| ID: | 0010 [see the .xml file] |
|---|---|
| Identifier: | British Library Add. MS 37926 |
| Editors: | Edited with an introduction by Elizabeth Edwards |
| Cite: | 'Frances Crewe, ‘Welch Journal’ ' edited with an introduction by Elizabeth Edwards in Curious Travellers Digital Editions [editions.curioustravellers.ac.uk/doc/0010] |
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Welch Journal Aust 20th 1795
Addressed to the Honble Miss Fox
Wrexham Thursday
Left Crewe Hall this Morning after Breakfast stopped to dine at Chester, & arrived here this Evening to drink Tea with Miss Hayman, found her very well disposed towards an Excursion into Merionethshire & she & Emma & I have agreed to set off together tomorrow in the open Chaise & to go as far as Dolegelly & Barmouth if we can –
Langollen Friday -
Breakfasted here this day, but shall not stop to look about us, as we wish to lose no time, & know that this place is always within our reach – have sent a Civil Message to the HermitLadies with appologies for not Calling –
Same day Corwen
This Village is famous for being one of the Places where the Eistedfod (or the meeting of the Bards) 1 were held in former days, we have passed through a beautiful Valley, but our weather has not been favourable for views, tho it has shown us the waterfalls in great perfection –
Same day Bala
The road we have gone this day has been rough & hilly, & as there are no fences on the Edges of the Rocks, no one should venture it in the dark, the approach to this Town is very pretty & the lake on which it stands
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& through which the River dee runs, is said to be four miles long & rather more than half a mile Broad, but from the little I have seen of it yet, its Banks appear to want wood – this lake belongs to Sir W. Williams & is famous for a fish in it called the Gwenard ^Gwiniart23 which is to be found no where else – The Inns are boath full at preasant but we are lodged at a Gentlemans house -Saturday 2, O Clock
we are still at Bala, for one of our Horses fell down Yesterday & hurt his knee so much that the Coachman is fearful of Venturing on to day, there are no post horses here, & if we lose one whole day out of the short time we have for our Journey we shall never see Cader Idris which is my Great ambition!
Same day 4, O Clock
after much deleberation & consultation & many wise Plans ^adopted by us all & the minute after rejected, we came to a resolution of sending for post Horses from Corwen, & keeping them as long as we wanted them while our own should remain here to recover their fatigues, the sun now begins to shine again the dinner is Getting Ready & we hope to arrive at Dolegelly this Evening before dark Miss Hayman tells me we must absolutely go as far as Barmouth for that the
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Drive to that place is perfection itself we are it seems to wind round the bottoms of some hills along the sea side which will
serve as a good contrast to the Clouds we past through yesterday, I have been amusing myself by asking Questions of the
Inn keeper & Attendants of this house
concerning the Traditions of this County, the Common people here all talk of their Old Chieftains with pleasure &
Owen Glendowes Exploits & achievment, remain just as much in the memories of the people of
North-Wales as the Great Duke of Malbro’s do in ^ours
[...] Indeed his Bard (Iolo Gosth - sic) was a more
animated panegyrist than [...] Adison
whose poem was to be said & not sung like the poems of
these parts -
Dolegelly Saturday Evng
Our post Horses arrived at Bala at about five O Clock & we sat off tantivy6 for this Curious Town where we mean to rest to night, we have had a most Enchanting drive & stopped to get out and walk sometimes and Miss Hayman & Emma could not resist taking some of the views, we came to the source of the Dee, it rises near a Rock on the Right side of the Road, & they say in this Country, that its rapidity is so great that it runs through Bala lake without mixing with its waters and from this Retains its Black Peer colour so long, but this many do not believe, this Town is 18 Miles from Bala & stands at the foot of lofty Cader Idris
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"“In a Maze; “Lost I gaze. “Can our Eyes; “Reach thy size!7
+ Mr. Penant asserts that this Mountain is 950 yards in height at one point – it contains one Lake - Snowdon two8
Seariously this Mountaini9
beats every thing I ever saw since I was a Child, in Italy! it is true I have seen
snowdon at a distance, but then that stands in a Range of other Mountains
& it seems that it is its highest point ^only that beats this, & in all
Snowdonia there are no Rocks so uniformly high as this Guigantic
[...] one! the Road as been very good all the way, & the Horses of this Country
are so sure footed, that they Venture to Gallop where our Horses I think would only attempt a fair sound pace, we passed through
Glendowry Vale ^(between Langollen & Corwen)
which many persons admire still more than Langollen Vale & Connoiseuese in prospects
prefer it from it being terminated by so sublime an object as Cader Idris for a
Back Ground, but Comparisions, if they are not odious, are at least troublesome,
& I am sure it is better policy to suppose two objects to be perfect instead of one, they have certainly quite distinct Characters, – for in
Langollen the mountains are not so high, but they are much more Cultivated,
Glendowery vale reminded me in wild parts of it, of some hills I have seen in
Derbyshire & Langollen of the
County of Vilklow about the [...]
