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[1v]

[i verso]

Antiquam exquirite Matrem¹

acc^ts of wales in Leland's Itin. vol. V. VI.

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[2r]

[ii recto]

1 Edwyn castle
Tumuli above newmarket.
Copper Goleuni.
2 Henvryn, Fynnon asa
2.3 Disert cascade, Church, crosses, Castle
Chamre wen, a chapple.
4. Moel Hiradug & camp there.
6. [sic] moel y Gaer near Bodvari
Llewelyns palace its remains. 8. [sic] Bryn y cloddiau. Flint castle
. 9. moel arthur.
10 moel y gaer under moel vamma.
11. Moel venlli
12 Llanarmon church
13 Llanarmon cave, Tommyn, Kilken.
14 Fynnon Lleino, Tarth y dwr. Druid. circle.
15 Maesmynnan Lleweny
16 Cath: Berrin. Whitchurch & its monum^ts.
17 Sir R. clough & Bachegrig
18 Denbigh.
20 [sic] Gwaennunog
21 old cross
22 Ysputta. monum^ts in Church
23 Llyn Conway.
24 Bwlch cerreg y frân, Festiniog,
26 [sic] Tany bwlch.
27 Bedheu Gwyr Ardudwy
28 Maentwrog
30 [sic] Llyntegwin, Glynn
31 Cottie'r Gwiddelod. Harlech

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[2v]

[ii verso]

32. Corsygedol, Craig y Ddynes
33. Druidical circles, Chars.
34 Carneddau Hengwm.
35 Castel Ddinas Corthen. Bryn Corn Jau.
36 Ken y cerreg a dying lichen.² Drws Ardudwy
37 Sarn Badrig, Col. Jones.
40 [sic] Cwm Vychan
45 [sic] Barmouth & fasting woman
47 [sic] Cymmer Abbey & Hoel Sele
48 Dolgelleu, Nanna
49 Great oak & scotch fir.
50 Penulls & harp.
53 [sic] Llys Bradwin
54 Craig y derin.
56. [sic] Teberri castle
57 Tal y Llyn vale
58 Lam y Ladron
60. [sic] Castle Corndochon.
61. Monumt xxof Johannes ap Madoc.
62. 63.Llyn tegid Dee, Bala
65. [sic] Corwen.
67. [sic] Llanreeth

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[3r]

[iii recto]

II. Tour.

69 [sic] Llanrhaiader
71. [sic] Llansanan, Bwrdd Arthur
72. Llanrwst.
73. Gwyder.
75. [sic] Pont y pair
76 Rhaiadar gwennol
Capel Cerrig
78 Nant Gwynan, Llanberris
79 C. Dolbadern
80 Cwm Brwynog
81 Bwlch y maescwm, Llyn coch
Y Wyddfa, Fynnon lâs.
83. Crib y distilh, crib coch, Lleu[...]

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[3v]

[iii verso]

ⁱ

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[4r]

1.

Castle Edwin in axston [sic] Township Llanasa parish, said to have been the Residence of Edwin Pr. of Engelfield ^ⁱⁱ was on as knowl; but no remains exist; only a parcel of Hollows like old Quarries.

He had a Llŷs or palace behind Celyn in Northop parish. it was inhabited by Stanleys within a century past.

on the summit of the hill above newmarket course numbers of large round Tumuli some 23 yards diameter, 64 in circuit. others near maen a chyfan.

Copper Goleuni is a vast & high tumulus or mount of loose stones at the extreme of the above rigdge. in the top is a deep hollow; & up to it two paths that wind along the sides to the summit. visible as far as Anglesea. perhaps it was a place of alarm by means of fires. Goleuni signifying a light.³

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[5r]

2.

On the E. side is a small oblong inclosure with the agger yet very distinct.

A little below newmarket beneath Henvryn ⁱⁱⁱ in a deep bottom is Fynnon asa so called from the Saint. the fountain is inclosed with a heptagon wall. there are two arches between which the votaries probably prayed, there being steps on both side. on one one [sic] stone is 1636. the stream is very large & is above half the size of that of Holywell. flows along a beautifull dell. & precipitates itself down the rocks above Disert. it forms a most elegant cascade in a deeply hollowed cavity finely overgrown with ivy; & appears foaming between the perforated stone in three places e'er it reaches the bottom. in the rock above wais a circular hollow now

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[5v]

[2v]

^iv

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[6r]

3.

almost filled up; but thro which the water seems once to have run. the church & church yard with the venerable yews & various convexc tombstones have a fine effect beneath the vast grey rocks that soar above it. in this church yard are the two singular crosses + drawn by W. Williams engraved by Major. one is erect. the other serves as a style.

on a high rock above this place are the shattered remains of Disert castle. sir Rob^t Mounderling once constable of it; his monument at Tremeirchion Leland. VI. 21.
Disert castle demolished by Llewelin
Dugdale Baron. 1. 89.

on the w. side a ruin of a large chapple called chambre wen, it lies in a field beneath the castle.

