Contains the first appear- 
 ance of that poem by Cole- 
 ridge, commencing: "Richer 
 than misers oWtheir count- 
 less hoards; nobler than 
 kings or king-polluted lords: 
 
 [p./o 
 
•» ■ .-f: 
 
 DUKE 
 
 UNIVERSITY 
 
 LIBRARY 
 
 Treasure %oom 
 
 THE 
 
 COLERIDGE 
 
 COLLECTION 
 
A 
 
 PEDESTRIAN TOUR 
 
 THROUGH 
 
 JVORTH WALES, 
 
 I 
 
 IN A 
 
 SERIES OF LETTERS. 
 
 By J. H U C K S, B. A, 
 
 With gold and gems if Chilian mountains glow, 
 If bleak and barren Cambria's hills arife, 
 There plague and poifon, luft and rapine grow, 
 Here peaceful are the vales, and pure the flcies, 
 And freedom fire the foul, and fparkles in the eyes. 
 
 The MiNSTREt. 
 
 JLontJon: 
 
 Printed for J. Debrett, Piccadilly ; and J. 
 Edwards, Pall Mall. 
 
 Sold alfo hy W. H. Lunn, B. Flower, and J. Deighton, 
 Cambridge; MelTrs. Binns, and Greenwoo0, Leeds j 
 and Meffrs. Dyer, andTREWMAN, Exeter. 
 
 1795- 
 
riJ. c^^^d^.. s^HetK, 
 

 PREFACE. 
 
 lU': 
 
 XX T a time fo peculiarly alarming 
 to the affairs of this country, that 
 every hour comes attended with fome 
 frefh calamity : when reafon and juf- 
 tice are fuffering in the conflid of 
 nations ; when rapine and oppreffion 
 are defolating the faireft regions of 
 Europe : in fliort, when the common 
 interefts of hwmanity, when every 
 dear and invaluable privilege, that can 
 render focicty lovely and defirable, is 
 33 altogether 
 
 283835 
 
4 PREFACE. 
 
 altogether neglected or forgotten, and 
 the happy re-union of liberty and 
 tranquillity, nnore the object of our 
 wiflies than our expe<flations ; in fuch 
 an eventful, but fatal, period of the 
 political drama, the following letters 
 jnay probably be confidered as an in- 
 truiion upon the public attention, too 
 much abforbed in the nice intrigues 
 of the cabinet and the field, to unbei>d 
 their thoughts to lighter purfuits, 
 when the great fcale of our political 
 exiftence is in danger of finking for 
 ever. 
 
 Left any fuch argunfient fhould be 
 adduced againfl him, the author begs 
 
 leave 
 
PREFACE. 5 
 
 leave to make one obfervation, (viz.) 
 That he has written neither for the 
 flatefman, the general, or the politi- 
 cian; he is fenfible, that from the 
 nature of the fubjedt, his little v^ork 
 will not be extended amongft a very 
 large clafs of readers ; the amufement 
 of an individual was originally the 
 fole objed of the following letters, 
 but he has ventured to make them 
 public, under the hope that they' may, 
 in fomc meafure, contribute to the 
 fatisfadtion of thofe who have not feen, 
 yet may wifh to become familiarwith, 
 the outlines of a country, fo diflimilar 
 in every refpedt to England; and to 
 whom a flight fketch of the moft 
 
 prominent 
 
 263835 
 
6 PREFACE. 
 
 prominent features of its inhabitants, 
 may not appear either tedious or un- 
 interefting; and he flatters himfelf. 
 they will not be unacceptable to thofe, 
 who, like himfelf, might be induced to 
 explore the beautiful fcenery of North 
 Wales; and to whom the Ihort, 
 though probably imperfed: account 
 of it there given, may prove an ufeful 
 companion, to direcfl them in their 
 progrefs through a country, to which 
 they might be -altogether unac- 
 quainted. 
 
 He claims the indulgence of his 
 readers for the tautology and egotifm, 
 almoft infeparable from works of fuch 
 
 a delcrip^ 
 
PREFACE. f 
 
 a defcription ; but he has, as much as 
 poffible, endeavoured to avoid a re- 
 petition of names, and for this reafon, 
 has, in moft cafes, fpoken of. him- 
 felf as being the only fpedator; at 
 the fame time, in juftice to thofe who 
 accompanied him, he takes this op-, 
 portunity of' acknowledging himfelf, 
 upon maay occalions, greatly indebted 
 to them for many interefting remarks 
 and ufeful information, which other- 
 wife he could not have had the means 
 of acquiring. 
 
 Since he firft conceived the deiign 
 of publifhing thefe letters, fome ne- 
 ceflary additions have been made^ and 
 
 a fhort 
 
Sr PILE FACE. 
 
 a fliort Appeftdix added^ for the fake 
 of giving them a more conneAcd 
 fofm; for there' were a few places, 
 which, owing to particular circum-^ 
 ftances. It ^yas not in his power to 
 fee, and a fhort account of thefe, to- 
 gether with fome other detached ob- 
 fervations, compofe the Appendix, to 
 which alfo are fubjoined the names of 
 the moft noted places that they vifited 
 in the courfe of their route, and their ? 
 diftances from each other. Thofc 
 marked with one or more afterifks, 
 imply the number of nights they re- 
 mained at each. 
 
 noi 
 
PEDESTRIAN TOUR, 
 
 ^C, &C, &C, 
 
 LETTER I. 
 
 Bala, North Wales, July 1 1, 1 794, 
 C URROUNDED on all fides by cloud- 
 capt mountains; arrived amongft a 
 people, to whofe language I am a pe> 
 fe£l ftranger, and whofe manners and 
 cuftoms are ab'" eccentric as they are An- 
 gular, every circumftance attra£ts atten- 
 tion, and every obje6i excites admiration. 
 But it is with pleafure, my dear friend, 
 that I ceafe for a while from contemplat- 
 ing the fcene around me, and turn to that 
 
 B which 
 
[ * 3 
 
 which I have fo lately quitted : memory 
 willingly lingers round a fpot where the 
 mind has not been much oppreffed with 
 forrow or care ; and I muft, in juftice, 
 acknowledge, that during a refidence of 
 three years at Cambridge, the happinefs 
 I there enjoyed was fcarcely ever inter- 
 rupted, or overfliadowed even by th6 
 fmalleft cloud of misfortune ; a retrofpe£t 
 will therefore prove to me a conftant 
 iburce of fatisfa6tion, becaufe the memory 
 of the pall will not be accompanied with 
 images of regret, or any other caufe of for- 
 row or reproach. It will be peculiarly 
 pleafing to me to write to you from time to 
 time, and give you fome account of our 
 ** Travels* Hiftory," to relate to you all 
 our " moll difaftrous chances and moving 
 accidents by flood or field " for in every 
 thing which concerned us, you were pleafcd 
 to exprefs yourfelf particularly interefted, 
 
 and 
 
t 3 1 
 
 and I aflfure you, it is not alone in compli- 
 ance with your earneft and repeated re- 
 queft, but under the immediate impulfe 
 of my own wiQies and inclination, that I 
 am now induced to write to you. 
 
 The mode of travelling which we have 
 adopted, at the firfl view promifes no- 
 thing remarkably alluring; and I think 
 you were of opinion that our refolution 
 was not equal to the undertaking of fuch 
 an enterprife, and treated the whole plan 
 as vifionary and romantic. But I flatter 
 myfelf you will now be convinced we are 
 in earneft, efpecially when I tell you that 
 experience has more than ever confirmed 
 us in our original intention ; for the plea- 
 fure we have hitherto derived from our 
 progrefs, has much exceeded our moft 
 fanguine expectations. 
 
 B a I fhall 
 
I 4 3 
 
 I ihall now proceed to give you a fhort 
 detail of occurrences, from the day on 
 which my compagnon de voyage and my- 
 felf departed from Cambridge, to the 
 prefent time. Behold us, then, more like 
 two pilgrims performing a journey to the 
 tomb of fome wonder-working faint, than 
 men travelling for their pleafure and 
 amufement. We are fo completely me- 
 tamorphofed, that I much doubt whether 
 you would recognife us through our dif- 
 guife ; we carry our clothes, &c. in a 
 wallet or knapfack, from which we have 
 not hitherto experienced the flighteft in- 
 convenience : as for all ideas of appearance 
 and gentility, they are entirely out of the 
 queftion — our obje£t is to fee, not to be 
 feen ; and if 1 thought I had one ac- 
 quaintance who would be afhamed of me 
 and my knapfack, feated by the fire fide 
 of an honeft Welfh peafant, in a country 
 
 village. 
 
[ 5 1 
 
 village, I fhould not only make myfelf 
 perfectly eafy on my own account, but 
 fhould be induced to pity and defpife him 
 for his weaknefs. 
 
 We made fome ftay at Oxford, where 
 we experienced the utmoft hofpitality and 
 attention ; and then profecuted our route 
 by way of Glocefter, Rofs, Hereford, 
 Bifhop's Caftle, &c. I have annexed the 
 names of the places we have pafTed 
 through in their regular order, as well 
 as their diftances from each other, fo that 
 you will perceive we have not fatigued 
 ourfelves with very long marches. 
 
 It is not my intention to trouble you 
 with a minute defcription of places ; or 
 withuninterefting accounts of individuals, 
 from which you would not derive any 
 very defirable information in the perufal, 
 
 B 3 nor 
 
[ 6 ] 
 
 nor I any gratification in the relation. 
 The feelings of men generally harmonize 
 with their fituation j and fublime images 
 muft naturally arife in the mind, when th$ 
 external obje6ts of its contemplation are 
 accompanied with any thing peculiarly 
 grand or majeftic : under fuch impreflions 
 I cannot, when I am upon the fummit of 
 a mountain, with a beautiful and fertile 
 country widely extending upon the fight, 
 think of any thing but the profpe61: be- 
 fore me; nor in admiring a cathedral 
 confl:ru£led with all the elegance of fi- 
 niflied archite61ure, could I reduce my 
 thoughts to the rule and compafs in order 
 to meafure its height and dimenfions, or 
 /enter into a critique upon the juftnefs of 
 its proportions j the form would triumph 
 over the matter, and drive every other 
 confideration to a diftance : and after 
 contemplating the venerable remains of 
 
 fome 
 
[ 1,1 
 
 mk fome once celebrated fabric, I could not 
 " patiently endure to give an hiftorical de- 
 tail of its founder, the different benefa£tors 
 to whom it has been indebted, or the 
 charters and privileges it has enjoyed^ 
 But they are not alone fublime iituations 
 which excite fublime ideas ; every obje6l 
 in nature is interefting, and wherever 
 nature is, I feel limilar fenfations^ moun- 
 f tains and valleys, rivers and rivulets, nay 
 the fmalleft plants that are trodden under 
 our feet, unfeen or unregarded, are inex- 
 hauftible fources,to a contemplative mind, 
 of gratification and delight. 
 
 O how can'ft thou renounce the boundlefs ftore 
 Of charms, which nature to her vot'ry yields ! 
 The warbh'ng woodland, the refoundin^ fhore, 
 The pomp of groves, and garniture of fields ; 
 All that the genial ray of morning gilds, 
 And all that echoes to the fong of even j 
 All that the mountain's (heltering bofom fliields, 
 And all the dread magnificence of heaven ; 
 O how can'ft thou renounce, and hope to be forgiven ! 
 
 T&e Minftreh 
 
 Let 
 
[ 9 ] 
 
 Let the atheift or the manicheifi (if fuch 
 there are in reality, as I know there are 
 fome profeffedly), pay a little attention to 
 the philofophy of nature, ever changing, 
 but ftill conne£led, at once majeftic but 
 limple, difdaining the rules and frigid 
 boundaries of art, at the fame time mo- 
 delled upon the moft beautiful and grace- 
 ful proportion — their fhort-lived doubts 
 mull inftantly vanifli, and their daring in- 
 credulity yield to the moft rational and 
 forcible convi£lion ; they muft then con- 
 fefs that this world could never have been 
 created by chance, or be the work of a 
 malignant deity; but that it bears the 
 traces of a hand divine, the beautiful pro- 
 duction of a benevolent, eternal, and in- 
 telleftual being. I can fcarcely believe 
 there is that man exifting, who can 
 fee without emotion the beauteous orb of 
 day rifing in the eaft, and in the evening 
 
 behold 
 
[ 9 ]] 
 
 behold its fet ting beams; who can look 
 with apathy upon the moon when fhe 
 gilds the brow of night, and all the nu- 
 merous hoft of ftars, the panoply of hea- 
 ven, that fhine around her ; who equally 
 unmoved by ftorms and funfliine, by 
 calms and tempefts, can yet be induced, 
 from a pitiful and weak defpair of a happy 
 futurity, from a wilful incredulity, or a^ 
 mifguided fcepticifm, to deny the great 
 and generating caufe of all effe£i:s ! The 
 chief object of this expedition, and front 
 which I hope to derive the greateft plea* 
 liire, is to explore the hidden beauties of 
 nature unmechanized by the ingenuity of 
 man V as well as to make fome obferva- 
 tions upon the human chara£ier under 
 every different attitude it may affume ; 
 in fliort, to ftudy nature in her works, and 
 man in fociety. The lower orders of peo- 
 ple in this part of Great Britain have as 
 
 yet 
 
[ 10 ] 
 
 yet prefented to me only a pi£lure of hu- 
 miliation and wretchednefs. Whether 
 this be the general chara£ter, or but a par- 
 tial appearance of the country, I (hall have 
 other opportunities of difcovering in the 
 profecution of my journey : at prefent I 
 am far from entertaining a favourable 
 opinion of Iheir ftock of happinefs ; un- 
 deniably there are numerous examples 
 of apparent cheerfulnefs and content to 
 be found amongft the poor inhabitants of 
 a mud-built cottage ; but are not the fo- 
 cial endearments of domeftic life (the 
 only fource of enjoyment amongft the 
 lower orders of mankind), too often im- 
 bittered by repeated difficulties and dif- 
 treffes, and rendered fo many aggravating 
 circumftances to the w^ounded recollec- 
 tion of a parent, furrounded by a nu- 
 merous and helplefs family who look up 
 to him for protection and fupport, which 
 
 he 
 
[ " ] 
 
 he is utterly unable to afford them ? I be- 
 lieve and hope that fuch inftances of want 
 and degradation are rare -, but very few 
 of them are requifite to convince any 
 man, capable of feeling for others as he 
 would for himfelf, that the aggregate of 
 happinefs, amongll the lower fpecies of 
 our fellow-creatures, does not bear a juft 
 proportion to that of pain, and that their 
 condition is capable of very effential im- 
 provement. Under the preffure of poverty 
 and misfortune, the mind oftentimes forgets 
 its noble nature, and the proper degree of 
 cftimation with which it fhould regard its 
 own exiftence : and this is the cafe with 
 that defcription of men here fpoken of. 
 To remove then this evil, by doing away 
 the caufe of the complaint (viz. Oppref- 
 lion), would be a work well worthy the 
 attention of every friend of mankind. 
 Under whatever circumftances of poverty 
 
 and 
 
[ " 1 
 
 and inferiority many of our fellow-crea- 
 tures may be placed, yet they have a juft 
 claim upon our protection and fupport ; 
 for though habit, and the hard hand of 
 oppreffive want, may have contracted the 
 modes of thinking amongft them, yet 
 they undoubtedly p^fTefs intelle6is, which, 
 if properly cultivated, might equally 
 adorn a fenate, or a forum, with thofe who 
 are called their fuperiors, from the mere 
 accidental ctrcumftantes of wealth, or 
 hereditary diftinCtions. A human being, as 
 he comes originally from the hand of na- 
 ture, is every where the fame ; the capa- 
 city of improvement, the talents and 
 virtues which the mind is capable of ac- 
 quiring and exercifing, are to every ftatc 
 of fociety alike inherent. Surely then all 
 muft rejoice in the melioration of that 
 ftate, fince to contribute to its improve- 
 ment is the nobleft purfuit of individuals, 
 
 and 
 
[ 13 ] 
 
 and ought to be the fole end of all govern- 
 ments } but the facred principles of the fe- 
 cial compact are no longer regarded, and 
 that which fliould be thefirftis now become 
 the lafl care or confideration of legiflative 
 fcience. To fay that the ftate of fociety 
 cannot be improved, is either to aflert its 
 perfe£lion, to confefs that all exertions to 
 improve that ftate would be vain, or that 
 thefe political evils are either neceffary or 
 irremediable. To the firft of thefe argu- 
 ments, if they can be deemed worthy of 
 fuch a denomination, there is no neceffity 
 to reply, becaufe it carries with it its own 
 convi6lion ; and with refpe6t to the laft, 
 no one will hefitate to pronounce it an 
 impious reflection upon the benevolence^ 
 of the Creator, whofe intention could 
 never be to fubje6t man to iny fpecies of 
 political tyranny whatever ; and well in= 
 deed might this fair creation and celeftlal 
 
 C harmony 
 
[ 14 ] 
 
 harmony be called a Manichean fyftem, 
 or work of a malevolent being, if he could 
 fan6tion upon this globe the deteftable 
 crimes, and abhorred impieties committed 
 under the patronage, and often the im- 
 tnediate confequence, of vicious and cor- 
 rupted governments ; or if he could fix 
 fo narrow and confined a boundary to hu- 
 man happinefs. 
 
 The face of the country, as far as this 
 place, is for the mofl: part dull and unin- 
 terefting, our road lying chiefly over long 
 and barren mountains, which is pretty 
 much the general appearance of the in- 
 terior part of North Wales, of which Bala 
 is nearly the center ; few living creatures 
 cheer thefe dreary fcenes, but here and there 
 amiferable hut, that ill conceals its wretch- 
 ed inhabitants, and a few poor iheep, thinly 
 fcattered over the fteep fides of the moun- 
 tain, or picking the Ihort grafs from the 
 
 almoft 
 
almofl: naked fummit of the fliaggy rock , 
 we congratulate ourfelves, therefore, on 
 our prefent fituation, and on having left 
 behind us the worft part of our tour j but 
 there are fome places which muft be ex- 
 cepted from this general cenfure, and 
 thefe I {hall briefly take notice of. We 
 flept at the King's Arms at Rofs, which 
 was formerly the habitation of that cele- 
 brated character who ufually goes by the 
 name of the " Man of Rofs." He was 
 truly a friend to the human kind.— He 
 gave his wordly goods, as far as they 
 would go, to the unfortunate ; and his beft 
 wiihes and unqualified compaflion to all ; 
 'his memory is ftill revered, and his lofs 
 ftill lamented. I cannot omit fending you 
 a few lines which my fellow traveller 
 fcribbled upon a window, fhutter, unlike 
 the general flyle of compofition which 
 fuch places abound with : 
 
 C 2 *i Richer 
 
[ i6 ] 
 
 •* Richer than mifers o'er their countlefs hoards, 
 Nobler than kings or king-polluted lords ; 
 Here dwelt the Man of Rofs. O traveller hear, 
 Departed merit claims the rev*rend tear ; 
 Friend to the fricndlefs, to the fick man health, 
 With generous joy he viewed his modeft wealth : 
 He heard the widow's heav'n-breath'd prayer of 
 
 praife, 
 He mark'd the fhelter'd orphan's tearful gaze j 
 And o'er the dowried virgins fnowy cheek, 
 Bade bridal love fuffufe its blufhes meek. 
 If 'neath this roof thy wine cheer'd moments pafs, 
 Fill to the good man's name one grateful glafs, 
 To higher zeft (hall mem'ry wake thy foul. 
 And virtue mingle in the ennobled bowl. 
 But if like me thro' hfe's diftrefsful fcene, 
 Lonely and fad thy pilgrimage hath been. 
 And if thy breaft with heart-iick anguifh fraught. 
 Thou journeyeft onward tempeft-toft in thought. 
 Here cheat thy cares — in generous vifions melt. 
 And dream of goodnefs thou haft never felt." 
 
