Part 17

The Severn, near GLOUCESTER, separates into two channels; which, soon re-uniting, inclose a tract of land called the Isle of Alney; so that we approached the city over two bridges connected together by a high causeway near a mile in length, which traverses the islet. An assemblage of ships, houses, and numerous spires, greeted us with a look of more public importance than we had been used to for several weeks, as we drew near the city. It would require a volume to give an adequate description of this place: all that my limits will allow me to say is, that it is one of the fairest cities in England, regularly composed of four principal wide well-built streets, meeting at right angles in the middle of the town; abounding with Gothic churches and other public structures, and a new-built gaol, which is one of the best in the kingdom. But its chief ornament is its truly grand cathedral, remarkable for its elegant tower, surmounted with four transparent pinnacles of the most exquisite workmanship, and for having the largest Gothic window in Britain: nor is it less to be noticed for the curious ramifications and transomes of its fretted roof, and the high state of enrichment throughout the structure. {355} We ascended to the summit of the tower, where

"The bursting prospect spreads immense around: And, snatch'd o'er hill and dale, and wood and lawn, And verdant fields, and dark'ning heath between, And villages embosom'd soft in trees, And spiry towns by surging columns mark'd Of household make, your eye excursive roams To where the broken landscape, by degrees Ascending, roughens into rigid hills; O'er which the Cambrian mountains, like far clouds That skirt the blue horizon, dusky rise."

A tributary sigh escaped as we caught the last gleam of our much-loved principality; nor can I conclude my subject without transmitting that view of the Welch individual character and state of society (particularly alluding to the southern district), which impressed me during my tour, and which I have since believed to be just.

Wales may be considered as exhibiting almost the sole remnant of "the good old times" existing in Britain. Separated from those causes of extrinsic splendour which domineer over other parts of our island, the opulent landholders freely dispense the wealth of their inheritance with unostentatious liberality. Indifferent to outward shew, their first cares evince a parental regard to the poor on their domains, and the maintenance of their forefathers' good cheer. An interchange of good offices is alike conspicuous between them and the commonalty; and it is no less pleasing to see the friendly solicitude of the one, than the unaffected respect and attachment of the other.

The Welch are justly described to be the most robust and hardy inhabitants of this kingdom; for, unenervated by those sedentary employments foisted on less happy regions by luxury and avaricious policy, they boast the vigorous frames of aboriginal Britons. Although not generally tall, they possess a more unequivocal criterion of strength, in a fine breath of chest; and hence it has been remarked, that a Cambrian regiment drawn up in line covers more ground than any other. By healthful toil and simplicity of diet invigorated, they are at once potent, courageous, animated, and generous.

It has been asserted, that the Welch are averse from strangers;--but by whom? By those who have provoked that aversion; who, carrying with them a vulgar estimation of superior show at the tables of England, have not known how to approve a regular board of hospitality, when contrasted by the splendid profusion of fashionable entertainments; who, representing the more gay appointments of other resorts, have pitied the Welchman's old-fashioned furniture, and wondered how any gentlemanly being could exist in his gloomy Gothic habitation. Such as can conceive no other travelling enjoyments than superior inns, sumptuous dinners, and bowling-green roads, may quarrel with our principality. But it is for those who travel with more enlarged views, and proper introductions, to declare the ingenuous welcome that they have experienced: the eager solicitude that was every where manifested to afford them information; and the liberal fare set before them, which not even the greatly-increased expence of family establishments could effectually suppress.

As every virtue has its concomitant shade, we have to lament that the Welchman's ardent spirit sometimes inclines him to be quarrelsome; yet, as there is generosity at the bottom, his passion seldom becomes vindictive. A disposition for social enjoyment has led him from conviviality to habits of intemperance; and an improvident hospitality, to the ruin of his family's fortune. An error more harmless in its operation arises from his admiration of illustrious ancestry; which often resolves itself into an association of personal importance, that unbiassed individuals are not inclined to allow. These asperities are wearing away, under the attrition of a more extended and enlightened intercourse. But it is the heartfelt wish of an earnest admirer of their present state of society, equal to every essential duty of a manly people, that the chilling apathy of morbid refinement may never paralize their spirit of independence, that spring of energetic action which forms the noblest attribute of Man.

