
 
 <* 
 
 
 \ 
 
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 /' 
 
 
 Ulrich Middeldorf 
 
-r- 
 
 
 VtUy /U4\juL — 
 
 
LETTERS 
 
 ON THE 
 
 SCENERY OF WALES. 
 
Ah ! that such beauty, varying in the light 
 Of living nature, cannot be pourtrayed 
 By words, nor by the pencil’s silent skill; 
 
 But is the property of him alone 
 Who hath beheld it, noted it with care. 
 
 And in his mind recorded it with love. 
 
 Wordsworth, Excursion, p. 410. 
 
LETTERS 
 
 ON THE 
 
 SCENERY OF WALES; 
 
 INCLUDING A 
 
 SERIES OF SUBJECTS FOR THE PENCIL, 
 
 WITH THEIR STATIONS 
 
 DETERMINED ON A GENERAL PRINCIPLE l 
 AND 
 
 INSTRUCTIONS TO PEDESTRIAN TOURISTS. 
 
 By the Rev. R. H. NEWELL, B. D. 
 
 AUTHOR OF ** REMARKS ON GOLDSMITH.” 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 PRINTED FOR BALDWIN, CRADOCK, AND JOY. 
 
 1821 
 
C. Baldwin, Printer, 
 New Bridge-strep*, London. 
 
PAUL PANTON, ESQ. 
 
 THIS VOLUME 
 
 IS INSCRIBED 
 
 IN GRATEFUL RECOLLECTION OF 
 
 HIS HOSPITALITY. 
 
' 
 
 
 Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 in 2017 with funding from 
 Getty Research Institute 
 
 
 https://archive.org/details/lettersonsceneryOOnewe_O 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 Every one now, who travels with the least 
 skill in drawing, is desirous to carry back some 
 sketches of the scenery; but he is often at a loss 
 to discover the beauties of a country, and proper 
 subjects for the pencil, and more so, perhaps, to 
 fix on proper stations. To give some information 
 on these points, in a tour through Wales, by mark¬ 
 ing out a series of picturesque views, with stations 
 for taking them, is the chief object of this work. 
 And it may be hoped, that, while we are daily 
 invited to admire descriptions and pictures of 
 foreign countries, the attempt is commendable to 
 introduce more generally to public taste and 
 
 jj 
 
 admiration, the natural beauties of our own island. 
 The materials were collected in two pedestrian 
 rambles. My route through North Wales was 
 neither unusual nor extensive, but may be strongly 
 
Vlll 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 recommended, abounding with noble scenery, in 
 almost infinite variety. The beauties of South 
 Wales are more widely scattered, and much un¬ 
 interesting ground must be trodden to find them. 
 It cannot be expected that I have mentioned 
 every view which might be delineated, or perhaps* 
 the best, or the best stations; taste and experience 
 will, after all, direct the choice : ten artists would 
 probably select ten different subjects, and each a 
 different view of the same. 
 
 The principle upon which I have endeavoured 
 to point out the stations is that used at sea (and 
 why not on land?) for steering a ship into har¬ 
 bour —the hearings of two fixed objects in the 
 view ; and it is this principle, therefore, which I 
 would hope to illustrate, rather than to tell much 
 which is not already known, and better described. 
 A number of subjects, from the works of different 
 artists, has been added, without stations, as an 
 exercise for the Tourist’s skill. 
 
 I have also attempted a few remarks on the 
 picturesque beauty of the country; a subject, with 
 regard to Wales, still open, and much is it to be 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 IX 
 
 regretted that Mr. Gilpin left it so.* Picturesque 
 is, indeed, a word which now almost palls upon the 
 ear, nor is it always very accurately applied: but 
 I mean to express by it, “ that peculiar kind of 
 beauty which is agreeable in a picturef and as 
 such, my frequent use of the term seemed almost 
 unavoidable. 
 
 The smaller landscapes are etched nearly as I 
 drew them, but on a reduced scale, and may be 
 useful as subjects , or if referred to on the spot. 
 Drawings, with the breadth and effect of the 
 aquatinta engravings, may be easily and expe¬ 
 ditiously made, and will give, what is most essen¬ 
 tial, the general character of the scene. They 
 have all been executed by a pupil to the late 
 Mr. Aiken, and not unworthy of such a master. 
 
 The hints to assist the pedestrian, are the result 
 
 * Remarking to one of the first landscape painters in this 
 kingdom, that,-*of the numerous Welch Tours, none had been 
 written on the plan of Gilpin’s Wye, he replied—few could 
 write with his knowledge of the subject. 
 
 j- Gilpin’s Essay on Prints, p. 12. 
 
X 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 of long experience, and are therefore given with 
 some confidence. 
 
 The whole has been thrown into the form of 
 letters, with a wish of making the directions more 
 plain and easy; it also breaks the uniformity of 
 continued description. 
 
 When I acknowledge the friendly assistance 
 which this little work has received, I cannot refuse 
 myself the gratification of adding, how much I 
 owe to one person in particular, whose genius and 
 talents can be surpassed but by his liberality in 
 exerting them.* 
 
 My attempt, if new, is of course defective; but 
 if the principle be correct, it is improvable by 
 others, and may not be altogether useless to those 
 for whom it is intended—those who have “ an eye 
 that can see nature, a heart that can feel nature, 
 and a boldness that dares follow nature.”! 
 
 * Mr. William Payne. 
 
 f Welch Triads. See Jones’s Relicks of the Welch 
 Bards, p. 81. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 LETTER I. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Introduction.— Advantages of a Pedestrian.—Object 
 of these letters.—Books as guides.—General rule for 
 taking a view.—Character of a country the artist’s 
 first aim.—Exhibition catalogues useful.—List of pub¬ 
 lications on Wales. .... 1 
 
 LETTER II. 
 
 Principle by which the Stations are determined—demon¬ 
 stration—another method — illustrations — applied to 
 find where any drawing is taken... 9 
 
 LETTER III. 
 
 Chief aim of a pedestrian—dress—luggage—drawing- 
 books and implements.—Best season for a tour.— 
 Arrangement of the day.—Bathing recommended.— 
 
 Tour begins from the New Passage.—Route and Inns 
 through South Wales.. 14 
 
 LETTER IV. 
 
 Gilpin’s View of Newport.—Character of Glamorgan¬ 
 shire.—Caerphilly Castle.—New Bridge—remarkable 
 echo there.—Scenery on the Taff.—Hanging Bridge 
 and Waterfall, on the Rontha Vawr.—Malkin’s route 
 to Pontneath Vechan. 20 
 
Xll 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 LETTER V. 
 
 Road to Pontneath Vechan by Aberdare.—View down 
 the Vale of Neath.—Views near Pontneath Vechan.— 
 
 Fall of the Hepsey.—Cavern Scenes picturesque— 
 method of drawing them.—Upper Fall of the Purthin. 
 
 —Anecdote of Sir Herbert Mackworth.—Lady’s Cas¬ 
 cade.—Stone of the Bow. 30 
 
 LETTER VI. 
 
 Melin Court Cascade.—Neath Abbey.—Britton Ferry, 
 and Churchyard.—Swansea : views near.—Arthurs 
 Stone. .. 42 
 
 LETTER VII. 
 
 Picturesque character of Caermarthenshire. — Vale of 
 Tovy.—Dinevawr Castle.—Dyer the Poet.—Llaug- 
 harne.—Views of the Castle.—Excursion to Llan 
 Stephan recommended. — Green Bridge. — Tenby : 
 views near.—Narbeth.—Road to Cardigan by Maen- 
 cloghog.—Remarks on the person and dress of the 
 Welch . 50 
 
 LETTER VIII. 
 
 Picturesque character of Cardiganshire.—View of Car¬ 
 digan.—Kilgerran Castle.— Coracles.—Nevern, and 
 antiquities there.—Newcastle in Emlyn.—Tregaron. 
 
 —Stone Pillar near Llanbeder.—Strata Flur Abbey. 
 
 —View near Yspytty Ystwith.—Road to the DeviFs 
 Bridge. 63 
 
 LETTER IX. 
 
 Wilson the painter. — DeviPs Bridge. — Falls of the 
 Mynach.—Fall of the Rhydoll.—Robber’s Cave.— 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 Xlll 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Second Fall of the Mynach.—Parson’s Foot Bridge— 
 other objects.—Route and Inns through North Wales 7/> 
 
 LETTER X. 
 
 Route from the Devil’s Bridge, east.—Cwm Ystwith 
 lead mines.—Rhaiadr Gwy.—Bowles’s Poem of Cwm 
 Eland.—Remarks on English descriptive poets.—Curi¬ 
 ous customs in Radnorshire. — Bualt.—Picturesque 
 character of Radnorshire.—Aber Edwy.—Jones the 
 painter.—Picturesque character of Brecknockshire.— 
 Brecon: views there.—Road to the New Passage. 
 —Views mentioned. 89 
 
 LETTER XI. 
 
 Roads to Aberystwith.—Towns seldom picturesque.— 
 Road to Machynllaeth by Trevy Ddol.—Montgomery¬ 
 shire, the least picturesque in North Wales.—Road to 
 Dolgelle—sublime scenery on it.—Tal y llyn.—Craig 
 y Deryn. Excursion over Cader Idris recommended. 
 
 —Distant view of Dolgelle. .... 104 
 
 LETTER XII. 
 
 Remarks on the picturesque character of Merionethshire. 
 
 —On Welch towns.—View of Dolgelle.—Gilpin’s rule 
 for sketching a crowd—applicable to a town.—Excur¬ 
 sions from Dolgelle.—Road to Barmouth.—Anecdote 
 of Gray.—Llaneltyd Bridge.—Cemmer Abbey .... 119 
 
 LETTER XIII. 
 
 Remarks on falling water.—Fall of Dolmelynllyn.— 
 Alpine Bridge near.—Fall of the Cain.—Fall of the 
 Mawdach.—Vale of Festiniog.—Falls of the Cynfael. 
 
 —Waterfall mentioned by Bingley.—Roads to Pont 
 Aberglasllyn. 128 
 
XIV 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 LETTER XIV. 
 
 Character of Caernarvonshire—Pont Aberglasllyn.— 
 Beddgelert—why so named—views near.—Study of 
 rock, and other objects, from models.—Goats.—Ex¬ 
 cursion along the Caernarvon road—along the Capel 
 Curig road.—Nant Lie Pools—adjacent objects. 140 
 
 LETTER XV. 
 
 Snowdon—facts relating to that mountain.—Tracks to 
 the top—that from Beddgelert described—recesses of 
 Snowdon remarkable—fanciful practice at the top— 
 height compared with other mountains. 155 
 
 LETTER XVI. 
 
 Mountain pass to Llanberis.—Village.—Lake—its cha¬ 
 racter.—Dolbadarn Tower.—Best time for viewing lake 
 scenery.—Caernarvon.—Views of the Castle.—Excur¬ 
 sions from Caernarvon.—Bangor.—Nant Fangon.— 
 Beaumaris.—View of the Castle.—Cromlech at Plas 
 Newydd.—Picturesque points in Anglesey.162 
 
 LETTER XVII. 
 
 Method of shading and tinting.—List of views in dif¬ 
 ferent parts of Wales—remarks on the whole collec¬ 
 tion.—Homeward route.—Welch language and people 179 
 
DIRECTIONS TO THE BINDER 
 
 FOR PLACING 
 
 THE PLATES. 
 
 Plate I.to face Page 27 
 
 II. . 39 
 
 III . 64 
 
 IV . 35 
 
 V. 98 
 
 Vie\v of Laugharne Castle .. 56 
 
 Fall of the Rhyddoll. 82 
 
 Parson’s Bridge. 86 
 
 Rock of Birds .Ill 
 
 Dolmelynllyn Fall.129 
 

 ... . ..... 
 
 . ....... , 
 
 . 
 
 
 . .. 
 
 
 - • 
 
 , .... 
 
 
SCENERY OF WALES. 
 
 LETTER I. 
 
 My dear young friend, 
 
 You determine wisely, not to visit other coun¬ 
 tries till you have become acquainted with the 
 wonders and beauties of your own. Your inten¬ 
 tion is equally judicious, to devote a part of the 
 University long vacation to a Tour through 
 Wales. Interesting and instructive it will cer¬ 
 tainly be, and in after life an opportunity may 
 not so readily occur again. Wales is indeed al¬ 
 most a foreign country within our own ; its fea¬ 
 tures, inhabitants, language, manners, and cus¬ 
 toms, are so very different from those of Eng- 
 
 B 
 
2 
 
 LETTERS ON THE 
 
 land, that the Cambrian Traveller is abroad—a 
 stranger, yet at home. 
 
 Your plan is to walk and sketch the scenery,— 
 this too is well. The best way undoubtedly of 
 seeing a country is on foot. It is the safest, 
 and most suited to every variety of road; it will 
 often enable you to take a shorter track, and visit 
 scenes (the finest perhaps) not otherwise acces¬ 
 sible; it is healthy, and, with a little practice, 
 easy; it is economical: a pedestrian is content 
 with almost any accommodations; he, of all travel¬ 
 lers, wants but little, 
 
 “ Nor wants that little long.” 
 
 And last, though not least, it is perfectly indepen¬ 
 dent. Expedition it cannot boast; but this is to 
 you rather an advantage: three miles an hour 
 would be found fast enough for your pursuit; and 
 twelve or fourteen miles a day (more or less), for 
 two months, would carry you through a consider¬ 
 able tour, allowing for a halt on the march, some- 
 
 ‘ ' ■ * . 
 
 times of two or three days, in order to explore. 
 
SCENERY OF WALES. 
 
 3 
 
 Your principal object is to exercise your pencil. 
 Perhaps every tourist would do well to have a 
 principal object, adding as many secondary ones 
 as he pleases. A journal too, or short notes re¬ 
 gularly kept, may be recommended: it would 
 save him many a languid hour, and make his 
 tour more pleasant and profitable, both to himself 
 and others. One object there is, which I need 
 not remind you to keep in view—a constant re¬ 
 ference of these stupendous scenes to that Being 
 whose “ hands formed the dry land” 
 
 Now on the subject of your pursuit and mode of 
 travel it is, that you wish for a few hints from me. 
 First then it may be necessary to consult some 
 books as guides. The best I am acquainted with 
 are, Pennant’s Tour through Wales, 2! vols. 4to. 
 1784. Wyndham’s Tour, 4to. 1781. Bingley’s 
 North Wales, 2! vols. 8vo. 1804. Malkin’s South 
 Wales, 4to. 1804, and a work in small 8vo. by Ni¬ 
 cholson, of Stourport in Worcester shire, called “The 
 Cambrian Traveller’s Guide.” It is a compilation 
 from the modern tourists, and condenses much in¬ 
 formation into a small compass. You will find 
 
 b 2 
 
 i 
 
4 
 
 LETTERS ON THE 
 
 much taste and knowledge of the country in Sir 
 Richard Colt Hoare’s Translation of Giraldus: * 
 and if your route include Monmouthshire, Coxe’s 
 Historical Tour through that county, 2 vols. 4to. 
 1801, will be very useful; it is embellished with 
 some good plates. But for your further edification 
 on the subject of the principality, I will send you 
 a catalogue of some other publications. 
 
 As to some general direction for taking a view, 
 an eminent artist, when I first began to sketch 
 from nature, gave me this— Choose the most hand¬ 
 some objects , and the best assemblage of parts. 
 But this, masterly as it is, would no more satisfy 
 you, I apprehend, than it did me, because it can¬ 
 not be followed without experience. You shall 
 therefore have the benefit of mine (such as it is)— 
 a detail of “ the most handsome objects,” in my 
 excursions, and 46 the best assemblage of parts 
 in other words, my choice of subjects, and of situa¬ 
 tions for drawing them. In planning your route, 
 
 * The Itinerary of Giraldus De Barri through Wales with 
 Baldwin Archbishop of Canterbury, to preach the Crusade 
 A. D. 1588. 3 vols. 4to. 1806. 
 
SCENERY OF WALES. 
 
 you would find it useful to look over tlie cata¬ 
 logues of our public exhibitions, for such views as 
 might be included in it. It is safe to study scenes 
 chosen by professors, and a stimulus to recollect 
 that they have been drawn. I will send you a 
 list. Your first aim, of course, will be the cha¬ 
 racteristic features of the country, and then to 
 exercise your taste and judgment in selecting 
 them. Artists, of merit in other respects, some¬ 
 times fail in this. With considerable facility and 
 fidelity of pencil, and even skill in colouring, they 
 have little notion of catching the grand peculia¬ 
 rities of a country, or of choosing them judiciously. 
 I have met with such indefatigable fellows, draw¬ 
 ing all day long all that came in their way ; and 
 this may be good practice, and help to fill the hint 
 book, but it surely neither improves the taste of 
 the artist, nor displays his genius. Be it your 
 care then to study, and bring back with you, such 
 scenes of sublimity and beauty as wear Cambrian 
 features, and are not to be found at home; and to 
 which I very sincerely wish my sketches were a 
 better introduction. 
 
6 
 
 LETTERS ON THE 
 
 But before we proceed, I will endeavour to ex¬ 
 plain the principle upon which my stations are de¬ 
 termined. This therefore shall be the subject of 
 my next letter. 
 
 Yours, &c. 
 
 PUBLICATIONS ON WALES. 
 
 Churchyard’s Worthiness of Wales, 8vo. 1587. 
 
 Camden’s Britannia, Edit. Gibson, folio, 1696. 
 
 -Edit. Gough, 3 vols. folio, 1789. 
 
 Cambrian Directory, 8vo. 1800. 
 
 Cambrian Itinerary, 8vo. 1801. 
 
 Cambrian Register, 2 vols. 8vo. 1795 and 1796. 
 
 Cambrian Biography, 12mo. 1803. 
 
 Collection of Welch Tours, 12mo. 1797. 
 
 Collection of Welch Travels, and Memoirs on Wales, by 
 J. T. 8vo. 1738. 
 
 Doddridge’s Historical Account of the Principality of Wales, 
 8vo. 2d Edit. 1714. 
 
 Grose’s Antiquities of England and Wales, 10 vols. 4to. 
 1784. 
 
 Geographical, Historical, and Religious Account of the 
 
SCENERY OF WALES. 
 
 7 
 
 Parish of Aberystwith in Monmouthshire, by Edward 
 Jones, 8vo. 1779. 
 
 History of Welch Cathedrals, by Brown Willis, 4 vols. Svo. 
 1801. 
 
 History of Brecknockshire, by Theophilus Jones, vol. first, 
 4to. 1805. 
 
 History of Wales, by R. B. 12mo. 1695. 
 
 Jones’s Musical and Poetical Relics of the Welch Bards, folio. 
 1794. 
 
 -Bardic Museum of Primitive British Literature, folio. 
 
 1802. 
 
 Letters from Snowdon, 8vo. 1770. 
 
 Myvyrian Archaeology of Wales, 2 vols. 8vo. 1802. 
 
 Memoirs of Owen Glendower, 4to. 1775. 
 
 Manby’s History of St. David’s, 8vo. 1801. 
 
 Owen’s History of the Ancient Britons, 8vo. 
 
 -British Remains. 
 
 Powel’s History of Cambria, written originally in the British 
 Language,above 200 years past, translated into English, by 
 H. Lloyd; corrected and augmented by D. Powel, D. D. 
 4to. 1584. 
 
 Rowland’s Mona Antiqua, 4to. 1776. 
 
 Sketch of the History of Caernarvonshire, 12mo. 1792. 
 Traveller’s Companion (from London) through Wales to 
 Holyhead, 12mo. 1796. 
 
 Vindication of Ancient British Poems, by Sharon Turner, 
 8vo. 1804. 
 
8 
 
 LETTERS ON THE 
 
 Williams’s History of Monmouthshire, 4to. 1796. 
 Wallography, or Briton Described, by W. R. 1682. 
 
 Wynne’s Memoirs of the Gwydir Family, printed in the 
 Honourable Daines Barrington’s Miscellanies, 4to. 1781. 
 Warrington’s History of Wales, 2 vols. 4to. 1786, another 
 edition, 2 vols. 8vo. 
 
 Williams’s Observations on the Snowdon Mountains, 8vo. 
 1802. 
 
 MODERN TOURS. 
 
 Aikin’s Journal of a Tour through North Wales, 8vo. 
 1797. 
 
 Barber’s Tour through South Wales, 8vo. 1803. 
 
 Donovan’s Tour through South Wales, 2 vols. 8vo. 1805. 
 Evans’s Tour through North Wales, 8vo. 1800. 
 
 -South Wales, 8vo. 1804. 
 
 Hutton’s Remarks on North Wales, 8vo. 1803. 
 
 Lipscombe’s Tour through South Wales, 8vo. 1802. 
 
 Manby’s Tour through South Wales, 8vo. 1803. 
 
 Skrine’s Two Tours through the whole of Wales, 8vo. 
 
 2d edit. 1812. 
 
 Tour through England and Wales, 8vo. 1793. Anon. 
 
 Tour through part of SouthWales, by a Pedestrian Traveller, 
 4to. 1797. 
 
 Warner’s Walk through North Wales, 8vo. 4th edit. 1801. 
 Warner’s Second Walk through Wales, 8vo. 2d edit. 1800. 
 
SCENERY OF WALES. 
 
 9 
 
 LETTER II. 
 
 To you, who are at the fountain head of 
 mathematical lore, I must not suppose this letter 
 will be formidable. You may, however, make out 
 my stations, without perplexing yourself with the 
 principle upon which they are determined. I 
 expand it rather, as it would enable you, by 
 inspecting any drawing, to discover where the 
 artist stood to make it; and so to take the same 
 view yourself. 
 
 The principle I have used is, the bearings or 
 relative position of two fixed objects in the view; 
 and that they will determine the station, may be 
 thus demonstrated: 
 
10 
 
 LETTERS ON THE 
 
 Let A and B be the objects, in different planes, 
 AC the distance from one of them A, at which they 
 assume a given position. Through C draw DCE 
 at right angles to AC, then the station must be in 
 DCE; and if at E, A and B assume another given 
 position, E is the station sought. 
 
 If at E two other objects, or either of the former 
 and a third, assume a given position, the con¬ 
 clusion is the same. 
 
 From this proof it appears that, to determine 
 the station, two distances are necessary, the per¬ 
 pendicular and the oblique . 
 
 The perpendicular distance is found from the 
 given relative position of the objects, as one ap¬ 
 pears above or below the other. Because, as the 
 eye is either above or below the line passing 
 through them, their apparent position will be 
 changed in those directions. The oblique distance 
 is found in the same manner, by observing the 
 bearings of the objects with respect to right and 
 left. 
 
 There is a difficulty in the application of this 
 rule. The position of A and B can be accurately 
 
SCENERY OF WALES. 
 
 11 
 
 determined only by their appearing in the same 
 line to the observer at C. If then it is thus 
 determined, and he begins to move off at right 
 angles towards E, A and B will be no longer 
 in the same line, and he cannot be sure that he 
 has moved accurately in the proper direction. To 
 obviate this difficulty, it would be better to deter¬ 
 mine the oblique distance first . The following is 
 a readier method of finding the station from which 
 a sketch was taken. 
 
 Move right or left till two objects A and B 
 appear in a line, as observed in the sketch; 
 then move backwards or forwards, keeping these 
 objects in a line, till at C, two others D and E, 
 
12 
 
 LETTERS ON THE 
 
 are also in a line, as noticed in the sketch; the 
 point C is the station sought. This method is 
 more accurate , but I have found the other suffi¬ 
 ciently so, and more generally practicable. To 
 illustrate it, take any of my sketches, the easier 
 case first, where the perpendicular distance is given, 
 as that of Brecon. (PI. 5, fig. 1.) 
 
 The perpendicular distance here is given, be¬ 
 cause you cannot be nearer the objects than the 
 water’s edge. As you move right or left, the 
 distant church tower will change its position, in 
 one of those directions, with respect to the bridge; 
 but in the sketch it is exactly over the right hand 
 arch: stop, therefore, when it appears so. Your 
 station is then accurately determined, every other 
 object in the picture falling into its proper situa¬ 
 tion. 
 
 Next try a subject in which the perpendicular 
 distance is not given, as in the view of Dolbadarn 
 Tower. (PI. 5, fig. 3.) 
 
 When you face the tower, the top of the most 
 distant mountain will be seen or not, to the left of 
 it, as you move left or right; bring it therefore a 
 
SCENERY OF WALES. 
 
 13 
 
 little to the left, as it appears in the sketch—this 
 gives the oblique distance. Then, as in the sketch, 
 the outline of the same mountain meets the tower 
 between the two lowest windows, move backwards 
 or forwards till it appears so, and the perpendi¬ 
 cular distance is determined. 
 
 With this explanation and a little practice, you 
 will be able, I think, to ascertain the position from 
 whence any sketch was taken, and therefore to 
 study the view from the same point. 
 
 In my next I will provide you with a few 
 externals, and fit you out in my own way as a 
 pedestrian. 
 
 Yours, &c. 
 
14 
 
 LETTERS ON THE 
 
 LETTER III. 
 
 The remark of Johnson, though no pedes¬ 
 trian, is equally just and elegant: u It is not to 
 be imagined, without experience, how in climbing 
 crags, and treading hogs, and winding through 
 narrow and obstructed passages, a little bulk will 
 hinder, and a little weight will burden; or how 
 often a man, that has pleased himself at home 
 with his own resolution, will, in the hour of dark¬ 
 ness and fatigue, be content to leave behind him 
 every thing but himself.’’ * It should, in fact, be 
 the first aim of a pedestrian to carry as little 
 weight and incumbrance as possible. Let this 
 then be your dress: Jacket, waistcoat, trowsers, 
 and gaiters of the stuff called Jean —light and 
 strong. Shoes stout, broad, well seasoned, made 
 to each foot, and without nails—they are danger- 
 
 * Journey to the Hebrides, p. 111. Edit. Murphy. 
 
 6 
 
SCENERY OF WALES. 
 
 15 
 
 ous on rocky ground : top the whole with a straw, 
 or rather willow hat. Nor must an umbrella, by 
 any means he forgotten, it is a trusty useful ser¬ 
 vant, choose it of silk, and of the largest size. 
 
 Next for your luggage. Get made, of the brown- 
 dressed calf-skin used by saddlers, a case about 
 eleven inches and a half long, by seven wide, a 
 trifle rounded at the bottom, lined with canvas, 
 and having a flap and button. This is to he slung 
 over the shoulder with loop and button (not buckle); 
 and thus may be easily shifted to either side, and 
 adjusted to any height. A complete change of 
 linen, shaving implements, map, and the smaller 
 drawing books, are all it need contain ; and when 
 filled, the whole will not weigh more than between 
 three and four pounds. For greater convenience, 
 a small trunk may be dispatched, when you set 
 out, to wait your arrival somewhere, three or four 
 weeks after. 
 
 The sketch books I have used are, two about 
 nine inches long by six and three-quarters wide, 
 containing thirty leaves each; and three smaller 
 about four inches and a half long by six and three 
 
16 LETTERS ON THE 
 
 quarters wide. All of them should be made of 
 thin hot-pressed paper ; this takes the pencil best, 
 is most portable, and if held against the light, the 
 exact reverse of a sketch may be readily copied. 
 The smaller books may be conveniently put into 
 the leather case: the larger, folded in paper, I 
 have usually carried in my hand. By the way, 
 the best preservative of pencil lines that I can tell 
 you of, is a wash of thin starch, twice over very 
 dark parts. This does not shine, and it may be 
 procured almost any where. Some other articles 
 are necessary: a two-sheet map of the principality 
 mounted upon canvass,* a supply of black lead 
 pencils, Indian rubber, a pen-knife or two, (dupli- * 
 cates guard against accidents,) Indian ink, and a 
 few brushes : one or two good lancets also may be 
 found very serviceable. 
 