 Montgomery is a neat town, and plea- 
 fantly fituated ; but except St. Afaph, it is 
 one of the fmalleft capital towns in the 
 king's dominions. In the neighbourhood 
 of Welfh Pool, upon a moft beautiful emi- 
 nence, ftands Powis caftle, formerly called 
 
 Pool 
 
[ 17 ] 
 
 Pool caftle, from its vicinity to Welfli 
 Pool ; it was built A. D. mo, by Cado- 
 gan ap Bledhyn, who was not long fuf- 
 fered to enjoy it, before he was murdered 
 by his nephew Madoc. Such horrid 
 crimes, however, were fo familiar to thofe 
 days, and fo little regarded, that they were 
 frequently committed with impunity, and 
 the offenders might always efcape by a 
 fine or difpenfation. The caftle com- 
 mands an extenfive view of a fertile vale, 
 through which the Severn, yet in its in- 
 fancy, rolls gently along. The road from 
 thence to Llanvilling is very intricate, 
 and we contrived to lofe our way more 
 than once, notwithftanding we had been 
 told it was as ftraight as an arrow ', we 
 wanted about five miles of the latte ' 
 place, when we met with an honeft Cam- 
 brian of a very refpeftable appearance — 
 we did not fail to make forae enquiry of 
 
 C 3 him 
 
[ i8 ] 
 
 him concerning our road -, he Hopped his 
 horfe very politely, and informed us that 
 he was then returning from Llanvilling, 
 the place of his nativity, which he had not 
 feen for more than twenty years before ; 
 he added that we fhould find an excellent 
 inn, and plenty of the beft ale in Wales -, 
 he then wifhed us a pleafant walk, affur- 
 ing us we fhould meet with princely ac- 
 commodations, and earneftly recommend- 
 ing the fign of the goai, at the fame time 
 advifing us to make ufe of his name, for 
 Owen ap Jones ap Evans was as well 
 known as any name in Wales. I relate 
 this little anecdote to you, becaufe I think 
 the chara£ler of a people is beft delineated 
 by their a6lions, and their leading fea- 
 tures are as completely developed by an 
 a£tion, or an anecdote of themfelves, ap- 
 parently infignificant, as they could poffi- 
 bly be in five hundred philofophical pages 
 
 upon 
 
[ 19 I 
 
 Upon the nature of climate, fituation, or 
 government, and the phyfical caufes and 
 efFefts they may have upon the human 
 genius and difpofition. We were much 
 diverted with the whole of our walk to 
 Llanvilling, particularly with the fmall 
 but pleafant river Verniew, which we 
 crofled. It was late when we arrived, 
 and were much difappointed with refpe£t 
 to thofe excellent accommodations our 
 honeft friend had hinted at, for we could 
 get nothing but dry bread and bad cheefe, 
 poor cheer for two hungry travellers that 
 had fcarcely eat any thing fmce brcakfaft. 
 
 Llangunnog is fingularly fituated, fur- 
 rounded on all fides by barren and fandy 
 hills. The place confifts only of a few 
 houfeSj amongft which there is a fmall 
 building ycleped a church, where once a 
 week a fermon is delivered in the Welfh 
 
 language. 
 
C ^o J 
 
 language. Whilft we were at dinner in 
 a little ale-houfe (which, by the bye was 
 the only one in the place), we had a 
 glance at the clergyman, who happened 
 to enter the houfe at that very time ; his 
 appearance altogether befpoke an infe- 
 riority of condition, difgraceful to that re- 
 fpe£table body of which he was a mem- 
 ber ; upon obferving us, he abruptly went 
 out, while our landlady informed us, with 
 an air of triumph, as if he was fomething 
 fuperior to the reft of n>ankind,that " that 
 was the parfon.** He was ftanding near 
 the houfe when we went out, and wifliing 
 to enter into converfation with him, I de- 
 fired him to inform me which was the 
 dire6l road to Bala j he appeared fome- 
 what confufed, and waving his hand to- 
 wards the way we had enquired for, an- 
 fwered only by the monofyllable " that," 
 and walked haftily away. I felt much 
 
 hurt. 
 
i 21 1 
 
 hurt, and at the fame time a great degree 
 of admiration, both at his truly laconic 
 anfwer, as well as at his manner of ad- 
 drefs, in which pride feemed to be ftrug- 
 gling with poverty ; in fuch a fituation 
 any degree of fenfibility would be to 
 him rather a misfortune than a bleiling. 
 Fixed to afpot in which there could be 
 no one proper for his company, or capable 
 of his converfation, he might be driven to 
 pafs his evenings, for the fake of fociety, 
 with people very far inferior to him, and 
 by degrees lofe thofe finer qualities of the 
 mind, that refinement of acHon as well as 
 of thought, which properly diftinguifli 
 the gentleman from the honeft but blunt 
 peafant, or the induftrious mechanic. I 
 fliould not have mentioned this circum- 
 ftance, but that it bears fome credible tefti- 
 mony to the common report of the fhamc- 
 ful and fcanty provifion made for the Welfh 
 clergy j which by no means enables them 
 
 to 
 
.[ " ] 
 
 to affume that charafter fo effentially ne- 
 ceflary to the miniflers of chriftianity. I do 
 not wifli to infinuate that there is any dif- 
 grace in poverty, but certainly the ignorant 
 and uninftru£ted too frequently treat their 
 teachers with a refpe6t proportioned to 
 their appearance j and if this be true, it 
 calls loudly for laws and regulations which 
 fhall be more favourable to the lower 
 clergy in general. The a£t of parlia- 
 ment confines the falaries of curates with- 
 in twelve and fifty pounds per annum, 
 whereas it ought to have been propor- 
 tkmed either to the duty performed, or the 
 value of the benefice itfelf. Let us take 
 one inflance — a curate ferves two church- 
 es tea miles diflant from each other; 
 whilfl the incumbent, or vicar, who holds 
 them both, and receives for the joint value 
 of the tithes, five hundred pounds per auii* 
 nxim, allows his curate, who does all the 
 
 duty. 
 
t ^3 .] 
 
 duty, only forty pounds per annum. This 
 cannot be confidered as an adequate com»« 
 penfation, even for the labour; and add- 
 ing the refpe6tability and appearance of 
 the profeflion, it is indeed contemptible 
 and infignificant *. 
 Bala is fituated upon the borders of a 
 
 * The following extrafl: is a fingular confirmation 
 of the above ftatement. 
 
 *' The curates of the undernamed places, were 
 lately elefted by the truftees of Mr. Stock's liberal 
 donation, to receive ten pounds each, viz. 
 
 The curate of Llanfwrog, in Anglefea, 5 young 
 
 children, and 25I. per annum. ' 
 
 Ditto of Beguiley and Bettus, Radnorfhire, 9 young 
 
 children, 35I. per annum. 
 Ditto of Michaelftone Vedow, Mdnmouthihire, 8 
 
 young children, 25I. per annum. 
 Ditto of Llangadfan, Mbntgomeryfhire, 6 young 
 
 children, 2 5I. per annurtu 
 Ditto of Ireby, in Cumberland, 8 young children, 
 
 35I. per annum. 
 Ditto of Llanvair, Monmouthfliire, 4 young children, 
 
 13I. per annum. 
 Ditto of Burwarton and "Wheathill, Shropfliire, 7 
 
 young children, 30I. per annum. 
 
 Ditto of Abernorlifl), Caermairthenftire, 8 young 
 
 children, idl. per amikuni. 
 
 The 
 
i ^4 ] 
 
 large lake, eleven miles in circumference, 
 and four and a half long. It abounds 
 with pike, perch, trout, and other fifli; 
 the country around is grand and fublime, 
 but not intereftingj ftupendous moun- 
 tains feem " to mix their heads with 
 dropping clouds," but with refpeft to cul- 
 tivation, or even verdure, they are entirely 
 deftitute j every neceffary article of life is 
 here more than commonly reafonable; fifty 
 pound at Bala would go as far as an hun- 
 dred in mofl parts of England. We were 
 yefterday much diverted with a curious 
 political converfation carried on at the inn, 
 in the room which we in part occupied, 
 at a table by ourfelvesj at another, were 
 
 The curate of Sebergham, Cumberland, 8 young chil- 
 dren, 30I. per annum. 
 
 The curate of Sllian, Cardiganfhire, 6 young chil- 
 dren, 1 5I. per annum. 
 
 This valuable charity is annually given to ten poor 
 curates who have large families; and reflefts the 
 higheft honour on the worthy donor.'' 
 
 feate^ 
 
[ »J ] 
 
 feated the clergyman, the excifeman, the 
 attorney, the apothecary, and I fuppofe, 
 by his appearance, the barber of the 
 place, &c. thefe were met upon buflnefs 
 over a bowl of punch, which feemed to 
 conftitute the chief part of it ; whilft in 
 an oppofite corner of the room, two more 
 decent looking people were enjoying them- 
 felves in a fimilar manner. The clergy* 
 man gave aloud " Church and King," as a 
 toaft, and foon after one of our neighbours 
 at the other table, propofed " General 
 Wafliington" to his friend 3 this created 
 a great commotion amongft the, large 
 party; for the clergyman immediately 
 {landing up gave as his fecond toaft " may 
 all Dernier at s be gulloiindi' when the 
 other filling his glafs, added, " may all 
 fools be gullotin'd, and then I knows 
 who'll be the firft;" after this enfued a 
 violent and dreadful battle of tongues, in 
 D which 
 
[ 26 3 
 
 which thefe people excel in an extraor- 
 dinary degree. The clergyman defended 
 his toaft, on the grounds that it fliewed his 
 zeal in a good caufe, forgetting that it was 
 neceflary firft to prove the merit of the 
 fentiment, as united by him, and after 
 that, to fhew that his zeal was beft made 
 known as a clergyman, by his benevolent 
 and truly pious wifh. But majors and 
 minors were things which this " zealous 
 and humane defender of his church and 
 king had little regard for. The clamour 
 at length became fo loud, that w€ foon 
 withdrew ourfelves from the fcene of con-- 
 tention, and left the combatants to fettle 
 the point in the beft manner they could ; 
 though it feemed to me that it required 
 more fophiftry than the clergyman had 
 difplayed, and more wit than the other 
 poffeffed, to juftify or even excufe them- 
 felves. From hence the traveller may 
 
 eafily 
 
I 
 
 [ »7 ] 
 
 eafily vifit the two Arrans, viz. Arran, 
 Mowddwy, and Arran Penllyn, both of 
 them of a (lupendous fize, but inferior to 
 Snowdon, Cader Idris, or Paenman- 
 mawr. We intend to proceed to-mor- 
 low as far as Llangollen 3 but I will not 
 defer clofmg a letter which I have imper- 
 ceptibly lengthened far beyond my original 
 defign; and believe me, my dear friend, 
 that I fubfcribe myfelf with fincerity, 
 
 Your's afFe£tionately, &c. 
 
 I. H. 
 
 LEf- 
 D2 
 
t 28 1 
 
 LETTER II. 
 
 PenBIGH, JULY 14, 1794. 
 
 j[T was late in the evening when we 
 kft Bala, and therefore, contrary to our 
 original intentions, we took up our quar- 
 ters for the night, at the Druid houfe, a 
 folitary place only eight miles diftant from 
 that which we had laft quitted j and early 
 the following morning we purfued our 
 journey to Llangollen. The face of the 
 country now became more interefling^ 
 The fcene gradually afiTumed a lefs rugged 
 appearance; the dark brown mountain,, 
 and the dcfolated heath, foftened by dif- 
 tance, formed a beautiful contraft to the 
 wild and irregular fcenery that fuceeeded. 
 We felt our fpirits, which had before beea 
 depreffed from the barren and gloomy 
 
 country 
 
[ »9 ] 
 
 country we had traverfed, now much 
 exhilarated, and we feemed to breathe a 
 freer air. There is an analogy in nature 
 throughout, from the moft torpid ftate of 
 vegetable exiftence to the moft refined 
 fubtlety of animal life j and he who has 
 not conlidered this attentively, will be 
 furprifed, upon reflection, to perceive that 
 his own felf importance is folely derived 
 from the contemplation of external ob- 
 je6ls i for deprive him of thefe, fliut him 
 out from nature, fuppofe him to be to- 
 tally unacquainted with the harmony of 
 this beautiful fphere, he muft confider^ 
 himfelf in the moft contemptible point of 
 view, created for no purpofe, endued with 
 powers of perception and reafoning for 
 no poffible good ; his would be a mere 
 comfortlefs ftate of exiftence, with a mind 
 that could have no adequate idea, if any 
 at all, of the deity ; his would be a fitua- 
 
 D 3 tion 
 
[ 3° ] . 
 
 tion unworthy the chara£ler of his fpecies, 
 and little elevated above the brute crea- 
 tion. Certainly there is a chain of caufes 
 and effects throughout every creative 
 world, whether mineral, vegetable, or 
 animal j and all has an efFe6l upon the 
 mind of man. When we approach a de- 
 folate and cloud-capt country, an uncul- 
 tivated and dreary fcene, what is the 
 caufe that we frequently feel a damp 
 upon our fpirits ? Why does it afFe6t the 
 mind j as it were, with a leaden weight, and 
 deprefs the aftive fprings of the imagina- 
 tion ? It is from the analogy which na- 
 ture, under every form fhe may aflume, 
 bears to the varied life of man. Memory 
 backward turns her view, and affimilates 
 the obje6ls before her, to fome certain 
 paffage of our life, that impreffes upon 
 the mind a fliade of melancholy or joy, 
 according as thofe paffages may have 
 
 been 
 
vji". ■■ 
 
 [ 31 ] 
 
 been marked with pleafure, or with pain. 
 It is not therefore that there is any abfd- 
 lute impreffion made upon the mind, fronx> 
 the fcene before us, whether it be bright 
 with funlhine, or overcaft with clouds, 
 but it is memory which affociates to it 
 fome event, or tranfaflion of former yqars, 
 which, though fcarcely perceptible, is the 
 caufe of fuch an effe£ti Our road wounds 
 along the banks of the river Dee, which 
 falls murmuring over its pebbled bed at the 
 foot of the mountains, whofe fteep fides are 
 covered with wood of the largeft growth, 
 here and there the fliaggy rock, more than 
 half concealed by the furrounding foliage, 
 peering its broken fummit beyond the 
 mofl extended branches, and threatening, 
 by its fall, to obftruft the courfe of the 
 river beneath ; whilft the fpreading beach- 
 tree, and mountain alh, that are found in 
 great abundance upon its banks, dipping 
 
 their 
 
[ 3^. 1 
 
 their flender branches in the ftream, and 
 above all, upon the lofty fummit of a 
 conical mountain, the caftle Dinas Bran^ 
 riflng in ruined majefty ; at once afford an 
 interefting fpe£tacle of grandeur and fub- 
 limity, as well as of beauty and cultiva- 
 tion. Llangollen is moft delightfully 
 fituated, but the place itfelf has nothing 
 to boaft of, except a very good inn which 
 fortunately belies its appearance. We were 
 entertained, upon our arrival, by a cele- 
 brated Welfli harper, who tuned his 
 firings to fo Orphean a meafure, that a 
 crowd foon collefted round the door of 
 our little inn, fome of whom began to 
 dance after the ruftic fafliion of their 
 country J the fimplicity of former times 
 flruck forcibly upon my mind, and brought 
 back the pleafmg recolle6lion of thofe 
 happy ages, when riches and luxury had 
 not corrupted the heart of man; but when 
 
 all 
 
[ 33 ] 
 
 all mankind were brothers, and the Inte- 
 reft of one became the intereft of all. It 
 afforded me a fatisfa£lion I had never be- 
 fore experienced, to find myfelf amongft 
 a people, who a6t with all the fimplicity 
 of nature ; totally deftitute of the affumed 
 appearance, and artificial manners of more 
 modern times. The AVelfh mufick affi- 
 milates to the genius of the people, and is 
 in general wild and irregular, but often 
 plaintive, and always affe6ting; for the 
 harp is perhaps more calculated to exprefs 
 the extremes of paffion than any other in- 
 {Irument ; it is aftonifliing with what fkill 
 and execution it is fometimes played upon, 
 and with what enthufiafm the country 
 people liften to it 5 infomur.h that I have 
 no doubt the fine tones of a Cramer, or 
 a Clementi, would be totally difregarded 
 by thefe honefl people, for the humble 
 ftrains of a blind Welfh harper. The 
 
 mufical 
 
ii 34 I 
 
 mufical amateur of the prefcnt day would 
 defpife fo vulgar a tafte ; for with him the 
 Italian fchoolis alone fuppprtable-, I dare 
 not therefore profefs myfelf an admirer of 
 fimple and unafFe£ted mufick, or, in other 
 . words, prefer that which penetrates to the 
 feeart, to that which goes no farther than 
 the ear ; becaufe I Ihould be immediately 
 condemned as a Goth, Vandal, or bar- 
 barian.. 1 fhall venture however to obferve, 
 that it appears to me there can be no ab- 
 folute criterion of mufick ; that being the 
 beft, which touches the paffions, and af- 
 fe6ts the feelings in the greateft degree, 
 by any alGTemblage of founds whatfoever ; 
 and if this be true, a Welfti harp, or an 
 Irifh bagpipe (rifum teneatis amiei) well 
 executed, is infinitely fuperior to all the 
 fiddle ftrings and kettle drums of Italy or 
 Venice. 
 
 There are two roads from Llangollen 
 
 to 
 
I 35 ] 
 
 to Wrexham, one on each fide of the 
 River Dee j the beft is that on the right, 
 'which we took; but it is rather the 
 longeft. This road is carried upon the 
 high grounds, from whence the profpe6l is 
 delightful. The river, winding through 
 the valleys, fometimes intercepted by a 
 rifing ground or thick wood, then open- 
 ing full upon the view, the luxuriance of 
 nature is richly difplayed through the 
 whole landfcape. Upon the hill above us 
 were feen the dark figures of the miners; 
 the confufed noife of the men, who were 
 preparing to defcend thefe gloomy ca- 
 verns, and of the bufy team, returning 
 with its ponderous load ; while the thick 
 volumes of black fmoke, that continued 
 to afcend into a clear and beautiful atmo- 
 fphere, formed an uncommon and flriking 
 contrail. On the other fide, the river, 
 dealing through the valley, had, by its 
 
 overflowing. 
 
