Part 9

Until within very few years a black stone was shown in the pavement of the street, bearing the impression of a horse’s shoe. The indenture was gravely said to have been caused by the hoof of St. Asaph’s horse when he leaped, with his pious master on his back, from Onen-Assa {122} to this spot, the moderate distance of two miles. In the year 1247 the Bishop of St. Asaph was driven from his see, and supported by benevolent contributions. The cathedral was consumed by fire after this period, and, being rebuilt, was again destroyed in 1404, by Owain Glandwr. For seventy years it continued a heap of ruins until restored by the zeal and activity of Bishop Redman. During the protectorate the puritans dispossessed the bishop, and the post-office was kept in the episcopal palace, while the baptismal font in the cathedral was desecrated into a watering trough, and calves were fed in the pulpit by the _sacrilegious_ postmaster. The cathedral consists of a choir, two lateral aisles, and a transept. The great eastern window possesses much architectural beauty, and the design of it was borrowed from the great window of Tintern Abbey. It is now adorned with stained glass, executed by Eggington, the expense of which was defrayed by Bishop Bagot and several gentlemen of the principality, whose arms are emblazoned thereon. The same amiable prelate re-edified the palace, and rendered it suitable to the opulence of this antient see. In the cemetery, adjacent to the west door, is a marble monument to the memory of Bishop Isaac Barrow, who died in 1680. Few prelates have been more eminent for piety or conspicuous by good works. When bishop of the Isle of Man he bought up all the impropriations, and bestowed them on the church. He expended large sums in educating the youth of that island, and founded three scholarships for them in the university of Dublin. When translated to St. Asaph’s he repaired the cathedral and the mill, founded almshouses for eight poor widows, and performed many other works of benevolence and liberality. Perhaps it was neither his least public service or least fortunate exertion, to have been the instructor of Dr. Isaac Barrow, a man who had he lived in any other age but that of Newton, his own pupil, would have been honoured as the most solid mathematician, sound divine, and profound general scholar, that had ever adorned the literature of his country, and now decidedly occupies the next pedestal to his immortal scholar, in all the great galleries of intellectual men throughout the civilized world. Dr. William Beveridge, a learned and amiable prelate, was consecrated to this see in the year 1704.

[Picture: South Stack Lighthouse (Holyhead); Corwen; Barmouth. London. Published by T. T. & J. Tegg, Cheapside, Oct. 1st 1832]

SOUTH STACK LIGHTHOUSE.

HOLYHEAD has been rendered a tolerably safe asylum for shipping at a vast expenditure of money and great exertion of scientific men. It possesses few natural advantages for a packet station or floating dock, the convenience of its position with regard to Dublin excepted; and for this pure reason it must continue an important position, until some other on the Welsh coast, possessing superior claims, be discovered and adopted by the legislature. Amongst the auxiliaries which art has contributed to give interest to Holyhead, the most picturesque and not the least important is the lighthouse, erected upon the South Stack. This singular Pharos stands upon a rocky island, the surface of which is elevated one hundred and twenty feet above the sea. It is separated from the mainland by a deep chasm, across which a chain suspension foot-bridge is thrown, from the mural cliff on the land side to the island. The descent from the top of the cliff to the bridge is effected by many flights of steps, cut in the front of the rock. The transit of the bridge is rather a nervous ceremony, and the fine craggs of serpentine rock, which overhang the gulf, are unequalled in the mineral kingdom, for variety of pattern and brilliancy of colouring. Beneath the island is a dark cave, excavated by the waves which dash into the narrow chasm with the utmost violence, and used in the milder seasons as a boat-house. On the highest point of the islet stands the lighthouse, a lofty hollow shaft surmounted by a lantern placed at a height of about two hundred feet above the sea, and exhibiting a bright revolving light, which bears upon the Skerries light south-west, half west nearly, eight miles. The light is produced by Argand lamps placed in the foci of metallic reflectors ground to the parabolic form. The sea cliffs of Holyhead mountain, presented to the South Stack Island, are beautifully bold, precipitous, and finely tinted with a variety of colours. Here innumerable sea birds, trusting to the dizzy and dangerous position of their dwellings for protection against human invasion, build their nests. But the ingenuity of man is only to be equalled by his courage, an assertion very fully substantiated by the trade of nest hunting pursued along these dangerous cliffs.

