A Wilder Wales E-Book

David Lloyd Owen

• Herausgeber: Parthian Books
• Kategorie: Gesellschafts- und Liebesromane
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 612

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2018

Beschreibung

"Even Hannibal himself wou'd have found it impossible to have match'd his army over Snowden" Daniel de Foe, A tour thro' the whole island of Great Britain... 1924 "It would be the height of ingratitude to find fault with any thing, where kindness and humanity were so predominant." Mary Morgan, A tour to Milford Haven, in the year 1791. "At Holly well they speake Welsh; the inhabitants go barefoote and bare leg'd - a nasty sort of people. Their meate is very small here, Mutton is noe bigger than Little Lamb, what of it there is was sweete; their wine good being Neare ye Sea side, and are well provided with ffish - very good Salmon and Eeles and other ffish I had at Harding." Celia Fiennes, Through England on a Side Saddle, 1698 David Lloyd Owen introduces us to the fascinating breadth of travellers' tales from a mysterious and absorbing country: writers who described a land of mountains and valleys, ruined castles, and abandoned monasteries, and give us tales of strange locals who spoke another language and were known as the Welsh. A Wilder Wales highlights the astonishing transformation of Wales from a poor rural backwater to the crucible of the industrial revolution and offers readers an insight into the ways in which outsiders viewed the land and its people.

Leseprobe

Contents

Frontispiece

Title Page

A Dedication

INTRODUCTION

1. EARLY VISITATIONS: 1610 – 1698

2. SETTING OUT: WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

3. THE JOURNEY

4. INNS, OUT AND ABOUT: EATING, DRINKING AND SLEEPING

5. THE SUBLIME, ROMANTIC AND PICTURESQUE

6. THE COMFORT OF CLICHÉS: AMUSING ANECDOTES AND OTHER OBSERVATIONS

7. RELIGION

8. MAKING A LIVING; FARMING, FISHING, MINING AND THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION

9. NORTH WALES

10. SOUTH WALES

11. A RIPOSTE

Bibliography

Index 1 – People

Index 2 – Places

Copyright

“BRITANNIA directing the attention of HISTORY to the distant view, emblematical of WALES. The ruined castle and bardic circle, in the background, enveloped in clouds, allude to ancient times; and the intermediate space represents the present state of the country.”

This is the frontispiece of the Cambrian Register for the year 1795 (printed London 1796). It was founded ‘to lay the literary treasures of the Ancient Britons before the world’. Beneath the mountainous hills and bardic circle, lie the ruined castle, some woods, a small church, a hamlet and a solitary figure guiding a plough, pulled by two horses.

A Wilder Wales

Travellers’ Tales 1610-1831

David Lloyd Owen

a dedication

Er cof annwyl am

Patricia Owen

1925-2012

“Ust, saif y nos o’th gylch y gangell glaear

Ac arflladen nef yn croesi â i bendith y ddaear.”

[gan Saunders Lewis, Y Pin / The Pine]

INTRODUCTION

Before the second half of the Eighteenth Century visitors to Wales were few, Wales being thought of as a poor rural backwater of Britain albeit it one with its own rich identity. This view of Wales changed with a shift in aesthetic judgement. As mountains, once objects of fear, became viewed as places of awesome beauty, North Wales was hailed as the ‘British Alps’ and South Wales became a sought after destination for seekers of sublime views. This willingness to travel into Wales coincided with the Napoleonic Wars of 1799-1815 which forced many of those seeking to go on a Grand Tour of Europe’s classical sights and sites to root out enlightenment and new experiences closer to home just as later, visitors crossed the border enticed by the innovations of the Industrial Revolution.

Under the Wales and Berwick Act 1746, England was formally defined as including Wales. That did not change until 1967. Before this time, Wales barely existed in any legal or political sense. With the passing of the Tudors, Welsh heraldic insignia and references to Wales ceased to feature in national flags or royal shields. The ‘Acts of Union’ of 1536 and 1543 stated that “this said Country or Dominion ofWalesshall be, stand and continue for ever from henceforth incorporated, united and annexed to and with this Realm ofEngland.”

A Council of Wales and the Marches carried on until it was abolished in the Glorious Revolution of 1689 and the Courts of Great Sessions in Wales was set up in 1543 to preside over more serious legal cases until 1830. English Law succeeded Welsh Law, with all trials being held exclusively in English and almost all judges being English.

Despite this incorporation of Wales into England and the insistence that English, and English alone, was to be used in all official roles and functions, one aspect of Wales hardly changed; outside the plantations of South Pembrokeshire and the Gower, Wales remained overwhelmingly Welsh speaking and mainly monoglot.

Language was perhaps a greater barrier than the symbols and separate constitutions of Scotland and Ireland despite their greater physical distance from London. Scottish Gaelic had always been confined to the Highlands and Western Islands (many of the surviving early Welsh poems were composed in what is now the Central Scottish Lowlands) and Irish Gaelic was steadily being pushed westwards by waves of repression and plantation. The Welsh language, on the other hand, formed a border more immediately tangible than Offa’s Dyke or any county boundary. Needing an interpreter to transverse what was meant to be a western part of England gave the Welsh counties an exoticism that remained almost undiminished throughout this time.

* * *

The study of travel and tourism has been a flourishing academic discipline for some decades and the experience of visitors to Wales over the years has provided much material for the devotee. For example, the Journal ‘Studies in Travel Writing’ had a special issue (18/2) in 2014 entitled ‘Travel Writing and Wales’, while during 2016, an exhibition ‘EuroVisions: Wales through the Eyes of European visitors, 1750-2015’ was the result of a collaborative project between Swansea, Aberystwyth and Bangor Universities, examining 360 travel accounts and a plethora of images. Meanwhile, a website ‘sublime Wales’ (sublimewales.wordpress.com) is currently under development covering early (18thand 19th century) tourists’ comments about Wales, as well as looking at ‘Curious Travellers: Thomas Pennant and the Welsh and Scottish Tour 1760-1815’, a project being managed by Aberystwyth University’s Centre for Advanced Welsh and Celtic Studies. Some illustrative examples of these studies have been included in the bibliography to give an idea of the depth and breadth of these endeavours.

This book makes no attempt to contribute towards any academic discourse. I am a behavioural ecologist by training who has subsequently strayed into the field of water policy. My perspective is that of the engaged returnee; childhood memories of Ceredigion forty or fifty years ago are of a more exotic, distinct place compared to say, the Home Counties of the day. All places change with time, especially through our individual perspectives. That is one thing that earlier travel accounts help to highlight.