[ 36 ] 
 
 overflowing, contributed to give it the 
 richeft appearance of fertility j in fome 
 places the mower, almoft buried under the 
 high grafs, often paufed from his labour j 
 in others, the fharp found of the grinding 
 ftone, the loud laugh, or toil-fubduing 
 fong, were frequently heard: on the 
 fides of the oppofite hills were fcattered 
 the modeft hamlets that owned thefe 
 induftrious peafants j behind us, at fome 
 diftance, the whitened fpire, and part 
 of the little town we had left, were 
 ftill vifible; whilft over all, the fetting 
 fun caft its foftened tints, a part of the 
 valley only being fhaded by the inter- 
 polition of a neighbouring mountain, 
 whofe fummit ftill retained in glowing 
 colours the laft rays of the departing 
 day. On the right, a little farther on, there 
 is a fine view of Chirk caftle, and on the 
 left, of Winftay j the firft, the feat of Mr. 
 
 MiddletoD, 
 
[ 37 ] 
 
 Middleton, the laft of Sir Watkin Wil- 
 liam Wynne. About half way from Llan- 
 gollen to Wrexham, we croffed a bridge 
 where the two roads meet, and then we 
 bad adieu to the River Dee, which kept 
 its courfe afterwards to the right of us. 
 Wrexham is a large populous and well 
 built town 5 there is a very elegant tower 
 belonging to the church, reputed to be a 
 great curiofity. But I have very- little 
 pleafure in viewing the works of art^ and 
 indeed, human ingenuity of any kind or 
 defcription, excites rather my admiration 
 than my love : as far as they have contri- 
 buted to foften the manners of mankind, 
 it is well i but have they not alfo tended to 
 corrupt and deprave them? If, on the one 
 hand, they have contributed to their 
 wants and conveniences j on the other, 
 they have encouraged the excefs, and af- 
 forded an unbounded gratification to the 
 
 E ienfual 
 
[ 38 ] 
 
 fenfual paflions j the fine arts, like fo many 
 handmaids, fliould ever be ready to attend, 
 but not to command j to foften manners, 
 but not to render them luxurious. — From 
 Wrexham our road became lefs intereft- 
 ing; and for ten or twelve miles, prefent- 
 ed nothing to recompence the fatigue of 
 a long and tedious walk, until we had af- 
 cended a very high hill, when the vale 
 of Clwyd, in ail its beauty, unfolded upon 
 the fight : it appeared like a moving pic- 
 ture, upon which nature had been prodi- 
 gal of its colours. Hamlets, villages, 
 towns, and caftles, rofe like enchantment 
 upon this rich carpet, that feemed covered 
 with wood and enclofuress in the midft of 
 it, at the diftance of about five miles, the 
 town of Ruthin, partially appeared from 
 the bofom of a moft beautiful grove of 
 trees ; the vale on each fide being bounded 
 by a chain of lofty mountains, and far off, 
 
 on 
 
[ 39 3 
 
 on a bold and rugged promontory, flood 
 Denbigh, with its ftrong fortrefs, the undif- 
 puted miftrefs of this extended fcene. 
 The great defe6i: of the vale, is its want of 
 water; the little river Clwyd, which winds 
 through it, not being perceptible at any 
 diftance, and in dry feafons quite choaked 
 up ; though on the contrary, in wet and 
 rainy weather, it foon overflows the whole' 
 country, fwelled by the torrents from the 
 furrounding hills *. The land in the- vale 
 lying low, and confequently fv^ampy, is, 
 upon a nearer examination, rather coarfe. 
 We dined at Ruthin; where there are fome 
 remains of a caftle, and reached Denbigh 
 yefterday evening. This town is well built, 
 
 * This delightful vale is of an oval fhape, twenty-fix 
 miles in length, and about eight wide in the troadefl; 
 part ; it is wholly bounded with high hills, excepting 
 towards the Irifh fea, where it ends in a marfh at 
 Rydland. 
 
 Gentleman's Tour through ffah, t^c» 
 
 E 2 and 
 
C 40 1 
 
 and the principal ftreet which is on the flope 
 of the hill, is broad and clean, but there 
 are very indifferent accommodations to be 
 met with. After tea we took a walk to 
 view the caftle, whofe venerable walls, 
 riling high above the town, command a 
 magnificent view of the whole vale. 
 
 The fituation of this caftle is admirably 
 defcribed by Churchyard, who lived in the 
 time of Queen Elizabeth, and wrote his 
 travels through North Wales in familiar 
 verfe. 
 
 ** This caftle ftands on top of rocke moft hye, 
 A mightle cragge, as hard as flint or fteele ; 
 A maffie mount, whofe ftones fo deepe doth lye» 
 That no device may well the bottome feele. 
 The rocke defcends beneath the auntient towne. 
 About the which a ftately wall goes downe. 
 With buyldings great, and pofternes to the fame. 
 That goes thro' rocke to give it greater fame." 
 
 It was built in the reign of Edward the 
 
 Firft, 
 
[ 41 ] 
 
 Firft, and garrifoned, in the time of Charles 
 the Firft, by the royalifts ; but was obliged 
 to furrender to the parliament army, after a 
 gallant and vigorous defence ; the breaches 
 in the walls are vaft, and ferve to ihew the 
 ftrength and thicknefs of their conftruq- 
 tion. The royal and unfortunate fugitive, 
 Charles the Firft, after his retreat from 
 Chefter, took up his abode for one night 
 in this caftle. But it was deftined that 
 he fhould be the firft facrifice to freedom; 
 and neither armies nor caftles, walls nor 
 cannon, could proteft him from the hands 
 of juftice ', or prevent an oppreffed people 
 from avenging upon him not only his own, 
 but the fcedal defpotifm, and worfe than 
 papal tyranny, of five preceding reigns. 
 Wretched muft be that government, and 
 the people that live under it, when it be- 
 comes neceflary to reftrain the encroach- 
 ments of arbitrary power, at the point of 
 
 E3 the 
 
[ 4^ ] 
 
 the fword ; or to exa£t obedience to the 
 will of the fovereign from the cannon's 
 mouth. Denbigh is more of a venerable, 
 than a magnificent ruin, and would, of it- 
 felf, have amply repaid me for all the fa- 
 tigue I had undergone ; I would not wil- 
 lingly exaggerate the accounts of what I 
 have feen, or endeavour to paint things 
 otherwife, than as they really are; for I 
 am fenfible, that the reader too often ac- 
 quires falfe ideas of places and things, 
 from the pompous defcription of the tra- 
 veller, who thinks himfelf obliged to relate 
 fomething of the marvellous, in order 
 that the world may not ridicule him, for 
 crofling feas or traverfing defarts, in fearch 
 of what he might have eafily feen at home; 
 and yet it often happens, that fcenes, though 
 too highly coloured, may have had that ap- 
 pearance, to the eye of the fpe£tator, at 
 the time he defcribes them; and that 
 
 what 
 
[ 43 ] 
 
 what appears to him extremely beautiful 
 to-day, may to-morrow ftrike the imagi- 
 nation in a very different manner; for 
 much depends on the hour of obfervation, 
 and the temper of mind we are in, to en- 
 joy the obje6ts before us^ I cannot avoid 
 relating a ludicrous circumftance, that 
 took place, whilft I was amufing myfelf 
 with wandering about the caftle ; and ob- 
 ferving the effe6t of the fcenery, through 
 the huge breach, or broken arches, that 
 looked over an almoft perpendicular pre- 
 cipice, into the vale below. The moon 
 was jufl riling in the horizon, when I per- 
 ceived two gentlemen approach ; they 
 feemed to be expatiating upon the beauty 
 of the fcene, and in very earneft converfa- 
 tion with each other, one of them fre- 
 quently repeating parts of Shakefpear, 
 which I could not diftindlly hear, with a 
 very theatrical tone and action. But I 
 
 cannot 
 
[.44 ] 
 
 eatinot exprefs to you how much I was 
 delighted, when, upon their nearer ap- 
 proach, I overheard the theatrical gentle- 
 men propofe to his companion (as he had 
 brought his flute in his pocket), to retire 
 into a remoter part of the caftle, and play 
 fome Joft airs-, God blefs thee for the 
 thought, faid I to myfelf, amidft thefe fo- 
 litary ruins, by the faint light of the moon, 
 to liften to the foft cadence of diftant mu- 
 ■ fick, ftealing its mournful melody, on the 
 deluded ear like " founds of heavenly 
 harmony," muft be altogether a foothing 
 and romantic occupation for the mind, ac- 
 companied with thofe pleafing fentiments 
 of melancholy, that are better felt than 
 defcribed. Having chofen a convenient 
 fituation, and prepared myfelf for the fu- 
 prerae pleafure I was about to receive, lo ! 
 this romantic difciple of Orpheus, Jiruck 
 up the tender air of Corjioral Cafey. I quit- 
 ted 
 
[ 45 ] 
 
 ted the caftle in an agony of difappoint- 
 ment, and left thefe romantic gentlemen 
 to enjoy Xhtir foot Iiing concert, and folitary 
 Ctuation, undifturbed. I returned, how- 
 ever, foon after, and fomid to my great 
 fatisfa£tion that the coaft was clear : no- 
 thing could be more awfully grand, than 
 the fcene before me, which I furveyed 
 with a degree of admiration, not totally def- 
 titute of a fuperftitious fear. The vene- 
 rable appearance of the whole fabric; 
 walls, and battlements, rifing in ruined 
 majefty ; broken arches, half covered by 
 the creeping ivy, and enchanters night- 
 ihade, high gothic windows, which but 
 difplayed the horrible gloom that reigned 
 within ; the mouldering tower, Ihook by 
 every florm, affording an afylum to the 
 owl, the bat, and the raven, lone tenants 
 of thefe defolate manfions; whilfl; the 
 moon burfting from a dark cloud, threw a 
 
 partial 
 
{ 46 ] 
 
 partial gleam upon the pile, and ferved, by 
 its feeble light, to difcover the deep gloom 
 of the remoter parts. At the fame time, a 
 fearful ftillnefs every where prevailed, ex- 
 cept that it was now and then interrupted 
 by low folemn founds of wind, that feem- 
 ed to figh amongft the diftant turrets ; the 
 intermediate paufes impreffing upon my 
 mind a mixture of awe and veneration^ 
 which the furrounding fcenery greatly 
 contributed to encreafe. 
 
 The pofl: is going out, fo that I have 
 only time to tranfcribe the following linet 
 upon Denbigh caftle, with which 1 ftiall 
 elofe this letter, — Adieu. 
 
 UPON THE RUINS OF 
 
 DENBIGH CylSTLE. 
 
 Now fad, and flow, borne fer on duflcy wing. 
 Sails theftill eve j night from her ebon throne 
 Slow riling, fcatters wide her myftic fpells 
 O'er the tir'd world ; and from yon murky clondt 
 
 Gleamft 
 
[ 47-] 
 
 Gleams the pale moon, difiPiifing holy light 
 Through many a midnight ifle and filent fccne. 
 Much mufing on life's changeful fcene, I view, , 
 Proud pile ! thy tempeft beaten towers, that rear 
 Their heads fubhme, and to the angry ftorm 
 Bid bold defiance, though their aged brows 
 Bear vifible the marks of item decay ; 
 While fuperftition, with a phrenfied eye, 
 And wildering fear, that horrid forms furveya, 
 Af&ight the lonely wanderer from thy walls. 
 
 Far hence thou bufy world, nor here intrude 
 Thy founds of uproar, arguing much of care 
 And impotent alarms ; behold, fond man. 
 This feeble monument of mortal pride. 
 Where time and defolation reign fupreme 
 With wildeft havock— o'er the folemn fcene 
 In filence paufe, and mark this piftur'd truth ; 
 That not alone the proudeft works of man 
 Muft perifli ; but as this tow'ring fabric, 
 That lifts its forehead to the ftorm, till time 
 And the wild winds (hall fweep it from its bafe ; 
 Pafs but a few Ihort hours— the dream of life 
 Is iledt and to the cold grave finks man's faded £br». 
 
 LET- 
 
I 48 3 
 
 LETTER III. 
 
 Abbsr« Jtdy x6> 179^ 
 
 A HE laft letter which I wrote to you, 
 my dear friend, was dated from Den- 
 bigh. I now refume my pen from a fpot 
 far different indeed, but not by any 
 means deftitute of beauty. We quitted 
 the above-mentioned place with great re- 
 luftance, and often looked back upon its 
 venerable ruins, contrafting them in dif- 
 ferent fituations, with the furrounding 
 objeQ:s. Intervening hills had fcarcely 
 ftiut them from our view, before we en^ 
 tered upon a wide common, from whence 
 a delightful profpe6t (terminated only by 
 the fea), lay extended before the eye; 
 on the edge of the common ran the rapid 
 river Elwy, which we crofTed, over a 
 
 very 
 
t 49 ] 
 
 very beautiful bridge, with one noble 
 arch. — The view of the river with its 
 rocky fhore, excavated in the moft ro- 
 mantic manner — and the fimple cottage 
 ^mbofomed within the dark wood that 
 rofe above it, formed an interefting per- 
 fpe6tive fe6tion through the arch of this 
 bridge. 
 
 Si. Afaph is a fmall neat town, iitu- 
 ated upon the declivity of a hill, at the 
 foot of which runs the river Clwyd. 
 About three miles on this fide of Holy- 
 well, there is a very extenfive profpeft. 
 From the fummit of a hill, we commanded 
 a view of the Dee, incorporating its wa- 
 ters with the ocean. Far beyond, though 
 confiderably involved in a thick fmoke, 
 appeared Liverpool, the feat of bufy 
 commerce J and to the right. Park-gate, a 
 favourite watering place, the abode of 
 
 F pleafure. 
 
[ 5° ] 
 
 pleafure, and of fong. I could not help 
 fmiling at the prefent appearance of the 
 river Dee, compared with what it was 
 when I formerly beheld it -, at that time 
 unconfcious of its future greatnefs, it mur- 
 mured over its craggy bed, or fmoothly 
 glided through the meadows and rich paf- 
 tures, where numerous herds of cattle 
 were feeding, or feeking to allay the fultry 
 heat, in the midft of the ftream. Many 
 humble cottages rofe upon its banks, 
 prefenting interefting pi£tures of content 
 and happinefs ; children bufily employed 
 in picking floes from the bufhes that 
 hung over the ftream, or amufing them- 
 felves with throwing pebbles into the 
 water, thus fporting with time, and 
 " recklefs that age and forrow with icy 
 hand hung over them." In another place 
 a rough alpine bridge, thrown acrofs the 
 river, afforded a precarious paffage to the 
 
 cottager, ^ 
 
[ 5- ] 
 
 cottager, in hafte to reach his fimple 
 home, and fliare with his little family the 
 produce of his daily toil. — Far different 
 did it now ftrike the eye : — a noble river 
 pouring its mighty waters into the bofom 
 of the ocean j towns and cities rifnig 
 upon its fhores, big with the vanities of 
 man, and fleets of merchantmen proudly 
 floating in with the tide, laden with the 
 wealth of the world. 
 
 Holywell is a clean built town, fur- 
 rounded by a mofl: beautiful country. 
 There is a manufafture eftabliflied at this 
 place, that once gave bread to thoufands, 
 but alas! the loom is now forfaken for 
 the fword, and the bufy roof of induflry 
 exchanged for the fickly tent. 
 
 The town and neighbourhood, as might 
 be expelled, abound with numbers of 
 
 F z poor 
 
[ 5» 1 
 
 poor women and children, who are half 
 ftarving, whilft their hufbands, fathers, 
 and brothers, are glorioufly fignalizing 
 themfelves in the fervice of their country; 
 and if by chance the ruthlfefs' fword of 
 war {hould fpare the poor man's life, and 
 fend* him to his long wifhed-for home, 
 with the trifling lofs of a leg, or an arm, 
 he will at leaft have the confolation of re- 
 fie£ling that he might have loft them 
 both; and ftiould his ftarving family, in 
 the bitternefs of want, by chance re- 
 proach him for his incapacity to relieve 
 the'm, he will no doubt lilence their murr 
 murs, and turn their forrow into joy, by 
 reminding them, that it was in the glori- 
 ous caufe of their king and country that 
 they fuffered. But not to treat with le- 
 vity a fubjedt fo very ferious, let us take 
 another example ; the poor foldier, who 
 at the conclufion of a long war, reduced 
 
 by 
 
[ 53 ] 
 
 by famine, ficknefs, and fatigue, and dif- 
 abled by cruel wounds, is finally com- 
 pelled to drag on a miferable exiftence in 
 an hofpital, or a work-houfe; or is re- 
 turned upon the wide world, without 
 hope, and void of expe£tation, a burden 
 to himfelf, and ufelefs to all around him. 
 It would be pale and lickly confolation 
 to his drooping fpirits, to be informed 
 that his were wounds and fufferings wor- ' 
 thy of a foldier and a man, becauft they 
 were acquired in his country's caufe. Hu- 
 manity muft weep over victory when pur- 
 chafed upon fuch terms, and tremble for 
 the fatal efFe6ls of defolating war, where- 
 by immediate' mifery is occafioned to thou- 
 fands, and eventual forrow inflicted upon 
 millions. 
 
 What hope for man"! o'erwhelming war. 
 
 Uncommon furies In his train, 
 O'er heaps of carnage rolls his car. 
 
 And Europe mourns her thoufands flain : 
 
 F 3 What 
 
I 54 1 
 
 What hope ! amidft difaftrous days 
 * When freedom's temple totters to its bafe. 
 And with earth's vileft brood dishonoured fcience ftr^ysf . 
 
 The author, in his beautiful ode, has 
 finely introduced this apoftrophe, to the 
 unfortunate fituation of his country, in- 
 volved in a calamitous and deftru£tive 
 war abroad -, and its happinefs and tran- 
 quillity fubverted and deftroyed at home 
 by the real or pretended exiftence of 
 plots ^nd confpiracies, it matters not 
 wrhich, for they are equally to be la- 
 mented 5 becaufe they have, in either cafe, 
 been the caufe of fufpending the great 
 bulwark of Englifh liberty, the Habeas 
 Corpus A6t; and of giving rife to many ar- 
 bitrary meafures, which nothing but the 
 moft abfolute neceflity could juftify. He 
 
 * Alluding to the fufpenfion of the Habeas Corpus 
 A61, and to the fate of Muir and Palmer, 
 
 f Ode on a diftant profped of Cainbridge, 
 
 has 
 
[ Si ] 
 
 has alfo expreffed his indignation at that 
 feverity of puniflimcnt, almoft unequalled 
 in hiftory, which was inflicted upon two 
 men, whofe real intentions deferved aji- 
 jfilaufe inftead of difgrace*. 
 