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[7r]

4.

near Disert cascade is Fynnon ddu a little well, so called from David Ddu. people wash their eyes in it, & think it does them good.

[several letters] David Ddu hiraddug from his residence near moel hiraddug a high rocky mountain. on it are the vestiges of iron mines worked by trenching along the course of the veins. the earth & spar in this mountain xx are tinged with red. the last is sometimes shot into parallel columns, & other forms. vide my Cabinet.

On this hill is a large & very strong entrenched camp; the first I think at this end of the vale. the side towards the N. W. is very steep almost a precipice so needs no other defence; but a sort of terrass or walk is plained along the edge for the defendants to walk on. on the other side are one two or three deep trenches: the aggers are high

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[8r]

5.

& formed of stone taken out of the fosses at their formation. Their size sharpness & ruggedness all contribute to render the approach very difficult. no water on or being near this place..
N. B. These encampments are of no particular form; the fosses conforming to the shape of the upper part of the hill.

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[9r]

6.

The next entrenchments are on a hill above Bodvari called Moel y gaer a name common to many. it is rather round, the area on the top small defended by double & triple fosses according to the strength or weakness of the sides i.e. their [several letters] different degrees of steepness. This hill is not a high one, projects a little into the vale & defended the most easy & natural pass into it of any. Here is a deep vally [sic] bounded on one side by the hills in Bodvari & Caerwis parishes on the other by Moel y parc a vast mountain the first in the great continued ridge which separates the v. of Clwyd from Flintshire.

At the foot of this opposite Maes Mynnan is the past remains of the residence of Llewellyn.

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[10v]

[7v]

Sept^r 1. 1770.
Flint castle+^v a square with 4 round towers & a large square xx court on the S. W. side also strongly walled. One of the towers, i.e that on the S.E. corner is at 14 small distance from the Castle wall & much larger than the others. is called the double Tower. having a double wall. the inner circle is 22 f. 6 inches diameter, the wall, thro which are 4 arched doors, is 6 f. 2 thick. between this & the outer wall is a vaulted gallery 7 f. 2 wide, passing almost round; but at one part is suddenly lowered into a passagex of a two words height that a man cannot walk upright in; terminating at the other side of the gallery pointing upwards into it. this middle circle is now open to the top was probably the Dunjon of the castle. the outer walls, not less than 10 f. 8 inches thick. in two parts of which are a square hole reaching from top to bottom. the whole diameter from one side of the gallery to the opposite measured thro the area is 48 feet.

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[11r]

8.

about two miles further is Bryn y cloddiau, the largest of our fortified camps; the area about 1 m. ½ in circuit. defended by single dobule triple quadruple & even pentuple fosses & aggers. in the foss next the area are numbers of hollows as if fxdlodgements for the soldiery

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[12r]

9.

A deep sinking but not a vale succeeds between this & a half distant. Moel Arthur. supposed to take its name from our British hero. it takes in the round summit of a high hill, defended on the accessible side by two amazing ditches & aggers along the edge [three words] of the inaccessible side is a smooth terrass like xx that of Moel Hiradoig

On the top of this is a hole about 4 feet deep & the same diameter.

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[13r]

10

The next is another Moel y Gaer

[several letters] Above that is moel Vamma, the highest point of this great ridge

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[14r]

11

Moel venlli is the last Entrenchment on these hills. is equal in extent to Bryn y cloddiau & fortified in like manner; but the fosses are fewer. it is a hill of a great height.⁵

on the moel y gaer above northop is another, a sort of advanced post on the East side of the clwyd hills. is almost circular about 200 yard Diameter. has a tumulus within it. there is one deep foss surrounds this camp. this is well described in Camden; but his annotator mistakes it for the moel y gaer near Bodvari.⁶ on this was beheaded one Howel Gwynedd in the time of Owen Glendwr

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[15r]

12

In Llanarmon church is a tomb of Grufud ap Llewelyn ap Ynir a Welsh croisader killed in the holy land. ^^vi he lies at full length in armour, his shield has the inscription round it. a dog stands at his feet eating his intestines; such was the accident ^^vii as is said after his death.⁷

In the wall of the church on the outside is a very antient figure, S^t Germanus in welch Garmon, the gaulish Bishop who headed the Britains when they gained the victoria Alleluiatica at Maesgarmon near Mold.⁸

Ynir was grandson of the Ynir who was at the battle of Crogen. Davies. 56.