Rather than taking an academic approach, my aim is to present a selection of travellers’ accounts published between 1610 to 1831 with the hope that it will encourage readers not only to peruse the original accounts in greater depth but to appreciate the generosity of spirit and open-mindedness reflected in many of these passages. There has been a tendency to assume that English writers in particular, have visited Wales in order only to look down upon it. Happily, this is not evident in these accounts.

Satires and polemics have also been omitted. For example, William Richards’ ‘Wallography, or the Britton describ’d: Being a pleasant relation of a journey into Wales, wherein are set down several remarkable passages that occur'd in the way thither. And also many choice observables, and notable commemorations, concerning the state and condition, the nature and humor, actions, manners, customs, &c. of that countrey and people’ (London: Printed for Edward Caudell, bookseller in Bath, 1682) which is a satire of social pretensions in England and Wales rather than a travel book.

There are two reasons for adopting an 1831 cut-off date for visitors’ accounts. Firstly, because of the sheer wealth of material being published from the start of the Nineteenth Century and secondly, to draw a line between two quite distinct social and political eras. In the period between 1740-1800, 11 riots were noted in Wales, with two deaths. In that between 1801-1820, there were nine riots, with three deaths in Merthyr Tydfyl; two hanged and one shot. These were so unremarkable as to not catch the attention of early travellers. After this relative calm, came the storm of the Scotch Cattle movement (enforcing strikes in coal mines and ironworks, chiefly between 1822 and the 1840s), the Merthyr Rising (1831), Chartism (from 1836), the Rebecca Riots (1839-43, against toll gates), and land enclosure (the 1845 Enclosure Act encouraged the enclosure of once common lands in Wales).

Before 1831, we also find a Wales in which the Welsh language and culture were largely unchallenged, as, by and large, were the local Gentry, since voters did what they were expected to do. The ‘Treachery of the Blue Books’ in 1847 unleashed state and social hostility against the Welsh language, and South Wales starting with the schools, steadily became Anglicised. In rural Wales, democracy was as unwelcome to the landed interests as enclosure was to their subjects. Finally, the diverse forms of nonconformity and religious dissent brought their own conformities when it came to music and public life.

Did something change after this? Did a desire for progress impel travellers to disdain local culture and custom? These are questions for academics. As an ‘aboriginal Briton’ I have been generally refreshed by the degree of nuance in many of those accounts predating 1831. By going back and looking beyond times when linguistic difference has been despised, we can reconnect with a time when educated or intrepid people appreciated the value of variety and the elemental importance of sustaining the language and cultures that a place may hold.

Early accounts are often of a pragmatic nature; appraising fortifications and fertilisers, pondering wrecked castles, commenting on agricultural improvements and the prospect for gainful employment through industry. A more flamboyant language flourished, one that employed the overblown imagery deemed necessary when describing an aesthetically perfect curve of the River Wye, for instance, usually spiced with soaring rhetoric. Mountains were meant to be majestic, while picturesque landscapes could be classified according to their components. Writers vied with each other to unearth intriguing customs and local mannerisms, while seeking to draw broader conclusions about human nature from their sundry observations.

These accounts are about perceptions as much as they are about realities. When we look at how Wales is seen by the English and others subsequently, attitudes have been distorted by anegative view of Welsh culture that persisted until relatively recently. Conversely, the accounts offered here often emphasise the need to preserve a ‘British’ tongue and chroniclers regard the practicalities of traversing a land inhabited by foreign speakers in the manner recommended when visiting continental Europe.

* * *

‘English Language Travel Books Dealing with Wales’, an invaluable compilation by Diana Luft, notes 153 accounts written by 1831; three from Medieval and Tudor times, seven in the Seventeenth Century, five in the first and fifty-one in second half of the Eighteenth Century, and eighty-seven from 1800 to 1831. In this work, I have used thirty-eight accounts by thirty-six authors dating between 1610 and 1831, with a total of approximately 2.2 million words. Thirty-three were written with publication in mind while five (Dineley, Fiennes, Lyttleton, Johnson and Skinner) are manuscripts that were posthumously published. Two are by women (Fiennes and Morgan), five are identified as Welshmen (Pennant, Davies (two), Jones and an anonymous correspondent) and two (Skrine and Malkin) had married into Welsh families. Brief biographies have been included for thirty-one of the authors. Two other named authors remain a mystery, while three were either pseudonymous or anonymous accounts.

The recycling rate in these accounts is prodigious. This is not usually a case of plagiarism, rather one of various tales that each visitor is aware of from previous narratives, and, therefore, may be expected to be included. Stories about Holywell in North Wales and flowers on graves in the South are prime examples. Some of these have been included here to show how they recurred and evolved.

Editing has been kept to a minimum. For ease of reading, the archaic ‘f’ is replaced by the contemporary ‘s’, while gaps between words and quotation marks, colons and semicolons have been closed. Otherwise, spelling and punctuation have been retained. Where possible, first editions were used and exceptions are noted. Many of the writers at times displayed a numbing verbosity and a propensity to insert quotations at the least excuse. I have aimed to mitigate the former and excise the latter.

I have not sought a complete coverage of towns and traverses, concentrating only on accounts that best reflect the authors and their approaches. Many of the books are dominated by history and biography which lie outside the scope of this publication, as do natural history (Pennant was a leading naturalist in his day) and geology. The exceptions here are mining and industry, due to their development and transformative role during, and immediately after, this period, and farming, given the nature of its direct impact on people’s livelihoods.

Perhaps ‘A Wilder Wales’ is a case of the past being another country – in public life and politics it was English rather than Welsh, yet culturally more identifiably Welsh than English. There is little room for sentimentality when looking back at the past as it is depicted here, yet it is difficult not to admire how a distinct culture endured when outside churches and chapels it enjoyed no formal recognition. The final chapter presents a contemporary riposte to generalisations and clichéd observations, a reminder of the diversity which existed within a place that could beguile and bemuse the visitor at the same time.

1

EARLY VISITATIONS: 1610 – 1698

Such was the low profile of Wales after its conquest in 1282 that the 1188 visit to Wales by Gerallt Cymro (Gerald of Wales) written in 1191 as Itinerarium Cambriae (‘Journey through Wales’) was seen as the primary source of information about the country until William Camden published his Britannia in 1584. Indeed, just as others were to base their accounts on Camden’s observations, he used the Journey as his starting point. John Leland’s ‘labryouse journey’ included at least one visit to Wales between 1536 and 1539, but was not published until Thomas Hearne’s edition of 1710-12. Leland does not appear to have been used as a source by later writers about Wales.