 The well of the virgin St. Winifred is 
 well known for its fingular virtue of 
 curing the blind, the lame, and the pal- 
 lied. Innumerable are the trophies of old 
 crutches, wheel-barrows, fpades, &c. that 
 decorate this venerable building j the 
 grateful teltimonies of thofe various cures 
 
 * The author of thefe letters does not mean to 
 throw out any reflexion upon the criminal laws of 
 England. It is well known that the law which ban- 
 ifhed Muir and Palmer for fourteen years, compofed 
 part of the Scotch jurifprudence. The author is con« 
 vinced that the common law of this land is its greateft 
 glory, that it is a fword to the guilty, and a fhield to 
 the oppreffed ; and that as long as the Habeas Corpus 
 Aft remains unviolated, and the trial by jury pure and 
 independant, no time or tyranny can ever efface the 
 liberties of his country, 
 
 which 
 
L S6 J 
 
 which its miraculous . waters have per- 
 formed. The ftory is as follows : 
 
 *' St. Whiifred, a beautiful and devout 
 virgin, having fledfroma young man called 
 Cradock, the fon of a king named Alane, 
 who would have difhonoured her, he 
 purfucd and overtook her near the church, 
 where, on her refufal to yield to his de- 
 fires, he with his fword cut off her head. 
 On the fpot where it fell, there fud- 
 denly fprang up a fair well, yielding a 
 vaft quantity of exceeding clear water, 
 yet famous for its wondrous virtues in 
 healing diverfe difeafes ; at the bottom of 
 the well are to be feen ftones fpotted 
 with blood, which ftains, cannot be effaced, 
 and round its fides grows mofs of a mar- 
 vellous fweet odour. 
 
 C( 
 
 St. Bueno, a holy man, coming from 
 
 the 
 
[ J7 ] 
 
 the church to the fpot where the body 
 lay, and finding the murtherer, who had 
 not power to move from thence, he firft 
 replaced the head, and then by his prayers 
 raifed Winifred to life, and llruck Cra- 
 dock fuddenly dead, whofe body turning 
 black, was inftantly conveyed away by 
 fiends ; foon after St. Bueno going to Ire- 
 land, ordered St. Winifred to fend him 
 nn annual token, which was to be put on 
 the ftream of the well, from whence it 
 would be carried to his place of refidence, 
 fifty miles beyond the fea." 
 
 Rudland is remarkable for its caftle. 
 The founder, as well as the precife time 
 in which it was founded, is quite uncer- 
 tain. It is fituated upon the banks of 
 the Clwyd 
 
 Abergeley is a fmall watering place, 
 
 about 
 
[ 58 ] 
 
 about half a mile from the fea. — They 
 have a ftrange cuftom there, that has an 
 air of great indelicacy to a ftrangcr ; 
 which is, that the inferior orders of peo- 
 ple commonly bathe, without theufual pre- 
 cautions of machines or dreffes ; nor is it 
 lingular to fee ten or a dozen of both fexes 
 promifcuoufly enjoying themfelves in the 
 lucid element, regardlefs, or rather un- 
 confcious, of any indecency. Not being 
 myfelf accuftomed to this mode, I chofe 
 to retire farther up ; but it is very unplea- 
 fant bathing, being a fiat level beach, and 
 neceffary to wade a quarter of a mile into 
 the fea before one can arrive at any com- 
 fortable depth. 
 
 The approach to Conway, from the op- 
 pofite fide of the water, is extremely 
 grand. The caftle (built by Edward the 
 Firft, A, D. 1284.) flands upon a rock, 
 
 the 
 
[ 59 3 
 
 the foot of which is waftied by ** Conway's 
 foaming flood." I there paid a vifit to the 
 tombs of my anceftors, fome of whom lie 
 buried in the church belonging to the town. 
 Obferve that this vifit muft not be at- 
 tributed to fuperftition, or ought of pecu- 
 liar veneration for their memory, but the 
 efFeft of mere curiofity ; for there is a An- 
 gular monument of one of them, who was 
 the father of forty-one children, by two 
 wives. I took down the infcription with 
 a pencil, and then left my prolific anceftor 
 to his uninterrupted repofe. 
 
 We ftrengthened our party at Conway 
 by the addition of two of our particular 
 acquaintance, whofe plan being fimilar 
 to our own, we united our interefts, and 
 fet out from Conway, each provided with 
 a ftick, knapfack, and trowfers. We cer- 
 tainly prefented to the aftonifhed Cam- 
 brians a very formidable appearance j 
 
 fometimes 
 
t 6o ] 
 
 fomctimes exciting their rifible mufcles, 
 and fometimes being the occafion of much 
 alaftii, particularly artiongft the children, 
 who always took us for Frenchmen ; but 
 the country people, in general, looked 
 iipon us as recruits. Our walk to Abber 
 was fingulaily beautiful ; this road was 
 formerly almoft impaffable, but with incre 
 dible labour and expence, it has of late 
 years been rendered more commodious. 
 The deep and gloomy paffes between the 
 ftupendous mountains, that feemed ready 
 to clofe over our heads, had an appear- 
 ance truly terrible and grand ; and almoft 
 induced me to give credit to what Camb- 
 den has afferted, — that two fliepherds 
 might converfe together upon oppofite 
 'mountains, and be a day before they 
 could meet. The pafs of Paenman Mawr, 
 that was once attended with fo much 
 danger to the wary traveller, is now per- 
 feftly fafe. We arrived late in the even- 
 
 ing 
 
t 6. ]' 
 
 ing at* Abber, which confifts but or three 
 or four houfes J the inn is very commo* 
 dious, but, at the fame time, the accoin* 
 inodations are rather extravagantly pur*' 
 chafed. We rofe early the following 
 tnoming for the purpofe of afcehding to 
 the top of Paenman Mawr, and ordered 
 dinner to be ready for us at two o*clock, 
 expe£ting to have returned by that hour ;' 
 but we reckoned without our hod, for the 
 expedition took up nearly the whole of 
 the day, and we thought ourfelves happy 
 to return when we did. — ^We ralhly took 
 the refolution to venture up thisftupend- 
 ous mountain 'WithoWt a guide, and there- 
 fore unknowingly fixed upon the moft 
 difficult part to afcerid, arid confeqiiently 
 were continually iriipeded by, a vaft num- 
 ber of unexpected obftru6tibns. At length 
 we furmounted every danger arid diffi- 
 culty, and iafely arrived at the top ) but' 
 
 G the 
 
[ 62 1; 
 
 the fatigue we 1^4,. undpjrgpne, and. the 
 cxceffive heat of the day, deprived us, in 
 a great degree, of that pleafure we fhould 
 otherwife have received from the profpeft, 
 ^nd occafioned a tormenting third that 
 we were not able to gratify; for water was 
 an article which we fearched for in vain. 
 Preparing, in the utmoft defpondency, to 
 defcend, we accidentally turned over a 
 large fiat ftone that concealed a little 
 fpring, which, thus obflrufted, became 
 abforbed under the fuiface of the earth. 
 The parched-up foldier of Alexander's 
 army could not have felt greater joy in the 
 difcovery of his little treafure, than we 
 did of ours. In the poiu-fe of our defcent 
 we incautioufly fjeparated; and as it was 
 dufk, I began to be under fome appre- 
 henfion that ; we might lofe ourfelves in 
 tfee iptric^c^es of the. mpuntain ; in order 
 to difcover their dire6tion, or diftance from 
 
 me. 
 
i 63 ] 
 
 me, 1 frequently repeated their name^, 
 and was much entertained with a beauti- 
 ful echo, which returned the found of my 
 voice in three different directions ; had I 
 bpen inclined to fuperftition, many circum- 
 ftances would have contributed to raife its 
 full eJffeCl upon my mind, which as it was, 
 bufily employed itfelf in creating images 
 of fear. An awful filence fucceeded the 
 laft vibrations of the echo, which . was 
 only interrupted by the diftant barking of 
 the watch dog, that proceeded from the 
 lonely hut of the (hepherd ; or the fhrill 
 fhrieks and hootings of the owl and rock 
 eagle. — In the midfl of my melancholy 
 cogitations, I fully expefiied that the 
 genius of the mountain would have ap- 
 peared to me in fome formidable (hapej, 
 and have reproached me with raflily pre- 
 fuming to difturb the facred filence of his 
 folitary reign ; or at lead that fome ban- 
 
 G a ditti. 
 
[ 64 ] 
 
 dltti, more terrible In afpe£t than ever 
 Salvatpr Rofa could have painted, or even 
 imagined, would have ruflied upon me 
 from behind a rock, and made me pay, 
 perhaps w^ith life, for my unintentional 
 temerity. We had the good fortune, 
 however, to arrive at the inn together, 
 nearly at the fame time, that is to fay, about 
 nine o'clock. You may eafily imagine 
 that the difficulties we had previoufly 
 encountered, heightened the enjoyments 
 of our prefent fituation, and we paffed a 
 very pleafant evening in difcourfing upon 
 -the adventures of the day. There is $ 
 Cataradl about a mile from Abber, worth 
 feeing, on account of its precipitous fall ; 
 |DUt it is totally deftitute of wood or 
 fcenery. This evening we mean to crofs 
 the ferry into the Ifle of Anglefea, but I 
 will referve.the account of this part of our 
 journey until another opportunity, or 
 
[ 6i J 
 
 till the experience of new adventures 
 may render a repetition acceptable. — In 
 the mean time believe me, my dear friend, 
 under every circumftance of time or place, 
 I- fliall ftill continue my beft wiflies for 
 your happinefs, and remain 
 
 Your's fincerely, &c. 
 
 I. H. 
 
 G 3 LET- 
 
[ 6i 1 
 
 LETTER IV. 
 
 Caernarvon, July 19, 1794*. 
 OiNCE my laft, my dear friend, I havft^ 
 encountered fome difficulties both by 
 land and water, and am, in confequence, 
 come to a final determination in my own 
 mind, that terra firma is infinitely pre- 
 ferable to that changeable element where 
 Neptune holds his powerful fway. I 
 muft acknowledge the dangers of the 
 latter are not by any means fo agreeable^ 
 nor can I view them with that tran- 
 quillity which, upon molt occafions, I 
 have treated the former; not indeed 
 that I am bleffed with any great fliare 
 of philofophy, although I am always 
 toiling to acquire a little of that ne- 
 cefTary ingredient to human happinefs ; 
 
 but 
 
t 67 1 
 
 but alas ! the irritation which fuch exer- 
 cife has upon my nerves, is Co hoftile ta 
 the obje£l in view, that it drives philofo- 
 phy to a very refpe6tful diftance. In thd, 
 uncertain voyage of life, fome fail upoa 
 troubled, others on fmooth and gentle 
 waters, and fome agam. on ftagnant; and 
 it is our duty to expert to encounter all 
 forts of weather : man is at the belt but 
 a weak being, like a reed to be fhaken by; 
 every wind, and buffeted about by every 
 ftorm ; fome are better failors than others, 
 and look upon the angry tempeft with 
 different degrees of fortitude ; for my part 
 I mull honeftly confefs that I am at the 
 belt but a bad navigator, and am often 
 run alhore with only a cap full of wind. 
 
 The following anecdote which I have 
 accidentally met with, is fo fingular, that 
 I cannot refrain from fending it to you : 
 
 A merchant who lived in the golden days 
 
 of 
 
[[ 68 ]i 
 
 of Queen Elizabeth, had feven or eight 
 fens arrived at the age of manhood, and 
 beinghimfelf upon his death bed, addreffed 
 them as follows: "Sons,"faidhe (after fome 
 previous difcourfe), " your voyage through 
 life may be compared to an outward bound 
 fleet in time of war, that has a fafe con* 
 voy to a certain latitude, where they 
 lifually feparate, and take different courfes; 
 f^ihe navigate one fea, fome another, and 
 naturally meeting with various fortunes, 
 one encounters ftorms and tempefts ; an* 
 other runs upon flioals and quickfands; 
 and a. third, even in light of port, ftrikes 
 upon a rock, and is loft j whilft few, very 
 few, fmoothly failing upon the tranquil 
 tide, gain their deftined haven in peace. So, 
 my fons, I, your convoy, have conduced 
 yoi; even thus far with honor and fafety 
 to yourfelves : I muft now leave you for 
 ever, ' in all probability to be fcattered 
 wide by many fates -, let each, whatever 
 
 courfe 
 
t <9 1 
 
 courfe he may fteer, have virtue for hit 
 pilot, and I truft that his faithlefs for- 
 tunes — '" but here the ftory breaks off> 
 and fo muft I, in order to make an apology, 
 which, according to the polite rules of 
 writing fhould now follow, for this unne- 
 celTary digreffion. — And methinks I hear 
 you fay, I am travelling 'tis true; but it is 
 into the regions of fancy, beyond the 
 reach of common apprehenfions \ I allow 
 the juftice of the charge, and ftand felf 
 convifted; but I find it a very hard tafH 
 to keep within due bounds : for, to purfue 
 the allegory— in the courfe of a voyage, if 
 the mafter of the veflel happens to dif- 
 cover a beautiful illand, abounding with 
 all forts of fruit, is he a criminal, or even 
 an injudicious pilot, if he is tempted to 
 deviate from his dire6l track, in order to 
 gather fome ? Or if he hears a Syren's 
 voice, is he to blame in liftening to it? 
 
 when 
 
[ 70 3 
 
 when to refift, the expedient of Ulyffes 
 would be infufficient — he muft alfo Ihut 
 out the imagination. 
 
 The village of Abber Conway, ufually 
 called Abber, from whence I dated my 
 laft letter, is iituated upon the ftraits of 
 the Menai, that at high tide is there about 
 four miles acrofs j but when the water is 
 out, it appears perfe£tly dry 5 for the fea 
 retires fo far back, that it only leaves 
 a channel of a quarter of a mile, or 
 thereabouts, in breadth : all the reft is a 
 complete flat, and confequently the tide 
 overflows it very rapidly. There are 
 ftated times to pafs this ferry, which one 
 fliould be very exa6t in obferving, for ten 
 minutes maybe of the utmoft confequence. 
 The clergyman of the place accompanied 
 us to the boundaries of this wildernefs of 
 fand; he gave us the neceflary dire^ions 
 '. for 
 
[ 7* ] 
 
 for oi^r paffage, which were only to keep 
 a white houfe in view that belonged ta 
 the ferryman on the Anglefea fhore, and 
 to make what hafte we could, fince there 
 was nO' time to lofe, for we had four 
 miles to walk over this frightful defart 
 without fhoes or ftockings, having been 
 advifed to pull them off; for being regu- 
 larly overflowed every twelve hours, great 
 part of the road is neceflarily wet and 
 dirty. We had fcarcely got half way, be- 
 fore it began to grow thick and foggy. 
 The little village of Abber, which we had 
 juft quitted, was no longer perceptible j * 
 and nothing behind us was to be feen, 
 but the fteep and ftiaggy mountains of 
 Paenman Mawr, and thofe known by the 
 general name of Snowdonia, with the 
 dark vapours floating upon their fides j 
 and very foon even thefe became no longer 
 diftinguifhable, but as one huge mafs of 
 • clouds. 
 
L 7» 1 
 
 doudsv Myfelf, and another of the party, 
 h^d confid^rably outwalked the other 
 Iwo, who had loft fight of their land- 
 mark, and were fleering their courfe much 
 too far to the right i when we difcovered 
 their miftake they were not fo vifible to 
 us, that we could tell what they were j 
 bU that we could difcern, was fomething 
 very dark, moving in a different dire£lion 
 tQ us 5 confequently wje haled thenij and 
 -wraited till they came up to us, and we 
 agreed , to part . company no more. — 
 Darknefs had now overtaken us in good 
 carneft, : and we could fee /nothing, nor 
 hear any thing, except the noife which 
 the fea made in its approach, that alarmed 
 us not a littte ; at length, to our infinite 
 fatisfa6tion, we diftinguilhed the voices 
 of the ferrymen, who were luckily waiting 
 on this fide of the paffage. When they 
 heard us, they were extremely impatienjt 
 
 foi 
 
[ 73 ] 
 
 for our arrival, and continually called to' 
 us to make hafte, which we wanted no 
 monitor to urge us to do ; we therefore 
 made towards the fpot from whence thd 
 founds came, which we conje£l:ured to b^ 
 about the diftance of two hundred yards 
 from us, but were unluckily inter-cepted^ 
 by a fmall channel, already filling very 
 fafl with the fea. We did not hefitate 
 long, for in fa£t we had no alternative, and 
 therefore boldly ventured through ; it wasr 
 fortunately only about two feet deep, and 
 rather more than ten yards broad. We 
 congratulated each other upon finding 
 ourfelves fafe in the boat, though drip- 
 ping wet, and ftiivering with cold. Like 
 the Ifraelites, we had paffed through the 
 fea on dry land ; but we had run a great 
 rifk of experiencing a fimilar treatment 
 with Pharaoh and his hoft, from that un- 
 mannerly element. When we arrived at 
 . H the 
 
[ 74 ] 
 
 the inn at Beaumaris, we made a fire 
 that would have roafted an ox, and or- 
 dered a fupper fufficient for ten aldermen. 
 Upon opening the window on the follow- 
 ing morning, I obferved the fea had co- 
 vered all thofe immenfe flats we had fo 
 lately, I will not fay with dry feet, walked 
 over. 
 
 The firfl Edward, ambitious of emula- 
 ting the a£lions of Alexander the Great, 
 entertained the daring project of building 
 a bridge acrofs thefe ftraits, and thus 
 unite Anglefea with Wales. That proud 
 monarch, like the infolent Xerxes, vainly 
 conceived he could control the raging 
 elements 5 and the trouble, expence, and 
 impracticability of completing fo vaft a 
 work, was clearly, but in vain, reprefented 
 to him : chance, however, efFe6ted what 
 reafon had been unable to do *, for at the 
 
 very 
 
[ 75 ] 
 
 very time that he was giving orders for 
 the undertaking, fome frefli difturbances 
 broke out elfewhere, and diverted his 
 attention from fo wild and vifionary a 
 fcheme. 
 
 Beaumaris is a dirty fea-faring town ; 
 here is another of king Edward's caftles 
 built, A. D. 1295 5 it is in tolerable pre 
 fervation, but the eye is difgufted with 
 new repairs j a fine old tower is fre- 
 quently patched with modern mafonry, 
 in which the workman has barbaroufly 
 (hown his art, in the nice difpofition of 
 yellow bricks and mortar : add to this, the 
 inhabitants have made a bowling-green 
 within its walls. — ^The guardian genii of 
 venerable ruins, muft furely have been 
 afleep when thefe impieties were com- 
 mitted. 
 
 Ha From 
 
t .7« 3 
 
 From Beaumaris we croffed the ifland, 
 with which I felt myfelf greatly difap- 
 pointed ; I looked around me in vain for 
 thofe awe infpiring fhades and venera- 
 ble temples where the Druids ufed to 
 perform their myfterious rites, that filled 
 the wondering multitude with fear, and 
 infufed, even into their enemies, a degree 
 of refpeft and veneration. 
 
 The account given by Tacitus of the 
 expedition of Suetonius, againft this 
 ifland, is the moft ftriking pidurck of th^ 
 charafter of the Druids, and probably 
 more to be relied upon than any other; 
 fpr veracity conftituted no fmall part of 
 ^e; merit of that excellent hiftorian. 
 