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Douglas, & [...]
but each of them are more Romantic to My Eyes than any part of Derbyshire
I have ever seen except Matlock & in short you may if you will, consider them as the
Sachrafisa & Ameret of the wild Dingles Dell &
Alley Greens that we have lately gone through – we have heard nothing but welch harps
& welch Language since we left Corwen,ii
we stopped at a halfway house which seemed to be as old as the hills, & the sign over the door was picture
of Howel Dha, their Great law giver of the 10th
Century – you must pronounce the last syllable of his name as if it where TH remember & not DA as it is pronounced with us –
we passed by a nother Inn, in a nother wild part, & an old
Druid was the sign here, the Modern minstre^ls take good care to Cherish the memory of former times – nothing is more
chearful nor yet more melancholy than to be greeted as one is at every Inn by venerable blind men who play airs of
the Country, as wild, & yet as harmonious as the beauties they are deprived from seeing! we met droves
of Cattle & when we desired the Postilian to ask wither they were going, the Answer was to
England this was one of many small
occurrances which reminded me to day of being in a foreign Country & indeed in many respects it is very different,
the Maners, the Language, the music are all new now; we have seen a great Quantity of Goats & a large flock came down to the road side while some young Cattle were grazing on
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Green patches in the Rocks – I could not help watching their dexterity, & asked the postilion if ever it happened that ^any of them fell from their vaste heights & met with accidents, he said no, they never did, but that poor sheep often broke their necks by falling down from Rock to Rock, & yet I am sure we saw sheep & cows & people too, who appeared to skip about the craggy places in as Masterly a manner as the Goats, we saw a very Romantic Bridge thrown over the River which rises near the Source of the Dee, and runs thro this Town of Dolegelly, the country seems well cultivated up this Valley, & most part of it I understood belongs to Sir R Vaughn whose house is a few miles from here – his libery still contains Manuscripts of the 6th Century when prince Arthur fought, & Talliesan wrote and from which time, to the beginning of the wars of York & Lancaster there where no Poets of such note; but all this you may Read of in Mr Renart Mr Jones Mr Evans & many more antiquarians who have collected information ^from this & other Libraries, for as Montangne says, Je N’enseigne point je raconte,12 & so I shall now resume my pribbles & my prabbles about wales - This Inn is not unlike many German Inns I have seen, the Room we sit in is rather long than other wise, but it has bare walls, the chambers are what some persons I know would not like much to occupie, but we are well paid by what we have already seen, for a few small Inconveniences & after all fatigue is often as good as sauce for sleep, as hunger is for food.f. 136r
Balls have sometimes been given in this very Room, & During the Assizes13
a few years ago, the Expences of one Ball were defrayed for a few shillings and till the new Irish road by Shrewsbury
14
was made no^few English persons were ever known to stray as far as this!