During the seventeenth century, visits to most of Wales for the sake of curiosity were unusual to say the least. Those that were published often included long historical and genealogical accounts. The six travel accounts included here have been retained in some detail. While they offer new encounters they also show Camden’s influence. Outside Monmouth, Flint and Carmarthen they depict an overwhelmingly rural Wales, punctuated by towns and castles in varying degrees of size and ruin. George Owen’s description of Pembrokeshire was written in 1603, but remained unpublished until it was serialised in the Cambrian Registers for 1796 and 1799.

When the Stuarts succeeded the Tudors, it appears that interest in Wales eased somewhat and with it Welsh antiquarianism. Matters improved with the polymath Edward Lhuyd (1660-1709) who travelled extensively through Wales, first in 1688 and then from 1697, and who pioneered the comparative study of Celtic languages. Two of these accounts (Dinley and Fiennes) were not published until the Victorian era.

In 1586 William Camden published Britannia in Latin. Britannia was the first attempt to fully describe the whole of the British Isles, and by 1607 the sixth edition had expanded from 556 pages of octavo text to 860 pages of folio. In 1610 the final edition was translated into English by Philemon Holland. Camden wrote his work at a time when Welsh antiquarianism was flourishing. Sir John Prise’s Historiae Britannicae Defensio (1573) pioneered the study of British history and David Powell expanded this book in his Historie of Cambria, published in 1584. Sir Edward Stradling and Rice Merrick specialised in the topography of Glamorganshire as did George Owen in Pembrokeshire. Outside such circles, accounts about Wales were few. Until the nineteenth century, Camden’s Britannia remained the primary point of information and comparison for travellers to Wales.

In Britannia, the counties of Wales are divided according to the tribes described by the Romans. Radnor, Brecknock, Monmouth, and Glamorgan, along with Hereford are grouped as the Silures, Carmarthen, Pembroke, and Cardigan under the Demetae, and Montgomery, Meirioneth, Caernarfon, Anglesey, Denbigh, and Flint as the Ordovicae.

“Nature hath loftily areared it up farre and nere”

William Camden visited Wales to revise and expand his ‘Britannia’ in the summer of 1590, enabling him to develop a feel for the Welsh landscape as well as its history. He was being strictly correct in describing Wales as part of the Kingdom of England in a pre-union Britain.

RADNORSHIRE

The East-side hath to beautifie it, besides other castles of the Lords Marchers, now all buried well neere in their owne ruines, Castle Paine, built and so named of Paine a Norman, and Castle Colwen, which, if I be not deceived, was sometime called the Castle of Mawd in Colwent. … But of especiall name is Radnor the principall towne of the whole Shire, in BritishMaiseveth, faire built, as the maner of that country is, with thatched houses. In times past it was firmely fensed with a wall and castle, but after that Owen Glendowerdy what notable rebell had burnt it, it beganne by little and little to decrease and grow to decay, tasting of the same fortune that the mother thereof did before, I meane Old Radnor, called in BritishMaiseveth hean, and for the high situationPencrag, which in the reigne of King John Rhese Ap Guffin had set on fire. … Scarce three miles Eastward from hence you see Prestaine, in BritishLhan Andre, that is,Saint Andrews Church, which of a very little village within the memorie of our grandfathers is by the meanes of Richard Martin Bishop of Saint Davids growne now to be so great a mercate towne and faire withall, that at this day it dammereth and dimmeth the light in some sort of Radnor. From whence also scarce foure miles off, stands Knighton, a towne able to match with Prestaine, Called in British, as I have heard say,Trebucloin steed ofTrefcyluadh, of a famous ditch lying under it which Offa King of the Mercians with admirable worke and labour caused to be cast from Dee-Mouth unto Wy mouth by this towne, for the space of foureskore and ten miles, to separate the Britans from his Englishmen. Wherupon in British it is calledClaudh Offa, that is,Offaes ditch.Concerning which, John of Salisbury in hisPolycraticonwriteth thus:Harald ordained a law that what Welshman soever should be found with a weapon on this side the limite which he had set them, that is to say Offaes Dike, he should have his right hand cut off by the Kings officers.

When yee are past this place, all the ground that lieth toward the West and South limits, being for the most part baren, leane, and hungry, is of the inhabitants calledMelienith, for that mountaines be of a yellowish colour. Yet remaine there many footings as it were of castles to be seene heere and there, but especially Kevenles and Timbod, which standing upon a sharpe pointed hill, Lhwellin Prince of Wales overthrew in the yeere 1260. ThisMelienithreacheth as farre as to the river Wy, which cutteth overthwart the West corner of this shire, and, being hindered in his streame with stones lying in his way, upon a sudden for want of ground to glide on hath a mighty and violent downfall, hath a mighty and violent downfall, where upon the place is tearmedRaihader Gowy, that is,The fall or Fludgats of Wy.And I cannot tell whether thereupon that British wordRaihaderthe Englishmen forged this name first for the whole shire, and afterwards for the chiefe towne. … Hard by there is in some sort a vast and wide wildernesse, hideous after a sort to behold by reason of the turning and crooked by-waies and craggy mountaines, into which as the safest place of refuge Vortigern, that pestilent wretch and bane of his native country, odious both to God and man, (whose memorie the Britans may wish damned) withdrew himselfe, when after he had called the Saxons into this Iland in horrible incest married his owne daughter.

[…]

BRECHNOCKSHIRE

Farre greater this is than Radnorshire, but thicker set with high hils, yet are the valleies fruitfull every where.

[…]

On the North side, as [Gerallt Cymro] said, it is more open and plaine, namely where the river Wy severeth it from Radnorshire, by which stand two townes well knowen for their antiquity, Buelth and Hay. Buelth is pleasantly situate with woods about it, fortified also with a Castle, but of a later building, by the Breoses and Mortimers, whenas Rhese ap Guffin had rased the ancient Castle. … And as for Hay, which in British is calledTrekethle, that is,The towne in a grove of Hasel trees, in the very utmost skirt of this shire next unto Herefordshire, it standeth hard by the river Wye, well known, as it seemeth, to the Romans, whose coines is is often digged up there, and it sheweth also by the ruins that in old time it was walled. But being now as it were decaied it complaineth of that most lewd rebell Owen Glendoweredwy for his furious outrages, who in wasting and spoiling all those countries most villanously did depopulate it and set it on fire.

As this river Wy washeth the North side of this shire, so doth Uske a notable river likewise runne through the middest thereof, which Uske, springing out of the Blacke-Mountain, passeth along with a shallow streame beside Brechnock the shire towne, standing in the very hart in maner of the country, which the Britans callAber-Hodneybecause the two rivers Hodney and Uske doe meet in that place. That this town was inhabited in the Romans time appeareth by the coines of Romane Emperours now and then digged up here.