 .^r*;"IgUur monam infulam incolis va- 
 • Tacit Annal Lib. 14. 
 
 lidam. 
 
 i 
 
[ 77 ] 
 
 lidam, et receptaculum perfugarum ag- 
 
 gredi parat. - - 
 
 Stabat pro litore diverfa acies, denfa ar- 
 mis virifque, intercnrfantibus feminis : in 
 modum furiarum, vefte ferali, crinibus 
 difje6tis, faces praeferebant. Druidceque 
 circum, preces diras fublatis ad coelum 
 manibus fundentes, novitate afpe£tus per- 
 culere milites, utquafi haerentibus mem- 
 bris, immobile corpus vulneribus praebe- 
 rent. Dein cohortationibus duels, et fe 
 ipfi ftimulantes, ne muliebre et fanaticum 
 agmen pavefcerent, inferunt ligna, fter- 
 nuntque obvios, et igni fuo involvunt." 
 
 " He thereupon prepares to attack 
 Mona, an ifland powerful on account of 
 its numerous inhabitants, and affording a 
 place of refuge to thofe who fled from the 
 enemy. ---- --__.. 
 
 - - - a motley army flood oppofed 
 
 Us to 
 
i 1^ } 
 
 to him upon the Diore, thronged with 
 warriors and prepared with warlike in- 
 ftruments, the women running up and 
 down, and bearing torches before them, 
 after the manner of the furies, in the drefs 
 worn at their funeral folemnities, and 
 with difhevelled hair ; the Druids every 
 where pouring forth the moft dreadful 
 imprecations, with hands uplifted to hea- 
 ven, terrified the foldiers with the novelty 
 of fuch a fpeftacle, who, as if fixed to 
 the fpot where they flood, yielded their 
 bodies immoveable to the wounds of their 
 enemy. At length, at the exhortations of 
 the general, and alfo encouraging each 
 other, that they ihould not be intimidated 
 at that female and frantic multitude, they 
 advance their ftandards, overthrow all 
 who oppofe them, and plunge the Britons 
 into their own fires." 
 
 By 
 
I 79 ] 
 
 By the bye this laft was an aft of the 
 moft unjuil and unneceffary cruelty in the 
 Romans, who feem only to have been in- 
 ftigated to it by the demons of revenge 5 
 for when we conlider that the deluded 
 multitude who oppofed their invafion, 
 were in reality fighting in defence of every 
 thing that was valuable in their doraeftic> 
 9nd of every thing that was dear and 
 venerable in their public life; that they 
 beheld the temples of their gods im- 
 pioufly polluted, and their facred groves 
 violated and profaned ; can we feel fur- 
 prifed, or rather was it nor natural that 
 they ftiould refift the fury of an enemy, 
 preparing to trample upon their rights, 
 their liberties, and their religion ? And 
 if in general, we regard the condu6t of 
 the Romans with refpe£t to the conquered 
 nations, we fhall find that the moft cruel 
 and rapacious fpirit chara£terifed all their 
 
 military 
 
[ 80 ] 
 
 military tranfaftions. They led the un- 
 happy vi6tims of their perfecution in bar- 
 barous triumph to the capital, and felt a 
 more than brutal pleafure . in liftening to 
 the groans of the untaught and defence- 
 lefs children df nature, the naked inhabit- 
 ants of the wilds and forefts of the mofl: 
 uncivilized and unpromifing regions. 
 Their inhumanity and cruelty is only to be 
 equalled,' in more inddern titties,' by the 
 conqueft of Peru and Mexico, and the 
 taking of the ifland of St. Domingo by 
 the Spaniards, which has fixed an indeli- 
 ble blot of infamy upon that nation -, and 
 by that difgraceful and abominable traffic 
 that fubfifts to this day in the Weft, of 
 bartering our fellow creatures at a pub- 
 lic auction, and fubje6ling them to the 
 difgraceful dominion of the moft unfeeling 
 of tyrants. 
 
 Very 
 
t 81 3 
 
 Very few traces of the temples and 
 habitations of the Druids are now to be 
 found ; fome old ftones, fhapelefs and 
 without order, here and there, indicate 
 that there might have flood on thefe fpots 
 the rude and fimple piles, where .the pri- 
 mgeval inhabitants of this ifland folemnifed 
 their religious ceremonies 3 and this is 
 all that now remains of that once cele- 
 brated order of priefthood, which over* 
 fpread the northern regions of Europe, 
 Strange fatality ! that a fyftem of religion 
 fo founded on prejudice, and rivetted in 
 fuperftition and ignorance, and fo inti* 
 mately blended with the political govern' 
 ments of thofe times, that it appeared 
 capable of triumphing over that invifible 
 mutation to which all human eftablifh-' 
 ments are liable, and of oppofing Chrifti- 
 anity itfelf, (hould now be fo loft, fo for- 
 gotten, that little more than a few fhape- 
 lefs 
 
[ 82 i 
 
 lefs Hones, and the uncertain teftimony of 
 oral tradition, remain to fatisfy us of the 
 influence that extraordinary religion once 
 pofleffed over the human mind : 
 
 " Illi rebus divinis interfunt, facrificia 
 publica ac privata procurant, religiones 
 interpretantur -- - ----. 
 
 - - - - fere de omnibus controver- 
 
 siis publicis privatifque conftituimt, fi quod 
 eft admiflum facinus, fi caedes fa£la, fi de 
 hereditate, fi de finibus controverfia eft 
 iidem decernunt , praemia paenafque con- 
 ftituunt*," 
 
 " They prefide over all facred cere- 
 monies ', they adminifter both public and 
 private facrifices; they are the interpre- 
 ters of all religious affairs - - - . - 
 
 - They for the moft 
 
 * Cscfar in Gall, Lib. (5. 
 
 part 
 
[ 83 ] 
 
 part decide in all public and domeftic 
 controverfies i if any crimes are com- 
 mitted, if any flaughter is made, whether 
 they are difputes concerning hereditary 
 right, or the boundaries of their poflef- 
 fions, the Druids always decide upon them; 
 they alfo determine' rewards and punifh- 
 ments." 
 
 This is a general account given by 
 Julius Caefar of the Druids of Gaul. He 
 nightly mentions thofe of Britain; only 
 taking occafion to obferve, that the man- 
 ners and ceremonies of thefe people are 
 almoft every where the fame. Their 
 powers of divination were alfo in great 
 reputation, but the mode of making 
 their obfervations was truly horrid and 
 barbarous. Their ceremonies, according 
 to Tacitus, were performed " in groves, 
 facred to the moft cruel fuperftitions ; for 
 they offered up their facrifices upon altars 
 
 ftained 
 
[ 84 ] 
 
 ftaintd with the blood of their cAptlves j 
 and it was ufual for them to augur accord- 
 ing as the blood of th^ htiman vi£^im fol- 
 lowed the facred knife tiiat had infli£ted 
 the wound." 
 
 -Qiiiglelfea^(tii^ghitiis called the granary 
 of Wales) appeared to us as one con- 
 tinued pifture of defolation ; and for 
 twenty miles of our road through it, we 
 could not difcover more than five or fix 
 corn fields, and the grafs land fo mifera- 
 bly poor, that it fi:arved rather than fed 
 its hungry inhabitants. We undoubtedly 
 did not fee the country to the beft advan- 
 tage, becaufe the exceflSve heat of the 
 fummer had parched up the grOund, and 
 occafioned a general appearance of dearth. 
 
 (C 
 
 Amlwch is a fmall fea port, from 
 whence the copper (that is found in the 
 Paris aid Mona mines, which are not 
 
 more 
 
I H 1 
 
 more than a mile from the town), is 
 lliipped to London, Liverpool, &c. The 
 Mona mine produces the fined ore ; they 
 alfo make quantities of copper from old 
 iron /for a particular account of the 
 whole procefs, fee the Scotch Encyclo- 
 pedia, Pennant's Hiflory of Wales, &c,) 
 
 Thefc mines have an appearance un- 
 commonly grand and ftriking — a vaft 
 yawning chafm, difplaying full to the 
 view of the aftoniflied ftranger its ful- 
 phurous contents j hundreds of workmen 
 employed in a variety of different occu- 
 pations ; fome boring fliafts, others fele£t- 
 ing the ore^ which is flung up to the top, 
 or, if I may ufe fuch an expreflion^ 
 ufhered into the world in. little balkets. 
 in fome places the chifel and the pick- 
 axe find room for employment ; in others 
 the men are feduloufly engaged in blow- 
 
 .1 ing 
 
[ 86 ] 
 
 ing up large pieces of the rock by means 
 of gunpowder, the report of which rever- 
 berating from fide to fide, in this immenfe 
 cavity, occafions fuch a tremendous ex- 
 plofion, that all nature feems to tremble 
 to its center. — Upon the whole thefe 
 mines bear an apt refemblance to the 
 infernal regions, and, like the peftilence 
 from the pit of Acheron, the fulphur 
 which iffiies from them, fpreads defolation 
 around, fo that not the llightefl veftiges 
 of verdure are to be traced in the neigh- 
 bouring fields. 
 
 We dined yefterday at Gwyndn, on 
 the great road to Holyhead, which is 
 called by the natives Caer Guby, on ac- 
 count of St. Kybi, a holy man, who lived 
 there A. D. 308 ; but none of us exprefl"- 
 ing any inclination to fee that place, we 
 left it on the right, and fl:eered our courfe 
 
 nearly 
 
[ s? 1 
 
 nearly South, through the center of the 
 ifland. Gwyndn fignifics, from its name, 
 ^^a place of hofpltality at the expence of 
 the lord -, and, in truth, it anfvvers, in fome 
 refpe6ls, to its title even now ; nor muft I 
 forget to pay my tribute of thanks to the 
 hoftefs, a fine old lady, who payed us the 
 utmoft attention, and appeared particu- 
 larly folicitous about us ; flie gave us her 
 bleffing at our departure, with a thoufand 
 admonitions not to 'lofe ourfelves. We 
 left this hofpitable inn with regret, and 
 arrived " poll multa pericula," at Hoel 
 Don Ferry, a fingle houfe, where we 
 were obliged to flcep, or, fpeaking more 
 accurately, to lie down, for to fleep was 
 totally impoffible. It was a miferable hut ; 
 but we contrived to procure two beds, 
 though the good woman was for putting 
 us all into one. We croffed the ferry 
 yefterday morning, after a fleeplefs night, 
 
 I 2, happy 
 
r ?8 J 
 
 h^ppy to quit this ifiaufpicious ifland, 
 where fortune had not been over prodigal to 
 us of her favours. The road from this ferry 
 to Caernarvon, winds along the fhores of 
 the Menai, and the fcenery would have 
 amply repayed me for the fatigue and 
 mortification I had undergone, had I then 
 been in a humour to have enjoyed it ; but 
 true it is, that when we cannot enjoy our- 
 felves, we are not much difpofed to be 
 fatisfied with any thing around us ; the 
 finefl obje£ls lofe their beauty j and what 
 at other times would have afforded the 
 highefl gratification, are in thofe hours 
 deprived of their relifh. We reached 
 Caernarvon, or Caer-ar-fon (fignifying a 
 walled town), to breakfaflj and it was 
 not until I had eaten, or rather devoured, 
 a certain quantity of toaft and butter, that 
 J began to recover the accuftomed tone of 
 my fpirits, T intended to have clofed this 
 
 letter 
 
[ 89 1 
 
 letter with an account of our tranra6tions 
 as far as the time of our departure from 
 this place ; but mull defer the remainder 
 till my next, for fome particular bufinefs 
 has fallen upon my hands, which obliges 
 m€ for the prefent to fubfcribe myfelf, 
 
 Your's, &c. 
 
 I. H. 
 
 LET- 
 
t 90 1 
 
 LETTER V. 
 
 9 - 
 
 Tan y Bwlch, July 24, 1794. 
 
 V-/ F all the ruins which Wales has yet 
 prefented to me, the caftle of Caernar- 
 von is the moft noble and magnificent. 
 " Vaft as the pride of its founder," it 
 evinces the warlike and invincible genius 
 of the firft Edward, of whofe military 
 prowefs this country, as well as Scot- 
 land, furnifh fuch numerous and melan- 
 choly proofs. Thank heaven, thefe fa- 
 bricks of defpotifm are at length either- 
 levelled with the ground, or prefent a 
 memorable leffon to mankind of the fu- 
 tility of human ambition. 
 
 This caftle was ere£led in order to fe- 
 cure the paffage into the Ifle of Anglcfea, 
 and to curb the people of the mountains, 
 
 where 
 
[ 9' ] 
 
 where the brave and hardy Britons had 
 taken refuge from their infulting con- 
 querors, refolved to prefer freedom and 
 independance to eafe and fervitude. The 
 eldeft fon of Edward was born here, and 
 he was prefented to the Welfh as their 
 future prince. Such enormous buildings, 
 abftraftedly confidered, excite only my 
 abhorrence ; becaufe they have occalioned 
 the exercife of a great deal of tyranny, , 
 and ufelefs expence, and have been of no 
 poflible advantage to any nation; but 
 have, on the contrary, afforded fo many 
 afylums wherein the fword of tyranny 
 might take fhelter ; and were chiefly cal- 
 culated to keep the furrounding diftrj6ts 
 in awe and fubje6tion. Every eaftle that 
 now remains is a monument of fbame to 
 our anceftors, and of the ignoble bond- 
 age under which they bent: and hence 
 in part arifes that fati5fa«6tion, which the 
 
 mind 
 
[ 9V ] 
 
 mind is confcious x)f feeling, in contem- 
 plating their ruins ; for an affociation na- 
 turally takes place; and the recolleflion 
 of the feudal vaflalage and flavery of for- 
 mer days, is accompanied by the pleafmg 
 circumftances of the relative profperity 
 and freedom which we now enjoy. From 
 this place we made a party of three, and 
 crofTed once more into Anglefea, where 
 my ill ftars feemed to have pre-ordained 
 that I fhould meet with nothing but mis- 
 fortunes. One of my companions was a 
 very fkilful botanift, and his botanical 
 furor, induced him at all times to defpife 
 danger and difficulty, when in purfuit of 
 a favourite plant, and this was the obje£t 
 of our prefent enterprize; but we had 
 fcarcely fet foot on that inhofpitable 
 fhore, before it began to rain with great 
 violence, and very foon growing dark, 
 we were obliged to make the beft of our 
 
 way 
 
[ 93 ] 
 
 way back again. This ferry is two miles 
 acrofs, and the water was much agitated, 
 fo that without the addition of the rain, 
 which came down in torrents, the fpray 
 of the fea would have completely made 
 us wet through ; but, in the midll of our 
 diftrefs, we were agreeably interelted by 
 a fight as beautiful to us as it was 
 novel 5 the furface of the water fuddenly 
 affumed a luminous appearance, now 
 and then relapfing into an impenetrable 
 gloom, and^^en again re-lumined, it- 
 conveyed to the mind fome idea of what 
 the poets defcribe of Phlegethon in the 
 Ihades below. By the time we had 
 reached our inn I had loft my voice, and 
 gained a fore-throat ; the following morn- 
 ing it was no better; but under fome 
 hope that exercife would cure the com- 
 plaint, was induced to continue our tour 
 to Bethkelert, which we reached that af- 
 ternoon 5 
 
I 94 ] 
 
 ternoon ; the whole walk being more fin- 
 gularly romantick than any I had yet 
 feen, and compelled us to make many a 
 paufe, in order to enjoy and contemplate 
 its beauties. About half way, we pafled 
 over Llyngwennyn bridge, and immedi- 
 ately found ourfelves in a fertile valley, 
 terminated by a wild and irregular caf- 
 cade, one branch of which contributed 
 to turn a mill that was almo ft concealed 
 within the wood, which formed a kind 
 of amphitheatre to this pifturefque and 
 interefting fcene ; a little further on a fine 
 lake opened full upon the view ; and not 
 far from this another fmaller one. The 
 road winds along the banks of both. i 
 Bethkelert is a fmall village, or rather 
 hamlet, (ituatecf at the foot of fome pro- 
 digious high mountains, which feeni to 
 encircle it on all fides, whilft the ftream 
 or tori'cnt, that had accompanied us all 
 
 the 
 
[ 95 ] 
 
 the way from the firft lake, here begins 
 to be of more confequence, and forcing 
 its way between thefe ftupendous hills, 
 with a continued and confiderable de-j 
 fcent, empties itfelf into an arm of the 
 fea, calleci Traweth- Mawr. As this is 
 the ufual place from which travellers 
 make the afcent of Snowdon, we deter- 
 mined to do the fame, and in purfuance 
 of this refolution fet off at eleven in the 
 evening, though it was quite dark, and a 
 very rainyand ftormy night; however^ there 
 was a probability that it would be fine in 
 the morning; and that hope was fuffi- 
 cient to make us undergo a few inconve- 
 niences ; but in attempting to find the 
 guide's houfe, which was five miles from 
 our inn, and fituated quite out of the 
 road, at the foot of the mountain, we 
 became completely bewildered : in this 
 perplexity we were dire6ted by the glim- 
 mering 
 
t 96 3 
 
 mering ofa light to an habitation, which, 
 Tjrith extreme difficulty and dange, we con- 
 trived to reach. It was a fmall hUt, and 
 its inhabitants, if we might judge from' 
 the impenetrable filence that reigned^ 
 within it, were all afleep. It was fome'j 
 time before we could prevail upon themi 
 to open the door, and anfwer to our en-^ 
 treaties for a proper direftion ; at length^ 
 an elderly man appeared, to whom wei 
 endeavoured to make known our griev-l 
 ances ; but alas ! he only fpoke his native 
 language, and did not underftand a wordi 
 that we faid: However, by frequently] 
 repeating the guide's name, " Ellis Grif- 
 fith," and pointing to Snowdon, at the 
 fame time giving him a glimpfe of a fliili 
 Irttg, we with much difficulty made Mr 
 comprehend us ; and putting himfeif a1 
 our head, he became our condu6tor. In] 
 about half an hour we found ourfelvesl 
 
 at 
 
t 97 1 
 
 at the door of another fmall cottage : our 
 guide vociferated Welfh for fome minutes, 
 till we were admitted by a good-looking 
 lad about 1 7 years of age, who was the per- 
 fon we had been fearching forr he re- 
 monftrated againft our afeending that 
 night, with many weighty reafons, to 
 which we ealily affented ; but to think of 
 returning to our inn would be madnefs t 
 we therefore called a council of war, and 
 it was agreed, that we fhould at ' alf 
 events flay where we were, until morn- 
 ing ; when, if it fhould be tolerably fair, 
 we would afcend. Thus determined, we' 
 difpofed of ourfelves in the followmg' 
 manner ; I barricadoed myfelf in a chair, 
 fo that I could not fall out; two more 
 repofed themfelves- on the benches* on: 
 each fide of the fire, and the fourth took 
 up his " lodgings on the cold ground,"^ 
 with an earthen platter turned up-fide 
 
 K down 
 
[ 98 ] 
 
 down for his pillow. As for my part I 
 was not difpofed to fleep, but took up 
 the rufh-light, which had been placed for 
 fecurity on the ground ; and to pafs away 
 the leaden hours of time, pored over an 
 old Welfh di£lionary (which was the only 
 thing like a book that I could find), till I 
 was fcarcely able to fee. I could not 
 help contemplating our fmgular fituation 
 and appearance in this ftrange place : on 
 one fide, around the dying embers of a 
 peat fire, my good friends were enjoying 
 as comfortable a repofe as they had ever 
 experienced in the moft coftly bed : at 
 the other extremity of the room, fepa- 
 rated only by a rug, the venerable own- 
 ers of this humble cottage lay locked in 
 each others embraces : whilft I, like Bru- 
 tus in his tent at Philippi, fat reading by 
 the mid-night lamp, till the light danced 
 before my eyes, and the pale fpe6lre of 
 
 the 
 
[ 99 ] 
 
 the night appeared to my imagination. 
 Without doors nought but the " pelting 
 of the pitylefs ftorm" was heard, and the 
 loud roar of the mountain torrents : I re- 
 collefted fome lines of a favorite author^ 
 which I thought applicable to my pre- 
 fent iituation : 
 
 " And when rude bluft'ring winds and driving rain, 
 Prevent my willing feat ; 
 Be mine the hut that from the mountains fide 
 Views wild and fwelling floods." Collinos, 
 
 Yet while I was contemplating the 
 fcene, under fuch peculiar circumftances, 
 with a mixture of awe and furprife, thefe 
 fimple cottagers lay perfeftly indifferent, 
 and unconfcious of any novelty in their 
 fituation. The noife ^ the cataradl was 
 by them fcarcely ever remarked, or 
 ferved to ftrengthen their repofe ; moun- 
 tain floods, abrupt and broken preci- 
 
 K 2 pices. 
 