* * * * *

THE END.

* * * * *

NICHOLS _and_ SON, _Printers_, _Red-Lion-Passage_, _Fleet-Street_.

Footnotes.

{0} The errata has been applied in this eText.--DP.

{6} The Saxons at this period are supposed to have occupied Monmouth, Chepstow, Caerwent, and Caerleon.

{7} Mr. Pennant.

{9} The common appellation of this mode, _Gothic_, is equally improper with the preceding, as the reign of the Goths was at an end long before its introduction: indeed its origin is wrapped in obscurity. Sir Christopher Wren, and after him many architects and antiquaries, have attributed it to the Saracens, and hence called it Saracenic; but their grounds are very questionable. Perhaps the homely conjecture, that it arose from the pointed form in the intersecting Saxon arches, may be as near the truth as one derived from more laborious researches; indeed, from the specimens of early Gothic which I have seen, I am of opinion, that cogent reasons may be adduced, to prove it rather to be of natural growth from the Saxon modes, and formed in its characteristics by gradual alteration, than a new system of remote and detached origins.

{11} An iron grate, with spikes at the bottom, which was let down after the gate was forced.

{12} Several years ago, when I first set about castle-hunting, I endeavoured in vain to discover a relation between what I saw, and the description with a figure of an ancient castle, laid down in Grose's Antiquities, and copied by others. I have since seen the greater part of the principal ruins in South-Britain; and the only castles that occur to me as approaching to that gentleman's plan, are those of Dover and London. I mention this, because persons building a theory on the authorities above-mentioned, might, among ruins, be puzzled, to no purpose, for a practical illustration.

{21} The practice of whitening their dwellings, in Wales, is very general, and of long standing. David ap Gwillim, a bard of the 14th century, thus notices it in his invocation to Summer: "With sun-shine morn gladden thou the place, and greet the whitened houses."

{22} Of the numerous vessels that sail from Bristol to Swansea, not one is fitted for passengers, and it was our misfortune to enter the worst in the service: we afterwards learned, that two superior vessels, Dimond and Hawkins masters, afford very tolerable accommodation. The sailing of these might be learned from a correspondence at Bristol, and a pleasant conveyance obtained,--at least for men.

{29} The cromlech is certainly a relic of the Druidical age. It is variously contended to have been a place of worship, a sepulchral monument, and an altar for sacrifice. The latter opinion appears to me best supported; nor can I look on a cromlech without adverting to those horrid rites wherein human victims were immolated by Druid-craft to excite the terrors of superstition.

{62} See the Introduction, Section 3.

{67} A Description of England and Wales, Vol. VII.

{71} The shores of Milford-haven abound with lime-stone; which, affording a rich manure (with coals and culm), is conveyed by water over a great portion of the country. In the shores of the haven also, near its junction with the open sea, are many veins of copper ore, some of which are conjectured to be very rich; but none have been explored with perseverance.

{72} Lord Kensington described to me a very picturesque ruin called Benton cattle, situated upon the borders of Milford-haven near the arm of Lawrenny. This ruin I had not an opportunity of seeing, nor do I remember having read of it in any of the descriptions of Wales.

{73} I asked one of these young women, with the utmost seriousness and civility, at least with all that I was master of, what they made use of to render their teeth so uncommonly white; when the arch hussy waggishly replied, "Only a little nice white sand, and a scrubbing-brush, Sir."

{81} From Haverfordwest, a turnpike road extends to Caermarthen, 33 miles distant. About nine miles from Haverford, and one to the left of the road, is Lawhaden castle, picturesquely seated on a bold eminence, overlooking an extensive country. This castle was the principal seat of the Bishops of St. David's; but in the year 1616 Bishop Milborne obtained leave to dismantle it, the lead and other expensive materials having been purloined by his holy predecessors. Narbeth, a small irregular town built on a hill about 11 miles on the road, has some inconsiderable ruins of a castle erected by Sir Andrew Perrot, whose ancestor came over at the Conquest. The road, pawing through St. Clare, a pleasing village, continues onward without any particular attraction.