& the inhabitants of wales about Wrexham say that it was even surprising
there to here of the Excessive Cheapness of provisions in this Neighbourhood, we have looked at the
Church15
& Church Yard since we arived, the first is a small old Building without pews in it with a Gallery above stairs, & Benches below, the
last contains several Tombstones some of which they call Cromlecks Erected one upon another rather in the
Stowhenge fashion,^as a few stones support one large one on the top, the Grandest Monuments we saw were those of
Sir R Vaughns Ancesters T^he Nanny Family &
as the Name of his Estate & Place is Nanny, I conclude that Goats which were calld Nanny Goats
first came from hence, & this conjecture rather amuses me, because I till now always thought People said Nanny Goats
as they say Baa lambs or Moo Cows to please Children in a Namby Pamby way –
Saturday 10, O Clock at Night
At about 8, O Clock very soon after we had viewed the Church & Tombstones our Curiosity led us to strole up into some Part of our Mountain, & as the Evening was fine we were out so long as to alarm the Servants for our safety
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& when we returned to our Inn the Landlady (who is an English woman) told us they were gone different ways in search of us, but it was quite impossible to return home while we had a Glimpse of Remaining light; I am sure that unless you were used to such scenes as these, you can have no conception of what we beheld this Evening; Shakespears dover cliff View,16 has no resemblance to it, for we did not climb far Enough to produce the sort of ^giddy sensation which more height Gives, but all was awful & tremendous that we viewed, & the very winds blew in sounds Quite new to me: we rested sometimes in sort of Landing places, from which we heard Caskades below, & which Miss Hayman & Emma walked out of my sight in search of the scented Gale17 which Grows about these hills & some times perfumes the air, I stood still to contemplate the whole scene around me, which I defy anyone to have observed for some Minutes, without great astonishment. Clouds where passingf. 137r
Evening was very common here, & that she had once seen a whole Vale Envelop’d by a fog which fog by degrees rose into the form of a Cloud, & settled over Barmouth the Cloud was illuminated by sunshine Extremely Bright, & as it rose the houses of the Town appeared one by one from under it, & while she saw all this, she was riding very Quitely with some friends on the opposite side the [...], you must know that I dont think I should like much to live in these topsy Turvy Countries, where nature makes such havoc with ones senses, & so often insults poor old Experience! we mean to rise the lark tomorrow & drive to Barmouth where it is possible we may see the Snowdonia or Carnarvon Range -Sunday -
our Journey to Barmouth answered very well, & our weather is now more beautiful than it has been yet –
Barmouth -
To a large Village in the Carnarvon^Cardigan
19 bay about 12 Miles from Dolegelly
the houses & Inns here are all built against a large Rock which Juts out upon the ocean, & many people think has a great Resemblance to
Gibralter, the Rock being almost perpendicular for a length of way behind ^the
buildings, we saw some Vessels of a Middling size in which we were told Wool & Flannels were shipped off from hence, &
the great Trade of this Country is woollen Manufactory, you see no women nor Children
who are not knitting, & it seems the men knit very much too, but I cannot say I saw more
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than one man employing himself so, & we all remarked it as a singularity they send all the work they do of this sort to [...] & Bala fairs & when we were at Bala we bought some of the Curious works it being Fair time then, & I got a pair of mens stockings for 10 pence which I shall keep as a Curiosity – but to return to our own Histories we had a very Charming drive along the Sea side for several Miles before we arived at Barmouth, & the Road which is lately made round the bottom of the Rocks is perfectly safe as well as good, the stone out of which it is cut is of a slaty Colour & we like wise saw a great Variety of Coloured Marbles scattered about the Ground when ever we took our walks & stopped to look about us, there are two or three Inn at Barmouth & we were carried to Breakfast at that which contains the largest Company for people live in the same manner heref. 138r