[ loo ] 
 
 pices, were alike viewed by them with 
 the utmoft indifference; fo foon does 
 the human mind become familiar, and 
 accommodate itfelf to any circumftances. 
 Habit and cuftom are even fo powerful 
 as to change the very complexion of 
 things, and render that finally pleafing, 
 which at firfl could not be viewed without 
 fear or diflike. The Savoyard will climb 
 from rock to rock, and fearlefs walk upon 
 th^.j.briiiik of tremendous precipices, 
 which we, unaccuftomed to fuch fcenes, 
 cannot contemplate, ^ven at a. diftance, 
 without emotion; but, in a little time, we 
 become familiar to them, and ridieulo 
 thofe fears we had formerly entertained, 
 for Ayhat we can now view with fo much 
 unconcern. % 
 
 At four in the morning I thought it 
 prudent to awaken the whole party, 
 
 • which 
 
[ lot ] 
 
 which I effefted with fome difficulty, 
 we then fallied from our habitation", and 
 made our obfervations upon the weather, 
 which gave us no encouragement to pro- 
 ceed j however, they determined to ven- 
 ture upon their aerial exdurlion, more 
 from the. hope of finding the plants, for 
 which this mountain is remarkable, than' 
 of feeing any thing when at the top : at 
 their perfuafions, added to my own incli- 
 nation, I declined the enterprife, as my 
 cold had confiderably increafed during 
 the night, and went back again to the 
 inn, where I impatiently expefted their 
 return, which did not happen till four in 
 the afternoon. It turned out, as might 
 have been forefeen, a fruitlefs and fa- 
 tiguing expedition J for when arrived at 
 the top, they could fee nothing but the 
 impenetrable clouds, that almoft con- 
 ftantly envelope thefe huge mountains. 
 
 K 3 We 
 
[ IQZ ] 
 
 We quitted Bethkelart the following 
 jnqxniixgi ^nd purCUved the courfe of the 
 fame ftream I have abov^e fpoken of ^ that 
 for nearly two miles rolls with great ra-. 
 pidity at the foot of prodigious high moun- 
 tains^ which rife on each lide of it, almoft 
 perpendicular from its banks, leaving but 
 barejj^ room for a narrow road, which mull, 
 h^ve b^en cut at a vaft expence. The 
 gentle and murmuring founds of the 
 water, occaiioned by its declivity, and the 
 obftru6tions it has to overcome, form 
 a rude but grateful harmony. Pont Aber 
 Glaflyn ' terminates this fublime fcene. 
 The bridge, and furrounding obje6is, are 
 here highly deferving of attention. From 
 hence we fleered our courfe to the left, 
 and traverfed. the wildeft and moft defo- 
 l^t^ country that North Wales can boaft 
 of; (or the moft part coniifting of vaft 
 hills, i;^|(ing one above another, covered 
 
 with 
 
I 103 ]1 
 
 with fhaggy rocks, without the flighteft 
 veftiges of verdure. We reached this' place 
 yefterday evening : I am delighted with 
 the fituation, which is tHe moft retired ami 
 pleafing I have ever feen 5 it ftands upon 
 tiie borders of a valley fulKdently high 
 to command a view of its whole extent 5 
 theDruryd, afmall, but interefting ftream, 
 winding its folitary courfe, undifturbed, 
 through the midft of it ; and> al the lower 
 extremity, a limple, but elegant bridge, 
 terminates the view. The woods are very 
 pi£lurefque, and cover the oppofite hilla 
 to a great extent ; gratifying the eye widi 
 a conftant variety. Why, my dear friend, 
 has nature placed her moft alluring haunts, 
 her moft delightful fcenes, fo far from the 
 reach of man ? Why has ftie prodigally 
 fquandered away upon fo many diftant 
 and uncivilized regions, and upon this 
 favoured country in particular, all her ma- 
 
 jefty 
 
[ I04 ] 
 
 jefty and fimplicity? Why has fhe given to 
 a people, who behold, without enjoyment, 
 fcenesof beauty, where, for my part, I 
 could be almoft content to pafs through 
 this ftrange fcene called life, in peace and 
 folitiide ? I know you will blame me for 
 thus giving way to vilions, which ought 
 not to be realized, and your anfwer I al- 
 ready anticipate (viz.) that man was not 
 made for folitude, or felfifli enjoyments. 
 That our brother travellers, through this 
 tedious journey, call for our afliftance, and 
 have a claim upon our exertions ; and 
 that nature would no longer pleafe, no 
 longer afford delight and gratification in 
 her works, if they were every where 
 equally beautiful; or, in other words, were 
 there not barren mountains, fmoky cities, 
 ungenial foils, and unwholefome climatesj 
 then would lakes, woods, rivers, fertile 
 valleys, cultivated plains, villages, and 
 
 hamlets. 
 
1 loj 1 
 
 hamlets, be no longer obje£ls of curiofity 
 or admiration. 
 
 The inn at Tan y Bwlch is remarkably 
 neat and commodious 5 we yeflerday made 
 an excurfion from hence, to view the fall 
 of the Cynfael, one of the moft celebrated 
 cataracts in Wales. With much difficulty 
 and danger I climbed up to its tremen- 
 dous and almoft unattainable fummit; 
 from whence the water, colle£led into a 
 body, falls tumbling from rock to rock, 
 and fteep to fteep, till it reaches a vaft 
 pool, or bafon, frightfully deep, and fo re- 
 markably clear, that the pebbles at the 
 bottom of it may be diftin6i:ly perceived, 
 though I could form no judgment of its 
 depth. The fcenery at the foot of the 
 cataract, was beyond imagination beaiv 
 tiful J but I will not attempt to give you 
 a particular defcription of it, becaUie I 
 
 have 
 
[ io6 ] 
 
 have neither time nor power to do it 
 juftice. We leave this place to-morrow^ 
 morning, and you may conclude, after 
 what I have faid, it will be with forrow 
 and regret. I fhall now clofe this long, 
 and I fear, tedious letter, and be affured, 
 I feel myfelf as much as ever. 
 
 Your fmcere Friend, 
 
 I. H. 
 
 LET- 
 
[ 107 ] 
 
 L E T T E R VI. 
 
 Aberistwith, Jiily 29, 1794* 
 
 This is the laft letter, my dear friend, 
 
 • 
 that I (hall have the pleafure of writing 
 
 to you whilft I am in Wales ; an unex- 
 pe£ted event obliges me to be at Bath in 
 a few days, fo that I am under a neceffity 
 of leaving this country fooner than I had 
 intended ; but I will take care and write 
 to you as foon as I arrive, with the re- 
 mainder of my tour, together with a few 
 obfervations upon the chara6ter of the 
 people. 
 
 It was with much difficulty we found 
 our way to Harlech. We made fome en- 
 quiries at a fmall village, but in vain ; 
 for though we addreffed ourfelves to many, 
 
 we 
 
we could by no means make them un- 
 derftand.us; all we received in return 
 was a ftare, immediately followed by a grin, 
 and concluded with a " tin farcenick," 
 which fignifies "no Saxon." We were 
 obliged therefore to rely upon chance for 
 bur guide, which did not however upon 
 this occafion befriend us ; for, inftead of 
 keeping to the right upon the hills, we 
 purfued the left path, that brought us 
 into an extenfive vale, or marfh, where, a^ 
 the diftance of about five miles, we firfi* 
 perceived the objects we were in purfuit 
 of (viz.) the town and caftle of Harlech. 
 After fome confiderable exertions, we, 
 were obliged to abandon this valley, be— 
 caufe it was fo fwampy, and fo much in- 
 terfe£ted by ditches and drains, that it 
 would have been, if not impra£licable, at 
 leaft extremely uncomfortable and difficult 
 to proceed. With great fatigue and perfe- 
 
 verance. 
 
[ 109 i 
 
 verance, we climbed up the almoft per- 
 pendicular, and craggy fides of the moun- 
 tain, which bounded that part of the vaJe, 
 where we were reduced to the above per- 
 plexity, and at length reached Harlech ; 
 for the firft thne heartily fatigued. 
 
 The country people have no idea that 
 a ftranger can be ignorant of their roads ; 
 we have not unfrequently afked the way, 
 and received for anfwer, " that it was as 
 ftraight as we could go;" when, in a very 
 few paces, we have been perplexed hj. 
 two roads, one declining to the right, and 
 the other to the left. — Nor have they 
 much idea of diftance ; each meafuring it 
 by the rule of his own judgment and opi- 
 nion. It is no unufual thing to be told, 
 that the diftance to fuch a place, may be 
 about five miles, " and a pretty good 
 ftep ;" which pretty good ftep, generally 
 proves to be about five miles more. 
 
 L Harlech 
 
{ "o ] 
 
 ^.Harlech caftle is nobly fituated, and, 
 like Denbigli, ftands upon a- lofty promon- 
 tary, terminating a chain of hills, and 
 commanding on one fide a view of the 
 fea, and on the other, a very exten- 
 five vale and profpe6t. From its fingular 
 fituation, it muft have been formerly 
 efteemed almoft impregnable; and yet 
 we read in our hiftory, that it was 
 befieged, and taken, in the time of 
 Edward the Fourth, by the Earl of Pem- 
 broke, without the afliftance of gunpow- 
 der. We alfo here achieved an exploit, 
 which, beyond all doubt, gives us fome 
 title to military prowefs ; for as there did 
 not happen to be any body in the way, 
 who might open the gates of the caftle, 
 and our time not permitting us to wait 
 for the ordinary forms of capitulation, we 
 boldly marched up to the affault, and 
 fcaling the walls at four different places, 
 took poffeflion of the ^arrifon, as it were 
 
 fcaglin 
 
[ "« ] 
 
 by a coup-de-main. But for this daring 
 outrage, we had well nigh got into an 
 aukward fcrape ; fome of the inhabitants 
 obferving our operations, and probably 
 taking us for free-booters, gave the alarm , 
 and muftering a formidable body of forces, 
 marched in military array, to difpofTefs us 
 of our llrong hold. But we foon pacified 
 our opponents, and having convinced them 
 that our intentions were neither predatory 
 nor hoftile, they retired to an ale-houfe 
 to banifh forrow, and indulge themfelves, 
 at our expence, in copious libations of 
 ale. 
 
 There is nothing interefting in the road 
 to Barmouth, nor has that place itfelf any 
 ftriking peculiarities, except that the 
 houfes are fo whimlically built, upon the 
 fide of a fteep hill, that the inhabitants 
 
 L 2 fide 
 
[ "ss ] 
 
 may have the advantage, if they choofe, of 
 looking down their neighbour's chimnies. 
 The town ftands upon the fea fliore, and 
 in the feafon is full of company, who 
 refort thither for the purpofe of bathing. 
 
 From Barmouth to DolegelJy we were 
 highly gratified 5 the road wound along a 
 ridge of rocks> that hang over the A- 
 vonvawr, an arm of the fea ; which, at 
 full tide, has the appearance of a large 
 lake, furrounded with beautiful woods: 
 'J'be mountains on both fides, but parti- 
 cularly on the oppofite fhore, were ftrik- 
 ingly grand; and above all, Cader Idris 
 jreared its head into the clouds, which, 
 .together with the fombre afpe6t of the 
 evening, and the hollow murmutings of 
 the fea gave an awful fublimity to the 
 fcene that cannot be d^cribed. 
 
 Dolegelly 
 
[ "3 ] 
 
 Dolegelly is a large and dirty town: 
 we took up our quarters at the Golden 
 Lion, a good hofpitable inn; and next 
 morning, after breakfaft, procured a guide 
 to condu£t us to the top of Caer Idris. 
 We armed him with ftores, and warlike 
 preparations of all kinds (to wit) : ham, 
 fowl, bread, and cheefe, and brandy, and 
 began the afcent at nine in the morning, 
 and continued to toil for three hours and 
 a half before we reached the top. But, 
 alas ! expe6tation had again flattered us ; 
 for, though it was a moft lovely day in the 
 valleys, yet here we could not fee fifty 
 yards before us 5 the fummit of the moun- 
 tain is not of greater extent than the bafe 
 of a common fized room 3 and, on one fide, 
 falls almoft perpendicularly many hun- 
 dred yards in depth. When I ftood upon 
 the edge of this precipice, and looked into 
 the frightful abyfs of clouds, it put me in 
 
 h ^ mind 
 
E 1^4 ] 
 
 mind of the chaos, or void fpace of dark- 
 nefs, fo finely defcribed in Milton,. when 
 the fallen archangel flood at the gates of 
 hell, pondering the fcene before him, and 
 viewing, with horror, the profound ex- 
 panfe of filence and eternal night ; 
 
 ....... -...a dark 
 
 lUimitable ocean, without bound, 
 
 Without dimenfion, where length, breadth, and heighth, 
 
 And time, and place are loft. 
 
 The height of this mountain is little 
 inferior to that of Snowden. — The view 
 from it, on a clear day, is grand and mag- 
 nificent. Ireland, the Ifle of Man, North, 
 and South Wales, lie extended before the 
 eye like a level map. The whole moun- 
 ts is apparently compofed of a huge 
 mafs of ftones, thrown together as a 
 heap of rubbifli without order or defignj 
 for, wherever you turn up the fod or turf> 
 
 which 
 
C 1^5 ] 
 
 which is not in general more than two 
 
 inches thick, you come to thefe ftones, 
 
 and they are nearly about the fame di- 
 
 menfions, and have the appearance of 
 
 Joeing broken with a hammer. Near the 
 
 fummit of the mountain there is no tur& 
 
 and what is remarkable, thefe ftones are 
 
 fmaller there than in any other place. 
 
 Had there been any larger mafly rocks at 
 
 the top, it would have afforded a probable 
 
 conje6ture, that fhivered in the courfe of 
 
 time, by lightenings and tempefts, they 
 
 might have fallen by piece-meal upon the 
 
 lower iides of the mountain. But, as 1 
 
 have already flated, there is no appear^ 
 
 ance of that kind at the fummit, and fucll 
 
 a fuppoiition mult therefore be excluded. 
 
 Nor could an earthquake "have caufed the 
 
 phenomenon, becaufe we have no tefti*. 
 
 mony whatever, either ancient or modern, 
 
 of any part of Great Britain, having been 
 
 fubjotii 
 
[ 1.6 ] 
 
 fiibje£t to fuch extraordinary convulfions 
 of nature j and the idea of the flood being 
 the qaufe, i^ futile and ridiculous f o the 
 laft degree; for the vaft body of water, 
 which, we are informed, was colle6ted 
 upon the furface of the earth, would, in- 
 ftead of fcooping out valleys, and heaping 
 up mountains, have been more likely to 
 have levelled mountains, and filled up 
 valleys. Befides it is not quite clear, that 
 the whole furface of the globe was af" 
 fefted by that fweeping deluge; and 
 therefore Great Britain, from its remote 
 iituatron, might, as well as any other 
 covmtry, have been exempted from a 
 ihare of its favours. But it is not my in- 
 tention to throw dawn the gauntlet of 
 controverfy, with refpe6b to this, or any 
 other fubjeft of fcripture hiflory fo ex- 
 tremely remote ; it is happy perhaps for 
 the authenticity o£ many parts of that hi^ 
 
 tory. 
 
 I 
 
[ '17 ] 
 
 tory, that it is beyond the reach of human 
 teftimony now to difprove it. 
 
 It is well for me, my dear friend, that I da 
 not live under the paternal government of 
 the inquifition, either in Venice, or Spain, 
 or Italy, or Portugal, or any other place, 
 where the parental and tender affe6lion 
 of the holy fathers, might folely for the 
 prefervation of my foul, mercifully con- 
 demn my body to the purification of fire. 
 But to return to the mountain, or rather 
 to take leave of it, for I have already kept 
 you too long upon (o ungenial a Toil, I 
 will conclude this digreffion, with the idea 
 of a celebrated philofopher, who con- 
 ceived it probable, that, when God had 
 compleated his great work, this beautiful 
 world, out of fo many rough materials., 
 not knowing what to do with the rubbifh 
 
 that remained, he threw it together in va- 
 rious 
 
t "8 ] 
 
 rious heaps of different magnitudes, jufl ' 
 as it happened, and thus formed what we 
 call mountains. . !^ 
 
 We arrived at the inn, at Towen Me- 
 j-ionith, late in the evening ; where we i 
 had the pleafure of being fpe£lators of a :[ 
 Welfh aflembly 5 they invited us to join ( 
 them, but our fatigue was too great j 
 to permit us 5 added to which our drefs 
 .was not altogether fuitable to the occa- 
 iionj though, from what I could obferve ofj 
 thefe honeft Cambrians, we fhould n< 
 have been very outre in our appearance^ 
 if we had ventured amongft them, habited! 
 as we were. I cannot help relating a re-l 
 markable inftance of fimplicity, that hap- 
 pened to me here the fame evening. As 
 ibon as I had got into bed, I foundj 
 the flieets were extremely damp, and hai 
 ing fuffered fo much lately in catching^ 
 
 cold^ 
 
[ it9 ] , 
 
 cold, I thought it a neceflary precau- 
 tion, and indeed but common prudence, 
 to throw them afide. When the maid 
 came to take away the candle, fhe would 
 not be convinced that the fheets were 
 damp : " Lard fir (faid fhe), it be impof- 
 fible, for they have been a llept in four or^ 
 five times within this laft week." We 
 left Towen {which is about a mile from 
 the fea), yefterday morning, for there is no- 
 thing particularly attrafting in that place, 
 or captivating to .the eye of a ftranger* 
 It was our intention to have reached 
 Aberiftwith laft evening, but were obliged 
 to take fhelter from the fury of a ftorm, 
 in a folitary houfe, not far from the ferry 
 at Aberdovy, where we were detained 
 much againft our inclinations the whole 
 night j but we have happily arrived here 
 this morning without any further obftacles. 
 Aberiftwith is a very refpe6table bathing 
 
 place. 
 
