the ffynnon of +the Severn." + +"Very well," said I; "let us now go and see the ffynnon of the +Severn!" + +I followed my guide over a hill to the north-west into a valley, at +the farther end of which I saw a brook streaming apparently to the +south, where was an outlet. + +"That brook," said the guide, "is the young Severn." The brook +came from round the side of a very lofty rock, singularly +variegated, black and white, the northern summit presenting +something of the appearance of the head of a horse. Passing round +this crag we came to a fountain surrounded with rushes, out of +which the brook, now exceedingly small, came murmuring. + +"The crag above," said my guide, "is called Crag y Cefyl, or the +Rock of the Horse, and this spring at its foot is generally called +the ffynnon of the Hafren. However, drink not of it, master; for +the ffynnon of the Hafren is higher up the nant. Follow me, and I +will presently show you the real ffynnon of the Hafren." + +I followed him up a narrow and very steep dingle. Presently we +came to some beautiful little pools of water in the turf, which was +here remarkably green. + +"These are very pretty pools, an't they, master?" said my +companion. "Now, if I was a false guide I might bid you stoop and +drink, saying that these were the sources of the Severn; but I am a +true cyfarwydd, and therefore tell you not to drink, for these +pools are not the sources of the Hafren, no more than the spring +below. The ffynnon of the Severn is higher up the nant. Don't +fret, however, but follow me, and we shall be there in a minute." + +So I did as he bade me, following him without fretting higher up +the nant. Just at the top he halted and said: "Now, master, I +have conducted you to the source of the Severn. I have considered +the matter deeply, and have come to the conclusion that here, and +here only, is the true source. Therefore stoop down and drink, in +full confidence that you are taking possession of the Holy Severn." + +The source of the Severn is a little pool of water some twenty +inches long, six wide, and about three deep. It is covered at the +bottom with small stones, from between which the water gushes up. +It is on the left-hand side of the nant, as you ascend, close by +the very top. An unsightly heap of black turf-earth stands right +above it to the north. Turf-heaps, both large and small, are in +abundance in the vicinity. + +After taking possession of the Severn by drinking at its source, +rather a shabby source for so noble a stream, I said, "Now let us +go to the fountain of the Wye." + +"A quarter of an hour will take us to it, your honour," said the +guide, leading the way. + +The source of the Wye, which is a little pool, not much larger than +that which constitutes the fountain of the Severn, stands near the +top of a grassy hill which forms part of the Great Plynlimmon. The +stream after leaving its source runs down the hill towards the +east, and then takes a turn to the south. The Mountains of the +Severn and the Wye are in close proximity to each other. That of +the Rheidol stands somewhat apart front both, as if, proud of its +own beauty, it disdained the other two for their homeliness. All +three are contained within the compass of a mile. + +"And now, I suppose, sir, that our work is done, and we may go back +to where we came from," said my guide, as I stood on the grassy +hill after drinking copiously of the fountain of the Wye. + +"We may," said I; "but before we do I must repeat some lines made +by a man who visited these sources, and experienced the hospitality +of a chieftain in this neighbourhood four hundred years ago." Then +taking off my hat, I lifted up my voice and sang:- + + +"From high Plynlimmon's shaggy side +Three streams in three directions glide; +To thousands at their mouths who tarry +Honey, gold and mead they carry. +Flow also from Plynlimmon high +Three streams of generosity; +The first, a noble stream indeed, +Like rills of Mona runs with mead; +The second bears from vineyards thick +Wine to the feeble and the sick; +The third, till time shall be no more, +Mingled with gold shall silver pour." + + +"Nice pennillion, sir, I daresay," said my guide, "provided a +person could understand them. What's meant by all this mead, wine, +gold, and silver?" + +"Why," said I, "the bard meant to say that Plynlimmon, by means of +its three channels, sends blessings and wealth in three different +directions to distant places, and that the person whom he came to +visit, and who lived on Plynlimmon, distributed his bounty in three +different ways, giving mead to thousands at his banquets, wine from +the vineyards of Gascony to the sick and feeble of the +neighbourhood, and gold and silver to those who were willing to be +tipped, amongst whom no doubt was himself, as poets have never been +above receiving a present." + +"Nor above asking for one, your honour; there's a prydydd in this +neighbourhood who will never lose a shilling for want of asking for +it. Now, sir, have the kindness to tell me the name of the man who +made those pennillion." + +"Lewis Glyn Cothi," said I; "at least, it was he who made the +pennillion from which those verses are translated." + +"And what was the name of the gentleman whom he came to visit?" + +"His name," said I, "was Dafydd ab Thomas Vychan." + +"And where did he live?" + +"Why, I believe, he lived at the castle, which you told me once +stood on the spot which you pointed out as we came up. At any +rate, he lived somewhere upon Plynlimmon." + +"I wish there was some rich gentleman at present living on +Plynlimmon," said my guide; "one of that sort is much wanted." + +"You can't have everything at the same time," said I; "formerly you +had a chieftain who gave away wine and mead, and occasionally a bit +of gold or silver, but then no travellers and tourists came to see +the wonders of the hills, for at that time nobody cared anything +about hills; at present you have no chieftain, but plenty of +visitors, who come to see the hills and the sources, and scatter +plenty of gold about the neighbourhood." + +We now bent our steps homeward, bearing slightly to the north, +going over hills and dales covered with gorse and ling. My guide +walked with a calm and deliberate gait, yet I had considerable +difficulty in keeping up with him. There was, however, nothing +surprising in this; he was a shepherd walking on his own hill, and +having first-rate wind, and knowing every inch of the ground, made +great way without seeming to be in the slightest hurry: I would +not advise a road-walker, even if he be a first-rate one, to +attempt to compete with a shepherd on his own, or indeed any hill; +should he do so, the conceit would soon be taken out of him. + +After a little time we saw a rivulet running from the west. + +"This ffrwd," said my guide, "is called Frennig. It here divides +shire Trefaldwyn from Cardiganshire, one in North and the other in +South Wales." + +Shortly afterwards we came to a hillock of rather a singular shape. + +"This place, sir," said he, "is called Eisteddfa." + +"Why is it called so?" said I. "Eisteddfa means the place where +people sit down." + +"It does so," said the guide, "and it is called the place of +sitting because three men from different quarters of the world once +met here, and one proposed that they should sit down." + +"And did they?" said I. + +"They did, sir; and when they had sat down they told each other +their histories." + +"I should be glad to know what their histories were," said I. + +"I can't exactly tell you what they were, but I have heard say that +there was a great deal in them about the Tylwyth Teg or fairies." + +"Do you believe in fairies?" said I. + +"I do, sir; but they are very seldom seen, and when they are they +do no harm to anybody. I only wish there were as few corpse- +candles as there are Tylwith Teg, and that they did as little +harm." + +"They foreshow people's deaths, don't they?" said I. + +"They do, sir; but that's not all the harm they do. They are very +dangerous for anybody to meet with. If they come bump up against +you when you are walking carelessly it's generally all over with +you in this world. I'll give you an example: A man returning from +market from Llan Eglos to Llan Curig, not far from Plynlimmon, was +struck down dead as a horse not long ago by a corpse-candle. It +was a rainy, windy night, and the wind and rain were blowing in his +face, so that he could not see it, or get out of its way. And yet +the candle was not abroad on purpose to kill the man. The business +that it was about was to prognosticate the death of a woman who +lived near the spot, and whose husband dealt in wool - poor thing! +she was dead and buried in less than a fortnight. Ah, master, I +wish that corpse-candles were as few and as little dangerous as the +Tylwith Teg or fairies." + +We returned to the inn, where I settled with the honest fellow, +adding a trifle to what I had agreed to give him. Then sitting +down, I called for a large measure of ale, and invited him to +partake of it. He accepted my offer with many thanks and bows, and +as we sat and drank our ale we had a great deal of discourse about +the places we had visited. The ale being finished, I got up and +said: + +"I must now be off for the Devil's Bridge!" + +Whereupon he also arose, and offering me his hand, said: + +"Farewell, master; I shall never forget you. Were all the +gentlefolks who come here to see the sources like you, we should +indeed feel no want in these hills of such a gentleman as is spoken +of in the pennillion." + +The sun was going down as I left the inn. I recrossed the +streamlet by means of the pole and rail. The water was running +with much less violence than in the morning, and was considerably +lower. The evening was calm and beautifully cool, with a slight +tendency to frost. I walked along with a bounding and elastic +step, and never remember to have felt more happy and cheerful. + +I reached the hospice at about six o'clock, a bright moon shining +upon me, and found a capital supper awaiting me, which I enjoyed +exceedingly. + +How one enjoys one's supper at one's inn after a good day's walk, +provided one has the proud and glorious consciousness of being able +to pay one's reckoning on the morrow! + + + +CHAPTER LXXXIX + + + +A Morning View - Hafod Ychdryd - The Monument - Fairy-looking Place +- Edward Lhuyd. + + +THE morning of the sixth was bright and glorious. As I looked from +the window of the upper sitting-room of the hospice the scene which +presented itself was wild and beautiful to a degree. The oak- +covered tops of the volcanic crater were gilded with the brightest +sunshine, whilst the eastern sides remained in dark shade and the +gap or narrow entrance to the north in shadow yet darker, in the +midst of which shone the silver of the Rheidol cataract. Should I +live a hundred years I shall never forget the wild fantastic beauty +of that morning scene. + +I left the friendly hospice at about nine o'clock to pursue my +southern journey. By this time the morning had lost much of its +beauty, and the dull grey sky characteristic of November began to +prevail. The way lay up a hill to the south-east; on my left was a +glen down which the river of the Monk rolled with noise and foam. +The country soon became naked and dreary, and continued so for some +miles. At length, coming to the top of a hill, I saw a park before +me, through which the road led after passing under a stately +gateway. I had reached the confines of the domain of Hafod. + +Hafod Ychdryd, or the summer mansion of Uchtryd, has from time +immemorial been the name of a dwelling on the side of a hill above +the Ystwyth, looking to the east. At first it was a summer boothie +or hunting lodge to Welsh chieftains, but subsequently expanded to +the roomy, comfortable dwelling of Welsh squires, where hospitality +was much practised and bards and harpers liberally encouraged. +Whilst belonging to an ancient family of the name of Johnes, +several members of which made no inconsiderable figure in +literature, it was celebrated, far and wide, for its library, in +which was to be found, amongst other treasures, a large collection +of Welsh manuscripts on various subjects - history, medicine, +poetry and romance. The house, however, and the library were both +destroyed in a dreadful fire which broke out. This fire is +generally called the great fire of Hafod, and some of those who +witnessed it have been heard to say that its violence was so great +that burning rafters mixed with flaming books were hurled high +above the summits of the hills. The loss of the house was a matter +of triviality compared with that of the library. The house was +soon rebuilt, and probably, phoenix-like, looked all the better for +having been burnt, but the library could never be restored. On the +extinction of the family, the last hope of which, an angelic girl, +faded away in the year 1811, the domain became the property of the +late Duke of Newcastle, a kind and philanthrophic nobleman, and a +great friend of agriculture, who held it for many years, and +considerably improved it. After his decease it was purchased by +the head of an ancient Lancashire family, who used the modern house +as a summer residence, as the Welsh chieftains had used the wooden +boothie of old. + +I went to a kind of lodge, where I had been told that I should find +somebody who would admit me to the church, which stood within the +grounds and contained a monument which I was very desirous of +seeing, partly from its being considered one of the masterpieces of +the great Chantrey, and partly because it was a memorial to the +lovely child, the last scion of the old family who had possessed +the domain. A good-looking young woman, the only person whom I +saw, on my telling my errand, forthwith took a key and conducted me +to the church. The church was a neat edifice with rather a modern +look. It exhibited nothing remarkable without, and only one thing +remarkable within, namely, the monument, which was indeed worthy of +notice, and which, had Chantrey executed nothing else, might well +have entitled him to be considered, what the world has long +pronounced him, the prince of British sculptors. + +This monument, which is of the purest marble, is placed on the +eastern side of the church, below a window of stained glass, and +represents a truly affecting scene: a lady and gentleman are +standing over a dying girl of angelic beauty, who is extended on a +couch, and from whose hand a volume, the Book of Life, is falling. +The lady is weeping. + +Beneath is the following inscription - + + +To the Memory of +MARY +The only child of THOMAS and JANE JOHNES +Who died in 1811 +After a few days' sickness +This monument is dedicated +By her parents. + + +An inscription worthy, by its simplicity and pathos, to stand below +such a monument. + +After presenting a trifle to the woman, who, to my great surprise, +could not speak a word of English, I left the church, and descended +the side of the hill, near the top of which it stands. The scenery +was exceedingly beautiful. Below me was a bright green valley, at +the bottom of which the Ystwyth ran brawling, now hid amongst +groves, now showing a long stretch of water. Beyond the river to +the east was a noble mountain, richly wooded. The Ystwyth, after a +circuitous course, joins the Rheidol near the strand of the Irish +Channel, which the united rivers enter at a place called Aber +Ystwyth, where stands a lovely town of the same name, which sprang +up under the protection of a baronial castle, still proud and +commanding even in its ruins, built by Strongbow, the conqueror of +the great western isle. Near the lower part of the valley the road +tended to the south, up and down through woods and bowers, the +scenery still ever increasing in beauty. At length, after passing +through a gate and turning round a sharp corner, I suddenly beheld +Hafod on my right hand, to the west at a little distance above me, +on a rising ground, with a noble range of mountains behind it. + +A truly fairy place it looked, beautiful but fantastic, in the +building of which three styles of architecture seemed to have been +employed. At the southern end was a Gothic tower; at the northern +an Indian pagoda; the middle part had much the appearance of a +Grecian villa. The walls were of resplendent whiteness, and the +windows, which were numerous, shone with beautiful gilding. Such +was modern Hafod, a strange contrast, no doubt, to the hunting +lodge of old. + +After gazing at this house of eccentric taste for about a quarter +of an hour, sometimes with admiration, sometimes with a strong +disposition to laugh, I followed the road, which led past the house +in nearly a southerly direction. Presently the valley became more +narrow, and continued narrowing till there was little more room +than was required for the road and the river, which ran deep below +it on the left-hand side. Presently I came to a gate, the boundary +in the direction in which I was going of the Hafod domain. + +Here, when about to leave Hafod, I shall devote a few lines to a +remarkable man whose name should be ever associated with the place. +Edward Lhuyd was born in the vicinity of Hafod about the period of +the Restoration. His father was a clergyman, who after giving him +an excellent education at home sent him to Oxford, at which seat of +learning he obtained an honourable degree, officiated for several +years as tutor, and was eventually made custodiary of the Ashmolean +Museum. From his early youth he devoted himself with indefatigable +zeal to the acquisition of learning. He was fond of natural +history and British antiquities, but his favourite pursuit, and +that in which he principally distinguished himself, was the study +of the Celtic dialects; and it is but doing justice to his memory +to say, that he was not only the best Celtic scholar of his time, +but that no one has arisen since worthy to be considered his equal +in Celtic erudition. Partly at the expense of the university, +partly at that of various powerful individuals who patronized him, +he travelled through Ireland, the Western Highlands, Wales, +Cornwall and Armorica, for the purpose of collecting Celtic +manuscripts. He was particularly successful in Ireland and Wales. +Several of the most precious Irish manuscripts in Oxford, and also +in the Chandos Library, were of Lhuyd's collection, and to him the +old hall at Hafod was chiefly indebted for its treasures of ancient +British literature. Shortly after returning to Oxford from his +Celtic wanderings he sat down to the composition of a grand work in +three parts, under the title of Archaeologia Britannica, which he +had long projected. The first was to be devoted to the Celtic +dialects; the second to British Antiquities, and the third to the +natural history of the British Isles. He only lived to complete +the first part. It contains various Celtic grammars and +vocabularies, to each of which there is a preface written by Lhuyd +in the particular dialect to which the vocabulary or grammar is +devoted. Of all these prefaces the one to the Irish is the most +curious and remarkable. The first part of the Archaeologia was +published at Oxford in 1707, two years before the death of the +author. Of his correspondence, which was very extensive, several +letters have been published, all of them relating to philology, +antiquities, and natural history. + + + +CHAPTER XC + + + +An Adventure - Spytty Ystwyth - Wormwood. + + +SHORTLY after leaving the grounds of Hafod I came to a bridge over +the Ystwyth. I crossed it, and was advancing along the road which +led apparently to the south-east, when I came to a company of +people who seemed to be loitering about. It consisted entirely of +young men and women, the former with crimson favours, the latter in +the garb of old Wales, blue tunics and sharp crowned hats. Going +up to one of the young women, I said, "Petti yw? what's the +matter!" + +"Priodas (a marriage)," she replied, after looking at me +attentively. I then asked her the name of the bridge, whereupon +she gave a broad grin, and after some, little time replied: "Pont +y Groes (the bridge of the cross)." I was about to ask her some +other question when she turned away with a loud chuckle, and said +something to another wench near her, who, grinning yet more +uncouthly, said something to a third, who grinned too, and lifting +up her hands and spreading her fingers wide, said: "Dyn oddi dir y +Gogledd - a man from the north country, hee, hee!" Forthwith there +was a general shout, the wenches crying: "A man from the north +country, hee, hee!" and the fellows crying: "A man from the north +country, hoo, hoo!" + +"Is this the way you treat strangers in the south?" said I. But I +had scarcely uttered the words when with redoubled shouts the +company exclaimed: "There's Cumraeg! there's pretty Cumraeg. Go +back, David, to shire Fon! That Cumraeg won't pass here." + +Finding they disliked my Welsh I had recourse to my own language. +"Really," said I in English, "such conduct is unaccountable. What +do you mean?" But this only made matters worse, for the shouts +grew louder still, and every one cried: "There's pretty English! +Well, if I couldn't speak better English than that I'd never speak +English at all. No, David; if you must speak at all, stick to +Cumraeg." Then forthwith, all the company set themselves in +violent motion, the women rushing up to me with their palms and +fingers spread out in my face, without touching me, however, as +they wheeled round me at about a yard's distance, crying: "A man +from the north country, hee, hee!" and the fellows acting just in +the same way, rushing up with their hands spread out, and then +wheeling round me with cries of "A man from the north country, hoo, +hoo!" I was so enraged that I made for a heap of stones by the +road-side, intending to take some up and fling them at the company. +Reflecting, however, that I had but one pair of hands and the +company at least forty, and that by such an attempt at revenge I +should only make myself ridiculous, I gave up my intention, and +continued my journey at a rapid pace, pursued for a long way by +"hee, hee," and "hoo, hoo," and: "Go back, David, to your goats in +Anglesey, you are not wanted here." + +I began to descend a hill forming the eastern side of an immense +valley, at the bottom of which rolled the river. Beyond the valley +to the west was an enormous hill, on the top of which was a most +singular-looking crag, seemingly leaning in the direction of the +south. On the right-hand side of the road were immense works of +some kind in full play and activity, for engines were clanging and +puffs of smoke were ascending from tall chimneys. On inquiring of +a boy the name of the works I was told that they were called the +works of Level Vawr, or the Great Level, a mining establishment; +but when I asked him the name of the hill with the singular peak, +on the other side of the valley, he shook his head and said he did +not know. Near the top of the hill I came to a village consisting +of a few cottages and a shabby-looking church. A rivulet +descending from some crags to the east crosses the road, which +leads through the place, and tumbling down the valley, joins the +Ystwyth at the bottom. Seeing a woman standing at the door, I +inquired the name of the village. + +"Spytty Ystwyth," she replied, but she, no more than the boy down +below, could tell me the name of the strange-looking hill across +the valley. This second Spytty or monastic hospital, which I had +come to, looked in every respect an inferior place to the first. +Whatever its former state might have been, nothing but dirt and +wretchedness were now visible. Having reached the top of the hill +I entered upon a wild moory region. Presently I crossed a little +bridge over a rivulet, and seeing a small house on the shutter of +which was painted "cwrw," I went in, sat down on an old chair, +which I found vacant, and said in English to an old woman who sat +knitting by the window: "Bring me a pint of ale!" + +"Dim Saesneg!" said the old woman. + +"I told you to bring me a pint of ale," said I to her in her own +language. + +"You shall have it immediately, sir," said she, and going to a +cask, she filled a jug with ale, and after handing it to me resumed +her seat and knitting. + +"It is not very bad ale," said I, after I had tasted it. + +"It ought to be very good," said the old woman, "for I brewed it +myself." + +"The goodness of ale," said I, "does not so much depend on who +brews it as on what it is brewed of. Now there is something in +this ale which ought not to be. What is it made of?" + +"Malt and hop." + +"It tastes very bitter," said I. "Is there no chwerwlys (13) in +it?" + +"I do not know what chwerwlys is," said the old woman. + +"It is what the Saxons call wormwood," said I. + +"Oh, wermod. No, there is no wermod in my beer, at least not +much." + +"Oh, then there is some; I thought there was. Why do you put such +stuff into your ale?" + +"We are glad to put it in sometimes when hops are dear, as they are +this year. Moreover, wermod is not bad stuff, and some folks like +the taste better than that of hops." + +"Well, I don't. However, the ale is drinkable. What am I to give +you for the pint?" + +"You are to give me a groat." + +"That is a great deal," said I, "for a groat I ought to have a pint +of ale made of the best malt and hops." + +"I give you the best I can afford. One must live by what one +sells. I do not find that easy work." + +"Is this house your own?" + +"Oh no! I pay rent for it, and not a cheap one." + +"Have you a husband? + +"I had, but he is dead." + +"Have you any children?" + +"I had three, but they are dead too, and buried with my husband at +the monastery." + +"Where is the monastery?" + +"A good way farther on, at the strath beyond Rhyd Fendigaid." + +"What is the name of the little river by the house?" + +"Avon Marchnad (Market River)." + +"Why is it called Avon Marchnad?" + +"Truly, gentleman, I cannot tell you." + +I went on sipping my ale and finding fault with its bitterness till +I had finished it, when getting up I gave the old lady her groat, +bade her farewell, and departed. + + + +CHAPTER XCI + + + +Pont y Rhyd Fendigaid - Strata Florida - The Yew-Tree - Idolatry - +The Teivi - The Llostlydan. + + +AND now for the resting-place of Dafydd Ab Gwilym! After wandering +for some miles towards the south over a bleak moory country I came +to a place called Fair Rhos, a miserable village, consisting of a +few half-ruined cottages, situated on the top of a hill. From the +hill I looked down on a wide valley of a russet colour, along which +a river ran towards the south. The whole scene was cheerless. +Sullen hills were all around. Descending the hill I entered a +large village divided into two by the river, which here runs from +east to west, but presently makes a turn. There was much mire in +the street; immense swine lay in the mire, who turned up their +snouts at me as I passed. Women in Welsh hats stood in the mire, +along with men without any hats at all, but with short pipes in +their mouths; they were talking together; as I passed, however, +they held their tongues, the women leering contemptuously at me, +the men glaring sullenly at me, and causing tobacco smoke curl in +my face; on my taking off my hat, however and inquiring the way to +the Monachlog, everybody was civil enough, and twenty voices told +me the way the Monastery. I asked the name of the river: + +"The Teivi, sir: the Teivi." + +"The name of the bridge?" + +"Pony y Rhyd Fendigaid - the Bridge of the Blessed Ford, sir." + +I crossed the Bridge of the Blessed Ford, and presently leaving the +main road, I turned to the east by a dung-hill, up a narrow lane +parallel with the river. After proceeding a mile up the lane, +amidst trees and copses, and crossing a little brook, which runs +into the Teivi, out of which I drank, I saw before me in the midst +of a field, in which were tombstones and broken ruins, a rustic- +looking church; a farm-house stood near it, in the garden of which +stood the framework of a large gateway. I crossed over into the +churchyard, ascended a green mound, and looked about me. I was now +in the very midst of the Monachlog Ystrad Flur, the celebrated +monastery of Strata Florida, to which in old times Popish pilgrims +from all parts of the world repaired. The scene was solemn and +impressive: on the north side of the river a large bulky hill +looked down upon the ruins and the church, and on the south side, +some way behind the farm-house, was another which did the same. +Rugged mountains formed the background of the valley to the east, +down from which came murmuring the fleet but shallow Teivi. Such +is the scenery which surrounds what remains of Strata Florida: +those scanty broken ruins compose all which remains of that +celebrated monastery, in which saints and mitred abbots were +buried, and in which, or in whose precincts, was buried Dafydd Ab +Gwilym, the greatest genius of the Cimbric race and one of the +first poets of the world. + +After standing for some time on the mound I descended, and went up +to the church. I found the door fastened, but obtained through a +window a tolerable view of the interior, which presented an +appearance of the greatest simplicity. I then strolled about the +churchyard looking at the tombstones, which were humble enough and +for the most part modern. I would give something, said I, to know +whereabouts in this neighbourhood Ab Gwilym lies. That, however, +is a secret that no one can reveal to me. At length I came to a +yew-tree which stood just by the northern wall, which is at a +slight distance from the Teivi. It was one of two trees, both of +the same species, which stood in the churchyard, and appeared to be +the oldest of the two. Who knows, said I, but this is the tree +that was planted over Ab Gwilym's grave, and to which Gruffydd Gryg +wrote an ode? I looked at it attentively, and thought that there +was just a possibility of its being the identical tree. If it was, +however, the benison of Gruffydd Gryg had not had exactly the +effect which he intended, for either lightning or the force of wind +had splitten off a considerable part of the head and trunk, so that +though one part of it looked strong and blooming, the other was +white and spectral. Nevertheless, relying on the possibility of +its being the sacred tree, I behaved just as I should have done had +I been quite certain of the fact. Taking off my hat I knelt down +and kissed its root, repeating lines from Gruffydd Gryg, with which +I blended some of my own in order to accommodate what I said to +present circumstances:- + + +"O tree of yew, which here I spy, +By Ystrad Flur's blest monast'ry, +Beneath thee lies, by cold Death bound, +The tongue for sweetness once renown'd. +Better for thee thy boughs to wave, +Though scath'd, above Ab Gwilym's grave, +Than stand in pristine glory drest +Where some ignobler bard doth rest; +I'd rather hear a taunting rhyme +From one who'll live through endless time, +Than hear my praises chanted loud +By poets of the vulgar crowd." + + +I had left the churchyard, and was standing near a kind of garden, +at some little distance from the farm-house, gazing about me and +meditating, when a man came up attended by a large dog. He had +rather a youthful look, was of the middle size, and dark +complexioned. He was respectably dressed, except that upon his +head he wore a common hairy cap. + +"Good evening," said I to him in Welsh. + +"Good evening, gentleman," said he in the same language. + +"Have you much English?" said I. + +"Very little; I can only speak a few words." + +"Are you the farmer?" + +"Yes! I farm the greater part of the Strath." + +"I suppose the land is very good here?" + +"Why do you suppose so?" + +"Because the monks built their house here in the old time, and the +monks never built their houses except on good land." + +"Well, I must say the land is good; indeed I do not think there is +any so good in Shire Aberteifi." + +"I suppose you are surprised to see me here; I came to see the old +Monachlog." + +"Yes, gentleman; I saw you looking about it." + +"Am I welcome to see it?" + +"Croesaw! gwr boneddig, croesaw! many, many welcomes to you, +gentleman!" + +"Do many people come to see the monastery?" + +FARMER. - Yes! many gentlefolks come to see it in the summer time. + +MYSELF. - It is a poor place now. + +FARMER. - Very poor, I wonder any gentlefolks come to look at it. + +MYSELF. - It was a wonderful place once; you merely see the ruins +of it now. It was pulled down at the Reformation. + +FARMER. - Why was it pulled down then? + +MYSELF. - Because it was a house of idolatry to which people used +to resort by hundreds to worship images. Had you lived at that +time you would have seen people down on their knees before stocks +and stones, worshipping them, kissing them, and repeating +pennillion to them. + +FARMER. - What fools! How thankful I am that I live in wiser days. +If such things were going on in the old Monachlog it was high time +to pull it down. + +MYSELF. - What kind of a rent do you pay for your land? + +FARMER. - Oh, rather a stiffish one. + +MYSELF. - Two pounds an acre? + +FARMER. - Two pound an acre! I wish I paid no more! + +MYSELF. - Well, I think that would be quite enough. In the time of +the old monastery you might have had the land at two shillings an +acre. + +FARMER. - Might I? Then those couldn't have been such bad times, +after all. + +MYSELF. - I beg your pardon! They were horrible times - times in +which there were monks and friars and graven images, which people +kissed and worshipped and sang pennillion to. Better pay three +pounds an acre and live on crusts and water in the present +enlightened days than pay two shillings an acre and sit down to +beef and ale three times a day in the old superstitious times. + +FARMER. - Well, I scarcely know what to say to that. + +MYSELF. - What do you call that high hill on the other side of the +river? + +FARMER. - I call that hill Bunk Pen Bannedd. + +MYSELF. - Is the source of the Teivi far from here? + +FARMER. - The head of the Teivi is about two miles from here high +up in the hills. + +MYSELF. - What kind of place is