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many vowels occur to open the mouthiv 22 freely, & so as to Give Room for Emphasis & Energy in long sentences & there was a degree of Nature fervor, & yet decorum in the Responses from this simple Congregation as struck me to be particularly pleasing; the Church of this parish is two miles from the Inn where we were accommodated it is very old & pittoresque on the outside situated on a Rock near the sand we drove up on to it, & so high as to require many steps (now all broken) to help one up to it, it has a bell on the outside which I think gives a degree of Beauty to such rural Buildings, The Gentleman who officiated, was so good as Give his text in our Language as well as his own in compliment to us, but his foreign accent was so prevailing that I hardly think we should have understood him had we not known the verse in St. Luke, from which he preacht – & I understand that there are many Famelies still among the Gentry of North Wales who cannot speak one word of English, we saw an Island from the Church Yard which we were told afterwards was Barsey Island about 7 Miles off, it is 2 Miles in length & Contains one Village in which there are a few Inhabitants Chiefly fisherman, there are (I understand) some druid ruins on it which people sometimes go to look at, & like ^wise a pretty Chappel built in the early ages of Christianity, & still in good preservation; when we returned to our public Inn or rather public house we heard that dinner would be served in the Hall at 3 O Clock, that the Company would not be very numerous as several persons were just gone, but that we might eat good fish &f. 139
Mutton &ca to a tune on the Harp if we chose it at two shillings & four pence a head, wine Included, we then retired to rest about an hour in the heat of the day & about 3 O Clock heard a bell which summoned us to the Hall where we Joined the Company – the Table was far from being Crouded & would have held many more but we met with ^some very Conversith as well as odd persons of boath sexes, & among the odd was the famous Poetess ^of Litchfield Miss Seyward who I have no great Inclination to meet again tho for once, she was rather entertaining, she appeared to no longer young, but as if she had been rather handsome tho upon too large a scale, her manner & conversation are just what one often sees in professed blue stocking Ladies, affected helplessness, & affected pendantry, for her discourse always tasted of the Book she had read, & nothing Genuine, nothing engaging in what she said, her Enthusiasm seemed artificial when she described the Impressions which were made upon upon her mind; by the scenery around her, & her Epithets were all so Undiscriminating that I should think it must be impossible she should have much power of penetration in her understanding, you must know that I think nothing so soon betrayedf. 140r
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Spencer could not mistake about; & which he had placed in the [...] Rocks a few miles from thence, but which this Gentleman, Miss Hayman & several other persons at talk, assured her, took its rise from a Bogsome Miles farther off! Thus alass “Her doughty Giants all are slain or fled! "& all her Knights blue Green & dead!27 However (perhaps to My shame) I could still havef. 141v
in Jones's colection of Welch fragments I have looked at it since, but it is one of the few he has incerted without translation in the course of their conversation there was much said about meetings which are still in use here – called Pennils,vii or Pennillions,32 one had been held at this very Inn the Evening before last, & on those occasions its seems it is the Custom for every body in Company to sing a verse round the harp,Corwen Monday afternoon
we left Dolegelly early this morning & are baiting our horses here, our drive back from Barmouth to Dolegelly in the Evening was much [...] than we had in the Morning (as the tide was then low & there was
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a mist which almost obscured the Charming Vale we drove through & a great part of the high Range of Rocks on our left were Eclipsed by passing clouds tho the effect at intervals, was again wonderful, but it is dangerous to attempt descriptions of this sort, & one might almost as well attempt to describe the sounds which we have heard this last half hour from the delightful harper of this place now playing to Sir John Leicester & his Company at dinner in the Room adjoining – our horses are quite well again & we are travelling at our ease towards home we have now time Enough for all we mean to do, we might make our Journey a more regular Tour if we would, by Going through Ruthin bit I have not seen Langollen well in winter, & I like to look at some places twice & to enjoy them with repose sometimes, rather than to be always stunned by amazement & admiration as I have been lately! -Llangollen, Evening same day
We have had a bright Sunshine all this day & before we left Corwen we walked to look at the
Church & Church yard, they are boath much the handsomest we have seen yet, & they Contain antiquities of very great importance,
to so accurate & minute an observer as Mr Pennant36
but to ^mere Clod Pole travelers, who come after him
like ourselves who have no minds Eye like his, nothing but General Enthusiasm,
without patriotism to [...] ^inspire!