Another monument of Evan Lloyd esq^r lieutenant of the county of Denbigh in armour with a welsh inscription, A.D. 1639.

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[15v]

[12v]

Swerdenwod Rotuli wallice⁹

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[16r]

13

below the church ofn the other side of the Alley is a large cave with a hole on the top which passes quite thro the rock to the surface.

near this is a small rock or eminence called Tommyn y Fardra on one side is a precipice on the other a foss.

In Kilken church is a remarkable roof neatly carved between the couples. it was brought from Basingwerk abby at the reformation. at the bottom of each couple is an angel with a shield before it, with the instruments of the passion on it. It is said that David Ddu foretold its removal, for being shewen it on its being put up at Basinwerk & asked how he liked it, he said it would do well enough for a church under Moel vamma.¹⁰

In the church yard is a tomb stone of Hugh Pennant

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[17r]

14

Not far from Kilken hall on the road side is Fynnon Leino a large oblong square well with a double wall round it. this is the periodical spring spoke of by Cambden, first by Giraldus Cam:

Tarth y dwr is a stream that bursts out at the bottom of a hill after being lost for some hundred of yards.

In a meadow beneath Penbedw is a large pornted tumulus & at a small distance some hollows as if the foundation of buildings & in another field w. of it is a large druidical circle 100 feet diameter with some of the upright stones remaining but most are broken yet their remains are still to be found coated over with grass.

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[17v]

[14v]

^viii

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[18r]

15

July 12^th. left Downing; by Pen y ford visit two maen hir, & some tumuli one at a place called Orsedh, ie. Gorsedd the British name for tumuli.

near Frith y carreg Gwen on the side of a hill a small circular mound xxand ditch with an entrance; a monumental memorial a sort of Garland. above 1/4 in the fields opposite another of an oblong form with a rising in the middle.

near Caerwis on a rude stone serving as a Gate post these letters
HIC IACIT ANVLI [several letters]
ERBO OBIH.
near Caerwis descended into the only true pass into the Vale by Maesmaennyn a seat of Sir R. M. most beautifully & romantikly placed beneath small hills covered with trees; rich meadow before it watered by the Wheeler, & opposite the high mountain of Moel y parc. keep winding along this fertile bottom; on the right are some sandy hills the habitation of rabbets [sic]; pass under Moel xy Gaer; by some iron forges
Lleweny ofa seat of Sir Lynche Cotton the antient Salusburies.

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[19r]

16

several family pitures of persons eminent in their time. among others of Cath. a Berrin: who married 4 husbands & made more alliances by that & by marrying her children than even was known. She had great dread of being an unprofitable vessels, therefore married rather suddenly. at the burial of one of her spouses she was lexd to Church by [several letters] x^ John Salusbury & from church by Sir Richard Clough. the last made his proposals; she said she was sorry he spoke too late, for she had accepted the offer of Sir in her way to church, but assured Sir R. that he should be the next; & on the death of SirM^r Salusbury was as good as her word.

view from Lleweny of Denbigh castle & the rich flat bounded on both sides the vale fine.

At Whitchurch ^ix in the way to Denbigh in the church post a curious brass plate with Richard Middleton his wife 9 sons 7 daughters kneeling, with a good inscription. one of the sons was the famous Sir Hugh Middleton ^{x x} for a farther acc^t vide the drawing.¹¹

In the church a fine monument of Sir John Salusbury^xi^¹² & his

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[20r]

17

wife Jane daughter of [...] mayor of Chester. Two large alabaster figures recumbent. he in arm^r she in xxfull dress. a watch hanging by a chain low at her feet. ruffs [several letters] on xx one sidxe, 8 Kxnights; & the mayor, he in a black gown. on the other two women in full dress kneeling & two infants in swaddles. he died 18^th March 1578.

on the wall is a small neat monum^t. of a Humphrey Lluyd kneeling very neat in a spanish dress & sword vide drawing & inscription.¹³