the head of the Teivi? + +FARMER. - The head of the Teivi is a small lake about fifty yards +long and twenty across. + +MYSELF. - Where does the Teivi run to? + +FARMER. - The Teivi runs to the sea, which it enters at a place +which the Cumri call Aber Teivi and the Saxons Cardigan. + +MYSELF. - Don't you call Cardiganshire Shire Aber Teivi? + +FARMER. - We do. + +MYSELF. - Are there many gleisiaid in the Teivi? + +FARMER. - Plenty, and salmons too - that is, farther down. The +best place for salmon and gleisiaid is a place, a great way down +the stream, called Dinas Emlyn. + +MYSELF. - Do you know an animal called Llostlydan? + +FARMER. - No, I do not know that beast. + +MYSELF. - There used to be many in the Teivi. + +FARMER. - What kind of beast is the Llostlydan? + +MYSELF. - A beast with a broad tail, on which account the old Cumri +did call him Llostlydan. Clever beast he was; made himself house +of wood in middle of the river, with two doors, so that when hunter +came upon him he might have good chance of escape. Hunter often +after him, because he had skin good to make hat. + +FARMER. - Ha, I wish I could catch that beast now in Teivi. + +MYSELF. - Why so? + +Farmer. - Because I want hat. Would make myself hat of his skin. + +MYSELF. - Oh, you could not make yourself a hat even if you had the +skin. + +FARMER. - Why not? Shot coney in Bunk Pen Banedd; made myself cap +of his skin. So why not make hat of skin of broadtail, should I +catch him in Teivi? + +MYSELF. - How far is it to Tregaron? + +FARMER. -'Tis ten miles from here, and eight from the Rhyd +Fendigaid. + +MYSELF. - Must I go back to Rhyd Fendigaid to get to Tregaron? + +FARMER. - You must. + +MYSELF. - Then I must be going, for the night is coming down. +Farewell! + +FARMER. - Farvel, Saxon gentleman! + + + +CHAPTER XCII + + + +Nocturnal Journey - Maes y Lynn - The Figure - Earl of Leicester - +Twm Shone Catti - The Farmer and Bull - Tom and the Farmer - The +Cave - The Threat - Tom a Justice - The Big Wigs - Tregaron. + + +IT was dusk by the time I had regained the high-road by the village +of the Rhyd Fendigaid. + +As I was yet eight miles from Tregaron, the place where I intended +to pass the night, I put on my best pace. In a little time I +reached a bridge over a stream which seemed to carry a considerable +tribute to the Teivi. + +"What is the name of this bridge?" said I to a man riding in a +cart, whom I met almost immediately after I had crossed the bridge. + +"Pont Vleer," methought he said, but as his voice was husky and +indistinct, very much like that of a person somewhat the worse for +liquor, I am by no means positive. + +It was now very dusk, and by the time I had advanced about a mile +farther dark night settled down, which compelled me to abate my +pace a little, more especially as the road was by no means first- +rate. I had come, to the best of my computation, about four miles +from the Rhyd Fendigaid when the moon began partly to show itself, +and presently by its glimmer I saw some little way off on my right +hand what appeared to be a large sheet of water. I went on, and in +about a minute saw two or three houses on the left, which stood +nearly opposite to the object which I had deemed to be water, and +which now appeared to be about fifty yards distant in a field which +was separated from the road by a slight hedge. Going up to the +principal house I knocked, and a woman making her appearance at the +door, I said: + +"I beg pardon for troubling you, but I wish to know the name of +this place." + +"Maes y Lynn - The Field of the Lake," said the woman. + +"And what is the name of the lake?" said I. + +"I do not know," said she; "but the place where it stands is called +Maes Llyn, as I said before." + +"Is the lake deep?" said I. + +"Very deep," said she. + +"How deep?" said I. + +"Over the tops of the houses," she replied. + +"Any fish in the lake?" + +"Oh yes! plenty." + +"What fish?" + +"Oh, there are llysowen, and the fish we call ysgetten." + +"Eels and tench," said I; "anything else?" + +"I do not know," said the woman; "folks say that there used to be +queer beast in the lake, water-cow used to come out at night and +eat people's clover in the fields." + +"Pooh," said I, "that was merely some person's cow or horse, turned +out at night to fill its belly at other folks' expense." + +"Perhaps so," said the woman; "have you any more questions to ask?" + +"Only one," said I; "how far is it to Tregaron?" + +"About three miles: are you going there?" + +"Yes, I am going to Tregaron." + +"Pity that you did not come a little time ago," said the woman; +"you might then have had pleasant company on your way; pleasant man +stopped here to light his pipe; he too going to Tregaron." + +"It doesn't matter," said I; "I am never happier than when keeping +my own company." Bidding the woman good night, I went on. The +moon now shone tolerably bright, so that I could see my way, and I +sped on at a great rate. I had proceeded nearly half a mile, when +I thought I heard steps in advance, and presently saw a figure at +some little distance before me. The individual, probably hearing +the noise of my approach, soon turned round and stood still. As I +drew near I distinguished a stout burly figure of a man, seemingly +about sixty, with a short pipe in his mouth. + +"Ah, is it you?" said the figure, in English, taking the pipe out +of his mouth; "good evening, I am glad to see you." Then shaking +some burning embers out of his pipe, he put it into his pocket, and +trudged on beside me. + +"Why are you glad to see I me?" said I, slackening my pace; "I am a +stranger to you; at any rate, you are to me." + +"Always glad to see English gentleman," said the figure; "always +glad to see him." + +"How do you know that I am an English gentleman?" said I. + +"Oh, I know Englishman at first sight; no one like him in the whole +world." + +"Have you seen many English gentleman?" said I. + +"Oh yes, have seen plenty when I have been up in London." + +"Have you been much in London?" + +"Oh yes; when I was a drover was up in London every month." + +"And were you much in the society of English gentlemen when you +were there?" + +"Oh yes; a great deal." + +"Whereabouts in London did you chiefly meet them?" + +"Whereabouts? Oh, in Smithfield." + +"Dear me!" said I; "I thought that was rather a place for butchers +than gentlemen." + +"Great place for gentlemen, I assure you," said the figure; "met +there the finest gentleman I ever saw in my life; very grand, but +kind and affable, like every true gentleman. Talked to me a great +deal about Anglesey runts, and Welsh legs of mutton, and at parting +shook me by the hand, and asked me to look in upon him, if I was +ever down in his parts, and see his sheep and taste his ale." + +"Do you know who he was?" said I. + +"Oh yes; know all about him; Earl of Leicester, from county of +Norfolk; fine old man indeed - you very much like him - speak just +in same way." + +"Have you given up the business of drover long?" said I. + +"Oh yes; given him up a long time, ever since domm'd railroad came +into fashion." + +"And what do you do now?" said I. + +"Oh, not much; live upon my means; picked up a little property, a +few sticks, just enough for old crow to build him nest with - +sometimes, however, undertake a little job for neighbouring people +and get a little money. Can do everything in small way, if +necessary; build little bridge, if asked; - Jack of all Trades - +live very comfortably." + +"And where do you live?" + +"Oh, not very far from Tregaron." + +"And what kind of place is Tregaron?" + +"Oh, very good place; not quite so big as London but very good +place." + +"What is it famed for?" said I, + +"Oh, famed for very good ham; best ham at Tregaron in all Shire +Cardigan." + +"Famed for anything else?" + +"Oh yes! famed for great man, clever thief, Twm Shone Catti, who +was born there." + +"Dear me!" said I; "when did he live?" + +"Oh, long time ago, more than two hundred year." + +"And what became of him?" said I; "was he hung?" + +"Hung, no! only stupid thief hung. Twm Shone clever thief; died +rich man, justice of the peace and mayor of Brecon." + +"Very singular," said I, "that they should make a thief mayor of +Brecon." + +"Oh Twm Shone Catti very different from other thieves; funny +fellow, and so good-natured that everybody loved him - so they made +him magistrate, not, however, before he had become very rich man by +marrying great lady who fell in love with him." + +"Ah, ah," said I; "that's the way of the world. He became rich, so +they made him a magistrate; had he remained poor they would have +hung him in spite of all his fun and good-nature. Well, can't you +tell me some of the things he did?" + +"Oh yes, can tell you plenty. One day in time of fair Tom Shone +Catti goes into ironmonger's shop in Llandovery. 'Master,' says +he, 'I want to buy a good large iron porridge pot; please to show +me some.' So the man brings three or four big iron porridge pots, +the very best he has. Tom takes up one and turns it round. 'This +look very good porridge pot,' said he; 'I think it will suit me.' +Then he turns it round and round again, and at last lifts it above +his head and peeks into it. 'Ha, ha,' says he; 'this won't do; I +see one hole here. What mean you by wanting to sell article like +this to stranger?' Says the man, 'There be no hole in it.' 'But +there is,' says Tom, holding it up and peeking into it again; 'I +see the hole quite plain. Take it and look into it yourself.' So +the man takes the pot, and having held it up and peeked in, 'as I +hope to be saved,' says he, 'I can see no hole.' Says Tom, 'Good +man, if you put your head in, you will find that there is a hole.' +So the man tries to put in his head, but having some difficulty, +Tom lends him a helping hand by jamming the pot quite down over the +man's face, then whisking up the other pots Tom leaves the shop, +saying as he goes, 'Friend, I suppose you now see there is a hole +in the pot, otherwise how could you have got your head inside?"' + +"Very good," said I; "can you tell us something more about Twm +Shone Catti?" + +"Oh yes; can tell you plenty about him. The farmer at Newton, just +one mile beyond the bridge at Brecon, had one very fine bull, but +with a very short tail. Says Tom to himself: 'By God's nails and +blood, I will steal the farmer's bull, and then sell it to him for +other bull in open market place.' Then Tom makes one fine tail, +just for all the world such a tail as the bull ought to have had, +then goes by night to the farmer's stall at Newton, steals away the +bull, and then sticks to the bull's short stump the fine bull's +tail which he himself had made. The next market day he takes the +bull to the market-place at Brecon, and calls out; 'Very fine bull +this, who will buy my fine bull?' Quoth the farmer who stood nigh +at hand, 'That very much like my bull, which thief stole t'other +night; I think I can swear to him.' Says Tom, 'What do you mean? +This bull is not your bull, but mine.' Says the farmer, 'I could +swear that this is my bull but for the tail. The tail of my bull +was short, but the tail of this is long. I would fain know whether +the tail of this be real tail or not.' 'You would?' says Tom; +'well, so you shall.' Thereupon he whips out big knife and cuts +off the bull's tail, some little way above where the false tail was +joined on. 'Ha, ha,' said Tom, as the bull's stump of tail bled, +and the bit of tail bled too to which the false tail was stuck, and +the bull kicked and bellowed. 'What say you now? Is it a true +tail or no?' 'By my faith!' says the farmer, 'I see that the tail +is a true tail, and that the bull is not mine. I beg pardon for +thinking that he was.' 'Begging pardon,' says Tom, 'is all very +well; but will you buy the bull?' 'No,' said the farmer; 'I should +be loth to buy a bull with tail cut off close to the rump.' 'Ha,' +says Tom; 'who made me cut off the tail but yourself? Did you not +force me to do so in order to clear my character? Now as you made +me cut off my bull's tail, I will make you buy my bull without his +tail.' 'Yes, yes,' cried the mob; 'as he forced you to cut off the +tail, do you now force him to buy the bull without the tail.' Says +the farmer, 'What do you ask for the bull?' Says Tom: 'I ask for +him ten pound.' Says the farmer, 'I will give you eight.' 'No,' +says Tom; 'you shall give me ten, or I will have you up before the +justice.' 'That is right,' cried the mob. 'If he won't pay you +ten pound, have him up before the justice.' Thereupon the farmer, +becoming frightened, pulled out the ten pounds and gave it for his +own bull to Tom Shone Catti, who wished him joy of his bargain. As +the farmer was driving the bull away he said to Tom: 'Won't you +give me the tail?' 'No,' said Tom; 'I shall keep it against the +time I steal another bull with a short tail;' and thereupon he runs +off." + +"A clever fellow," said I; "though it was rather cruel in him to +cut off the poor bull's tail. Now, perhaps, you will tell me how +he came to marry the rich lady? + +"Oh yes; I will tell you. One day as he was wandering about, +dressed quite like a gentleman, he heard a cry, and found one very +fine lady in the hands of one highwayman, who would have robbed and +murdered her. Tom kills the highwayman and conducts the lady home +to her house and her husband, for she was a married lady. Out of +gratitude to Tom for the service he has done, the gentleman and +lady invite him to stay with them. The gentleman, who is a great +gentleman, fond of his bottle and hunting, takes mightily to Tom +for his funny sayings and because Tom's a good hand at a glass when +at table, and a good hand at a leap when in field; the lady also +takes very much to Tom, because he one domm'd handsome fellow, with +plenty of wit and what they call boetry - for Tom, amongst other +things, was no bad boet, and could treat a lady to pennillion about +her face and her ancle, and the tip of her ear. At last Tom goes +away upon his wanderings, not, however, before he has got one +promise from the lady, that if ever she becomes disengaged she will +become his wife. Well, after some time, the lady's husband dies +and leaves her all his property, so that all of a sudden she finds +herself one great independent lady, mistress of the whole of Strath +Feen, one fair and pleasant valley far away there over the Eastern +hills, by the Towey, on the borders of Shire Car. Tom, as soon as +he hears the news of all this, sets off for Strath Feen and asks +the lady to perform her word; but the lady, who finds herself one +great and independent lady, and moreover does not quite like the +idea of marrying one thief, for she had learnt who Tom was, does +hum and hah, and at length begs to be excused, because she has +changed her mind. Tom begs and entreats, but quite in vain, till +at last she tells him to go away and not trouble her any more. Tom +goes away, but does not yet lose hope. He takes up his quarters in +one strange little cave, nearly at the top of one wild hill, very +much like sugar loaf, which does rise above the Towey, just within +Shire Car. I have seen the cave myself, which is still called +Ystafell Twm Shone Catty. Very queer cave it is, in strange +situation; steep rock just above it, Towey River roaring below. +There Tom takes up his quarters, and from there he often sallies +forth, in hope of having interview with fair lady and making her +alter her mind, but she will have nothing to do with him, and at +last shuts herself up in her house and will not go out. Well, Tom +nearly loses all hope; he, however, determines to make one last +effort; so one morning he goes to the house and stands before the +door, entreating with one loud and lamentable voice that the lady +will see him once more, because he is come to bid her one eternal +farewell, being about to set off for the wars in the kingdom of +France. Well, the lady who hears all he says relents one little, +and showing herself at the window, before which are very strong +iron bars, she says: 'Here I am! whatever you have to say, say it +quickly and go your way.' Says Tom: 'I am come to bid you one +eternal farewell, and have but one last slight request to make, +which is that you vouchsafe to stretch out of the window your lily- +white hand, that I may impress one last burning kiss of love on the +same.' Well, the lady hesitates one little time; at last, having +one woman's heart, she thinks she may grant him this last little +request, and stretching her hand through the bars, she says: +'Well, there's my hand, kiss it once and begone.' Forthwith Tom, +seizing her wrist with his left hand, says: 'I have got you now, +and will never let you go till you swear to become my wife.' +'Never,' said the lady, 'will I become the wife of one thief,' and +strives with all her might to pull her hand free, but cannot, for +the left hand of Tom is more strong than the right of other man. +Thereupon Tom with his right hand draws forth his sword, and with +one dreadful shout does exclaim, - 'Now will you swear to become my +wife, for if you don't, by God's blood and nails, I will this +moment smite off your hand with this sword.' Then the lady being +very much frightened, and having one sneaking kindness for Tom, who +though he looked very fierce looked also very handsome, said, - +'Well, well! a promise is a promise; I promised to become your +wife, and so I will; I swear I will; by all I hold holy I swear; so +let go my hand, which you have almost pulled off, and come in and +welcome!' So Tom lets go her hand, and the lady opens her door, +and before night they were married, and in less than one month Tom, +being now very rich and Lord of Ystrad Feen, was made justice of +the peace and chairman at quarter session." + +"And what kind of justice of the peace did Tom make?" + +"Ow, the very best justice of the peace that there ever was. He +made the old saying good: you must get one thief to catch one +thief. He had not been a justice three year before there was not a +thief in Shire Brecon nor in Shire Car, for they also made him +justice of Carmarthenshire, and a child might walk through the +country quite safe with a purse of gold in its hand. He said that +as he himself could not have a finger in the pie, he would take +care nobody else should. And yet he was not one bloody justice +either; never hanged thief without giving him a chance to reform; +but when he found him quite hardened he would say: 'Hang up de +rogue!' Oh, Tom was not a very hard man, and had one grateful +heart for any old kindness which had been sewn him. One day as Tom +sat on de bench with other big wigs, Tom the biggest wig of the +lot, a man was brought up charged with stealing one bullock. Tom +no sooner cast eye on the man than he remembered him quite well. +Many years before Tom had stole a pair of oxen, which he wished to +get through the town of Brecon, but did not dare to drive them +through, for at that very time there was one warrant out against +Tom at Brecon for something he had done. So Tom stands with his +oxen on the road, scratching his head and not knowing what to do. +At length there comes a man along the road, making towards Brecon, +to whom Tom says: 'Honest man, I want these two oxen to be driven +to such and such a public-house two miles beyond Brecon; I would +drive them myself only I have business to do elsewhere of more +importance. Now if you will drive them for me there and wait till +I come, which will not be long, I will give you a groat.' Says the +man; 'I will drive them there for nothing, for as my way lies past +that same public-house I can easily afford to do so.' So Tom +leaves the oxen with the man, and by rough and roundabout road +makes for the public-house - beyond Brecon, where he finds the man +waiting with the oxen, who hands them over to him and goes on his +way. Now, in the man brought up before him and the other big wigs +on the bench for stealing the bullock, Tom does recognise the man +who had done him that same good turn. Well! the evidence was heard +against the man, and it soon appeared quite clear that the man did +really steal the bullock. Says the other big wigs to Tom: 'The +fact has been proved quite clear. What have we now to do but to +adshudge at once that the domm'd thief be hung?' But Tom, who +remembered that the man had once done him one good turn, had made +up his mind to save the man. So says he to the other big wigs: +'My very worthy esteemed friends and coadshutors, I do perfectly +agree with you that the fact has been proved clear enough, but with +respect to de man, I should be very much grieved should he be hung +for this one fact, for I did know him long time ago, and did find +him to be one domm'd honest man in one transaction which I had with +him. So my wordy and esteemed friends and coadshutors I should +esteem it one great favour if you would adshudge that the man +should be let off this one time. If, however, you deem it +inexpedient to let the man off, then of course the man must be +hung, for I shall not presume to set my opinions and judgments +against your opinions and judgments, which are far better than my +own.' Then the other big wigs did look very big and solemn, and +did shake their heads and did whisper to one another that they were +afraid the matter could not be done. At last, however, they did +come to the conclusion that as Tom had said that he had known the +fellow once to be one domm'd honest man, and as they had a great +regard for Tom, who was one domm'd good magistrate and highly +respectable gentleman with whom they were going to dine the next +day - for Tom I must tell you was in the habit of giving the very +best dinners in all Shire Brecon - it might not be incompatible +with the performance of their duty to let the man off this one +time, seeing as how the poor fellow had probably merely made one +slight little mistake. Well: to make the matter short, the man +was let off with only a slight reprimand, and left the court. +Scarcely, however, had he gone twenty yards, when Tom was after +him, and tapping him on the shoulder said: 'Honest friend, a word +with you!' Then the man turning round Tom said: 'Do you know me, +pray?' 'I think I do, your honour,' said the man. 'I think your +honour was one of the big wigs, who were just now so kind as to let +me off.' 'I was so,' said Tom; 'and it is well for you that I was +the biggest of these big wigs before whom you stood placed, +otherwise to a certainty you would have been hung up on high; but +did you ever see me before this affair?' 'No, your honour,' said +the man, 'I don't remember ever to have seen your honour before.' +Says Tom, 'Don't you remember one long time ago driving a pair of +oxen through Brecon for a man who stood scratching his head on the +road?' 'Oh yes,' says the man; 'I do remember that well enough.' +'Well,' said Tom; 'I was that man. I had stolen that pair of oxen, +and I dared not drive them through Brecon. You drove them for me; +and for doing me that good turn I have this day saved your life. I +was thief then but am now big wig. I am Twm Shone Catti. Now +lookee! I have saved your life this one time, but I can never save +it again. Should you ever be brought up before me again, though +but for stealing one kid, I will hang you as high as ever Haman was +hung. One word more; here are five pieces of gold. Take them: +employ them well, and reform as I have done, and perhaps in time +you may become one big wig, like myself.' Well: the man took the +money, and laid it out to the best advantage, and became at last so +highly respectable a character that they made him a constable. And +now, my gentleman, we are close upon Tregaron." + +After descending a hill we came to what looked a small suburb, and +presently crossed a bridge over the stream, the waters of which +sparkled merrily in the beams of the moon which was now shining +bright over some lofty hills to the south-east. Beyond the bridge +was a small market-place, on the right-hand side of which stood an +ancient looking church. The place upon the whole put me very much +in mind of an Andalusian village overhung by its sierra. "Where is +the inn?" said I to my companion. + +"Yonder it be;" said he pointing to a large house at the farther +end of the market-place. "Very good inn that - Talbot Arms - where +they are always glad to see English gentlemans." Then touching his +hat, and politely waving his hand, he turned on one side, and I saw +him no more. + + + +CHAPTER XCIII + + + +Tregaron Church - The Minister - Good Morning - Tom Shone's +Disguises - Tom and the Lady - Klim and Catti. + + +I EXPERIENCED very good entertainment at the Tregaron Inn, had an +excellent supper and a very comfortable bed. I arose at about +eight in the morning. The day was dull and misty. After +breakfast, according to my usual fashion, I took a stroll to see +about. The town, which is very small, stands in a valley, near +some wild hills called the Berwyn, like the range to the south of +Llangollen. The stream, which runs through it and which falls into +the Teivi at a little distance from the town, is called the +Brennig, probably because it descends from the Berwyn hills. These +southern Berwyns form a very extensive mountain region, extending +into Brecon and Carmarthenshire, and contain within them, as I long +subsequently found, some of the wildest solitudes and most romantic +scenery in Wales. High up amidst them, at about five miles from +Tregaron, is a deep, broad lake which constitutes the source of the +Towy, a very beautiful stream, which after many turnings and +receiving the waters of numerous small streams discharges itself +into Carmarthen Bay. + +I did not fail to pay a visit to Tregaron church. It is an antique +building with a stone tower. The door being open, as the door of a +church always should be, I entered, and was kindly shown by the +clerk, whom I met in the aisle, all about the sacred edifice. +There was not much to be seen. Amongst the monuments was a stone +tablet to John Herbert, who died 1690. The clerk told me that the +name of the clergyman of Tregaron was Hughes; he said that he was +an excellent, charitable man, who preached the Gospel, and gave +himself great trouble in educating the children of the poor. He +certainly seemed to have succeeded in teaching them good manners: +as I was leaving the church, I met a number of little boys +belonging to the church school: no sooner did they see me than +they drew themselves up it, a rank on one side, and as I passed +took off their caps and simultaneously shouted, "Good-morning!" + +And now something with respect to the celebrated hero of Tregaron, +Tom Shone Catti, concerning whom I picked up a good deal during my +short stay there, and of whom I subsequently read something in +printed books. (14) + +According to the tradition of the country, he was the illegitimate +son of Sir John Wynn of Gwedir, by one Catherine Jones of Tregaron, +and was born at a place called Fynnon Lidiart, close by Tregaron, +towards the conclusion of the sixteenth century. He was baptised +by the name of Thomas Jones, but was generally called Tom Shone +Catti, that is Tom Jones, son of Catti or Catherine. His mother, +who was a person of some little education, brought him up, and +taught him to read and write. His life, till his eighteenth year, +was much like other peasant boys; he kept crows, drove bullocks, +and learned to plough and harrow, but always showed a disposition +to roguery and mischief. Between eighteen and nineteen, in order +to free himself and his mother from poverty which they had long +endured, he adopted the profession of a thief, and soon became +celebrated through the whole of Wales for the cleverness and +adroitness which he exercised in his calling; qualities in which he +appears to have trusted much more than in strength and daring, +though well endowed with both. His disguises were innumerable, and +all impenetrable; sometimes he would appear as an ancient crone; +sometimes as a begging cripple; sometimes as a broken soldier. +Though by no means scrupulous as to what he stole, he was +particularly addicted to horse and cattle stealing, and was no less +successful in altering the appearance of animals than his own, as +he would frequently sell cattle to the very persons from whom he +had stolen them, after they had been subjected to such a +metamorphosis, by means of dyes and the scissors, that recognition +was quite impossible. Various attempts were made to apprehend him, +but all without success; he was never at home to people who +particularly wanted him, or if at home he looked anything but the +person they came in quest of. Once a strong and resolute man, a +farmer, who conceived, and very justly, that Tom had abstracted a +bullock from his stall, came to Tregaron well armed in order to +seize him. Riding up to the door of Tom's mother, he saw an aged +and miserable-looking object, with a beggar's staff and wallet, +sitting on a stone bench beside the door. Does Tom Shone Catti +live here?" said the farmer. "Oh yes, he lives here," replied the +beggar. "Is he at home?" "Oh yes, he is at home." "Will you hold +my horse whilst I go in and speak to him?" "Oh yes, I will hold +your horse." Thereupon the man dismounted, took a brace of pistols +out of his holsters, gave the cripple his horse's bridle and +likewise his whip, and entered the house boldly. No sooner was he +inside than the beggar, or rather Tom Shone Catti, for it was he, +jumped on the horse's back, and rode away to the farmer's house +which was some ten miles distant, altering his dress and appearance +as he rode along, having various articles of disguise in his +wallet. Arriving at the house he told the farmer's wife that her +husband was in the greatest trouble, and wanted fifty pounds, which +she was to send by him, and that he came mounted on her husband's +horse, and brought his whip, that she might know he was authorised +to receive the money. The wife, seeing the horse and the whip, +delivered the money to Tom without hesitation, who forthwith made +the best of his way to London, where he sold the horse, and made +himself merry with the price, and with what he got from the +farmer's wife, not returning to Wales for several months. Though +Tom was known by everybody to be a thief, he appears to have lived +on very good terms with the generality of his neighbours, both rich +and poor. The poor he conciliated by being very free of the money +which he acquired by theft and robbery, and with the rich he +ingratiated himself by humorous jesting, at which he was a +proficient, and by being able to sing a good song. At length, +being an extremely good-looking young fellow, he induced a wealthy +lady to promise to marry him. This lady is represented by some as +a widow, and by others as a virgin heiress. After some time, +however, she refused to perform her promise and barred her doors +against him. Tom retired to a cave on the side of a steep wild +hill near the lady's house, to which he frequently repaired, and at +last, having induced her to stretch her hand to him through the +window bars, under the pretence that he wished to imprint a parting +kiss upon it, he won her by seizing her hand and threatening to cut +it off unless she performed her promise. Then, as everything at +the time at which he lived could be done by means of money, he soon +obtained for himself a general pardon, and likewise a commission as +justice of the peace, which he held to the time of his death, to +the satisfaction of everybody except thieves and ill-doers, against +whom he waged incessant war, and with whom he was admirably +qualified to cope, from the knowledge he possessed of their ways +and habits, from having passed so many years of his life in the +exercise of the thieving trade. In his youth he was much addicted +to poetry, and a great many pennillion of his composition, chiefly +on his own thievish exploits, are yet recited by the inhabitants of +certain districts of the shires of Brecon, Carmarthen, and +Cardigan. + +Such is the history or rather the outline of the history of Twm +Shone Catti. Concerning the actions attributed to him, it is +necessary to say that the greater part consist of myths, which are +told of particular individuals of every country, from the Indian +Ocean to the Atlantic: for example, the story of cutting off the +bull's tail is not only told of him but of the Irish thief Delany, +and is to be found in the "Lives of Irish Rogues and Rapparees;" +certain tricks related of him in the printed tale bearing his name +are almost identical with various rogueries related in the story- +book of Klim the Russian robber, (15) and the most poetical part of +Tom Shone's history, namely, that in which he threatens to cut off +the hand of the reluctant bride unless she performs her promise, +is, in all probability, an offshoot of the grand myth of "the +severed hand," which in various ways figures in the stories of most +nations, and which is turned to considerable account in the tale of +the above-mentioned Russian worthy Klim. + + + +CHAPTER XCIV + + + +Llan Ddewi Brefi - Pelagian Heresy - Hu Gadarn - God of Agriculture +- The Silver Cup - Rude Tablet. + + +IT was about eleven o'clock in the morning when I started from +Tregaron; the sky was still cloudy and heavy. I took the road to +Lampeter, distant about eight miles, intending, however, to go much +farther ere I stopped for the night. The road lay nearly south- +west. I passed by Aber Coed, a homestead near the bottom of a +dingle down which runs a brook into the Teivi, which flows here +close by the road; then by Aber Carvan, where another brook +disembogues. Aber, as perhaps the reader already knows, is a +disemboguement, and wherever a place commences with Aber there to a +certainty does a river flow into the sea, or a brook or rivulet +into a river. I next passed through Nant Derven, and in about +three-quarters of an hour after leaving Tregaron reached a place of +old renown called Llan Ddewi Brefi. + +Llan Ddewi Brefi is a small village situated at the entrance of a +gorge leading up to some lofty hills which rise to the east and +belong to the same mountain range as those near Tregaron. A brook +flowing from the hills murmurs through it and at