 Whether you will think these preparations com¬ 
 plete without a companion, I know not: one of 
 congenial taste may be desirable, no doubt, though 
 never my choice. There is one thing more, how- 
 
 * One is sold by C. Smith in the Strand, accurate in general. 
 
SCENERY OF WALES. 
 
 17 
 
 ever which a pedestrian must not be without— 
 perseverance. 
 
 The best season is easily determined: that, 
 namely, in which the days are longest, and the 
 weather most settled. You will, of course, choose 
 July and August. 
 
 I can give you no rule for laying out your day; 
 so much must depend upon constitution, habit, 
 weather, length of stages, and various accidental 
 circumstances. If, to avoid the heat, you walk 
 late in an evening, this plan can hardly be followed 
 up by an early morning walk, and that has never 
 succeeded with me. I have always thought the 
 time from six to nine o’clock in a morning, the 
 most sultry and oppressive part of the day. No 
 breeze is awake, no clouds collected, the sun’s 
 power steady and increasing, and the bodily frame 
 not yet braced and fortified against it. The plan 
 I have found most eligible is, to begin my walk 
 after as early a breakfast as I can procure, reach 
 my destination in the afternoon, then taking an¬ 
 other meal, give the evening to exploring and 
 sketching. At all events, do not time yourself; 
 
 c 
 
18 
 
 LETTERS ON THE 
 
 many a fine drawing is thus lost: sunrise and 
 sunset are the only hours a pedestrian need notice. 
 Neither is a pocket of provisions necessary; a crust, 
 with a draught from some brook, will carry you 
 through the day. 
 
 You will find bathing very useful and refresh¬ 
 ing, and have many tempting opportunities in the 
 course of your tour. It should, however, be early 
 in a morning. 
 
 Thus lessoned and equipped, I will imagine you 
 to have travelled, with what rapidity you may, to 
 Bristol, then to the New Passage, and, having 
 crossed the Severn, to pitch upon your feet on the 
 coast of Monmouthshire—from thence we will start 
 together in the next letter. 
 
 Yours, &c. 
 
 I subjoin my route through South Wales, with 
 the number of miles between the places, as accurate¬ 
 ly as I could collect them ; and also the inns I 
 stopped at; though the same inn, remember, may 
 not always continue the best. 
 
SCENERY OF WAI.ES. 
 
 19 
 
 MILES. INNS. 
 
 Newport. 
 
 15 
 
 King’s Head. 
 
 Caerphilly. 
 
 12 
 
 Boar’s Head. 
 
 New Bridge .... 
 
 8 
 
 Duke’s Arms. 
 
 Pontneath Vechan 
 
 20 
 
 Angel. 
 
 Neath. 
 
 13 
 
 Neath Arms. 
 
 Swansea. 
 
 4 
 
 Mackworth Arms. 
 
 Caermarthen. . v . 
 
 26 
 
 Old Ivy Bush. 
 
 Llaugharne. 
 
 12 
 
 New Inn. 
 
 Tenby. 
 
 16 
 
 Anchor. 
 
 Narbeth. 
 
 10 
 
 White Hart. 
 
 Cardigan. 
 
 26 
 
 Black Lion. 
 
 Newcastle inEmlyn 10 
 
 No Sign. 
 
 Llanbeder. 
 
 19 
 
 Black Lion. 
 
 Tregaron . 
 
 12 
 
 No Sign. 
 
 Devil’s Bridge .. 
 
 18 
 
 Hafod Arms. 
 
 Rhayader . 
 
 17 
 
 Red Lion. 
 
 Bualt. 
 
 17 
 
 Royal Oak. 
 
 Brecon . 
 
 15 
 
 Angel. 
 
 Abergavenny 
 
 20 
 
 Golden Lion. 
 
 Monmouth. 
 
 16 
 
 Angel. 
 
 Chepstow .. 
 
 16 
 
 Beaufort Arms. 
 
20 
 
 LETTERS ON THE 
 
 LETTER IV. 
 
 Your first stage will be Newport, about 
 fifteen miles. Gilpin thought the view from the 
 descent into the town would make a good picture. 
 He ascended the hill, and says, “ a good view 
 might be taken from the retrospect of the river, 
 the bridge, and the castle, a few slight alterations 
 would make it picturesque.” * But when he tra¬ 
 velled in 1770, the old timber bridge was standing 
 —not quite so formal an object as the present one 
 of stone. 
 
 Newport is a narrow, straggling town, and has 
 nothing to detain you, except perhaps the King’s 
 Head, a good inn. The castle on the banks of 
 the river is a mere shell. From the church-yard 
 there is an extensive and beautiful prospect east- 
 
 * Observations on the Wye, p. 34. 
 
SCENERY OF WALES. 
 
 21 
 
 ward, especially when lighted up with an afternoon 
 sun : the Uske, spotted with white sails, and wind¬ 
 ing through a fertile country to meet the Severn, 
 is a conspicious feature. 
 
 Twelve miles, of no great interest, bring you to 
 Caerphilly. You enter Wales at Bedwas Bridge, 
 crossing the Rhumney there, which separates Gla¬ 
 morgan from Monmouthshire. 
 
 In the general picturesque character of Glamor¬ 
 ganshire there is all the variety that sea and rivers, 
 mountains and valleys, can supply; and accordingly 
 you will find it much studied by landscape paint¬ 
 ers. It has been remarked as resembling North 
 Wales, more than any of the six counties. The 
 mountains, though not so high, have the extreme 
 abruptness of those in Merionethshire; and the 
 views near the Channel will often remind you of 
 the opposite coast of Somerset. That it wants 
 wood, as some have said, you may fairly deny, 
 after having seen New Bridge, Pontneath Vechan, 
 the Vale of Neath, and Britton Ferry. It pro¬ 
 duces plentifully oak, beech, ash, and all the com¬ 
 mon forest trees, except elm, which is said to be 
 
22 
 
 LETTERS ON THE 
 
 an indigenous.* The antiquity of the cottages 
 deserves your notice. Some of them are probably 
 as old as the castles, their pointed door-ways and 
 windows referring them to a very remote date. 
 They are generally white washed, a Welch fashion 
 very prevalent in this country, walls, battlements 
 of churches, barns, stables, posts and rails, all par¬ 
 taking of this neat but un-harmonizing custom. 
 Malkin mentions another peculiarity in the 
 face of this country. In the flat parts of it, 
 and near the sea, at the greatest distance from 
 the mountains, seeing, as you imagine, the whole 
 surface of the ground for a considerable stretch, 
 you come suddenly on an abrupt sinking, not deep, 
 but perpendicular, as the side of a crag, of more 
 or less extent, forming a rich, woody, and retired 
 shelter. You pass through these sequestered dells, 
 ascend the other side, and regain the flat. In¬ 
 stances of this singularity are Llandough, at what 
 is called the lake, and between Flemingstone and 
 St. Athans.f 
 
 * Malkin’s South Wales, p. 61. 
 
 f Ibid. p. 54?. 
 
SCENEltY OF WALES. 
 
 23 
 
 Caerphilly * is an increasing little town, village 
 you would call it. There are two inns: the 
 Boar’s Head is the principal. 
 
 The ruins of the Castle, said to be the most 
 extensive in Britain, are indeed magnificent; but 
 transfer them to paper as you will, still they are 
 heavy, want accompaniment, and a more elevated 
 site. The leaning tower too has to my eye the 
 appearance of a falling body , an object that cannot 
 be represented. This tower, seventy or eighty 
 feet high, and eleven and a half (some say more 
 now) out of the perpendicular,! is curious, and 
 
 * Pronounced Kaerphilly. C is invariably hard in Welch, 
 as the English K. The magnitude and strength of the castle 
 have caused the probability of its origin to be much contro¬ 
 verted. When Edward the Second was besieged here, there 
 was a furnace under one of the towers for smelting iron, 
 burning masses of which were cast upon the besiegers. The 
 explosion caused by pouring water upon it, rent the tower in 
 two. What stands of it at present is that which overhangs 
 its base. Malkin, p. 151—157. 
 
 f The celebrated leaning tower of Pisa exceeds this in 
 height and inclination. It is 180 feet high, and 14 feet from 
 the perpendicular. It is entirely of marble, consists of eight 
 
24 
 
 LETTERS ON THE 
 
 perhaps may induce you to sketch it. The east side 
 of the castle is best, towards the south corner. 
 
 An easy bye road of about eight miles, passable 
 by carriages, and which they will show you at the 
 inn, leads to the Bridgewater Arms, near New 
 Bridge. Here a halt should be made, the scenery 
 deserves it. The bridge is a beautiful subject for 
 the pencil. The three cylindrical holes on each 
 side of its airy arch give the front uncommon 
 lightness and elegance, and the whole is finely set 
 off with rock, wood, and water. The best view is 
 from below it. Going from the inn you must 
 cross the bridge to the left , and follow the river, 
 keeping on the bank. 
 
 STATION. 
 
 Let the shrubs, on the point of land between 
 the river and the bridge, hide a quarter of the 
 
 stories, and has now stood 600 years without appearance of 
 decay. Its oblique position is now generally supposed to 
 have been occasioned by the accidental sinking of the ground. 
 Eustace, Classical Tour, vol. ii. p. 284. 
 
SCENERY OF WALES. 
 
 25 
 
 arch. Then recede, till you see the water under 
 the bridge. 
 
 This is rather more distant than the view 
 usually taken. Wilson’s (engraved by Canot) is 
 nearer, so is Laporte’s in Malkin’s Work. In this 
 station you see less of the formally pointed para¬ 
 pet, and more, I think, of the noble rock in the 
 back ground, without losing the peculiar features 
 of the bridge. A glimpse of the road descending 
 from the bridge, and of the more distant one under 
 the rock, add further variety to the picture. 
 
 New Bridge, or Pont y Prydd,* is well known to 
 have been built by a self-taught architect, William 
 Edwards, a native of the neighbourhood. He com¬ 
 pleted it in 1755, after two successive failures. 
 
 Impatient of its bondage, twice the flood 
 Rush’d o’er the ruin’d bridge; again his hand 
 The indignant torrent yoked, and rear’d the work 
 Triumphant, that amid the waves shall stand, 
 
 Secure, while Time, by Genius turn’d aside, 
 
 Shall spare (long may he spare) th’ unrivall’d arch. 
 
 Sotheby. 
 
 * From Pont ty Pridd, Mid-house Bridge. 
 
26 
 
 LETTERS ON THE 
 
 The arch is probably now the largest in the 
 world; its span being one hundred and forty feet, 
 which is forty-two feet wider than the Rialto.* If 
 you creep underneath, you may awake a curious 
 echo there. I heard it repeat a single sound nine 
 times in quick fainting succession. 
 
 The scenery of the Tafff above the bridge is 
 rich, and worth tracing two miles on the left side, 
 but it did not afford me a picture. The waterfall 
 about half a mile up will not do; but the view 
 of the bridge from the rocks in the middle' of the 
 river there, should not pass unnoticed, and a few 
 hints perhaps may be picked up. Just above the 
 cascade, for instance, an arch of pendent birches 
 springs from the rocky steep on your left —a use¬ 
 ful bit for the corner of a foreground. 
 
 The Rontha Vawr, a narrow, rapid stream, run¬ 
 ning into the Taff a little below New Bridge, will 
 
 * Malkin, p. 88. 
 
 f Taff or Tav, the Broad xuater. —Rontha, from Yr Hondda 
 the good and clear ,—Vawr is the feminine of Mawr,grazL For 
 these and other derivations I am indebted to an ingenious 
 friend. 
 

 / 
 
 
sw 
 
 
 Pi. i. 
 
SCENERY OF WALES. 
 
 27 
 
 furnish two sketches. Crossing the bridge to the 
 left, you presently fall into the road along the 
 right side of the Rontha, and in about a mile and 
 a half come to another bridge, the veriest contrast 
 possible to Pont y Prydd. A narrow footing of 
 the trunks of trees, rudely fastened together, and 
 defended by a slight rail, is suspended across the 
 river by two lofty posts at each end; the ascent 
 is by a flight of ladder steps. Thus lightly con¬ 
 structed, the bridge takes a graceful bend upwards 
 from the centre, swinging to and fro with the 
 wind. You should draw it from the right bank, 
 and looking down the stream, to catch the distance. 
 
 STATION. 
 
 Bring the point where the hanging woods meet, 
 over the middle of the bridge; then move back¬ 
 wards or forwards, till both the distant mountains 
 are visible. (PI. 1, fig. 1.) 
 
 Half a mile further are two waterfalls; the first 
 worth sketching. The river, crossed by a range 
 of rocks of no great height, falls over in several 
 
28 
 
 LETTERS ON THE 
 
 torrents, which unite with a larger and more furi¬ 
 ous one, foaming through a wide rift about half 
 way down. The face of the rocks is well broken, 
 their outline pleasing, and varied on the further 
 side with light trees and herbage; a perspective 
 of wood rising behind. You must descend to the 
 bed of the river to draw it. 
 
 STATION. 
 
 , » 
 
 Let the rock before you just hide the rift which 
 the lowest torrent flows through; and the back¬ 
 ground of wood reach over part of the same rock. 
 
 This place is said to be a salmon leap, and some 
 figures hanging their fish basket from rock to rock, 
 would enliven and give it character. 
 
 We have now finished our survey of the beau¬ 
 ties round New Bridge, and may shape our course 
 to Pontneath Vechan.* If you are fond of the 
 wild and difficult, and can meet with a guide (I 
 could not), by all means take Malkin’s thirty mile 
 
 * The Bridge over the little Neath. —Vechan, the feminine 
 of Bychan, little. Nedd, or Neath, the gliding river . 
 
SCENERY OF WALES. 
 
 29 
 
 route through the parish of Ystradyvodwg. He 
 says it “ exhibits such scenes of untouched nature, 
 as the imagination would find it difficult to sur¬ 
 pass. And yet the existence of the place is scarcely 
 known to the English Traveller.”* It is practic¬ 
 able on horseback, but not for any sort of carriage. 
 If a guide be not procurable, you must trudge with 
 me the easier and less interesting road through 
 Aberdare. 
 
 Yours, &c. 
 
 * South Wales, p. 53 and 183. 
 
30 
 
 LETTERS ON THE 
 
 LETTER V. 
 
 The distance to Pontneath Vecchan by Aber- 
 dare,* may be about twenty miles. I took the 
 new turnpike road, not aware of the horse-track 
 on the right bank of the Cunno, which Malkin 
 followed, and which, from his description, would 
 probably have afforded some interesting subjects 
 for the pencil.f It is a good general rule for this 
 purpose, in any country, to trace the rivers. 
 
 The first four miles follow the canal bank ; the 
 Taff rushing below a steep hanging wood on the 
 left, and the vale opening beautifully north and 
 south. The road then crosses the canal; and 
 here you should stop and look at the locks, by 
 which the canal is carried over a very steep hill. 
 
 * The Efflux of the Dar. Aber, the fall of a lesser water 
 into a greater. 
 
 f South Wales, p. 167. 
 
SCENERY OF WALES. 
 
 31 
 
 There are no less than eighteen within the space 
 of a mile, eleven of them occupying only about a 
 quarter of it! A chain of wooded mountains on 
 either side continues from hence to Aberdare; a 
 mean solitary village, though now beginning to 
 catch the manufacturing spirit of that neighbouring 
 “ metropolis of iron-masters,” Merthyr Tydvil. 
 
 After some miles of naked heath, you begin to 
 descend the side of the mountain, and suddenly 
 look down upon the grand scenery of Pontneath 
 Veclian. Far below lie the few straggling cot¬ 
 tages which form the hamlet, half hid under tower¬ 
 ing woody precipices, with the rapid Neath at their 
 feet. To the south, the vale unfolds its beauties 
 of mead, and river, and gently sloping hills, gra¬ 
 dually receding and fading into softer and fainter 
 tints, till in the extreme distance appears, like a 
 lucid point, the sea. 
 
 The village has a public-house (the Angel), 
 where you will find it adviseable to fix your quar¬ 
 ters two or three days. The accommodations are 
 such as a pedestrian may be content with. 
 
 The peculiar beauty of this romantic spot arises 
 
32 
 
 LETTERS ON THE 
 
 from its many rivers, no less than five—the Neath, 
 Melta, Tragath, Hepsey, and Purthin. In Wales 
 almost every hrook is dignified with the name of 
 river , yet they are often far from undeserving the 
 attention of the artist. Probably “ many rivers of 
 smaller note, and even many contributary streams, 
 possess beauties which have been discovered but by 
 the fisherman, who, in pursuit of the trout or salmon, 
 has been tempted to follow their meandering courses.”* 
 Here, winding through woody dingles, rocky, and 
 deep, and varied with bridges and water-falls, they 
 afford abundant exercise for the pencil. Another 
 peculiarity in the rivers of this rocky country is, 
 their clearness: and this greatly increases the dis¬ 
 tinctness of their reflections, and the brilliancy of 
 the falls. 
 
 Neath Vechan Bridge, hard by the inn, will 
 make two easy pleasing sketches. One just below 
 it. Go from the inn to the bridge ; do not cross 
 it, but turn down upon the right bank beloxv the 
 first large tree, which will fix your perpendicular 
 distance. 
 
 * Sir R. C. Hoare’s Translation of Giraldus, vol. ii. p. 407* 
 
SCENERY OF WALES. 
 
 33 
 
 STATION. 
 
 At the foot of the tree, move right or left till 
 tzvo-thirds of the whole arch are seen. * 
 
 This is a useful study for composing some future 
 landscape, rather than,a complete picture. The rude 
 old stone arch, rocky hanks, and overshadowing 
 trees, will afford you some work, and the rippling 
 current, excellent practice in a sort of water-fall, 
 rarely well executed. The other view is lower 
 down, on the same side of the river; taking in two 
 cottages on the opposite bank, and a back ground 
 of wood. Here again the perpendicular distance 
 is given. 
 
 STATION. 
 
 On the third projecting ridge of rock from the 
 bridge , catch three quarters of the whole arch. 
 (P1.1, fig. 3.) 
 
 Here the bridge appears much lighter, and a 
 painter could hardly have hung the ivy better; 
 
 D 
 
34 
 
 LETTERS ON THE 
 
 The river is wider and more gentle ; and the fine 
 old tree (an oak, I think,) just where you want it, 
 to fill up the left corner of the picture. I have 
 seen a third view taken close to the inn, and 
 looking directly over the bridge ; but it has little 
 beauty and less character. 
 
 I must now show you some scenes more truly 
 Cambrian. First cross the bridge from the inn, turn 
 immediately to the left, down to the river, and 
 you will face a noble piece of rock—lofty, broad- 
 fronted, tufted with pendent foliage, and descending 
 to the river in oblique irregular strata. Possibly it 
 may give you a hint. Next go straight over the 
 bridge, and follow a lane nearly before you, till 
 you come to a bridge over the Neath ; cross it, 
 descend the right bank, and turning immediately 
 to the left , a bold subject is before you. A stone 
 arch flung across a high rifted rock; two massy 
 fragments, one upon the other, block up the en¬ 
 trance below; others lie about in confusion ; shrubs 
 and ivy shoot from the crevices of the rock, and 
 overhang the arch, or break its outline. A near 
 view only can be taken. 
 
PI. IV. 
 
SCENERY OF WALES. 
 
 35 
 
 STATION. 
 
 At the foot of the rock on the left . Move right 
 or left, till its highest ledge catches that point of 
 the arch where the interior begins to be seen. 
 (PL 4, fig. 1.) 
 
 You must here, as usual, clear away twigs, and 
 weeds, and other impertinences. Few things are 
 more perplexing to a beginner’s eye, used only to 
 finished copies, than the coarse luxuriance of 
 nature. The chasm here seemed the channel of 
 some mountain torrent; so you may fairly em¬ 
 bellish it with water. The old Merthyr Tydvil 
 road (they told me) passed over it. 
 
 The Neath bridge, just by, is sometimes drawn, 
 and best at some distance below it. Almost any 
 thing of a bridge is picturesque. The form per¬ 
 fectly so perhaps is a straight parapet with equal 
 arches.* 
 
 * Compare for instance the late magnificent bridge across 
 the Thames with its companions. 
 
 D 2 
 
LETTERS ON THE 
 
 36 
 
 The water-falls about Pontneath Vechan, though 
 many, are not famed for height or beauty. I saw 
 three; a guide is necessary, and to he had at the 
 inn. Ask a Welchman, what is worth seeing at a 
 place ? he generally replies, What do you want to 
 see ? tell him that, and he can readily show you the 
 way. Ask then to be shown the two falls of the 
 Purthin, and that of the Hepsey: the last for its 
 singularity. The height is not more than fifty 
 feet, but so rapid is the torrent, that it leaps over 
 the projecting brow of rock far enough to allow a 
 path behind it—between the sheet of water and 
 the rock, which shelves inward, forming a sort of 
 roof. This path is a ledge of stone, about a yard 
 wide, and the common short cut to the neighbour¬ 
 ing farms. A modern tourist, with good fortune 
 peculiar to himself, says, that he took shelter 
 under this watery arch from a shower ! Malkin 
 speaks of the effect of sunshine on this cascade, to 
 a spectator behind it, as singularly beautiful.* 
 
 * South Wales, p. 211. 
 
SCENERY OF WALES. 
 
 37 
 
 STATION. 
 
 On the right side of the fall, far enough off to 
 see both the wooded hills which form the distance. 
 Let the point where they meet be a little to the 
 left of the rock you descended. 
 
 I give this station merely as the fall is some¬ 
 thing curious; perhaps the view from the opposite 
 side of the water is better, hut the cloud of spray 
 would not let me try it. Further on is the fall of 
 the Melta, inaccessible from below ; so I did not 
 visit it. The height is about seventy feet, and 
 broader than the Hepsey. They told me of a 
 cavern through which the Melta runs, for at least 
 eight hundred yards ; there is a practicable path 
 through it, but nothing within, that 1 could learn, 
 to repay the hazardous labour of threading it. 
 Not that I think with Gilpin, 44 there is no pic¬ 
 turesque beauty in the interior of the earth.”* The 
 cavern scenery of Derbyshire, especially the Devil’s 
 
 * Northern Tour, voh ii. p. 216. 
 
38 
 
 LETTERS ON THE 
 
 cave, that favourite study of our favourite Wright, 
 has taught me a different lesson.* Did you ever 
 try the method of drawing rock and cavern scenes 
 on the common brown packing paper ? use transpa¬ 
 rent colours, leave the paper for the middle tint, and 
 touch the strongest lights with body colours. It 
 produces the mellow effect of old oil paintings.. 
 
 The upper fall of the Purthin, called (if I mis¬ 
 take not) Ysgwd Einion Gam, or Einioris crooked 
 water-fall , is about a mile and half from the inn. 
 The subject is grand, but rather too open, I think, 
 for the pencil; and the precipice on the left has a 
 concave form not easily represented. The best 
 view is from the right bank looking up, just 
 
 * “ I have held the candle for him there scores of times,” 
 said my guide, pointing to a spot which looked toward the 
 entrance. The effect was wonderful. The vast and rugged 
 arches were seen in perspective ; from their termination a full 
 beam of day-light entered, diffusing a grey hue around, soft 
 and clear as moonlight; and gradually fading as it approached 
 the foreground, the objects and passing figures there were 
 thrown into strong shade, except a few of the nearest faintly 
 illumined by our candles. 
 

SCENE11Y OF WALES. 
 
 39 
 
 below a sort of wear. The rocks on either side of 
 the fall are lofty, and richly decorated, and the 
 trees on each bank—oak, ash, and alder—well 
 planted for your purpose. The water descends 
 eighty feet perpendicular, and at about three parts 
 of the descent is lost behind the rocks, but appears 
 again at the bottom, darting smooth along, and 
 springing over the wear in a variety of light cas¬ 
 cades. This wear is a graceful appendage to the 
 fall, like a fringe to a lady’s dress. 
 
 STATION. 
 
 Let the rocks on each side of the fall meet 
 at about three-fourths the whole height from the 
 top. Then approach the wear, till you see the 
 water above it. (PI. .2, fig. 1.) 
 
 A curious anecdote is told of Sir Herbert Mack- 
 worth, to whom this property formerly belonged. 
 He had much admired this water-fall, and had cut 
 a road down to it. But the last time he visited it, 
 in passing along this very road, a thorn from one 
 of the bushes ran into his finger. Inflammation 
 
40 
 
 LETTERS ON THE 
 
 and mortification quickly followed, and in a few 
 days terminated his life. 
 
 The other fall is somewhat lower down, and 
 named, from its elegance perhaps, the Lady's 
 Cascade . The eye may trace a graceful line 
 through almost every part—the bend of the ribbed 
 rock across the river, the sweep of the water in one 
 unbroken sheet, the winding channel, and the slope 
 of the towering wooded steep behind. The height 
 is about thirty feet. My sketch was taken from 
 the left bed of the river looking up. 
 
 STATION. 
 
 Let the shrubby hank on your left screen the 
 near end of the ribbed rock; recede, till you just 
 lose sight of the river above it. 
 
 This cascade, though much more beautiful, 
 resembles in character that of the Hepsey; both 
 of them being crossed by a projecting brow of 
 rock—a singular, but not unfrequent feature here. 
 
 I had almost forgotten a geological curiosity in 
 this neighbourhood, called Bwa Maen (the stone 
 
SCENERY OF WALES. 
 
 41 
 
 of the bow.) A flat fronted rock of grey marble, 
 about ninety feet high, and seventy broad; the 
 outline of which forms the fourth part of a circle, 
 its strata lying in concentric lines. I saw it only 
 from above, but apprehend you will not find it 
 worth drawing; a rude engraving of it is given 
 in Warner’s Second Walk. 
 
 These are all the lions of Pontneatli Vechan, 
 that I at least have seen; and you will, I think, 
 agree with me that they deserve to be visited 
 oftener than they are. There are probably many 
 spots yet unexplored, which would well repay the 
 artist’s search. And a ride or drive hither up the 
 Vale of Neath, is an excursion that may be con¬ 
 fidently recommended to those, who have not 
 leisure or strength for laborious travel. They 
 would, in a few miles, find themselves amidst 
 scenes marked with some of the most romantic 
 features of the Principality, and entirely different 
 from the neighbourhood of Neath or Swansea. 
 
 Yours, &c. 
 
421 
 
 LETTERS ON THE 
 
 LETTER VI. 
 
 From Pontneath Vechan to Neath, are thir¬ 
 teen miles : an easy pleasant road along the vale; 
 the latter part by the side of the canal. The only 
 attraction to a picturesque traveller is the fall of the 
 Cledaugh,* at Melin Court, five miles from Neath. 
 You will find a neat sketch of it in Malkin’s Work, 
 by Laporte.f Artists, however, are not agreed 
 upon its merits; I have heard it called a mere 
 spout; you must judge for yourself, I did not see 
 it. A cascade at Aberdillis mill is praised by some, 
 but I have seen no drawing of it by any modern 
 artist. 
 