In this church lies Cath. Berrin & the Heart of Sir xR. Clough ^{x xii} who died at Antwerp. he was son of a parish Clerk at Denbigh, from his office of ringing the bell nicknamed Shone a Cloch whence the name of clough. Sir HughRichard was a most able man raised a great fortune; meditated great things for the good of his native country. built Bachegrig a few miles lower in the vale; a strange house terminating with a cupalo. a gateway a court with vast warehouses each side

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[20v]

[17v]

^xiii

^xiv

^xv

^xvi

^xvii

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[21r]

18

the brick were brought from Holland & are remarkably fine. Sir R. intended to make the River Clwyd navigable as high as [...]. & to have introduced commerce into the country. there is a large hall & a large parlour in the house, the rest of the rooms tho it consists of 7 stories are very small & bad. the country people say it was built by the Devil in one night, & that the architect still reserves one room.

Denbigh is seated on the slope of a hill; the castle on the summit, not unlike stirling. There is one very broad street, which wants nothing but houses to make it a fine one. The rest of the Town Lies behind; it drives a great trade in leather. the inhabitants being principally tanners, skinners shoemakers & Glovers. The last export above 3000 dozen annually.

It sends one member to Parlement. In the archives of the Town is a memorable Letter of Dudley Earl of Liecester ordering them to annul their election of a person he disliked & elect another in his stead. vide the copy.

The Townhouse is a good one built by s^d earl who was stexxward of the manour for the use as he styled it of his vxassals.

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[22r]

19

The Gate to the enclosure before the castle is callled the Burgess tower, is a square building made of very small squared stone a very singular masonry.

The great gate to the castle is a most noble gothic arch.^xviii above is a large statue, in a nick surrounded by a very neat stone frame. the breaches near it are vast & awfull; but serve to discover the manner of working these fortresses. a double wall appears to have been first built at a great distance from each other; between which was poured all kind of rubbish stone with hot lime which consolidated to a stony hardness. the Tower to this gate is octagon.

within is the castle yard in which was the well where the son of Lacy earl of Lincoln was drowned. you are shewen a ruined room called Chambre Brennyn where Ch. I.^^xix lay after his defeat near Chester. at one corner is the Dunjeon a deep trxxiangular hollow, partly cut in the live rock & partly walled.

The well called the Goblin well lies in an outwork on the east side. Lambert²⁰ found means to drain it, which obliged

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[23r]

20

the garrison to surrxendedr. the Gov^r was Col. Ch. Salusbury. My Great Grandfather was then a captain,²¹ & after it was taken was reduced to great distress, at the base of the castle walls are numbers of small holes called here Twllie whils they [several letters] run thro the building & serve as subterraneous communication.

The church was begun by Dudly, Earl of Liecester but never finished. it w^d have been a noble pile has 9 windows & the foundations of a double row of pillars. its length is 173 feet. its breadth 71.

The chapple to the Garrison (called S^t Hillary s;^xx serves now as church to Denbigh [several letters]and is only a chapple of ease to Whitchurch

Prospect from the castle fine^xxi of almost the whole vale, & all its eastern hills from beyond Moel Venlli to Disert rock, a rich view but deficient in water, the river clwdyde being too small to be seen in dry weather; & in great rains too furious to be kept within any bounds, overflowing vast tracts.

Gwaennunog the seat of John Middelton esq^r. before the house are some very magnificent oaks. one the king oak, he refused 50^£ for²²

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[24r]

21

his grounds lie very beautifully round his house. his walks along his fields & thro his Dinglex are very fine. The last are filled with wood, have in some parts small tracts of meadow embosomed with trees; & watered by the Ystrat a fine & rapid stream. the view of Moel Vamma is very great, that vast hill closing the prospect over the tops of the trees; the woody sides of the Dinghill [sic] exactly taking in the Hill.

Lay at Gwaennunog

July 13. ride above two miles along a pretty fertile & wooded bottom to Nanclin a little village. ascended the dreary mountains of Denbighshire black, bogggy, several words & very Chearless for many miles. yet feed many sheep & Merlins a small breed of horses that run wild till brought to market.

Saw a great cross extended on the ground formed to that shape by large round stones heaped on each other.

The two small lakes of Llyn alled & Llyn alwyn are on the right; the Trouts are good; but the environs black & disagreeable.

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[24v]

[21v]

^xxii

^xxiii

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[25r]

22

Near Giller once Baron price's the country mends a little there are some stone enclosures & a few trees: a sort of meadows from which the farmer gets a scanty hay. much black Cattle.