to us, very much is lost! the drive back from Dolegelly
tho full of Variety is not so good as to it, the View of the lake & approach to Bala
were better this way, but some [...] I think would Miss the Back Ground of
Cader Idris, a good deal of the Road to Corwen is rather [...]^dreary
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owing to the Tuberies which are very frequent all the way from thence to Dolegelly, & even disfigure the very magnificent road from thence to Barmouth, we have had a cheerful afternoon for the Glendowry Vale it is not possible to have seen it to Greater advantage, about 2 or 3 Miles from Corwen is the site of Glendowers Palace, a fine old wood on the opposite side which once was a part of his Extensive Park & Orchard, so much celebrated in welsh verse, & now belonging (I believe) to some of his descendants of the name of Owen who are in possession of this Estatef. 144r
“Three times did Henery Bolenbroke make head against my pow’rs – thrice on the banks of Roye & Sandy bottom’d severn, I sent him weather beaten back” but I am not sure I quote this passage right, as I cannot get at the Book this Minute39 – his talants as a Politician are as much remembered as if he had been successful in all his wars & he knew at least the Powers of Poetry & Minstrelsy over the“His Gallant actions still are told, “By Youthful Bards, by Druids old. “And grateful Cambrias songs."40
And his old Bard call’d Gruffdd who lived at this Court for many Years Pathetically laments him when he says –
“Thy sweet remembrance ever dear; “Thy name still usher’d by a tear, “My Inward anguish speak! “How could thou Cruel Owen go? “And leave the bitter tear to flow, “Down Gruffdd's furrowed cheek?41
And another time when hope is not quite lost, & that the poor old Bard strikes his loudest notes, he says –
“But terrible in war thou art “And swift & Certain is the dart “Thou hurlest at a Saxons heart.”42
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“Success & Victory are thine, “Owen Glendowry is divine;43
Sincs his age, however, no battels were ever fought between the Saxons & the Welch of any consequence,
& Libery for many years declined in proportion [...]^to her being
tyrannically sought for^after
Wrexham Tuesday Evng
Soon after our arrival at Langollen Town, we received a note from Lady Ealenor Butler, & Miss Ponsonby, (the two Hermit Ladies) to invite us to Breakfast with them this morning, accordingly about 9 O Clock we stroled on foot to their Beautiful Retreat, we found a Breakfast Ready, Compos’d of the best things of every sort, & we found a Daughter of Sir Roger Mostins & her husband Mr Chanres paying a Visit to those Hospital Ladies, for ^tho they live so secluded from the world themselves, & never Stir for any time together from this Romantic place, they are obliging & polite to all trave^llers who come recomended by their own old friends in Ireland, we walked over the whole of this little Paradise, & as we had the advantage of a Clear Morning, nothing could appear more Enchanting than the scenery around it, there is much of Corectness as well as Variety in all they have done, for they have preserved the Gothic taste through out, & not mixed it, as is so common with modern ornaments when they first Established themselves here about 16 years ago the Cottage Consisted of a parlour & Kitchen below stairs only, but by the addition of a library below & 2 or 3 small rooms
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it has been large Enough to Contain their Family, which I understand consists of 3 Servants besides one old female who fled hither with them & who has ever since been a faithful Housekeeper & Steward, the Town of Langollen Supplies them very well with the necessaries of life, & when they ever are visited by their friends from any Great distance, they procure good apartments for them at the Inn, It is but a few years however, & since the Shrewsbury road to Holy head was made they they ever had any Chance of seeing their Friends, I can remember well that a very short time ago no mortal liked to Venture by Langollen Roads & it is most certain that these Ladies lived at a distance from all society for a long time after they sheltered themselves in this wild spot, & they were first discovered by their Neighbours, to be of the Better sort, byf. 145v