 Neath contains nothing in your way. It is 
 close, and with few exceptions, meanly built. I 
 
 * Or Clydach, sheltered. Melin Court is Melin y Cwrt, 
 Court Mill . 
 
 f South Wales, p.597. 
 
SCENERY OF WALES. 
 
 43 
 
 found the Neath Arms a comfortable second-rate 
 inn ; the principal are said to be the Ship and 
 Castle, and the Angel. The castle is a trifling 
 ruin. The abbey, too,* (does not your pencil start 
 at the word?) will disappoint you. The remains, 
 though large, are nothing but detached masses, 
 picturesque neither taken singly nor combined. 
 But it has been judiciously observed, that “ the 
 artist’s eye may in a great degree he unfairly pre¬ 
 judiced against the ruins, by the dirty, unharmo- 
 nizing tints they assume; and the same forms, 
 placed in a solitary and woodland vale, might 
 become objects of attention and admiration.”! 
 They are inhabited now by the poor families of 
 labourers in the adjacent collieries and copper 
 mines. 
 
 To Britton Ferry is a mile and a half. Here the 
 scenery is exceedingly rich and beautiful: the 
 
 * Neath Abbey is said to have afforded a temporary re¬ 
 fuge to our unfortunate Edward the Second, after his escape 
 from Caerphilly castle. This seems the only interesting cir¬ 
 cumstance in its history. Malkin, p. 598. 
 
 f Sir R. C. Hoare’s Trans. Girald. Cambr. vol. i. p. 164. 
 
44 
 
 LETTERS ON THE 
 
 Neatli River falling into Swansea Bay at the foot 
 of some lofty sweeping hills, clothed with wood to 
 the water’s edge. The church-yard is often ad¬ 
 mired, and you will see there that affecting Welch 
 custom of planting the graves of deceased friends 
 with flowers. Do you remember Mason’s Elegy, 
 written on this very spot? how beautiful those 
 lines— 
 
 These to renew with more than annual care, 
 
 That wakeful love with pensive step will go ; 
 
 The hand that lifts the dibble shakes with fear, 
 
 Lest haply it disturb the frjend below. 
 
 Vain fear! yet who that boasts a heart to feel, 
 
 An eye to pity, would that fear reprove ? 
 
 They only, who are cursed with breasts of steel, 
 
 Can mock the foibles of surviving love. 
 
 I know not, if, like me, you rarely pass a church¬ 
 yard without looking in. One often meets with 
 some hint for the sketch hook—a curious cross, 
 ramified window, ruined porch, mass of ivy, old 
 tree, or even a picturesque tombstone, and some¬ 
 times an epitaph worth copying: the Welch 
 church-yards are often very poetical. 
 
SCENERY OF WALES. 
 
 45 
 
 A clever sketch of the Ferry may he taken, if I 
 can but make you comprehend where. Cross the 
 ferry, follow the river, till you come to a shrubby 
 Knoll with a lime-kiln under it; the road winding 
 to the right , between the knoll and a wood called 
 Earl's JVood. 
 
 STATION. 
 
 Bring the road exactly between the knoll and 
 the wood; and the top of the knoll into the same 
 horizontal line with that of the ferry-house. 
 
 This general view comprizes, I think, all the 
 principal objects: the Ferry-house, luxuriant wood- 
 crowned hills above it, river, and channel. It will 
 require scarcely any alteration, but is ready for the 
 pencil, and capable of high embellishment, and 
 beautiful colouring. 
 
 Here is a good inn, much improved of late years, 
 and kept up, probably, by summer parties from 
 Neath and Swansea. 
 
 My walk to Swansea was along the low land, 
 near the shore, about four miles, and easily traced. 
 
46 
 
 LETTERS ON THE 
 
 Swansea has lately become a bathing place of some 
 resort. It is clean and well built, and the Mack- 
 worth Arms an excellent inn. The castle is only 
 one massy tower, about eighty feet high. The 
 church is neat, and contains a few fair monuments. 
 A flourishing pottery on Wedgewood’s plan is es¬ 
 tablished here, which perhaps you will look at; it 
 is something in your taste. There is a Swansea 
 Guide published, which is said to be accurate, and 
 may he useful in telling what is to he seen, though 
 not always worth seeing. 
 
 The Bay, as well as that of Dublin, has been 
 compared to the Bay of Naples; yet I see not the 
 resemblance between Swansea and Dublin Bays, 
 except in general character. It is spacious, certainly, 
 and handsome, with much to interest the artist. I 
 can direct you to two, or rather a pair of pleasing 
 subjects. On your way to Oystermouth Castle, 
 inquire for Black Pill Bridge . It commands 
 an agreeable view of the bay, the headland, and 
 village under it, with the Mumbles in distance. 
 You must sketch above the bridge, of course; 
 and on the left side of the stream looking down. 
 
SCENERY OF WALES. 
 
 47 
 
 STATION. 
 
 Bring the further end of the village over the 
 middle of the arch. Then let the land below the 
 bridge meet the parapet over the left end of the 
 arch. 
 
 The other is a view looking back . After pass¬ 
 ing Oystermouth a considerable way, you descend 
 to the shore, under a steep point of land, near 
 some houses where ship-building is sometimes 
 going on. The village and castle above it appear 
 in the first distance. 
 
 STATION. 
 
 Bring the outline of the steep a little to the 
 right of the houses, and their top into the same 
 horizontal line with that of the castle. 
 
 This view is simple, and will need embellish¬ 
 ment ; but both of them show the character of the 
 bay—light, open, cheerful; and they include the 
 best objects in it. You will find other spots on this 
 side of Swansea worth your notice. The ruins of 
 
48 LETTERS ON THE 
 
 Oystermouth Castle are handsome, and boldly 
 situated near the coast. Carwell Bay, and Puldw 
 Point are grand and rocky scenes; the former 
 should be visited at low water; and by keeping 
 close upon the shore from Puldw to Oxwich Point, 
 you have a complete view of that Bay.* Pennarth 
 Castle may also be tried, and the Mumbles Light 
 House. This is a pretty object seen through an 
 excavation in one of the contiguous rocks.f 
 
 I did not toil up the Mountain Cwm Bryn to 
 see King Arthur’s Stone, or, as the Welch call it, 
 the Stone of Sketty. Antiquaries describe it as 
 the largest Cromlech in Wales; the horizontal 
 stone weighing more than twenty tons. An 
 old writer in Camden says well enough,—“the 
 carriage, rearing, and placing this mighty rock, is 
 plainly an effect of human industry and art; but 
 the pulleys and levers, the force and skill, by which 
 it was done, are not so easily imagined.” £ 
 
 * Malkin, p. 589. 
 f Donovan’s Tour, vol. ii. p. 201. 
 f Camden, p. 620. Edit. Gibson. 
 
SCENEUY OF WALES. 
 
 49 
 
 After leaving Swansea, my route will take you 
 six and twenty tame miles to Caermartlien. Not 
 an interesting object the whole way; if you except 
 Pont ar Dulas, and a glen about three miles from 
 Caermartlien. The former need not stop you; 
 the latter might afford some hints, if one could 
 get down. It is deep, overhung with trees, a 
 stream dashing along the bottom. 
 
 Yours, &c. 
 
 ) 
 
 E 
 
50 
 
 LETTERS ON THE 
 
 LETTER VII. 
 
 Caermarthenshire* does not rank high as 
 a picturesque county. It is generally hilly, and 
 therefore the landscapes may he bold and striking. 
 The mountains, which occupy a considerable part, 
 are black and dreary, and never sublime. The 
 vales are rich, and those through which the 
 smaller rivers run, in general retired and rural; 
 but their aspect more uniform than those of Gla¬ 
 morgan and Cardigan. The villages near the 
 coast are often beautiful; but in the north of the 
 county their condition, and that of the solitary 
 cottagers, is most wretched, except in that tract 
 
 * Caermarthen, or Caer-Merdin, is Merlins Town; so 
 called from the British prophet, Merlin Ambrose, being found 
 there, when searched for by command of Vortigern. Mal¬ 
 kin, p. 558. 
 
SCENERY OF WALES. 
 
 51 
 
 which borders on Cardiganshire.* Caermarthen is 
 one of the best built towns, but the mixture of 
 white-washed houses, slated roofs, and brick chim¬ 
 neys, is far from agreeable to a painter’s eye. Some 
 modern author (I forget who) says, the vacant 
 glare of whitened buildings, so frequent in Wales, 
 always reminds him of “ the eternal grin of a fool.” 
 Caermarthen was formerly walled, and fortified with 
 a castle, the remains of which are now used as a 
 gaol. Being situated on the Tovy, which is navi¬ 
 gable up to the town, it commands considerable 
 export trade. My inn was the Old Ivy Bush, 
 not that near the river—the head Inn; though I 
 have on another occasion stopped there , and found 
 the accommodations in every way excellent—good 
 post horses, coach room, &c. 
 
 You will probably think the Vale of Tovy worth 
 a ramble. Gilpin, who came down it, speaks 
 highly of the scenery about Dinevawr Castle. He 
 has given three views of it, but I doubt if his 
 stations could be determined from them ; nor did I 
 
 * Malkin, p. 538. 
 E 2 
 
52 
 
 LETTERS ON THE 
 
 indeed go so far up the vale. Its particular re¬ 
 commendation in his eye is the inequality of the 
 ground. “ I know few places,” he observes, “ where 
 a painter might study the inequality of a surface 
 with more advantage.”* To view the castle in the 
 most favourable point, Sir R. Hoare says, “ it is 
 adviseable to go into the meadows on the other 
 side the Tovy, where the hill, castle, and river, 
 form a most enchanting landscape.”! Grongar 
 Hill, the theme of Dyer’s verse, lies in this vale; it 
 is said, near a place called Court Henry, still be¬ 
 longing to his family. I would recommend to 
 your perusal Gilpin’s strictures on some passages 
 in that Poem. They are judicious, connected with 
 your pursuit, and advert particularly to Dinevawr 
 Castle. 
 
 As Dyer was a Cambrian Worthy, and a brother 
 artist, one of the very few that Wales can boast, 
 you may like to know something of his story. He 
 was born in 1700, the second son of Robert Dyer, 
 
 * Observations on the Wye, p. 62. 
 
 ■f Girald. Cambr, vol. i. p. 164 
 
SCENERY OF WALES. 
 
 53 
 
 an eminent solicitor at Aberglassney in this 
 county, near Llandilo Vawr. After passing through 
 Westminster School, he was called home, to be 
 instructed in his father’s profession ; but disliking 
 the law, and having always amused himself with 
 drawing, he resolved to turn painter, and became 
 a pupil to Richardson. Having studied a while 
 under his master, he became, as he himself ex¬ 
 presses it, an “ itinerant painter,” rambling through 
 South Wales, and the parts adjacent. Being un¬ 
 satisfied probably with his own proficiency, he, like 
 other painters, travelled to Italy; where, besides 
 studying the noblest remains of antiquity, and the 
 best productions of the greatest modern masters, 
 he used to spend whole days in the country about 
 Florence and Rome, composing landscapes. After 
 his return in 1740, we hear no more of him as a 
 painter. Decline of health, and love of study, de¬ 
 termined him to the church. Fie therefore entered 
 into orders, and afterwards married. His prefer¬ 
 ment was never large. He died July 20, 1758.* 
 
 * Johnson’s Life of Dyer. Drake’s Literary Hours, vol. i. 
 
 p. 222. 
 
54 
 
 LETTERS ON THE 
 
 He is best known by his poems, Grongar Hill— 
 The Fleece—and the Ruins of Rome. These con¬ 
 tain many passages, which bespeak the eye of a 
 painter, and show how much the pen may be in¬ 
 debted to the pencil in descriptive poetry. 
 
 Our next stage is to Llaugharne; taking the 
 Narbeth road as far as St. Clears (ten miles), then 
 turning off to the left three more. St. Clears is 
 an obscure little village, on the banks of Corran; 
 but it has a good inn. A turnpike road runs 
 westward from thence through Whitland to Nar- 
 beth, about nine miles. 
 
 Llaugharne,* built on the point of an oozy bay, 
 consists of a few smart houses, surrounded with 
 meanness, much like an Irish town. My quarters 
 were the New Inn; and it may perhaps be of use 
 to tell you here, that the place so named, which 
 you will pass on the Tenby road, is no inn at all. 
 
 While you are at Llaugharne, I would suggest 
 an excursion across the bay to the village of Llan 
 
 * Llaugharne deserves notice as the birth place of Dr. 
 Tucker, Dean of Gloucester, in 1712, a name well known in 
 the political world. Malkin, p. 514. 
 
SCENERY OF WALES. 
 
 55 
 
 Stephan. Since my tour I have learned, that the 
 ruin of the castle is well worth sketching. It is 
 built on the top of a perpendicular rock, and com¬ 
 mands a spacious prospect of the Tovy. 
 
 Llaugharne Castle will make you a pair of ex¬ 
 cellent drawings. First, go down the street; cross 
 the brook to one of the houses on your right 
 hand—that with a stone horseblock before the 
 door: it was a blacksmith’s. Then face about just 
 below it. 
 
 STATION. 
 
 Let the outer line of the castle (next the water) 
 be over the angular point of the wall before it; 
 and the base of the wall as high as the lozvest 
 windows of the house. 
 
 There are variety and a good assemblage of parts 
 in this view. The bay, distant promontory, un¬ 
 common front of the castle mantled with ivy, and 
 relieved with trees; and on the fore-ground, the 
 old cross, wooden bridge, and brook, are all proper 
 objects, and combine well. It would make a good 
 
56 
 
 LETTERS ON THE 
 
 moonlight, with the contrast of fire light from the 
 blacksmith’s forge. 
 
 For the second, a light, distant view,- you must 
 mount the first hill on the Tenby road. 
 
 STATION. 
 
 Bring the Castle exactly zvithin the angle made 
 by the sloping hill and woody steep before it. 
 Then ascend or descend, till the water and three 
 of the promontories appear above the castle. 
 
 In this station the sea bounds the distance. 
 Nature’s compositions are seldom complete or cor¬ 
 rect ; but here nothing seems in the wrong place, 
 and little which one would wish away. The only 
 liberties necessary to be taken are, a tree or stump, 
 planted at the left corner, and the uniformity of 
 the long hedge on the right of the fore ground 
 somewhat broken. 
 
 About five miles from Llaugharne you pass Green 
 Bridge, by some thought a curiosity, though no¬ 
 thing more than a small stream on the right side 
 of the road, running southward, and sinking at 
 

SCENERY OF WALES. 
 
 57 
 
 that place into a rocky cavity: it is said to flow 
 out again on the sea coast near Pendine. This 
 bridge is no picture, nor are there any but exten¬ 
 sive sea views all the way to Tenby, sixteen tedious 
 hilly miles. 
 
 Tenby* is a pretty watering place, and well 
 adapted for bathing, having a constant sea, very 
 clear and not too bold, with a smooth hard beach 
 at low water. But it is not, I think, picturesque. 
 The rocks, on which the town is built, are insignifi¬ 
 cant, the church spire formal, and the ruins of the 
 castle, except as a distant object, detached and un¬ 
 meaning. I send you however a station, as the 
 place is much praised by some—on the Narbeth 
 road, just beyond a bend to the right , about a 
 mile and half from the town, looking south¬ 
 east. 
 
 STATION. 
 
 Let the horizon be exactly as high as the church 
 tower ; bring that over the bend of the road. 
 
 * Tenby, or Dinbych, is The Precipice. 
 
58 
 
 LETTERS ON THE 
 
 On the shore, at the back of the town, you may 
 find a subject in better taste. A high rocky point, 
 with some old fortifications upon it, and a distant 
 headland beyond. This, with a suitable bustle of 
 boats and figures, might be worked up to a pleas¬ 
 ing picture. 
 
 STATION. 
 
 Bring the foot of the contiguous rock on your 
 right exactly under the square tower; and let the 
 headland appear just above the extremity of the 
 cliff. (PI. 2, Fig. 3.) 
 
 St. Catharine’s Isle is sometimes sketched. It 
 is a mere rock, accessible at low water, but curious? 
 I believe, from the almost perpendicular disposition 
 of the strata; and a wide perforation, thirty or 
 forty feet high, resembling a Gothic arch. 
 
 A sail is recommended from Tenby harbour 
 across Caermarthen bay, passing Monkstone head, 
 and making either for Llaugharne point at the 
 mouth of the Taw, or for Llan Stephan point at 
 
SCENERY OF WALES. 
 
 59 
 
 the mouth of the Tovy. The distance may be 
 sailed in one tide.* 
 
 Rain, that bane of travellers, especially in our 
 way , hindered me from seeing Manorbeer and Carew 
 Castles; the former five, the latter eight miles 
 from Tenby. Both of them may try your pencil. 
 You will find a view of Manorbeer Castle in Sir R. 
 Hoare’s Work.f Of Carew the north-west side 
 is preferred. Donovan mentions a British Cross at 
 Carew, standing on the road side, close to the wall 
 of the castle grounds.^ Crosses are often highly 
 picturesque, both as accompaniments, and single 
 objects. Have you ever seen the collection in 
 Britton’s Architectural Antiquities ? they are very 
 beautiful. 
 
 I do not recommend my inn at Tenby—The 
 Anchor. The Hotel would be preferable, if a 
 
 * Malkin, p. 542. 
 
 t Vol. i. p. 215.—Manorbeer Castle is supposed to have 
 been built by one of the Norman chiefs in the time of Wil¬ 
 liam Rufus. It was the birth-place of Giraldus de Barri. 
 Malkin, p. 531. 
 
 J Tour, vol. ii. p. 296. 
 
60 
 
 LETTERS ON THE 
 
 threadbare, weather-stained pedestrian could ensure 
 tolerable treatment; but the first rate inns are 
 anglicizing fast. 
 
 We must now go on toward Cardigan. Ten 
 dreary miles of bad road bring you to Narbeth, a 
 mean town, with as mean an inn—The White 
 Hart. Here is a castle, of course: also a valley 
 watered by the Cleddeu, and crowned with the 
 towers of Lawhaden Castle, which is strongly re¬ 
 commended, and a view given, in the Translation of 
 Giraldus.* From Narbeth I struck across a tame 
 intricate country, to meet the Haverfordwest turn¬ 
 pike road near New Inn, sixteen miles from Car¬ 
 digan ; stopping at a secluded little hamlet called 
 Maencloghog—English ground quite, scattered 
 over a green, like the villages of Suffolk and Nor¬ 
 folk. Pembrokeshire is indeed described as the 
 most level part of the principality, and both the 
 people and general face of the country so nearly 
 English, that it has been called Little England 
 beyond Wales. 
 
 * Vol. i. p. 186 ; and vol. ii. p. 378. 
 
SCENEltY OF WALES. 
 
 61 
 
 I was amused with the simplicity of the people 
 at the inn here; wondering that my friends should 
 trust me so far from home on foot and alone; and 
 thinking how anxious they must be to hear of 
 my safety. My eye-glass was a perfect novelty, 
 which they handled and examined with as much 
 care and curiosity, as the Brobdignagians did 
 Gulliver. 
 
 Here too I saw the most beautiful Cambrian in 
 my tour. I notice this, because the Welch women, 
 the lower classes at least, seemed not generally 
 handsome, but short, clumsily formed, with round 
 faces and small black eyes. Giraldus tells us, that 
 in his time both sexes “ exceeded any other nation 
 in attention to their teeth, which they rendered like 
 ivory by constantly rubbing them with green hazel 
 and a woollen cloth.” # Both the care and the 
 custom, I fear, have ceased. The dress of the 
 women, a blue cloak and man’s black beaver hat, 
 makes them good figures in a landscape; though 
 a red cloak would be better. In the paintings of 
 
 * Trans, vol. ii. p. 294-. 
 
62 
 
 LETTERS ON THE 
 
 the old masters there is much red. The men are 
 rather a diminutive race, hut have sometimes keen 
 intelligent countenances: their dress differs little 
 from that of English peasants. 
 
 At Cardigan you are in the neighbourhood of 
 some interesting scenery; I therefore suggest a rea¬ 
 sonable halt at the Black Lion. 
 
 Yours, &c. 
 
 P. S. A post-office is now established at Narbeth. 
 
SCENERY OF WALES. 
 
 63 
 
 LETTER VIII. 
 
 Cardiganshire is the most romantic county 
 of South Wales. The northern boundary is scarcely 
 to be distinguished from Montgomery and Meri¬ 
 oneth, on which it borders. The scenes are large, 
 wild, and grand; and its high boast, the Devil’s 
 Bridge, will not shrink from a comparison with the 
 finest in North Wales. There is not the ceaseless 
 variety of Glamorganshire, and its beauties are often 
 many a dreary mile apart; but in one circumstance 
 it particularly resembles that county; in the pro¬ 
 found sinking of the earth below the common 
 level, which occasions those very steep and unex¬ 
 pected precipices and dingles in the northern part 
 of the district; so that it may be said to abound 
 there rather in gulfs than mountains. The beau¬ 
 ties of Cardiganshire are but beginning to be 
 known; few places are more confined within them- 
 
64 
 
 LETTERS ON THE 
 
 selves; and the slight intercourse with the adja¬ 
 cent parts of North Wales is surprising. The ap¬ 
 pearance of the cottages sometimes is miserable, 
 built of mud, squalid and disgusting.* Even Car¬ 
 digan, for a county town, is but mean, nor (when 
 I travelled) was the head inn a post-house; post- 
 chaises were then to be hired, I believe, only at 
 Aberystwith and the Hafod Arms. 
 
 The principal objects in Cardigan are the Bridge, 
 Priory Church, and Ruins of the Castle; and a 
 cheerful general view of the town may be taken 
 from a meadow on the right side of the Llechryd 
 road, a short distance from the town; a gate leads 
 into it. 
 
 STATION. 
 
 Bring the intersection of the distant mountains 
 just over the left hand arch of the bridge; and let 
 their outline touch the church tower at the height 
 of the topmost window. (PI. 3. Fig. 1.) 
 
 * Malkin, p. 318—322. 
 
€A/l^C4/yL/ 
 
 
 PI. 3. 
 
 > ct/isG&^a/rTs 
 
 
 9&.J . 
 
 f- 
 
SCENERY OF WALES. 
 
 65 
 
 A little further to the left you catch the remains 
 of the castle; a station some like better on that 
 account; hut it is an inconsiderable ruin. Your 
 next and chief study will be Kilgerran Castle, and 
 well it deserves all the pains you can bestow. The 
 best view is said to he from the river, though ob¬ 
 viously incomplete as a picture; since it must want 
 a foreground; and when the eye is so low, the 
 margin of the river becomes straight, or its capes 
 and headlands mere lines. The particular beauty 
 of a view under such circumstances, Gilpin says, 
 consists in the opposition between the straight 
 boundary line of the water and the irregular 
 outline of the objects on its banks.* If you go 
 by land, your way is through the village of Llech- 
 ryd; then keeping on the same side of the 
 Tivy as the castle, you will presently see it 
 crowding the brow of a naked rock which over¬ 
 hangs the water; on the opposite side rises a steep 
 wood; the river, winding between, unites these 
 contrasted features, and gives variety and effect to 
 
 * Northern Tour, vol. i. p. 102. 
 
 F • 
 
66 
 
 LETTERS ON THE 
 
 the whole. First for a distant view, just before 
 you come to an old lime-kiln. 
 
 STATION. 
 
 Bring the extremity of the wood exactly under 
 the round tower; and let the lowest turret , 
 with a small part of the rock, appear above the 
 wood. (PI. 3, fig. 2.) 
 
 For a nearer and bolder view, pass the castle, 
 till you come to a wooded rock at the next bend 
 of the river; then look dozen it. 
 
 STATION. 
 
 Bring the foot of the wooded rock just under 
 the round tower; and let the outline of the rock, 
 next that which the castle stands upon, meet it at 
 the bottom of the ruin. (PI. 3, fig. 3.) 
 
 You will, perhaps, give Kilgerran more atten¬ 
 tion, when I tell you it was the favourite study of 
 Wilson. Did you ever meet with the engraving 
 
SCENERY OF WALES. 
 
 67 
 
 by Elliot from his painting of it ? When such a 
 man has chosen a station, who shall choose an¬ 
 other ? He is said to have transferred a portrait of 
 Kilgerran into more than one of his compositions; 
 hut in those I have examined, the resemblance is 
 very general. He seemed to delight certainly in 
 giving his castles the situation of Kilgerran; a 
 taste probably acquired in Italy, where buildings 
 are often placed upon heights. You know, I sup¬ 
 pose, that Wilson (for the honour of the princi¬ 
 pality) was a Welchman. 
 
 The views beyond Kilgerran are not striking, 
 so far as I explored; but the Tivy has another pic¬ 
 turesque feature—the Coracles. They are a sort 
 of Welch canoe, in shape well enough compared to 
 half a walnut-shell; and are made of wicker, 
 covered with hides or pitched canvas. They give 
 character to the scenery ; fishermen, with them upon 
 their heads, have the wild look of South Sea 
 Islanders carrying their canoes; but in the water 
 their tub-like form brings to my mind Shakspeare’s 
 witch—“ Thither in a sieve I’ll sail.” 
 
 The village of Nevern should be visited On 
 f 2 
 
68 
 
 LETTERS Ott THE 
 
 the south side of the church-yard is said to he a 
 richly decorated cross.* The neighbourhood of 
 Cardigan abounds with Druidical antiquities. The 
 cromlech, or temple, at Pentre Evan is thought to 
 surpass, in size and height, any in Wales, or 
 indeed in England, Stonehenge and Arbury 
 excepted. At Newport there is a smaller crom¬ 
 lech ; and between that place and the sea-shore, is 
 a very fine one, called Lech y drybed.f All these 
 I missed for lack of information, but you should 
 see them: cromlechs are not only curious, but 
 sometimes handsome objects. 
 
 We now proceed to Newcastle in Emlyn, about 
 ten miles. The Kennarth salmon-leap I passed, 
 and so may you, without a sketch. Newcastle is 
 a poor place, but the remains of its castle, the 
 Tivy winding almost round it, and a rich profusion 
 of wood, make up some pretty spots. After Kil- 
 gerran Castle will you condescend to draw this ? 
 I took it from a meadow, where there is a fall of 
 water under the castle hill. 
 
 * Nicholson, p. 459. 
 
 + Girald. Carab. vol. ii. p. 44. 
 
SCENERY OF WALES. 
 
 69 
 
 STATION. 
 
 Let the trees on the opposite bank meet the 
 wall of the castle; and the outline of the distant 
 mountain meet the castle hill at about a third of 
 its whole length from the building. (Pl. 4, fig. 2.) 
 
 The inn here has, I believe, no sign, a circum¬ 
 stance not unusual in Wales. But my accommo¬ 
 dations were neat and civil. 
 
 To Llanbeder are nineteen miles of very tame 
 country. The town is small and uninteresting; 
 but it has one neat inn, the Black Lion, and also 
 a post-office. From thence to Tregaron are eleven 
 more, still flat and dreary, if you take the west 
 side of the Tivy : some prefer the east, as far as 
 Llandewi Brevi; then crossing the river to Llanio- 
 isau.* About two miles on your way, near the 
 village of Llan Filian, stands one of those 
 solitary stone pillars, so frequent in Wales, of 
 which no one seems to know either the origin or 
 
 * Girald. Camb. vol. ii. p. 382. 
 