Two hardy and adventurous persons set out together on this perilous occupation. One remains on the top to provide for the secure tenure of a strong stake driven deep into the ground at a little distance from the edge of the precipice; the other, fastening round his waist a rope, which has previously been wound round the stake, with the remainder of the coil upon his arm, literally throws himself over the edge of the cliff, setting his feet against its front, to preserve and regulate a free descent, and lowers himself until he arrives at the habitations of the objects of his pursuit. In this manner be spoliates all the nests within his range, carrying the eggs in a basket suspended from his shoulders. The havoc being completed, he raises himself, by the same system of machinery, to the verge of the precipice, when his partner, laying himself flat upon the ground, assists him to double over the edge of the cliff, the most perilous part of this desperate undertaking, and one which could not be effected, without aid. The species of birds that build their aeries in these steep rocks are various,—wild pigeons, gulls, razor-bills, guillemots, cormorants, and herons. The pregrine falcon was formerly found lurking here, and the estimation in which its eggs were held, encouraged the prosecution of this adventurous trade.

MERIONETHSHIRE,

A MARITIME county of North Wales, extending thirty-five miles in length by thirty-four in breadth, and spreading over an area of four hundred and thirty thousand acres. This was the Roman Mervinia, and derives its name from Merion, a British prince and distinguished general, who expelled the Irish from this district, some time in the fifth century. A Roman occupancy of Merioneth, and one of some duration, is abundantly evident from the encampments and roads still remaining, as well as from the coins and medals frequently dug up here. The surface of the country is a continuation of the mountain chain which rises on the coast of Caernarvonshire, and traversing the principality dips into the Bristol Channel. The loftiest of the Merioneth hills “Cader Idris,” or the Chair of Idris, is elevated two thousand nine hundred and fourteen feet above the sea, a height inferior to that of Snowdon; but its position as a natural observatory, a purpose to which tradition states it was applied by Idris the astronomer, is infinitely superior to that of the monarch of the Caernarvon hills. The beauty of the scenery of mountain, valley, lake, and river, is not exceeded by those of similar and rival character in the adjoining counties, and its seclusion and primitiveness are less interrupted and more complete. In cataracts and delicious passages of river scenery it is superior to any other shire in Wales. To the want of roads may be traced the retirement in which the inhabitants live, to many possibly this may be a subject of envy rather than regret. The population are engaged chiefly in agriculture, that is in the rearing of sheep, black cattle, and the care of wool; the slate quarries also contributing a large revenue towards their more easy and comfortable subsistence. Bark and oak timber, next to the trade in slates, constitute their most important articles of commerce.

CORWEN.

THIS picturesque village is situated upon the great road from Shrewsbury to Holyhead, and about a quarter of a mile from the banks of the river Dee, in the county of Merioneth. It is seated art the base of a bold rock, a projection of the Berwyn mountains, against which the white tower of its church is well relieved, and forms an imposing feature in the beautiful landscape which the valley of the Dee presents at this place. It is an inland town, possessing the advantages of a market and good inn, but without any trade or manufacture; it has grown up into its present neat and cheerful aspect since the construction of the noble road which passes through it, and the traveller has here the gratification of observing, that whatever portion of his viaticum is expended at Corwen, is carefully husbanded and judiciously employed by its inhabitants. The church, a conspicuous feature in the distant view, is on a large scale in proportion to the extent of the town. In the cemetery surrounding it is the shaft of an ancient cross of excellent workmanship; and at the farther side stands a range of buildings two stories in height, called the College of Corwen. The following inscription, graven on a tablet placed over the entrance, explains its benevolent object:

“Corwen College for Six Widows of Clergymen of the Church of England, who died possessed of cure of souls, in the county of Merioneth, A.D. M.D.CCL. By the legacy of William Eyton, Esq. of Plas Warren.”

Corwen is the country of Owen Glandwr. The head inn is adorned by his gigantic portrait: in the church wall is shown the private doorway, through which he entered his pew whenever he attended worship, and in the rock impending over the church yard is a recess, called “his chair.” From this rude seat Glandwr is said to have thrown a dagger with such strength that it left an impression of its form in a hard stone below, full half an inch in depth, which stone now forms the lintel of the doorway leading to his pew within the church.