[ 120 ] 
 
 place. There are fome fine remains of a 
 caftle, that formerly commanded the ap- 
 proach from the fea on one fide ; and that 
 to the town, from the land on the other. 
 
 The trade of Aberiftwith is not by any 
 means contemptible j great quantities of 
 coal, and lead, are found in the neigh- 
 bourhood, and fhipped from this port to 
 different parts of England. 
 
 Adieu, my dear fir, and believe me, I 
 feel the greatefl pleafure in fubfcribing 
 myfelf. 
 
 Your fincere friend, &c. 
 
 I. H. 
 
 LET- 
 
r •" ] 
 
 LETTER VH. 
 
 The Old Passage, Auguft 2, 1794. 
 
 I 
 
 N my laft, my dear friend, I faid that 
 you would not hear from me until I 
 reached Bath ; but I find I fhall be de- 
 tained here till the morning, the weather 
 proving too rough for the paflage boat, to 
 venture with their cargo of live and dead 
 ftock, and therefore I cannot better fill 
 up the intervening time than by writing 
 to you. 
 
 I did not part from my old companions 
 until we reached Llanindovrey, fo that 
 we had the pleafure of feeing Pont-ar- 
 finach together, otherwife called the De- 
 vil's bridge. It is the largeft cataraft in 
 Wales, and well worth the traveller-s at- 
 
 M tention. 
 
I I2t ] 
 
 tention. About one hundred yards from 
 the bridge, there is a houfe of accom- 
 modation for company, though I cannot 
 fay much in favour of it -, however, it is 
 pleafantly fituated, and overlooks the 
 deep and woody glen, into which, from 
 a prodigious height, the waters of the 
 cataraft fall, with a deafening noife. 
 With infinite labour and fatigue, I got 
 down to the bottom of this glen, or 
 chafm. I did not undertake the perilous 
 expedition alone j but neither my com- 
 panion or myfelf were gratified or recom* 
 penfed for our trouble, becaufe the ca- 
 tara£t is fo obfcured by buflies and under- 
 woodj that, at the foot of it, it is not all 
 difcernlble. 
 
 Tregarron is a miferable hole, in the 
 •which however we were conftrained to 
 lleep, and to break the windows in our 
 
 bed 
 
 I 
 
[ 123 ] 
 
 bed rooms to let in the frefh air. We 
 took a guide from thence to Llanindo- 
 vrey, over the lonely and tracklefs moun- 
 tains of Cardiganfhire ; it rained hard 
 the whole way, and we had not even the 
 gloomy confolation of feeing a partner of 
 our misfortunes: for, to fpeak within 
 compafs, we neither beheld a fingle habita- 
 tion, nor even a human creature, for 
 more than twenty miles. From Llanin- 
 dovrey I journeyed on alone, for the reft 
 of the party not being prelTed for time, 
 could make their obfervations at plea- 
 fure, having no neceffity for hurrying over 
 the country as I was obliged to do. 
 
 Brecknock is fituated on a fmall rifing, 
 above the river Ufk. I cannot do juftice 
 to the beauty of the country, the whole 
 way from Brecknock, to Crickhowel 
 and Abergavenny : it is one continued 
 landfcape, abounding with every rich va- 
 
 M 2 riety 
 
[ 124 ] 
 
 riety of fcenery, and beautifully intcr- 
 fperfed with hamlets and villas. At 
 Crickhowel there are fome remains of a 
 caftle, but at Abergavenny (commonly 
 pronounced Aberganey), fcarcely any : it 
 derives its name from the river Gavenni 
 which there meets the Uik. To me, who 
 had but jufi: quitted the micultivated and 
 tremendous fcenery of North Wales, its 
 rocks, its mountains, and its cataracts ; 
 the fertile hills and cultivated vales of 
 Brecknockfliire were doubly ftriking j 
 and the rich features of the latter, heigh« 
 iened beyond the reality from fo lively a 
 contraft. 
 
 Ragland caftle is a very fine ruin, 
 belonging to the duke of Beaufort j the 
 road from thence to Tintern, would gra- 
 tify the mofl romantic imagination 5 the 
 lafl three miles, or more, being a conti- 
 nual defcent through a deep and gloomy 
 
 w od, 
 
[ 1^5 ] 
 
 wood, till the aftoniOied traveller burfls 
 from the furrounding fcenery full upoi\ 
 the Wye, that rolls its muddy waves in 
 rich meanderings through this folitary 
 glen. The lively pi6lure that immedi- 
 ately offers itfelf to the view, of boats in 
 full fail, of others landing their cargo, 
 with the bufy and cheerful cries of the 
 failors and workmen, was like the effect 
 of enchantment, and almoft created in 
 me an imagination, that I had arrived in 
 another world, and had difcovered a new 
 order of beings. At fome diftance Hands 
 the abbey, whofe holy illes, and melan- 
 choly fliades, were once devoted to reli- 
 gious fervour and monaftic difcipline : it 
 was founded A D, 1131. The monks 
 were of the rigid order of Ciftertians*. 
 
 • At what time chriftianity was introduced into 
 Britain, it is not correftly known ; but it is certain 
 that it was in fome degree eftablifhed here, though 
 
 M 3 continually 
 
-[ 126 ] 
 
 We owe to Henry VIII the fuppreffion 
 and ov^hrow of thefe feminaries of bi- 
 gotry and ' fuperftition : as long as they 
 
 ^ontinualiy perfecuted by the Saxon Pagans, long be- 
 fore the arrival of Aug\»ftin the Monk, who was feat 
 upon a holy miflion into this ifland, A. D. 596. How- 
 ever, the abufes of chrlftianity were coeval with its in- 
 troduftion ; and this holy father himfelf fet his heart 
 riot only on fpiritual but temporal things ; for he was 
 created the firft archbifhop of Canterbury : he is alfo 
 accufed of having excited the Saxons to fall upon the 
 Britons, and to mafiscre twelve hundred monks of 
 Bangor. Monachifm is fuppofed to have been intro- 
 duced into Britain by Pelagias, at tlie beginning of 
 the fifth century. 
 
 The contradled limits of a note are infufficient to 
 ■enumerate the infinite variety of raonkifli fraternities, 
 .and the crimes they ^ere guilty of : but according to 
 Gregory, their enormities are fcarcely credible. In 
 confequence of the fuppreffion of thefe monafteries in 
 the time of Henry the Eighth, ten thoufand religious 
 were turned into the wide world ; and Henry became 
 poffeffed of all monadic revenues whatfoever ; thefe on 
 the whole amounted to fix hundred and forty five mo-> 
 nafterics, ninety colleges, and two thoufand three hun> 
 dred ai}4 twenty four chantries and free chapels. 
 
 exifled. 
 
[ 127 J 
 
 cxiftcd, the exertions of genius were fet- 
 tered and confined ; and Europe was 
 overfpread with one general gloom of re- 
 ligious fanaticifm and intolerance. About 
 the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, 
 fome enlightened minds awoke from the 
 general flumber ^ but it was a feeble ef- 
 fort, and the darknefs returned more 
 thick and heavy than before. Monkiih 
 pride and cloiftered pedantry every where 
 ufurped dominion over man. — Learning 
 and fcience were finally deprefled, and 
 ignorance became the beft fliield of pro- 
 tection ; but truth at length unfolded the 
 deep veil of hypocrify and prieftcraft — 
 reafon refumed her empire — the whole 
 fabric of papal defpotifm fell at once to 
 the earth ; and luft, cruelty, and revenge, 
 that had fo long been concealed within its 
 walls, fled at the firft glimmerings of 
 light ; whilft the pure and genuine prin- 
 ciples 
 
r ,28 ] 
 
 ciples of Chriftianity rofe as a pillar of 
 glory upon the ruins, and pointed to uni- 
 verfal happinefs and peace. 
 
 The elegance and lightnefs of the 
 ftrufture exceeds any thing of the gothic 
 architecture I ever faw. It occafioned in 
 me much regret that I was compelled to 
 pafs over, and to vifit, in fo curfory a man- 
 ner, a fcene, which, for beauty and Angu- 
 larity, might challenge nature through- 
 out. I wifhed to have examined more 
 minutely the venerable remains of this 
 onc^ celebrated abbey ; but the very fa- 
 bric which I was fo much admiring, in- 
 dicated too forcibly that I had to deal 
 Tv^ith that inexorable and infatiable foe> 
 called " Time." I felt the convi£tion, and 
 y^ith reluftant fteps haftened to Persfield, 
 celebrated for thofe extenfive and magni- 
 ficent gardens, which have coft fo much 
 
 labour 
 
[ 1^9 ] 
 
 labour and expence heretofore, though 
 now fuffered to run into decay. ""■ 
 
 Chepftow is a very neat and well fitu- 
 ated townj it has a caftle that might 
 once have been formidable, but is now a 
 complete ruin. Having thus brought my 
 tour to a conclufion, I have the fatisfac- 
 tion to add, that the event has not difap- 
 pointedj or fallen fliort of expectation ; 
 and what few difficulties we encounter- 
 ed greatly contributed to heighten our 
 other enjoyments. *Tis true we have 
 fometimes been obliged to cook our own 
 victuals, fometimes to be content with 
 very fcanty fare, and fometimes with 
 none at all ; nor were we ever indulged 
 with down beds, chince curtains, or 
 Turkey carpets ; but good health and 
 wholefome fatigue rendered fuch articles 
 of luxury totally ufelefs ai^d unnccelTary. 
 
 To 
 
[ I30 ] 
 
 To fum up the advantages and difadvan- 
 tages ; I do not hefitate a moment to fay, 
 that were I to make the fame touir again, 
 or one through a fimilar country, I fliould 
 certainly perform it on foot, both from 
 motives of convenience and independ- 
 ency. 
 
 Upon the w^hole I have been as much 
 charmed with the manners of the people, 
 as with the country which they inhabit ; 
 there is a boldnefs and originality in all 
 their actions, which marked the conduft, 
 and chara6lerifed the features of their an- 
 ceftors. A love of liberty and independ- 
 ence is implanted by nature in their 
 breafts, and is cheriflbed into maturity 
 upon their mountains and fea coafts by a 
 hardy and defultory manner of life. With 
 refpeft to hofpitality, they ftill preferve 
 their original chara61:er ; the manner of it 
 
 is 
 
[ >3t ] 
 
 is undoubtedly much altered, it is lefs 
 magnificent but more pleafmg j the 
 ftranger is not conducted into a noble 
 hall, and placed at the right hand of the 
 chief; no bards attend with the -fongs of 
 times that are paft ; the walls are no 
 longer hung with the mafly fpears of de- 
 parted heroes, or decorated with the fpoils 
 of a vanquiflied enemy ; the conch does 
 not found to war, nor is the bofly fhield 
 ftruck as the fignal to meet the threaten- 
 ing foe. Strange ferocious manners were 
 blended with the hofpitality of thofe days ; 
 but, happily for mankind, fuch barbarous 
 features of uncivilized ages are at length 
 every where humanized into more re- 
 fined and focial enjoyments. Whether 
 fociety has not arrived at an excefs of re- 
 finement ; whether a great degree of re- 
 finement is no^t the parent of vice and 
 corruption ; and if fo, whether an age of 
 
 barbarity 
 
[ 13^ 3' 
 
 barbarity with honefty and virtue, or an 
 age of refinement, with effeminacy, vice, 
 and corruption, is moft defirable, or moft 
 calculated to produce the immediate and 
 eternal happinefs of mankind ? I leave to 
 be determined by thofe who have leifure 
 and inclination, to confider with attention 
 fo abftrafted a fubje£t. 
 
 The occupation of war, and the amufe- 
 ments of the chafe, have given way to the 
 more domeftic employments of pafturage, 
 agriculture, and fifliing. — Of the produce 
 of their daily labour, the ftrangcr is gene- 
 rally welcome, and though their poverty 
 is obvious, they refufe every recompencc 
 but thanks and civility ; I fpeak chiefly 
 of the lower orders of the people ; of the 
 higher, or more opulent, the manners are 
 almoft every where the fame. 
 
 I cannot 
 
[ ^33 ] 
 
 I cannot do better than quote, upon 
 this occafion, a couple of ftanzas from 
 Churchyard, who has been a conftant 
 companion in my walks, and has better 
 expreffed in poetry the character of the 
 people in this particular, than 1 could 
 have done, had I attempted it, in profe : 
 
 Like brethren now doe Welfhnien ftUl agree. 
 In as much love as any men alive ; 
 The friendftiip there and concord that I fee, 
 I do compare to bees in honey hive ; 
 Which keep in fwarme and hold together ftiU, 
 Yet gladly (howe to ftraunger great good will ; 
 A corteous ky nd of love in every place, 
 A man may find in fimple peoples face. 
 
 Paffe where you pleafe on plaine or mountai* 
 wilde, • 
 And bear yourfelfe in fweete and civil fort, 
 And you fhall fure be haulft with man or childe. 
 Who will falute with gentle comely port 
 The paffers by : on braves they ftand not fo. 
 Without good fpeech to let a traveler go : 
 They think it dctt and duetie frankc and free, 
 In towne or fields to yceld you cap and knee. 
 
 N lu 
 
[ 134 ] 
 
 In Wales, pride and poverty go hand in 
 hand, and the difpolition of the people is 
 ftrongly blended with fuperftition. When 
 we were at the top of Cader Idris (the 
 ctimology of which fignifies the chair of 
 the giant Idris), the guide fhewed us the 
 giant's bed, at which we could not help 
 laughing ; the honell fellow, however, re- 
 buked us for fuch levity, and expreffed 
 his belief as to the identity and exiftence 
 of the giant, at the fame time juftifying 
 himfelf from the authority of a clergy- 
 man, who had lately made a pilgrimage 
 to the fame fpot j and, immediately fall- 
 ing down on his knees, began to fay his 
 prayers in a devout manner, and an audi- 
 ble voice ; without doubt to appeafe the 
 manes of this tremendous giant, and 
 breathe out a pious requiem to his foul. 
 
 The general chara£ter of the people is 
 
 certainly 
 
[ '35 ] 
 
 certainly amiable — their attachments are 
 ftrong and fincere i their paflions and re- 
 fentments violent, but tranfitory, which is 
 always the chara61:eriftic of an unpoliflied 
 people. The ingenuoufnefs of nature is 
 Ihewn in its real colours, and difplayed in 
 all their actions. They do not trouble 
 themfelves with the politics of the times, 
 or addi6t themfelves to the habits of think- 
 ing, and the cares of the world they have 
 little concern with^ for they are free 
 from thofe occupations, thofe tremulous 
 folicitudes, v^rhich engrofs the attention of 
 a commercial people. With refpeft to 
 their language, I am not fufficiently ac- 
 quainted to give any opinion ; to my ear, 
 I muft confefs, it is not very harmonious ; 
 but refembles rather the ravifhing founds 
 of a cat-call, or the mufical clack of a 
 flock of geefe when highly irritated. The 
 diale£ls are. extremely various, and the 
 
 N 2 difference 
 
f 3'6 ] 
 
 difference is often obfervable, even be* 
 tween adjacent counties ; but in North 
 and South Wales, there is (o great a varia- 
 tion, that they may almoft be faid to be 
 different languages. Yet, notvi^ithftand- 
 ing, I feel much pleafure whenever I 
 hear it fpoken, being the old Celtic 
 dialeft, which, together with the fimpli- 
 city of the country people, brings back to 
 my mind the memory of former times ^ 
 but my ideas of them are fo imperfe£l, 
 and our knowledge in general, of the 
 relative virtue and happinefs of our Celtic 
 ^nceftors, fo confufed, that I fcarcely 
 know whether to rejoice that thofe times 
 are paft, or wifli that they may again re- 
 turn J with refpe6l to them, and the Welfh, 
 as they are at this day, there appears to 
 me to be this material diftin£tion : the 
 former knew not what wealth (in the 
 modem acceptation of the word) was ; and 
 
 confequently 
 
[ 137 ] 
 
 confequently were ftrangers to many vices 
 attendant upon it. The latter, from their 
 intercourfe with the rich and mercantile 
 parts of Great Britain, have unfortunately 
 acquired a relifh for riches without the 
 means of procuring them: hence arifes 
 that pride which prompts them to con- 
 ceal their poverty, and that jealoufy of 
 their national charafter and fituation, 
 which breaks out almoft upon every oc- 
 cafion. The children are remarkably 
 .beautiful, and ufually well made, but this 
 only continues during their infancy ; for, 
 from the age of ten and upwards, they 
 begin to bear the marks of hard labour, 
 and ftill more precarious fubfiftence.-r- 
 A haggard countenance, a reduced ap- 
 pearance, and, in fhort, all the traces of a 
 premature old age * : fad proofs thefe of 
 
 * Poverty, though It does not prevent the genera* 
 tion> is extremely unfavourable to the. rearing of chil- 
 N 3 dren j 
 
[ '38 ] 
 
 poverty and wretchednefs ; and but too 
 true indications of mifery and want, and 
 
 dren ; the tender plant is produced, but In fo cold a 
 foil, and fo feverc a climate, foon witKers and dies. 
 It is not uncommon in the Highlands of Scotland, for 
 a mother who has borne twenty children not to have 
 two alive. Very few of them arrive at the age of 
 thirteen or fourteen ; in fome places one half of the 
 children born, die before they are four years of age ; 
 in many places before they are feven j and almoft 
 every where before they are nine or ten. This great 
 mortality, however, will be found chiefly amongft the 
 children of the common people, who cannot afford to 
 tend them with the fame care as thofe of better 
 itation* 
 
 Adam Smith* i Wealth o/Natiout,** 
 
 "This excellent writer, whofe calculations are in 
 general fo accurate and exatft, has here ftated fails 
 the moft mdancholy, truths altogether difgraceful to 
 fociety ; hard lot of poverty indeed ! and blafted is 
 the foil, If Its Influence extends to the untimely and 
 unmerited deftru£lIon of the human race. The flale 
 and hacknied argument, that thefe things are per- 
 mitted by Providence for fome wife purpofes un- 
 known to man, muft In this inflance be rejefted, be- 
 caufe It Is apparently a levity of cruelty, to give a nu- 
 merous offspring to the parent, only to mock and in- 
 
 fult 
 
[ 139 ] 
 
 of an inferiority of condition, juftlfiable upon 
 no grounds whatever, either of revealed 
 religion, or natural equity. The popula- 
 tion of North Wales, compared with its 
 extent, is very trifling, and unequal. This 
 may be accounted for from a long chain of 
 caufes, but chiefly from the continual ftate 
 of difcord and warfare, in which the chiefs 
 and princes were always involved, until 
 the final fubjugation of Wales by Edward 
 
 fult her with a profpefl: of happiuefs, and then leave 
 her to anguifli and defpair. 
 