[…]

Leveney a little river, after it is run into this Poole, keepeth his owne hew and colour still by himselfe, as disdayning to be mingled therewith (which the very colour sheweth), is thought to carry out his owne water, entertained a while there by the way, and no more than he brought in with him. It hath beene a currant speech of long continuance among the neighbours there about, that where now the Meere is there was in times past a City, which being swallowed up in an earth quake, resigned up the place unto the waters. And beside other reasons, they allege this for one, that all the high waies of this shire come directly hither on every side. Which if it be true, what other City should a man thinke stood by the river Leveney than Loventium, which Ptolomee placeth in this tract? And in no place hitherto could I finde it (albeit I searched diligently for it) either by the name, or situation, or ruines remaining.

[…]

MONMOUTHSHIRE

In the utmost angle, called Ewias, to the Northwest, not farre from the river Munow, among the Hatterell hils which, because they rise up in height like a chaire, they callMunith Cader, there stood Lanthony, a little ancient Abbay which Walter Lacy founded.

[…]

In other other corner North-east-ward, Munow and Wy at their confluence doe compasse almost round about the chiefe towne of the shire and give it the name. For in the British tongue it is calledMongwy and in ours Monmouth. On the Northside, where it is not defended with the rivers, it was fortified with a wall and ditch. In the midest of the towne hard by the mercate place standeth a castle.

[…]

From hence Wy with many windings and turnings runneth downe Southward, yeelding verie great plenty of delicate Salmons from September to April. And is at this day the bound betweene Glocestershire and Monmouthshire, in times past betweene the Welsh and Englishmen, according to this verse of Nechams making:

By Wales on this side runeth Wy,

And of the other England he doth eye.

Who, when he is come almost unto his mouth, runneth by Chepstow, that is, if one interprete it after the Saxons tongue, aMercat.The Britans call itCastle-went.A famous towne this and of good resort, situate upon the side of an hill, rising from the verie river, fortified round about with a wall of a large circuite, which includes within it both fields and orchyards. It hath a very spatious castle situate over the river, and just against it stood a Priory, the better part whereof beeing pulled downe, the rest is converted into a Parish Church. As for the bridge that standeth over Wy, it is of timber and verie high built, because the river at every tide riseth to a great height. … This towne is not verie ancient to speake of. For may there be that constantly affirme, and not without good reason, that not many ages agoe it had his beginning from Venta, a verie ancient citie that in the daies of Antonine the emperour flourished about foure miles hence Westward and was namedVenta Silurum(as one would say,the Principall citie of the Silures). which name neither hostile fury nor length of time hath as yet discontinued: for it is called even as this dayCaer went, that is,The City Wet.But as for the citie it selfe, either time or hostility hath so caried it away that now, were it not only for the ruinate wals, the checker worke pavements, and peeces of Roman money, it would not appeere there was such a city. It tooke up in compasse above a mile. On the South side a great part of the wal standeth, and there remaine little better than the rubbish of three bulwarks. And yet of how great account it was in ancient times, wee may gather if it were but by this, that before the name of Monmouth once heard of, all this whole country was of it calledGuent, Went-set, andWents-land.

[…]

Beneath these places upon the Severn Sea, nere unto Wy-mouth, standeth Portskeweth, which Marianus nameth Portscith … And adjoining to it is Sudbrok the church wherof called Trinity Chappell standeth so neere the sea that the vicinity of so tyrannous a neighbour hath spoiled it of halfe the Church-yarde, as it hath done also of an olde fortification lieng thereby, which was compassed with a triple ditch and three rampiers as high as an ordinary house, cast in forme of a bowe, the string whereof is the sea-cliffe. That this was a Romane worke the Britaine brickes and Roman coynes there found are most certaine arguments… Then Throgoy, a little river neere unto Caldecot, entreth into the Severn Sea, where saw the wall of a castle that belonged to the high Constables of England, and was holden by the service of Constableship of England. Hard by are seene Wondy and Penhow, the seats in times past of the noble family of Saint Maur, now corruptly named Seimor.

[…]

Beneath this lieth spred for many miles togither a mersh, they call it the Moore, which when I lately revised this worke, suffered a lamentable losse. For when the Severn sea at a spring tide in the change of the Moore, what beeing driven backe for three daies together with a Southwest winde, and what with a verie strong pirrie from the sea troubling it, swelled and raged so high that with surging billowes it came rolling and in-rushing amaine upon this tract lying so low, as also upon the like states in Somersetshire over against it, that it overflowed all, subverted houses and drowned a number of beasts, and some people withall. Where this mersh coast bearing out by little and little runneth forth into the sea, in the verie point thereof standeth Goldclyffe aloft.

[…]

Neere to this place there remaine the reliques of a Priorie, that acknowledge those of Chandos for their founders and patron. Passing thence by the merish country, wee came to the mouth of the river Isca, which the Britans nameUskandWiisk, and some writers terme it Osca. This river as it runneth through the midest, as I said before, of this County, floweth hard by three townes of especiall antiquity. The first, in the limite of the shire North-west, Antonine the Emperour calleth Gorbanium, at the very meeting of Uske and Geveny, whereof it had the name, and even at this day, keeping the ancient name, as it were, safe and sound, is tearmed Aber-Gevenny, and short Abergenny, which signifieth the confluents of Gevenny or Gorbanny. Fortified it is with wals and a Castle.

[…]

The second little Citie, which Antonine named Burrium and setteth downe twelve miles from Gobannium, standeth where the river Birthin and Uske mete in one streame. The Britans at this day, by transposing of the letters, call itBrunebegyforBurenbegie, andCaer Uske.Giraldus tearmeth itCastrum Oscae, that is,The Castle of Uske, and we Englishmen Uske. At this day it can shew nothing but the ruins of a large and strong Castle, situate most pleasantly betweene the river Uske and Oilwy, a riveret, which beneath it runneth from the East by Ragland, a faire house of the Earle of Worcesters, built castle-like.

The third Citie, which Antonine nameth Isca andLegio Secunda, is on the other side of Uske twelve Italian miles just distant from Burrium, as he hath put it downe. The Britans call itCaer LeonandCaer Leon ar Uske, that is,The citie of the Legion upon Uske, of the second Legion Augusta, which is also calledBritannica Secunda.

[…]

GLAMORGANSHIRE

The North part by reason of the mountaines is rough and unpleasant, which as they bend downe southward by little and little become more mild and of better soile, and at the foote of them there stretcheth forth a plaine open to the South-Sunne … For this part of the County is most pleasant and fruitfull, beautified also on every side with a number of townes.