of unhappy Broils in Families, & so I return to where I set off which was from their Gothick Library:44 this Room is fitted up with Pictures & Drawings Painted Glass &c but rather too small to contain the number of things they have placed in it & a few feet more would have made it perfect their Books are most of them the finest Editions, not collected regularly but at different times for them by their Friends who have taken this opportunity of making them rich preasants of Choice Editions – they are very fond of Paintings and Drawings & seem to have Great variety of these – the life they lead appears to be very healthful for they have much Exercise & Employment our of Doors & pride themselves in their Kitchen Garden, their Gravel walks, & thick plantations which now Entirely hide the Neighbouring hutts - we saw Derens Beam ^Castel Dinas Bran45 or Crow Castle (which ever you like to call it) much better from their window seat than from any part of the Road we have since past, it stands on a mountain which Soars above its fellows here, tho not a mountain which goas to Mahomet, & to be sought for only in the skies! this Castle is a most striking Object,f. 146r
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Emminences we had left behind, & were told that all mountains ^had affective power, & this was frequently Envellop’d from their view, but that it was but seldom, clouds rested long there being no other hills of nearly equal height except at a Great viii distance – that the Variety of tints on the different parts of this fine landscape, produced sometimes ^gave Great delight to persons fond of Painting, tho Mr Repton had called to desire admittance there last Summer, but from not knowing who he was, they had refused to see him – Crow Castle has a Greater Effect than most other Castles I have seen, being a very long Building at the very top of the mountain, so as to let in Light through all its appertures, it seems it was the Residence of Glendour’s greatest Enemy L Grey, & had been famous long before that time as the birth place of a princess who was the Constant theme of the Great Howels Muse: in short they were the Laura and Petrauct49 of these wild haunts, & if you like to know more about them, look into some of the modern authors I have named, 50 & you will see many lines translated from the welch, written in the 12th Century by Howel ap Einion upon my [...] Vichan - after taking leave of this good Company, & being loaded with fine fruit for our Journey, we proceeded to the Valy Cruses - an ancient place formerly, once af. 147v
only fault to be found in it is a Room built for the Convenience of those who carry Cold meat & wish to dine there, & who ever has contrived it has managed it as ill as possible – for repose to the mind is spoilt by such Contrapted Architecture, & (as Filburina says) it quite ruins all ones feelings!Emma & I spent a very pleasant evening with friends at wrexham who came to visit us at our Inn, we should have liked better to have been better lodged, as the day was warm & the noise of the town by so much Military going through it, did not bring to mind the purling streams & Gurgling brooks nor dashing waterfalls we had been so familiar with of late, but the Landlady told us that Mr Wilkinson (the Iron factor) had a right to the best apartment whenever he came into the Town & as ^some modern Philosophers rather wish to destroy all Old fashioned Gallantry from their own sex to ours, I was not surprized he enjoyed himself, & his Negus all the Evening in the Grand apartment & Triumphed over us, poor Ladies in our little parlour next to the street below, Oh Madam (Says the Landlady) Mr Wilkinson made a bargain he should always have the best apartment, & once when the house was full & Sir Watkin was living upstairs with the Militia, he had him turned out because of his right (to his Iron age we thought) we paid a Visit to miss Hayman at her Mothers house before we left Wrexham & were very sorry to part with her as we always are but she promised to let us shew her some of the little Lions of Staffordshire51 in return for the Gloreous scenes she had displayed to us, I shall say nothing of the
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Numerous beauties of this wrexham Neighbourhood as they may furnish a Journal for some future Day ^but tho they are in many respects preferable to those we have left at a distance they only solicit, they do not StormCrewe Hall Sunday 30th
Continued two days at Newton passed again through Chester on Friday, where I met my
Eldest Brother just landed from Dublin & after seeing our Friends in the Town, he returned with me here
& stayd till this Morning – Yesterday I was employed in shewing him the water, farm, & other Improvements of this place
has it is many Years since he called, & to day I have looked over my little Welch Journal
meaning to put down what ever occurs to my mind which I may have forgot