On the sloping brow of a lofty hill, having a western aspect, is a circular enclosure, formed by loose stones but arranged in a systematic way, and measuring rather more than half a mile in circumference. Some scattered heaps within it are supposed to have been habitations, but nothing now appears to justify the notion. This curious circus is called Caer Drewyn, and Owen Gwynedd is said to have been encamped within it while the army of Henry the Second lay on the opposite side of the vale. A situation so commanding could not have escaped the notice of the prudent Glandwr, who frequently took shelter within this rude fortress, from which he had a free and uninterrupted view of his native vale of Glan-Dwrdwy. About one mile from Corwen is Rûg, the beautiful seat of Colonel Vaughan.

BARMOUTH.

A SEAPORT town in the county of Merioneth, is situated at the embouchure of the river Maw or Mawddach, which is obstructed at its entrance by a bar, and hence the origin of the Welsh name Abermaw, and the English Barmouth. The old town almost hangs over the sands, being built in parallel rows along the front of a steep rock, and upon so inconvenient a plan that the windows of all the houses, except those in the lowest street, are annoyed by the smoke ascending from the chimneys of those below. This formal arrangement has occasioned its comparison by tourists to the rock of Gibraltar, and seen from the sea it certainly does present a warlike front. The new town stands upon the sands at the base of the rock, and though free from the smoky imputation which blackens the character of its elder brother, is scarcely safe from the attacks of Neptune, who is only kept at a respectful distance by the intervention of a few mounts of sand shifting with every storm. The beach is level, hard, and smooth; a great convenience to those whose health requires the stimulus of cold immersion, and an agreeable ride for the fashionable visiters who come hither in the summer season for sociability and recreation. The panorama around the estuary is inconceivably grand; the river, expanding into a bay, is embraced by mountains assuming all forms as they aspire above each other, shooting into denuded cliffs that hang over the water, or clothed with forests retiring into deep glens, whither fancy alone can pursue them.

Barmouth has become now a very popular place, arising from various causes, its established character for courtesy and hospitality to strangers, the beauty of the surrounding scenery, and the excellence of the avenues communicating with the most fascinating landscapes in the principality. All the various modes of amusement and recreation provided at fashionable watering places are supplied here. The morning may be passed in riding over the sands, or exploring the wonders of the mountains and the beauty of the vales. Dancing, cards, billiards, and social meetings, occupy the evenings, at which the lyre of old Cambria is often heard pouring forth its plaintive melody. There are no public buildings of any architectural claims here. Baths, lodging-houses, spacious inns, and assembly rooms, are well adapted to their various ends, but present nothing interesting in the exterior. The new church, erected close to the water’s edge, is a very agreeable object, happily designed and creditably executed.

The Friar’s Island stands precisely in the mouth of the river, and ferries are established at the channels on each side; these once passed, a ride of one mile over the firm sands reaches the road to Towyn, which is carried along the front of a bold headland hanging over the sea, less beautiful, but equally bold as the old road round the brow of Penmaen Mawr.

[Picture: Tre Madoc; Harlech Castle; Castel Goch or Welch Pool. London. Published by T. T. & J. Tegg, Cheapside, Oct. 1st 1832]

There was a military station on the summit of Dinas Gortin, and close to the town stood a tower, in which the Earl of Richmond used to conceal himself, upon his visits to his confederates in this part of Wales. Its strength is celebrated in a poem, written at that period, in which it is also compared with Reinault’s tower near Mold.

TRE-MADOC.

A VILLAGE on the western side of the estuary called the Traeth Mawr, in the promontory of Llyn and county of Caernarvon. It stands on a surface three feet lower than the level of the sea, from the invasion of which it is protected by a substantial embankment. A handsome church ornamented with a tower and spire, and approached through an arched way of exquisite workmanship; a spacious market-house, with assembly rooms in the upper story; a large inn and several good houses, all placed in well chosen and regular positions, indicate the taste of the founder, and excite a feeling of regret that his well directed exertions in excluding the sea were not ultimately better rewarded. The place derives its name from the late W. A. Madocks, Esq., a man of the most courtly, popular manners, and possessed of a penetrating and clear discernment. His first design of enclosing the ground on which the town is built proving successful, led him on to the greater but less happy attempt, that of embanking some thousand acres of the Traeth Mawr, by a sea wall from Caernarvon to Merionethshire. To secure, and place the validity of his title beyond future question, he obtained a grant from the crown in 1807 of all the sands from Pont Aberglaslyn to the point of Gêst. Across the sea-end of this space, and where the breadth was about one mile, he carried an embankment, in deep water, having a breadth of one hundred feet at the base and of thirty at the top. The material of which it is formed is rubble stone, formerly imbedded in loose earth, which was readily detached by the water and entirely carried away, leaving innumerable apertures for the ebb and flow of the tide. This unfortunate error might have been corrected by puddling or some other means; but the breadth of the embankment is still too trifling for the depth and force of the sea. The tide pours in rapidly through every part of this expensive work, presenting a calamitous picture of the projector’s losses, while the dam that secures the town will probably see generations rise and fall on one side, like the fluctuation of the waters from which it protects them on the other.