[…]

The river Rhemnie, falling from the mountaines, is the limite on the Eastside, whereby this Country is divided from Monmouthshire, andrhemniin the British tongue signifieth toDivide.Not farre from it were the river holdeth on his course through places hardly passable, among the hills, in a marish ground are to be seene the tottering wals of Caer-philli Castle, which hath beene of so huge a bignesse, and such a wonderfull peece of worke beside, that all men wel nere say it was a garison-fort of the Romans. Neither will I denie it, although I cannot as yet perceive by what name they called it. And yet it may seeme to have beene re-edified anew, considering it hath a chappell built after the Christians maner (as I was enformed by John Sanford, a man singular well learned and of exact judgment), who diligently tooke view of it.

[…]

A little beneath hath Ptolomee placed the mouth of Ratostabius or Ratostibius, using a maimed word in steed ofTraith-Taff, that is,The sandy Trith of the river Taff.For the said river Taff, sliding downe from the hilles, runneth toward the sea by Landaff, that is,the Church by Taff, a small Citie and of small reputation, situate somewhat low, yet a Bishops See, having within the Dioecesse 154 parishes, and adourned with a Cathedral Church consecrated to Saint Telean Bishop of the same. Which Church German and Lupus, … From hence goeth Taff to Caerdiff, called of the BritansCaer-did, a proper fine towne (as townes goe in this country) and a very commodious haven, which the foresaid Fitz-Haimon fortified with a wall and Castle, that it might bee both a seat for warre and a Court of Justice.

[…]

Scarce three miles from the mouth of Taff, in the very bending of the shore, there lie aflote as it were two small but pleasant Ilands, separated one from another and from the maine land with narrow in-lettes of the sea. The hithermore is called Sullie of the towne right over against it, which tooke the name name, as it is thought, of Robert Sully (for it fell to his part in the division), if you would not rather have him to take his name of it. The farthermore is named Barry of Baruch, an holy man buried there, who as hee gave name to the place, so the place gave the surname afterwards to the Lords thereof. … Beyond these Islands, the shire runneth directly westward and giveth entrance and passage to one river, upon which more within land standeth Cowbridge (the Britans of the Stone-bridge call itPont-van), a mercate towne, and the second of those three which Fitz-Haimon the Conqueror kept for himselfe. … Neath, a towne very well knowne, retaining still the old name, in manner, whole and sound, and here at Lantwit, that is,The Church of Iltut, that joyneth close thereto, are seene the foundations of many houses, for it had divers streetes in old time. A little from hence in the very bout well nere of the shore standeth Saint Donats Castle, a faire habitation of the ancient and notable familie of the Stradlings, neere unto which were lately digged up antique peeces of Roman money, but those especially of the thirty Tyrants, yea and some of Aemilianus and Marius, which are seldome found. The river Ogmor, somewhat higher, maketh him selfe way into the sea, falling downe from the mountaines by Coitie.

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From hence coasting along the shore, you come within the site of Kinefeage, the castle in old time of Fitz-Haimon him selfe; also of Margan, hard by the sea side, sometime an Abbay founded by William Earle of Glocester, but now the habitation of the worshipfull family of the Maunsells, knights. Neere unto this Margan, in the very top of an hill calledMynyd Margan there is erected of exceeding hard grit a monument or grave-stone, foure foote long and one foote broad, which an Inscription,which whosoever shall happen to read, the ignorant common people dwelling about give it out upon a credulous error that hee shall be sure to die within a little while after. Let the reader therefore looke to him selfe, if any dare read it, for let him assure himselfe that he shall for certaine die after it.

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After you are past Margan, the shore shooteth forth into the North-easy by Aber-Avon, a small mercate town upon the river Avons mouth (whereof it tooke the name) to the river Nid or Neath, infamous for a quick-sand, upon which stands an ancient towne of the same name … Beneath this river Neath, whatsoever lieth betweene it and the river Loghor, which boundeth this shire in the West, we call Gower, the Britans and NinniusGuhir… This is now divided into the East part and the West. In the East part Swinesey is of great account, a towne so called by the Englishmen of Sea-Swine, but the BritansAber-Tawof the river Taw running by it, which the foresaied Henry Earle of Warwick fortified. But there is a towne farre more ancient than this by the river Loghor, which Antonine the Emperor called Leucarum, and we by the whole name, Loghor. … Beneath this lieth West-Gower, and by reason of two armes of the sea winding in, on other side one, it becommeth a Biland, more memorable for the fruitfulnesse than the townes in it, and in times past of great name in regard of Kined, canonized a Saint, who lived heere a solitarie life, of whom if you desire to know more, read our countryman Capgrave, who hath set out his miracle with great commendation.

CAERMARDENSHIRE

CAERMARDEN-SHIRE is plenteous enough in corne, stored abundantly with cattaile, and in some places yeeldeth it cole for fewell. On…the South with the Ocean, …with so great a bay or creeke getteth within the land that this country seemeth as it were for very feare to have shrunke backe and withdrawne it selfe more inwardly.

Upon this Bay, Kidwelly first offreth it selfe to our sight … Kidwelly with a wall and Castle to it, which now for very age is growen to decay and standeth, as it were, forlet and forlorne. For the inhabitants, having passed over the little riverVendraeth Vehan, built a new Kidwelly, entised thither by the commodity of the haven; which notwithstanding, being at this day choked with shelves and barres, is at this present of no great use. … A few miles beneath Kidwelly, the river Tovie, which Ptolomee calleth Tobius, falleth into the Sea after he hath passed through this region from North-east to South, first by Lanandiffry, so called, as men thinke, of rivers meeting together, which Hoel the sonne of Rhese overthrew for malice that he bare unto the English; then by Dinevor, a princely castle standing aloft upon the top of an hill and belonging unto the Princes of South-wales whiles they flourished; and last of all by Caer-Marden, which the Britans themselves callCaer-Firdhin …This is the chiefe Citie of the country, for medowes and woods pleasant, and in regard of antiquity to be respected … Straight after the Normans entring into Wales, this Citie was reduced (but I wote not by whose conduct) under their subjection, and for a long time sore afflicted with many calamities and distresses, being oftentimes assaulted, once or twice set on fire, first by Gruffin ap Rise, then by Rise the said Gruffins brother. At which time, Henrie Turbervill an Englishmen succoured the castle and heawed downe the bridge. But afterwards by the meanes of Gilbert de Clare, who fortified both the walles thereof and the castles adjoining, it was freed from these miseries; and being once eased of all grievances, and in security enduring afterwards more easily from time to time the tempests of warre and all assaults.