70 
 
 LETTERS ON THE 
 
 use.* It is in a field on the right side of the road; 
 and, as a good specimen of such antiquities, may be 
 worth a sketch. Take the side which faces your 
 left on entering the field.f Tregaron is a miser¬ 
 able village of straggling thatched cottages; and 
 though it has a church, wooden bridge, and moun¬ 
 tainous back ground, I could find no station 
 worth your trying. There are two poor public 
 houses without signs. I got a decent bed at one 
 of them, and you will probably procure little else 
 except civility and eggs, but both of them cheap 
 enough, the latter are sometimes even ten a penny ! 
 The church is the only tolerable building, and 
 much better than might be looked for in so 
 secluded a place. When you reach Pentre Rhyd- 
 vendiged,^: do not forget to turn out of the road 
 
 * The Editor of Camden mentions a similar one in this 
 neighbourhood on the top of a mountain, but neither its date 
 nor use. Edit. Gibson, p. 647. There is one between Brecon 
 and Abergavenny, in a field near the road; another on the 
 heights above Rhayader: on this I observed a cross rudely 
 carved. 
 
 f See Vignette. f The village of the blessed ford. 
 
SCENERY OF WALES. 
 
 71 
 
 about a mile on the right, and look at the last 
 remains of Ystrad Flur* (or Strata Florida) Abbey, 
 one solitary Saxon arch, but of such rare beauty as 
 will surely tempt your pencil. There is a public- 
 house at the Rhydvendiged, where you can inquire 
 your way to it. 
 
 STATION. 
 
 Let the interior of the arch begin to be visible 
 half way up the right side; and the outline of 
 the distance meet the interior at the height of the 
 circular ornament. 
 
 The opposite side of the ruin is of no value. 
 The body of the abbey has completely disappeared, 
 
 * Ystrad Flur. The dale, or plain of Flur. The abbey 
 was founded in 1164, but to what order of monks it was 
 devoted is not agreed upon by antiquaries. It was a depo¬ 
 sitory of the records of the principality, and a place of inter¬ 
 ment for many princes of South Wales. In the wars of 
 Edward the First with the Welch, it was burnt down, but 
 afterwards rebuilt, and remained till the dissolution of such 
 establishments. Malkin, p. 382. 
 
72 
 
 LETTERS ON THE 
 
 not a vestige remains; # yet the very spot, con¬ 
 nected as it is with history, is still an object of 
 curiosity and importance to a thoughtful man. 
 
 I do love these auncient ruynes ; 
 
 We never tread upon them, but we set 
 Our foot upon some reverend history. 
 
 And questionless here, in this open court, 
 
 (Which now lies naked to the injuries 
 Of stormy weather,) some men lie interred, 
 
 Loved the church so well, and gave so largely to it. 
 They thought it should have canopied their bones 
 Till doomsday: but all things have their end ; 
 
 * Leland, speaking of this building, says, “ the Chirch of 
 Strata Flere is larg side ilid and crosse ilid. By is a large 
 cl oyster, the fratri and infirmitori be now mere ruines. The 
 ccemeteri, wherein the counteri about doth buri, is very large 
 and meanly walled with stone: In it be 39 great hew trees : 
 the vase court or camp before the abbey is veri fair and 
 large.” See Girald. Cambr. vol. ii. p. 67. The adjacent hills, 
 now naked, were formerly covered with wood. “ Many hills 
 therabout (says Leland) hath been well wooded, as evidently 
 by old rates appereth, but now in them is almost no wood,” 
 Ibid. 
 
SCENERY OF WALES. 
 
 73 
 
 Churches and cities (whfth have diseases like to men) 
 Must have like death that we have.* * * § 
 
 On the top of a mountain here, we are told of 
 several pools, curious from their situation, which 
 is the highest ground in Cardiganshire; their con¬ 
 taining fish; and some of them being supposed 
 unfathomahle.f 
 
 The country now begins to take a wilder cha¬ 
 racter, as you approach that wonderful scene, the 
 Devil’s Bridge. From Pentre Rhydvendiged the 
 road winds over a barren mountain to the lonely 
 hamlet of Yspytty Ystwith. This, and Yspytty 
 r’ Enwyn4 are the ancient hospitia of the monks, 
 who, when Strata Florida was in its splendour, 
 stationed small detachments of their brethren at 
 certain intervals, to protect and refresh the tra¬ 
 veller, on his journey through this desolate track. § 
 
 * Webster in his Duchess of Malfy. These admirable 
 lines are chosen as a motto by Grose. 
 
 f Malkin, p. 384. 
 
 X The word Spytty is probably derived from Hospitium, 
 Bingley, vol. i. p. 358. 
 
 § Malkin, p. 369. 
 
74 
 
 LETTERS ON THE 
 
 You will be pleased ^with the bold scenery at 
 the descent just beyond this village. On the left 
 a precipice of tremendous depth, with the narrow 
 Ystwith foaming along the bottom; on the right 
 a range of lofty hanging woods, topped by the 
 forked summits of the mountains above Pont ar 
 Mynach. Crossing soon after a part of Hafod 
 grounds, the road gradually ascends about three 
 miles to the Hafod Arms, the inn near the Devil’s 
 Bridge. It was built by the late Mr. Johnes, the 
 member for Cardigan, and well kept by his servant 
 when I was there. The whole walk from Tregaron 
 should be eighteen miles, but maps seem to blunder 
 in this latter part of the road, and so probably 
 will you, without very clear directions. How wel¬ 
 come an accommodation, in this unpeopled region, 
 would be a few guide-posts ! 
 
 Yours, &c. 
 
SCENERY OF WALES. 
 
 75 
 
 LETTER IX. 
 
 Whether my route will take you through, 
 or even near, the birth-place of Wilson, I really can¬ 
 not tell you: I only know that it was somewhere in 
 Montgomeryshire. His story is briefly this. He 
 was born in 1714: the son of a clergyman, who 
 possessed a small benefice in that county, but 
 afterwards collated to the living of Mould in 
 Flintshire. At an early age Wilson showed a 
 talent for drawing, and was sent to London, and 
 placed under one Thomas Wright, an obscure 
 portrait painter. To this branch of the art he 
 devoted himself for several years, and gained con¬ 
 siderable reputation; for about the year 1749, he 
 painted a large portrait of his late Majesty, with 
 his brother the Duke of York, for Dr. Hayter, 
 Bishop of Norwich, their tutor. He afterwards 
 went to Italy, still continuing to paint portraits, 
 till the following circumstance showed him the 
 
76 
 
 LETTERS ON THE 
 
 true bent of his genius. A small landscape, which 
 he had painted with considerable freedom and 
 spirit, chanced to meet the eye of Zucarelli, who 
 was so pleased with the performance, that he 
 strongly urged Wilson to follow that mode of 
 painting, as most congenial to his powers. Venet, 
 too, while he was at Rome, encouraged and re¬ 
 commended him. It is not known when he re¬ 
 turned to London: he was there in 1758, and his 
 Niobe was in the first exhibition of the society of 
 artists in 1760.* At the institution of the Royal 
 Academy, Wilson was chosen one of the founders; 
 and after the death of Hayman, he solicited the 
 place of Librarian, which he retained, till decay of 
 health obliged him to retire to his brother’s in 
 Wales, where he died in May, 1782. 
 
 You will thank me, I am sure, for adding 
 Fuseli’s masterly critique on his style. “ Claude, 
 little above mediocrity in all other branches of 
 
 * This picture was afterwards bought by William, Duke 
 of Cumberland, and is now in the possession of His Royal 
 Highness the Duke of Gloucester. Edwards’s Anecdotes of 
 Painters, p. 78. 
 
SCENERY OF WALES. 
 
 77 
 
 landscape painting, had one great prerogative, 
 sublimity ; hut his powers rose and set with the 
 sun ; he could only be serenely sublime or ro¬ 
 mantic. Wilson, without so great a feature, had 
 a more varied and more proportionate power. He 
 observed nature in all her appearances, and had a 
 characteristic touch for all her forms. But though, 
 in effects of dewy freshness and silent evening 
 lights, few equalled, and fewer excelled him ; his 
 grandeur is oftener allied to terror, bustle, and con¬ 
 vulsion, than to calmness and tranquillity. Figures, 
 it is difficult to say, which of the two introduced 
 or handled with greater infelicity. Treated by 
 Claude or Wilson, St. Ursula with her virgins, 
 and iEneas landing, Niobe with her family, and 
 Ceyx drawn ashore, have an equal claim to our 
 indifference or mirth. Wilson is now numbered 
 with the classics of the art, though little more 
 than the fifth part of a century has elapsed since 
 death relieved him from the apathy of the cognos¬ 
 centi, the envy of rivals, and the neglect of a 
 tasteless public. For Wilson, whose works will 
 soon command prices as proud as those of Claude, 
 
78 
 
 LETTERS ON THE 
 
 Poussin, or Elzheimer, resembled the last most in 
 his fate; lived and died nearer to indigence than 
 ease; and as an asylum from the severest wants 
 incident to age and decay of powers, was reduced 
 to solicit the Librarian’s place, in the academy of 
 which he was one of the brightest ornaments.* 
 
 It was this great painter who affirmed, that a 
 young artist might find, in some part or other of 
 this island, every thing he could attain by going 
 abroad , r indeed that he could possibly want to 
 complete his studies, excepting what is distinc¬ 
 tively characterized as an Italian sky.f Wilson 
 on his own art deserves to be heard, and his opi¬ 
 nion may therefore give us new zeal to explore 
 the scenery now before us, of the Devil’s Bridge. 
 For this too the situation of the inn itself prepares 
 us—perched, like an eagle’s nest, on the top of the 
 vast woody dingle, and overlooking the dizzy hol¬ 
 low, with the Rhydoll roaring and tumbling down 
 between the rocks below. 
 
 * M. Bryan’s Biog. Diet, of Painters and Engravers, 
 p. 610 ; Pilkington’s Diet, of Painters, p. 619. Edit. Fuseli. 
 
 f Malkin, p. 228. 
 
SCENERY OF WALES. 
 
 79 
 
 This spot has been the subject of more able pens 
 than mine: for a minute account, therefore, I refer 
 you to Cumberland and Malkin. Our concern is 
 picturesque points, which are of a high cast, and 
 very deservedly admired. To begin then with the 
 Bridge itself: * the circumstances which give it 
 uncommon effect, are its double arch; f the one 
 built over the other, and the further variety of 
 their shape and age, the upper being circular, the 
 lower gothic. This effect is heightened by the 
 depth of the chasm they bestride (if you would 
 feel it, look over the parapet), the alternate preci¬ 
 pices, the mountainous distance, and the luxuriancy 
 of foliage with which the whole scene is finished. 
 
 * Called also Pont ar Mynach, the bridge over the Mynach. 
 Mynach, or Monach, is the Welch for Monk. The history of 
 the bridge is understood to be this : The lower arch was thrown 
 over the chasm by the monks of Ystrad Flur Abbey, about 
 the year 1087. The present bridge was built over the ori¬ 
 ginal one in 1753. Its height from the bed of the river is 
 114 feet. Malkin, p. 365. 
 
 + The Abbey Bridge at Bury St. Edmunds is a beautiful 
 instance, little known or noticed, of that rarity, an arch 
 voithin an arch. 
 
80 
 
 LETTERS ON THE 
 
 A bridge, if accessible, should be tried from four 
 stations, on each side of the water, above and 
 below. This, however, can be approached only 
 from above. The view, I prefer, is on the south- 
 side of the Mynach. Turn into a field on the 
 right , as you go from the inn to the bridge, and 
 keep along the precipice. 
 
 STATION. 
 
 Let the distant mountain appear above the 
 trees behind the bridge; then bring its top over 
 the arches. 
 
 The view usually drawn is from the other side 
 of the river, close below the bridge; but to take it 
 there, you must descend, till you have little choice 
 of station, or even of footing, besides losing the 
 fine distance. 
 
 The falls of the Mynach are to be visited next* 
 
 * The perpendicular depth of the four falls is 208 feet, 
 without allowing for the declivity of the three pools. Malkin, 
 
 p. 367. 
 
 The greatest waterfall in Europe is said to be that newly 
 
SCENERY OF WALES. 
 
 81 
 
 About a hundred yards beyond the bridge, a path 
 on the left strikes into the wood, to a rocky pro¬ 
 jection from whence they are seen at once : but 
 lofty and magnificent as they are, they can hardly 
 be drawn, being viewed from above, and the deep 
 woody dell preventing any nearer approach. In 
 summer too the supply of water is sometimes 
 scanty, and then they are mere threads. A wet 
 season, and waterfalls are in all their glory. 
 
 A little further on, another path will lead you 
 down the wood, by a steep and rather difficult 
 descent, to the third wonder—the Fall of the 
 Rhydoll, one of 
 
 Those loftier scenes Salvator’s soul adored. 
 
 Rogers. 
 
 This is seen from the back window at the inn, 
 
 discovered in Lapland on the river Lulea, one eighth of a 
 mile broad, and 400 feet perpendicular. Edinburgh Philos. 
 Jour. No. 3, p. 199. The highest fall of water now known 
 is the Rogfossen, or Smoke Waterfall, in Upper Telemark, 
 Norway, 970 feet perpendicular; as lately ascertained by 
 Esmark, Mineralogical Professor at Christiana. A painting 
 of it, taken on the spot by W. White, was exhibited at So¬ 
 merset-house in 1819. 
 
 a 
 
82 
 
 LETTERS ON THE 
 
 but how changed ! the height of the precipices, 
 the gloom of their shadows, the roar of the fall, 
 the confusion of rocky fragments, the age of the 
 trees, all form together a scene that fills the mind 
 with pleasing breathless wonder. Instead of a 
 near station, I chose one where you will reach the 
 bottom of the dingle. 
 
 STATION. 
 
 Behind some mass of stone, to the left of which 
 is seen the torrent descending from the fall: let 
 the stone hide the intermediate distance from the 
 fall 
 
 This station seems to include all the features, 
 of which the enormous blocks of stone composing 
 the foreground is a very bold and peculiar one. 
 
 The view looking doxvn the Rhydoll wears an 
 opposite character of calm grandeur ; but freedoms 
 must be used to make a good picture of it. There 
 is a want of contrast; the two side screens meet at 
 a formal angle; and both of them, with the hill in 
 front, are covered with wood: besides, the huge 
 

 Slff.Newell del c 
 
 T. Sutherland, jcuip t 
 

 I 
 
 
SCENERY OF WALES. 
 
 83 
 
 stones in the foreground must be put in better 
 order. The whole spot is a storehouse of materials 
 for landscape—falling water, pieces of rock, masses 
 of stone, stumps, old trees, &c. An artist of taste 
 and talent told me, he was down there seven horns 
 without quitting the place. 
 
 Unfrequented scenes are seldom without some 
 marvellous story. When at Aberystwith, I chanced 
 to mention the fall of the Rhydoll to an old lady, 
 who asked me, if I had seen the wonderful stone 
 there ? What stone ? Why, one on which, as she 
 had heard, there were xvords written , which no 
 man could read! * 
 
 You, whose taste is alive to sounds as well as 
 sights, will be pleased with the reverberation of this 
 water-fall’s incessant flow, when at some distance 
 from it; echoing up the dingle, and swelling at 
 intervals upon the ear, like that mysterious roar 
 of the sea upon a hollow shore, which sometimes 
 precedes a storm. Heard during the stillness of 
 night it is strangely solemn. 
 
 * She was a Wesleyan Methodist. 
 
 Gr 2 
 
84 
 
 BETTERS ON THE 
 
 The Robbers’ Cave, near the lowest fall of the 
 Mynach, is your fourth object. Tradition says, 
 it was for years the hiding place of two brothers 
 and a sister, who infested the neighbourhood as 
 plunderers.* I know of nothing curious in the 
 cave itself, but by going down, you may see the 
 falls in succession. The second, which descends 
 in one broad decided sheet of sixty feet, should be 
 sketched. Turn a little to the right , just before 
 you reach it, to a projecting rock which overlooks 
 the chasm. An oak stump and two graceful 
 birches mark the spot. 
 
 STATION. 
 
 Let the nearer birch cross the fall at a quarter 
 of the way down it: then approach the brink close 
 enough to see the bottom. 
 
 The beautiful effect of this fall depends (as 
 many others do) on its accompaniments; detached 
 from these, its simplicity would be unmeaning. 
 
 * Malkin, p. 368. 
 
SCENERY OF WALES. 
 
 85 
 
 One wonder yet remains, the delight of my 
 eyes, and the perfection of the whole—the Parson’s 
 Foot-bridge; a scene sublime, and even horrible, 
 but capable of being wrought into a noble picture. 
 Yet it is rarely drawn or seen, perhaps from the 
 difficulty of getting at it. I have met with but 
 one view.* It is on the Rhydoll, but further up. 
 There are two ways down to it; either through 
 Yspytty r’ Enwyn church-yard, or by climbing the 
 precipice from the foot of the Rhydoll, and so 
 descending at the place on the opposite side, from 
 which alone it can be drawn. Both are difficult, 
 yet both, I thought, overpaid me: a guide, how¬ 
 ever, is adviseable. Fearful it is to stand upon 
 the giddy footing of the plank across the chasm, 
 and mark the wild grandeur of the scenery. The 
 whirling torrent, the fantastic rocks, scooped into 
 hollows of unknown depth, the barren steep, the 
 gloomy wood, the spiry mountain tops,—while the 
 hollow rush of the water heard at intervals, adds 
 
 * An elaborate one, by Glover, in the water-colour Exhi¬ 
 bition of 1808, No. 194. 
 
86 
 
 LETTERS ON THE 
 
 solemnity to the whole. Would you believe that 
 the Parson’s Bridge has its name from being the 
 common footway for the villagers to Yspytty 
 church?* While drawing there, I saw two chil¬ 
 dren trip over with as much unconcern as we 
 should cross a room. 
 
 A good station here requires care: I tried three, 
 but like the following best —below the bridge. 
 
 STATION. 
 
 So far behind the ridgy rock, on which the 
 bridge rests, as to see three nooks of the river above 
 it: move till you lose sight of the post at the 
 right end of the bridge. 
 
 The wildness and craggy sublimity of this scene 
 will be best represented on a large scale; if on a 
 
 * Malkin calls this bridge Pont Hervoid (p. 370). And I 
 might be mistaken in my direction to a bridge so named, 
 about three miles off, a little to the left of the Llanidloes 
 road. If Pont Herwid be the same as Pont Hir Ryd, it is 
 Long Ford Bridge. Foot bridges in Welch are called Pont - 
 bren. OJfeiriad is a Parson 
 

SCENERY OF WALES. # 87 
 
 small one, and you would produce a quiet effect, 
 let the light be chiefly on the water, and in the 
 sky ; the other parts being kept down. 
 
 The rocks here deserve your notice, so curious 
 and uncommon: some of them excavated into 
 deep cylindrical pools, others ridged, and formed as 
 it were of concentric layers: what say the geo¬ 
 logists to this? 
 
 These, I believe, are the principal attractions 
 for your pencil in this romantic region. But it 
 should be explored in every direction, and its 
 varying appearances watched. A friend tells 
 me of a mill and water-fall some way down the 
 Rhydoll : Malkin mentions one,* and also a 
 foot-bridge at the bottom of one of the dingles, 
 down which you turn to the right from the 
 Aberystwith road. Some of the mountains are 
 finely shaped, pointed, and almost square-topped. 
 Clouds often descend very low, and as they 
 roll, or rest upon the mountains, produce remark¬ 
 able effects. The general defects too in the views 
 here should not pass unnoticed nor untold. They 
 
 * South Wales, p. 370. 
 
88 
 
 LETTERS ON THE 
 
 are, I think, chiefly these; a heavy angular forma¬ 
 lity, a confined sameness, and a monotony of co¬ 
 louring and surface : the two former occasioned by 
 the almost perpendicular steeps folding in one 
 upon another through the whole dingle; the latter 
 by the woods with which their sides are so gene¬ 
 rally clothed. 
 
 Perhaps you will visit Hafod House and grounds.* 
 I saw little of them, and therefore refer you again 
 to the ample descriptions of Cumberland and 
 Malkin. 
 
 If this minute letter tire you, yet the subject, 
 I think, will not. Twice have I staid amidst these 
 terrible beauties, and each time took of them, as I 
 predict you will, a very unwilling farewell. They 
 have left a more vivid impression on my fancy, 
 than any I have seen before or since: and among 
 many sketches, made in many tours, I have none 
 that I prize so highly, or still study with such 
 pleasure, as those on this justly celebrated spot. 
 
 Yours, &c. 
 
 * Hafod or Havod, in English the Farm or Summer-house. 
 
SCENEItY OF WALES. 
 
 89 
 
 LETTER X. 
 
 Should you alter your plan, and make 
 South Wales a separate tour, I would recommend 
 a route eastward from the Devil’s Bridge, through 
 Rhayader, Bualt, and Brecon. Let me try in this 
 letter if I can tempt you. 
 
 The walk to Rhayader is about seventeen miles, 
 wild and barren, but more interesting, I thought, 
 than from it. About two miles on the way, is 
 Pentre Brunant Inn; a very mean road-side house, 
 near which, when coming in the opposite direction, 
 I turned off to the left, and fetched a circuit to 
 the Devil’s Bridge, by a road passing Hafod House, 
 and through part of the grounds. Many persons, 
 who come from Rhayader with post horses, and 
 wish to see Hafod, leave them here, and take this 
 road. 
 
 The mountainous perspective, as you approach 
 
90 
 
 LETTERS ON THE 
 
 Cwm Ystwith* lead mines, is a good subject for 
 broad effect: the winding road, and miners’ huts, 
 with their wreath of smoke, giving it variety and 
 character. 
 
 STATION. 
 
 Bring the nearest reach of road exactly over 
 that which you stand upon. Ascend, till you see 
 two reaches of the road beyond the ascent. 
 
 The heights above Rhayader Gwy f command 
 a spacious prospect of the Radnorshire mountains ; 
 the Wye to the left, on the right Cwm Eland and 
 Llyn Gwyn. Just out of the road here, on the 
 
 * The vale of the springing river. Cwm, a glen or hollow , 
 pronounced Coom. W is a vowel in Welch, and has the 
 power of our oo in soon. Bingley, North Wales, vol. ii. p. 297. 
 
 t The fall of the Wye. Rhayader is a cataract. Wye or 
 Gwy, though here the name of a river, seems anciently to 
 have been the appellation either for river or water. Hence 
 the names of many Welch rivers become intelligible. Llugwy, 
 clear water, from Hugh, light; Dowrdwy, loud water, from 
 duraah , noise; Edwy, swift stream, from ehed, to fly. Camden, 
 Edit. Gibson, p. 587. Llyn Gwyn is the white lake . 
 
SCENERY OF WALES. 
 
 91 
 
 left, stands a solitary stone pillar, like that near 
 Llanbeder. Rhayader is a mean, irregular little 
 town. There are two inns, the Royal Oak, and 
 Red Lion ;* I found the latter the better of the 
 two. The south side of the bridge is handsome, 
 but the fall of the Wye just below it, the most 
 beautiful feature in the view, is noxv destroyed by 
 a manufacture on the banks there. Laporte’s 
 sketch, in Malkin’s work, is faithful and well chosen. 
 Cwm Eland, the subject of Bowles’s neat little 
 poem, seems picturesque in description, and may 
 be worth trying ; the foot bridge, for instance : 
 
 —Lo! the footway plank, that leads across 
 The narrow torrent foaming through the chasm 
 Below; the rugged stones are wash’d, and worn 
 Into a thousand shapes. 
 
 And the cataract of Nant Vola: 
 
 * There is a mistake in Warner’s book about the inn here. 
 There was no such inn as the Angel when he travelled: he 
 was at the Red Lion , as the landlord himself told me. See 
 Warner’s First Walk, p. 57, 4th edit, and Second Walk, 
 p. 139, 2d edit. 
 
921 
 
 LETTERS ON THE 
 
 Dark trees, that to the mountain’s top ascend, 
 O’ershade with pendent boughs its mossy course : 
 
 And looking up, the eye beholds it flash 
 Beneath th’ incumbent gloom, from ledge to ledge 
 Shooting its silver foam, and far within 
 Wreathing its curve fantastic. 
 
 Few of our poets are landscape painters; I 
 mean, that the scenes which they have “ painted 
 in syllables,” are seldom transferrahle to the canvass, 
 at least without taking liberties with them. One 
 sometimes meets with clever hints, or spirited 
 touches, but rarely with a complete picture. They 
 seem to describe without attention to the principles 
 of the art. Shakspeare has few : natural descrip¬ 
 tion, indeed, was neither his object, nor his excel¬ 
 lence. His Dover cliff, though purely descriptive, 
 cannot, for an obvious reason, be painted from his 
 representation. A scene which I most admire, is 
 that in As You Like It , where Jacques moralizes 
 on the wounded deer.* Milton’s descriptions of 
 
 * Under an oak, whose antique root peeps out 
 Upon the brook that brawls along the wood, 
 
SCENERY OF WALES. 
 
 93 
 
 Paradise, as has been well deserved, have “ little of 
 the freshness of nature in them.” His evening 
 scene, in the fourth hook, is surely no picture, 
 much of it appealing to the ear, rather than the 
 eye. In the Allegro and Penseroso are a few 
 beautiful sketches, and more correct, being pro¬ 
 bably copied from nature. Hence also the distinct¬ 
 ness and individuality which mark some of the 
 landscapes of Goldsmith, Cowper, and Hurdis. 
 Pope, who had some skill in drawing, has availed 
 himself but little of it, even where he had such 
 fair opportunity, in his Pastorals, and Windsor 
 Forest; in the latter the composition is decidedly 
 faulty. Thomson succeeded best, I think, in 
 painting animal life; though his waterfall is a 
 masterly, well-finished piece. But we are wander¬ 
 ing strangely from Rhayader Gwy, and must re- 
 
 .A poor sequester’d stag, 
 
 That from the hunter’s aim had ta’en a hurt, 
 
 Did come to languish-Anon a fearless herd, 
 
 Full of rich pasture, bounding comes along, 
 And never stays to greet him. Act ii. Sc. 1. 
 
94 
 
 LETTERS ON THE 
 
 turn. At one of the two churches there I saw a 
 pleasing Welch custom, like that of decorating 
 graves with flowers. An infant daughter of one 
 of the inhabitants had been buried in the chinch 
 a few days before, and the pews of the family, 
 relations, and servants, were all adorned in this 
 way. They have another singular custom in Rad¬ 
 norshire ; that of dancing in the church-yards at 
 feasts and revels; though not exactly over the 
 graves of their fore-fathers ; the amusement being 
 always on the north side of the church. 
 
 Your next stage is to Bualt, sixteen miles south 
 of Rhayader. I recollect nothing worth your 
 notice in it; even the Wye, which accompanies 
 you much of the way, is as yet but a petty stream. 
 Radnorshire, generally considered, is the least in¬ 
 teresting to the landscape painter of all the Welch 
 counties. The east side is a fine and beautiful 
 country, but without local objects of decided cha¬ 
 racter. The north-west corner, bordering upon 
 Montgomery and Cardigan, partakes of their gran¬ 
 deur. But there are two or three detached scenes 
 
SCENERY OF WALES. 
 