The idea of rescuing the Traeth Mawr from the sea is as old as the days of Sir John Wynne, of Gwydyr, A.D. 1625. This busy, pompous, but clever man, perceived the practicability of reclaiming both traeths, and solicited the assistance of his ingenious countryman, Sir Hugh Myddleton, but this eminent person declined the invitation, being then engaged in the vast scheme of leading the New River to London. What events are concealed in the arcana of fate! Sir Hugh died nearly broken-hearted, at the apparent failure of a scheme which subsequently proved eminently successful. Mr. Madocks’ life was embittered by the termination of a speculation which was at first apparently successful, then suddenly fell to hopelessness.

HARLECH CASTLE.

HARLECH, now a poor village, deriving its only tenure in the memory of travellers from a noble castle, was formerly the capital of the county, and erected into a free borough by King Edward the First. But the great sessions have been removed to Dolgelly and Bala, and the privilege of sending a burgess to parliament was forfeited by neglect. The corporation consisted of a mayor, recorder, bailiffs, and burgesses, and their register is now in possession of a blacksmith in the village. The charter was stolen by the captain of a merchant vessel, who desired to see the authority upon which he was required to pay toll at Gêst Point; when the ancient deed was put into his hand, he dishonestly and villanously refused to return it, and put out to sea. Ormsby Gore, of Porkington, Esq. the representative of the house of Cleneny, has restored the little county hall, in which the member for Merionethshire continues to be elected, and at other times it is appropriated to the charitable purpose of a poor school. A few years back even tourists were content with the history of Harlech, particularly if it happened to be accompanied by an illustration of the fine castle. The singular ruggedness of the way, and the wretchedness of the lodgings, threw a damp on the ardour of even the most inquisitive. These objections are happily no longer applicable, a new road is formed between Maes y Neuadd and Glyn, and Sir Robert Vaughan has erected a spacious and handsome inn at Harlech, where admirable accommodations are afforded upon singularly moderate terms.

The great attraction of Harlech is the magnificent castle,—formerly remarkable for its strength, now only celebrated for its beauty,—once the terror, but now the pride of the scene. It stands on the summit of a bold perpendicular rock, projecting from a range of hills which stretches along the coast, and frowning over an extensive marsh, which is scarcely higher than the level of the sea that skirts it. On the side next the sea it must originally have been utterly inaccessible, the castle walls being scarce distinguishable from the rock on which they rest, but rather resembling a continued surface of dark gray masonry. The other sides were protected by a fosse of great breadth and depth, cut in the solid rock. The only entrance was beneath a barbacan, within which a drawbridge fell across the fosse, and opened within a ballium which enveloped the citadel. The plan resembles a square, each angle of which is strengthened by a large circular tower, the entrance being also protected by two noble flankers. On the entrance side of the inner court are the chief apartments; and a beautiful elevation, of three stories in height, with cut stone architraves to each window, the whole terminated by graceful circular pavilions, rising far above the ballium, and commanding one of the grandest imaginable prospects, is still entire. It resembles in style and position the council hall in the castle of Beaumaris. The banqueting hall is on the opposite side, and its windows look, from a dizzy height, down upon the green waters of the sea. On the right of the court may be traced the ruins of a small chapel, the pointed window of which is still entire.

No more the banners o’er the ramparts wave, Or lead their chieftains onward to the fight, Where die the vanquish’d, or exult the brave, For victory, basking in its worship’d light. The Cambrian chiefs of Rheinog Fawr Are mingled in the dust with common clay.

No view, in the northern shires, is superior in grandeur to the prospect from the light turrets of Harlech Castle. The Marsh and Traeth are seen spread out at a frightful depth, and from the margin of their wide level stupendous rocks and cliffs suddenly start up, tufted and embossed with wood. A great mass of air seems to float in the void behind this scene, separating a world of mountains, the grandeur of whose features the pencil only can express. A stupendous vista of broken bills forms a noble perspective, crossed by ranges that open to farther glimpses—summit succeeds to summit in endless train, leading the fancy into regions of solitary obscurity.