[…]

Neere unto this Citie on the Eastside liethCantred Bichan, that isThe lesse Hundred(for the Britans terme a portion of land that containeth 100 villages aCantred), in which, beside the ruins of Careg Castle, situate upon a rocke rising on every side steepe and upright, there are many under-mines or caves of very great widenesse within the ground, now covered all over with green-sord and turfe, wherein it is thought the multitude unable to beare armes hid themselves during the heate of warre.

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But on the North-east side there stretcheth it selfe a great way outCantred Maur, that is,The great hundred, a most safe refuge for the Britans in times past, as being thicke set with woods, combersome to travaile in by reason the waies are intricate by the windings in and out of the hils. Southward stand Talcharn and Lhan-Stephan Castles upon rockes of the Sea, which are most notable witnesses of martiall valour and proesse as well in the English as in the Welsh. Beneath Talcharn, Taff sheddeth it selfe into the Sea, by the side whereof was in times past that famousTwy Gwn ar taf, that isThe white house upon the river Taf, because it was built of white hazels for a summer house, where in the yeere of our redemption 914 Hoel, surnamedDha, that is is,Good, Prince of Wales, in a frequent assembly of his States (for there met there, besides others, of the Cleargie one hundred and fortie), abrogated the ancient ordinances and established new lawes for his subjects, as the Prooeme to the very lawes themselves doe witnesse. In which place afterward a little Abbay named White Land was built. Not farre from whence is Killmayn Lhoyd, where of late daies certaine country people hapned upon an earthen vessell, in which was hourded a mighty deale of Romaine coine of embased silver … Now it remaineth that I should relate how upon the river Tivy that separateth this County from Cardiganshire, there standeth New-castle (for so they call it at this day) … before time it was named Elmelin. Which name, …the Englishmen gave unto it of elme-trees.

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PENBROKSHIRE

First and formost upon the shore descending Southward, Tenby, a proper fine towne well governed by a Major, and strongly walled toward the land, looketh down into the sea from a drie cliffe, very famous because it is a commodious road for ships, and for abundance also of fish there taken, whereupon in the British tongue it is calledTenby-y-Piscoid, and hath for Magistrates a Maior and a Bailiffe.

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From hence runneth the shore along not many miles continuate, but at length the land shrinketh backe on both sides giving place unto the sea, which, encroching upon it a great way, maketh the haven which the Englishmen call Milford haven, than which there is not another in all Europe more noble or safer, such variety it hath of nouked bayes, and so many coves and creekes for harbour of ships, wherewith the bankes are on every side indented… For, to make use of the mariners words and their distinct termes, there are reckoned within in 16 Creekes, 5 Baies, and 13 Rodes, knowen every one by their severall names. Neither is this haven famous for the secure fastnesse thereof more than for the arrivall therein of King Henrie the Seventh … Upon the innermore and East creeke of this haven, in the most pleasant country of all Wales, standeth Penbroke the Shire-towne, one direct street upon a long narrow point, all rock, and a forked arme of Milford haven ebbing and flowing close to the Towne walles on both sides. It hath a Castle, but now ruinate, and two Parish-churches within the walles, and is incorporate of a Maior, Balives and Burgesses.

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Upon another creeke also of this haven, Carew Castle sheweth it selfe, which gave both name and originall to the notable family de Carew.

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Into this have there discharged themselves, with their out-lets joined almost in one, two rivers, which the Britans tearmeGledawh, that is, if you interpret it, Swords, whereupon themselves use to tearme itAber du gledhaw, that is,The outlet of two swords.

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That tract was inhabited by Flemings out of the Lowcountries, who by the permission of King Henrie the First were planted heere when the Ocean, by making breaches in the bankes, had overwhelmed a great part of the said Low-countries. These are distinctly knowen still from the Welsh, both by their speech and manners, and so neere joined they are in society of the same language with Englishmen, who come nighest of any nation to the low Dutch tongue, that this their little country is tearmed by the Britans Little England beyond Wales.

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By the more westward of these two rivers is Harford West, called by the Englishmen in times past Haverford, and by the BritansHulphord, a faire towne and of great resort, situat upon an hil side, having scarce one even street, but is steepe one way or another, which, being a County by it self, hath for magistrates a Major, a Sheriff, and two Baliffs. The report goeth that the Earles of Clare fortified it with rampier and wall on the North side, and wee read that Richard Earle of Clare made Richard Fitz-Tancred Castellan of this Castle.

Beyond Ros, there shooteth out with a mighty front farre into the Western Ocean a great Promontorie, which Ptolomee called Ocltopitarum, the BritansPebidiaucandCandred Devi, we Saint Davids land. A stony, barraine, and unfruitfull ground … Devi, a most religious Bishop, translated the Archiepiscopall see from Isca Legionum into the most remote and farthest angle heereof, even to Menew or Menevia, which afterwards the Britains of his name calledTuy Devy, that isDevi his house, the SaxonsDavy S. Mynster, the Englishmen at this day Saint Davids, and was for a long time an Archbishops See. … What this Saint Davids was and what maner of thing in times past, a man can hardly tell, considering it hath beene so often by pirates raised. But now it is a very small and poore Citie, and hath nothing at all to make shew of but a faire Church dedicated to Saint Andrew and David, which, having beene many times overthrowen, Petre the Bishop, in the reigne of King John, and his successours erected in that forme which now sheweth, in the vale (as they tearme it) of Ros under the towne, and hard by it standeth the Bishops pallace, and faire houses of the Chaunter (who is next unto the Bishop, for there is no Dean heere), of the Chauncellor, Treasurer, and foure Archdeacons, who be of the number of the XXII Canons, all enclosed round within a strong and seemely wall, whereupon they call it the Close.

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A noble kinde of falcons have their Airies here and breed in the rocks, which King Henry the Second, as the same Giraldus writeth, was wont to prefer before al others. For of that kinde are those, if the inhabitants thereby doe not deceive mee, which the skilful faulconers call Peregrines … But from this promontorie, as the land draweth backward, the sea with great violence and assault of waters inrusheth upon a little region called Keimes, which is reputed a Barony. In it standeth, first, Fishgard, so called in English of the taking of fish, in BritishAber-gwain, that is,The mouth of the river Gwain, situate upon a steepe cliff, where there is a very commodious harbour and road for ships. Then Newport at the foote of an high mountaine by the river Neverns side, in BritishTref-draeth, i. e.The towne upon the sands …Who founded likewise Saint Dogmaels Abbay according to the order of Tours, by the river Tivy low in a vale environed with hils, unto which the Borrough adjoyning (as many other townes unto Monasteries) is beholden for the original thereof.