{84} Aber, in Welch, signifies the mouth of a river: hence Abertivy, Aberystwith, &c.

{85} Powell, in his History of Wales, says, that it was rebuilt before the year 1176; when Rhys, Prince of South Wales, made therein a great entertainment at Christmas, at which were present many hundreds of the English, Norman, and Irish nobility. Among other things for their entertainment, he caused all the bards throughout Wales to come thither; and seating them round the hall, they had to contend with each other in rhyme: such as excelled, were promised great rewards and rich presents. The North Wales bards were acknowledged victors in poetry, and Prince Rhys's own servants the ablest musicians.

{91} The equilibrium is now destroyed.

{92} See p. 29.

{94} Camden says, it often holds its tail between its teeth, to render its springs more immediate.

{98} Near Penrhyn a British gold coin was found, of about equal weight with a guinea, a little hollowed on one side, and different from any of the coinage of the Romans, or their successors: whence, and from other instances, it is inferred, that the Britons had gold and silver coin before the arrival of the Romans. In the church-yard is a large rough-hewn stone, bearing an inscription that has not yet been interpreted.

{106} At Lhanar, a small village two or three miles distant, on the right bank of the river, there was a Cistercian nunnery, a cell to Starflower Abbey, of which I understand some imperfect vestiges remain.

{123} According to Tanner, Leland, and Dugdale. Camden says it was for Cluniacs.

{130} The mansion of Mr. Vaughan, the greatest landholder in Caermarthenshire. We did not visit this seat, or Middleton hall, also southward of the valley a few miles nearer Caermarthen, but without commanding any of its beauties. The latter place, built a few years since by Mr. Paxton, formerly a banker at Bengal, I understand to be the most splendid specimen of modern architecture in Wales; but, unfortunate in its situation, it is already neglected.

{131} The ruins of Gruslwyn castle occupy a bold conical hill about half-way between Llandilo and Caermarthen, in the Vale of Towey. Nearer Caermarthen, until lately, stood the venerable remains of Green castle, built by Uchtred, prince of Merionethshire, in 1138; but the ruin is now reduced to a few unimportant walls: both these fragments of antiquity are within view of the road.

{135} "Dim Sarsnic" (no Saxon) is a common expression, grounded on their anciently confounding all foreigners with their mortal enemies the Saxons; as the lower class in England consider every foreigner a Frenchman. This is said to be connected with a marked dislike and incivility to strangers; yet, so far as my observations extend, a greater disposition to acts of kindness is not to be met with in any part of the kingdom than in South Wales.

{140} Along with the degeneracy of social affections, manly prowess, and other noble affections, that hang on nations and places absorbed in the pursuit of trade, the dereliction of chastity is greatly conspicuous. In Manchester, for example, an almost promiscuous intercourse prevails in the great class of the people: insomuch that the Magistrates attempt to check the increase of bastard children by inflicting stripes and imprisonment on the women who bear above a certain number! But why enumerate particular instances of the debasing tendency of too much trade, when the history of the world furnishes abundant proofs to establish the fact as an axiom.

{145} Rail-ways are so called, from being constructed of iron (in some places wooden) rails, placed in such a manner as to receive the wheels of a sort of low cart, used in the conveyance of metal and coals. These cars, as they are called, are of very ponderous structure; their wheels, grooved round, with a shoulder dipping on the inside, pass with great facility over the rails; which latter, projecting an inch or two above the ground, are kept in their places by a sunken frame of wood. The advantages of these roads are very considerable for the purposes to which they are applied; insomuch that many persons have suggested their usefulness for public ways; but perhaps without considering the numerous practical objection that would encounter the project.

{150} _Single stones_ may be considered among the remotest monuments of antiquity: we read of such in the Old Testament, raised in commemoration of signal victories, and as noted sepulchres. Jacob erected one at Lug; and placed another over the grave of Rachael.

{153} They were wrecked on the Margam estate upwards of a century since.