 95 
 
 very striking. Cwm Eland, the Vale of Edwy, 
 and the dingle of the Matchway.* The last of 
 these I mention on the authority of Malkin, for I 
 tried in vain to find it. He speaks of it as a most 
 wild and savage spot, with a tradition equally so 
 attached to it—of an ancient prince who had a 
 castle there, and used to gratify his ferocious spirit 
 by hurling his prisoners from the top of the rock 
 into a dismal pool below. Aber Edwy you must 
 go and see, while at Bualt, and draw the water¬ 
 mill there. Malkin has inserted in his work an 
 excellent sketch of it by Laporte. The whole spot 
 is exceedingly romantic, and well worth the walk ; 
 about three miles. Take it from the bank beloxv 
 the wooden bridge. 
 
 STATION. 
 
 Bring the top of the mill-wheel exactly under 
 the further slant line of the mill, and let the out¬ 
 line of the first distant hill meet the roof. 
 
 * He describes it as on the left of the road from Bualt to 
 Hay, where the Cletur and Matchway enter the Wye in 
 opposite directions. P. 273. 
 
 6 
 
96 
 
 LETTERS ON THE 
 
 The rocks on the other side of the river are 
 bold and lofty, as far as its confluence with the 
 Wye. 
 
 T. Jones, the landscape painter, was a native of 
 this village ; the younger son of a gentleman who 
 possessed a small estate near it. He was educated 
 for the church ; but, from change of circumstances, 
 he became a pupil to Wilson ; and, after the usual 
 visit to Italy, practised several years in London. 
 On the death of his brother, he came into posses¬ 
 sion of the family estate, to which he retired, and 
 resided there till his decease, in May, 1803.* 
 
 Bualt is agreeably situate on the banks of the 
 Wye, but with nothing to distinguish it from the 
 generality of Welch towns. The head inn is the 
 Royal Oak. Your pencil may rest the next six¬ 
 teen miles to Brecon; there it should be busy 
 again. The character of Brecknockshire is strongly 
 marked by a mixture of sublimity and cultivation. 
 It is distinguished from Glamorganshire by more 
 level and extensive valleys, and more continuous 
 
 . r Vpj ^ 
 
 * Malkin* p.282. 
 
SCENERY OF WALES. 
 
 97 
 
 and lofty mountain tracts; neither are the changes 
 of scene so sudden, unexpected, and frequent. Its 
 woods, though large, are not general, but the 
 banks of the principal rivers are luxuriantly 
 clothed. Brecknock is a very romantic place : “ I 
 have seen few places,” says Gilpin, “ where a land¬ 
 scape painter might get a collection of better 
 ideas.”* The banks of the Honddy f are rich 
 and beantiful, and the castle and priory venerable 
 ruins. The east end and tower of the latter may 
 be well taken, looking both north and south. To 
 find the station looking north, trace the Honddy 
 upward to a bridge. 
 
 * Observations on the Wye, p.51. 
 
 •j* The clear black water, Brecknock is called also Aber- 
 honddy, from the confluence of the Uske and the Honddy. 
 Its British name, Breycheinog, is from, Prince Brechanius, as 
 the Welch suppose. Camden, Edit. Gibson, p. 590. 
 
 Both the priories were founded by Barnard Newmarch, 
 who also built the castle. The one is now a parish church, 
 but still called the Priory. The other was converted into a 
 college by Henry the Eighth. It appears much neglected, 
 and contains nothing remarkable in architecture or an¬ 
 tiquity. Malkin, p. 219. 
 
 H 
 
98 
 
 LETTERS ON THE 
 
 STATION. 
 
 On the bridge. Bring the east end of the 
 priory just over the chimney of thefrst building, 
 counting to the left. 
 
 The principal attraction here is a beautifully 
 rippling fall of the river overhung with majestic 
 trees. For a station looking south, you must cross 
 the Honddy, and climb the bank. 
 
 STATION. 
 
 Let the top of the mountain be a little to the 
 left of the priory, and as high as the nearer 
 buttress. 
 
 If you cross the bridge over the Uske, south of 
 the town, and turn immediately to the right , a 
 bridge faces you, backed by the castle*—another 
 
 * Part of the keep still remains. The main body of the 
 citadel, and all the parts, are yet to be traced; and a tower, 
 which perpetuates in some degree the idea of what the whole 
 once was, is shown, as the place where Dr. Morton was 
 
V 
 
 
 2 
 

SCENERY OF WALES. 
 
 99 
 
 simple, pleasing subject, though, like the two 
 former, not perhaps quite JVelch enough. 
 
 STATION. 
 
 At the water’s edge. Let the distant church 
 tower be exactly over the right-hand arch. 
 (PI. 5, fig. 1.) 
 
 The best inns at Brecon are said to be the 
 Golden Lion and the Swan: I do not recommend 
 mine. 
 
 The country from Brecon to the New Passage, 
 through Abergavenny, Monmouth, Trellecks, Tin- 
 tern, and Chepstow, is beautiful, and will afford 
 you many fine pictures. About four miles and a 
 half from Abergavenny, a small brook across the 
 road divides (as a stone there tells us) Monmouth 
 from Brecon. Here then we take our farewell of 
 Wales : but not yet must you put up your pencil. 
 
 confined by Richard the Third, and planned, in concert with 
 his disappointed keeper, the union of the two houses, and the 
 succession of Henry the Seventh. Malkin, p. 218. 
 
 H 2 
 
100 
 
 LETTERS ON THE 
 
 While at Abergavenny, spare a day, if possible, 
 for Llanthoni Abbey. I could not, but it well 
 deserves a visit. Five engravings of it are given 
 in Coxe’s Tour. Since that publication the abbey 
 is much dilapidated, but still, “ amidst its ruins, 
 it will supply the artist with many fine subjects 
 for bis pencil, and furnish ample matter for in¬ 
 quiry and investigation to the architect and anti¬ 
 quary.* Some draw Abergavenny church backed 
 by mountains; but I saw nothing remarkable 
 about it, except that it was cruciform. The castle 
 is a pile of naked staring ruins. 
 
 My inn there was the Golden Lion, but I was 
 very reluctantly accommodated, in consequence, it 
 seemed, of a disturbance in the town occasioned by 
 some young tourists on a fishing excursion, and to 
 whose party I was suspected to belong. May not 
 the uncivil treatment which tourists complain of 
 receiving from the Welch, be sometimes the con¬ 
 sequence of insult that has been offered them ? 
 For instance now ; two pedestrians overtook, near 
 
 * Trans. Girald. Cambr. vol. i. p. 85. 
 
SCENERY OF WALES. 
 
 101 
 
 the Devil’s Bridge, two Welch women; the young 
 men’s knapsacks caught their artless curiosity; 
 one was opened; and these gentlemen then in¬ 
 sisted upon examining their bundles, the contents 
 of which they scattered about the road. This was 
 related to me by one of them as an excellent 
 adventure. 
 
 If you wish to ascend any of the mountains 
 near Abergavenny, Coxe will tell you, that the 
 view from Skyrrid is the finest, though the Sugar- 
 loaf is the highest ground in Monmouthshire. 
 Ragland Castle, about five miles from Monmouth, 
 should be looked at; it is a large and noble ruin, 
 and many draw it—I did not. There is a neat 
 inn at the village of Ragland, two miles to your 
 right. At Monmouth the principal objects worth 
 seeing are, the remains of the priory, the church of 
 St. Thomas, and the bridge over the Monnow: 
 the last of these is sometimes drawn. I was at 
 the Angel there, but the chief inns are the Beau¬ 
 fort Arms, and King’s Head. 
 
 Tintern Abbey is beyond praise.* The best 
 
 * Tintern Abbey was founded and dedicated to St. Mary, 
 
102 
 
 LETTERS ON THE 
 
 views are of the interior, and I know not a finer 
 than from the right hand corner soon after you 
 enter the western door. Seen in front, or from 
 the river, it is deformed and encumbered. I 
 have known the south window selected as a 
 study. 
 
 There is a wire-drawing manufactory at Tin- 
 tern, which is well worth your attention. 
 
 Chepstow Castle occupies much ground, and ap¬ 
 peared to me not easily to he combined; but some 
 parts, as Harry Martin’s tower, may he taken, and 
 the whole is sometimes sketched, with part of the 
 view from Wynd Cliff,* though, in my judgment, 
 from too high a point. The singular and un¬ 
 bounded view from thence, I was assured, exhibits 
 at once all that Piercefield grounds give in detail, 
 and therefore I did not go over them. Your inn 
 at Chepstow is the Beaufort Arms. 
 
 by Walter de Clare, in 1131, for Cistertian monks, and sup¬ 
 pressed at the dissolution, and the site granted to Henry, 
 Earl of Worcester, the ancestor of the Duke of Beaufort, to 
 whom it now belongs. Coxe, Abr. p. 150. 
 
 * Supposed a corruption of Wye Cliff. 
 
SCENERY OF WALES. 
 
 103 
 
 About five miles more will bring you to our 
 starting point, the New Passage; and thus the 
 circle being completed, we may now resume our 
 travels northward from the Devil’s Bridge. 
 
 A ours, &c. 
 
104 
 
 LETTERS ON THE 
 
 LETTER XI. 
 
 I had thought of proceeding to Machynl- 
 laeth * across Plynlimmon ; hut found, on inquiry, 
 no encouragement to make the attempt. The road 
 is barren and dreary, the character of the moun¬ 
 tain heavy and sullen, the ascent, without a guide 
 (not always procurable), dangerous from its many 
 springs,! and the height far exceeded by Snowdon 
 and Cader Idris. I therefore took the turnpike- 
 road to Aberystwith, about eleven miles: but there 
 
 * The place near the river Cynllaeth , which was the ancient 
 name of the Dovey. Bingley, vol. ii. p. 49. It is pronounced 
 
 Mahunkleth. 
 
 f Plynlimmon, so named from Penlummon, the summit 
 of the beacon, is the source of three noted rivers, the Rhydoll , 
 Wye , and Severn, The Rhydoll flows south-west into the 
 sea at Aberystwith : the Wye south-east, and after watering 
 Radnor, Brecon, and Monmouth, falls into the Severn below 
 Chepstow : the Severn north-east to Shrewsbury, then south, 
 waters Salop, Worcester, and Gloucester, emptying itself 
 into the sea below Bristol. Nicholson, p. 331. 
 
SCENERY OF WALES. 
 
 105 
 
 is a more interesting one, I believe, that skirts the 
 banks of the Rhydoll,* and this would give you an 
 opportunity of seeing the water-mill I mentioned, 
 with Llanbadarn Vawr, which may also afford a 
 sketch. There is said to be a richly decorated old 
 cross in the church-yard.f 
 
 Aberystwith looks best at a distance, and may 
 be well sketched from the Machynllaeth road; but 
 some liberties, I doubt, must be taken. A town 
 faithfully represented is seldom picturesque; some¬ 
 thing is wrong in the general outline: or if in 
 shade , the chimneys displease; they are too many 
 or too few, too short or too ’long ; and if again in 
 light, the artist must be allowed to put in just so 
 many doors and windows as it will bear. 
 
 When near, the houses of grey stone with 
 whitened roofs give Aberystwith a gloomy appear¬ 
 ance. The ruins of the castle are too ruinous for 
 the pencil; now only one lofty tower. The chain 
 of mountains, on the north side of the bay, forms a 
 
 * Malkin, p. 370. 
 t Nicholson, p. 380. 
 
106 
 
 LETTERS ON THE 
 
 most noble and extensive distance. Aberystwith 
 is much frequented in the bathing season, and 
 there is then a public boarding table at the Talbot, 
 the principal inn. 
 
 From hence to Machynllaeth, by Trevy Ddol,* 
 where I procured a decent bed, the distance may 
 be about eighteen or twenty miles: a road not 
 often taken, I believe, nor at all to be recom¬ 
 mended. There is one fine view from the hill, 
 about three miles above the town, wide and diver¬ 
 sified, and well seen under an early morning sun. 
 Machynllaeth differs little from other Welch 
 towns, and contains no object of note. If you stop 
 there, go to the Unicorn Inn. 
 
 Quitting Machynllaeth, you cross the Dovey, 
 and enter Merionethshire, with little reason to 
 regret not seeing more of Montgomeryshire; for it 
 is the least picturesque of the northern counties. 
 The neighbourhood of Llanidloes affords some sub- 
 
 * The totvn of the dale . Dd, or as it is sometimes 
 written, dh y is an aspirated d y and the sound nearly of th in 
 the word this. Bingley, vol. ii. p. 297, 
 
SCENERY OF WALES. 
 
 107 
 
 jects for the pencil; and one of the Breidden 
 mountains, the highest conical, called Moel y 
 Golfa, is often studied: but the mountains are in 
 general not lofty, and sometimes green to their 
 tops ; while the lower grounds abound with culti¬ 
 vation and manufactures. Flannel is chiefly the 
 produce of Montgomeryshire; hence the loom is 
 often heard, tenter-grounds and fulling-mills make 
 their appearance, and the houses and villages have 
 an air of English comfort.* 
 
 The next fourteen miles to Dolgelle f is a walk 
 of wonderful sublimity. Wyndham compares it 
 even to Switzerland, and says, “ It forms a minia¬ 
 ture picture of the romantic road between Aigues 
 Belles and Mount Cenis.”:j: If possible, reserve 
 this walk, as far at least as Tal y Llyn, for an 
 evening; the best time to observe the full effect of 
 light and shade on such stupendous rock, and 
 
 * Aikin’s Tour, p. 38. 
 
 f The holme of the groves ; pronounced nearly Dolgethle. 
 LI is an asperated l, having much the sound of thl . Bingley, 
 vol. ii. p. 297. 
 
 X Welch Tour Abr. p. 113. 
 
108 
 
 LETTERS ON THE 
 
 wood, and mountain scenery. The profound 
 silence too of these sequestered spots, which always 
 strikes a solitary stranger, is then most striking. 
 Four miles from Machynllaeth is a singular fall on 
 the Dyfflos, to the left of the road, near the mill; 
 a good study with the oaks above, and distant hill: 
 your ear will guide you to it, if you know the 
 deep, subterranean sound of waterfalls, so entirely 
 unlike any other. About three miles further, I 
 have a station for you; a simple, but grand spe¬ 
 cimen of mountain solitude, rendered even more 
 solitary by the appearance of one cottage, a little 
 way out of the road to the left , and which marks 
 the spot. You look north-west , toward Dolgelle, 
 part of Cader Idris filling up the distance. 
 
 STATION. 
 
 In the road. Bring the peak of the mountain 
 next to Cader Idris exactly over the gable end of 
 the cottage. 
 
 Hereabouts you will pass on the left a magni¬ 
 ficent hanging wood, towering aloft, far almost as 
 
SCENERY OF WALES. 
 
 109 
 
 the eye can reach, and greatly surpassing the finest 
 you have seen in Somerset or Devon. Viewed in 
 perspective, and with a favourable light, you will 
 do well to observe, how its surface is cut out into 
 varied masses by the indented courses of the trees; 
 but drawn, as I have seen it, with the cottages 
 beneath, just from that point where the road winds 
 to the right , it is little more than an elevation. 
 
 For several miles now the southern base of Cader 
 Idris * forms a dark, solemn back ground to the 
 view. Do not halt at the Blue Lion ; it is figured 
 in some maps, but is only a poor ale-house; there 
 are better accommodations at Tal y Llan,f and the 
 little lake itself is worth a visit. It is about three 
 miles round, encircled with sloping mountains, a 
 
 * The seat of Idris . Tradition makes Idris an enormous 
 giant. He is supposed to have been a prince of these parts; 
 but the period is so remote, that little more than his name 
 and talents are now to be ascertained. In the old Bardic 
 writings he is said to have been a poet, astronomer, and 
 philosopher. He is sometimes called Cawr Idris, or King 
 Idris , Cawr being an old Welch word for king. Bingley, 
 vol. ii. p. 44. 
 
 f The head of the pool, or lake. 
 
110 
 
 LETTERS ON THE 
 
 scene of calm, retiring, peaceful beauty; but, as a 
 picture, it seemed to want objects, and if drawn, 
 it must owe its effect to some peculiar manage¬ 
 ment—a gleam of light on the centre of the water 
 —a sunset, or the like. While there, go and see 
 the Craig y Deryn :* the walk will repay you ; it 
 is about four miles. My guide and I took it early 
 after sun-rise, and I would recommend you to do 
 the same, that you may catch some of the sublime 
 effects of “ morning spread upon the mountains.” 
 Our road, for some way, ran along a precipice, over¬ 
 looking a narrow lonely valley, the very original, 
 one might fancy, of Du Barta’s placid picture— 
 intersected by a rapid, shallow stream, with here 
 and there a patch of corn, or pasture, a mill and a 
 cottage, whose simple owner, 
 
 Leading all his life at home in peace, 
 
 Always in sight of his own smoke; no seas, 
 
 No other seas he knows, no other torrent 
 Than that which waters with its silver current 
 His native meadows; and that very earth 
 Shall give him burial, which first gave him birth. 
 
 Du Barta, W. 1. D. 3. 
 
 * Craig y Deryn is the rock of birds. 
 

SCENERY OF WALES. 
 
 Ill 
 
 From its opposite side the mountains rose in all 
 that beautiful variety of colouring and surface, so 
 remarkable in this part of Wales. Upon the 
 heights the straining eye discerned a few adven¬ 
 turous sheep; higher up, the blue smoke ascending 
 from some shepherd’s hut; while higher even yet 
 the summits were lost in clouds. Further on, we 
 passed the woody eminence where once stood the 
 castle of Trev Seri, though now the very place 
 thereof knows it no more. The road, then gra¬ 
 dually descending, spread upon an extensive flat of 
 coarse pasturage, bounded by mountains, with the 
 Craig y Deryn towering in naked grandeur on our 
 left. You must draw it in distant perspective, 
 and then it is a simple, but bold, and uncommon 
 subject. My station was near a turn of the road 
 to the right, where there are two buildings within 
 the stone fence. 
 
 STATION. 
 
 Let the two summits of the Craig be distinctly 
 detached from each other, and the outline of the 
 declivity be just above the buildings. 
 
 6 
 
112 
 
 LETTERS ON THE 
 
 This piece may be strongly represented under 
 the effect of a transient gleam before a storm, 
 by throwing the whole rock into shade; or 
 yet more strongly in a storm, with a wild bird or 
 two to give it character, just catching the light, as 
 they rise against a murky cloud. 
 
 Viewed in front, the Craig is a curious object, 
 shooting up two hundred feet from a declivity 
 covered with a stream of enormous stones, and at 
 the height of seven hundred feet from the base. 
 It projects considerably, and is haunted by a cloud 
 of corvorants, rock-pigeons, hawks, and other birds, 
 filling the air with their wild cries, when their 
 solitude is disturbed. The guides have always 
 something strange to tell at every strange place. 
 Here was a wild story of a little boy clambering 
 over the craig from behind, after birds’ eggs, so far 
 down, that he could not get up again, and remain¬ 
 ing there two or three days, till a sportsman, dis¬ 
 cerning some unusual object moving about among 
 the birds, discovered by his glass what it was, and 
 had him drawn up. 
 
 In Jones’s Relicks of Welch bards are some 
 
SCENERY OF WALES. 
 
 113 
 
 simple stanzas, descriptive of this singular spot, of 
 which, for your amusement, I send you a literal 
 translation.* 
 
 “ Brynn yr Aderyn is a lofty eminence, 
 
 The most healthy place under heaven: 
 
 The rocks were formerly fortified 
 For soldiers in the wars. 
 
 Sometimes the birds make their nests there, 
 
 And warble most sweetly ; 
 
 * I am indebted for this translation to Thomas Jones, Esq. 
 to whom not being personally known, I beg to make this 
 acknowledgement. The original stanzas were written by the 
 late Rev. Evan Evans, in 1773 ; and to amuse the Welch 
 scholar I subjoin them. 
 
 Brynn yr Aderyn ar diroedd, uchel 
 Jachv man dan ’Nevoedd 
 Caer * gynt yn y creigiau oedd, 
 
 I vilwyr mewn rhyveloed. 
 
 Maen’ weithian yma’ n nythu, man Adar 
 Mwyn ydynt yn canu ; 
 
 * Upon Bryn y Penmaen , close by Llanvihangel y Pennant, in the 
 hundred Ystum-aner, formerly stood Castell Trev Seri. 
 
 I 
 
114 
 
 LETTERS ON THE 
 
 Their melodious voices are heard 
 Singing most pleasantly. 
 
 The crow is seen on the top of the rock, 
 And in the proper season, 
 
 Joining in the song and chorus, 
 
 The whole being most mild and musical. 
 
 The larks also rise above the hills, 
 Singing in harmony constantly; 
 
 They sing in scientific notes, 
 
 Always at the dawn of day. 
 
 Clywir lais y claiar lu, 
 
 In diddan gyhydeddu. 
 
 Mae’r Vran, ar aran ar Oror, y graig 
 Yn groyw yn eu tymmor; 
 
 Unan’ yn y gan in’ gor, 
 
 Penaidd eu llais pob puror. 
 
 Hedyddion mwynion uwch mynydd seiniant 
 Yn gyssonawl beunydd; 
 
 Wi! ’or sain goelvain gelvydd, 
 
 Mwyn yw y do’n ym min dydd. 
 
SCENERY OF WALES. 
 
 115 
 
 Hark! the choice and pleasing metres 
 Of the little birds on the rock! 
 
 Their short notes and sweet sounds 
 Will puzzle the best singer to match them. 
 
 Music is pleasing to man ; 
 
 And ’tis natural to sing with the harp ; 
 
 But there is more ease and sweetness 
 In the vocal strains of Craig Aderyn. 
 
 An excursion from Tal y Llyn to Dolgelle over 
 Cader Idris, is said to be difficult and laborious, 
 and practicable only on foot, but exceedingly in¬ 
 teresting. I met an artist at Dolgelle, who showed 
 me some sketches made from the recesses of the 
 
 Clywch ddethol siriol vesurau, mwyn ydynt 
 Man Adar y Creigiau; 
 
 Eu hacan vry ’au ca’n vrau, 
 
 Pencoedd nis gwyr eu pynciau. 
 
 Miwsig sydd ddiddig i ddyn, naturiol 
 Yw Cantorion Telyn; 
 
 Melysach, rhwyddach ar hyn 
 Yw d’ araith, Graig Aderyn. 
 
116 
 
 LETTERS ON THE 
 
 mountain, strikingly wild and uncommon; and you 
 have probably seen Wilson’s fine view of Cader 
 Idris, taken from that part called Llyn y Cae.* 
 The regular road passes over the foot of Cader 
 Idris: some industrious artists stop to draw the 
 Lake of Three Grains , a small pool by the road 
 side, with three masses of rock lying near it: the 
 giant Idris, they tell you, shook them out of his 
 shoe, when he stopped to drink there. The shaggy 
 head of the mountain rising into the clouds, is a 
 bold object on your left the remainder of the way: 
 and about a mile from Dolgelle, looking westward, 
 near a turn of the road to the right , you may 
 make a pleasing drawing of the town. The out¬ 
 line of the mountains behind it is correct, their 
 forms well contrasted, and the bridge, buildings, 
 river, and winding road, may all be nicely con¬ 
 nected. The triple head of Cader Idris, and the 
 prison, a large building left of the town, will be 
 your marks. 
 
 * The inclosed pool. It was engraved, I believe, by Rooker. 
 
SCENERY OF WALES. 
 
 117 
 
 STATION. 
 
 Bring the church tower under the middle head 
 of the mountain ; and let the prison be rather 
 above the wood adjacent to it. 
 
 You must fill up the marsh which forms the 
 right side of the picture :—perhaps some cattle, or 
 a fog, may help you. 
 
 Your inn at Dolgelle is the Golden Lion, and I 
 found it comfortable. Chaise and post horses may 
 be hired there: the charge is much the same in 
 Wales as in England, but not the rate of travel¬ 
 ling ; forty miles there, even with four horses, is a 
 day’s journey. 
 
 Yours, &c. 
 
 My short route through North Wales was from 
 
 MILES. INNS. 
 
 Devil’s Bridge to Aberystwith .... 11 Black Lion. 
 
 Machynllaeth .. 20 Unicorn. 
 
 Dolgelle . 14 Golden Lion. 
 
118 
 
 LETTERS ON THE 
 
 MILES. INNS. 
 
 Dolgelle to Barmouth 10 Gors y Gedal Arms. 
 
 Maentwrog .... 17£ No Sign. 
 Beddgelert .... 8f Hotel. 
 
 Llanberis. 12 No Sign. 
 
 Caernarvon .... 10 Sportsman. 
 
 Bangor Ferry .. 10 No Sign, 
 
 Beaumaris . >; i 6 Bull. 
 
SCENERY OF WALES. 
 
 119 
 
 LETTER XII. 
 
 Merionethshire is the most interesting 
 county in your route. It has not, I think, the 
 stupendous, craggy wildness of Caernarvonshire, 
 but is equal to it in calm sublimity, and superior 
 in richness, variety, and beauty. The moun¬ 
 tains, if not so high and numerous, display more 
 varied and beautiful colouring, as well as a more 
 correct and elegant outline. The two delicious 
 vales of Festiniog, and of the Mawdach, may vie 
 with any in the principality, and as much may be 
 affirmed, perhaps, of its water-falls. It can boast 
 two lakes, Bala and Tal y Llyn, and one majestic ' 
 castle, that of Harlech. The situation of some 
 towns is also much admired, especially of Dinas 
 Mowddwy and Dolgelle. Two circumstances give 
 Welch towns a preference in the painter’s eye, to 
 those of England ; their irregularity, and their 
 being generally built (the inferior ones, at least), 
 not with brick, but with the stone of the country. 
 
120 
 
 LETTERS OK THE 
 
 They are thus less formal both in outline and 
 detail, and their colour harmonizes better with the 
 accompaniments of wood and mountain. Dolgelle 
 is an instance. The houses are of grey stone, and 
 as irregularly built as an artist could wish. It will 
 put you in mind of Gray’s description of Kendal—- 
 “ the houses seem as if they had been dancing a 
 country dance, and were out.” You may profit by 
 their blunder; and, if you like sketching towns 
 better than I do, you may find a good station on 
 the north side, with Cader Idris for a hack ground. 
 A crowd of houses, like any other crowd, is a 
 difficult subject for the pencil. Hear Gilpin on 
 this point. “ The management of a crowd re¬ 
 quires great artifice. The whole must be con¬ 
 sidered as one body, and massed together—not to 
 have the whole body so agglomerated, as to consist 
 of no detached groups, but to have these groups 
 (of which there should not be more than two or 
 three) appear to belong to one whole, by the 
 artifice of composition, and the effect of light. 
 This great whole must be further varied also in its 
 parts. Thus in managing a crowd, and in manag- 
 
SCENERY OF WALES. 
 