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More inward, upon the river Tivy aforesaid is Kilgarran, which sheweth the reliques of a castle built by Girald, but being at this day reduced unto one only street, it is famous for nothing else but the most plentifull fishing of Salmon. For there have you that notable Salmon Leap, where the river from on high falleth downright, and the Salmons from out of the Ocean, coveting to come up further into the river, when they meet with this obstacle in the way, bend backe their taile to the mouth, otherwhiles also to make a greater leap up hold fast their taile in the mouth, and as they unloose them selves from such a circle, they give a jirke, as if a twig bended into a rondle were sodainly let go, and so with the admiration of the beholders mount and whip themselves aloft from beneath.

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CARDIGANSHIRE

The river Tivy, which Ptolomee calleth Tuerobius, but corruptly in steed ofDwy-Tivius, that is,The river Tivy, issueth out of the poole Lin-Tivy, beneath the hils whereof I spake before: first combred, as it were, with stones in the way, and rumbling with a great noise without any chanel, and so passeth through a very stony tract (nere unto which at Rosse the mountainers keepe the greatest faire for cattaile in all those parts), untill it come to Strat-fleur, a monastery long since of the Cluniack monks, compassed about with hils. From thence, being received within a chanel, it runneth downe by Tregaron and Lhan-Devi-brevi, built and so named in memoriall of David Bishop of Menevia, where he in a frequent Synode refuted the Pelagian heresie springing up againe in Britaine, both by the holy scriptures and also by a miracle, while the earth whereon hee stood as he preached arose up under his feete, by report, to a hillock. Thus farre and somewhat farther also Tivy holdeth on his course Soutward to Lan-Beder a little mercate towne. From hence Tivie, turning his streame Westward, carith a broader chanell, and maketh that Salmons Leape whereof I spake ere while.

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Scarce two miles from hence standeth upon a steepe banke Cardigan, which the Britans nameAber-tivy, that is,Tivy-mouth, the shire towne, strongly fortified.

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From Tibv mouth the shore gently giveth back, and openeth for itself the passage of many riverets, among which in the upper part of this shire … being called in common speach Ystwith: at the head whereof are veines of lead, and at the mouth the towne Aber-y-stwith, the most populous and plentuous place of the whole shire … At the same mouth also the river Ridol dischargeth it self into the Irish sea. This river, descending out of Plinlimon, an exceeding steepe and high hill that encloseth the North part of this shire, and powreth out of his lap those most noble rivers Severn and Wy, whereof I have already often spoken. And not much above Y-stwith mouth the river Dev, that serveth in steed of a limite betweene this and Merionithshire, is lodged also within the sea.

MONTGOMERYSHIRE

Five miles hence, the Hil Plinlimon, whereof I spake, raiseth it selfe up to a wonderfull height, and on that part where it boundeth one side of this shire, it powreth forth Sabrina, the greatest river in Britaine next to Thamis, which the Britains tearmeHaffren, and Englishmen Severn.

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This river immediatly from his spring head maketh such a number of windings in and out in his course that a man would thinke many times he returns againe to his fountaine, yet for all that hee runneth forward, or rather slowly wandereth through this Shire …, it being overshadowed with woods, after much strugling hee getteth out Northward by Lanidlos, Trenewith or Newtowne, and Caer-fuse, which, as they say, is both ancient and enjoieth also ancient priviledges, and not farre from his East banke leaveth behind him the Castle and towne of Montgomery upon the rising of a rocke, having a pleasant plaine under it.

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Hard by this, Corndon Hill mounteth up to a very great height, in the top whereof are placed certaine stones in a round circle like a coronet, whence it taketh that name, in memoriall as it should seeme of some victorie. A little higher, Severn glideth downe byTrellin, that is,The towne by a poole, whereupon it is called Welch Poole in English. It hath a Castle joining unto it on the South-side, called Castle Coch of a kind of reddish stone wherewith it is built, which within the compasse of one wall containeth two Castles, the one belonged to the Lord of Powis, the other to the Baron Dudley.

MERIONETHSHIRE

The inhabitants, who for most part wholy betake themselves to breeding and seeding of cattaile, and live upon white meates, as butter, cheese &c. (however Strabo mocked our Britans in times past as unskilfull in making cheese) are for stature, cleere complexion, goodly feature and lineaments of body, inferiour to no nation in Britaine, but they have an ill name among their neighbours for being so forward in the wanton love of women, and that proceeding from their idlenesse.

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Where the river Avon runneth downe more Westward there is Dolegethle a little mercat town, so called of the vale wherein it is built. Hard by the sea in the little territory named Ardudwy, the castle Arlech, in times past named Caer Colun, standeth advanced upon a very steepe rock and looketh downe into the sea from aloft, which being built, as the inhabitants report, by King Edward the First, tooke name of the situation. ForArlechin the British tongue signifieth as much asupon a Stony rocke… A little higher, in the verie confines of the shires, two notable armes of the sea enbosom thermselves within the land,Traith MaurandTraith Bachan, that is,the Greater wash, and the Lesse.And not farre from hence neere unto a little village called Fastineog, there is a street or Port-way paved with stone, that passeth through these combersome and, in manner, unpassable mountaines. Which, considering that the Britans name itSarn Helen, that is,Helens street, it is not to bee thought but that Helena mother to Constantine the Great, who did many such like famous workes throughout the Roman Empire, laied the same with stone.

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In the East side of this shire the river Dee springeth out of two fountaines, whence some thinke it tooke the name, for they call itDwy, which word importeth also among themthe number of two(although others would needes have it so termed of some Divinity, others of the blacke colour), and forthwith passeth entier and whole through Lhinteged, in Engish Pimble-Meare and Plenlin-meare, a lake spreding far in length and breath, and so runneth out of it with as a great a streame as it entred in. For neither shal a man see in Dee the fishes calledguiniad, which are peculiar to the Meare, nor yet Salmons in the Meare, which neverthelesse are commonly taken in the river.

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On the browe or edge hereof standeth Bala, a little towne endowed with many immunities, but peopled with few inhabitants, and as rudely and unhandsomely built, neverthelesse it is the chiefe mercate towne for these mountainers.