length finds its +way into the Teivi. An ancient church stands on a little rising +ground just below the hills; multitudes of rooks inhabit its +steeple and fill throughout the day the air with their cawing. The +place wears a remarkable air of solitude, but presents nothing of +gloom and horror, and seems just the kind of spot in which some +quiet pensive man, fatigued but not soured by the turmoil of the +world, might settle down, enjoy a few innocent pleasures, make his +peace with God, and then compose himself to his long sleep. + +It is not without reason that Llan Ddewi Brefi has been called a +place of old renown. In the fifth century, one of the most +remarkable ecclesiastical convocations which the world has ever +seen was held in this secluded spot. It was for the purpose of +refuting certain doctrines, which had for some time past caused +much agitation in the Church, and which originated with one Morgan, +a native of North Wales, who left his country at an early age and +repaired to Italy, where having adopted the appellation of +Pelagius, which is a Latin translation of his own name Morgan, +which signifies "by the seashore," he soon became noted as a +theological writer. It is not necessary to enter into any detailed +exposition of his opinions; it will, however, be as well to state +that one of the points which he was chiefly anxious to inculcate +was that it is possible for a man to lead a life entirely free from +sin by obeying the dictates of his own reason without any +assistance from the grace of God - a dogma certainly to the last +degree delusive and dangerous. When the convocation met there were +a great many sermons preached by various learned and eloquent +divines, but nothing was produced which was pronounced by the +general voice a satisfactory answer to the doctrines of the +heresiarch. At length it was resolved to send for Dewi, a +celebrated teacher of theology at Mynyw in Pembrokeshire, who from +motives of humility had not appeared in the assembly. Messengers +therefore were despatched to Dewi, who, after repeated entreaties, +was induced to repair to the place of meeting, where after three +days' labour in a cell he produced a treatise in writing in which +the tenets of Morgan were so triumphantly overthrown that the +convocation unanimously adopted it and sent it into the world with +a testimony of approbation as an antidote to the heresy, and so +great was its efficacy that from that moment the doctrines of +Morgan fell gradually into disrepute. (16) + +Dewi shortly afterwards became primate of Wales, being appointed to +the see of Minevai or Mynyw, which from that time was called Ty +Ddewi or David's House, a name which it still retains amongst the +Cumry, though at present called by the Saxons Saint David's. About +five centuries after his death the crown of canonization having +been awarded to Dewi, various churches were dedicated to him, +amongst which was that now called Llan Ddewi Brefi, which was built +above the cell in which the good man composed his celebrated +treatise. + +If this secluded gorge or valley is connected with a remarkable +historical event it is also associated with one of the wildest +tales of mythology. Here according to old tradition died one of +the humped oxen of the team of Hu Gadarn. Distracted at having +lost its comrade, which perished from the dreadful efforts which it +made along with the others in drawing the afanc hen or old +crocodile from the lake of lakes, it fled away from its master, and +wandered about, till coming to the glen now called that of Llan +Ddewi Brefi, it fell down and perished after excessive bellowing, +from which noise the place probably derived its name of Brefi, for +Bref in Cumbric signifies a mighty bellowing or lowing. Horns of +enormous size, said to have belonged to this humped ox or bison, +were for many ages preserved in the church. + +Many will exclaim who was Hu Gadarn? Hu Gadarn in the Gwlad yr Haf +or summer country, a certain region of the East, perhaps the +Crimea, which seems to be a modification of Cumria, taught the +Cumry the arts of civilised life, to build comfortable houses, to +sow grain and reap, to tame the buffalo and the bison, and turn +their mighty strength to profitable account, to construct boats +with wicker and the skins of animals, to drain pools and morasses, +to cut down forests, cultivate the vine and encourage bees, make +wine and mead, frame lutes and fifes and play upon them, compose +rhymes and verses, fuse minerals and form them into various +instruments and weapons, and to move in masses against their +enemies, and finally when the summer country became over-populated +led an immense multitude of his countrymen across many lands to +Britain, a country of forests, in which bears, wolves, and bisons +wandered, and of morasses and pools full of dreadful efync or +crocodiles, a country inhabited only by a few savage Gauls, but +which shortly after the arrival of Hu and his people became a +smiling region, forests being thinned, bears and wolves hunted +down, efync annihilated, bulls and bisons tamed, corn planted and +pleasant cottages erected. After his death he was worshipped as +the God of agriculture and war by the Cumry and the Gauls. The +Germans paid him divine honours under the name of Heus, from which +name the province of Hesse in which there was a mighty temple +devoted to him, derived its appellation. The Scandinavians +worshipped him under the name of Odin and Gautr, the latter word a +modification of Cadarn or mighty. The wild Finns feared him as a +wizard and honoured him as a musician under the name of +Wainoemoinen, and it is very probable that he was the wondrous +being whom the Greeks termed Odysses. Till a late period the word +Hu amongst the Cumry was frequently used to express God - Gwir Hu, +God knows, being a common saying. Many Welsh poets have called the +Creator by the name of the creature, amongst others Iolo Goch in +his ode to the ploughman:- + + +"The mighty Hu who lives for ever, +Of mead and wine to men the giver, +The emperor of land and sea, +And of all things that living be +Did hold a plough with his good hand, +Soon as the deluge left the land, +To show to men both strong and weak, +The haughty-hearted and the meek, +Of all the arts the heaven below +The noblest is to guide the plough." + + +So much for Hu Gadarn or Hu the Mighty, whose name puts one +strangely in mind of the Al Kader Hu or the Almighty He of the +Arabians. + +I went to see the church. The inside was very rude and plain - a +rough table covered with a faded cloth served for an altar - on the +right-hand side was a venerable-looking chest. + +"What is there in that box?" said I to the old sexton who attended +me. + +"The treasure of the church, sir," he replied in a feeble quaking +voice. + +"Dear me!" said I, "what does the treasure consist of?" + +"You shall see, sir," said he, and drawing a large key out of his +pocket he unlocked the chest and taking out a cup of silver he put +it into my hand saying:- "This is the treasure of the church, sir!" + +I looked at the cup. It was tolerably large and of very chaste +workmanship. Graven upon it were the following words:- + + +"Poculum Eclesie De LXXN Dewy Brefy 1574." + + +"Do you always keep this cup in that chest?" said I. + +"Yes sir! we have kept it there since the cup was given to us by de +godly Queen Elizabeth." + +I said nothing, but I thought to myself:- "I wonder how long a cup +like this would have been safe in a crazy chest in a country church +in England." + +I kissed the sacred relic of old times with reverence, and returned +it to the old sexton. + +"What became of the horns of Hu Gadarn's bull?" said I, after he +had locked the cup again in its dilapidated coffer. + +"They did dwindle away, sir, till they came to nothing." + +"Did you ever see any part of them?" said I. + +"Oh no, sir; I did never see any part of them, but one very old man +who is buried here did tell me shortly before he died that he had +seen one very old man who had seen of dem one little tip." + +"Who was the old man who said that to you?" said I. + +"I will show you his monument, sir," then taking me into a dusky +pew he pointed to a small rude tablet against the church wall and +said:- "That is his monument, sir." + +The tablet bore the following inscription, and below it a rude +englyn on death not worth transcribing:- + + +Coffadwriaeth am +THOMAS JONES +Diweddar o'r Draws Llwyn yn y Plwyf hwn: +Bu farw Chwefror 6 fed 1830 +Yn 92 oed. + +To the memory of +THOMAS JONES +Of Traws Llwyn (across the Grove) in this +parish who died February the sixth, 1830. +Aged 92. + + +After copying the inscription I presented the old man with a trifle +and went my way. + + + +CHAPTER XCV + + + +Lampeter - The Monk Austin - The Three Publicans - The Tombstone - +Sudden Change - Trampers - A Catholic - The Bridge of Twrch. + + +THE country between Llan Ddewi and Lampeter presented nothing +remarkable, and I met on the road nothing worthy of being recorded. +On arriving at Lampeter I took a slight refreshment at the inn, and +then went to see the college which stands a little way to the north +of the town. It was founded by Bishop Burgess in the year 1820, +for the education of youths intended for the ministry of the Church +of England. It is a neat quadrate edifice with a courtyard in +which stands a large stone basin. From the courtyard you enter a +spacious dining-hall, over the door of which hangs a well-executed +portrait of the good bishop. From the hall you ascend by a +handsome staircase to the library, a large and lightsome room, well +stored with books in various languages. The grand curiosity is a +manuscript Codex containing a Latin synopsis of Scripture which +once belonged to the monks of Bangor Is Coed. It bears marks of +blood with which it was sprinkled when the monks were massacred by +the heathen Saxons, at the instigation of Austin the Pope's +missionary in Britain. The number of students seldom exceeds +forty. + +It might be about half-past two in the afternoon when I left +Lampeter. I passed over a bridge, taking the road to Llandovery +which, however, I had no intention of attempting to reach that +night, as it was considerably upwards of twenty miles distant. The +road lay, seemingly, due east. After walking very briskly for +about an hour I came to a very small hamlet consisting of not more +than six or seven houses; of these three seemed to be public- +houses, as they bore large flaming signs. Seeing three rather +shabby-looking fellows standing chatting with their hands in their +pockets, I stopped and inquired in English the name of the place. + +"Pen- something," said one of them, who had a red face and a large +carbuncle on his nose, which served to distinguish him from his +companions, who though they had both very rubicund faces had no +carbuncles. + +"It seems rather a small place to maintain three public-houses," +said I; "how do the publicans manage to live?" + +"Oh, tolerably well, sir; we get bread and cheese and have a groat +in our pockets. No great reason to complain; have we, neighbours?" + +"No! no great reason to complain," said the other two. + +"Dear me!" said I; "are you the publicans?" + +"We are, sir," said the man with the carbuncle on his nose, "and +shall be each of us glad to treat you to a pint in his own house in +order to welcome you to Shire Car - shan't we, neighbours?" + +"Yes, in truth we shall," said the other two. + +"By Shire Car," said I, "I suppose you mean Shire Cardigan?" + +"Shire Cardigan!" said the man; "no indeed; by Shire Car is meant +Carmarthenshire. Your honour has left beggarly Cardigan some way +behind you. Come, your honour, come and have a pint; this is my +house," said he, pointing to one of the buildings. + +"But," said I, "I suppose if I drink at your expense you expect to +drink at mine?" + +"Why, we can't say that we shall have any objection, your honour; I +think we will arrange the matter in this way; we will go into my +house, where we will each of us treat your honour with a pint, and +for each pint we treat your honour with your honour shall treat us +with one." + +"Do you mean each?" said I. + +"Why, yes! your honour, for a pint amongst three would be rather a +short allowance." + +"Then it would come to this," said I, "I should receive three pints +from you three, and you three would receive nine from me." + +"Just so, your honour, I see your honour is a ready reckoner." + +"I know how much three times three make," said I. "Well, thank +you, kindly, but I must decline your offer; I am bound on a +journey." + +"Where are you bound to, master?" + +"To Llandovery, but if I can find an inn a few miles farther on I +shall stop there for the night." + +"Then you will put up at the 'Pump Saint,' master; well, you can +have your three pints here and your three pipes too, and yet get +easily there by seven. Come in, master, come in! If you take my +advice you will think of your pint and your pipe and let all the +rest go to the devil." + +"Thank you," said I, "but I can't accept your invitation, I must be +off;" and in spite of yet more pressing solicitations I went on. + +I had not gone far when I came to a point where the road parted +into two; just at the point were a house and premises belonging +apparently to a stonemason, as a great many pieces of half-cut +granite were standing about, and not a few tombstones. I stopped +and looked at one of the latter. It was to the memory of somebody +who died at the age of sixty-six, and at the bottom bore the +following bit of poetry:- + + +"Ti ddaear o ddaear ystyria mewn braw, +Mai daear i ddaear yn fuan a ddaw; +A ddaear mewn ddaear raid aros bob darn +Nes daear o ddaear gyfrodir i farn." + +"Thou earth from earth reflect with anxious mind +That earth to earth must quickly be consigned, +And earth in earth must lie entranced enthralled +Till earth from earth to judgment shall be called." + + +"What conflicting opinions there are in this world," said I, after +I had copied the quatrain and translated it. "The publican yonder +tells me to think of my pint and pipe and let everything else go to +the devil, and the tombstone here tells me to reflect with dread - +a much finer expression by-the-bye than reflect with anxious mind, +as I have got it - that in a very little time I must die, and lie +in the ground till I am called to judgment. Now, which is most +right, the tombstone or the publican? Why, I should say the +tombstone decidedly. The publican is too sweeping when he tells +you to think of your pint and pipe and nothing else. A pint and +pipe are good things. I don't smoke myself, but I daresay a pipe +is a good thing for them who like it, but there are certainly +things worth being thought of in this world besides a pint and pipe +- hills and dales, woods and rivers, for example - death and +judgment too are worthy now and then of very serious thought. So +it won't do to go with the publican the whole hog. But with +respect to the tombstone, it is quite safe and right to go with it +its whole length. It tells you to think of death and judgment - +and assuredly we ought to of them. It does not, however, tell you +to think of nothing but death and judgment and to eschew every +innocent pleasure within your reach. If it did it would be a +tombstone quite as sweeping in what it says as the publican, who +tells you to think of your pint and pipe and let everything else go +to the devil. The wisest course evidently is to blend the whole of +the philosophy of the tombstone with a portion of the philosophy of +the publican and something more, to enjoy one's pint and pipe and +other innocent pleasures, and to think every now and then of death +and judgment - that is what I intend to do, and indeed is what I +have done for the last thirty years." + +I went on - desolate hills rose in the east, the way I was going, +but on the south were beautiful hillocks adorned with trees and +hedge-rows. I was soon amongst the desolate hills, which then +looked more desolate than they did at a distance. They were of a +wretched russet colour, and exhibited no other signs of life and +cultivation than here and there a miserable field and vile-looking +hovel; and if there was here nothing to cheer the eye there was +also nothing to cheer the ear. There were no songs of birds, no +voices of rills; the only sound I heard was the lowing of a +wretched bullock from a far-off slope. + +I went on slowly and heavily; at length I got to the top of this +wretched range - then what a sudden change! Beautiful hills in the +far east, a fair valley below me, and groves and woods on each side +of the road which led down to it. The sight filled my veins with +fresh life, and I descended this side of the hill as merrily as I +had come up the other side despondingly. About half-way down the +hill I came to a small village. Seeing a public-house I went up to +it, and inquired in English of some people within the name of the +village. + +"Dolwen," said a dark-faced young fellow of about four-and-twenty. + +"And what is the name of the valley?" said I. + +"Dolwen," was the answer, "the valley is named after the village." + +"You mean that the village is named after the valley," said I, "for +Dolwen means fair valley." + +"It may be so," said the young fellow, "we don't know much here." + +Then after a moment's pause he said: + +"Are you going much farther?" + +"Only as far as the 'Pump Saint.'" + +"Have you any business there?" said he. + +"No," I replied, "I am travelling the country, and shall only put +up there for the night" + +"You had better stay here," said the young fellow. "You will be +better accommodated here than at the 'Pump Saint.'" + +"Very likely," said I; "but I have resolved to go there, and when I +once make a resolution I never alter it." + +Then bidding him good evening I departed. Had I formed no +resolution at all about stopping at the 'Pump Saint,' I certainly +should not have stayed in this house, which had all the appearance +of a trampers' hostelry, and though I am very fond of the +conversation of trampers, who are the only people from whom you can +learn anything, I would much rather have the benefit of it abroad +than in their own lairs. A little farther down I met a woman +coming up the ascent. She was tolerably respectably dressed, +seemed about five-and-thirty, and was rather good-looking. She +walked somewhat slowly, which was probably more owing to a large +bundle which she bore in her hand than to her path being up-hill. + +"Good evening," said I, stopping. + +"Good evening, your honour," said she, stopping and brightly +panting. + +"Do you come from far?" said I. + +"Not very far, your honour, but quite far enough for a poor feeble +woman." + +"Are you Welsh?" said I. + +"Och no! your honour; I am Mary Bane from Dunmanway in the kingdom +of Ireland." + +"And what are you doing here?" said I. + +"Och sure! I am travelling the country with soft goods." + +"Are you going far?" said I. + +"Merely to the village a little farther up, your honour." + +"I am going farther," said I, "I am thinking of passing the night +at the 'Pump Saint.'" + +"Well, then, I would just advise your honour to do no such thing, +but to turn back with me to the village above, where there is an +illigant inn where your honour will be well accommodated." + +"Oh, I saw that as I came past," said I; "I don't think there is +much accommodation there." + +"Oh, your honour is clane mistaken; there is always an illigant +fire and an illigant bed too." + +"Is there only one bed?" said I. + +"Oh, yes, there are two beds, one for the accommodation of the +people of the house and the other for that of the visitors." + +"And do the visitors sleep together then?" said I. + +"Oh yes! unless they wish to be unsociable. Those who are not +disposed to be sociable sleeps in the chimney-corners." + +"Ah," said I, "I see it is a very agreeable inn; however, I shall +go on to the 'Pump Saint.'" + +"I am sorry for it, your honour, for your honour's sake; your +honour won't be half so illigantly served at the 'Pump Saint' as +there above." + +"Of what religion are you?" said I. + +"Oh, I'm a Catholic, just like your honour, for if I am not clane +mistaken your honour is an Irishman." + +"Who is your spiritual director?" said I. + +"Why, then, it is just Father Toban, your honour, whom of course +your honour knows." + +"Oh yes!" said I; "when you next see him present my respects to +him." + +"What name shall I mention, your honour?" + +"Shorsha Borroo," said I. + +"Oh, then I was right in taking your honour for an Irishman. None +but a raal Paddy bears that name. A credit to your honour is your +name, for it is a famous name, (17) and a credit to your name is +your honour, for it is a neat man without a bend you are. God +bless your honour and good night! and may you find dacent quarters +in the 'Pump Saint.'" + +Leaving Mary Bane I proceeded on my way. The evening was rather +fine but twilight was coming rapidly on. I reached the bottom of +the valley and soon overtook a young man dressed something like a +groom. We entered into conversation. He spoke Welsh and a little +English. His Welsh I had great difficulty in understanding, as it +was widely different from that which I had been accustomed to. He +asked me where I was going to; I replied to the "Pump Saint," and +then enquired if he was in service. + +"I am," said he. + +"With whom do you live?" said I. + +"With Mr Johnes of Dol Cothi," he answered. + +Struck by the word Cothi, I asked if Dol Cothi was ever called Glyn +Cothi. + +"Oh yes," said he, "frequently." + +"How odd," thought I to myself, "that I should have stumbled all of +a sudden upon the country of my old friend Lewis Glyn Cothi, the +greatest poet after Ab Gwilym of all Wales!" + +"Is Cothi a river?" said I to my companion. + +"It is," said he. + +Presently we came to a bridge over a small river. + +"Is this river the Cothi?" said I. + +"No," said he, "this is the Twrch; the bridge is called Pont y +Twrch." + +"The bridge of Twrch or the hog," said I to myself; "there is a +bridge of the same name in the Scottish Highlands, not far from the +pass of the Trossachs. I wonder whether it has its name from the +same cause as this, namely, from passing over a river called the +Twrch or Torck, which word in Gaelic signifies boar or hog even as +it does in Welsh." It had now become nearly dark. After +proceeding some way farther I asked the groom if we were far from +the inn of the "Pump Saint." + +"Close by," said he, and presently pointing to a large building on +the right-hand side he said: "This is the inn of the 'Pump Saint,' +sir. Nos Da'chi!" + + + +CHAPTER XCVI + + + +"Pump Saint" - Pleasant Residence - The Watery Coom - Philological +Fact - Evening Service - Meditation. + + +I ENTERED the inn of the "Pump Saint." It was a comfortable old- +fashioned place, with a very large kitchen and a rather small +parlour. The people were kind and attentive, and soon set before +me in the parlour a homely but savoury supper, and a foaming +tankard of ale. After supper I went into the kitchen, and sitting +down with the good folks in an immense chimney-corner, listened to +them talking in their Carmarthenshire dialect till it was time to +go to rest, when I was conducted to a large chamber where I found +an excellent and clean bed awaiting me, in which I enjoyed a +refreshing sleep, occasionally visited by dreams in which some of +the scenes of the preceding day again appeared before me, but in an +indistinct and misty manner. + +Awaking in the very depth of the night I thought I heard the +murmuring of a river; I listened and soon found that I had not been +deceived. "I wonder whether that river is the Cothi," said I, "the +stream of the immortal Lewis. I will suppose that it is" - and +rendered quite happy by the idea, I soon fell asleep again. + +I arose about eight and went out to look about me. The village +consists of little more than half-a-dozen houses. The name "Pump +Saint" signifies "Five Saints." Why the place is called so I know +not. Perhaps the name originally belonged to some chapel which +stood either where the village now stands or in the neighbourhood. +The inn is a good specimen of an ancient Welsh hostelry. Its gable +is to the road and its front to a little space on one side of the +way. At a little distance up the road is a blacksmith's shop. The +country around is interesting: on the north-west is a fine wooded +hill - to the south a valley through which flows the Cothi, a fair +river, the one whose murmur had come so pleasingly upon my ear in +the depth of night. + +After breakfast I departed for Llandovery. Presently I came to a +lodge on the left-hand beside an ornamental gate at the bottom of +an avenue leading seemingly to a gentleman's seat. On inquiring of +a woman, who sat at the door of the lodge, to whom the grounds +belonged, she said to Mr Johnes, and that if I pleased I was +welcome to see them. I went in and advanced along the avenue, +which consisted of very noble oaks; on the right was a vale in +which a beautiful brook was running north and south. Beyond the +vale to the east were fine wooded hills. I thought I had never +seen a more pleasing locality, though I saw it to great +disadvantage, the day being dull, and the season the latter fall. +Presently, on the avenue making a slight turn, I saw the house, a +plain but comfortable gentleman's seat with wings. It looked to +the south down the dale. "With what satisfaction I could live in +that house," said I to myself, "if backed by a couple of thousands +a-year. With what gravity could I sign a warrant in its library, +and with what dreamy comfort translate an ode of Lewis Glyn Cothi, +my tankard of rich ale beside me. I wonder whether the proprietor +is fond of the old bard and keeps good ale. Were I an Irishman +instead of a Norfolk man I would go in and ask him." + +Returning to the road I proceeded on my journey. I passed over +Pont y Rhanedd or the bridge of the Rhanedd, a small river flowing +through a dale, then by Clas Hywel, a lofty mountain which appeared +to have three heads. After walking for some miles I came to where +the road divided into two. By a sign-post I saw that both led to +Llandovery, one by Porth y Rhyd and the other by Llanwrda. The +distance by the first was six miles and a half, by the latter eight +and a half. Feeling quite the reverse of tired I chose the longest +road, namely the one by Llanwrda, along which I sped at a great +rate. + +In a little time I found myself in the heart of a romantic winding +dell, overhung with trees of various kinds, which a tall man whom I +met told me was called Cwm Dwr Llanwrda, or the Watery Coom of +Llanwrda; and well might it be called the Watery Coom, for there +were several bridges in it, two within a few hundred yards of each +other. The same man told me that the war was going on very badly, +that our soldiers were suffering much, and that the snow was two +feet deep at Sebastopol. + +Passing through Llanwrda, a pretty village with a singular-looking +church, close to which stood an enormous yew, I entered a valley +which I learned was the valley of the Towey. I directed my course +to the north, having the river on my right, which runs towards the +south in a spacious bed, which, however, except in times of flood, +it scarcely half fills. Beautiful hills were on other side, partly +cultivated, partly covered with wood, and here and there dotted +with farm-houses and gentlemen's seats; green pastures which +descended nearly to the river occupying in general the lower parts. +After journeying about four miles amid this kind of scenery I came +to a noble suspension bridge, and crossing it found myself in about +a quarter of an hour at Llandovery. + +It was about half-past two when I arrived. I put up at the Castle +Inn and forthwith ordered dinner, which was served up between four +and five. During dinner I was waited upon by a strange old fellow +who spoke Welsh and English with equal fluency. + +"What countryman are you?" said I. + +"An Englishman," he replied. + +"From what part of England?" + +"From Herefordshire." + +"Have you been long here?" + +"Oh yes! upwards of twenty years." + +"How came you to learn Welsh?" + +"Oh, I took to it and soon picked it up." + +"Can you read it?" said I. + +"No, I can't." + +"Can you read English?" + +"Yes, I can; that is, a little." + +"Why didn't you try to learn to read Welsh?" + +"Well, I did; but I could make no hand of it. It's one thing to +speak Welsh and another to read it." + +"I can read Welsh much better than I can speak it," said I. + +"Ah, you are a gentleman - gentlefolks always find it easier to +learn to read a foreign lingo than to speak it, but it's quite the +contrary with we poor folks." + +"One of the most profound truths ever uttered connected with +language," said I to myself. I asked him if there were many Church +of England people in Llandovery. + +"A good many," he replied. + +"Do you belong to the Church?" said I. + +"Yes, I do." + +"If this were Sunday I would go to church," said I. + +"Oh, if you wish to go to church you can go to-night. This is +Wednesday, and there will be service at half-past six. If you like +I will come for you." + +"Pray do," said I; "I should like above all things to go." + +Dinner over I sat before the fire occasionally dozing, occasionally +sipping a glass of whiskey-and-water. A little after six the old +fellow made his appearance with a kind of Spanish hat on his head. +We set out; the night was very dark; we went down a long street +seemingly in the direction of the west. "How many churches are +there in Llandovery?" said I to my companion. + +"Only one, but you are not going to Llandovery Church, but to that +of Llanfair, in which our clergyman does duty once or twice a +week." + +"Is it far?" said I. + +"Oh no; just out of the town, only a few steps farther." + +We seemed to pass over a bridge and began to ascend a rising +ground. Several people were going in the same direction. + +"There," said the old man, "follow with these, and a little farther +up you will come to the church, which stands on the right hand." + +He then left me. I went with the rest and soon came to the church. +I went in and was at once conducted by an old man, who I believe +was the sexton, to a large pew close against the southern wall. +The inside of the church was dimly lighted; it was long and narrow, +and the walls were painted with a yellow colour. The pulpit stood +against the northern wall near the altar, and almost opposite to +the pew in which I sat. After a little time the service commenced; +it was in Welsh. When the litanies were concluded the clergyman, +who appeared to be a middle-aged man, and who had rather a fine +voice, began to preach. His sermon was from the 119th Psalm: "Am +hynny hoffais dy gorchymynion yn mwy nag aur:" "Therefore have I +loved thy commandments more than gold." The sermon, which was +extempore, was delivered with great earnestness, and I make no +doubt was a very excellent one, but owing to its being in South +Welsh I did not derive much benefit from it as I otherwise might +have done. When it was over a great many got up and went away. +Observing, however, that not a few remained, I determined upon +remaining too. When everything was quiet the clergyman, descending +from the pulpit, repaired to the vestry, and having taken off his +gown went into a pew, and standing up began a discourse, from which +I learned that there was to be a sacrament on the ensuing Sabbath. +He spoke with much fervency, enlarging upon the high importance of +the holy communion, and exhorting people to come to it in a fit +state of mind. When he had finished a man in a neighbouring pew +got up and spoke about his own unworthiness, saying this and that +about himself, his sins of commission and omission, and dwelling +particularly on his uncharitableness and the malicious pleasure +which he took in the misfortunes of his neighbours. The clergyman +listened attentively, sometimes saying "Ah!" and the congregation +also listened attentively, a voice here and there frequently +saying "Ah." When the man had concluded the clergyman again spoke, +making observations on what he had heard, and hoping that the rest +would be visited with the same contrite spirit as their friend. +Then there was a hymn and we went away. + +The moon was shining on high and cast its silvery light on the +tower, the church, some fine trees which surrounded it, and the +congregation going home; a few of the better dressed were talking +to each other in English, but with an accent and pronunciation +which rendered the discourse almost unintelligible to my ears. + +I found my way back to my inn and went to bed, after musing awhile +on the concluding scene of which I had been witness in the church. + + + +CHAPTER XCVII + + + +Llandovery - Griffith ap Nicholas - Powerful Enemies - Last Words - +Llandovery Church - Rees Pritchard - The Wiser Creature - God's +better than All - The Old Vicarage. + + +THE morning of the ninth was very beautiful, with a slight tendency +to frost. I breakfasted, and having no intention of proceeding on +my journey that day, I went to take a leisurely view of Llandovery +and the neighbourhood. + +Llandovery is a small but beautiful town, situated amidst fertile +meadows. It is a water-girdled spot, whence its name Llandovery or +Llanymdyfri, which signifies the church surrounded by water. On +its west is the Towey, and on its east the river Bran or Brein, +which descending from certain lofty mountains to the north-east +runs into the Towey a little way below the town. The most striking +object which Llandovery can show is its castle, from which the inn, +which stands near to it, has its name. This castle, majestic +though in ruins, stands on a green mound, the eastern side of which +is washed by the Bran. Little with respect to its history is +known. One thing, however, is certain, namely that it was one of +the many strongholds, which at one time belonged to Griffith ap +Nicholas, Lord of Dinevor, one of the most remarkable men which +South Wales has ever produced, of whom a brief account here will +not be out of place. + +Griffith ap Nicholas flourished towards the concluding part of the +reign of Henry the Sixth. He