Giller an old house with a gateway. Opposite is Plais yollon belonging to Chirkcastle once the seat of D^r Price in the reign of Eliz. a favorite of Leicesters ^^xxiv

near is Voilas M^r Wynnes. reach Sputti or sputti Evan; a small village here was once a house of the Knights of s^t John. a Hospitium probably for the relief of Travellers in this wild country here being a great pass into merionethshire. In the church are three large figures in alabaster all recumbent; but mutilated. one a priest x^xxv in his vestments, a Knight ++^xxvi in armour with a xxx mantle Jacket, over his neck a chain I suppose a badge of his order. a lion at his feet. The third x^xxvii a Lady very more entire. all said to be of the house of Pantglas Plas yollin which is not far off

Much industry here; the little children as well as grown up people knitting stockings which they carry to Bala for sale.

Alms houses for 6 poor people.

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[25v]

[22v]

^xxviii

a view towards Llanrwst, & the chasm that contains the waters of the Conway. it is soon fed by many streams so at Llanrwst becomes very considerable river [sic], even after a course of only 12 miles.

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[26r]

23

the river conway here small passes by this village. rises in Llyn Conway about 3 miles from hence. I was told the road to it was boggy impracticable for a horse so did not visit it. no great loss, being far from beautifull, surrounded with bogs, about 33 miles in circuit. yeilds fine trout.

Dined at Yspitta. changed our minds & visited Llyn conway. left the great road about a mile from the village & under the conduct of a peasant passed about two miles along a boggy mountain most of the way up hill & found the Lake x^xxix on the Top of a high mountain. I had often seen small pieces in such situations but never saw so considerable a body of water so high. it was of an irregular form: the sides partly rocky partly boggy so we were forced to quit our horses. The River runs out at the E. end & is so small that I strided across. there are three islands one covered with my great black & white Gulls which breed there, & are very fierce in defence of their young.

descended into the vale of Penmachno watered by the machno a pretty stream the vale narrow, & at the end looks like a Cul de Sac; but at

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[27r]

24

last, appears a very steep road which brought us after a long & toilsome ascent to Bwlch carreg y vfrân; a narrow pass between most rugged & sharp pointed spiring rocks. the approach very picturesque up a steep narrow way made in the middle with broad flags; & paved with round ones on each side. The stones that once filled the road are piled up in vast heaps on both sides many are of enormous sixze, so that it must have been a work of a multitude another is called Sarn Helen;²⁵ & leads from the Castle of Dolwydellin ^^xxx to Festiniog: saw on the road side a vast rocking stone.

descended a very steep ziczag road to Festiniog. lay there.

July 14^th. from an eminence at the w. end of the church is a view the most various & consisting of parts the most opposite that can be imagined. on one side the high mountain of [...]the immense spiring point of [...] the highest of the snowdon hills. on the other the vast mountains in ardudwy soaring to a vast height & lessening towards the N. all these

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[28r]

25

form an august but tremendous scenery & excite a noble idea of the omnipotent maker. for here he seems to have actxxed with all the fullness of power, & to shew in how trifling & how contemptible a ^light the greatest of human works appear compared with those created by the meet fiat of the almighty. This rude prospect terminates in [several letters] summits, some whole, others broken into serrated crags or high spires: The sides of some are abrupt precipices, of others sloped, but often interrupted with breaks that deny all access except to the sheeps & goats which are found here in great numbers.^xxxi

Between these mountains & Festiniog is a fine fore ground; for beneath the land is beautifully formed into bold & far swelling waves, either covered with excellent grass of the finest verdure; or with most beautifull & distinct groves. between this Landscape & the mountains is a deep dell, cloathed with trees on both sides.

But the pride of this country is the vale of Tan y bwlchx^xxxii which commences at the foot of the hill

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[29r]

26

I write from. it begins in form of a narrow & deep glen covered with woods; but soon spreads out & gives room for a tract of rich meadows divided by the river Dwyryd which meanders thro the midst, then falls into a narrow branch of the sea which closes the view in the most beautifull manner, for being land-locked, it appears only like a fine lake.

The banks of this Tempe²⁸ are very finely adorned with groves; that look so neat & so trim, as if they were intended to correspond with the soft beauties of this enchanting spot; whose [several letters] charms must be allowed to be exalted by the tremendous scenery the traveller must pass thro [?xx]to get into it, from whatsover side he comes. in the midst of one of the groves is a gentleman's seat; whom I immediately supposed the happiest of mortals; but was soon undeceived by being told, he lived quite insensible to the paradise which surrounded him, lived the life of a beast, & was dying at the age of twenty four with excess of drinking.