CAERNARVONSHIRE

Nature hath loftily areared it up farre and nere with mountaines standing thick one by another, as if she would here have compacted the joints of this Island within the bowells of the earth, and made this part thereof a most sure place of refuge for the Britans in time of adversitie. For there are so many roughes and rocks, so many vales full of woods, with pooles heere and there crossing over them, lying in the way betweene, that no armie, nay not so much as those that are lightly appointed, can finde passage. A man may truely, if hee please, terme these mountaines the British Alpes: for, besides that they are the greatest of the whole Island, they are no lesse steepe also with cragged and rent rockes on every side than the Alpes of Italie, yea and all of them compasse one mountaine round about, which over-topping the rest so towreth up with his head aloft in the aire as hee may seeme not to threaten the skie, but to thrust his head up into heaven. And yet harbour they the Snow, for all the yeere long they bee hory with snow, or rather with an hardened crust of many snowes felted together. Whence it is that all these hilles are in British by one name termedCraig Eriry, in English Snow-don, which in both languages sound as much asSnowye Mountaines …Neverthelesse, so ranke are they with grasse that it is a very comon speech among the Welsh, that the mountaines Eriry will yeeld sufficient pasture for all the cattaile in Wales, if they were put upon them together. Concerning the two Meare on the toppe of these, in the one of which floteth a wandering Island, and in the other is found great store of fishes, but having all of them but one eye apeece … certaine it is that there bee in the very top of these mountains pooles indeed and standing waters.

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But come wee downe now from the mountaines into the champian plaines, which because wee finde no where else but by the sea side, it may suffice to coast onely along the shore. The Promontory … that the inhabitants name it at this dayLhein, … runneth forth with a narrow and even by-land, having larger and more open fields than the rest of the Country, and the same yeelding barley most plentuously. Two little townes it sheweth, and no more, that are memorable. Farther within upon the creeke isPullhely, that is,that salt Meare or Poole.More outward, by the Irish sea (that beateth upon the other side of the Biland) is Nevin, a village having a mercate kept in it.

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From Nevin the shore, pointed and endented with one or two elbowes lying out into the sea, tendeth Northward, and then, turning afront North-east, by a narrow sea or Firth (they call itMenai), it severeth the Isle of Anglesey from the firme land. … It tooke the name of a river running by the side of it, which yet at this day is called Seiont, and issueth out of the poole Lin-Peris. In which there is a kinde of fish peculiar to that water … King Edward the First[,] [w]ho out of the ruines of this towne at the same time raised the Citie Caer-narvon somewhat higher upon the rivers mouth, so as that on the West and North-sides it is watered therewith. Which, as it was calledCaer-narvonbecause it standeth right over against the Island Mona (for so much doth the word import), so it hath communicated that name unto the whole Country, for heereupon the English men call it Caer-narvonshire. This is encompassed with a verie small circuite of walles about it and in manner round, but the same exceeding strong, and to set it the better out, sheweth a passing faire Castle which taketh up the whole West side of it. The private buildings (for the manner of that Country) are sightly enough, and the inhabitants for their courtesie much commended … About seven miles hence by the same narrow sea standeth Bangor or Banchor low seated, enclosed on the south side with a mountaine of great height, on the North with a little hill. … The Church was consecrated unto Daniel sometime Bishop thereof, but that which now standeth is of no especiall faire building. For Owen Glendoverdwy … set it on fire … and defaced the ancient Church, which albeit Henry Deney Bishop of the same repaired about the time of King Henry the Seventh, yet it scarcely recovered the former dignity. Now the towne is small, but in times past so large that for the greatnesse thereof it was calledBanchor Vaur, that is,Great Banchor, and Hugh Earle of Chester fortified it with a Castle, whereof I could finde no footings at all, though I sought them with all diligent inquiry. But that castle was situate upon the verie entry of the said narrow sea.

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From thence the shore, raising itself with a bending ascent, runneth on byPennaen-maur, that isthe great stony head, a very exceeding high and steep rock, which, hanging over the sea when it is floud, affourdeth a very narrow path way for passengers, having on the one side huge stones over their heads, as if they were ready to fall upon them, on the other side the raging Ocean lying of a wonderfull steepe depth under it. But after a man hath passed over this, together withPen-maen bychan, that is,the lesser stony head, he shall come to an open broad plaine that reacheth as farre as to the river Conwey, which limiteth this shore on the East side. … For a very smal and poore village standing among the rubbish thereof is calledCaer hean, that is,the ancient City.Out of the spoile and ruines whereof King Edward the First built a new towne at the very mouth of the river, which thereupon they callAber-Conwey,that is,the Mouth of Con-wey, which place Hugh of Chester had before time fortified. But this New Conovium or Aber-Conwey, being strongly situated and fensed both with wals and also with a very proper castle by the rivers side, deserveth the name rather of a pety City than of a towne, but that it is not replenished with inhabitants.

Opposite unto this towne, and yet on this side of the river, which is passed by ferry and not by bridge, reacheth out a huge Promontory with a bending elbow (as if nature purposed to make there a road and harbour for ships), which is also counted part of this shire and is named Gogarth, wherein stood Diganwy, an ancient City just over the river Conwey, where it issueth into to the sea, which was burnt many yeeres ago with lightning.

MONA INSULA SIVE ANGLESEY

This Isle, called of the RomansMona, of the BritansMonandTir-Mon, that isthe land of Mon, andYnis Dowil, that is,A shadowy or darke Iland, of the ancient Anglo-SaxonsMoneg, and at last, after that the Englishmen became Lords of it,Engles-eaandAnglesey, as one would say,The Englishmens Iland, being severed from the continent of Britaine with the small narrow streight of Menai, and on all parts besides beatten upon with that surging and troublous Irish sea … In cattaile also it is passing rich, and sendeth out great multitudes. It yeeldeth also grind-stones, and in some place an earth standing upon Alum, out of which some not long since beganne to make Alum and Coperose. But when they saw it not answerable to their expectation at first, without any further hope they gave over their enterprise.

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The next town in name to Beau-Marish is Newburg, called in BritishRossur, standing ten miles off Westward, which having bin a long time greatly annoyed with heaps of sand driven in by the sea, complaineth that it hath lost much of the former state that it had. Aber-fraw is not far from hence, which is now but an obscure and meane towne, yet in times past it excelled all the rest farre in worth and dignity, as having beene the Royall seat of the Kings of Guineth or North-wales. And in the utmost Promontorie Westward, which wee call Holy-head, there standeth a little poore towne, in British Caer-Guby, so named of Kibie, a right holy man and a disciple of S. Hilarie of Poitiers, who therein devoted himselfe to the service of God, and from whence there is an usuall passage over into Ireland. All the rest of this Iland is well bespred with villages, which because they have in them nothing materially memorable, I will crosse over into the Continent and view Denbighshire.

DENBIGHSHIRE