 121 
 
 ing a landscape, the same general rules are to be 
 observed; the whole and its parts must be com¬ 
 bined and contrasted.” * 
 
 Dolgelle is a very convenient centre from which 
 to explore the country. “ I know of no place in 
 the principality (says Sir R. Hoare), from whence 
 so many pleasing and interesting excursions may be 
 made; and where nature bears so rich, so varied, 
 and so grand an aspect.” f The excursions most 
 recommended are—to Machynllaeth—The Water¬ 
 falls—Barmouth—the top of Cader Idris—and as 
 a fifth, to Dinas Mowddwy, from thence to Bala 
 over the mountains, and hack through the vale in 
 which the river Dee takes its rise. $ Our route 
 includes the three first, and also the fourth, if, as 
 I suggested, you cross over Cader Idris from Tal y 
 Llyn. The scenes around Dinas Mowddwy, and 
 the adjacent village of Mallwyd, are much praised; 
 but Bala lake is not high in favour with painters. 
 The complaint seems to he, that its banks are 
 
 * Observ. Wye, p. 77. 
 f Girald. Cambr. vol. ii. p. 385. f Ibid. 
 
122 
 
 LETTERS ON THE 
 
 cultivated; and thus the rocks and woods are re¬ 
 moved too far from the water’s edge, to be brought 
 into strong and prominent effect in a picture. 
 
 By all means reserve a day for Barmouth; you 
 will be delighted with the walk both thither and 
 back. It is a continued series of pictures, not 
 sublime, as on the Machynllaeth road, but exqui¬ 
 sitely beautiful. A chain of mountains, among 
 which Cader Idris is nobly conspicuous, bounds 
 each side of the valley: the Mawdach winding 
 beneath, and giving to the views the character of 
 lake scenery. The walk should be taken when 
 the tide is up. You will here have occasion to 
 admire again that rich variety of colour and cloth¬ 
 ing which distinguishes many of the Welch moun¬ 
 tains, and when seen through the clear blue haze 
 of a sultry day, gives their long perspective an 
 inexpressible softness and beauty. 
 
 About half way are two views, with most, if not 
 all, the finest features of the valley. One from 
 the high ground above the river, looking back 
 toward Dolgelle. It commands a wide and varied 
 reach of the Mawdach, with the town in distance, 
 
SCENERY OF WALES. 123 
 
 under a range of mountains. You will know the 
 spot by a lime-kiln on the left of the road: pass 
 it, till the road rather descends, and turns to the 
 right; then face about. 
 
 STATION. 
 
 Bring the left end of the town over the lime¬ 
 kiln, and let the boundary line of the river be a 
 little above it. 
 
 This beautiful picture will afford ample scope 
 for skill and science in the execution, especially if 
 coloured. The lime-kiln is happily placed. It is 
 indeed one of the most useful objects in the land¬ 
 scape painter’s catalogue; such variety in the form, 
 colour, and materials, and in the figures, imple¬ 
 ments, and business about it: the smoke too is 
 beautiful in itself, and may be guided where you 
 please, to veil different parts of the picture, break 
 their outline, and connect them with the sky. 
 
 The other view is at the bottom of a descent 
 down a rocky steep, and still in the left side of 
 
 6 
 
124 LETTERS ON THE 
 
 the road. You look over a marsh to the river, 
 which is hounded by a hanging wood, mountains 
 rising gracefully behind, and topped by Cader Idris. 
 
 STATION. 
 
 Let the outline of the hanging wood pass just 
 belozv the top of the rocky steep: then bring the 
 most distant mountain rather to the left of it. 
 
 Cader Idris, wherever it appears, and it appears 
 almost every where, is handsome; here remark¬ 
 ably so; and when I saw it, the effect was height¬ 
 ened by its summit being partially veiled in light 
 clouds. The striated, basaltic appearance of its 
 barren side is curious, nor did I notice it elsewhere, 
 except in Craig y Deryn; but the effect is not 
 unpleasing, provided the lines be not marked too 
 regularly and strongly. 
 
 About eight miles from Dolgelle, on the right 
 hand side of the road, stands an old mill, a simple 
 study but well accompanied. Take it just below 
 the foot bridge. 
 
scenery of wales. 
 
 125 
 
 STATION. 
 
 As near the bridge as you can draw it, bring 
 the chimney of the mill exactly over the left end 
 of the arch. 
 
 Barmouth* as almost every nook of every coast 
 now, is a watering place. Its origin, as the resort 
 of invalids, has been attributed to persons fre¬ 
 quenting the hanks of this part of the river for the 
 sake of the scurvy grass, which grows there in 
 ahundance.f Like Dartmouth, it is built up a 
 steep rock, street above street, the windows of one 
 overlooking the chimneys of the next below. It is 
 said to resemble Gibraltar. The sand is very in¬ 
 convenient, ankle deep in the street, and some¬ 
 times blown most plentifully into the houses. 
 There is a tolerable inn, the Gorfygedol Arms; 
 
 * This town, from its situation near the river Maw, or 
 Mawdach, is sometimes called Abermaw, the conflux of 
 the Maw. This was shortened into Bermaw, and corrupted 
 to Barmouth. Bingley, vol. ii. p. 23. 
 
 f Bingley, ibid. 
 
126 LETTERS ON THE, 
 
 and at it an harper, but not one of Drayton’s old 
 British bards, 
 
 Who on their harps, 
 
 For falling flats, and rising sharps, 
 
 That curiously were strung; 
 
 To stir their youth to warlike rage, 
 
 Or their wild fury to assuage, 
 
 In their loose numbers sung. 
 
 Nor one that would have stirred up Gray’s poetic 
 spirit. It is a curious circumstance, that we owe 
 his bard to a Welch harper—-blind Parry, Sir 
 Watkin Wynne’s harper. In a letter from Cam¬ 
 bridge, Gray says, “ Mr. Parry has been here, and 
 scratched out such ravishing blind harmony, such 
 tunes of a thousand years old, with names enough 
 to choke you, as have set all this learned body a 
 dancing, and inspired them with due respect for 
 my old bard, his countryman, whenever he shall 
 appear. Mr. Parry, you must know, has set my 
 Ode in motion again, and has brought it at last 
 to a conclusion ” * 
 
 * Mason’s Memoirs of Gray, p. 447. 
 
SCENERY OF WALES. 127 
 
 To draw Barmouth, you must go a long way 
 down upon the sands, when the tide is out, but it 
 is a confined, heavy subject, and will hardly repay 
 the labour. Some contrive to take part of the 
 town, with Llanaber -church in the distance. 
 
 Llanellyd Bridge is sometimes sketched, and 
 Cader Idris as seen from the village. There are 
 some ruins of an abbey near Dolgelle—Kimmer, 
 or (as the Welch call it) Y Vanner Abbey; but 
 they are said to be by no means picturesque.* 
 
 The water-falls are on our next stage to Maen- 
 twrog, a seventeen miles walk, which will take up 
 a long day. 
 
 Yours, &c. 
 
 * Girald. Camb. vol. ii. p. 46 . 
 
128 
 
 LETTERS ON THE 
 
 LETTER XIII. 
 
 Only two of the water-falls are fit for the 
 pencil, though all three deserve a visit* Falling 
 water is attractive in every variety : who crosses a 
 bridge without stopping to watch the stream? 
 The softness and composure of gliding water ; the 
 liquid lustre, playful change, and lulling sound of 
 light cascades ; the downfall, roar, impetuosity, 
 whiteness, and all the nameless features of the 
 cataract; are sure to attract every beholder, and 
 raise emotions of wonder and delight. Hence the 
 high beauty of falling water in embellishing, or 
 even forming a picture. But it is difficult of 
 execution, and few masters succeed in it. One 
 difficulty is, to catch the features, their rapid 
 change at first perplexing the eye; but by watch¬ 
 ing attentively, a constant recurrence of the same 
 forms may, I think, be perceived: and must it not 
 
SCENERY OF WALES. 
 
 129 
 
 be so, while the same quantity of water flows 
 through the same channel with the same velocity? 
 In colouring water a failure seems often occasioned 
 by assuming a general tone, painting it green, 
 blue, like a torrent of milk, or as if cut out of 
 stone, though it must obviously reflect the hue of 
 the adjacent objects. There is one remarkable 
 appearance of water, which I do not remember to 
 have seen imitated by the best masters —its glossi¬ 
 ness. In the pictures of Ruysdaal, for instance, 
 there is much water, but never this gloss—this 
 pearliness (if I might so speak): yet it is pic¬ 
 turesque, for we see it in the representation of the 
 metals, satin, fruit, &c. Is it then too difficult ? a 
 perfection the art has not yet reached? This I 
 leave to the consideration of wiser heads, and will 
 now conduct you to the falls. 
 
 The first is the Dolmelynllyn Fall, Rhaiadr 
 Du,* as it is called, or the black cataract , pro¬ 
 bably from the dark colour of the rocks. It is a 
 
 * This must not be confounded with another of the same 
 name, to the right of the road between Beddgelert and 
 Harlech. 
 
 K 
 
130 
 
 LETTERS ON THE 
 
 perfect picture of romantic beauty, and in variety 
 and decorations perhaps unrivalled. About six 
 miles from Dolgelle, a gate on the left side of the 
 road leads up to it, just after you cross a bridge 
 there, bestriding the furious course of the Gamlan. 
 But the view from the road must not be neg¬ 
 lected ; the water tumbling from a distant height 
 through broad rocks, across which is thrown a rude 
 wooden bridge. It is a good centre piece; the 
 sides, as in a portrait, to be filled up ad libitum. 
 Bingley says, trees have been cut down on one 
 side of the stream ;* try your skill then in re¬ 
 planting them. 
 
 STATION. 
 
 The left of the road. Bring the middle of the 
 bridge (or middle post), exactly over the angle 
 made by the two rocks which support it. (PL 5, 
 fig. 2.) 
 
 Dolmelynllyn Fall may be taken from several 
 stations. I fixed upon one, where the two prin- 
 
 * North Wales, vol. ii. p. 36. 
 
SCENERY OF WALES. 
 
 1.31 
 
 cipal falls are seen distinct from each other, and 
 let down by two smaller, which join the torrent at 
 the bottom. A rock rises on the right, and on the 
 opposite side of the torrent is a steep crowned with 
 an old oak. 
 
 STATION. 
 
 The water’s edge. Bring the foot of the steep 
 under the highest fall. 
 
 The variety of water in this scene is admirable. 
 Here are four falls, and all different. Two prin¬ 
 cipal ones, of which the higher and more distant is 
 divided by a rock into two sheets, and rather less 
 inclined than the lower. Two smaller, differing 
 from them and from one another; the first broken 
 into numerous arched cascades; the second in¬ 
 dented by opposite currents. These are connected 
 and contrasted with a smooth horizontal sheet, and 
 again with the flashing torrent below. This variety 
 is still further increased by the changeful direction 
 of the water. First from right to left, next from 
 
 K 2 
 
132 
 
 LETTERS ON THE 
 
 left to right, then in both directions, and lastly 
 from right to left again. 
 
 The accompaniments are equally various and 
 happily disposed. The more distant rocks on one 
 side are headed with spreading trees, on the other 
 variegated with shrubs and hanging wood: the 
 nearer steep partially clothed, and topped with a 
 stunted oak, and opposed to an almost naked 
 perpendicular rock on the right. All these are 
 again blended or contrasted in form and colour 
 without an offensive tint or line. 
 
 I have described this waterfall the more mi¬ 
 nutely, because it is more correctly and highly 
 finished than any other you will see, and an atten¬ 
 tive study will improve both your skill and taste. 
 
 Regaining the road, you cross the river, in about 
 a quarter of a mile, at a bridge called (I believe), 
 Pont ar Garfa, and mount a tedious slate hill. At 
 the top, a little to the right, is a farm-house, which 
 I mention, because I procured a guide there; and 
 one you must have to the other two water-falls, of 
 the Cain, and the Mawdach. After traversing the 
 
SCENERY OF WALES. 
 
 133 
 
 top of the hill half a mile, you descend the glen, 
 where the two rivers unite. The trunk of a tree 
 is laid across the impetuous Cain, as a bridge, a 
 few paces from the fall; but they cannot be seen 
 together, gladly as a painter would combine them; 
 nor is the fall itself a good subject. Its height 
 is magnificent, said to be above one hundred and 
 fifty feet; and the effect of the water flashing 
 behind the dark arms of the trees that overarch 
 the fall, is exceedingly brilliant; but the hori¬ 
 zontal strata of the rocks resemble a flight of 
 stairs, and when I saw it there was not water 
 sufficient to disguise this formality ; even when 
 there is, it must be deficient in variety. The 
 dripping and streaming of the water over the edges 
 of the rocks should not escape your hint book. 
 
 About two hundred yards distant is the fall of 
 the Mawdach, of a character as different as that of 
 Dolmelynllyn is from both. “ Indeed we may 
 extend this remark (says Warner well enough) to 
 all the particulars of Welch scenery, each spot 
 having, as it were, a character peculiar to itself; 
 a circumstance which produces inexhaustible va- 
 
134 
 
 LETTERS ON THE 
 
 riety, and constant sources of fresh entertainment 
 to the admirer of nature.” * The river here de¬ 
 scends in three spreading breaks of fifty or sixty 
 feet, into a capacious basin, the upper and least 
 considerable sheet falling toward the spectator ; do 
 not cross the water, therefore, or you will lose this. 
 The whole had, to my eye, an air of heaviness; 
 but as a fall of distinct character you may draw it. 
 
 STATION. 
 
 Let the pile of rocks on your left hide about 
 half the breadth of the water, and the wood 
 behind the fall he just visible. 
 
 Descending to the road again, it continues dull 
 and barren as far as the village of Trawsfynydd, 
 near which you catch, for the first time, a glimpse 
 of Snowdon. Four miles beyond is Maentwrog,f 
 
 * Walk through Wales, p. 112, 4th edit. 
 
 f The stone of Tuorog, so denominated from a large stone 
 in the church-yard, at the north-east corner of the church. 
 Twrog was a British saint, about the year 610. Bingley, 
 Yol. ii. p. 5. Festiniog is the place of hastening . Tan y Bwlch, 
 means belovo the pass. 
 
SCENERY OF WALES. 
 
 135 
 
 where I stopped, rather than at the more fre¬ 
 quented inn of Tan y Bwlch, a quarter of a mile 
 further. 
 
 The vale of Maentwrog, or, as it is usually 
 (though less properly) called, the Vale of Festiniog, 
 seems to have challenged all the praise of all the 
 tourists. One calls it “ the Tempe of the 
 Country.”* * * § Another tells us, “ the traveller will 
 here find himself on Syren ground.”! A third, 
 that “it comprehends every object that can enrich 
 or diversify a landscape.” \ A fourth, that “ it 
 affords as rich studies for the painter, as the 
 neighbourhood of Tivoli or Frascati.” § “ With a 
 
 woman one loves (says a fifth), the friend of one’s 
 heart, and a good study of books, one might pass 
 an age in this vale, and think it but a day.”|| 
 After such high praise, Festiniog may chance to 
 disappoint you. But your pencil need not be idle: 
 
 * Pennant, p. 127. 
 
 f Girald. Cambr. vol. ii. p. 386. 
 
 X Warner’s First Walk, p. 117. 
 
 § Wyndham Abr. p. 132. 
 
 || Lord Littleton’s Letters on Wales. 
 
136 
 
 LETTERS ON THE 
 
 I have one view for you, from Tan y Bwlch 
 Bridge, looking up the river (east). The parts are 
 simple, and unite easily. The winding road, 
 hanging wood on the opposite side of the river, 
 and perspective of craggy mountains, are all fea¬ 
 tures of the vale, and well arranged. The number 
 of little islands that crowd this river (the Dwyryd, 
 or Two Fords), give it a peculiar character, and 
 will exercise your skill in grouping and combining 
 them. The lower part of the wood also has the 
 same studded appearance, and is by this means 
 readily connected with the water. 
 
 STATION. 
 
 On the bridge. Bring the foot of the wood 
 exactly under the summit of the second mountain, 
 (counting to the right). 
 
 The falls of the Cynfael, at a short distance 
 from Tan y Bwlch Inn, should certainly be drawn. 
 Being misinformed, I did not see them. But an 
 artist has since shown me a clever sketch, and 
 assured me, they are beautiful and uncommon. 
 
SCENERY OF WALES. 
 
 137 
 
 Bingley saw another water-fall called Rhaiadr Du, 
 up a woody valley to the right of the Harlech road. 
 
 I suspect this is sometimes confounded with my 
 favourite the Dolmelynllyn Fall, which also is called 
 Rhaiadr Du. It may be proper therefore to give 
 you his description, the only one I have met with. 
 “ In this cataract, which is surrounded with dark 
 and impending scenery, the water is thrown with 
 vast impetuosity over three black and smooth 
 rocks, each in a different direction. Of its height 
 I could form no idea; for the top of the upper fall, 
 by the winding of the rocks, was not visible from 
 below. The rock that hangs immediately over the 
 fall was, from its great height and rude form, a 
 fine object in the landscape; and the whole of the 
 hollow, to some distance below the cataract, was 
 extremely grand. I attempted to climb the upper 
 part, but the rocks were too perpendicular, and too 
 slippery, to suffer the attempt without danger. 
 Therefore contenting myself with seeing as much 
 as I could from below 7 , I crossed the water, and 
 crept along, but not without difficulty, on the 
 shelving rocks, by the side of the stream, for near 
 
138 
 
 LETTERS ON THE 
 
 half a mile. Here the banks closed over my 
 head, leaving but a narrow chasm, from which the 
 light was altogether excluded by the dark foliage 
 from each side, and I found myself entering, to 
 appearance, the mouth of a deep and horrid cavern. 
 The sides were too steep for me to entertain any 
 idea of clambering up, and unless I chose to 
 scramble back again to the cataract, I had no 
 alternative but to penetrate the place. The dark¬ 
 ness, fortunately, did not extend far, and I soon 
 found myself in a place, where the bank was 
 sufficiently sloping to admit of my ascending to 
 the meadows above: I was not a little pleased in 
 having thus easily escaped from this abode of 
 horror.” * 
 
 Tan y Bwlch Hall, seated on the brow of a 
 hanging wood, is a conspicuous feature at the 
 north-western extremity of the vale. I walked 
 over the grounds, which seemed laid out with 
 taste; but I would counsel you rather to walk 
 toward Beddgelert; much is to be seen and done 
 
 * North Wales, vol. ii. p. 4. 
 
 3 
 
SCENERY OF WALES. 
 
 139 
 
 there. On the way you will pass Traeth Bach 
 and Traeth Mawr,* two estuaries, which open into 
 Cardigan hay; the former receiving the Dwyryd, 
 the latter the stream from above Pont Aberglass- 
 llynn. Some think them advantageous points for 
 sketching the range of Snowdon mountains at 
 their heads. And as the Beddgelert road is not 
 very interesting, till within half a mile of Pont 
 Aberglasllyn, it might be adviseable to take a 
 circuit across these sands to the bridge. There is 
 one grand view, I am told, in which Harlech 
 castle makes a distinguished figure. The track, 
 however, is neither safe, nor easily found, without 
 a guide. The distance to Beddgelert, by the usual 
 road, is between eight and nine miles. 
 
 Yours, &c. 
 
 * Traeth Bach is the little haven. Traeth Mawr, the 
 great haven. 
 
140 
 
 LETTERS ON THE 
 
 LETTER XIV. 
 
 About a mile and a half from Beddgelert, 
 Pont Aberglasllyn* conducts you into Caernar¬ 
 vonshire, the wildest and most mountainous dis¬ 
 trict of the principality. “ In the inner parts 
 (says Camden), nature hath raised them far and 
 wide into high mountains, (as if she would con¬ 
 dense here, within the bowels of the earth, the 
 frame of this island). We may very properly call 
 these mountains the British Alps; for besides 
 that they are the highest in all the island, they 
 are also no less inaccessible, for the steepness of 
 their rocks, than the Alps themselves, and do all 
 of them encompass one hill, which far exceeding 
 all the rest in height, does so tower the head aloft, 
 that it seems, I shall not say, to threaten the sky, 
 but even to thrust its head into it.”f The interior, 
 
 * The bridge at the conflux of the blue pool . It is some-* 
 times called the Devil’s Bridge. Bingley, vol. i. p. 370. 
 f Edit. Gibson, p. 663. 
 
SCENERY OF WALES. 
 
 141 
 
 in fact, is one vast assemblage of mountains, of 
 which Snowdon forms the centre—barren, rugged, 
 precipitous, and, in general, of less bold and grace¬ 
 ful outline than those of the sister county Merio¬ 
 neth. Caernarvonshire contains little wood, and 
 no river of consequence, unless it may claim the 
 Conwy. The coast varies in character. On the 
 north the views are admired for their boldness and 
 grandeur, especially where embellished with Conwy 
 Castle, confessedly the most majestic in Britain. 
 On the west, along the Menai, and for seven miles 
 within, it is a spacious meadow, as far as Caer¬ 
 narvon, below which it gradually becomes less cul¬ 
 tivated and interesting; and the few travellers, 
 who have visited that part, tell us, that the country 
 is dreary and thinly inhabited, the towns poor and 
 insignificant, and the southern extremity bleak, 
 open, and exposed. On the south-east Caernarvon 
 resumes some of its wildest and most daring fea¬ 
 tures, till, on the border of the Vale of Conwy, 
 they are again softened down into calmness and 
 beauty. 
 
 At so famed a spot as Pont Aberglasllyn, you 
 
142 
 
 LETTERS ON THE 
 
 will of course pause, and make a sketch : though 
 you may probably think with me, that its pic¬ 
 turesque beauty has been overrated. Is it not 
 "more striking as a military pass, a Thermopylce , 
 where a handful of Cambrians might have baffled 
 the hosts of Edward ? The features seem almost 
 unmanageable, and, as is said of some Swiss 
 scenery, too gigantic for the pencil. No drawing 
 has given me an accurate idea of their stupendous 
 height and magnitude. The bridge itself is in¬ 
 significant, and of an ordinary form, and wants 
 the lofty site, the bold and careless fling, to give 
 it grandeur. The most timid spectator may 
 surely look down a depth of forty feet without 
 horror. 
 
 A near view of the bridge is usually taken, from 
 the bank just below , after crossing it. Let me 
 recommend another less known (I have seen but 
 one sketch), from a road on the left , about a quarter 
 of a mile before you reach the bridge. Some way 
 down, the view opens upon some broken ground, 
 directly up the river. At this distance the sub¬ 
 limity of the mountains behind the bridge appears 
 
SCENERY OF WALES. 
 
 143 
 
 greater, the eye taking in more of their height and 
 bulk; the windings of the river relieve their heavi¬ 
 ness, and the narrowness of the pass is more striking. 
 
 STATION. 
 
 Let th e foot of the mountain before the bridge 
 on the right be exactly under the middle of the 
 arch ; then recede from the water’s edge, till you 
 see its course up to the bridge. 
 
 The salmon-leap just above Pont Aberglasllyn 
 is studied as a water-fall, from the side opposite to 
 theBeddgelert road, but there are some finer studies 
 of this kind among the rocks higher up the river. 
 The extraordinary feats of the salmon will amuse 
 you, springing out of the water eight or nine feet. 
 Bingley thinks this power is owing to a sudden 
 jirk, which the fish give to their bodies, from a 
 bent to a straight position :* I saw many fail. As 
 you approach Beddgelert, observe a distant view 
 of the village and church, just before the road and 
 river bend to the right . The chain of descending 
 mountains which forms their back ground is very 
 grand. 
 
 * North Wales, vol. i. p. 373. 
 
144 
 
 LETTERS ON THE 
 
 STATION* 
 
 Bring the bend of the river a little to the right 
 of the village; and let the \illage and church be 
 in one horizontal line. 
 
 The tradition which accounts for the name of 
 this village has been often told, but must be told 
 once more for your edification. Llewelyn the 
 Great, Prince of Wales, is said to have had a 
 hunting-seat near this place, and a favourite grey¬ 
 hound, named Gelert, a present from his father-in- 
 law, King John. During the absence of the family, 
 the story is, that a wolf entered the house, and on 
 Llewelyn’s return, his dog came out to meet him 
 smeared with blood. The Prince in alarm ran to 
 his child’s cradle, which he found overturned on 
 the bloody ground. Imagining the dog had killed 
 his son, he instantly stabbed him, but on turning 
 up the cradle, he found his child alive, and sleep¬ 
 ing by the side of the dead wolf. In memory of 
 this circumstance, he erected a tomb over his 
 faithful dog’s grave, on the spot, where afterwards 
 the parish church was built, and called from this' 
 
SCENERY OF WALES. 
 
 145 
 
 incident, Bedd Gelert, or the grave of Gelert* 
 The village consists only of a few straggling 
 cottages, with a neat church, and a picturesque 
 bridge. It has now two inns, one of them, the 
 hotel, as good as the other is miserable; I have 
 tried both. At the former you will hear a 
 harp again ; but, as usual, a woful performer. 
 Good ones, I am told, are kept in some gentle¬ 
 men’s families, the Welch still retaining a fond¬ 
 ness for their national instrument and music. To 
 what exquisite harmony Welch ears were attuned 
 in the fifteenth century, the following lines are a 
 curious specimen. 
 
 If I have my harp, I care for no more ; 
 
 It is my treasure, I keep it in store: 
 
 For my harp is made of a good mare’s skin, 
 
 The strings be of horsehair, it maketh good din : 
 
 My song, and my voice, and my harp do agree, 
 
 Much like the buzzing of an humble bee.f 
 
 Even now, indeed, we rarely hear the harp well 
 
 * Bingley, vol. i. p. 364*. 
 t Jones’s Relicks of Welch Bards, p. 102. 
 
 L 
 
146 
 
 LETTERS ON THE 
 
 played—from a celestial instrument we expect 
 “ angelic harmonies.” 
 
 Some profitable excursions may be made round 
 Beddgelert, for almost every step presents a new 
 picture. The mountain which faces the inn is 
 often drawn, and not, perhaps, from a better 
 station. The outline is good, and there are some 
 handsome ash-trees under it: the ash grows re¬ 
 markably graceful in this neighbourhood. 
 
 A stroll toward Pont Aberglasllyn will furnish 
 some useful studies of water and rock. Of the 
 latter it has been justly remarked, that “ there is 
 nothing landscape painters, in general, have studied 
 more negligently. The modes of stratification, 
 and the peculiar characters of the different kinds, 
 are seldom sufficiently distinguished, even where 
 they are most strongly marked.” # Sir R. Hoare sends 
 the painter, who wishes to study the grand masses 
 of rock in detail to the coast of Pembrokeshire, 
 and to pay his devotion at the well of St. Gowen.f 
 Did you ever try a piece of coal as a rock study ? 
 it is excellent. Brush it over with whitening and 
 
 * Malkin, p. 617. f Girald. Cambr. vol. ii. p. 408. 
 
SCENERY OF WALES. 
 
 147 
 
 size to take off the glare, and then tint it, if you 
 like, with transparent colours. It should be se¬ 
 lected with care. A twig or branch is thus a 
 useful study, as a stump, and may even be com¬ 
 bined with the coal; if not rugged enough, wet 
 grey paper wrapped round, and squeezed close, will 
 give it a barky appearance. I have been told that 
 Gainsborough worked much from such studies, and 
 kept a table filled with them. Paul Sanaby had 
 many models for his pupils, which were eagerly 
 bought up by the curious after his death. A friend 
 of mine has one of a cottage fire proof,* so that 
 he can thus study from it, at leisure, that beautiful 
 object, ascending smoke. 
 