was a powerful chieftain of South +Wales and possessed immense estates in the counties of Carmarthen +and Cardigan. King Henry the Sixth, fully aware of his importance +in his own country, bestowed upon him the commission of the peace, +an honour at that time seldom vouchsafed to a Welshman, and the +captaincy of Kilgarran, a strong royal castle situated on the +southern bank of the Teivi a few miles above Cardigan. He had many +castles of his own, in which he occasionally resided, but his chief +residence was Dinevor, half way between Llandovery and Carmarthen, +once a palace of the kings of South Wales, from whom Griffith +traced lineal descent. He was a man very proud at heart, but with +too much wisdom to exhibit many marks of pride, speaking generally +with the utmost gentleness and suavity, and though very brave +addicted to dashing into danger for the mere sake of displaying his +valour. He was a great master of the English tongue, and well +acquainted with what learning it contained, but nevertheless was +passionately attached to the language and literature of Wales, a +proof of which he gave by holding a congress of bards and literati +at Carmarthen, at which various pieces of eloquence and poetry were +recited, and certain alterations introduced into the canons of +Welsh versification. Though holding offices of trust and emolument +under the Saxon, he in the depths of his soul detested the race, +and would have rejoiced to see it utterly extirpated from Britain. +This hatred of his against the English was the cause of his doing +that which cannot be justified on any principle of honour, giving +shelter and encouragement to Welsh thieves, who were in the habit +of plundering and ravaging the English borders. Though at the head +of a numerous and warlike clan, which was strongly attached to him +on various accounts, Griffith did not exactly occupy a bed of +roses. He had amongst his neighbours four powerful enemies who +envied him his large possessions, with whom he had continual +disputes about property and privilege. Powerful enemies they may +well be called, as they were no less personages than Humphrey Duke +of Buckingham, Richard Duke of York, who began the contest for the +crown with King Henry the Sixth, Jasper Earl of Pembroke, son of +Owen Tudor, and half-brother of the king, and the Earl of Warwick. +These accused him at court of being a comforter and harbourer of +thieves, the result being that he was deprived not only of the +commission of the peace, but of the captaincy of Kilgarran, which +the Earl of Pembroke, through his influence with his half-brother, +procured for himself. They moreover induced William Borley and +Thomas Corbet, two justices of the peace for the county of +Hereford, to grant a warrant for his apprehension on the ground of +his being in league with the thieves of the Marches. Griffith in +the bosom of his mighty clan bade defiance to Saxon warrants, +though once having ventured to Hereford he nearly fell into the +power of the ministers of justice, only escaping by the +intervention of Sir John Scudamore, with whom he was connected by +marriage. Shortly afterwards, the civil war breaking out, the Duke +of York apologised to Griffith, and besought his assistance against +the king which the chieftain readily enough promised, not out of +affection for York, but from the hatred which he felt, on account +of the Kilgarran affair, for the Earl of Pembroke, who had sided, +very naturally, with his half-brother, the king, and commanded his +forces in the west. Griffith fell at the great battle of +Mortimer's cross, which was won for York by a desperate charge made +right at Pembroke's banner by Griffith and his Welshmen, when the +rest of the Yorkists were wavering. His last words were: +"Welcome, Death! since honour and victory make for us." + +The power and wealth of Griffith ap Nicholas, and also parts of his +character, have been well described by one of his bards, Gwilym ab +Ieuan Hen, in an ode to the following effect:- + + +"Griffith ap Nicholas, who like thee +For wealth and power and majesty! +Which most abound, I cannot say, +On either side of Towey gay, +From hence to where it meets the brine, +Trees or stately towers of thine? +The chair of judgment thou didst gain, +But not to deal in judgments vain - +To thee upon thy judgment chair +From near and far do crowds repair; +But though betwixt the weak and strong +No questions rose from right or wrong +The strong the weak to thee would hie; +The strong to do thee injury, +And to the weak thou wine wouldst deal, +And wouldst trip up the mighty heel. +A lion unto the lofty thou, +A lamb unto the weak and low. +Much thou resemblest Nudd of yore, +Surpassing all who went before; +Like him thou'rt fam'd for bravery, +For noble birth and high degree. +Hail, captain of Kilgarran's hold! +Lieutenant of Carmarthen old! +Hail, chieftain, Cambria's choicest boast! +Hail, justice, at the Saxon's cost! +Seven castles high confess thy sway, +Seven palaces thy hands obey. +Against my chief, with envy fired, +Three dukes and judges two conspired, +But thou a dauntless front didst show, +And to retreat they were not slow. +O, with what gratitude is heard +From mouth of thine the whispered word, +The deepest pools in rivers found +In summer are of softest sound; +The sage concealeth what he knows, +A deal of talk no wisdom shows; +The sage is silent as the grave, +Whilst of his lips the fool is slave; +Thy smile doth every joy impart, +Of faith a fountain is thy heart; +Thy hand is strong, thine eye is keen, +Thy head o'er every head is seen." + + +The church of Llandovery is a large edifice standing at the +southern extremity of the town in the vicinity of the Towey. The +outside exhibits many appearances of antiquity, but the interior +has been sadly modernized. It contains no remarkable tombs; I was +pleased, however, to observe upon one or two of the monuments the +name of Ryce, the appellation of the great clan to which Griffith +ap Nicholas belonged; of old the regal race of South Wales. On +inquiring of the clerk, an intelligent young man who showed me over +the sacred edifice, as to the state of the Church of England at +Llandovery, he gave me a very cheering account, adding, however, +that before the arrival of the present incumbent it was very low +indeed. "What is the clergyman's name?" said I; "I heard him +preach last night." + +"I know you did, sir," said the clerk, bowing, "for I saw you at +the service at Llanfair - his name is Hughes." + +"Any relation of the clergyman at Tregaron?" said I. + +"Own brother, sir." + +"He at Tregaron bears a very high character," said I. + +"And very deservedly, sir," said the clerk, "for he is an excellent +man; he is, however, not more worthy of his high character than his +brother here is of the one which he bears, which is equally high, +and which the very dissenters have nothing to say against." + +"Have you ever heard," said I, "of a man of the name of Rees +Pritchard, who preached within these walls some two hundred years +ago?" + +"Rees Pritchard, sir! Of course I have - who hasn't heard of the +old vicar - the Welshman's candle? Ah, he was a man indeed! We +have some good men in the Church, very good; but the old vicar - +where shall we find his equal?" + +"Is he buried in this church?" said I. + +"No, sir, he was buried out abroad in the churchyard, near the wall +by the Towey." + +"Can you show me his tomb?" said I. "No, sir, nor can any one; his +tomb was swept away more than a hundred years ago by a dreadful +inundation of the river, which swept away not only tombs but dead +bodies out of graves. But there's his house in the market-place, +the old vicarage, which you should go and see. I would go and show +it you myself but I have church matters just now to attend to - the +place of church clerk at Llandovery, long a sinecure, is anything +but that under the present clergyman, who, though not a Rees +Pritchard, is a very zealous Christian, and not unworthy to preach +in the pulpit of the old vicar." + +Leaving the church I went to see the old vicarage, but before +saying anything respecting it, a few words about the old vicar. + +Rees Pritchard was born at Llandovery, about the year 1575, of +respectable parents. He received the rudiments of a classical +education at the school of the place, and at the age of eighteen +was sent to Oxford, being intended for the clerical profession. At +Oxford he did not distinguish himself in an advantageous manner, +being more remarkable for dissipation and riot than application in +the pursuit of learning. Returning to Wales, he was admitted into +the ministry, and after the lapse of a few years was appointed +vicar of Llandovery. His conduct for a considerable time was not +only unbecoming a clergyman, but a human being in any sphere. +Drunkenness was very prevalent in the age in which he lived, but +Rees Pritchard was so inordinately addicted to that vice that the +very worst of his parishioners were scandalized, and said: "Bad as +we may be we are not half so bad as the parson." + +He was in the habit of spending the greater part of his time in the +public-house, from which he was generally trundled home in a wheel- +barrow in a state of utter insensibility. God, however, who is +aware of what every man is capable of, had reserved Rees Pritchard +for great and noble things, and brought about his conversion in a +very remarkable manner. + +The people of the tavern which Rees Pritchard frequented had a +large he-goat, which went in and out and mingled with the guests. +One day Rees in the midst of his orgies called the goat to him and +offered it some ale; the creature, far from refusing it, drank +greedily, and soon becoming intoxicated, fell down upon the floor, +where it lay quivering, to the great delight of Rees Pritchard, who +made its drunkenness a subject of jest to his boon companions, who, +however, said nothing, being struck with horror at such conduct in +a person who was placed among them to be a pattern and example. +Before night, however, Pritchard became himself intoxicated, and +was trundled to the vicarage in the usual manner. During the whole +of the next day he was very ill and kept at home, but on the +following one he again repaired to the public-house, sat down and +called for his pipe and tankard. The goat was now perfectly +recovered, and was standing nigh. No sooner was the tankard +brought than Rees taking hold of it held it to the goat's mouth. +The creature, however, turned away its head in disgust, and hurried +out of the room. This circumstance produced an instantaneous +effect upon Rees Pritchard. "My God!" said he to himself, "is this +poor dumb creature wiser than I? Yes, surely; it has been drunk, +but having once experienced the wretched consequences of +drunkenness, it refuses to be drunk again. How different is its +conduct to mine! I, after having experienced a hundred times the +filthiness and misery of drunkenness, have still persisted in +debasing myself below the condition of a beast. Oh, if I persist +in this conduct what have I to expect but wretchedness and contempt +in this world and eternal perdition in the next? But, thank God, +it is not yet too late to amend; I am still alive - I will become a +new man - the goat has taught me a lesson." Smashing his pipe he +left his tankard untasted on the table, went home, and became an +altered man. + +Different as an angel of light is from the fiend of the pit was +Rees Pritchard from that moment from what he had been in former +days. For upwards of thirty years he preached the Gospel as it had +never been preached before in the Welsh tongue since the time of +Saint Paul, supposing the beautiful legend to be true which tells +us that Saint Paul in his wanderings found his way to Britain and +preached to the inhabitants the inestimable efficacy of Christ's +bloodshedding in the fairest Welsh, having like all the other +apostles the miraculous gift of tongues. The good vicar did more. +In the short intervals of relaxation which he allowed himself from +the labour of the ministry during those years he composed a number +of poetical pieces, which after his death were gathered together +into a volume and published, under the title of "Canwyll y Cymry; +or, the Candle of the Welshman." This work, which has gone through +almost countless editions, is written in two common easy measures, +and the language is so plain and simple that it is intelligible to +the homeliest hind who speaks the Welsh language. All of the +pieces are of a strictly devotional character, with the exception +of one, namely, a welcome to Charles, Prince of Wales, on his +return from Spain, to which country he had gone to see the Spanish +ladye whom at one time he sought as bride. Some of the pieces are +highly curious, as they bear upon events at present forgotten; for +example, the song upon the year 1629, when the corn was blighted +throughout the land, and "A Warning to the Cumry to repent when the +Plague of Blotches and Boils was prevalent in London." Some of the +pieces are written with astonishing vigour, for example, "The Song +of the Husbandman," and "God's Better than All," of which last +piece the following is a literal translation:- + + +"GOD'S BETTER THAN ALL - + +"God's better than heaven or aught therein, +Than the earth or aught we there can win, +Better than the world or its wealth to me - +God's better than all that is or can be. +Better than father, than mother, than nurse, +Better than riches, oft proving a curse, +Better than Martha or Mary even - +Better by far is the God of heaven. +If God for thy portion thou hast ta'en +There's Christ to support thee in every pain, +The world to respect thee thou wilt gain, +To fear thee the fiend and all his train. +Of the best of portions thou choice didst make +When thou the high God to thyself didst take, +A portion which none from thy grasp can rend +Whilst the sun and the moon on their course shall wend +When the sun grows dark and the moon turns red, +When the stars shall drop and millions dread, +When the earth shall vanish with its pomps in fire, +Thy portion still shall remain entire. +Then let not thy heart, though distressed, complain! +A hold on thy portion firm maintain. +Thou didst choose the best portion, again I say - +Resign it not till thy dying day." + + +The old vicarage of Llandovery is a very large mansion of dark red +brick, fronting the principal street or market-place, and with its +back to a green meadow bounded by the river Bran. It is in a very +dilapidated condition, and is inhabited at present by various poor +families. The principal room, which is said to have been the old +vicar's library, and the place where he composed his undying +Candle, is in many respects a remarkable apartment. It is of large +dimensions. The roof is curiously inlaid with stucco or mortar, +and is traversed from east to west by an immense black beam. The +fire-place, which is at the south, is very large and seemingly of +high antiquity. The windows, which are two in number and look +westward into the street, have a quaint and singular appearance. +Of all the houses in Llandovery the old vicarage is by far the most +worthy of attention, irrespective of the wonderful monument of +God's providence and grace who once inhabited it. + +The reverence in which the memory of Rees Pritchard is still held +in Llandovery the following anecdote will show. As I was standing +in the principal street staring intently at the antique vicarage, a +respectable-looking farmer came up and was about to pass, but +observing how I was employed he stopped, and looked now at me and +now at the antique house. Presently he said + +"A fine old place, is it not, sir? but do you know who lived +there?" + +Wishing to know what the man would say provided he thought I was +ignorant as to the ancient inmate, I turned a face of inquiry upon +him; whereupon he advanced towards me two or three steps, and +placing his face so close to mine that his nose nearly touched my +cheek, he said in a kind of piercing whisper - + +"The Vicar." + +Then drawing his face back he looked me full in the eyes as if to +observe the effect of his intelligence, gave me two nods as if to +say, "He did, indeed," and departed. + +THE Vicar of Llandovery had then been dead nearly two hundred +years. Truly the man in whom piety and genius are blended is +immortal upon earth. + + + +CHAPTER XCVIII + + + +Departure from Llandovery - A Bitter Methodist - North and South - +The Caravan - Captain Bosvile - Deputy Ranger - A Scrimmage - The +Heavenly Gwynfa - Dangerous Position. + + +ON the tenth I departed from Llandovery, which I have no hesitation +in saying is about the pleasantest little town in which I have +halted in the course of my wanderings. I intended to sleep at +Gutter Vawr, a place some twenty miles distant, just within +Glamorganshire, to reach which it would be necessary to pass over +part of a range of wild hills, generally called the Black +Mountains. I started at about ten o'clock; the morning was +lowering, and there were occasional showers of rain and hail. I +passed by Rees Pritchard's church, holding my hat in my hand as I +did so, not out of respect for the building, but from reverence for +the memory of the sainted man who of old from its pulpit called +sinners to repentance, and whose remains slumber in the churchyard +unless washed away by some frantic burst of the neighbouring Towey. +Crossing a bridge over the Bran just before it enters the greater +stream, I proceeded along a road running nearly south and having a +range of fine hills on the east. Presently violent gusts of wind +came on, which tore the sear leaves by thousands from the trees, of +which there were plenty by the roadsides. After a little time, +however, this elemental hurly-burly passed away, a rainbow made its +appearance, and the day became comparatively fine. Turning to the +south-east under a hill covered with oaks, I left the vale of the +Towey behind me, and soon caught a glimpse of some very lofty hills +which I supposed to be the Black Mountains. It was a mere glimpse, +for scarcely had I descried them when mist settled down and totally +obscured them from my view. + +In about an hour I reached Llangadog, a large village. The name +signifies the church of Gadog. Gadog was a British saint of the +fifth century, who after labouring amongst his own countrymen for +their spiritual good for many years, crossed the sea to Brittany, +where he died. Scarcely had I entered Llangadog when a great +shower of rain came down. Seeing an ancient-looking hostelry I at +once made for it. In a large and comfortable kitchen I found a +middle-aged woman seated by a huge deal table near a blazing fire, +with a couple of large books open before her. Sitting down on a +chair I told her in English to bring me a pint of ale. She did so, +and again sat down to her books, which on inquiry I found to be a +Welsh Bible and Concordance. We soon got into discourse about +religion, but did not exactly agree, for she was a bitter +Methodist, as bitter as her beer, only half of which I could get +down. + +Leaving Llangadog I pushed forward. The day was now tolerably +fine. In two or three hours I came to a glen, the sides of which +were beautifully wooded. On my left was a river, which came +roaring down from a range of lofty mountains right before me to the +south-east. The river, as I was told by a lad, was the Sawdde or +Southey, the lofty range the Black Mountains. Passed a pretty +village on my right standing something in the shape of a +semicircle, and in about half-an-hour came to a bridge over a river +which I supposed to be the Sawdde which I had already seen, but +which I subsequently learned was an altogether different stream. +It was running from the south, a wild, fierce flood, amidst rocks +and stones, the waves all roaring and foaming. + +After some time I reached another bridge near the foot of a very +lofty ascent. On my left to the east upon a bank was a small +house, on one side of which was a wheel turned round by a flush of +water running in a little artificial canal; close by it were two +small cascades, the waters of which, and also those of the canal, +passed under the bridge in the direction of the west. Seeing a +decent-looking man engaged in sawing a piece of wood by the +roadside, I asked him in Welsh whether the house with the wheel was +a flour mill. + +"Nage," said he, "it is a pandy, fulling mill." + +"Can you tell me the name of a river," said I, "which I have left +about a mile behind me. Is it the Sawdde?' + +"Nage," said he, "it is the Lleidach." + +Then looking at me with great curiosity, he asked if I came from +the north country. + +"Yes," said I, "I certainly come from there." + +"I am glad to hear it," said he, "for I have long wished to see a +man from the north country." + +"Did you never see one before?" said I. + +"Never in my life," he replied; "men from the north country seldom +show themselves in these parts." + +"Well," said I; "I am not ashamed to say that I come from the +north." + +"Ain't you? Well, I don't know that you have any particular reason +to be ashamed, for it is rather your misfortune than your fault; +but the idea of any one coming from the north - ho, ho!" + +"Perhaps in the north," said I, "they laugh at a man from the +south." + +"Laugh at a man from the south! No, no; they can't do that." + +"Why not?" said I; "why shouldn't the north laugh at the south as +well as the south at the north?" + +"Why shouldn't it? why, you talk like a fool. How could the north +laugh at the south as long as the south remains the south and the +north the north? Laugh at the south! you talk like a fool, David, +and if you go on in that way I shall be angry with you. However, +I'll excuse you; you are from the north, and what can one expect +from the north but nonsense? Now tell me, do you of the north eat +and drink like other people? What do you live upon?" + +"Why, as for myself," said I; "I generally live on the best I can +get." + +"Let's hear what you eat; bacon and eggs? + +"Oh yes, I eat bacon and eggs when I can get nothing better." + +"And what do you drink? Can you drink ale?" + +"Oh yes," said I; "I am very fond of ale when it's good. Perhaps +you will stand a pint?" + +"Hm," said the man looking somewhat blank; "there is no ale in the +Pandy and there is no public-house near at hand, otherwise - Where +are you going to-night?" + +"To Gutter Vawr." + +"Well, then, you had better not loiter; Gutter Vawr is a long way +off over the mountain. It will be dark, I am afraid, long before +you get to Gutter Vawr. Good evening, David! I am glad to have +seen you, for I have long wished to see a man from the north +country. Good evening! you will find plenty of good ale at Gutter +Vawr." + +I went on my way. The road led in a south-eastern direction +gradually upward to very lofty regions. After walking about half- +an-hour I saw a kind of wooden house on wheels drawn by two horses +coming down the hill towards me. A short black-looking fellow in +brown-top boots, corduroy breeches, jockey coat and jockey cap sat +on the box, holding the reins in one hand and a long whip in the +other. Beside him was a swarthy woman in a wild flaunting dress. +Behind the box out of the fore part of the caravan peered two or +three black children's heads. A pretty little foal about four +months old came frisking and gambolling now before now beside the +horses, whilst a colt of some sixteen months followed more +leisurely behind. When the caravan was about ten yards distant I +stopped, and raising my left hand with the little finger pointed +aloft, I exclaimed: + +"Shoon, Kaulomengro, shoon! In Dibbel's nav, where may tu be +jawing to?" + +Stopping his caravan with considerable difficulty the small black +man glared at me for a moment like a wild cat, and then said in a +voice partly snappish, partly kind: + +"Savo shan tu? Are you one of the Ingrines?" + +"I am the chap what certain folks calls the Romany Rye." + +"Well, I'll be jiggered if I wasn't thinking so and if I wasn't +penning so to my juwa as we were welling down the chong." + +"It is a long time since we last met, Captain Bosvile, for I +suppose I may call you Captain now?" + +"Yes! the old man has been dead and buried this many a year, and +his sticks and titles are now mine. Poor soul, I hope he is happy; +indeed I know he is, for he lies in Cockleshell churchyard, the +place he was always so fond of, and has his Sunday waistcoat on him +with the fine gold buttons, which he was always so proud of. Ah, +you may well call it a long time since we met - why, it can't be +less than thirty year." + +"Something about that - you were a boy then of about fifteen." + +"So I was, and you a tall young slip of about twenty; well, how did +you come to jin mande?" + +"Why, I knew you by your fighting mug - there ain't such another +mug in England." + +"No more there an't - my old father always used to say it was of no +use hitting it for it always broke his knuckles. Well, it was kind +of you to jin mande after so many years. The last time I think I +saw you was near Brummagem, when you were travelling about with +Jasper Petulengro and - I say, what's become of the young woman you +used to keep company with?" + +"I don't know." + +"You don't? Well, she was a fine young woman and a vartuous. I +remember her knocking down and giving a black eye to my old mother, +who was wonderfully deep in Romany, for making a bit of a gillie +about you and she. What was the song? Lord, how my memory fails +me! Oh, here it is:- + + +"'Ando berkho Rye cano +Oteh pivo teh khavo +Tu lerasque ando berkho piranee +Teh corbatcha por pico.'" + + +"Have you seen Jasper Petulengro lately?" said I. + +"Yes, I have seen him, but it was at a very considerable distance. +Jasper Petulengro doesn't come near the likes of we now. Lord! you +can't think what grand folks he and his wife have become of late +years, and all along of a trumpery lil which somebody has written +about them. Why, they are hand and glove with the Queen and +Prince, and folks say that his wife is going to be made dame of +honour, and Jasper Justice of the Peace and Deputy Ranger of +Windsor Park." + +"Only think," said I. "And now tell me, what brought you into +Wales?" + +"What brought me into Wales? I'll tell you; my own fool's head. I +was doing nicely in the Kaulo Gav and the neighbourhood, when I +must needs pack up and come into these parts with bag and baggage, +wife and childer. I thought that Wales was what it was some thirty +years agone when our foky used to say - for I was never here before +- that there was something to be done in it; but I was never more +mistaken in my life. The country is overrun with Hindity mescrey, +woild Irish, with whom the Romany foky stand no chance. The +fellows underwork me at tinkering, and the women outscream my wife +at telling fortunes - moreover, they say the country is theirs and +not intended for niggers like we, and as they are generally in vast +numbers what can a poor little Roman family do but flee away before +them? A pretty journey I have made into Wales. Had I not +contrived to pass off a poggado bav engro - a broken-winded horse - +at a fair, I at this moment should be without a tringoruschee piece +in my pocket. I am now making the best of my way back to +Brummagem, and if ever I come again to this Hindity country may +Calcraft nash me." + +"I wonder you didn't try to serve some of the Irish out," said I. + +"I served one out, brother; and my wife and childer helped to wipe +off a little of the score. We had stopped on a nice green, near a +village over the hills in Glamorganshire, when up comes a Hindity +family, and bids us take ourselves off. Now it so happened that +there was but one man and a woman and some childer, so I laughed, +and told them to drive us off. Well, brother, without many words, +there was a regular scrimmage. The Hindity mush came at me, the +Hindity mushi at y my juwa, and the Hindity chaves at my chai. It +didn't last long, brother. In less than three minutes I had hit +the Hindity mush, who was a plaguey big fellow, but couldn't fight, +just under the point of the chin, and sent him to the ground with +all his senses gone. My juwa had almost scratched an eye out of +the Hindity mushi, and my chai had sent the Hindity childer +scampering over the green. 'Who has got to quit now?' said I to +the Hindity mush after he had got on his legs, looking like a man +who has been cut down after hanging just a minute and a half. 'Who +has got notice to quit, now, I wonder?' Well, brother, he didn't +say anything, nor did any of them, but after a little time they all +took themselves off, with a cart they had, to the south. Just as +they got to the edge of the green, however, they turned round and +gave a yell which made all our blood run cold. I knew what it +meant, and said, 'This is no place for us.' So we got everything +together and came away and, though the horses were tired, never +stopped till we had got ten miles from the place; and well it was +we acted as we did, for, had we stayed, I have no doubt that a +whole Hindity clan would have been down upon us before morning and +cut our throats." + +"Well," said I, "farewell. I can't stay any longer. As it is, I +shall be late at Gutter Vawr." + +"Farewell, brother!" said Captain Bosvile; and, giving a cry, he +cracked, his whip and set his horses in motion. + +"Won't you give us sixpence to drink?" cried Mrs Bosvile, with a +rather shrill voice. + +"Hold your tongue, you she-dog," said Captain Bosvile. "Is that +the way in which you take leave of an old friend? Hold your +tongue, and let the Ingrine gentleman jaw on his way." + +I proceeded on my way as fast as I could, for the day was now +closing in. My progress, however, was not very great; for the road +was steep, and was continually becoming more so. In about half-an- +hour I came to a little village, consisting of three or four +houses; one of them, at the door of which several carts were +standing, bore the sign of a tavern. + +"What is the name of this place?" said I to a man who was breaking +stones on the road. + +"Capel Gwynfa," said he. + +Rather surprised at the name, which signifies in English the Chapel +of the place of bliss, I asked the man why it was called so. + +"I don't know," said the man. + +"Was there ever a chapel here?" said I. + +"I don't know, sir; there is none now." + +"I daresay there was in the old time," said I to myself, as I went +on, "in which some holy hermit prayed and told his beads, and +occasionally received benighted strangers. What a poetical word +that Gwynfa, place of bliss, is. Owen Pugh uses it in his +translation of 'Paradise Lost' to express Paradise, for he has +rendered the words Paradise Lost by Col Gwynfa - the loss of the +place of bliss. I wonder whether the old scholar picked up the +word here. Not unlikely. Strange fellow that Owen Pugh. Wish I +had seen him. No hope of seeing him now, except in the heavenly +Gwynfa. Wonder whether there is such a place. Tom Payne thinks +there's not. Strange fellow that Tom Payne. Norfolk man. Wish I +had never read him." + +Presently I came to a little cottage with a toll-bar. Seeing a +woman standing at the door, I inquired of her the name of the gate. + +"Cowslip Gate, sir." + +"Has it any Welsh name?" + +"None that I know of, sir." + +This place was at a considerable altitude, and commanded an +extensive view to the south, west, and north. Heights upon heights +rose behind it to the east. From here the road ran to the south +for a little way nearly level, then turned abruptly to the east, +and was more steep than ever. After the turn, I had a huge chalk +cliff towering over me on the right, and a chalk precipice on my +left. Night was now coming on fast, and, rather to my uneasiness, +masses of mist began to pour down the sides of the mountain. I +hurried on, the road making frequent turnings. Presently the mist +swept down upon me, and was so thick that I could only see a few +yards before me. I was now obliged to slacken my pace, and to +advance with some degree of caution. I moved on in this way for +some time, when suddenly I heard a noise, as if a number of carts +were coming rapidly down the hill. I stopped, and stood with my +back close against the high bank. The noise drew nearer, and in a +minute I saw distinctly through the mist, horses, carts, and forms +of men passing. In one or two cases the wheels appeared to be +within a few inches of my feet. I let the train go by, and then +cried out in English, "Am I right for Gutter Vawr?" + +"Hey?" said a voice, after a momentary interval. + +"Am I right for Gutter Vawr?" I shouted yet louder. + +"Yes sure!" said a voice, probably the same. + +Then instantly a much rougher voice cried, "Who the Devil are you?" + +I made no answer, but went on, whilst the train continued its way +rumbling down the mountain. At length I gained the top, where the +road turned and led down a steep descent towards the south-west. +It was now quite night, and the mist was of the thickest kind. I +could just see that there was a frightful precipice on my left, so +I kept to the right, hugging the side of the hill. As I descended +I heard every now and then loud noises in the vale, probably +proceeding from stone quarries. I was drenched to the skin, nay, +through the skin, by the mist, which I verily believe was more +penetrating than that described by Ab Gwilym. When I had proceeded +about a mile I saw blazes down below, resembling those of furnaces, +and soon after came to the foot of the hill. It was here pouring +with rain, but I did not put up my umbrella, as it was impossible +for me to be more drenched than I was. Crossing a bridge over a +kind of torrent, I found myself amongst some houses. I entered one +of them from which a blaze of light and a roar of voices proceeded, +and, on inquiring of an old woman who confronted me in the passage, +I found that I had reached my much needed haven of rest, the tavern +of Gutter Vawr in the county of Glamorgan. + + + +CHAPTER XCIX + + + +Inn at Gutter Vawr - The Hurly-burly - Bara y Caws - Change of +Manner - Welsh Mistrust - Wonders of Russia - The Emperor - The +Grand Ghost Story. + + +THE old woman who confronted me in