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In the first place I forgot to mention the distances of the stages, from home to Wrexham 20 miles, to Langollen 14, Corwen 10, Bala 10, Dolegelly 18, Barmouth 10, In the next place the roads were good all the way, wide Enough for 2 Carriages a breast, very smooth & seldom steep – there are no attempts made to Climb Mountains of such Gigantic heights so that travelers wind round the Edges of the Rocks instead, the Houses of the Towns & Villages were built of slate Stone of which these Rocks are Compos’d & have a more agreeable appearance than if they were Red brick, but do not look quite so Cheerful as whiter buildings in Cumberland, tho perhaps they blend better, we saw many handsome women & Children & the men all appeared to me rather tall, but it seems this Country of Merioneth was ever famous for the Good looks of its Inhabitants, ix & they are of a lower stature in most other parts of Wales, there is nothing remarkable in the Dress of the Men, but the Women all wear black felt hatts & preserve the old English Mob53 so nearly lost in England, the Cottages we saw were much more tight & good than those in Derbyshire but few of them had any Gardens except very near the Town, The Inns were not clean any where & less so at Dolegelly & Langollen than any other places, however I think I heard they were soon to be improved, the provisions good all the way & the Mutton of so high a flavour that some have objected to it from its resemblance to game they served up a pickle made of samphire which we liked very well – we likewise found good fish every where, & tasted of a fishf. 149r
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Called the gurnard peculiar to the Lake of Bala, & admired ^very much by all Connoisseurs in Eating, it has been compared to fish of different sorts, but struck us to resemble Whiting more than any thing else, we met with Vegetables of all sorts besides good Potatoes, & the Poultry at the Barmouth ordinary was remarkably fine, the Common people of this Country live more upon oat Cake & mead than on bread & beer, so that a scarcety of Wheat to them will never ^be such a Grievence as it is to us, they have likewise liquor made of Berries from their Rocks & we were very desirous of seeing what they call cloud Berries which grow only on the very tops of the Mountains but these of Course are scarce, I thought the people in General looked comfortable & happy they are much more Cheerful & Cordial in their manners than the English people I had an opportunity of seeing them in their fair of Bala quite at their ease & much more merry than I have seen them at the fair of Chester, I dont recollect our meeting any beggars except a very few little tumbling Children on the road, we passed by some Gentlemens houses which seemed good, & Comfortable from additions which have been made to them as family seats, but I do not believe we were near any fine places between Langollen & Barmouth tho I heard of some that are likely to become so from Mr Reptons improvements, the Famely seats in wales were not attended to in former days as they were with us, & I should suppose but little was ever done in Countries where there are so many Natural advanges, North wales retains the same Hospitality it was ever famous for, & we had an instance of this in our short Excursion, as we were lodged very well in Bala at a Gentlemans house, the Inns being all full, the Gentleman was out himself, but we received as much attention from his Servants, by the by we discovered theref. 150v
how much they are behind us in the dress of Children, which still in some measure confines the limbs of their infants56 but the welch are still in an ignorant tho not a rude state according to ones sense of the word a few years ago there was a Malitia meeting in Dolegelly at the sign of the Angel, the Inn keeper paid a Complement to the Col.n by dressing the sign in Regimentals, & the wings of the Angels remained till within these few years, sticking out of ^each57 sleeve of the Red Coat, this story Miss Hayman assured me was fact – there are not many Post Horses out of the Irish road but they are beginning to get more since they are beginning it has become the fashion for People to Bath at Barmouth & to make [...], the road was crowdedf. 151r
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Complain much for the misrepresentations made of their Country by our Histories not only from their injustice, but from their ignorance ^particularly of the British tongue, many of them say that there are Manuscripts existing still which prove they were a Greater people in that part of the Island, than in any other, Long before, & since the conquest, & that it has been an injury ^to them to have it supposed them only runaways from England when they have so many Estates and Pedigrees to prove them to have stood firm upon their own soil, they say that most things considered as Luxuries in other Countries could never compensate to them for the loss of blessings they enjoy at home, that they were were, & ever shall be an Indolent tho a brave race of People, & that the long habit they have been in, of Cultivating their Imagination more than their lands, has in a manner unfitted them for Philosophy of any other sort! the Mannersx of the too Countries are certainly at this small distance very distinct, & they still preserve many of the old feudal fashions quite lost with us, the History of their Bards contains histories of our Country which they Laugh at us for not knowing as well as they, & it is but very lately that they have recovered from their bitter resentment towards us which they found Cherished in many ungenerous & impolitic Chronicles.f. 152v