 As you descend toward the bridge, the moun¬ 
 tains, at one particular part of the valley, appear 
 all but to meet. This view may be worth taking 
 for its singularity, and as a characteristic scene of 
 barren grandeur. The winding road, river, and 
 mountainous perspective, give variety to the pic¬ 
 ture, and relieve its heaviness. 
 
 ♦ A composition for modelling these is plaster of Paris 
 and glue. 
 
148 
 
 LETTERS ON THE 
 
 STATION. 
 
 Where the pass appears contracted to the 
 width of the road there: let the river make two 
 bends before it reaches the pass. 
 
 Goats are sometimes seen here. I surprised 
 two on the rocks near the water, and the only 
 place where I ever met with any, except in a wood 
 near Bualt. It is a ludicrous fancy, which some 
 take up, that in Wales, goats, harps, and ponies, 
 are to be found at every turn. Goats are all 
 private property now; none, as formerly, running 
 entirely wild. Landlords, it is said, discourage 
 the keeping of them, because they injure the 
 growth of timber by nibbling the hark. But they 
 rather seem superseded by sheep, which almost 
 rival them in adventurous spirit, so unlike their 
 English timidity. Change but a word, and those 
 beautiful lines of Bowles, would as accurately 
 describe the goat. 
 
 Amidst the crags, and scarce descend so high, 
 
 Hangs here and there a sheep , by its faint bleat' 
 Discover’d; while the astonish’d eye looks up. 
 
 And marks it, on the precipice’s brink, 
 
 Pick its scant fare secure. 
 
SCENERY OF WALES. 
 
 149 
 
 Goats are useful animals in a landscape, mark¬ 
 ing its character, and affording considerable variety 
 of colour and attitude. Claude introduces them 
 freely: I have seen a whole herd in some of his 
 pictures. He sometimes puts them, with good 
 effect, in shade, upon the edge of a precipice, to 
 break the outline. 
 
 Another ramble may be along the Caernarvon 
 road, taking Beddgelert Bridge on your way. The 
 pointed arches, ivy, and accompaniment of trees, 
 make it, from some stations, an agreeable subject, 
 and distinct from the general hard and rugged 
 character of the views here. 
 
 STATION. 
 
 Let the turnpike-gate connect the bridge and 
 house; and the middle of the bridge be rather 
 higher than the base of the cottage on the left. 
 
 Rather further than half way to Caernarvon, is 
 a more wild and complex scene; a mill, with a 
 cascade, and bridge, under some black and craggy 
 mountains. Pass the bend of the road to the left , 
 and then look back toward Beddgelert. 
 
150 
 
 LETTERS ON THE 
 
 STATION. 
 
 Let the house at the extremity of the road 
 appear equally distant from the cottages and mill: 
 then bring the cottages and mill into one hori¬ 
 zontal line. 
 
 One general feature in the scenes around Bedd- 
 gelert, is a back ground of rock and mountain. 
 Here the rock on the right is strangely abrupt 
 and grotesque; and in the distance the red preci¬ 
 pitous cliffs, and huge bulk of Snowdon, are dis¬ 
 tinguishable. 
 
 The Capel Curig road should be explored a 
 few miles. About half a mile from Beddgelert 
 Church, you come to an old bridge and mill, 
 which, with the hack ground of billowy mountains, 
 deserve both a near and distant sketch. You must 
 notice two solitary trees on the right , one near the 
 mill, the other on the rock behind it. 
 
 DISTANT STATION. 
 
 Bring the trees into a perpendicular line, and 
 
SCENERY OF WALES. 
 
 151 
 
 let the boundary of the meadows appear a little 
 above the railing of the bridge. 
 
 NEAR STATION. 
 
 Bring the tree over the further gable end of 
 the mill; and let the railing appear as high as the 
 nearer one, 
 
 I tried a third still nearer, much like that in 
 Pennant’s work, but I do not recommend it. The 
 distant station gives the most complete picture. 
 The bridge is quite in character with the naked 
 wildness of the surrounding scenery, and adds one 
 more to the variety we have met with of these 
 generally pleasing features of a mountainous 
 country. 
 
 Somewhat further, on the left , is the rock called 
 Dinas Emrys,* of which you may see an engrav- 
 
 * Dinas Emrys is the fort of Entrys. Vortigern was 
 king of Britain from 449 to 496. He attempted to erect on 
 Snowdon an impregnable fortress, but what was built in the 
 day always disappeared in the night. He was then told, 
 the building would not stand, unless sprinkled with the blood 
 
 3 
 
1 52 
 
 LETTERS ON THE 
 
 ing in the Translation of Giraldus; * but it is 
 more interesting to the antiquary than to the 
 painter: the prophet Merlin, or Myrddyn Emrys, 
 there foretold his future fate to the unfortunate 
 Vortigern. Just beyond, on the opposite side, is 
 a small pool called Llyn y Dinas,f which some 
 think worth drawing. There are two or three 
 other subjects, still further, which I did not see. 
 Cwm Llan, from whence I have known a view of 
 Snowdon taken, looking up the hollow; also Llyn 
 Gwynant, beyond the entrance into Cwm Llan. 
 Bingley ascended the rocks on the left of the vale, 
 to see a waterfall called Rhaiadr Cwm Dyli: “ The 
 rocks (he says) had in themselves sufficient gran- 
 
 of a child born without father. One was at length found, 
 said to be the offspring of an Incubus. This child, named 
 Merlin Emrys, or Ambrosius, when about to be sacrificed, 
 confounded all the magicians by his questions> explained the 
 cause of the failure, and obtained his liberty. Pennant, 
 Snowdonia, p. 175, 
 
 * Vol. i. p. 125. 
 
 f The pool of the fort. Rhaiadr Cwm Dyli is the water¬ 
 fall of the vale of Dyli : Cwm Llan, the vale of the church ; 
 Llyn Gwynant, the pool of waters , 
 
SCENERY OF WALES. 
 
 153 
 
 dour to compensate for his trouble, and there was 
 still water enough to render the scene extremely 
 picturesque.” # These out of the way spots are 
 sometimes unexpected prizes to the artist: and if 
 he would more frequently strike out of the beaten 
 road, and penetrate the recesses of the country, 
 winding among the mountains, or tracing their 
 torrents, he might probably meet with scenes that 
 would repay the labour. In such excursions a 
 pocket compass would be useful. 
 
 You should have a guide, to tell you the names 
 of these places I have mentioned; the way to 
 them is easy enough. 
 
 The pools of Nant Lie, from Bingley’s account, 
 deserve a walk to them. He particularly admired 
 the scene near an ancient overshot mill between 
 the pools, f Llanllyfni, not far beyond, is drawn, 
 I know; and will not Wilson tempt you to go as 
 far as Drws y coed $ (in the same neighbourhood), 
 
 * North Wales, vol. i. p. 382. f Ibid. vol. i. p. 391. 
 
 J The door of the wood. Pennant states this to be 
 Wilson’s station ; though “ few (he adds) are sensible of this, 
 for few visit the spot.” Snowdonia, p. 181, 
 
154 
 
 LETTERS ON THE 
 
 where he made his celebrated picture of Snowdon, 
 Woollett’s engraving of which we have so often 
 admired ? 
 
 You will not leave Beddgelert, I suppose, with¬ 
 out performing the usual feat of ascending Snow¬ 
 don ; what little, therefore, I can tell you about 
 this king of British mountains, shall be reserved 
 for my next letter. 
 
 Yours, &c. 
 
SCENERY OF WALES. 
 
 155 
 
 LETTER XV. 
 
 A chain of the highest mountains in Wales 
 extends across Caernarvonshire, from Bardsey Island 
 to Penmaen Bach in Conway Bay, gradually rising 
 from each extremity toward the centre, which is 
 occupied by Snowdon. The name of this moun¬ 
 tain was first given it by the Saxons, and signifies 
 a hill covered zvith> snow; and the Welch call all 
 this adjacent range Creigiau yr Eryri, the snowy 
 cliffs. But it is not true, as has been asserted, 
 that snow may be found upon it through the 
 whole year: there is seldom any between the 
 months of June and November; for the point of 
 permanent snow is at somewhat above 4350 feet, 
 which is considerably higher than Snowdon. The 
 temperature at the top is generally very low, 
 even in the midst of summer. In July, just after 
 sun-rise, the thermometer has been observed at 
 34°, and in August at 48°, early in the afternoon. 
 
156 
 
 LETTERS ON THE 
 
 Snowdon was held sacred by the ancient Britons, 
 and they believed, that whoever slept upon it 
 would wake inspired. It was formerly also a royal 
 forest, and abounded with deer, but the last of 
 these were destroyed early in the seventeenth cen¬ 
 tury. The eagle is said still occasionally to visit 
 the highest crags, and on the north and north-east 
 side the botanist finds many uncommon alpine 
 plants: Bingley reckons twenty-seven. Geolo¬ 
 gists tell us (for I am not one), that Snowdon is 
 basaltic; that the precipitous western side consists 
 of hornstone, on which are placed a number of 
 basaltic columns, pentagonal, and standing per¬ 
 pendicular to the plane of the horizon.* Another 
 curious fact is, that near the top there is a spring 
 of very cold water, seldom increased or diminished 
 in quantity either in summer or winter,f 
 
 Snowdon may be ascended from various points; 
 Bingley tried four—from Dolbadarn Castle—Llan- 
 beris—Llyn Cwellyn—and Beddgelert. I took 
 the last; it is said to be the easiest and safest, 
 
 * Aikin’s Tour, p. 99. 
 
 f Bingley, vol. i. p. 254, 
 
SCENERY OF WALES. 
 
 157 
 
 alid much of it is practicable for horses. Which 
 is the track for your sketch-book, I cannot say, 
 but certainly not mine ; nor have I met with any 
 drawing of the interior of Snowdon, and only one 
 from the peak, looking down the peninsula to¬ 
 ward Bardsey Island and St. George’s Channel.* 
 Bird’s-eye views are now the fashion, and this is 
 certainly carrying it pretty high , much higher, in¬ 
 deed, than you , I hope, will follow. Cader Idris is 
 the painter’s mountain; and even “ in its form, 
 Snowdon, though confessedly the highest in Wales, 
 is by no means the most picturesque: for Cader Idris, 
 Moelwyn, and Arran in North Wales, and Cader 
 Arthur, near Brecknock, in South Wales, present 
 a far bolder outline.” f The first half of our way, 
 nearly, lay over swampy ground, through which 
 the guide seemed to pick his path with much 
 caution. This soon changed to a wide extent of 
 rugged, grey crags; and here the expanse below 
 appeared very noble and distinct. I was more sen¬ 
 sible too of the height we stood at, than even 
 
 * Water Colour Exhibition, 1817. 
 
 f Girald. Cambr. vol. ii. p. 132. 
 
158 
 
 LETTERS ON THE 
 
 when at the top ; for suddenly a cloud came roll¬ 
 ing past, and poured a heavy rain upon us, while 
 the whole prospect beneath was glowing with sun¬ 
 shine. The ascent then became smooth, bare, and 
 very steep, till within the last quarter of a mile, 
 which was a horizontal ridge of rock, about ten or 
 twelve feet across, down either side of which I 
 could look to the very base of the mountain. The 
 highest point is a craggy space, about two or three 
 yards in diameter, and called Yr Wyddfa, the 
 conspicuous. 
 
 Many go up to see the sun-rise, and are dis¬ 
 appointed. Your view would probably be finer 
 in a bright noon. Mine was perfectly clear on 
 one side of the mountain, and on the other exactly 
 as Pennant describes it—a fog hung beneath, giv¬ 
 ing “ the idea of a number of abysses concealed by 
 thick smoke, furiously circulating around; some¬ 
 times they would open only in one place, at others 
 in many at once; exhibiting a most strange and 
 perplexing sight of water, fields, rocks, chasms, in 
 fifty different places.” * The prospect is of course 
 
 * Snowdonia, p. 164*. 
 
SCENERY OF WALES. 
 
 159 
 
 vast, and almost unbounded; but surely its cha¬ 
 racter may be understood from an inferior eleva¬ 
 tion ; and what is gained by fancying you see a 
 speck, which the guide tells you is the Isle of 
 Man ? If you prefer the certainty of nearer views, 
 the appearance of the mountain itself will gratify 
 you more: the caverns, lakes, precipices, and other 
 peculiar features, are exceedingly grand and curious. 
 I remember one of them that we came upon sud¬ 
 denly, about half way up, with which I was much 
 pleased. A crater, perhaps a quarter of a mile in 
 circumference, and of tremendous depth, with 
 steep smooth sides sloping inwards to the bottom 
 without a single break. On peeping over the edge, 
 I could discern two diminutive lakes, appearing in 
 the deep gloom below, like two gems, and one of 
 them of a pure emerald colour. 
 
 The perpendicular height of Snowdon is, by late 
 admeasurements, 1190 yards, (somewhat less than 
 three quarters of a mile), from the level of the sea.* 
 This makes it, according to Pennant, 240 yards 
 
 Bingley, vol. i. p. 250. 
 
160 LETTERS ON THE 
 
 higher than Cader Idris.* Some state Whern- 
 side, in Yorkshire, to be the highest mountain in 
 South Britain, and more than 4000 feet. Hel- 
 vellyn is 3324 feet, Benlomond 3262. But what 
 mole-hills are all these compared with Mount 
 Blanc, rising 15,680 feet, the highest mountain 
 in Europe; or with the American Chimboraco, 
 20,909 feet, the highest ground ever trodden by 
 man, or with the mountains of Thibet, above 
 25,000 feet, and the highest at present known, f 
 The air is sharp on the top of Snowdon, but 
 you may bear it without the help of brandy . 
 There really needs no previous preparation what¬ 
 ever. The walk is rather laborious, but may be 
 leisurely taken in five hours, and the whole dis¬ 
 tance is about ten miles. It is amusing to observe 
 the anxiety of the adventurers to record their ex¬ 
 ploit : scraps of paper are carefully packed among 
 
 * Pennant makes Snowdon 3568 feet above the level of 
 Caernarvon Bay, and Cader Idris 2850 feet above the level 
 of the green, near Dolgelle. Snowdonia, p. 164, and 88. 
 
 + According to Colonel Crawford. For the height of 
 these mountains, see Reece’s Encyclopaedia, Art. Mountain . 
 
SCENERY OF WALES. 
 
 161 
 
 stones at the top, with their names, and the date 
 of their excursion : 
 
 So strong the zeal V immortalize himself 
 Beats in the breast of man, that e’en a few, 
 
 Few transient years, won from th’ abyss abhorr’d 
 Of blank oblivion, seems a glorious prize. Cowper. 
 
 We descended to the same point, a cottage on the 
 Caernarvon road, about three miles from Beddge- 
 lert, by a less interesting track, and with no better 
 success in finding any memoranda for my pencil to 
 make of my exploit. 
 
 Yours, &c. 
 
162 
 
 LETTERS ON THE 
 
 LETTER XVI. 
 
 From Beddgelert to Llanberis * the distance 
 is about twelve miles, eight along the Capel Curig 
 road, then to the left down a tremendous moun¬ 
 tain pass, not easily found without a guide; im¬ 
 pending rocky precipices on either side, enormous 
 fragments lying about in the wildest confusion, no 
 animal life, no vegetation, no sound but of a tiny 
 rill, that rather makes the stillness audible —the 
 
 * The church of Peris. Llan, or Lhan, properly signifies 
 a yard, or small enclosure, as may be observed in compound 
 words. For we find a vineyard , called Gxvin-llan; an 
 Orchard, Per-llan; a hay-yard, Yd-llan; a church-yard, 
 Korph-llan ; a sheep-fold, Kor-ttan , &c. However, it denotes 
 separately a church or chapel, and is of common use in this 
 sense throughout Wales: probably, because such yards or 
 enclosures might be places of worship in times of heathenism, 
 or upon the first planting of Christianity, when churches were 
 scarce. Camden, edit. Gibson, p. 166. 
 
SCENERY OF WALES. 
 
 163 
 
 whole is a scene of almost savage desolation,* and 
 continues so nearly three miles, then gradually 
 opening upon the hamlet of Llanberis and its 
 peaceful lake. Some bold rock composition might 
 probably he made, looking up the pass, hut I had 
 no opportunity of trying; a hazy rain through 
 which I saw it, though congenial with such 
 scenery, and increasing its sublimity, hastened me 
 on to the village. I got civility there, and a 
 decent bed, but very scanty fare. If you stay 
 longer than a day or two, you must carry your 
 own provisions: remember too, that Llanberis is 
 accessible on horseback, but not, I think, by a 
 carriage ; down the mountain pass, certainly not. 
 
 The village, shut out from the world by a wall 
 of mountains, consists of a few moss-grown stone 
 cottages, with a very mean church, j* 
 
 * One farm in this neighbourhood, of 2,400 acres, is let at 
 sixty pounds per annum ; another, 600 acres, at five pounds 
 per annum, or two-pence an acre. Hutton’s Remarks, p. 166. 
 
 f Dedicated to Peris, a cardinal missioned from Rome, as 
 legate to this island. He is said to have settled and died 
 here. Bingley, vol. i. p. 238. 
 
 M 2 
 
164 
 
 LETTERS ON THE 
 
 Where no bones of heroes lie ; 
 
 The rude inelegance of poverty 
 Reigns there alone. Bloomfield. 
 
 Many fine drawings have been made of the lake; 
 one of the best, perhaps, is that by Turner, in the 
 council-room of the Royal Academy, Its cha* 
 racter differs from any of the northern lakes that 
 I have seen: Windermere is cheerful; DerwenL 
 water, romantic; Wastwater, gloomy; Grasmere, 
 peaceful; Loweswater, engaging; but stately 
 grandeur distinguishes Llanberis. I think, with 
 Bingley, that it most resembles Ulswater, though 
 more picturesque, especially in the form of the 
 mountains. But it has, equally with that fine 
 lake, another advantage; it is not seen in detail, 
 like a river; nor, as some Scottish and American 
 lakes, so extensive, that you might as well look at 
 the sea;—the whole is seen at once. Llanberis 
 lake, in fact, consists of two, separated by a nar¬ 
 row slip of land, and communicating by a stream, 
 which runs from one into the other. The upper 
 is about a mile long, and rather less than half 4 
 pile broad; the lower is longer, and far more 
 
SCENERY OF WALES. 
 
 1G5 
 
 beautiful. On a rocky point between them stands 
 Dolbadarn Tower,* an admirable accompaniment 
 wherever it is seem How well does this ruiri 
 exemplify Gilpin’s remark ! “ the angular and 
 formal works of Vauban and Cohorn, when it 
 comes to be their turn to be superseded by works 
 of superior invention, will make a poor figure in 
 the annals of picturesque beauty; while not the 
 least fragment of a British or a Norman castle 
 exists, that is not surveyed with delight.” f 
 
 One station may be from the left side of the 
 lake, as you go from the inn, just beyond the 
 tower. 
 
 STATION, 
 
 Let the top of the most distant mountain appear 
 a little to the left of the Tower, and its outline 
 between the two lowest windows. (PI. 5, fig. 3.) 
 
 * Castell Dolbadarn, the castle of Padarn's meadow , has 
 its name from Padarn, a British saint, but of whom little is 
 known. The fortress is evidently of British origin. Bingley, 
 vol. i. p. 224. 
 
 t Observ. Wye, p. 51. 
 
LETTERS ON THE 
 
 166 
 
 Unfortunately I have not another station for 
 you: but the lake well deserves a walk round, 
 and should be tried from various points, and at 
 the best times. Tourists, in general, do not view 
 lake scenes at the most favourable times, which, I 
 should say, are early in a morning, and after sun¬ 
 set. For a principal, and, indeed, peculiar beauty 
 arises from the reflections; and in a calm, clear 
 morning, these are vivid and distinct beyond de¬ 
 scription, and broken, in a surprising manner, by 
 gleams of light continually shooting across, and 
 vanishing in quick and silent succession. About 
 eight o’clock a breeze springs up, the reflections 
 disappear, and the water is in motion for the day. 
 
 The lake derives its evening beauty, the most 
 attractive to a painter, from the same source. The 
 reflections then are softer and broader, many ob¬ 
 jects being in shade, and the shadows often divided 
 by glancing lines of light, which increase without 
 injuring the general effect. 
 
 I have repeatedly noticed, with wonder and de¬ 
 light, these almost magical appearances in the 
 northern lakes : but opportunities must be watched, 
 
 3 
 
SCENERY OF WALES. 
 
 167 
 
 and a happy concurrence of serene weather, warmth 
 of sky, and softness of atmosphere, are requisite ; 
 and hence, possibly, they are never seen at all by 
 nine in ten of the hasty travellers who visit these 
 spots. 
 
 Llanberis lake is well seen from the inn, in twi¬ 
 light also, and deserves a sketch as a distance . 
 Dolbadarn Tower, and the opposing promontories, 
 dimly seen in shade, and a soft gleam upon the 
 water, relieving the general gloom, without dis¬ 
 turbing the repose. 
 
 The waterfall called Caunant Mawr,* to the 
 left of the Caernarvon road, a little beyond the 
 lake, is not worth turning aside to look at; 
 nor are there any interesting objects all the 
 way (ten miles), but Dolbadarn Tower behind, 
 and soon after, the turrets of Caernarvon Castle 
 rising in distance before you. But after so much 
 wildness, sublimity, and solitude, you may be glad 
 to rest your eye on more placid scenes, and to hear 
 again “ the busy hum of men.” 
 
 * The •waterfall of the great chasm. 
 
168 
 
 LETTERS ON THE 
 
 Caernarvon* is the most handsome town in 
 North Wales, and well paved, a circumstance very 
 unusual in Welch towns. It is walled round, and 
 the fortifications are still nearly entire. The Hotel 
 (built by the Earl of Uxbridge), is the principal 
 inn, but I was well accommodated at the Sports¬ 
 man. The castle f is a grand and commanding 
 object, and very deservedly the study and admi¬ 
 ration of artists. It may be drawn from various 
 stations; but, like all castles, perhaps, best if rather 
 distant. I can recommend two. First go down 
 to the water side, south-east of the town, beyond 
 the castle; follow the road past a lime-kiln, till it 
 turns to the right , and you face the castle. 
 
 * The name is properly Caer yn Arfon , which signifies a 
 walled town in the district opposite to Anglesey. Arfon , or 
 Ar mon, implies opposite to Mona. Bingley, vol. i. p. 191. 
 
 f It was built by Edward the First, in the year 1283. The 
 Eagle Tower received its name from the figure of an eagle 
 yet left (though somewhat mutilated), at the top of it. It 
 was in this tower that the first Prince of Wales, afterwards 
 Edward the Second, was born on St, Mark’s day, the 25th of 
 April, 1284. The property of Caernarvon Castle is at present 
 in the crown. Bingley, vol. i. p. 194, &c. 
 
SCENERY OF WALES. 
 
 169 
 
 STATION. 
 
 Bring the Eagle Tower behind the first of the 
 other four (counting from the left ): and let the 
 boundary line of the Anglesea coast, he just above 
 the base of the castle. 
 
 Your other view should be of that singularly 
 fine part of the castle, the Eagle Tower— 
 
 From whose broad brows the slender turret springs, 
 Light as the plumage on the warrior’s helm. Sotheby. 
 
 These turrets are equally elegant and uncom¬ 
 mon, and, by their lightness and variety, greatly 
 heighten the picturesque beauty of the tower. To 
 find the station, cross the ferry, and turn to the 
 right , till you face the tower looking south-east. 
 
 STATION. 
 
 Let the summit of the distant mountain be 
 exactly over the pier-head, and the boundary line 
 of the water just above it. 
 
 / 
 
170 
 
 LETTERS ON THE 
 
 These are a pair of complete pictures—handsome 
 objects, good assemblage of parts, distance, fore¬ 
 ground, every thing, in short, you want, and just 
 where it should be; scarcely a liberty to be taken; 
 the first view is something like Wilson’s, of which 
 you may have seen Byrne’s engraving. I have 
 met with a third taken from high ground ; but a 
 bird’s eye view of a lofty object seems to me to 
 diminish its dignity. 
 
 From Caernarvon, as a centre, various excursions 
 may be made, to Beddgelert, Llanberis, top of 
 Snowdon, Bangor, and Nan tile pools; all abound¬ 
 ing with employment for the pencil. For a water 
 excursion, a small decked cutter, containing two 
 beds, and a cabin capable of holding about ten 
 persons, may be hired for a guinea a day.* 
 
 Nine miles will bring you to Bangor.f Within 
 the last two, at the top of the hill, where the road 
 turns off to the ferry, stop, and take the rich view 
 
 * Bingley, vol. i. p. 191. 
 
 f The chief choir . Deiniol ap Dunawd, Abbot of Bangor- 
 
SCENETtY OF WALES. 
 
 171 
 
 before you—Bangor, with its cathedral rising from 
 the centre; beyond, Beaumaris Bay, Orme’s Head, 
 the Irish Sea ; and, just appearing above the steep 
 ground on the right, the rocky cap of Penmaen 
 Mawr.* 
 
 STATION. 
 
 Bring the cathedral a little to the left of 
 Orme’s Head, and let its top break the line of 
 the coast. 
 
 Bangor, when I saw it, was in its Sunday dress, 
 neat, quiet, and humble. The cathedral and pa¬ 
 lace correspond, though the square tower of the 
 former, seen at a distance, promises greater things. 
 
 is-coed, in Flintshire, founded a college here, about the year 
 525. This was raised to a bishopric thirty years after. In 
 the tenth century Edgar increased the buildings and revenues. 
 The tower and nave of the cathedral, as well as the palace, 
 was built by Bishop Sheffington, in the year 1532. Bingley, 
 vol. i. p. 168. 
 
 * The great stone heady distinguished from Penmaen bach y 
 the lesser Penmaen. 
 
172 
 
 LETTERS ON THE 
 
 Perhaps you may find better accommodations at 
 Bangor, than at the ferry: I cannot recommend 
 the inn there to a frugal pedestrian, but it is the 
 only one in Wales at which I was uncivilly treated; 
 for the Welch are so accustomed to travellers on 
 foot, that you will meet with much less incon¬ 
 venience on that account, than in England. I 
 remember being refused admittance, one evening, 
 at five different houses on the road between Liver¬ 
 pool and Manchester, and being taken succes¬ 
 sively for a fisherman, footman, gamekeeper, and 
 soldier. 
 
 Before you cross the Menai* into Anglesey, 
 ramble up the vale of Nant Frangon. I saw it 
 too hastily to make any sketch ; but artists find 
 there several bold subjects. Ogwen pool (looking 
 toward Bangor from the road), the fall of the 
 Ogwen, and the village of Llandegai. 
 
 The road from Bangor Ferry, to Beaumaris, 
 about six miles, has been compared to that be¬ 
 tween Barmouth and Dolgelle, but surely not 
 
 * The narrow water. Nant Frangon is the beaver s hollow. 
 
SCENERY OF WALES. 
 
 173 
 
 with justice to the latter; nor can I see any re¬ 
 semblance of character. You will, however, admire 
 the magnificent chain of mountains on the opposite 
 side of the Menai; and in one part of the road, 
 Beaumaris town and bay, with Priest-holme island, 
 Orme’s Head, and Penmaen Mawr, combine into 
 a light view. Observe a wall on the right side of 
 the road, terminating in a sort of buttress, and a 
 steep on the left; that is the spot. 
 