the passage of the inn turned +out to be the landlady. On learning that I intended to pass the +night at her house, she conducted me into a small room on the +right-hand side of the passage, which proved to be the parlour. It +was cold and comfortless, for there was no fire in the grate. She +told me, however, that one should be lighted, and going out, +presently returned with a couple of buxom wenches, who I soon found +were her daughters. The good lady had little or no English; the +girls, however, had plenty, and of a good kind too. They soon +lighted a fire, and then the mother inquired if I wished for any +supper. + +"Certainly," said I, "for I have not eaten anything since I left +Llandovery. What can I have?" + +"We have veal and bacon," said she. + +"That will do," said I; "fry me some veal and bacon, and I shan't +complain. But pray tell what prodigious noise is that which I hear +on the other side of the passage?" + +"It is only the miners and the carters in the kitchen making +merry," said one of the girls. + +"Is there a good fire there?" said I. + +"Oh yes," said the girl, "we have always a good fire in the +kitchen." + +"Well then," said I, "I shall go there till supper is ready, for I +am wet to the skin, and this fire casts very little heat." + +"You will find them a rough set in the kitchen," said the girl. + +"I don't care if I do" said I; "when people are rough I am civil, +and I have always found that civility beats roughness in the long +run." Then going out I crossed the passage and entered the +kitchen. + +It was nearly filled with rough unkempt fellows, smoking, drinking, +whistling, singing, shouting or jabbering, some in a standing, some +in a sitting, posture. My entrance seemed at once to bring +everything to a dead stop; the smokers ceased to smoke, the hand +that was conveying the glass or the mug to the mouth was arrested +in air, the hurly-burly ceased and every eye was turned upon me +with a strange inquiring stare. Without allowing myself to be +disconcerted I advanced to the fire, spread out my hands before it +for a minute, gave two or three deep "ahs" of comfort, and then +turning round said: "Rather a damp night, gentlemen - fire +cheering to one who has come the whole way from Llandovery - Taking +a bit of a walk in Wales, to see the scenery and to observe the +manners and customs of the inhabitants - Fine country, gentlemen, +noble prospects, hill and dale - Fine people too - open-hearted and +generous; no wonder! descendants of the Ancient Britons - Hope I +don't intrude - other room rather cold and smoking - If I do, will +retire at once - don't wish to interrupt any gentleman in their +avocations or deliberations - scorn to do anything ungenteel or +calculated to give offence - hope I know how to behave myself - +ought to do so - learnt grammar at the High School at Edinburgh." + +"Offence, intrusion!" cried twenty voices. "God bless your honour! +no intrusion and no offence at all; sit down - sit here - won't you +drink?" + +"Please to sit here, sir," said an old grimy-looking man, getting +up from a seat in the chimney-corner - "this is no seat for me +whilst you are here, it belongs to you - sit down in it," and +laying hold of me he compelled me to sit down in the chair of +dignity, whilst half-a-dozen hands pushed mugs of beer towards my +face; these, however, I declined to partake of on the very +satisfactory ground that I had not taken supper, and that it was a +bad thing to drink before eating, more especially after coming out +of a mist. + +"Have you any news to tell of the war, sir?" said a large tough +fellow, who was smoking a pipe. + +"The last news that I heard of the war," said I, "was that the snow +was two feet deep at Sebastopol." + +"I heard three," said the man; "however, if there be but two it +must be bad work for the poor soldiers. I suppose you think that +we shall beat the Russians in the end." + +"No, I don't," said I; "the Russians are a young nation and we are +an old; they are coming on and we are going off; every dog has its +day." + +"That's true," said the man, "but I am sorry that you think we +shall not beat the Russians, for the Russians are a bad set." + +"Can you speak Welsh?" said a darkish man with black, bristly hair +and a small inquisitive eye. + +"Oh, I know two words in Welsh," said I; "bara y caws." + +"That's bread and cheese," said the man, then turning to a +neighbour of his he said in Welsh: "He knows nothing of Cumraeg, +only two words; we may say anything we please; he can't understand +us. What a long nose he has!" + +"Mind that he an't nosing us," said his neighbour. "I should be +loth to wager that he doesn't understand Welsh; and, after all, he +didn't say that he did not, but got off by saying he understood +those two words." + +"No, he doesn't understand Welsh," said the other; "no Sais +understands Welsh, and this is a Sais. Now with regard to that +piece of job-work which you and I undertook." And forthwith he and +the other entered into a disquisition about the job-work. + +The company soon got into its old train, drinking and smoking and +making a most terrific hullabaloo. Nobody took any farther notice +of me. I sat snug in the chimney-corner, trying to dry my wet +things, and as the heat was very great, partially succeeded. In +about half-an-hour one of the girls came to tell me that my supper +was ready, whereupon I got up and said: + +"Gentlemen, I thank you for your civility; I am now going to +supper; perhaps before I turn in for the night I may look in upon +you again." Then without waiting for an answer I left the kitchen +and went into the other room, where I found a large dish of veal +cutlets and fried bacon awaiting me, and also a smoking bowl of +potatoes. Ordering a jug of ale I sat down, and what with hunger +and the goodness of the fare, for everything was first-rate, made +one of the best suppers I ever made in my life. + +Supper over I called for a glass of whiskey-and-water, over which I +trifled for about half-an-hour and then betook myself again to the +kitchen. Almost as soon as I entered, the company - who seemed to +be discussing some point, and were not making much hurly-burly - +became silent, and looked at me in a suspicious and uneasy manner. +I advanced towards the fire. The old man who had occupied the seat +in the chimney-corner and had resigned it to me, had again taken +possession of it. As I drew near to the fire he looked upon the +ground, and seemed by no means disposed to vacate the place of +honour; after a few moments, however, he got up and offered me the +seat with slight motion of his hand and without saying a word. I +did not decline it but sat down, and the old gentleman took a chair +near. Universal silence now prevailed; sullen looks were cast at +me, and I saw clearly enough that I was not welcome. Frankness was +now my only resource. "What's the matter, gentlemen?" said I; "you +are silent and don't greet me kindly; have I given you any cause of +offence?" No one uttered a word in reply for nearly a minute, when +the old man said slowly and deliberately: "Why, sir, the long and +short of it is this: we have got it into our heads that you +understand every word of our discourse; now, do you or do you not?" + +"Understand every word of your discourse?" said I; "I wish I did; I +would give five pounds to understand every word of your discourse." + +"That's a clever attempt to get off, sir," said the old man, "but +it won't exactly do. Tell us whether you know more Welsh than bara +y caws, or to speak more plainly, whether you understand a good +deal of what we say." + +"Well," said I, "I do understand more Welsh than bara y caws - I do +understand a considerable part of a Welsh conversation; moreover, I +can read Welsh, and have the life of Tom O'r Nant at my fingers' +ends." + +"Well, sir, that is speaking plain, and I will tell you plainly +that we don't like to have strangers among us who understand our +discourse, more especially if they be gentlefolks." + +"That's strange," said I; "a Welshman or foreigner, gentle or +simple, may go into a public-house in England, and nobody cares a +straw whether he understands the discourse of the company or not." + +"That may be the custom in England," said the old man, "but it is +not so in Wales." + +"What have you got to conceal?" said I; "I suppose you are honest +men." + +"I hope we are, sir," said the old man; "but I must tell you, once +for all, that we don't like strangers to listen to our discourse." + +"Come," said I, "I will not listen to your discourse, but you shall +listen to mine. I have a wonderful deal to say if I once begin; I +have been everywhere." + +"Well, sir," said the old man, "if you have anything to tell us +about where you have been and what you have seen, we shall be glad +to hear you." + +"Have you ever been in Russia?" shouted a voice, that of the large +rough fellow who asked me the question about the Russian war. + +"Oh yes, I have been in Russia," said I. + +"Well, what kind of a country is it?" + +"Very different from this," said I, "which is a little country up +in a corner, full of hills and mountains; that is an immense +country, extending from the Baltic Sea to the confines of China, +almost as flat as a pancake, there not being a hill to be seen for +nearly two thousand miles." + +"A very poor country isn't it, always covered with ice and snow?" + +"Oh no; it is one of the richest countries in the world, producing +all kinds of grain, with noble rivers intersecting it, and in some +parts covered with stately forests. In the winter, which is rather +long, there is a good deal of ice and snow, it is true, but in the +summer the weather is warmer than here." + +"And are there any towns and cities in Russia, sir, as there are in +Britain?" said the old man who had resigned his seat in the +chimney-corner to me; "I suppose not, or if there be, nothing equal +to Hereford or Bristol, in both of which I have been." + +"Oh yes," said I, "there are plenty of towns and cities. The two +principal ones are Moscow and Saint Petersburg, both of which are +capitals. Moscow is a fine old city, far up the country, and was +the original seat of empire. In it there is a wonderful building +called the Kremlin, situated on a hill. It is partly palace, +partly temple, and partly fortress. In one of its halls are I +don't know how many crowns, taken from various kings whom the +Russians have conquered. But the most remarkable thing in the +Kremlin is a huge bell in a cellar or cave, close by one of the +churches; it is twelve feet high, and the sound it gives when +struck with an iron bar, for there are no clappers to Russian +bells, is so loud that the common Russians say it can be heard over +the empire. The other city, Saint Petersburg, where the Court +generally reside, is a modern and very fine city; so fine indeed, +that I have no hesitation in saying that neither Bristol nor +Hereford is worthy to be named in the same day with it. Many of +the streets are miles in length, and straight as an arrow. The +Nefsky Prospect, as it is called, a street which runs from the +grand square, where stands the Emperor's palace, to the monastery +of Saint Alexander Nefsky, is nearly three miles in length, and is +full of noble shops and houses. The Neva, a river twice as broad +and twice as deep as the Thames, and whose waters are clear as +crystal, runs through the town, having on each side of it a superb +quay, fenced with granite, which affords one of the most delightful +walks imaginable. If I had my choice of all the cities of the +world to live in, I would choose Saint Petersburg." + +"And did you ever see the Emperor?" said the rough fellow, whom I +have more than once mentioned, "did you ever see the Emperor +Nicholas?" + +"Oh yes: I have seen him frequently." + +"Well, what kind of a man is he? we should like to know." + +"A man of colossal stature, with a fine, noble, but rather stern +and severe aspect. I think I now see him, with his grey cloak, +cocked hat, and white waving plumes, striding down the Nefsky +Prospect, and towering by a whole head over other people." + +"Bravo! Did you ever see him at the head of his soldiers?" + +"Oh yes! I have seen the Emperor review forty thousand of his +chosen troops in the Champs de Mars, and a famous sight it was. +There stood the great, proud man looking at his warriors as they +manoeuvred before him. Two-thirds of them were cavalry, and each +horseman was mounted on a beautiful blood charger of Cossack or +English breed, and arrayed in a superb uniform. The blaze, glitter +and glory were too much for my eyes, and I was frequently obliged +to turn them away. The scene upon the whole put me in mind of an +immense field of tulips of various dyes, for the colours of the +dresses, of the banners and the plumes, were as gorgeous and +manifold as the hues of those queenly flowers." + +"Bravo!" said twenty voices; "the gentleman speaks like an +areithiwr. Have you been in other countries besides Russia?" + +"Oh yes! I have been in Turkey, the people of which are not +Christians, but frequently put Christians to shame by their good +faith and honesty. I have been in the land of the Maugrabins, or +Moors - a people who live on a savoury dish called couscousoo, and +have the gloomiest faces and the most ferocious hearts under +heaven. I have been in Italy, whose people, though the most clever +in the world, are the most unhappy, owing to the tyranny of a being +called the Pope, who, when I saw him, appeared to be under the +influence of strong drink. I have been in Portugal, the people of +which supply the whole world with wine, and drink only water +themselves. I have been in Spain, a very fine country, the people +of which are never so happy as when paying other folks' reckonings. +I have been - but the wind is blowing wildly without, and the rain +pelting against the windows; this is a capital night for a ghost +story; shall I tell you a ghost story which I learnt in Spain?" + +"Yes, sir, pray do; we all love ghost stories. Do tell us the +ghost story of Spain." + +Thereupon I told the company Lope de Vega's ghost story, which is +decidedly the best ghost story in the world. + +Long and loud was the applause which followed the conclusion of the +grand ghost story of the world, in the midst of which I got up, +bade the company good-night, and made my exit. Shortly afterwards +I desired to be shown to my sleeping apartment. It was a very +small room upstairs, in the back part of the house; and I make no +doubt was the chamber of the two poor girls, the landlady's +daughters, as I saw various articles of female attire lying about. +The spirit of knight-errantry within me was not, however, +sufficiently strong to prevent me taking possession of the female +dormitory; so, forthwith divesting myself of every portion of my +habiliments, which were steaming like a boiling tea-kettle, I got +into bed between the blankets, and in a minute was fast in the arms +of Morpheus. + + + +CHAPTER C + + + +Morning - A Cheerless Scene - The Carter - Ode to Glamorgan - +Startling Halloo - One-sided Liberty - Clerical Profession - De +Courcy - Love of the Drop - Independent Spirit - Another People. + + +I SLEPT soundly through the night. At about eight o'clock on the +following morning I got up and looked out of the window of my room, +which fronted the north. A strange scene presented itself: a +roaring brook was foaming along towards the west, just under the +window. Immediately beyond it was a bank, not of green turf, grey +rock, or brown mould, but of coal rubbish, coke and cinders; on the +top of this bank was a fellow performing some dirty office or +other, with a spade and barrow; beyond him, on the side of a hill, +was a tramway, up which a horse was straining, drawing a load of +something towards the north-west. Beyond the tramway was a grove +of yellow-looking firs; beyond the grove a range of white houses +with blue roofs, occupied, I suppose, by miners and their families; +and beyond these I caught a sight of the mountain on the top of +which I had been the night before - only a partial one, however, as +large masses of mist were still hanging about it. The morning was +moist and dripping, and nothing could look more cheerless and +uncomfortable than the entire scene. + +I put on my things, which were still not half dry, and went down +into the little parlour, where I found an excellent fire awaiting +me, and a table spread for breakfast. The breakfast was delicious, +consisting of excellent tea, buttered toast, and Glamorgan +sausages, which I really think are not a whit inferior to those of +Epping. After breakfast I went into the kitchen, which was now +only occupied by two or three people. Seeing a large brush on a +dresser, I took it up, and was about to brush my nether +habiliments, which were terribly bespattered with half-dried mire. +Before, however, I could begin, up started one of the men, a wild, +shock-headed fellow dressed like a carter, in rough blue frieze +coat, yellow, broad corduroy trowsers, grey woollen stockings and +highlows, and snatching the brush out of my hand, fell to brushing +me most vigorously, puffing and blowing all the time in a most +tremendous manner. I did not refuse his services, but let him go +on, and to reward him as I thought, spoke kindly to him, asking him +various questions. "Are you a carter?" said I. No answer. "One +of Twm O'r Nant's people?" No answer. "Famous fellow that Twm O'r +Nant, wasn't he? Did you ever hear how he got the great tree in at +Carmarthen Gate? What is wood per foot at present? Whom do you +cart for? Or are you your own master? If so, how many horses do +you keep?" + +To not one of these questions, nor to a dozen others which I put, +both in English and Welsh, did my friend with the brush return any +verbal answer, though I could occasionally hear a kind of stifled +giggle proceeding from him. Having at length thoroughly brushed +not only my clothes, but my boots and my hat, which last article he +took from my head, and placed it on again very dexterously, after +brushing it, he put the brush down on the dresser, and then +advancing to me made me a bow, and waving his forefinger backwards +and forwards before my face, he said, with a broad grin: "Nice +gentleman - will do anything for him but answer questions, and let +him hear my discourse. Love to listen to his pleasant stories of +foreign lands, ghosts and tylwith teg; but before him, deem it wise +to be mum, quite mum. Know what he comes about. Wants to hear +discourse of poor man, that he may learn from it poor man's little +ways and infirmities, and mark them down in one small, little book +to serve for fun to Lord Palmerston and the other great gentlefolks +in London. Nice man, civil man, I don't deny; and clebber man too, +for he knows Welsh, and has been everywhere - but fox - old fox - +lives at Plas y Cadno." (18) + +Having been informed that there was a considerable iron foundry +close by, I thought it would be worth my while to go and see it. I +entered the premises, and was standing and looking round, when a +man with the appearance of a respectable mechanic came up and +offered to show me over the place. I gladly accepted his offer, +and he showed me all about the iron foundry. I saw a large steam- +engine at full play, terrible furnaces, and immense heaps of +burning, crackling cinders, and a fiery stream of molten metal +rolling along. After seeing what there was to be seen, I offered a +piece of silver to my kind conductor, which he at once refused. On +my asking him, however, to go to the inn and have a friendly glass, +he smiled, and said he had no objection. So we went to the inn, +and had two friendly glasses of whiskey-and-water together, and +also some discourse. I asked him if there were any English +employed on the premises. "None," said he, "nor Irish either; we +are all Welsh." Though he was a Welshman, his name was a very +common English one. + +After paying the reckoning, which only amounted to three and +sixpence, I departed for Swansea, distant about thirteen miles. +Gutter Vawr consists of one street, extending for some little way +along the Swansea road, the foundry, and a number of huts and +houses scattered here and there. The population is composed almost +entirely of miners, the workers at the foundry, and their families. +For the first two or three miles the country through which I passed +did not at all prepossess me in favour of Glamorganshire: it +consisted of low, sullen, peaty hills. Subsequently, however, it +improved rapidly, becoming bold, wild, and pleasantly wooded. The +aspect of the day improved, also, with the appearance of the +country. When I first started the morning was wretched and +drizzly, but in less than an hour it cleared up wonderfully, and +the sun began to flash out. As I looked on the bright luminary I +thought of Ab Gwilym's ode to the sun and Glamorgan, and with +breast heaving and with eyes full of tears, I began to repeat parts +of it, or rather of a translation made in my happy boyish years:- + + +"Each morn, benign of countenance, +Upon Glamorgan's pennon glance! +Each afternoon in beauty clear +Above my own dear bounds appear! +Bright outline of a blessed clime, +Again, though sunk, arise sublime - +Upon my errand, swift repair, +And unto green Glamorgan bear +Good days and terms of courtesy +From my dear country and from me! +Move round - but need I thee command? - +Its chalk-white halls, which cheerful stand - +Pleasant thy own pavilions too - +Its fields and orchards fair to view. + +"O, pleasant is thy task and high +In radiant warmth to roam the sky, +To keep from ill that kindly ground, +Its meads and farms, where mead is found, +A land whose commons live content, +Where each man's lot is excellent, +Where hosts to hail thee shall upstand, +Where lads are bold and lasses bland, +A land I oft from hill that's high +Have gazed upon with raptur'd eye; +Where maids are trained in virtue's school, +Where duteous wives spin dainty wool; +A country with each gift supplied, +Confronting Cornwall's cliffs of pride." + + +Came to Llanguick, a hamlet situated near a tremendous gorge, the +sides of which were covered with wood. Thence to the village of +Tawy Bridge, at the bottom of a beautiful valley, through which +runs the Tawy, which, after the Taf, is the most considerable river +in Glamorganshire. Continuing my course, I passed by an enormous +edifice which stood on my right hand. It had huge chimneys, which +were casting forth smoke, and from within I heard the noise of a +steam-engine and the roar of furnaces. + +"What place is this?" said, I to a boy. + +"Gwaith haiarn, sir; ym perthyn i Mr Pearson. Mr Pearson's iron +works, sir." + +I proceeded, and in about half-an-hour saw a man walking before me +in the same direction in which I was. He was going very briskly, +but I soon came up to him. He was a small, well-made fellow, with +reddish hair and ruddy, determined countenance, somewhat tanned. +He wore a straw hat, checkered shirt, open at the neck, canvas +trousers and blue jacket. On his feet were shoes remarkably thin, +but no stockings, and in his hand he held a stout stick, with +which, just before I overtook him, he struck a round stone which +lay on the ground, sending it flying at least fifty yards before +him on the road, and following it in its flight with a wild and +somewhat startling halloo. + +"Good-day, my friend," said I; "you seem to be able to use a +stick." + +"And sure I ought to be, your honour, seeing as how my father +taught me, who was the best fighting man with a stick that the +Shanavests ever had. Many is the head of a Caravaut that he has +broken with some such an Alpeen wattle as the one I am carrying +with me here." + +"A good thing," said I, "that there are no Old Waist-coats and +Cravats at present, at least bloody factions bearing those names." + +"Your honour thinks so! Faith! I am clane of a contrary opinion. +I wish the ould Shanavests and Caravauts were fighting still, and I +among them. Faith! there was some life in Ireland in their days." + +"And plenty of death too," said I. "How fortunate it is that the +Irish have the English among them to prevent their cutting each +other's throats." + +"The English prevent the Irish from cutting each other's throats! +Well, if they do, it is only that they may have the pleasure of +cutting them themselves. The bloody tyrants! too long has their +foot been upon the neck of poor old Ireland." + +"How do the English tyrannise over Ireland?" + +"How do they tyrannise over her? Don't they prevent her from +having the free exercise of her Catholic religion, and make her +help to support their own Protestant one?" + +"Well, and don't the Roman Catholics prevent the Protestants from +having the free exercise of their religion, whenever they happen to +be the most numerous, and don't they make them help to support the +Roman Catholic religion?" + +"Of course they do, and quite right! Had I my will, there +shouldn't be a place of Protestant worship left standing, or a +Protestant churl allowed to go about with a head unbroken." + +"Then why do you blame the Protestants for keeping the Romans a +little under?" + +"Why do I blame them? A purty question! Why, an't they wrong, and +an't we right?" + +"But they say that they are right and you wrong." + +"They say! who minds what they say? Haven't we the word of the +blessed Pope that we are right?" + +"And they say that they have the word of the blessed Gospel that +you are wrong." + +"The Gospel! who cares for the Gospel? Surely you are not going to +compare the Gospel with the Pope?" + +"Well, they certainly are not to be named in the same day." + +"They are not? Then good luck to you! We are both of the same +opinion. Ah, I thought your honour was a rale Catholic. Now, tell +me from what kingdom of Ireland does your honour hail?" + +"Why, I was partly educated in Munster." + +"In Munster! Hoorah! Here's the hand of a countryman to your +honour. Ah, it was asy to be seen from the learning, which your +honour shows, that your honour is from Munster. There's no spot in +Ireland like Munster for learning. What says the old song? + + +"'Ulster for a soldier, +Connaught for a thief, +Munster for learning, +And Leinster for beef.' + + +"Hoorah for learned Munster! and down with beggarly, thievish +Connaught! I would that a Connaught man would come athwart me now, +that I might break his thief's head with my Alpeen." + +"You don't seem to like the Connaught men," said I. + +"Like them! who can like them? a parcel of beggarly thievish +blackguards. So your honour was edicated in Munster - I mane +partly edicated. I suppose by your saying that you were partly +edicated, that your honour was intended for the clerical +profession, but being over fond of the drop was forced to lave +college before your edication was quite completed, and so for want +of a better profession took up with that of merchandise. Ah, the +love of the drop at college has prevented many a clever young +fellow from taking holy orders. Well, it's a pity but it can't be +helped. I am fond of a drop myself, and when we get to - shall be +happy to offer your honour a glass of whiskey. I hope your honour +and I shall splice the mainbrace together before we part." + +"I suppose," said I, "by your talking of splicing the mainbrace +that you are a sailor." + +"I am, your honour, and hail from the Cove of Cork in the kingdom +of Munster." + +"I know it well," said I, "it is the best sea-basin in the world. +Well, how came you into these parts?" + +"I'll tell your honour; my ship is at Swansea, and having a +relation working at the foundry behind us I came to see him." + +"Are you in the royal service?" + +"I am not, your honour; I was once in the royal service, but having +a dispute with the boatswain at Spithead, I gave him a wipe, jumped +overboard and swam ashore. After that I sailed for Cuba, got into +the merchants' service there, and made several voyages to the Black +Coast. At present I am in the service of the merchants of Cork." + +"I wonder that you are not now in the royal service," said I, +"since you are so fond of fighting. There is hot work going on at +present up the Black Sea, and brave men, especially Irishmen, are +in great request." + +"Yes, brave Irishmen are always in great request with England when +she has a battle to fight. At other times they are left to lie in +the mud with the chain round their necks. It has been so ever +since the time of De Courcy, and I suppose always will be so, +unless Irishmen all become of my mind, which is not likely. Were +the Irish all of my mind, the English would find no Irish champion +to fight their battles when the French or the Russians come to +beard them." + +"By De Courcy," said I, "you mean the man whom the King of England +confined in the Tower of London after taking from him his barony in +the county of Cork." + +"Of course, your honour, and whom he kept in the Tower till the +King of France sent over a champion to insult and beard him, when +the king was glad to take De Courcy out of the dungeon to fight the +French champion, for divil a one of his own English fighting men +dared take the Frenchman in hand." + +"A fine fellow that De Courcy," said I. + +"Rather too fond of the drop though, like your honour and myself, +for after he had caused the French champion to flee back into +France he lost the greater part of the reward which the King of +England promised him, solely by making too free with the strong +drink. Does your honour remember that part of the story?" + +"I think I do," said I, "but I should be very glad to hear you +relate it." + +"Then your honour shall. Right glad was the King of England when +the French champion fled back to France, for no sooner did the +dirty spalpeen hear that they were going to bring De Courcy against +him, the fame of whose strength and courage filled the whole world, +than he betook himself back to his own country, and was never heard +of more. Right glad, I say, was the King of England, and gave +leave to De Courcy to return to Ireland. 