Page images
PDF
EPUB

been so unjustly taken from him. But this was not all. He had long witnessed the miseries of his country, smarting, as it was, under the tyrannic yoke of England, and he determined if possible to break this yoke, and restore Wales to her ancient independence. Besides, he most heartily detested the usurper Bolingbroke; for he was ardently attached to his unfortunate predecessor, and had served him in weal and woe with the most affectionate and unremitting fidelity. There was yet another, and a powerful, incitement. Owain was a lineal descendant from the Royal House of Wales, and the sceptre of the Principality might be the reward of his valour. It was a splendid prize, well worth a contest. And England and Wales were soon involved in one of the most disastrous civil wars, which ever shook the stability of the English throne. Long and eagerly did the Welsh contend for the recovery of their rights, and, although they were considered in the outset as a puny barefooted rabblet, they speedily proved themselves the worthy inheritors of their fathers' heroic patriotism and sturdy valour. But the strong arm of England finally prevailed, and the Welsh were cast into a state of deep and merciless bondage, from which they did not emerge till the union of their country with England. But, notwithstanding the illsuccess of Glyndwr, his undaunted spirit was unbroken and unsubdued to the last; and the English Monarch (Henry Fifth) did not deem it derogatory to his dignity to propose to him terms of mutual accommodation. Death, however, put an end to all the hero's enterprises, and, although more than four centuries have elapsed since he fought the battles of his country, the fame of his gallant achievements still lives unfaded in the breasts of his admiring countrymen.-Well, indeed, may we say of him :

And he was once the glory of his age,

with every virtue

Of civil life adorned, in arms excelling.
His only blot was, that, too much provoked,

He raised his vengeful arm against his sovereign.

* Glyndwr adhered to the cause of Richard the Second till the very last, and was taken prisoner with him in Flint Castle. He was knighted by this monarch, and appointed his scutiger, or body-squire. When Richard was deposed, he retired to Wales, where he resided till provoked to rebellion by Lord Grey.

+ The Bishop of St. Asaph recommended in Parliament that measures somewhat less severe should be adopted with regard to Owain Glyndwr, and his partisans. He was answered by one of the English Peers in these words, 'de de illis scurris nudipedibus NON curare.”

It was a lovely evening when we stood on the mount where the Cambrian Patriot dwelt of yore; and the birds, as they nestled in the oaken boughs above us, carolled in gladness their grateful song to the departed day. We sat down on one of the stones, which had perhaps formed a part of the chieftain's mansion, and indulged ourselves with one of those delightful reveries, which the serenity of the evening, the extreme beauty of the fertile dell, and the romantic associations, connected with it, were so well calculated to inspire. Here in this very spot (I thought) dwelt the heroic and spirited Glyndwr. Here did he exercise those hospitable rites, which so well became the Welsh Knight, and the man of goodly substance. Here was it that the first sparks of that valour were kindled, which burnt so fiercely ere they were quenched for ever! Here, perhaps, were witnessed those signs, which are said to have ushered the Patriot into the world, the "fiery shapes" in the heavens, the "frighted flocks and herds"—and all those portents which marked him extraordi nary. And here was raised the voice of mourning and woe, when death conquered that spirit which man could never conquer! And where are the tangible signs of his existence ?—Alas! there are none in the secret valley of the Dee. His bones, with those of his brave warriors, have long since mouldered into dust, his mansion has fallen to the ground, and his fair domains are enjoyed by others. Yet the green hills surround the valley as they were wont, the verdant meads put on their gay attire in spring, and lose it again in autumn, and the river still glides on, uncon⚫ scious of its vicinity to a spot so dear to the memory of the mountain peasant of Cambria. And thus it ever is: the stupendous and beautiful mechanism of Nature is not deranged by individual misfortune. "When I reflect," observes an elegant writer, "what an inconsiderable atom every single man is, with respect to the whole creation, methinks it is a shame to be concerned at the removal of such a trivial animal as I am. The morning after my exit the sun will rise as bright as ever, the flowers smell as sweet, the plants spring as green, the world will proceed in its old course, people will laugh as heartily, and marry as fast, as they were used to do. The memory of man (as it is elegantly expressed in the Wisdom of Solomon) passeth away as the remembrance of a guest that tarrieth but one day."

R.

LETTERS ON RADNORSHIRE.

LETTER I.

To the EDITOR of the CAMBRO-BRITON.

SIR,-Among all the different counties of the Principality, it may be affirmed, that perhaps not one is less noticed by our tourists, nor more generally slighted, than the county of Radnor. Its population, it is true, is slender, its towns and villages small, its antiquities and mansions not numerous, and a great part of the country sterile and uninteresting, Its inhabitants are not bold and enterprising, nor have they to boast of their ancient warriors, such as the Gams, the Tudors, the Vaughans. It has lost its ancient language and thereby its connexion with other parts of Wales, and it is greatly deficient in not being properly intersected with good roads. For want of completing the road from Newtown to Llandrindod, the conveyance from the Wye to the Severn is interrupted, whereas, by remedying that defect, there might be a direct carriage road from the Bristol Channel through Brecon, Builth, Newtown, &c. to Chester.