 Great Britain is enabled to provide for more than 
 its prefent population, even without the affiftance of 
 any external commerce. And Europe, it is well 
 known, might maintain one hundred millions of fouls 
 more than fhe at prefent does. Government then is 
 the only remaining caufe of all thefe evils : govern- 
 ment, which ought to remove every obftacle to popula- 
 tion, endeavours to deprefs and retard it ; nor is there 
 any hope of amendment, while amongft numerous 
 other caufes, the abufe of eflates, the rapacity of fi- 
 fe . nance, and the immenfe eftablifhment of ftanding ar- 
 mies continue to cxift* 
 
 the 
 
I HO 1 
 
 the Firft, and even then, the inhabitants 
 were treated merely as a conquered peo- 
 ple, and admitted to few privileges of the 
 conquerors j for it was not till the time of 
 Henry the Eighth, that they were fuffered 
 to have the fame advantages with Englifh 
 fubje6ts. Secondly, from the fituation of 
 the country, which is too remote for the 
 Englifh land trader, and oppofed to a very 
 dangerous fea ; added to which its ports 
 are by no means fo commodious and fafe 
 as thofe of England. Thirdly, and prin- 
 cipally, the barrennefs of the foil, toge- 
 ther with the mountainous nature of the 
 country, and confequently the great diffi 
 culty of land carriage, which is the chief 
 obflacle to its internal trade. Thefe are. 
 certainly ferious -impediments to the ■ 
 flourifhing ftate and profperity of the 
 people 5 but they are not beyond a re- 
 medy, and it ought to become the duty 
 
 of 
 
 I 
 
[ HI ] 
 
 of the legiflature to provide every poflible 
 means of improvement, and to endeavour, 
 by wifdom and attention, to remove or 
 l^v diminifh thofe local inconveniences which 
 are a bar to the happinefs of the fociety 
 of any particular di(lri6t or tra£t of land 
 over which that legiflature has dominion ; 
 eftablifli manufa6lures, hold out rewards 
 for agriculture ; in Ihort, increafe the popu- 
 lation of the country by the mofl approved 
 methods ; wealth will follow of courfe, 
 commerce will be extended, and the now 
 defolated mountains of North Wales may, 
 at leaft, repay the labour of cultivation^ 
 though they can never be fo produftive 
 and flourifliing as thofe of their fouthern 
 neighbours. We know that Attica was 
 little better than a defart of fand -, yet, en- 
 couraged by wife laws, the inhabitants 
 ' overcame the obftru£lions of nature, and 
 it quickly flourifhed as the garden of 
 
 Greece, 
 
Greece. We know the almoft infur- 
 mountable obftacles that the great Czar 
 Peter had to encounter -, yet, in fpite of 
 thefe, affluence fmiled upon the induftrious 
 exertions of his fubje£ts, dire6ted by his 
 wifdom to ufeful employments : the arts 
 found an afylum in the frozen regions of 
 Ruflia, and, from a land* of poverty and 
 defolation, it became a great and flourifh- 
 ing empire i but the fole end of govern- 
 ments feems to be forgotten, an'd, inftead 
 of having for their great and ultimate ob- 
 je£t, the happinefs and advantage of that 
 fociety by whom they were inftituted 3 
 they now feem calculated only for the 
 advantage of a few ; and the legiflators 
 of nations are become the individual 
 brokers of public property 5 which, with 
 ithe lives of mankind, are fquandered 
 away, as ambition or caprice may rule 
 the hour, and di6late to their councils. 
 
 You 
 
[ 143 ] 
 
 You will perceive, my dear friend, 
 that I have not entered into minute and 
 particular defcriptions — I have neither 
 given you a detail of fieges, nor prefented 
 you with a genealogy half a mile long — I 
 have not defcribed a feaft, nor filled up 
 my pages with infcriptions from old tomb 
 (tones ; but if you wifh to derive informa- 
 tion on thefe heads, I refer you to the 
 -pompous defcriptions of Young, and to 
 the difFufe and voluminous work of Pen- 
 nant. The world is doubtlefs indebted to 
 the latter for his excellent hiftory of Wales, 
 but it is ftill a hiftory, and has too much 
 of the detail in it to afford me any grati- 
 fication in the perufal. 
 
 I have ftudioufly avoided dwelling upon 
 any thing whicli bore an analogy, or re- 
 femblance to works of art, or unproduftive 
 ambition. To fearch out nature in all 
 
 her 
 
[j 144 1 
 
 her various forms, has conftituted my 
 chief delight ; and to find her in her wildeil 
 attitudes, has proved to me the higheft 
 fource of gratification and enjoyment. 
 
 I hope, and fully expe£l to fee you very 
 foon at Cambridge. My beft wiflies at- 
 tend you, and believe me to be, with the 
 iitmoft fincerity. 
 
 Your affectionate Friend, 
 
 I. H. 
 
 J77l> h- 
 
 APPEN- 
 
I '45 ] 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 A T may not be unacceptable to fome 
 of my readers, to lay before them a few- 
 general obfervations with refpe£l to; this 
 country. 
 
 NORTH WALES 
 
 IS DIVIDED INTO SIX COUNTIES* 
 
 Contents in 
 
 Towns. 
 
 Panlhei* 
 
 fquare miles. 
 
 
 
 Caernarvonlhire - 430 
 
 s 
 
 68 
 
 Denbighfliire - « 670 
 
 4 
 
 57 
 
 Flintfhire - ^ - 250 
 
 z 
 
 28 
 
 Merionethfliire - - 790 
 
 4 
 
 37 
 
 Montgomeryfhire 860 
 
 6 
 
 47 
 
 Anglefea - - - 180 
 
 z 
 
 •74 
 
 3180 
 
 23 
 
 311 
 
 
 
 
 The 
 
t 146 ] 
 
 The market towns in Caernarvonlhire, 
 are Carnarvon, Aberconway, Krekith,Pul- 
 hely, and Nevin. It has befides one city, 
 Bangor. 
 
 In Denbighfhire, are Denbigh, Ruthin, 
 Wrexham, and Llanroft. 
 
 In Flintfliire, Holywell, and Caerwis, 
 with one city, St. Afaph. Flint has no 
 market, but fends one member to Parlia- 
 ment. 
 
 In Merionethfhire, are Harleigh, Dol- 
 gelle, Dinafmouthy, and Bala. 
 
 < 'J ,■ . ■> - ■ ' 
 
 Montgomeryfhire contains Montgo- 
 mery, Llanvilling, Welflipool, Newtown, 
 Machynleth, and Llanydlos. 
 
 Anglefea 
 
[ 147 ] 
 
 Anglefea has Beaumaris, and New- 
 burgh. 
 
 No. of fquare miles in Wales 70 1 1 
 Ditto in North Wales - - 3180 
 Ditto in South Wales - - 3831 
 
 The population of North and South 
 Wales, are together eftimated at about 
 three hundred thoufand fouls, fo that it 
 will appear there are not upon the aver- 
 . age, quite fort)'4hree inhabitants to each 
 fquare mile. I regret much that I have 
 not been able to learn the exa6l propor- 
 tion of population between North and 
 South Wales ; there is, however, no doubt 
 that the latter has by much the largefl: 
 fhare. The Jfle of Anglefea contains 
 fifteen thoufand inhabitants, and has ra- 
 ther better than eighty three to each 
 fquare mile s but it is the moft populous 
 
 O 2 part 
 
[ h8 T 
 
 part of the north divifion of our princi- 
 pality. The total amount of the wafte 
 lands in Wales, is computed to be about 
 1,629,307 acres, and great part of this is 
 jftated to be incurable ; but I am inclined 
 to believe that if two or three regiments 
 of foldiers (inftead of fpending in bar- 
 lacks a life totally unproductive to them- 
 felves, and ufelefs to fociety in every in- 
 Hance, except for the heroic and benevo- 
 lent purpofes of murder, rapine, and op- 
 preflion), were fet to work upon them at 
 a (hilling each per diem, exclufive of their 
 pay, the country would, in a fhort time, 
 affume a very different afpe£t. The price 
 of labour is greater in South, than it is in 
 North Wales, and yet in Caermarthen- 
 ihire, which is a fouthern county, la- 
 bourers are only paid ten pence a day in 
 iummer, and find their own diet, and 
 «ight pence in the winter months. The 
 
 land 
 
[ 149 ] 
 land tax a few years ago produced 
 43'752l. 
 
 There are numerous mines of coal, 
 flate, copper, &c. that are a great fource 
 of employment to the poor. — What trade 
 they have, is, for the moft part, inland, and 
 confifts chiefly in horned cattle, lead, cop- 
 per, and coal. Great part of the land, 
 and particularly in Cardiganfliire, is wild 
 pafture, and, in its prefent flate, only fit to 
 feed that hardy kind of cattle fo peculiar 
 to the country itfelf ; confequently fheep, 
 cows, &c. are very cheap, and will con- 
 tinue fo until agriculture flourifhes more 
 than it does at prefent j or, in other words, 
 until it becomes more profitable to extend 
 tillage, ^nd fow feed for the food of man, 
 than dedicate the rude and natural pro- 
 duce of the earth to the nourifhment of 
 cattle j for, in proportion to the extenfion 
 
 O3 of 
 
I 150 ] 
 
 of agriculture, the price of cattle will be 
 advanced, becaufe the number is thereby 
 diminifhed, and the demand for them 
 greater. The Welfh are probably def- 
 cended from the Belgic Galls, and hence 
 called Galles, or Walks, /. e. Strangers. 
 The country was alfo formerly inhabited 
 by three tribes of Britons, the Silures, 
 Dimetse, and Ordovices. It preferved its 
 Independency until the thirteenth century. 
 
 There are two circuits, viz. 
 
 XT .1- 1? A r 1 ^Ot, Denbigh, MonU 
 
 North Eaft f ,o„t,;„;„g I g^mery, ^ 
 
 North Weft (_ J Anglefea & Caernarvon. 
 
 ' Wales fends twenty-four reprefenta* 
 tives to parliament, twelve for the coun- 
 ties, and the fame number for the bdroughs. 
 
 If the traveller wifhes to fee Bangor, 
 he muft crofs the Meijai from Anglefea 
 
 at 
 
[ 151 } 
 
 at the Bangor ferry ; but we had been 
 informed that there was fcarcely any 
 thing worthy of particular notice at that 
 place, which account has been fince con- 
 firmed to me, by a gentleman with whom 
 I am well acquainted, and who, in com- 
 pany with fome others, made a fimilar 
 excurfion to our's, and in a fimilar manner. 
 It is from his notes that I am enabled to 
 give fome account of Llanberis. The 
 road from Bangor to Llanberis is over 
 fome ftupendous mountains, command- 
 ing, as one might have expefted, a very 
 extenfive, and not an uninterefting pro- 
 fpe£t. The vale of Llanberis may con- 
 tend the point of fuperiority, with refpeft 
 to beauty, perhaps with any in Wales ; 
 the mountains on one fide being entirely 
 without verdure, and rifing almoft parpen^ 
 dicular from the vale, whilft thofe pn the 
 other fide, appear to be highly cultivated ; 
 
 the 
 
[ '5* ] 
 
 the vale itfelf conlifting moftly of fine paf- 
 ture ground, fome fmall lakes at one 
 extremity, and a few ruftic cots at the; 
 other 5 here is alfo a copper mine in the 
 hands of the Macclesfield company. From 
 Llanberis to Caernarvon, which is about 
 ten miles, the road lies at firft over high 
 and unpleafant mountains, and is after- 
 wards fucc ceded by a low flat, equally 
 dull and difagreeable. 
 
 Eight miles from Dolegelley are the 
 falls of the Caen and Morthway. The 
 higheft part of Snowdon is called the 
 Wyddfa, from whence, according to Pen- 
 nant, its moft credible altitude above the 
 level of the fea, is one thoufand one 
 hundred and eighty nine yards. The 
 height of the Cader above the green at 
 Dolegelley is about nine hundred and 
 lifty yards. The road to Machynleth, by 
 
 the 
 
[ 'J3 ] 
 
 the pool of Three Grains, is for thfe mofl: 
 part pi£lurefque and beautiful. The town, 
 for a Welfli one, is rather neat ; from 
 hence to Aberiftwith, is a pleafing and 
 rich country, through which flows the 
 river Dovey. 
 
 There is a remarkable cuflom which 
 the Welfli flill continue, that I cannot 
 forbear mentioning : When a marriage is 
 about to take place amongft the middling 
 and lower orders of people, it is ufual to 
 invite all their friends and relations of 
 every defcription, who, when they take 
 leave, prefent the bridegroom with fom^ 
 fmall prefent, of one or two fliillings, 
 which, however, they have a right to de- 
 mand again after a certain fpace of time ; 
 the intent of it being probably to enable 
 the new married couple to buy ftock, or 
 engage in fome bufinefs that may allow 
 
 them 
 
[ 154 J 
 
 them foon to repay the fmall donations ol 
 their friends. It is called " a bidding,"J 
 and is drawn up in the following form. 
 
 " My only fon John has lately entered] 
 the facred ftate of union, and a bidding] 
 is fixed on the occafion, on Tuefday the] 
 7th day of 0£lober next, in the village oi 
 Conwyl, when and where your good com4 
 pany and benevolence are highly folicit^ 
 ed, which will be cheerfully acknow-] 
 ledged on a limilar occafion, and efteemec 
 a peculiar favor conferred on. 
 
 Your moft devoted 
 humble Servants, 
 
 , John Jones, Senior. 
 
 John Jones, Junior. 
 
 Conwyl, 
 Sept. 13, 1794: 
 
 P. S. Mr. and Mrs. Lewis, -of Pantyr- 
 haidd, Mr, Jones, of Clynadda, Mr. Evan 
 
 Harries, 
 
[ '55 ] 
 
 Harries, of Nant-yr-olchfa, and his brother, 
 David Harries, of Llandre, unite us in 
 complimenting all with their fincereft 
 gratulation. — The young man's parents 
 requeft that all their donations of the 
 above nature may be retaliated then." 
 
 In the courfe of our tour I had often 
 occafion to regret that I knew nothing of 
 drawing; the pencil may find room for 
 continual employment in the romantic 
 views of North Wales ; but without 
 profeffing myfelf either a poet, a painter, 
 or a botanift, I felt highly gratified at the 
 magnificent fcenery which that country 
 every where difplays. Equally delighted 
 with the elegant fimplicity of nature, but 
 not fo familiar with its produ6lions as 
 another, I cannot find the fame fources of 
 intelleftual acquifitions. Undoubtedly 
 the antiquarian and the botanift have a 
 
 wide 
 
t 156 ] 
 
 wider field of inveftigation, and a more en- 
 larged page of fcience is conftantly dif- 
 played to their view. The poet and the 
 philofopher are more abftrafted in their 
 obfervations, find other principles for the 
 materials of thought, and apply the rude 
 unconnected objefts of their contempla- 
 tion, as fo many foundations, upon which 
 to build the light fabric of fancy, either in 
 the regions of moral, poKtieal, or meta«- 
 phyfical fpeculation ; but where the£b . 
 are united, nature muft amply repay her 
 obferver, and be at once an inexhauftible 
 mine of information and amufement. 
 
LIST 
 
 OP 
 
 T OWN S, &c. 
 
 WITH 
 
 THEIR DISTANCES FROM EACH OTHER, 
 
 *" 'iT-?A:vyC-U 
 
 Cambridge- .• 
 
 Oxford, three weeks • . 
 
 Glocefter* * -. 41 
 
 iRofs* ... .• .- .V . . 
 
 • Hereford • . • . - . • . '^ 
 
 Leominfter *• ^ % * 
 
 Bifhop^s Caftle * . . 
 
 " Montgomery « . . 
 
 WdfliPool . ,- . , 
 
 .'Llanvilling*- d « * 
 
 Llangunnog • .• .• , 
 
 Bala*- .• i : , .. 
 
 ■ol^^ 
 
 90 
 
 i7 
 16 
 
 r ■ 
 -:■ -1.2 
 
 . .25 
 
 . * • >7 
 
 . . 9 
 
 . . iz 
 
 . . '18 
 
 . . * 12 
 
 254 
 
 The 
 
Brought over 
 
 
 The Druid Houfe * , . , 
 
 . 8 
 
 Corweti ... .. . . 
 
 I « 
 
 . 2f 
 
 Llangollin .,..,., . 
 
 • .' 
 
 • 91 
 
 rr vRuabon . . ^ , , 
 
 
 'T 
 
 Wrexham ** .... 
 
 « 
 
 / 
 
 • 5 
 
 Ruthin . . , 
 
 ■N->l^ 
 
 
 . 16 
 
 oDen^bigh*. ... 
 
 * , * ' * 
 
 ♦ 
 
 
 rSt. Afaph . . 
 
 » • • 
 
 «. 
 
 . 6 
 
 Holywell* , , 
 
 i t 
 
 1 . 
 
 . «i 
 
 Rudlaud ..... , 
 
 •. • 
 
 > . • 
 
 * jli 
 
 Abergeley * . . . . 
 
 i • • ' 
 
 . iy*f 
 
 i-ir^ -5 
 
 GoAway*. , ^ ^ . 
 
 • ■ 
 
 « II 
 
 Llaoabj2r,.or Aljber** ♦ 
 
 ..y -». 
 
 • 9 
 
 Ov^ tte fexxy to Beaumaris 
 
 ^ 5 
 
 rAmlwgh* , . ... }-►)*{..< 
 
 ^.^jy.iB 
 
 Gwyndn .. » , ^ • • • 
 
 ' 9 
 
 Moel Doij *...... . . 
 
 • '5 
 
 r.'1'he F^rry ^ ^ . .. . . 
 
 f I 
 
 
 411 
 
 
 
 Caernarvon 
 
t '59 1 
 
 . Brought over 411 
 
 CaeFnarvon*- * ^ 
 Betbkelert** . , 
 Pont Aberglaflyn 
 TanyBwlch* •. 
 Rhaidr Dii ... 
 TanyBwlch** ■ . 
 Harkch 4 » « « 
 Barmouth * . • . • 
 Dolegelly* ,- .. .. 
 Cader Idrk » > * 
 Towen Merionith * 
 Aberdovy . • . 
 Jerry* , c. v -^i 
 Aberiftwith * , . 
 Pont ar Finach -. 
 Tregarron* . . 
 Llanmdovrey * 
 Trecaftle * , . 
 
 . 41 
 
 k It 
 
 \ I 
 
 • 7 
 
 • 3 
 
 '* 3 
 
 14 
 
 •17 
 
 12 
 
 s 
 
 If 
 
 9 
 iz 
 
 21 
 9 
 
 56^ 
 Brecknock 
 
Brought over 562 
 10 
 
 6 
 8 
 
 Brecki\ock ^ ^ % ■-' - * 
 
 Crickhowql , , ^ . . . 
 
 Abergaveimy * . . . . . 
 Ragland .. .. , 
 
 • • » 
 
 ;Tintern Abb^y , . . . , .^ . 
 (Per^eld ... ... . , 
 
 (Chepftow. * • , r f ' 
 cOld.PaflagQ* ........ 
 
 oKvixy . • • ». •• •• •, •■.•., 
 
 t^riftol ... . • . . 
 
 ■ ^. ,:* 'j^- 
 
 8 
 
 4 
 2 
 
 I 
 
 12 
 
 
 ■A 
 
 • • • 
 
 • » « 
 
 <A.'«jxw'< ' 
 
 629 
 
 r.Y 
 
 • THS IN». 
 
 J i 
 
 • • > « 
 
 • « * * 
 
 
 :.'jcri; 
 
m^ 
 
 riL;:i;V6r,. Oi." ''CJ r ;'Mf