of their tribes, but this whole Country is so wild & romantic in most respects, that even Mr Penant (a very litteral & cold author) who gives as it where an inventory of every thing ^he sees finds it impossible when he travils where we have done, to avoid taking a poetical as well as an Historical View of the Morals & manners of old Britains & he frequently deviates from reason into sentiment when he writes such Customs as can never be accounted for except by the irregular laws of Unrefined Enthusiasm! their love for music has been ever the same, the Crwthxi^12 I fancy by what I have heard, was an imperfect fiddle, It is Quite lost now, & Miss Hayman told me she had hardly any recollection of it, but the Harps they play upon, are heard, or seen still in the Corner of every Hall, they are of the same shape as the German harps, they have no pedals, but a Contrivance Sometimes on the top for Changing keys, & they produced accidental flats & sharps with great ease since MParrey added another row of strings, before this time I should think players must have found the Instrument perplexing, however it is surprising to observe the dexterity with which the meanest of them run up andf. 153r
61f. 153v
62f. 154r
Down the notes, & one must be dull indeed not to be struck through & through with wonder the first time one sees so many of these simple People display skill & tallant in music, so disproportioned to their Sciences in General, for they are not to be compared to common fiddlers found in every street, who play Mechanically, nor is the harp an instrument of simple melody, even in common hands here,for it is playd with taste & feeling & a Variety of Arpeggios to the same Air, which as never could be produced without much knowledge in the Art, & much still Conjectured concerning the Origin of the welch Harp but I believe that doctors all differ still,f. 154v
Sometimes to moderate lovers of the Instrument, not anxious to follow the original air through all its mazes – but ^to real Enthusiasts, a number of harpers playing all togetherxiii “Angelic Harps are in full Concert heard And Voices Chanting to the wood Crown’d Hills!65 as they did at one of our Kings Coronations, must have had a wonderful Effect! I herd no singing while I was in wales except the Spalms at Church & they were much the same as ours not in Unison as in some Churches, but in different Parts, – It would be wanting in respect to the River Dee (which Milton says “spreads her wizzard streams, where our old Bards the ^famous Druids Lye”)66 not to say something more, than that we traced it to its very source! Its broadest Channel is (I believe) close to the walls of Chester, & it has a dignified appearance on its approach to that venerable City, & much Importance as a great River for several miles, but it was after this, & when it was both borrowing & lending Graces to their objects, that it became most Enchanting; & as if with its ^own sparkling rays, it Illuminates the whole view near us! often did we observe it in these splendid Valleys acting vareous parts & Oh then it was we became quite dazzled! & so delighted were we with all these scenes, & so fatigued with our own barren Exclamations, that we all agreed to be quite silent – I recollect that while near the new bridge & while in Glendowry & Langollen Vales, we hardly ever spoke! or if we did,f. 155r
67f. 155v
68f. 156r
It was only between long pauses that ^involuntarily we cried out sometimes ^all togther, did you ever? no never – “the Gods need not make one very poetical" to be susceptible to impressions from scenery so rich as to excite Gratitude as much as admiration, & which no mortal has ever Yet seen with out some Emotion! as is it adressed itself as much to the soul as to the Eyes of all beholders “the pomp & prodigality of Heaven",69 but I have done – because I know that raptures are not transferable; how ever pray make this Journey yourself; Remember I do not Recomend these Countries as Constant habitations, for I believe many Inconveniences would be Experienced, which we all Escape who live Else where, but Excursions like these are pleasant Episodes in ordinary life, & afford wholesome, as well as Cheerfull Holidays to the Imagination –Finis
“Let us all ring Fancy's Knell I’ll begin it – ding dong Bell”70