'And you shall have,' +said he, 'of the barony which I took from you all that you can ride +round on the first day of your return.' So De Courcy betook +himself to Ireland and to his barony, but he was anything but a +lucky man, this De Courcy, for his friends and relations and +tenantry, hearing of his coming, prepared a grand festival for him, +with all kinds of illigant viands and powerful liquors, and when he +arrived there it was waiting for him, and down to it he sat, and +ate, and drank, and for joy of seeing himself once more amongst his +friends and tenantry in the hall of his forefathers, and for love +of the drop, which he always had, he drank of the powerful liquors +more than he ought, and the upshot was that he became drunk, agus +do bhi an duine maith sin misgeadh do ceather o glog; the good +gentleman was drunk till four o'clock, and when he awoke he found +that he had but two hours of day remaining to win back his brave +barony. However, he did not lose heart, but mounted his horse and +set off riding as fast as a man just partly recovered from +intoxication could be expected to do, and he contrived to ride +round four parishes, and only four, and these four parishes were +all that he recovered of his brave barony, and all that he had to +live upon till his dying day, and all that he had to leave to his +descendants, so that De Courcy could scarcely be called a very +lucky man, after all." + +Shortly after my friend the sailor had concluded his account of De +Courcy, we arrived in the vicinity of a small town or rather +considerable village. It stood on the right-hand side of the road, +fronting the east, having a high romantic hill behind it on the +sides of which were woods, groves, and pleasant-looking white +houses. + +"What place is this?" said I to my companion. + +"This is -, your honour; and here, if your honour will accept a +glass of whiskey we will splice the mainbrace together." + +"Thank you," said I; "but I am in haste to get to Swansea. +Moreover, if I am over fond of the drop, as you say I am, the +sooner I begin to practise abstinence the better." + +"Very true, your honour! Well, at any rate, when your honour gets +to Swansea, you will not be able to say that Pat Flannagan walked +for miles with your honour along the road, without offering your +honour a glass of whiskey." + +"Nor shall Pat Flannagan be able to say the same thing of my +honour. I have a shilling in my pocket at Pat Flannagan's service, +if he chooses to splice with it the mainbrace for himself and for +me." + +"Thank your honour; but I have a shilling in my own pocket, and a +dollar too, and a five-pound note besides; so I needn't be beholden +for drink money to anybody under the sun." + +"Well then, farewell! Here's my hand! - Slan leat a Phatraic ui +Flannagan!" + +"Slan leat a dhuine-uasail!" said Patrick, giving me his hand; "and +health, hope, and happiness to ye." + +Thereupon he turned aside to -, and I continued my way to Swansea. +Arrived at a place called Glandwr, about two miles from Swansea, I +found that I was splashed from top to toe, for the roads were +frightfully miry, and was sorry to perceive that my boots had given +way at the soles, large pieces of which were sticking out. I must, +however, do the poor things the justice to say, that it was no +wonder that they were in this dilapidated condition, for in those +boots I had walked at least two hundred miles, over all kinds of +paths, since I had got them soled at Llangollen. "Well," said I to +myself, "it won't do to show myself at Swansea in this condition, +more especially as I shall go to the best hotel; I must try and get +myself made a little decent here." Seeing a little inn, on my +right, I entered it, and addressing myself to a neat comfortable +landlady, who was standing within the bar, I said:- + +"Please to let me have a glass of ale! - and hearkee; as I have +been walking along the road, I should be glad of the services of +the 'boots.'" + +"Very good, sir," said the landlady with a curtsey. + +Then showing me into a nice little sanded parlour, she brought me +the glass of ale, and presently sent in a lad with a boot-jack to +minister to me. Oh, what can't a little money effect? For +sixpence in that small nice inn, I had a glass of ale, my boots +cleaned, and the excrescences cut off, my clothes wiped with a +dwile, and then passed over with a brush, and was myself thanked +over and over again. Starting again with all the spirited +confidence of one who has just cast off his slough, I soon found +myself in the suburbs of Swansea. As I passed under what appeared +to be a railroad bridge I inquired in Welsh of an ancient-looking +man, in coaly habiliments, if it was one. He answered in the same +language that it was, then instantly added in English:- + +"You have taken your last farewell of Wales, sir; it's no use +speaking Welsh farther on." + +I passed some immense edifices, probably manufactories, and was +soon convinced that, whether I was in Wales or not, I was no longer +amongst Welsh. The people whom I met did not look like Welsh. +They were taller and bulkier than the Cambrians, and were speaking +a dissonant English jargon. The women had much the appearance of +Dutch fisherwomen; some of them were carrying huge loads on their +heads. I spoke in Welsh to two or three whom I overtook. + +"No Welsh, sir!" + +"Why don't you speak Welsh?" said I. + +"Because we never learnt it. We are not Welsh." + +"Who are you then?" + +"English; some calls us Flamings." + +"Ah, ah!" said I to myself; "I had forgot." + +Presently I entered the town, a large, bustling, dirty, gloomy +place, and inquiring for the first hotel, was directed to the +"Mackworth Arms," in Wine Street. + +As soon as I was shown into the parlour I summoned the "boots," and +on his making his appearance I said in a stern voice: "My boots +want soling; let them be done by to-morrow morning." + +"Can't be, sir; it's now Saturday afternoon, the shoemaker couldn't +begin them to-night!" + +"But you must make him!" said I; "and look here, I shall give him a +shilling extra, and you an extra shilling for seeing after him." + +"Yes, sir; I'll see after him - they shall be done, sir. Bring you +your slippers instantly. Glad to see you again in Swansea, sir, +looking so well." + + + +CHAPTER CI + + + +Swansea - The Flemings - Towards England. + + +SWANSEA is called by the Welsh Abertawe, which signifies the mouth +of the Tawy. Aber, as I have more than once had occasion to +observe, signifies the place where a river enters into the sea or +joins another. It is a Gaelic as well as a Cumric word, being +found in the Gaelic names Aberdeen and Lochaber, and there is good +reason for supposing that the word harbour is derived from it. +Swansea or Swansey is a compound word of Scandinavian origin, which +may mean either a river abounding with swans, or the river of +Swanr, the name of some northern adventurer who settled down at its +mouth. The final ea or ey is the Norwegian aa, which signifies a +running water; it is of frequent occurrence in the names of rivers +in Norway, and is often found, similarly modified, in those of +other countries where the adventurous Norwegians formed +settlements. + +Swansea first became a place of some importance shortly after the +beginning of the twelfth century. In the year 1108, the greater +part of Flanders having been submerged by the sea (19) an immense +number of Flemings came over to England, and entreated of Henry the +First the king then occupying the throne, that he would all allot +to them lands in which they might settle, The king sent them to +various parts of Wales, which had been conquered by his barons or +those of his predecessors: a considerable number occupied Swansea +and the neighbourhood; but far the greater part went to Dyfed, +generally but improperly called Pembroke, the south-eastern part of +which, by far the most fertile, they entirely took possession of, +leaving to the Welsh the rest, which is very mountainous and +barren. + +I have already said that the people of Swansea stand out in broad +distinctness from the Cumry, differing from them in stature, +language, dress, and manners, and wished to observe that the same +thing may be said of the inhabitants of every part of Wales which +the Flemings colonised in any considerable numbers. + +I found the accommodation very good at the "Mackworth Arms"; I +passed the Saturday evening very agreeably, and slept well +throughout the night. The next morning to my great joy I found my +boots, capitally repaired, awaiting me before my chamber door. Oh +the mighty effect of a little money! After breakfast I put them +on, and as it was Sunday went out in order to go to church. The +streets were thronged with people; a new mayor had just been +elected, and his worship, attended by a number of halbert and +javelin men, was going to church too. I followed the procession, +which moved with great dignity and of course very slowly. The +church had a high square tower, and looked a very fine edifice on +the outside, and no less so within, for the nave was lofty with +noble pillars on each side. I stood during the whole of the +service as did many others, for the congregation was so great that +it was impossible to accommodate all with seats. The ritual was +performed in a very satisfactory manner, and was followed by an +excellent sermon. I am ashamed to say that have forgot the text, +but I remember a good deal of the discourse. The preacher said +amongst other thing that the Gospel was not preached in vain, and +that he very much doubted whether a sermon was ever delivered which +did not do some good. On the conclusion of the service I strolled +about in order to see the town and what pertained to it. The town +is of considerable size, with some remarkable edifices, spacious +and convenient quays, and a commodious harbour into which the river +Tawy flowing from the north empties itself. The town and harbour +are overhung on the side of the east by a lofty green mountain with +a Welsh name, no doubt exceedingly appropriate, but which I regret +to say has escaped my memory. + +After having seen all that I wished, I returned to my inn and +discharged all my obligations. I then departed, framing my course +eastward towards England, having traversed Wales nearly from north +to south. + + + +CHAPTER CII + + + +Leave Swansea - The Pandemonium - Neath Abbey - Varied Scenery. + + +IT was about two o'clock of a dull and gloomy afternoon when I +started from Abertawy or Swansea, intending to stop at Neath, some +eight miles distant. As I passed again through the suburbs I was +struck with their length and the evidences of enterprise which they +exhibited - enterprise, however, evidently chiefly connected with +iron and coal, for almost every object looked awfully grimy. +Crossing a bridge I proceeded to the east up a broad and spacious +valley, the eastern side of which was formed by russet-coloured +hills, through a vista of which I could descry a range of tall blue +mountains. As I proceeded I sometimes passed pleasant groves and +hedgerows, sometimes huge works; in this valley there was a +singular mixture of nature and art, of the voices of birds and the +clanking of chains, of the mists of heaven and the smoke of +furnaces. + +I reached Llan- , a small village half-way between Swansea and +Neath, and without stopping continued my course, walking very fast. +I had surmounted a hill, and had nearly descended that side of it +which looked towards the east, having on my left, that is to the +north, a wooded height, when an extraordinary scene presented +itself to my eyes. Somewhat to the south rose immense stacks of +chimneys surrounded by grimy diabolical-looking buildings, in the +neighbourhood of which were huge heaps of cinders and black +rubbish. From the chimneys, notwithstanding it was Sunday, smoke +was proceeding in volumes, choking the atmosphere all around. From +this pandemonium, at the distance of about a quarter of a mile to +the south-west, upon a green meadow, stood, looking darkly grey, a +ruin of vast size with window holes, towers, spires, and arches. +Between it and the accursed pandemonium, lay a horrid filthy place, +part of which was swamp and part pool: the pool black as soot, and +the swamp of a disgusting leaden colour. Across this place of +filth stretched a tramway leading seemingly from the abominable +mansions to the ruin. So strange a scene I had never beheld in +nature. Had it been on canvas, with the addition of a number of +Diabolical figures, proceeding along the tramway, it might have +stood for Sabbath in Hell - devils proceeding to afternoon worship, +and would have formed a picture worthy of the powerful but insane +painter, Jerome Bos. + +After standing for a considerable time staring at the strange +spectacle I proceeded. Presently meeting a lad, I asked him what +was the name of the ruin. + +"The Abbey," he replied. + +"Neath Abbey?" said I. + +"Yes!" + +Having often heard of this abbey, which in its day was one of the +most famous in Wales, I determined to go and inspect it. It was +with some difficulty that I found my way to it. It stood, as I +have already observed, in a meadow, and was on almost every side +surrounded by majestic hills. To give any clear description of +this ruined pile would be impossible, the dilapidation is so great, +dilapidation evidently less the effect of time than of awful +violence, perhaps that of gunpowder. The southern is by far the +most perfect portion of the building; there you see not only walls +but roofs. Fronting you full south, is a mass of masonry with two +immense arches, other arches behind them: entering, you find +yourself beneath a vaulted roof, and passing on you come to an +oblong square which may have been a church; an iron-barred window +on your right enables you to look into a mighty vault, the roof of +which is supported by beautiful pillars. Then - but I forbear to +say more respecting these remains, for fear of stating what is +incorrect, my stay amongst them having been exceedingly short. + +The Abbey of Glen Neath was founded in the twelfth century by +Richard Grenfield, one of the followers of Robert Fitzhamon, who +subjugated Glamorgan. Neath Abbey was a very wealthy one, the +founder having endowed it with extensive tracts of fertile land +along the banks of the rivers Neath and Tawy. In it the +unfortunate Edward of Carnarvon sought a refuge for a few days from +the rage of his revolted barons, whilst his favourite, the equally +unfortunate Spencer, endeavoured to find a covert amidst the +thickets of the wood-covered hill to the north. When Richmond +landed at Milford Haven to dispute the crown with Richard the +Second, the then Abbot of Neath repaired to him and gave him his +benediction, in requital for which the adventurer gave him his +promise that in the event of his obtaining the crown, he would +found a college in Glen Neath, which promise, however, after he had +won the crown, he forgot to perform. (20) The wily abbot, when he +hastened to pay worship to what he justly conceived to be the +rising sun, little dreamt that he was about to bless the future +father of the terrible man doomed by Providence to plant the +abomination of desolation in Neath Abbey and in all the other nests +of monkery throughout the land. + +Leaving the ruins I proceeded towards Neath. The scenery soon +became very beautiful; not that I had left machinery altogether +behind, for I presently came to a place where huge wheels were +turning, and there was smoke and blast, but there was much that was +rural and beautiful to be seen, something like park scenery, and +then there were the mountains near and in the distance. I reached +Neath at about half-past four, and took up my quarters at an inn +which had been recommended to me by my friend the boots at Swansea. + + + +CHAPTER CIII + + + +Town of Neath - Hounds and Huntsman - Spectral Chapel - The Glowing +Mountain + + +NEATH is a place of some antiquity, for it can boast of the remains +of a castle and is a corporate town. There is but little Welsh +spoken in it. It is situated on the Neath, and exports vast +quantities of coal and iron, of both of which there are rich mines +in the neighbourhood. It derives its name from the river Nedd or +Neth, on which it stands. Nedd or Neth is the same word as Nith, +the name of a river in Scotland, and is in some degree connected +with Nidda, the name of one in Germany. Nedd in Welsh signifies a +dingle, and the word in its various forms has always something to +do with lowness or inferiority of position. Amongst its forms are +Nether and Nieder. The term is well applied to the Glamorganshire +river, which runs through dingles and under mountains. + +The Neath has its source in the mountains of Brecon, and enters the +sea some little way below the town of Neath. + +On the Monday morning I resumed my journey, directing my course up +the vale of Neath towards Merthyr Tydvil, distant about four-and- +twenty miles. The weather was at first rainy, misty and miserable, +but improved by degrees. I passed through a village which I was +told was called Llanagos; close to it were immense establishments +of some kind. The scenery soon became exceedingly beautiful; hills +covered with wood to the tops were on either side of the dale. I +passed an avenue leading somewhere through groves, and was +presently overtaken and passed by hounds and a respectable-looking +old huntsman on a black horse; a minute afterwards I caught a +glimpse of an old red-brick mansion nearly embosomed in groves, +from which proceeded a mighty cawing. Probably it belonged to the +proprietor of the dogs, and certainly looked a very fit mansion for +a Glamorganshire squire, justice of the peace and keeper of a pack +of hounds. + +I went on, the vale increasing in beauty; there was a considerable +drawback, however: one of those detestable contrivances, a +railroad, was on the farther side - along which trains were +passing, rumbling and screaming. + +I saw a bridge on my right hand with five or six low arches over +the river, which was here full of shoals. Asked a woman the name +of the bridge. + +"PONT FAWR ei galw, sir." + +I was again amongst the real Welsh - this woman had no English. + +I passed by several remarkable mountains, both on the south and +northern side of the vale. Late in the afternoon I came to the +eastern extremity of the vale and ascended a height. Shortly +afterwards I reached Rhigos, a small village. + +Entering a public-house I called for ale and sat down amidst some +grimy fellows, who said nothing to me and to whom I said nothing - +their discourse was in Welsh and English. Of their Welsh I +understood but little, for it was a strange corrupt jargon. In +about half-an-hour after leaving this place I came to the beginning +of a vast moor. It was now growing rather dusk, and I could see +blazes here and there; occasionally I heard horrid sounds. Came to +Irvan, an enormous mining-place with a spectral-looking chapel, +doubtless a Methodist one. The street was crowded with rough, +savage-looking men. "Is this the way to Merthyr Tydvil?" said I to +one. + +"Yes!" bawled the fellow at the utmost stretch of his voice. + +"Thank you!" said I, taking off my hat and passing on. + +Forward I went, up hill and down dale. Night now set in. I passed +a grove of trees and presently came to a collection of small houses +at the bottom of a little hollow. Hearing a step near me I stopped +and said in Welsh: "How far to Merthyr Tydvil?" + +"Dim Cumrag, sir!" said a voice, seemingly that of a man. + +"Good night!" said I, and without staying to put the question in +English, I pushed on up an ascent, and was presently amongst trees. +Heard for a long time the hooting of an owl or rather the frantic +hollo. Appeared to pass by where the bird had its station. Toiled +up an acclivity and when on the top stood still and looked around +me. There was a glow on all sides in the heaven, except in the +north-east quarter. Striding on I saw a cottage on my left hand, +and standing at the door the figure of a woman. "How far to +Merthyr?" said I in Welsh. + +"Tair milltir - three miles, sir." + +Turning round a corner at the top of a hill I saw blazes here and +there, and what appeared to be a glowing mountain in the south- +east. I went towards it down a descent which continued for a long, +long way; so great was the light cast by the blazes and that +wonderful glowing object, that I could distinctly see the little +stones upon the road. After walking about half-an-hour, always +going downwards, I saw a house on my left hand and heard a noise of +water opposite to it. It was a pistyll. I went to it, drank +greedily, and then hurried on. More and more blazes, and the +glowing object looking more terrible than ever. It was now above +me at some distance to the left, and I could see that it was an +immense quantity of heated matter like lava, occupying the upper +and middle parts of a hill, and descending here and there almost to +the bottom in a zigzag and tortuous manner. Between me and the +hill of the burning object lay a deep ravine. After a time I came +to a house, against the door of which a man was leaning. "What is +all that burning stuff above, my friend?" + +"Dross from the iron forges, sir!" + +I now perceived a valley below me full of lights, and descending +reached houses and a tramway. I had blazes now all around me. I +went through a filthy slough, over a bridge, and up a street, from +which dirty lanes branched off on either side, passed throngs of +savage-looking people talking clamorously, shrank from addressing +any of them, and finally, undirected, found myself before the +Castle Inn at Merthyr Tydvil. + + + +CHAPTER CIV + + + +Iron and Coal - The Martyred Princess - Cyfartha Fawr - Diabolical +Structure. + + +MERTHYR TYDVIL is situated in a broad valley through which roll the +waters of the Taf. It was till late an inconsiderable village, but +is at present the greatest mining place in Britain, and may be +called with much propriety the capital of the iron and coal. + +It bears the name of Merthyr Tydvil, which signifies the Martyr +Tydvil, because in the old time a Christian British princess was +slain in the locality which it occupies. Tydvil was the daughter +of Brychan, Prince of Brecon, surnamed Brycheiniawg, or the +Breconian, who flourished in the fifth century and was a +contemporary of Hengist. He was a man full of Christian zeal, and +a great preacher of the Gospel, and gave his children, of which he +had many, both male and female, by various wives, an education +which he hoped would not only make them Christians, but enable them +to preach the Gospel to their countrymen. They proved themselves +worthy of his care, all of them without one exception becoming +exemplary Christians, and useful preachers. In his latter days he +retired to a hermitage in Glamorganshire near the Taf, and passed +his time in devotion, receiving occasionally visits from his +children. Once, when he and several of them, amongst whom was +Tydvil, were engaged in prayer, a band of heathen Saxons rushed in +upon them and slew Tydvil with three of her brothers. Ever since +that time the place has borne the name of Martyr Tydvil. (21) + +The Taf, which runs to the south of Merthyr, comes down from +Breconshire, and enters the Bristol Channel at Cardiff, a place the +name of which in English is the city on the Taf. It is one of the +most beautiful of rivers, but is not navigable on account of its +numerous shallows. The only service which it renders to commerce +is feeding a canal which extends from Merthyr to Cardiff. It is +surprising how similar many of the Welsh rivers are in name: Taf, +Tawey, Towey, Teivi, and Duffy differ but very little in sound. +Taf and Teivi have both the same meaning, namely a tendency to +spread out. The other names, though probably expressive of the +properties or peculiarities of the streams to which they +respectively belong, I know not how to translate. + +The morning of the fourteenth was very fine. After breakfast I +went to see the Cyfartha Fawr iron works, generally considered to +be the great wonder of the place. After some slight demur I +obtained permission from the superintendent to inspect them. I was +attended by an intelligent mechanic. What shall I say about the +Cyfartha Fawr? I had best say but very little. I saw enormous +furnaces. I saw streams of molten metal. I saw a long ductile +piece of red-hot iron being operated upon. I saw millions of +sparks flying about. I saw an immense wheel impelled round with +frightful velocity by a steam-engine of two hundred and forty horse +power. I heard all kinds of dreadful sounds. The general effect +was stunning. These works belong to the Crawshays, a family +distinguished by a strange kind of eccentricity, but also by genius +and enterprising spirit, and by such a strict feeling of honour +that it is a common saying that the word of any one of them is as +good as the bond of other people. + +After seeing the Cyfartha I roamed about, making general +observations. The mountain of dross which had startled me on the +preceding night with its terrific glare, and which stands to the +north-west of the town, looked now nothing more than an immense +dark heap of cinders. It is only when the shades of night have +settled down that the fire within manifests itself, making the hill +appear an immense glowing mass. All the hills around the town, +some of which are very high, have a scorched and blackened look. +An old Anglesea bard, rather given to bombast, wishing to extol the +abundant cheer of his native isle said: "The hills of Ireland are +blackened by the smoke from the kitchens of Mona." With much more +propriety might a bard of the banks of the Taf, who should wish to +apologise for the rather smutty appearance of his native vale +exclaim: "The hills around the Taf once so green are blackened by +the smoke from the chimneys of Merthyr." The town is large and +populous. The inhabitants for the most part are Welsh, and Welsh +is the language generally spoken, though all have some knowledge of +English. The houses are in general low and mean, and built of +rough grey stone. Merthyr, however, can show several remarkable +edifices, though of a gloomy horrid Satanic character. There is +the hall of the Iron, with its arches, from whence proceeds +incessantly a thundering noise of hammers. Then there is an +edifice at the foot of a mountain, half way up the side of which is +a blasted forest and on the top an enormous crag. A truly +wonderful edifice it is, such as Bos would have imagined had he +wanted to paint the palace of Satan. There it stands: a house of +reddish brick with a slate roof - four horrid black towers behind, +two of them belching forth smoke and flame from their tops - holes +like pigeon holes here and there - two immense white chimneys +standing by themselves. What edifice can that be of such strange +mad details? I ought to have put that question to some one in +Tydvil, but did not, though I stood staring at the diabolical +structure with my mouth open. It is of no use putting the question +to myself here. + +After strolling about for some two hours with my hands in my +pockets, I returned to my inn, called for a glass of ale, paid my +reckoning, flung my satchel over my shoulder, and departed. + + + +CHAPTER CV + + + +Start for Caerfili - Johanna Colgan - Alms-Giving - The Monstrous +Female - The Evil Prayer - The Next Day - The Aifrionn - Unclean +Spirits - Expectation - Wreaking Vengeance - A decent Alms. + + +I LEFT Merthyr about twelve o'clock for Caerfili. My course lay +along the valley to the south-east. I passed a large village +called Troed y Rhiw, or the foot of the slope, from its being at +the foot of a lofty elevation, which stands on the left-hand side +of the road, and was speeding onward fast, with the Taf at some +distance on my right, when I saw a strange-looking woman advancing +towards me. She seemed between forty and fifty, was bare-footed +and bare-headed, with grizzled hair hanging in elf locks, and was +dressed in rags and tatters. When about ten yards from me, she +pitched forward, gave three or four grotesque tumbles, heels over +head, then standing bolt upright, about a yard before me, raised +her right arm, and shouted in a most discordant voice - "Give me an +alms, for the glory of God!" + +I stood still, quite confounded. Presently, however, recovering +myself, I said:- "Really, I don't think it would be for the glory +of God to give you alms." + +"Ye don't! Then, Biadh an taifrionn - however, I'll give ye a +chance yet. Am I to get my alms or not?" + +"Before I give you alms I must know something about you. Who are +you?" + +"Who am I? Who should I be but Johanna Colgan, a bedivilled woman +from the county of Limerick?" + +"And how did you become bedevilled?" + +"Because a woman something like myself said an evil prayer over me +for not giving her an alms, which prayer I have at my tongue's end, +and unless I get my alms will say over you. So for your own sake, +honey, give me my alms, and let me go on my way." + +"Oh, I am not to be frightened by evil prayers! I shall give you +nothing till I hear all about you." + +"If I tell ye all about me will ye give me an alms?" + +"Well, I have no objection to give you something if you tell me +your story." + +"Will ye give me a dacent alms?" + +"Oh, you must leave the amount to my free will and pleasure. I +shall give you what I think fit." + +"Well, so ye shall, honey; and I make no doubt ye will give me a +dacent alms, for I like the look of ye, and knew ye to be an +Irishman half a mile off. Only four years ago, instead of being a +bedivilled woman, tumbling about the world, I was as quiet and +respectable a widow as could be found in the county of Limerick. I +had a nice little farm at an aisy rint, horses, cows, pigs, and +servants, and, what was better than all, a couple of fine sons, who +were a help and comfort to me. But my black day was not far off. +I was a mighty charitable woman, and always willing to give to the +bacahs and other beggars that came about. Every morning, before I +opened my door, I got ready the alms which I intended to give away +in the course of the day to those that should ask for them, and I +made so good a preparation that, though plenty of cripples and +other unfortunates wandering through the world came to me every +day, part of the alms was sure to remain upon my hands every night +when I closed my door. The alms which I gave away consisted of +meal; and I had always a number of small measures of meal standing +ready on a board, one of which I used to empty into the poke of +every bacah or other unfortunate who used to place himself at the +side of my door and cry out 'Ave Maria!' or 'In the name of God!' +Well, one morning I sat within my door spinning, with a little bit +of colleen beside me who waited upon me as servant. My measures of +meal were all ready for the unfortunates who should come, filled +with all the meal in the house; for there was no meal in the house +save what was in those measures - divil a particle, the whole stock +being exhausted; though by evening I expected plenty more, my two +sons being gone to the ballybetagh, which was seven miles distant, +for a fresh supply, and for other things. Well, I sat within my +door, spinning, with my servant by my side to wait upon me, and my +measures of meal ready for the unfortunates who might come to ask +for alms. There I sat, quite proud, and more happy than I had ever +felt in my life before; and the unfortunates began to make their +appearance. First came a bacah on crutches; then came a woman with +a white swelling; then came an individual who had nothing at all +the matter with him, and was only a poor unfortunate, wandering +about the world; then came a far cake, (22) a dark man, who was led +about by a gossoon; after him a simpley, and after the simpleton +somebody else as much or more unfortunate. And as the afflicted +people arrived and placed themselves by the side of the door and +said 'Ave Mary,' or 'In the name of God,' or crossed their arms, or +looked down upon the ground, each according to his practice, I got +up and emptied my measure of meal into his poke, or whatever he +carried about with him for receiving the alms which might be given +to him; and my measures of meal began to be emptied fast, for it +seemed that upon that day, when I happened to be particularly short +of meal, all the unfortunates in the county of Limerick had +conspired together to come to ask me for alms. At last every +measure of meal was emptied, and there I sat in my house with +nothing to give away provided an unfortunate should come. Says I +to the colleen: 'What shall I do provided any more come, for all +the meal is gone, and there will be no more before the boys come +home at night from the ballybetagh.' Says the colleen: 'If any +more come, can't ye give them something else?' Says I: 'It has +always been my practice to give in meal, and loth should I be to +alter it; for if once I begin to give away other things, I may give +away all I have.' Says the colleen: 'Let's hope no one else will +come: there have been thirteen of them already.' Scarcely had she +said these words, when a monstrous woman, half-naked, and with a +long staff in her hand, on the top of which was a cross, made her +appearance; and placing herself right before the door, cried out so +that you might have heard her for a mile, 'Give me an alms for the +glory of God!' 'Good woman,' says I to her, 'you will be kind +enough to excuse me: all the preparation I had made for alms has +been given away, for I have relieved thirteen unfortunates this +blessed morning - so may the Virgin help ye, good woman!' 'Give me +an alms,' said the Beanvore, with a louder voice than before, 'or +it will be worse for you.' 'You must excuse me, good mistress,' +says I, 'but I have no more meal in the house. Those thirteen +measures which you see there empty were full this morning, for what +was in them I have given away to unfortunates. So the Virgin and +Child help you.' 'Do you choose to give me an alms?' she shrieked, +so that you might have heard her to Londonderry. 'If ye have no +meal give me something else.' 'You must excuse me, good lady,' +says I: 'it is my custom to give alms in meal, and in nothing +else. I have none in the house now; but if ye come on the morrow +ye shall have a triple measure. In the meanwhile may the Virgin, +Child, and the Holy Trinity assist ye!' Thereupon she looked at me +fixedly for a moment, and then said, not in a loud voice, but in a +low, half-whispered way, which was ten times more deadly:- + + +"'Biaidh an taifrionn gan sholas duit a bhean shilach!' + + +Then turning from the door she went away with long strides. Now, +honey, can ye tell me the meaning of those words?" + +"They mean," said I, "unless I am much mistaken: 'May the Mass +never comfort ye, you dirty queen!'" + +"Ochone! that's the maning of them, sure enough. They are cramped +words, but I guessed that was the meaning, or something of the +kind. Well, after hearing the evil prayer, I sat for a minute or +two quite stunned; at length recovering myself a bit I said to the +colleen: 'Get up, and run after the woman and tell her to come +back and cross the prayer.' I meant by crossing that she should +call it back or do something that would take the venom out of it. +Well, the colleen was rather loth to go, for she was a bit scared +herself, but on my beseeching her, she got up and ran after the +woman, and being rather swift of foot, at last, though with much +difficulty, overtook her, and begged her to come back and cross the +prayer, but the divil of a woman would do no such thing, and when +the colleen persisted she told her that if she didn't go back, she +would say an evil prayer over her too. So the colleen left her, +and came back, crying and frighted. All the rest of the day I +remained sitting on the stool speechless, thinking of the prayer +which the woman had said, and wishing I had given her everything I +had in the world, rather than she should have said it. At night +came home the boys, and found their mother sitting on the stool, +like one stupefied. 'What's the matter with you, mother?' they +said. 'Get up and help us to unpack. We have brought home plenty +of things on the car, and amongst others a whole boll of meal.' +'You might as well have left it behind you,' said I; 'this morning +a single measure of meal would have been to me of all the +assistance in the world, but I question now if I shall ever want +meal again.' They asked me what had happened to me, and after some +time I told them how a monstrous woman had been to me, and had said +an evil prayer over me, because having no meal in the house I had +not given her an alms. 'Come, mother,' said they, 'get up and help +us to unload! never mind the prayer of the monstrous woman - it is +all nonsense.' Well, I got up and helped them to unload, and +cooked them a bit, and sat down with them, and tried to be merry, +but felt that I was no longer the woman that I was. The next day I +didn't seem to care what became of me, or how matters went on, and +though there was now plenty of meal in the house, not a measure did +I fill with it to give away in the shape of alms; and when the +bacahs and the liprous women, and the dark men, and the other +unfortunates placed themselves at the side of the door, and gave me +to understand that they wanted alms, each in his or her particular +manner, divil an alms did I give them, but let them stand and took +no heed of them, so that at last they took themselves off, +grumbling and cursing. And little did I care for their grumblings +and cursings. Two days before I wouldn't have had an unfortunate +grumble at me, or curse me, for all the riches below the sun; but +now their grumblings and curses didn't give me the slightest +unasiness, for I had an evil prayer spoken against me in the Shanna +Gailey by the monstrous woman, and I knew that I was blighted in +this world and the next. In a little time I ceased to pay any heed +to the farming business, or to the affairs of the house, so that my +sons had no comfort in their home. And I took to drink and induced +my eldest son to take to drink too - my youngest son, however, did +not take to drink, but conducted himself well, and toiled and +laboured like a horse and often begged me and his brother to +consider what we were about, and not to go on in a way which would +bring us all to ruin, but I paid no regard to what he said, and his +brother followed my example, so that at last seeing things were +getting worse every day, and that we should soon be turned out of +house and home, for no rint was paid, every penny that could be got +being consumed in waste, he bade us farewell and went and listed +for a sodger. But if matters were bad enough before he went away, +they became much worse after; for now when the unfortunates came to +the door for alms, instead of letting them stand in pace till they +were tired, and took themselves off, I would mock them and point at +them, and twit them with their sores and other misfortunes, and not +unfrequently I would fling scalding water over them, which would +send them howling and honing away, till at last there was not an +unfortunate but feared to come within a mile of my door. Moreover +I began to misconduct myself at chapel, more especially at the +Aifrionn or Mass, for no sooner was the bell rung, and the holy +corpus raised, than I would shout and hoorah, and go tumbling and +toppling along the floor before the holy body, as I just now +tumbled along the road before you, so that the people were +scandalized, and would take me by the shoulders and turn me out of +doors, and began to talk of ducking me in the bog. The priest of +the parish, however, took my part, saying that I ought not to be +persecuted, for that I was not accountable for what I did, being a +possessed person, and under the influence of divils. 