{155} This is called part of the Abbey church in Grose's Antiquities; but, as the foundation of that edifice is demonstrable near the chapter-house, it appears to be an error.

{163} In this neighbourhood several Roman coins have been dug up, among which were some very scarce ones of AEmilianus and Marius.

{164} Llancarvan, about three miles from Cowbridge, is said to be the site of a Monastery built by St. Cadocus in the year 500.--Boverton, a village a short distance from Cowbridge in the road to Cardiff, is thought to be the Bovium of the Romans.

{173} From this place a turnpike-road extends through the mountains to Brecon, a district so wild as not to present a village, and scarcely a habitation in an extent of eighteen miles.--In the neighbourhood of Merthyr-tydvill I find described Morlashe castle, a ruin.

{174} An outwork that defended the drawbridge.

{175} The external staircase entrance to the hall spoken of by Camden, "the roof whereof is vaulted and supported by twenty arches," is now rendered nearly impassable by rubbish.

{177} On a mountain near Caerphilly is a monument known by the name of _Y Maen hir_. It is a quadrangular stone pillar, rather inclining, and about eight feet high: close to the base is a mound, inclosing the space of six yards; and in the midst, a square area. On the pillar is an inscription in Welch, which signifies, "May'st thou awake;" from which it is inferred to be a funereal monument.--Grose's Antiquities.

{181} This is called the magazine, from its having been applied to that purpose in the civil wars of Charles the First.

{184a} There is no cross aile to this cathedral, as there is to all the others in England and Wales: nor any middle steeple, as there is to all the others except Bangor and Exeter.

{184b} Castle coch, or the Red castle, situated upon a high bank of the river Taffe, about four miles above Landaff, is a small ruin which we neglected to visit.

{185} Monmouthshire has been separated from Wales by the judicial arrangement of later times; yet the character of the county throughout is so entirely Cambrian, that I cannot consider myself out of Wales until after having passed the Wye. Indeed, this highly-varied and interesting district may be considered as an epitome of the whole principality. The mountains stretching over the north-west of Monmouthshire shire may vie with any in South-Wales, and even aspire to the majestic wildness of some in North-Wales; the rich fertility, or broken precipices accompanying the course of the Severn, Wye, and Usk, with much contrastive grandeur, possess the highest pretensions to picturesque fame; and its numerous ruins and other monuments of antiquity are among the most celebrated in the kingdom.--An elegant and able work, in two volumes, quarto, has been lately published, descriptive of Monmouthshire, and illustrated by no less than 90 excellent plates. The researches of its author (Mr. Coxe) have been so accurate and complete, as to leave little more for a succeeding tourist to do than to select and transcribe. The descriptions I always found highly satisfactory and just; I have therefore, in the generality of instances, thought it unnecessary to follow any other authority for documents in history and antiquities.

{192} An officer who had the superintendance of the walls, and collected a toll for keeping them in repair.

{195} We did not visit Rogeston castle, about two miles north-west of Newport, a fortress of the Stradlings who came over with Fitzhammon. Part of its remains appear in the foundation of the mansion built on its site, belonging to the Morgans, but tenanted by Mr. Butler of Caerleon, and employed as a manufactory of iron bolts and tin plates.

{200a} In ancient military architecture "_circinatio angulorum_;" a plan condemned by Vitruvius, because it rather sheltered the besiegers than the besieged, "_quia hostem magis tuentur quam civem_."

{200b} A decent little inn, and the only one in the town.

{208} These ruins are attributed to the ravages of Owen Glendower, who sacked and burnt the town.