 STATION. 
 
 Bring the buttress exactly under the near end 
 of Priest-holme, and let the horizon rise as high 
 as the top of the town. 
 
 Beaumaris * is well situate on the western bank 
 of the Menai, where it opens into a spacious bay. 
 Most of the houses are neatly built, and it has 
 one good street. The principal inn is the Bull. 
 
 * The name, says Holinshed, is indicative of its pleasant 
 situation in a low ground. But it may have been derived 
 from Bimaris, the place of the meeting of two tides or sea?, 
 pingley, vol. i. p. 333. 
 
174 * 
 
 LETTERS ON THE 
 
 The castle* is a heavy pile, and stands low, but 
 handsome as a distant object. It may be well 
 taken from a road at the back of the town, leading 
 up to Baron Hill, the seat of Lord Bulkley. 
 
 STATION. 
 
 Bring Aber over the second tower, and let the 
 further shore of the Menai appear just above the 
 first (counting both from the left). 
 
 That part of the line of mountains which forms 
 the distance here is truly majestic; but the uni¬ 
 formity of the nearer ground must be altered to 
 complete the picture. 
 
 I need not tell you that Anglesey was the last 
 scene of Druidical superstition in Britain. You 
 are no stranger to the Roman historian’s account 
 of the destruction of the Druids by Suetonius 
 Paulinus, the governor of the country under Nero;f 
 an event which, though terrible in itself, seemed 
 
 * It was founded by Edward the First, about the year 
 1295. It is now the property of the crown. Ibid, 
 f Tacitus, Ann. xiv. 30. 
 
SCENERY OF WALES. 
 
 175 
 
 introductory to Christianity in our island. Druid- 
 ical antiquities are hence very numerous and entire 
 in Anglesey. One of the finest is the Cromlech * 
 in Plas Newydd Park (Lord Uxbridge’s). The 
 ponderous upper, or cap stone, as it is called, is 
 twelve feet long, ten broad, and three or four thick: 
 this is partly supported by five others, about four 
 feet high, and from two to four thick. These rude 
 masses, now more rude by the lapse of above two 
 thousand years, touched with the rich hues of time, 
 carelessly hung with fern and trailing plants, and 
 shadowed with noble trees, form a beautiful and 
 finished study. Bingley numbers no less than 
 eight-and-twenty of these relicks of antiquity in 
 the island.*)- Their original design has been much 
 
 * The word Cromlech is British, and signifies a stone that 
 is of a flat or concave form, or that inclines or bends down¬ 
 ward. Rowlands derives it from the Hebrew Ccerem Luaeh, 
 a devoted stone or altar. Bingley, vol. i. p. 301. 
 
 f As some of these may be specimens deserving the notice 
 of the artist, I shall copy his list. Vol. i. p. 303* 
 
 Two at Plas Newydd 
 One at Bodowyr, 
 
 In the Parish of 
 Llan Edwen. 
 Llanidan. 
 
176 
 
 LETTERS ON THE 
 
 disputed; and whether they were intended as 
 altars for Druidical sacrifices, places of worship, or 
 sepulchral monuments, seems still as little known, 
 as the means by which they were erected. 
 
 One at Trevor, 
 
 Two at Ros Fawr, 
 
 One at Marian Pant y Saer, 
 One at Llugwy, 
 
 One at Parkiau, 
 
 Three on Bodafon Mountain, 
 
 Three at Boddeiniol, 
 
 One at Cromlech, 
 
 One at Henblas, 
 
 One at Tynewyddland, 
 
 One, partly demolished, on 
 Mynydd y Cnwe, 
 
 Three small ones, near Cryg- 
 hyll river 
 
 One near Towyn Trewen, 
 One near Llanallgo, 
 
 One at Cremlyn, 
 
 One at Myfyrian, 
 
 One at Bodlew. 
 
 One at Rhos y Ceryg. 
 
 In the Parish of 
 Llansadwrn. 
 
 Llanfair yn Mathafarn. 
 Ibid. 
 
 Penrhos Llugwy. 
 
 Ibid. 
 
 Llanvihangel Tre’r- 
 beirdd. 
 
 Llanbaleo. 
 
 Llanfechell. 
 
 Llan Gristiolis. 
 Llanfaelog, 
 
 Ibid. 
 
 Ibid. 
 
 Llanfihangel Yneibwl. 
 Llanalgo. 
 
 Llandone. 
 
 Llanidan. 
 
 ; , . • U 
 
SCENERY OF WALES. 
 
 177 
 
 I saw little more of Anglesey, except Plas Gwyn,* 
 the seat of my polite and hospitable friend, Mr. 
 Panton. In the agreeable environs are several 
 picturesque spots; but Mr. Panton has obligingly 
 pointed out to me the following as the principal 
 resort of artists who have visited Anglesey, and 
 affording the most interesting subjects for the 
 pencil—the vicinity of Plas Newydd and of 
 Baron Hill, and such parts of the coast as are 
 adjacent more especially to Holyhead and Am¬ 
 lwch, together with their respective neighbour¬ 
 hoods. 
 
 I am further indebted to Mr. Panton for a 
 sketch, made by his nephew, of a beautiful cross in 
 Lord Bulkley’s park. This and the cromlech 
 would furnish two elegant vignettes for your col¬ 
 lection, if at least your tour chance to end, as 
 mine did, in Anglesey. I passed through to 
 Holyhead, and from thence crossed to Ireland. 
 
 But though I have no homeward route for you, 
 I may be able to assist you in tracing out one for 
 
 * Plas Gwyn, is the white mansion. Plas Newydd, the 
 new mansion. Amlwch, means near the Lake, 
 
178 
 
 LETTERS ON THE 
 
 yourself. In my next, therefore, you shall* have 
 the list I promised, of views not in our track, 
 with a few remarks on the whole collection. These, 
 and my method of shading and tinting, must then 
 wind up our Cambrian inquiries. 
 
 Yours, &c. 
 
SCENERY OF WALES. 
 
 179 
 
 LETTER XVII. 
 
 My method of shading and tinting is very 
 simple. Brush the paper over first with plain 
 water; dry it, and then shade clear with Indian 
 ink, the brown sort. After the drawing is finished, 
 lay on a general wash of yellow ochre; to vary the 
 tint, add light red. For the smaller pieces the 
 wash must be put on first; sketch them with a pen, 
 and a mixture of burnt Terra di Sienna and 
 Sepia. Mount upon grey silk paper (as it is called), 
 or, if you tint the margin yourself, use Indian ink 
 and indigo. Let the drawing be always mounted over 
 a piece of white paper of rather smaller size; the 
 transmitted light will greatly improve its clearness 
 and brilliancy. You are aware, that the sketches 
 made upon the spot should never be afterwards 
 shaded : for liberties must almost always be taken, 
 and many original touches would thus be lost past 
 recovery. To enumerate every view in Wales 
 
 N 2 
 
180 
 
 LETTERS ON THE 
 
 adapted to the pencil, would be endless: many 
 also are too general to be precisely named. The 
 following, which include some in Monmouthshire, 
 have been all, I believe, selected by professed 
 modern artists. 
 
 CASTLES, ABBEYS, AND CHURCHES. 
 
 Basingwerk Abbey, Flint. 
 
 Burton Castle, Milford Haven, Pembroke, 
 
 Caldecot Castle, Monmouth. 
 
 Carreg Cennin Castle, Caermarthen. 
 
 Chirk Castle, Denbigh. 
 
 Caergwrle Castle, Denbigh. 
 
 Caerdiff Castle, Glamorgan. From the west. 
 
 Conwy Castle, Caernarvon. From the island. 
 
 -Looking north-west from a wood 
 
 opposite the castle. 
 
 -Looking east from the high 
 
 ground above the town, opposite side of the rivulet. 
 
 Conwy Castle, Town, &c. Looking east, near the Llanrwst 
 road. 
 
 ■ - --Near the ferry-house, opposite 
 
 side of the river. 
 
 Dolwyddelan Castle, Caernarvon. 
 
 Dinas Bran Castle, Denbigh. 
 
SCENERY OF WALES. 
 
 181 
 
 Denbigh Castle. Also the Gateway. 
 
 Flint Castle. 
 
 Goodrich Castle, Monmouth. 
 
 Grosmont Castle, Monmouth. The back of it. 
 Haverfordwest Castle, Pembroke. 
 
 Harlech Castle, Merioneth. From Tegwyn Ferry. 
 Hawarden Castle, Caermarthen. 
 
 Kidwelly Castle, Caermarthen. 
 
 Llanydloes Church, Montgomery. 
 
 Montgomery Castle. 
 
 Pembroke Castle. North-east view. 
 
 Rhyddlan Castle, Church, and Bridge, Flint. 
 
 Ruthin Castle, Denbigh. 
 
 Striguil Castle, Monmouth. 
 
 St. Donat’s Castle, Glamorgan. 
 
 Valle Crucis Abbey, Denbigh. Also the Gateway. 
 
 BRIDGES, WATERFALLS, AND MILLS. 
 
 Bridge at Dinas Mowddwy, Merioneth. 
 
 Bridge over the Dee, near Chirk Castle, Denbigh. 
 
 Falls of the Machno, eight miles and a half from Festiniog, 
 Caernarvon. 
 
 Falls of the Conwy, Caernarvon. 
 
 Fail near Aber, a mile and a half up the valley, by the sid® 
 of the river, Caernarvon. 
 
 Llanydloes Bridge, Montgomery. 
 
182 
 
 LETTERS ON THE 
 
 Llanrwst Bridge, Denbigh. On the bank below it—town side. 
 
 --From the road between Conwy 
 
 and Llanrwst, looking down the river—near view. 
 Llangollen Bridge and Weir, Denbigh. 
 
 Mallwyd Bridge, Merioneth. 
 
 Mill at Corwen, Merioneth. 
 
 Mills at Llanydloes, Montgomery. 
 
 Overton Bridge, Flint. 
 
 Penmachno Mill, Caernarvon. 
 
 Pont llyn Dyffws, on the road between Corwen and Llanrwst, 
 Merioneth. 
 
 Pont y pair, near Llanwrst, Denbigh. 
 
 Pistyl Rhaiadr, Denbigh. 
 
 Rhaiadr Mawr, near Pont Porthlwyd, between Conwy and 
 Llanrwst, Denbigh. 
 
 Rhaiadr y Wenol (or fall of the Llugwy), near Capel Curig, 
 Caernarvon. 
 
 Velanessa Mill Glyn Dwrdwy, between Corwen and Llan¬ 
 gollen, Denbigh. 
 
 Yeaster Dillas Fall, Brecknock. 
 
 VIEWS OF SNOWDON. 
 
 Near Capel Curig, Caernarvon. 
 
 Near Harlech, Merioneth. 
 
 From Dolwyddelan, Caernarvon. 
 
 Looking up the Llugwy, Caernarvon. 
 
SCENERY OE WALES. 
 
 183 
 
 VIEWS OF CADER IDRIS. 
 
 From the Dinas Mowddwy road, Merioneth. 
 
 From Bala, Merioneth. 
 
 From the road between Bala and Dolgelle. 
 
 Near Townyn, Merioneth. 
 
 MISCELLANEOUS. 
 
 Chapel and Hamlet of Capel Curig, Caernarvon. 
 
 St. David’s Palace, Pembroke. 
 
 The Moel Wyn, Caernarvon: a mountain between Beddge- 
 lert and Pont Aberglasllyn. 
 
 Distant view of Ruthin, in the Vale of Clwyd, Denbigh. 
 
 St. Winifred’s Well, Flint. 
 
 Llansannon, Denbigh. 
 
 Pembroke, from the high ground, Milford side of the ferry 
 (supposed to be Wilson’s view). 
 
 Llangollen, Denbigh. Looking north-west. 
 
 Vale of Clwyd with Orme’s Head in distance, Denbigh. 
 
 The Cefn Ogo, Denbigh. (Calcareous rock near Abergeley.) 
 Aberavon, Glamorgan. 
 
 The Moel y Golpha, Montgomery. (One of the Breidden 
 Hills). 
 
 Llandudno Rocks, Great Orme’s Head, Caernarvon. 
 
 New Weir, Monmouth. 
 
184 
 
 LETTEltS ON THE 
 
 View on the Conwy, near its junction with the Machno. 
 Nant y Bele, Denbigh. (A dingle near Wynstay.) 
 
 Vale of Elwy, Flint. 
 
 Moel Siabod, Caernarvon. (A mountain seen from Capel 
 Curig.) 
 
 Llandilo Vawr, Caermarthen. 
 
 Tegwyn Ferry, Merioneth. 
 
 View from the mount at Bala Lake, Merioneth. 
 
 Xeivegal Sands, St. Bride’s Bay, Pembroke. 
 
 Aqueduct over the Dee, four miles and a half east of Llan¬ 
 gollen. From the towing path of the canal, Denbigh. 
 Aber, Caernarvon. Looking north.* 
 
 Penmaen Mawr, Caernarvon. Between Aber and Conwy. 
 
 -As seen from Aber. 
 
 A Pass two miles from Conwy, on the Bangor road, with 
 Anglesey in distance, Caernarvon. 
 
 Bettwys y Coed, near Pont y Pair, Caernarvon. 
 
 Corwen, Merioneth. From the bank of the Dee. 
 
 Inner Court of Plas Mawr, at Conwy, Caernarvon. 
 
 Inside of the Church of Eweny Priory, Glamorgan. 
 
 Upon looking over this collection, and the views 
 in my other letters, you will observe them often 
 
 * Go from the inn, by the side of the river, and then look 
 lack over the Menai. 
 
SCENERY OF WALES. 
 
 185 
 
 lying in clusters —round Beddgelert, for instance, 
 Dolgelle, and the Devil’s Bridge. This is no 
 trifling help to a pedestrian, who must not be 
 lavish either of steps or time. The great number 
 and diversity of single objects also is a circum¬ 
 stance very favourable to an inexperienced pencil; 
 such studies, from their simplicity, being generally 
 easy. Of these there are particularly two—castles 
 and bridges. The latter are numerous from the na¬ 
 ture of the country, and some of them exceedingly 
 beautiful. So many, perhaps, with such advan¬ 
 tages of accompaniments and decoration, could no 
 where else be selected in an equal circuit. But 
 castles are the proud and peculiar feature of Welch 
 scenery; and in number, variety, antiquity, and 
 grandeur, they are unrivalled. Of the four abbeys 
 enumerated, I saw Tintem only, but I saw the 
 best; and can say with Gilpin of its interior , that 
 my eye, “ was above measure delighted with the 
 beauty, greatness, and novelty of the scene.” * 
 The smaller antiquities are hardly the landscape- 
 painter’s study, except cromlechs and crosses. 
 
 * Observ. Wye, p. 35. 
 
186 
 
 LETTERS ON THE 
 
 Few of the former have been drawn, though many 
 might he tried: the latter are scarce, and less 
 beautiful, than some in England. There are 
 many waterfalls, and some of them, no doubt, fine 
 studies ; but their effect depends on such a variety 
 of concurring circumstances, that they often owe 
 much of their beauty to the painter. I saw eleven, 
 and but one complete picture—that of Dolmelyn- 
 llyn. Mountains, bold, sublime, or graceful, mark 
 the character of almost every scene, either height¬ 
 ening its importance, or sometimes forming them¬ 
 selves the principal and commanding feature. You 
 find very few churches selected, and only two lakes 
 —Llanberis and Bala. With these exceptions, there 
 seems to be no ingredient in the composition of 
 landscape, which Wales does not furnish out in 
 perfection. By further comparing the number of 
 views taken in each county, you may determine 
 pretty well their respective claims to picturesque 
 beauty, so far at least as number will do it; and 
 they would, I think, stand nearly thus:— 
 Caernarvon, Glamorgan, 
 
 Merioneth, Denbigh, 
 
SCENERY OF WALES. 
 
 187 
 
 Cardigan, 
 
 Monmouth, 
 
 Pembroke, 
 
 Caermarthen, 
 
 Flint, 
 
 Montgomery, 
 
 Anglesea, 
 
 Brecon, 
 
 Radnor. 
 
 These few remarks, together with the foregoing 
 list, may he some help, I should hope, toward the 
 planning your way homeward, and not improbably 
 persuade you to take it with the following points: 
 —Beaumaris—Aber—Conwy—Llanrwst—Capel 
 Curig—Betwys y Coed—Penmachno—Bala— 
 Corwen—Llangollen—Oswestry. 
 
 I am unacquainted with the Welch language, 
 and so can give you no assistance on that point: 
 English is now so generally spoken in the princi¬ 
 pality, that I very seldom felt the want of it. 
 
 I have said very little about the people; for 
 what knowledge can a passing traveller gain of 
 their character ? But I may say, that I ever 
 found them civil, hospitable, and honest—a tribute 
 of praise, which a pedestrian, with the manners 
 of a gentleman, will, very rarely, I think, have 
 occasion to refuse them. 
 
 6 
 
188 
 
 LETTERS OX WALES. 
 
 You are now possessed of the best information 
 I can supply relative to your intended plan. It 
 only remains, therefore, to add my wishes, that 
 it may contribute to the success of your pencil, 
 and the satisfaction and improvement of your 
 mind and heart. 
 
INDEX 
 
 A. 
 
 Aber, 184 
 Aberavon, 183 
 Aberdare, 31 
 Aberdillis Cascade, 42 
 Aber Edwy Mill, S.* 95 
 Abergavenny Church, 100 
 Aberystwith, 105 
 Amlwch, 177 
 Arran, 157 
 Arthur’s Stone, 48 
 
 B. 
 
 Bala Lake, 121 
 
 -, view near, 184 
 
 Bangor, view of, S. 171 
 Barmouth, 124 
 
 --, view of, 127 
 
 Baron Hill, 177 
 Basingwerk Abbey, 180 
 Beaumaris, S. 173 
 
 -Castle, 174 
 
 Beddgelert, S_ 144 
 
 -- Bridge, S. 149 
 
 -Pass near, S. 147 
 
 -Mill near (Caernar¬ 
 von Road), S. 149 
 
 -Bridge near (Capel 
 
 Curig Road), S. 150 
 Betwys y Coed, 184 
 Black Pill Bridge, S. 4G 
 Brecon, 97 
 
 -Priory, S. 98 
 
 -Bridge and Castle, S. 99 
 
 Britton Ferry, S. 45 
 Burton Castle, 180 
 Bualt, 96 
 Bwa Muen, 40 
 
 C. 
 
 Cader Idris, 109, 124 
 
 -, views of, 183 
 
 Cader Arthur, 157 
 Caerdiff Castle, 180 
 Caergwle Castle, 180 
 Caermarthen, 51 
 Caernarvon, 167 
 
 -Castle, views of, S. 
 
 169 
 
 Caerphilly Castle, 23 
 Caldecot Castle, 180 
 Capel Curig, 183 
 Cardigan, S. 64 
 Carew Castle, 59 
 Carreg Cennin Castle, 180 
 Cawnant Mawr, 167 
 Cefn Ogo, 183 
 Chepstow Castle, 102 
 Chirk Castle, 180 
 Clwyd, Vale of, 183 
 Conwy Castle, 141, 180 
 
 --Pass near, 184 
 
 -River, view on, 184 
 
 Corwen, 184 
 
 -, Mill at, 182 
 
 Coracles, 67 
 
 Cromlech at Newport, Cardigan, 
 68 
 
 -Pentre Evan, 68 
 
 -Plas Newydd, 175 
 
 -on Cwm Bryn, 48 
 
 -, others in Anglesey, 
 
 176 
 
 Craig y Deryn, S. Ill 
 Cross at Baron Hill, 177 
 
 -Carew, 59 
 
 Cross at Llanbadain Vaur, 105 
 
 * The letter S. denotes those views of which Statiov* are "iven. 
 
190 
 
 INDEX, 
 
 Cunno River, SO 
 Cwm Eland, 91 
 -Llan, 152 
 
 — ■. Ystwith Lead Mines, S. 90 
 
 D. 
 
 Dee, Aqueduct over, 184 
 
 -, Bridge over, 181 
 
 Denbigh Castle, 181 
 Devil’s Bridge, S, 79 
 Dinas Bran Castle, 180 
 
 — Emrys, 151 
 
 -Mowddwy, 121 
 
 -Bridge at, 181 
 
 Dinevawr Castle, 51 
 Dolbadarn Tower, S. 165 
 Dolgelle, view of, 120 
 -, Barmouth Road, from, 
 
 122 
 
 - Mill, near, S. 125 
 
 Dolmelynllyn Bridge, S. 130 
 Dolwyddelan Castle, 180 
 Drws y Coed, 15S 
 
 E. 
 
 Einion’s crooked Waterfall, S, 38 
 Elwy, Vale of, 184 
 Eweny Priory Church, 184 
 
 F. 
 
 Fall of the Cain, 133 
 - Cledaugh, 42 
 
 • - Dyfflos, 108 
 
 - Hepsey, S. 37 
 
 • - Llugwy, 182 
 
 • - Mawdach, S. 134 
 
 -- Melta, 37 
 
 — — ■ Ogwen, 172 
 
 --- Purtheri, S. 38 
 
 - Ronsha, S. 28 
 
 -- Rhydoll, S. 81 
 
 - Taff, 26 
 
 - Wye, 91 
 
 — near Aber, 181 
 
 - near Dolmelynllyn, S. 131 
 
 Falls of the Conwy, 181 
 
 -Cynfael, 136 
 
 - — -Machno, 181 
 
 Falls of the Mynach, 81 
 Festiniog, Vale of, 135 
 Flint Castle, 181 
 
 G. 
 
 Goats, 148 
 Goodrich Castle, 181 
 Green Bridge, 56 
 Grosment Castle, 181 
 Grongar Hill, 52 
 
 H. 
 
 Hafod, 88 
 
 Harlech Castle, 139, 181 
 Haverfordwest Castle, 181 
 Hawarden Castle, 181 
 Holyhead, 177 
 
 K. 
 
 Kennarth Salmon-leap, 68 
 Kidwelly Castle, 181 
 Kilgerran Castle, S. 65 
 Kimmer Abbey, 127 
 
 L. 
 
 Lady’s Cascade, S. 40 
 Lawhaden Castle, 60 
 Llanaber Church, 127 
 Llanbadarn Vawr, 105 
 Llanbeder, Stone Pillar near, 69 
 Llanberis, 163 
 
 -Lake, S. 164 
 
 -Pass, near, 162 
 
 Llandegai, 172 
 Llandilo Vaur, 184 
 Llandudno Rocks, 183 
 Llaneltyd Bridge, 127 
 Llangollen, 183 
 
 -Bridge, near, 182 
 
 Llanllyfni, 153 
 Llansannon, 183 
 Llanrwst Bridge, 182 
 Llan Stephan Castle, 55 
 Llanthoni Abbey, 100 
 Llanydloes Bridge, Mill, and 
 Church, 181 
 Llaugharne Castle, S. 55 
 Llyn Gwynant, 152 
 
INDEX. 
 
 191 
 
 Llyn Ogwen, 172 
 
 -Trigrain wyn, 116 
 
 -y Cae, 116 
 
 -y Dinas, 152 
 
 M. 
 
 Machynllaeth, View near, 106 
 Maenturog, 134 
 Maencloghog, 60 
 Mallwyd, 131 
 
 -Bridge, at, 182 
 
 Manorbeer Castle, 59 
 Matchway, Dingle of, 95 
 Melincourt Cascade, 42 
 Melta Cavern, 37 
 Moel Siabod, 184 
 
 -Wyn, 151, 183 
 
 -y Golpha, 107, 183 
 
 Monmouth, Objects at, 101 
 
 --, new Wear, 183 
 
 Montgomery Castle, 181 
 Mumbles Light House, 48 
 Mynach, second Fall of, S. 84 
 
 N. 
 
 Nant Frangon, 172 
 
 - Lie, 153 
 
 - y Bele, 184 
 
 Neath Bridge, 35 
 
 -Abbey, 43 
 
 -, Vale of, 31 
 
 -, Vechan Bridge, S. 32 
 
 Neivegal Sands, 184 
 Nevern, 67 
 New Bridge, S. 24 
 Newcastle, in Emlyn, S. 68 
 Newport, Glamorgan, 20 
 
 O. 
 
 Ogwen Pool, 172 
 Overton Bridge, 182 
 Oystermouth Castle, 48 
 Oxwich Point, 48 
 
 P. 
 
 Parson's Bridge, S. 85 
 Pembroke, 183 
 -Castle, 181 
 
 Penmachno Mill, 182 
 Penmaen Mawr, 184 
 Pennarth Castle, 48 
 Pistil lihaiadr, 182 
 Pl'as Gwyn, 177 
 Pl&s Mawr Inner Court, 184 
 Pl&s Newydd, 177 
 Plynlimmon, 104 
 Pont Aberglas-llyn, S. 142 
 
 - - -Salmon-leap 
 
 near, 143 
 Pont ar Dulus, 49 
 Pont ar Mynach, S. 79 
 Pont Herwid, 86 
 Pont-llyn Dyffws, 182 
 Pontneath Vechan, 31 
 
 -Stone Arch 
 
 near, S. 34 
 Pont y Pair, 182 
 Puldw Point, 48 
 
 R. 
 
 Ragland Castle, 101 
 lihaiadr Cwm Dyli, 152 
 
 -Du, 137 
 
 -Gwy, 91 
 
 -Mawr, 182 
 
 -y Wenol, 182 
 
 Rhyddlan Castle, &c. 181 
 Rhydoll Mill, on, 87 
 Robbers’ Cave, 84 
 Rock of Birds, S. Ill 
 Rontha Vawr, 26 
 
 -Bridge on, S. 27 
 
 Ruthin, distant View of, 183 
 -Castle, 181 
 
 S. 
 
 Skirrid, View from, 101 
 Snowdon, 155 
 
 -, Views of, 182 
 
 St. Catharine’s Isle, 58 
 
 — David’s Palace, 183 
 
 — Donat’s Castle, 181 
 
 — Gowen’s Well, 146 
 
 — Winifred’s Well, 183 
 Striguil Castle, 181 
 
192 
 
 index. 
 
 Swansea Bay, 46 
 
 .— , Views of, S. 47 
 
 T. 
 
 Taff, 26 
 
 Tal y Llyn, 109 
 
 Tan y Bwlch Hall, 138 
 
 -, View near, S. 
 
 136 
 
 Tegwyn Ferry, 184 
 Tenby, S. 57, 58 
 Tintern Abbey, 101, 185 
 Tovy, Vale of, 51 
 Traeth Bach, and Traeth Maur, 
 139 
 
 Tregaron, 70 
 
 V. 
 
 Valle Crucis Abbey, 181 
 
 Velanessa Mill, 182 
 Views between Dolgelle and 
 Barmouth, S. 123, 124 
 Views between Dolaelle and 
 Machynllaeth, S. 108, 116 
 
 W. 
 
 Waterfall of the great Chasm, 167 
 Welch, Dress and Persons of, 61 
 Wye, Confluence with the Edwy, 
 96 
 
 Wynd Cliff, 102 
 Y. 
 
 Yeaster Dillas Fall, 182 
 Yspytty Ystwith, View near, 73 
 Ystrad Flur Abbey, S. 71 
 Ystradyvodwg, 29 
 
 THE END. 
 
 C. Baldwin, Printer. 
 New Bridge Street, London. 
 
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