'These, +however,' said he, 'I'll soon cast out from her, and then the woman +will be a holy cratur, much better than she ever was before.' A +very learned man was Father Hogan, especially in casting out +divils, and a portly, good-looking man too, only he had a large +rubicon nose, which people said he got by making over free with the +cratur in sacret. I had often looked at the nose, when the divil +was upon me, and felt an inclination to seize hold of it, just to +see how it felt. Well, he had me to his house several times, and +there he put holy cloths upon me, and tied holy images to me, and +read to me out of holy books, and sprinkled holy water over me, and +put questions to me, and at last was so plased with the answers I +gave him, that he prached a sermon about me in the chapel, in which +he said that he had cast six of my divils out of me, and should +cast out the seventh, which was the last, by the next Sabbath, and +then should present me to the folks in the chapel as pure a vessel +as the blessed Mary herself - and that I was destined to accomplish +great things, and to be a mighty instrument in the hands of the +Holy Church, for that he intended to write a book about me, +describing the miracle he had performed in casting the seven divils +out of me, which he should get printed at the printing-press of the +blessed Columba, and should send me through all Ireland to sell the +copies, the profits of which would go towards the support of the +holy society for casting out unclane spirits, to which he himself +belonged. Well, the people showed that they were plased by a loud +shout, and went away longing for the next Sunday when I was to be +presented to them without a divil in me. Five times the next week +did I go to the priest's house, to be read to, and be sprinkled, +and have cloths put upon me, in order that the work of casting out +the last divil, which it seems was stronger than all the rest, +might be made smooth and aisy, and on the Saturday I came to have +the last divil cast out, and found his riverince in full +canonicals, seated in his aisy chair. 'Daughter,' said he when he +saw me, 'the work is nearly over. Now kneel down before me, and I +will make the sign of the cross over your forehead, and then you +will feel the last and strongest of the divils, which have so long +possessed ye, go out of ye through your eyes, as I expect you will +say to the people assembled in the chapel to-morrow.' So I put +myself on my knees before his reverence, who after muttering +something to himself, either in Latin or Shanna Gailey - I believe +it was Latin, said, 'Look me in the face, daughter!' Well, I +looked his reverence in the face, and there I saw his nose looking +so large, red, and inviting that I could not resist the temptation, +and before his reverence could make the sign of the cross, which +doubtless would have driven the divil out of me, I made a spring at +it, and seizing hold of it with forefinger and thumb, pulled hard +at it. Hot and inctious did it feel. Oh, the yell that his +reverence gave! However, I did not let go my hold, but kept +pulling at the nose, till at last to avoid the torment, his +reverence came tumbling down upon me, causing me by his weight to +fall back upon the floor. At the yell which he gave, and at the +noise of the fall, in came rushing his reverence's housekeeper and +stable-boy, who seeing us down on the floor, his reverence upon me +and my hand holding his reverence's nose, for I felt loth to let it +go, they remained in astonishment and suspense. When his +reverence, however, begged them, for the Virgin's sake, to separate +him from the divil of a woman, they ran forward, and having with +some difficulty freed his reverence's nose from my hand, they +helped him up. The first thing that his reverence did, on being +placed on his legs, was to make for a horse-whip, which stood in +one corner of the room, but I guessing how he meant to use it, +sprang up from the floor, and before he could make a cut at me, ran +out of the room, and hasted home. The next day, when all the +people for twenty miles round met in the chapel, in the expectation +of seeing me presented to them a purified and holy female, and +hearing from my mouth the account of the miracle which his +reverence had performed, his reverence made his appearance in the +pulpit with a dale of gould bater's leaf on his nose, and from the +pulpit he told the people how I had used him, showing them the +gould bater's leaf on his feature, as testimony of the truth of his +words, finishing by saying that if at first there were seven +devils, there were now seven times seven within me. Well, when the +people heard the story, and saw his nose with the bater's leaf upon +it, they at first began to laugh, but when he appealed to their +consciences, and asked them if such was fitting tratement for a +praist, they said it was not, and that if he would only but curse +me, they would soon do him justice upon me. His reverence then +cursed by book, bell, and candle, and the people, setting off from +the chapel, came in a crowd to the house where I lived, to wrake +vengeance upon me. Overtaking my son by the way, who was coming +home in a state of intoxication, they bate him within an inch of +his life, and left him senseless on the ground, and no doubt would +have served me much worse, only seeing them coming, and guessing +what they came about, though I was a bit intoxicated myself, I +escaped by the back of the house out into the bog, where I hid +myself amidst a copse of hazels. The people coming to the house, +and not finding me there, broke and destroyed every bit of +furniture, and would have pulled the house down, or set fire to it, +had not an individual among them cried out that doing so would be +of no use, for that the house did not belong to me, and that +destroying it would merely be an injury to the next tenant. So the +people, after breaking my furniture and ill-trating two or three +dumb beasts, which happened not to have been made away with, went +away, and in the dead of night I returned to the house, where I +found my son, who had just crawled home covered wit bruises. We +hadn't, however, a home long, for the agents of the landlord came +to seize for rent, took all they could find, and turned us out upon +the wide world. Myself and son wandered together for an hour or +two, then, having a quarrel with each other, we parted, he going +one way and I another. Some little time after I heard that he was +transported. As for myself, I thought I might as well take a leaf +out of the woman's book who had been the ruin of me. So I went +about bidding people give me alms for the glory of God, and +threatening those who gave me nothing that the mass should never +comfort them. It's a dreadful curse that, honey; and I would +advise people to avoid it even though they give away all they have. +If you have no comfort in the mass, you will have comfort in +nothing else. Look at me: I have no comfort in the mass, for as +soon as the priest's bell rings, I shouts and hoorahs, and performs +tumblings before the blessed corpus, getting myself kicked out of +chapel, and as little comfort as I have in the mass have I in other +things, which should be a comfort to me. I have two sons who ought +to be the greatest comfort to me, but are they so? We'll see - one +is transported, and of course is no comfort to me at all. The +other is a sodger. Is he a comfort to me? Not a bit. A month ago +when I was travelling through the black north, tumbling and +toppling about, and threatening people with my prayer, unless they +gave me alms, a woman, who knew me, told me that he was with his +regiment at Cardiff, here in Wales, whereupon I determined to go +and see him, and crossing the water got into England, from whence I +walked to Cardiff asking alms of the English in the common English +way, and of the Irish, and ye are the first Irish I have met, in +the way in which I asked them of you. But when I got to Cardiff +did I see my son? I did not, for the day before he had sailed with +his regiment to a place ten thousand miles away, so I shall never +see his face again nor derive comfort from him. Oh, if there's no +comfort from the mass there's no comfort from anything else, and he +who has the evil prayer in the Shanna Gailey breathed upon him, +will have no comfort from the mass. Now, honey, ye have heard the +story of Johanna Colgan, the bedivilled woman. Give her now a +dacent alms and let her go!" + +"Would you consider sixpence a decent alms?" + +"I would. If you give me sixpence, I will not say my prayer over +ye." + +"Would you give me a blessing?" + +"I would not. A bedivilled woman has no blessing to give." + +"Surely if you are able to ask people to give you alms for the +glory of God, you are able to give a blessing." + +"Bodderation! are ye going to give me sixpence?" + +"No! here's a shilling for you! Take it and go in peace." + +"There's no pace for me," said Johanna Colgan, taking the money. +"What did the monstrous female say to me? 'Biaidh an taifrionn gan +sholas duit a bhean shalach.' (23) This is my pace - hoorah! +hoorah!" then giving two or three grotesque topples she hurried +away in the direction of Merthyr Tydvil. + + + +CHAPTER CVI + + + +Pen y Glas - Salt of the Earth - The Quakers' Yard - The +Rhugylgroen. + + +AS I proceeded on my way the scenery to the south on the farther +side of the river became surprisingly beautiful. On that side +noble mountains met the view, green fields and majestic woods, the +latter brown it is true, for their leaves were gone, but not the +less majestic for being brown. Here and there were white farm- +houses: one of them, which I was told was called Pen y Glas, was a +truly lovely little place. It stood on the side of a green hill +with a noble forest above it, and put me wonderfully in mind of the +hunting lodge, which Ifor Hael allotted as a retreat to Ab Gwilym +and Morfydd, when they fled to him from Cardigan to avoid the rage +of the Bow Bach, and whose charming appearance made him say to his +love:- + + +"More bliss for us our fate propounds +On Taf's green banks than Teivy's bounds." + + +On I wandered. After some time the valley assumed the form of an +immense basin, enormous mountains composed its sides. In the +middle rose hills of some altitude, but completely overcrowned by +the mountains around. These hills exhibited pleasant inclosures, +and were beautifully dotted with white farm-houses. Down below +meandered the Taf, its reaches shining with a silver-like +splendour. The whole together formed an exquisite picture, in +which there was much sublimity, much still quiet life, and not a +little of fantastic fairy loveliness. + +The sun was hastening towards the west as I passed a little cascade +on the left, the waters of which, after running under the road, +tumbled down a gully into the river. Shortly afterwards meeting a +man I asked him how far it was to Caerfili. + +"When you come to the Quakers' Yard, which is a little way further +on, you will be seven miles from Caerfili." + +"What is the Quakers' Yard?" + +"A place where the people called Quakers bury their dead." + +"Is there a village near it? + +"There is, and the village is called by the same name." + +"Are there any Quakers in it?" + +"Not one, nor in the neighbourhood, but there are some, I believe, +in Cardiff." + +"Why do they bury their dead there?" + +"You should ask them, not me. I know nothing about them, and don't +want; they are a bad set of people." + +"Did they ever do you any harm?" + +"Can't say they did. Indeed I never saw one in the whole of my +life." + +"Then why do you call them bad?" + +"Because everybody says they are." + +"Not everybody. I don't; I have always found them the salt of the +earth." + +"Then it is salt that has lost its savour. But perhaps you are one +of them?" + +"No, I belong to the Church of England." + +"Oh, you do. Then good-night to you. I am a Methodist. I thought +at first that you were one of our ministers, and had hoped to hear +from you something profitable and conducive to salvation, but - " + +"Well, so you shall. Never speak ill of people of whom you know +nothing. If that isn't a saying conducive to salvation, I know not +what is. Good evening to you." + +I soon reached the village. Singular enough, the people of the +very first house, at which I inquired about the Quakers' Yard, were +entrusted with the care of it. On my expressing a wish to see it, +a young woman took down a key, and said that if I would follow her +she would show it me. The Quakers' burying-place is situated on a +little peninsula or tongue of land, having a brook on its eastern +and northern sides, and on its western the Taf. It is a little +oblong yard, with low walls, partly overhung with ivy. The +entrance is a porch to the south. The Quakers are no friends to +tombstones, and the only visible evidence that this was a place of +burial was a single flag-stone, with a half-obliterated +inscription, which with some difficulty I deciphered, and was as +follows:- + + +To the Memory of THOMAS EDMUNDS +Who died April the ninth 1802 aged 60 years. +And of MARY EDMUNDS +Who died January the fourth 1810 aged 70. + + +The beams of the descending sun gilded the Quakers' burial-ground +as I trod its precincts. A lovely resting-place looked that little +oblong yard on the peninsula, by the confluence of the waters, and +quite in keeping with the character of the quiet Christian people +who sleep within it. The Quakers have for some time past been a +decaying sect, but they have done good work in their day, and when +they are extinct they are not destined to be soon forgotten. Soon +forgotten! How should a sect ever be forgotten, to which have +belonged three such men as George Fox, William Penn, and Joseph +Gurney? + +Shortly after I left the Quakers' Yard the sun went down and +twilight settled upon the earth. Pursuing my course I reached some +woodlands, and on inquiring of a man, whom I saw standing at the +door of a cottage, the name of the district, was told that it was +called Ystrad Manach - the Monks' Strath or valley. This name it +probably acquired from having belonged in times of old to some +monkish establishment. The moon now arose and the night was +delightful. As I was wandering along I heard again the same wild +noise which I had heard the night before, on the other side of +Merthyr Tydvil. The cry of the owl afar off in the woodlands. Oh +that strange bird! Oh that strange cry! The Welsh, as I have said +on a former occasion, call the owl Dylluan. Amongst the cowydds of +Ab Gwilym there is one to the dylluan. It is full of abuse against +the bird, with whom the poet is very angry for having with its cry +frightened Morfydd back, who was coming to the wood to keep an +assignation with him, but not a little of this abuse is wonderfully +expressive and truthful. He calls the owl a grey thief - the +haunter of the ivy bush - the chick of the oak, a blinking eyed +witch, greedy of mice, with a visage like the bald forehead of a +big ram, or the dirty face of an old abbess, which bears no little +resemblance to the chine of an ape. Of its cry he says that it is +as great a torment as an agonizing recollection, a cold shrill +laugh from the midst of a kettle of ice; the rattling of sea- +pebbles in an old sheep-skin, on which account many call the owl +the hag of the Rhugylgroen. The Rhugylgroen, it will be as well to +observe, is a dry sheepskin containing a number of pebbles, and is +used as a rattle for frightening crows. The likening the visage of +the owl to the dirty face of an old abbess is capital, and the +likening the cry to the noise of the rhugylgroen is anything but +unfortunate. For, after all, what does the voice of the owl so +much resemble as a diabolical rattle. I'm sure I don't know. +Reader, do you? + +I reached Caerfili at about seven o'clock, and went to the "Boar's +Head," near the ruins of a stupendous castle, on which the beams of +the moon were falling. + + + +CHAPTER CVII + + + +Caerfili Castle - Sir Charles - The Waiter - Inkerman. + + +I SLEPT well during the night. In the morning after breakfast I +went to see the castle, over which I was conducted by a woman who +was intrusted with its care. It stands on the eastern side of the +little town, and is a truly enormous structure, which brought to my +recollection a saying of our great Johnson, to be found in the +account of his journey to the Western Islands, namely "that for all +the castles which he had seen beyond the Tweed the ruins yet +remaining of some one of those which the English built in Wales +would find materials." The original founder was one John De Bryse, +a powerful Norman who married the daughter of Llewellyn Ap +Jorwerth, the son-in-law of King John, and the most war-like of all +the Welsh princes, whose exploits, and particularly a victory which +he obtained over his father-in-law, with whom he was always at war, +have been immortalized by the great war-bard, Dafydd Benfras. It +was one of the strongholds which belonged to the Spencers, and +served for a short time as a retreat to the unfortunate Edward the +Second. It was ruined by Cromwell, the grand foe of the baronial +castles of Britain, but not in so thorough and sweeping a manner as +to leave it a mere heap of stones. There is a noble entrance porch +fronting the west - a spacious courtyard, a grand banqueting room, +a corridor of vast length, several lofty towers, a chapel, a sally- +port, a guard-room and a strange underground vaulted place called +the mint, in which Caerfili's barons once coined money, and in +which the furnaces still exist which were used for melting metal. +The name Caerfili is said to signify the Castle of Haste, and to +have been bestowed on the pile because it was built in a hurry. +Caerfili, however, was never built in a hurry, as the remains show. +Moreover, the Welsh word for haste is not fil but ffrwst. Fil +means a scudding or darting through the air, which can have nothing +to do with the building of a castle. Caerfili signifies Philip's +City, and was called so after one Philip a saint. It no more means +the castle of haste than Tintagel in Cornwall signifies the castle +of guile, as the learned have said it does, for Tintagel simply +means the house in the gill of the hill, a term admirably +descriptive of the situation of the building. + +I started from Caerfili at eleven for Newport, distant about +seventeen miles. Passing through a toll-gate I ascended an +acclivity, from the top of which I obtained a full view of the +castle, looking stern, dark and majestic. Descending the hill I +came to a bridge over a river called the Rhymni or Rumney, much +celebrated in Welsh and English song - thence to Pentref Bettws, or +the village of the bead-house, doubtless so called from its having +contained in old times a house in which pilgrims might tell their +beads. + +The scenery soon became very beautiful - its beauty, however, was +to a certain extent marred by a horrid black object, a huge coal +work, the chimneys of which were belching forth smoke of the +densest description. "Whom does that work belong to?" said I to a +man nearly as black as a chimney sweep. + +"Who does it belong to? Why, to Sir Charles." + +"Do you mean Sir Charles Morgan?" + +"I don't know. I only know that it belongs to Sir Charles, the +kindest-hearted and richest man in Wales and in England too." + +Passing some cottages I heard a group of children speaking English. +Asked an intelligent-looking girl if she could speak Welsh. + +"Yes," said she, "I can speak it, but not very well." There is not +much Welsh spoken by the children hereabout. The old folks hold +more to it. + +I saw again the Rhymni river, and crossed it by a bridge; the river +here was filthy and turbid, owing of course to its having received +the foul drainings of the neighbouring coal works. Shortly +afterwards I emerged from the coom or valley of the Rhymni, and +entered upon a fertile and tolerably level district. Passed by +Llanawst and Machen. The day which had been very fine now became +dark and gloomy. Suddenly, as I was descending a slope, a +brilliant party, consisting of four young ladies in riding-habits, +a youthful cavalier and a servant in splendid livery - all on noble +horses, swept past me at full gallop down the hill. Almost +immediately afterwards, seeing a road-mender who was standing +holding his cap in his hand - which he had no doubt just +reverentially doffed - I said in Welsh: "Who are those ladies?" + +"Merched Sir Charles - the daughters of Sir Charles," he replied. + +"And is the gentleman their brother?" + +"No! the brother is in the Crim - fighting with the Roosiaid. I +don't know who yon gentleman be." + +"Where does Sir Charles live?" + +"Down in the Dyfryn, not far from Basallaig." + +"If I were to go and see him," I said, "do you think he would give +me a cup of ale?" + +"I daresay he would; he has given me one many a time." + +I soon reached Basallaig, a pleasant village standing in a valley +and nearly surrounded by the groves of Sir Charles Morgan. Seeing +a decent public-house I said to myself, "I think I shall step in +and have my ale here, and not go running after Sir Charles, whom +perhaps after all I shouldn't find at home." So I went in and +called for a pint of ale. Over my ale I trifled for about half-an- +hour, then paying my groat I got up and set off for Newport, in the +midst of a thick mist which had suddenly come on, and which +speedily wetted me nearly to the skin. + +I reached Newport at about half-past four, and put up at a large +and handsome inn called the King's Head. During dinner the waiter, +unasked, related to me his history. He was a short thick fellow of +about forty, with a very disturbed and frightened expression of +countenance. He said that he was a native of Brummagen, and had +lived very happily at an inn there as waiter, but at length had +allowed himself to be spirited away to an establishment high up in +Wales amidst the scenery. That very few visitors came to the +establishment, which was in a place so awfully lonesome that he +soon became hipped, and was more than once half in a mind to fling +himself into a river which ran before the door and moaned dismally. +That at last he thought his best plan would be to decamp, and +accordingly took French leave early one morning. That after many +frights and much fatigue he had found himself at Newport, and taken +service at the King's Head, but did not feel comfortable, and was +frequently visited at night by dreadful dreams. That he should +take the first opportunity of getting to Brummagen, though he was +afraid that he should not be able to get into his former place, +owing to his ungrateful behaviour. He then uttered a rather +eloquent eulogium on the beauties of the black capital, and wound +up all by saying that he would rather be a brazier's dog at +Brummagen than head waiter at the best establishment in Wales. + +After dinner I took up a newspaper and found in it an account of +the battle of Inkerman, which appeared to have been fought on the +fifth of November, the very day on which I had ascended Plynlimmon. +I was sorry to find that my countrymen had suffered dreadfully, and +would have been utterly destroyed but for the opportune arrival of +the French. "In my childhood," said I, "the Russians used to help +us against the French; now the French help us against the Russians. +Who knows but before I die I may see the Russians helping the +French against us?" + + + +CHAPTER CVIII + + + +Town of Newport - The Usk - Note of Recognition - An Old +Acquaintance - Connamara Quean - The Wake - The Wild Irish - The +Tramping Life - Business and Prayer - Methodists - Good Counsel. + + +NEWPORT is a large town in Monmouthshire, and had once walls and a +castle. It is called in Welsh Cas Newydd ar Wysg, or the New +Castle upon the Usk. It stands some miles below Caerlleon ar Wysg, +and was probably built when that place, at one time one of the most +considerable towns in Britain, began to fall into decay. The Wysg +or Usk has its source among some wild hills in the south-west of +Breconshire, and, after absorbing several smaller streams, amongst +which is the Hondu, at the mouth of which Brecon stands, which on +that account is called in Welsh Aber Hondu, and traversing the +whole of Monmouthshire, enters the Bristol Channel near Newport, to +which place vessels of considerable burden can ascend. Wysg or Usk +is an ancient British word, signifying water, and is the same as +the Irish word uisge or whiskey, for whiskey, though generally +serving to denote a spirituous liquor, in great vogue amongst the +Irish, means simply water. The proper term for the spirit is +uisquebaugh, literally acqua vitae, but the compound being +abbreviated by the English, who have always been notorious for +their habit of clipping words, one of the strongest of spirits is +now generally denominated by a word which is properly expressive of +the simple element water. + +Monmouthshire is at present considered an English county, though +certainly with little reason, for it not only stands on the western +side of the Wye, but the names of almost all its parishes are +Welsh, and many thousands of its population still speak the Welsh +language. It is called in Welsh Sir, or Shire, Fynwy, and takes +its name from the town Mynwy or Monmouth, which receives its own +appellation from the river Mynwy or Minno, on which it stands. +There is a river of much the same name, not in Macedon but in the +Peninsula, namely the Minho, which probably got its denomination +from that race cognate to the Cumry, the Gael, who were the first +colonisers of the Peninsula, and whose generic name yet stares us +in the face and salutes our ears in the words Galicia and Portugal. + +I left Newport at about ten o'clock on the 16th; the roads were +very wet, there having been a deluge of rain during the night. The +morning was a regular November one, dull and gloomy. Desirous of +knowing whereabouts in these parts the Welsh language ceased, I +interrogated several people whom I met. First spoke to Esther +Williams. She told me she came from Pennow, some miles farther on, +that she could speak Welsh, and that indeed all the people could +for at least eight miles to the east of Newport. This latter +assertion of hers was, however, anything but corroborated by a +young woman, with a pitcher on her head, whom I shortly afterwards +met, for she informed me that she could speak no Welsh, and that +for one who could speak it, from where I was to the place where it +ceased altogether, there were ten who could not. I believe the +real fact is that about half the people for seven or eight miles to +the east of Newport speak Welsh, more or less, as about half those +whom I met and addressed in Welsh, answered me in that tongue. + +Passed through Pennow or Penhow, a small village. The scenery in +the neighbourhood of this place is highly interesting. To the +north-west at some distance is Mynydd Turvey, a sharp pointed blue +mountain. To the south-east, on the right, much nearer, are two +beautiful green hills, the lowest prettily wooded, and having its +top a fair white mansion called Penhow Castle, which belongs to a +family of the name of Cave. Thence to Llanvaches, a pretty little +village. When I was about the middle of this place I heard an odd +sound, something like a note of recognition, which attracted my +attention to an object very near to me, from which it seemed to +proceed, and which was coming from the direction in which I was +going. It was the figure seemingly of a female, wrapped in a +coarse blue cloak, the feet bare and the legs bare also nearly up +to the knee, both terribly splashed with the slush of the road. +The head was surmounted by a kind of hood, which just permitted me +to see coarse red hair, a broad face, grey eyes, a snubbed nose, +blubber lips and great white teeth - the eyes were staring intently +at me. I stopped and stared too, and at last thought I recognised +the features of the uncouth girl I had seen on the green near +Chester with the Irish tinker Tourlough and his wife. + +"Dear me!" said I, "did I not see you near Chester last summer?" + +"To be sure ye did; and ye were going to pass me without a word of +notice or kindness had I not given ye a bit of a hail." + +"Well," said I, "I beg your pardon. How is it all wid ye?" + +"Quite well. How is it wid yere hanner?' + +"Tolerably. Where do you come from?" + +"From Chepstow, yere hanner." + +"And where are you going to?" + +"To Newport, yere hanner." + +"And I come from Newport, and am going to Chepstow. Where's +Tourlough and his wife?" + +"At Cardiff, yere hanner; I shall join them again to-morrow." + +"Have you been long away from them?" + +"About a week, yere hanner." + +"And what have you been doing?" + +"Selling my needles, yere hanner." + +"Oh! you sell needles. Well, I am glad to have met you. Let me +see. There's a nice little inn on the right: won't you come in +and have some refreshment?" + +"Thank yere hanner; I have no objection to take a glass wid an old +friend." + +"Well, then, come in; you must be tired, and I shall be glad to +have some conversation with you." + +We went into the inn - a little tidy place. On my calling, a +respectable-looking old man made his appearance behind a bar. +After serving my companion with a glass of peppermint, which she +said she preferred to anything else, and me with a glass of ale, +both of which I paid for, he retired, and we sat down on two old +chairs beneath a window in front of the bar. + +"Well," said I, "I suppose you have Irish: here's slainte - " + +"Slainte yuit a shaoi," said the girl, tasting her peppermint. + +"Well: how do you like it?' + +"It's very nice indeed." + +"That's more than I can say of the ale, which, like all the ale in +these parts, is bitter. Well, what part of Ireland do you come +from?" + +"From no part at all. I never was in Ireland in my life. I am +from Scotland Road, Manchester." + +"Why, I thought you were Irish?" + +"And so I am; and all the more from being born where I was. +There's not such a place for Irish in all the world as Scotland +Road." + +"Were your father and mother from Ireland?" + +"My mother was from Ireland: my father was Irish of Scotland Road, +where they met and married." + +"And what did they do after they married?" + +"Why, they worked hard, and did their best to get a livelihood for +themselves and children, of which they had several besides myself, +who was the eldest. My father was a bricklayer, and my mother sold +apples and oranges and other fruits, according to the season, and +also whiskey, which she made herself, as she well knew how; for my +mother was not only a Connacht woman, but an out-and-out Connamara +quean, and when only thirteen had wrought with the lads who used to +make the raal cratur on the islands between Ochterard and Bally na +hinch. As soon as I was able, I helped my mother in making and +disposing of the whiskey and in selling the fruit. As for the +other children, they all died when young, of favers, of which there +is always plenty in Scotland Road. About four years ago - that is, +when I was just fifteen - there was a great quarrel among the +workmen about wages. Some wanted more than their masters were +willing to give; others were willing to take what was offered them. +Those who were dissatisfied were called bricks; those who were not +were called dungs. My father was a brick; and, being a good man +with his fists, was looked upon as a very proper person to fight a +principal man amongst the dungs. They fought in the fields near +Salford for a pound a side. My father had it all his own way for +the first three rounds, but in the fourth, receiving a blow under +the ear from the dung, he dropped, and never got up again, dying +suddenly. A grand wake my father had, for which my mother +furnished usquebaugh galore; and comfortably and dacently it passed +over till about three o'clock in the morning, when, a dispute +happening to arise - not on the matter of wages, for there was not +a dung amongst the Irish of Scotland Road - but as to whether the +O'Keefs or O'Kellys were kings of Ireland a thousand years ago, a +general fight took place, which brought in the police, who, being +soon dreadfully baten, as we all turned upon them, went and fetched +the military, with whose help they took and locked up several of +the party, amongst whom were my mother and myself, till the next +morning, when we were taken before the magistrates, who, after a +slight scolding, set us at liberty, one of them saying that such +disturbances formed part of the Irish funeral service; whereupon we +returned to the house, and