{209} From Usk to Abergavenny, the road passes several objects worthy of a tourist's notice. I must here borrow from Mr. Coxe's survey, not having travelled on the road. The church of Kemys Commander, between three and four miles from Usk, to the left of the road, is a small Gothic structure; its cemetery is remarkable for a hollow yew-tree, fifteen feet in girth, within which is inclosed an oak not less than seven feet in circumference; its branches shadow the parent trunk, forming a singular combination of foliage. The church of Bettus Newydd, on the right of the road in the same neighbourhood, is noticeable for the entire state of its ancient rood-loft. A mile and a half further the road is graced with an elegant Gothic gateway, of modern execution, appertaining to Clytha house, the seat of William Jones, Esq.; and near it is Clytha castle, a structure erected by Mr. Jones to the memory of a beloved wife. At seven miles from Usk, to the right of the road, is the old mansion of Lansanfread, a residence of James Green, Esq. M.P., for Arundel. Colebrook, about two miles further, and nearly the same distance from Abergavenny, is a seat of Sir John Hanbury Williams. The house was an irregular old pile, with square towers at each angle, until about fifty years since, when the present front and Doric portico were erected, from a design of Sir Charles Hanbury Williams, of diplomatic and facetious memory.

{214} The walls here and in many other parts of the ruin are not deprived of their facing stones, as is generally the case with these remaining monuments of baronial splendour; but, constructed of a superior sort of light grey stone, they still exhibit a specimen of exquisite masonry; and where they have not been wilfully dilapidated appear as perfect as if just finished.

{219} List of the household, and method of living, at Raglan Castle, by the Earl of Worcester, in the reign of Charles the First, 1641.

At eleven o'clock in the forenoon the castle gates were shut, and the tables laid; two in the dining-room; three in the hall; one in Mrs. Watson's apartment, where the chaplains eat (Sir Toby Matthews being the first); and two in the housekeeper's room, for the ladies' women.

The Earl entered the dining-room, attended by his gentlemen. As soon as he was seated, Sir Ralph Blackstone, steward of the house, retired. The comptroller, Mr. Holland, attended with his staff, as did the sewer Mr. Blackburne; the daily waiters, Mr. Clough, Mr. Selby, Mr. Scudamore; and many gentlemen's sons, with estates from two to seven hundred pounds a year, who were bred up in the castle; my lady's gentlemen of the chamber, Mr. Morgan and Mr. Fox. At the first table sat the noble family, and such of the nobility as came there.

At the second table, in the dining-room, sat knights and honourable gentlemen attended by footmen.

In the hall, at the first table, sat Sir Ralph Blackstone, steward; the comptroller, Mr. Holland; the secretary; the master of the Horse, Mr. Dolowar; the master of the Fish-ponds, Mr. Andrews; my Lord Herbert's preceptor, Mr. Adams; with such gentlemen as came there under the degree of a knight, attended by footmen, and plentifully served with wine.

At the second table in the hall (served from my Lord's table, and with other hot meats) sat the sewer, with the gentlemen waiters and pages, to the number of twenty-four.

At the third table, in the hall, sat the clerk of the kitchen, with the yeomen officers of the house, two grooms of the chamber, &c.

Other officers of the household were, chief auditor, Mr. Smith; clerk of the accounts, George Whithorn; purveyor of the castle Mr. Salisbury; ushers of the hall, Mr. Moyle and Mr. Cooke; closet-keeper; gentleman of the chapel, Mr. Davies; keeper of the records; master of the wardrobe; master of the armoury; master grooms of the stable for the war-horses, twelve; master of the hounds; master falconer; porter and his man. Two butchers; two keepers of the home-park; two keepers of the red-deer park. Footmen, grooms, and other menial servants, to the number of 150. Some of the footmen were brewers and bakers.

Out Officers: Steward of Raglan, William Jones, Esq.; the governor of Chepstow Castle, Sir Nicholas Kemys, Bart.; housekeeper of Worcester-house in London, James Redman, Esq.; thirteen Bailiffs; two counsel for the bailiffs to have recourse to; solicitor, Mr. John Smith.

{222} The Romans constructed their roads with large masses of stone closely layed together: each piece was often six or seven feet long and carefully squared. The road to Caerwent, formed on such a foundation, though passing through a low swampy country, is observed to be uncommonly compact and dry. Thus the utility of that once great people's work is transmitted through the constant wear of fifteen centuries; and excites the admiration of even our own enlightened age.

{236} Camden's Britannia, p. 714, ed. 1722.

{238} About half a mile from the shore is a rocky islet called Charston rock, much esteemed for the durability of its stone: it has lately been employed in the lower part of the piers of Newport-bridge.