Radnorshire, for the most part, once pertained to the province of Powys, and is within the diocese of St. David's, with the exception of six parishes in that of Hereford. In having for the most part entirely lost the Welsh language, it forms an anomaly among the other counties of Wales; though there are districts of Montgomeryshire, Denbighshire, and Flintshire, in the north, and of Glamorgan and Pembroke in the south, where the Welsh language is not now spoken; and we may add Monmouthshire, which is foolishly called an English county. Yet even in the last named county there are tracts, where the inhabitants are still tenacious of the ancient language of Arthur's court, and retain the bold character of the old Silurians.

But this county is far from being uninteresting in all its tracts. On the banks of the Wye, and the Teme, it exhibits fine pasture lands, and nothing can exceed the fertility and pleasantness of the country on the south of the forest of Radnor. As to bold and striking features, this county is not destitute, whether we look to the banks of the Wye, which divide it from Brecknockshire, the grand scenery of the forest, or the varied hills which overlook the Teme. The artist need not complain for a want of subjects for the pencil. The Stanner rocks between Radnor and Kington are

grand and romantic; but from the summit of the forest he, that has an eye to see nature, and a heart to feel the pleasures of the sublime, may feast the senses in the most delightful manner, with the distant view of mountain over mountain. In ascending from Llanvihangel, you seem to leave behind a grotesque set of inferior hills while you mount to the summit, and on your right you have hollows, vales, and eminences, surmounted at a distance with a still loftier region of hills and mountainous tracts, until you gain the height, and Cadair Arthur, or the Brecknock Beacons, then shews itself in the clouds. Looking westward and northward, you see some of the proudest fortresses and garrisons of Nature's kingdom, and in a different direction the Malvern Hills, dividing the counties of Hereford and Worcester, may But, besides the distant views, the traveller cannot fail being struck with the singular waterfall, called Waterbreak-its-neck. The dreadful chasm, which nature has there formed, and judged to be 70 feet high, is bold and precipitous, so that, when the stream is copious, the appearance is awfully grand. The wild shrubbery growing out of the pendant rocks, which break the continuity of this waterfall, and the breadth, as well as height, of the chasm gives the whole a variegated as well as tremendous aspect; but I desist from any farther attempt at describing a scene, which imposes on the fancy a mingled sensation of terror and delight.

be seen.

The character of the people of this country is in general unassuming, modest, and inoffensive. They possess not indeed much of the fire and ardour of the Cambrian.

Their manners
There are few
As to their

are civilized, and rather tame than enterprizing. resident gentlemen, and a central town is wanted. agriculture, there is more pasturage than tillage, and some parts of the county are productive of excellent cattle. As the principal road from Worcester and Hereford to Aberystwith lies through Radnorshire, that promises some advantage to the country. Llandrindod waters might be rendered of more utility to the inhabitants, and more serviceable to the public, if more generally known; but the uninviting appearance of the vicinity, and the want of those attractions, found in other watering places, will continue to prevent this spot from being a place of general resort. The exertions of a few public spirited men would conduce much to the improvement of this neighbourhood, especially as there is some reason to believe, that beds of coal might be discovered. A few plantations would prove both an ornament and shelter to

the country. In attempts of this kind a proper example has been set in the contiguous county of Montgomery worthy of imitation. I shall defer any farther notice of Radnorshire until my next. IEUAN AP BRYCHAN.

LETTER II.

To the EDITOR of the CAMBRO-BRITON.

SIR,-Among the principal antiquities of Radnorshire may be considered that territorial boundary, called Offa's Dyke, being attributed to that powerful prince, Offa, king of Mercia, whose territories extended to Shropshire and Herefordshire, comprising also Staffordshire, Warwickshire, Leicestershire, and Nottinghamshire. He had frequent conflicts with the Welsh, and, either by compulsion or treaty, the rampart, we are speaking of, was thrown up, and of which we have evident remains on the borders of Herefordshire, Radnorshire, and Shropshire, pretty nearly marking the present division of the counties. It is very conspicuous, being not much wasted by the lapse of time, for some miles crossing the hill from the Teme side to Newcastle, in Shropshire, and from thence along the edge of that county, and that of Montgomeryshire, over the Long Mountain to Oswestry, from whence anciently it went near to Wrexham, not far from which town, on the Ruthin road, is Adwy'r Clawdd, a memorial of its existence as we are apt to think. There is no plain vestige of it through Flintshire; but the common assertion of our antiquaries makes it complete, from the mouth of the Wye in Monmouthshire, to the estuary of the Dee in Flintshire. But, on the one hand, I believe it cannot be traced in Monmouthshire, and the supposed extremity of it northward has been confounded with another similar work, called Watt's Dyke. As this mound was raised by the Mercian king to serve as the boundary of his domains, it probably terminated with the Wye somewhere between Hereford and Willersley southward, and on the borders of Denbighshire northward, where the Dee flows between that county and Shropshire, or near to its bounds. If any of your readers can correct me, it would give me pleasure to be set right where I labour under any misapprehension*.

Offa's Dyke is now generally presumed to terminate in the township of Treuddin, in the parish of Mold, Flintshire, not far from the borders of Denbighshire. See Vol. i. of the CAMBRO-BRITON, p. 137.-ED.

« PreviousContinue »