the rest of the party joining us, we +carried my father's body to the churchyard, where we buried it very +dacently, with many tears and groanings." + +"And how did your mother and you get on after your father was +buried?" + +"As well as we could, yere hanner; we sold fruit, and now and then +a drop of whiskey, which we made; but this state of things did not +last long, for one day my mother seeing the dung who had killed my +father, she flung a large flint stone and knocked out his right +eye, for doing which she was taken up and tried, and sentenced to a +year's imprisonment, chiefly it was thought because she had been +heard to say that she would do the dung a mischief the first time +she met him. She, however, did not suffer all her sentence, for +before she had been in prison three months she caught a disorder +which carried her off. I went on selling fruit by myself whilst +she was in trouble, and for some time after her death, but very +lonely and melancholy. At last my uncle Tourlough, or, as the +English would call him, Charles, chancing to come to Scotland Road +along with his family, I was glad to accept an invitation to join +them which he gave me, and with them I have been ever since, +travelling about England and Wales and Scotland, helping my aunt +with the children, and driving much the same trade which she has +driven for twenty years past, which is not an unprofitable one." + +"Would you have any objection to tell me all you do?" + +"Why I sells needles, as I said before, and sometimes I buys things +of servants, and sometimes I tells fortunes." + +"Do you ever do anything in the way of striopachas?" + +"Oh no! I never do anything in that line; I would be burnt first. +I wonder you should dream of such a thing." + +"Why surely it is not worse than buying things of servants, who no +doubt steal them from their employers, or telling fortunes, which +is dealing with the devil." + +"Not worse? Yes, a thousand times worse; there is nothing so very +particular in doing them things, but striopachas - Oh dear!" + +"It's a dreadful thing I admit, but the other things are quite as +bad; you should do none of them." + +"I'll take good care that I never do one, and that is striopachas; +them other things I know are not quite right, and I hope soon to +have done wid them; any day I can shake them off and look people in +the face, but were I once to do striopachas I could never hold up +my head" + +"How comes it that you have such a horror of striopachas?" + +"I got it from my mother, and she got it from hers. All Irish +women have a dread of striopachas. It's the only thing that +frights them; I manes the wild Irish, for as for the quality women +I have heard they are no bit better than the English. Come, yere +hanner, let's talk of something else." + +"You were saying now that you were thinking of leaving off fortune- +telling and buying things of servants. Do you mean to depend upon +your needles alone?" + +"No; I am thinking of leaving off tramping altogether and going to +the Tir na Siar." + +"Isn't that America?" + +"It is, yere hanner; the land of the west is America." + +"A long way for a lone girl." + +"I should not be alone, yere hanner; I should be wid my uncle +Tourlough and his wife." + +"Are they going to America?" + +"They are, yere hanner; they intends leaving off business and going +to America next spring." + +"It will cost money." + +"It will, yere hanner; but they have got money, and so have I." + +"Is it because business is slack that you are thinking of going to +America?" + +"Oh no, yere hanner; we wish to go there in order to get rid of old +ways and habits, amongst which are fortune-telling and buying +things of sarvants, which yere hanner was jist now checking me +wid." + +"And can't you get rid of them here?" + +"We cannot, yere hanner. If we stay here we must go on tramping, +and it is well known that doing them things is part of tramping." + +"And what would you do in America?" + +"Oh, we could do plenty of things in America - most likely we +should buy a piece of land and settle down." + +"How came you to see the wickedness of the tramping life?" + +"By hearing a great many sarmons and preachings and having often +had the Bible read to us by holy women who came to our tent." + +"Of what religion do you call yourselves now?" + +"I don't know, yere hanner; we are clane unsettled about religion. +We were once Catholics and carried Saint Colman of Cloyne about wid +us in a box; but after hearing a sermon at a church about images, +we went home, took the saint out of his box and cast him into a +river." + +"Oh it will never do to belong to the Popish religion, a religion +which upholds idol-worship and persecutes the Bible - you should +belong to the Church of England." + +"Well, perhaps we should, yere hanner, if its ministers were not +such proud violent men. Oh, you little know how they look down +upon all poor people, especially on us tramps. Once my poor aunt, +Tourlough's wife, who has always had stronger conviction than any +of us, followed one of them home after he had been preaching, and +begged him to give her God, and was told by him that she was a +thief, and if she didn't take herself out of the house he would +kick her out." + +"Perhaps, after all," said I; "you had better join the Methodists - +I should say that their ways would suit you better than those of +any other denomination of Christians." + +Yere hanner knows nothing about them, otherwise ye wouldn't talk in +that manner. Their ways would never do for people who want to have +done with lying and staring, and have always kept themselves clane +from striopachas. Their word is not worth a rotten straw, yere +hanner, and in every transaction which they have with people they +try to cheat and overreach - ask my uncle Tourlough, who has had +many dealings with them. But what is far worse, they do that which +the wildest calleen t'other side of Ougteraarde would be burnt +rather than do. Who can tell ye more on that point than I, yere +hanner? I have been at their chapels at nights, and have listened +to their screaming prayers, and have seen what's been going on +outside the chapels after their services, as they call them, were +over - I never saw the like going on outside Father Toban's chapel, +yere hanner! Yere hanner's hanner asked me if I ever did anything +in the way of striopachas - now I tell ye that I was never asked to +do anything in that line but by one of them folks - a great man +amongst them he was, both in the way of business and prayer, for he +was a commercial traveller during six days of the week and a +preacher on the seventh - and such a preacher. Well, one Sunday +night after he had preached a sermon an hour-and-a-half long, which +had put half a dozen women into what they call static fits, he +overtook me in a dark street and wanted me to do striopachas with +him - he didn't say striopachas, yer hanner, for he had no Irish - +but he said something in English which was the same thing." + +"And what did you do?" + +"Why, I asked him what he meant by making fun of a poor ugly girl - +for no one knows better than myself, yere hanner, that I am very +ugly - whereupon he told me that he was not making fun of me, for +it had long been the chief wish of his heart to commit striopachas +with a wild Irish Papist, and that he believed if he searched the +world he should find none wilder than myself." + +"And what did you reply?" + +"Why, I said to him, yere hanner, that I would tell the +congregation, at which he laughed and said that he wished I would, +for that the congregation would say they didn't believe me, though +at heart they would, and would like him all the better for it." + +"Well, and what did you say then?" + +"Nothing, at all, yere hanner; but I spat in his face and went home +and told my uncle Tourlough, who forthwith took out a knife and +began to sharp it on a whetstone, and I make no doubt would have +gone and stuck the fellow like a pig, had not my poor aunt begged +him not on her knees. After that we had nothing more to do with +the Methodists as far as religion went." + +"Did this affair occur in England or Wales?" + +"In the heart of England, yere hanner; we have never been to the +Welsh chapels, for we know little of the language." + +"Well, I am glad it didn't happen in Wales: I have rather a high +opinion of the Welsh Methodist. The worthiest creature I ever knew +was a Welsh Methodist. And now I must leave you and make the best +of my way to Chepstow." + +"Can't yere hanner give me God before ye go?" + +"I can give you half-a-crown to help you on your way to America." + +"I want no half-crowns, yere hanner; but if ye would give me God +I'd bless ye." + +"What do you mean by giving you God?" + +"Putting Him in my heart by some good counsel which will guide me +through life." + +"The only good counsel I can give you is to keep the commandments; +one of them it seems you have always kept. Follow the rest and you +can't go very wrong." + +"I wish I knew them better than I do, yere hanner." + +"Can't you read?" + +"Oh no, yere hanner, I can't read, neither can Tourlough nor his +wife." + +"Well, learn to read as soon as possible. When you have got to +America and settled down you will have time enough to learn to +read." + +"Shall we be better, yere hanner, after we have learnt to read?" + +"Let's hope you will." + +"One of the things, yere hanner, that have made us stumble is that +some of the holy women, who have come to our tent and read the +Bible to us, have afterwards asked my aunt and me to tell them +their fortunes." + +"If they have, the more shame for them, for they can have no +excuse. Well, whether you learn to read or not, still eschew +striopachas, don't steal, don't deceive, and worship God in spirit, +not in image. That's the best counsel I can give you." + +"And very good counsel it is, yere hanner, and I will try to follow +it, and now, yere hanner, let us go our two ways." + +We placed our glasses upon the bar and went out. In the middle of +the road we shook hands and parted, she going towards Newport and I +towards Chepstow. After walking a few yards I turned round and +looked after her. There she was in the damp lowering afternoon +wending her way slowly through mud and puddle, her upper form +huddled in the rough frieze mantle, and her coarse legs bare to the +top of the calves. "Surely," said I to myself, "there never was an +object less promising in appearance. Who would think that there +could be all the good sense and proper feeling in that uncouth girl +which there really is?" + + + +CHAPTER CIX + + + +Arrival at Chepstow - Stirring Lyric - Conclusion. + + +I PASSED through Caer Went, once an important Roman station, and +for a long time after the departure of the Romans a celebrated +British city, now a poor desolate place consisting of a few old- +fashioned houses and a strange-looking dilapidated church. No +Welsh is spoken at Caer Went, nor to the east of it, nor indeed for +two or three miles before you reach it from the west. + +The country between it and Chepstow, from which it is distant about +four miles, is delightfully green, but somewhat tame. + +Chepstow stands on the lower part of a hill, near to where the +beautiful Wye joins the noble Severn. The British name of the +place is Aber Wye or the disemboguement of the Wye. The Saxons +gave it the name of Chepstow, which in their language signifies a +place where a market is held, because even in the time of the +Britons it was the site of a great cheap or market. After the +Norman Conquest it became the property of De Clare, one of +William's followers, who built near it an enormous castle, which +enjoyed considerable celebrity during several centuries from having +been the birthplace of Strongbow, the conqueror of Ireland, but +which is at present chiefly illustrious from the mention which is +made of it in one of the most stirring lyrics of modern times, a +piece by Walter Scott, called the "Norman Horseshoe," commemorative +of an expedition made by a De Clare, of Chepstow, with the view of +insulting with the print of his courser's shoe the green meads of +Glamorgan, and which commences thus:- + + +"Red glows the forge" - + + +I went to the principal inn, where I engaged a private room and +ordered the best dinner which the people could provide. Then +leaving my satchel behind me I went to the castle, amongst the +ruins of which I groped and wandered for nearly an hour, +occasionally repeating verses of the Norman Horseshoe. I then went +to the Wye and drank of the waters at its mouth, even as some time +before I had drunk of the waters at its source. Then returning to +my inn I got my dinner, after which I called for a bottle of port, +and placing my feet against the sides of the grate I passed my time +drinking wine and singing Welsh songs till ten o'clock at night, +when I paid my reckoning, amounting to something considerable. +Then shouldering my satchel I proceeded to the railroad station, +where I purchased a first-class ticket, and ensconcing myself in a +comfortable carriage, was soon on the way to London, where I +arrived at about four o'clock in the morning, having had during the +whole of my journey a most uproarious set of neighbours a few +carriages behind me, namely, some hundred and fifty of Napier's +tars returning from their expedition to the Baltic. + + + +CUMRO AND CUMRAEG. + + + +THE original home of the Cumro was Southern Hindustan, the extreme +point of which, Cape Comorin, derived from him its name. It may be +here asked what is the exact meaning of the word Cumro? The true +meaning of the word is a youth. It is connected with a Sanscrit +word, signifying a youth, and likewise a prince. It is surprising +how similar in meaning the names of several nations are: Cumro, a +youth; Gael, a hero; (24) Roman, one who is comely, a husband; (25) +Frank or Frenchman, a free, brave fellow; Dane, an honest man; +Turk, a handsome lad; Arab, a sprightly fellow. Lastly, Romany +Chal, the name by which the Gypsy styles himself, signifying not an +Egyptian, but a lad of Rome. (26) + +The language of the Cumro is called after him Cumraeg. Of Cumric +there are three dialects, the speech of Cumru or Wales; that of +Armorica or, as the Welsh call it, Llydaw, and the Cornish, which +is no longer spoken, and only exists in books and in the names of +places. The Cumric bears considerable affinity to the Gaelic, or +the language of the Gael, of which there are also three dialects, +the Irish, the speech of the Scottish Highlanders, and the Manx, +which last is rapidly becoming extinct. The Cumric and Gaelic have +not only a great many thousand words in common, but also a +remarkable grammatical feature, the mutation and dropping of +certain initial consonants under certain circumstances, which +feature is peculiar to the Celtic languages. The number of +Sanscritic words which the Cumric and Gaelic possess is +considerable. Of the two the Gaelic possesses the most, and those +have generally more of the Sanscritic character, than the words of +the same class which are to be found in the Welsh. The Welsh, +however, frequently possesses the primary word when the Irish does +not. Of this the following is an instance. One of the numerous +Irish words for a mountain is codadh. This word is almost +identical with the Sanscrit kuta, which also signifies a mountain; +but kuta and codadh are only secondary words. The Sanscrit +possesses the radical of kuta, and that is kuda, to heap up, but +the Irish does not possess the radical of codadh. The Welsh, +without possessing any word for a hill at all like codadh, has the +primary or radical word; that word is codi, to rise or raise, +almost identical in sound and sense with the Sanscrit kuda. Till a +house is raised there is no house, and there is no hill till the +Nara or Omnipotent says ARISE. + +The Welsh is one of the most copious languages of the world, as it +contains at least eighty thousand words. It has seven vowels; w in +Welsh being pronounced like oo, and y like u and i. Its most +remarkable feature is the mutation of initial consonants, to +explain which properly would require more space than I can afford. +(27) The nouns are of two numbers, the singular and plural, and a +few have a dual number. The genders are three, the Masculine, the +Feminine and the Neuter. There are twelve plural terminations of +nouns, of which the most common is au. Some substantives are what +the grammarians call aggregate plurals, (28) "which are not used +in the plural without the addition of diminutive terminations, for +example adar, birds, aderyn, a bird; gwenyn, bees, gwenynen, a +single bee." There are different kinds of adjectives; some have a +plural, some have none; some have a feminine form, others have not; +the most common plural termination is ion. It is said by some that +the verb has properly no present tense, the future being used +instead. The verbs present many difficulties, and there are many +defective and irregular ones. In the irregularities of its verbs +the Welsh language very much resembles the Irish. + +The numerals require some particular notice: forty, sixty and +eighty are expressed by deugain, trigain, and pedwarugain, +literally, two twenties, three twenties, and four twenties; whilst +fifty, seventy, and ninety are expressed by words corresponding +with ten after two twenties, ten after three twenties, and ten +after four twenties. Whether the Welsh had ever a less clumsy way +of expressing the above numbers is unknown - something similar is +observable in French, and the same practice prevails in the modern +Gaelic; in the ancient Gaelic, however, there are such numerals as +ceathrachad, seasgad, and naochad, which correspond with +quadraginta, sexaginta, and nonaginta. The numerals dau, tri, and +pedwar, or two, three, and four, have feminine forms, becoming when +preceding feminine nouns, dwy, tair, and pedair. In Gaelic no +numeral has a feminine form; certain numerals, however, have an +influence over nouns which others have not, and before cead, a +hundred, and mile, a thousand, do, two, is changed into da, for it +is not customary to say do chead, two hundred, and do mhile, two +thousand, but da chead and da mhile. (29) With respect to pedwar, +the Welsh for four, I have to observe that it bears no similitude +to the word for the same number in Gaelic; the word for four in +Gaelic is ceathair, and the difference between ceathair and pedwar +is great indeed. Ceathair is what may be called a Sanscritic +numeral; and it is pleasant to trace it in various shapes, through +various languages, up to the grand speech of India: Irish, +ceathair; Latin, quatuor; Greek, tessares; Russian, cheturi; +Persian, chahar; Sanscrit, chatur. As to pedwar, it bears some +resemblance to the English four, the German vier, is almost +identical with the Wallachian patrou, and is very much like the +Homeric word [Greek text which cannot be reproduced], but beyond +Wallachia and Greece we find nothing like it, bearing the same +meaning, though it is right to mention that the Sanscrit word pada +signifies a QUARTER, as well as a foot. It is curious that the +Irish word for five, cuig, is in like manner quite as perplexing as +the Welsh word for four. The Irish word for five is not a +Sanscritic word, pump, the Welsh word for five, is. Pantschan is +the Sanscrit word for five, and pump is linked to pantschan by the +AEolick pempe, the Greek pente and pemptos, the Russian piat and +the Persian Pantsch; but what is cuig connected with? Why it is +connected with the Latin quinque, and perhaps with the Arabic +khamsa; but higher up than Arabia we find nothing like it; or if +one thinks one recognises it, it is under such a disguise that one +is rather timorous about swearing to it - and now nothing more on +the subject of numerals. + +I have said that the Welsh is exceedingly copious. Its +copiousness, however, does not proceed, like that of the English, +from borrowing from other languages. It has certainly words in +common with other tongues, but no tongue, at any rate in Europe, +can prove that it has a better claim than the Welsh to any word +which it has in common with that language. No language has a +better supply of simple words for the narration of events than the +Welsh, and simple words are the proper garb of narration; and no +language abounds more with terms calculated to express the +abstrusest ideas of the meta-physician. Whoever doubts its +capability for the purpose of narration, let him peruse the Welsh +Historical Triads, in which are told the most remarkable events +which befell the early Cumry; and whosoever doubts its power for +the purpose of abstruse reasoning, let him study a work called +Rhetorick, by Master William Salisbury, written about the year +1570, and I think he will admit that there is no hyperbole, or, as +a Welshman would call it, GORWIREB, in what I have said with +respect to the capabilities of the Welsh language. + +As to its sounds - I have to observe that at the will of a master +it can be sublimely sonorous, terribly sharp, diabolically guttural +and sibilant, and sweet and harmonious to a remarkable degree. +What more sublimely sonorous than certain hymns of Taliesin; more +sharp and clashing than certain lines of Gwalchmai and Dafydd +Benfras, describing battles; more diabolically grating than the +Drunkard's Choke-pear by Rhys Goch, and more sweet than the lines +of poor Gronwy Owen to the Muse? Ah, those lines of his to the +Muse are sweeter even than the verses of Horace, of which they +profess to be an imitation. What lines in Horace's ode can vie in +sweetness with + + +"Tydi roit a diwair wen +Lais eos i lysowen!" + +"Thou couldst endow, with thy dear smile, +With voice of lark the lizard vile!" + + +Eos signifies a nightingale, and Lysowen an eel. Perhaps in no +language but the Welsh, could an eel be mentioned in lofty poetry: +Lysowen is perfect music. + +Having stated that there are Welsh and Sanscrit words which +correspond, more or less, in sound and meaning, I here place side +by side a small number of such words, in order that the reader may +compare them. + +WELSH SANSCRIT + + +Aber, a meeting of waters, an Ap, apah, water; apaga, +outflowing; Avon, a river; a river; Persian, ab, +Aw, a flowing water; Wallachian, apa + +Anal, breath Anila, air + +Arian, silver Ara, brass; Gypsy, harko, +Aur, gold copper (30) + +Athu, to go At'ha; Russian, iti + +Bod, being, existence Bhavat, bhuta + +Brenin, a king Bharanda, a lord; Russian + barin + +Caer, a wall, a city Griha, geha, a house; Hindu- + stani, ghar; Gypsy, kair, + kaer + +Cain, fine, bright Kanta, pleasing, beautiful; + Kana, to shine + +Canu, to sing Gana, singing + +Cathyl, a hymn Kheli a song; Gypsy, gillie + +Coed, a wood, trees Kut'ha, kuti, a tree + +Cumro, a Welshman Kumara, a youth, a prince + +Daear, daeren, the earth Dhara, fem. dharani + +Dant, a tooth Danta + +Dawn, a gift Dana + +Derw, an oak Daru, timber + +Dewr, bold, brave Dhira + +Drwg, bad Durgati, hell; Durga, + the goddess of destruction + +Duw, God Deva, a god + +Dwfr, dwfyr, water Tivara, the ocean + (Tiber, Tevere) + +Dwr, water Uda; Greek, [Text which + cannot be reproduced] + Sanscrit, dhlira, the + ocean; Persian, deria, + dooria, the sea; Gypsy, + dooria + +En, a being, a soul, that An, to breathe, to live; +which lives ana, breath; Irish, an, + a man, fire + +Gair, a word Gir, gira, speech + +Gwr, a man Vira, a hero, strong, fire; +Gwres, heat Lat. vir, a man; Dutch, vuur, + fire; Turkish, er, a man; + Heb., ur, fire + +Geneth, girl Kani + +Geni, to be born Jana + +Gwybod, to know Vid + +Hocedu, to cheat Kuhaka, deceit + +Huan, the sun Ina + +Ieuanc,young Youvan + +Ir, fresh, juicy Ira, water +Irdra, juiciness + +Llances, a girl Lagnika + +Lleidyr, a thief Lata + +Maen, a stone Mani, a gem + +Mam, mother Ma + +Marw, to die Mara, death + +Mawr, great Maha + +Medd, mead Mad'hu, honey + +Meddwi, to intoxicate Mad, to intoxicate; Mada, + intoxication; Mada, pleasure; + Madya, wine; Matta, + intoxicated; Gypsy, matto, + drunk; Gr. [Text which cannot + be reproduced], wine, [Text + which cannot be reproduced], + to be drunk + +Medr, a measure Matra + +Nad, a cry Nad, to speak; Nada, sound + +Nant, ravine, rivulet Nadi, a river + +Neath, Nedd, name of a river; Nicha, low, deep; nichaga, +nedd, a dingle, what is low, a river, that which descends; +deep (Nith, Nithsdale) nitha, water + +Nef, heaven Nabhas; Russian, nabeca, the + heavens; Lat., nubes, a cloud + +Neidiaw, to leap; Nata, to dance; Nata, dancing + +Ner, the Almighty, the Lord, Nara, that which animates +the Creator every thing, the spirit of + God (31) + +Nerth, strength, power Nara, man, the spirit of God; + Gr. [text which cannot be + reproduced], a man, [text + which cannot be reproduced] + strength; Persian, nar, a + male; Arabic, nar, fire + +Noddwr, a protector Natha + +Nos, night Nisa + +Pair, a cauldron Pit'hara + +Ped, a foot; pedair, four Pad, a foot; pada, a quarter + +Pridd, earth Prithivi, the earth + +Prif, principal, prime Prabhu, a lord, a ruler + +Rhen, the Lord Rajan, a king + +Rhian, a lady Hindustani, rani + +Rhod, a wheel Ratha, a car + +Swm, being together Sam + +Swynwr, a wizard, sorcerer Sanvanana, a witch; + Hindustani, syani + +Tad, father Tata + +Tan, fire Dahana + +Tant, a string Tantu + +Tanu, to expand Tana + +Toriad, a breaking, cutting Dari, cutting + +Uchafedd, height Uchch'ya + +Ych, ox Ukshan + + +The Nara is called by the Tartars soukdoun, and by the Chinese ki: +"Principe qui est dans le ciel, sur la terre, dans l'homme, et dans +toutes les choses materielles et immaterielles." - DICTIOINNAIRE +TARTARE MANTCHOU, par Amyot. Tome second, p, 124. + +In the above list of Cumric and Sanscrit words there are certainly +some remarkable instances of correspondence in sound and sense, the +most interesting of which is that afforded by Ner, the Cumric word +for the Lord, and Nara, the Sanscrit word for the Spirit of God. +From comparing the words in that list one might feel disposed to +rush to the conclusion that the Cumric sprang from the Sanscrit, +the sacred language of sunny Hindustan. But to do so would be +unwise, for deeper study would show that if the Welsh has some +hundreds of words in common with the Sanscrit, it has thousands +upon thousands which are not to be found in that tongue, after +making all possible allowance for change and modification. No +subject connected with what is called philosophy is more mortifying +to proud human reason than the investigation of languages, for in +what do the researches of the most unwearied philologist terminate +but a chaos of doubt and perplexity, else why such exclamations as +these? Why is the Wallachian word for water Sanscrit? for what is +the difference between apa and ap? Wallachian is formed from Latin +and Sclavonian; why then is not the word for water either woda or +aqua, or a modification of either? Why is the Arabic word for the +sea Irish, for what is the difference between bahar, the Arabic +word for sea, and beathra, an old Irish word for water, pronounced +barra, whence the river Barrow? How is it that one of the names of +the Ganges is Welsh; for what is the difference between Dhur, a +name of that river, and dwr, the common Welsh word for water? How +is it that aequor, a Latin word for the sea, so much resembles +AEgir, the name of the Norse God of the sea? and how is it that +Asaer, the appellative of the Northern Gods, is so like Asura, the +family name of certain Hindu demons? Why does the scanty Gailk, +the language of the Isle of Man, possess more Sanscrit words than +the mighty Arabic, the richest of all tongues; and why has the +Welsh only four words for a hill, and its sister language the Irish +fifty-five? How is it that the names of so many streams in various +countries, for example Donau, Dwina, Don, and Tyne, so much +resemble Dhuni, a Sanscrit word for a river? How is it that the +Sanscrit devila stands for what is wise and virtuous, and the +English devil for all that is desperate and wicked? How is it that +Alp and Apennine, Celtic words for a hill, so much resemble ap and +apah, Sanscrit words for water? Why does the Sanscrit kalya mean +to-morrow as well as yesterday, and the Gypsy merripen life as well +as death? How is it that ur, a Gaelic word for fire, is so like +ura the Basque word for water, and Ure the name of an English +stream? Why does neron, the Modern Greek word for water, so little +resemble the ancient Greek [text which cannot be reproduced] and so +much resemble the Sanscrit nira? and how is it that nara, which +like nira signifies water, so much resembles nara, the word for man +and the Divinity? How is it that Nereus, the name of an ancient +Greek water god, and Nar, the Arabic word for fire, are so very +like Ner, the Welsh word for the Creator? How is it that a certain +Scottish river bears the name of the wife of Oceanus, for what is +Teith but Teithys? How indeed! and why indeed! to these and a +thousand similar questions. Ah man, man! human reason will never +answer them, and you may run wild about them, unless, dropping your +pride, you are content to turn for a solution of your doubts to a +certain old volume, once considered a book of divine revelation, +but now a collection of old wives' tales, the Bible. + + + +Footnotes: + +(1) That vira at one time meant man in general, as well as fire, +there can be no doubt. It is singular how this word or something +strikingly like it, occurs in various European languages, sometimes +as man, sometimes as fire. Vir in Latin signifies man, but vuur in +Dutch signifies fire. In like manner fear in Irish signifies a +man, but fire in English signifies the consuming, or, as the Hindus +would call it, the producing element. + +(2) "Pawb a'i cenfydd, o bydd bai, +A Bawddyn, er na byddai." - GRONWY OWEN. + +(3) One or two of the characters and incidents in this Saga are +mentioned in the Romany Rye. London, 1857, vol. i. p. 240; vol. +ii. p. 150. + +A partial translation of the Saga, made by myself, has been many +years in existence. It forms part of a mountain of unpublished +translations from the Northern languages. In my younger days no +London publisher, or indeed magazine editor, would look at anything +from the Norse, Danish, etc. + +(4) All these three names are very common in Norfolk, the +population of which is of Norse origin. Skarphethin is at present +pronounced Sharpin. Helgi Heely. Skarphethin, interpreted, is a +keen pirate. + +(5) Eryri likewise signifies an excrescence or scrofulous eruption. +It is possible that many will be disposed to maintain that in the +case of Snowdon the word is intended to express a rugged +excrescence or eruption on the surface of the earth. + +(6) It will not be amiss to observe that the original term is +gwyddfa but gwyddfa; being a feminine noun or compound commencing +with g, which is a mutable consonant, loses the initial letter +before y the definite article - you say Gwyddfa a tumulus, but not +y gwyddfa THE tumulus. + +(7) Essay on the Origin of the English Stage by Bishop Percy. +London, 1793. + +(8) The above account is chiefly taken from the curious Welsh book +called "Dych y prif Oesoedd." + +(9) Spirits. + +(10) Eel. + +(11) For an account of this worm, which has various denominations, +see article "Fasciola Hepatica" in any Encyclopaedia. + +(12) As the umbrella is rather a hackneyed subject two or three +things will of course be found in the above eulogium on an umbrella +which have been said by other folks on that subject; the writer, +however, flatters himself that in his eulogium on an umbrella two +or three things will also be found which have never been said by +any one else about an umbrella. + +(13) Bitter root. + +(14) Amongst others a kind of novel called "The Adventures of Twm +Shon Catty, a Wild Wag of Wales." It possesses considerable +literary merit, the language being pure, and many of the +descriptions graphic. By far the greater part of it, however, +would serve for the life of any young Welsh peasant, quite as well +as for that of Twm Shon Catti. Its grand fault is endeavouring to +invest Twm Shon with a character of honesty, and to make his +exploits appear rather those of a wild young waggish fellow than of +a robber. This was committing a great mistake. When people take +up the lives of bad characters the more rogueries and villainies +they find, the better they are pleased, and they are very much +disappointed and consider themselves defrauded by any attempt to +apologise for the actions of the heroes. If the thieves should +chance to have reformed, the respectable readers wish to hear +nothing of their reformation till just at the close of the book, +when they are very happy to have done with them for ever. + +(15) Skazka O Klimkie. Moscow, 1829. + +(16) Hanes Crefydd Yn Nghymru. + +(17) The good gentlewoman was probably thinking of the celebrated +king Brian Boromhe slain at the battle of Clontarf. + +(18) Fox's Court - perhaps London. + +(19) Drych y Prif Oesoedd, p. 100. + +(20) Y Greal, p. 279. + +(21) Hanes Crefydd Yn NGhymru. + +(22) Fear caoch: vir caecus. + +(23) Curses of this description, or evil prayers as they are +called, are very common in the Irish language, and are frequently +turned to terrible account by that most singular class or sect, the +Irish mendicants. Several cases have occurred connected with these +prayers, corresponding in many respects with the case detailed +above. + +(24) Sanscrit, Kali, a hero. + +(25) Sanscrit, Rama, Ramana, a husband. + +(26) Romany chal, son of Rome, lad of Rome. Romany chi, daughter +of Rome, girl of Rome. Chal, chiel, child, the Russian cheloviek, +a man, and the Sanscrit Jana, to be born, are all kindred words. + +(27) For a clear and satisfactory account of this system see Owen's +Welsh Grammar, p. 13. +(28) Owen's Grammar, p. 40. + +(29) Pronounced vile or wile - here the principle of literal +mutation is at work. + +(30) Lat. aurum, gold; AERis, of brass. Perhaps the true meaning +of ara, aurum, &c., is unrefined metal; if so, we have the root of +them all in our own word ore. + +(31) "The Eternal, the divine imperishable spirit pervading the +universe." - WILSON'S SANSCRIT DICTIONARY, p. 453. + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg eText Wild Wales + |