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[30r]

27

visited the Bedheu Gwyr ardudwy*.^xxxiii mentioned in Cambden. they lie about a mile & 1/2 from Festiniog: They were most certainly druidical remains; most likely a place of worship. the principal was a low tumulus with three or four concentric circles of stones. the largest diameter 52 yards. at one end was a vast Carnedh with two stones placed upright as if that had been the side of entrance. at a small distance was another Carnedh, & contiguous to that the remains of another small circle, the whole inclosed with a circular line of stones, at present incomplete by the sinking or taking away the stones. the stones that remain upright in the first or those spoke of in Cambden are now reduced to a few; & those little more than 2 feet high. near this place is very visible, the sarn Helen in one part very entire. From an eminence between these stones & Festiniog is a [several letters] noble view of the rocky mountains which form a strange & wild theatre, bounded by naked & broken precipices.

The country alters between this place & Bala, being freer from stones more flat, yeilds excellent pasture

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[31r]

28.

cattle, but has a more dreamy aspect, quite woodless, hedgeless & inclosed, only with earthen mounds. This reminds me of the inclosures I saw yesterday on the sides of the mountain; where I saw that the Natives had with vast trouble formed walls, where nature seemed to deny vegetation.

descended into the vale: the river becomes immediately considerable by the junction of two streams ^^xxxiv visit Dol y moch the pxxroperty of the wynnes³⁰, never finished? the view of those places melancholy deserted & ruinous once the seat of hospitality & mirth.^xxxv keep along the bottom to mainturog a small village so called from a great upright stone a main-hir³⁷ at the w. end of the church. a wedding here followed by numbers of well dressed peasants. opposite is Tan y bwlch the seat of M^r Griffith most beautifully placed high in a wood. a particular fine view of this vale all appears rich fertile & riante, except the top & sides of an immense rocky mountain, which soars to vast height on the E. side

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[32r]

29.

River widens; & gives room for a salmon fishery. a little below falls into a branch of the sea called traeth bychan.

passed thro a wood of young oak which covered the sides of a high hill; the river ^^runs immediately, but far beneath us; the road good & very like some in the highlands: arrive at a deep glen running south, its [several letters] bottom cloathed with trees; a black ^³⁸ river running withthro' them. cross a bridge ascend a steep hill amidst woods; the prospect enlarges; the stupendous mountains of Caernarvonshire with their [several letters] neighbors of Merionethshire form a fine contrast to the little vale beneath; which looks like a rich gem [several letters] in a most coarse case. Widhva the highest point of snowdon is distinguished from the other mountains; from that sxummit, the rest gradually lower as. far as the hundred of Caernarvsh^e called Llein which resembles cornwall extending far into the sea xending at aberdaron in a narrow point. it is a mixture of level & mountanous country very conspicuous from the hill we stood on

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[32v]

[29v]

the sides shallow for a small ^^space, but Suddenly change into a vast depth from a shelf of rock that borders the whole.

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[33r]

30

Saw the entrance into Traeth mawr divided from Traeth vychan by a narrow but fertile slip of land.

passed by maes y neiod a good house in

at once appeared Llyn tegwin a small lake about a mile in circuit which well deserves it's name, the fair & beautifull. it's waters are crystalline; its margins full; & its bounds neat & clean. The road lies directly over narrow but good [sic] cut out of the side of a hill, beneath vast ragged rocks of shivering slate whose strata satrt out at an immense height threatening us with ruin. they were much enlivened by flocks of milk white goats. which look down on us with great unconcern.

passed thro the village of Llyntegwin another lake but smaller filled with water Lillies; went by maes y neiod a good house; descended to Glynn another good house belonging to Porkington once the wynnes, my Gran mother of that family.

a very fine cascade near it jetting from rock to rock.

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[33v]

[30v]

^xxxvi

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[34r]

31.

The house with a gateway before it is romantickly seated in a deep bottom with much wood above it as well as Maes y neiod.

ascended a steep hixll; on the lower end many maen hir; & circles of round common peble stones forming a sort of fortress;^⁴⁰ sometimes a lexxsser circle within the larger, are called in wales Angesea Cyttie'r Gwyddelod.⁴¹ descend a steep road to Harlech a small village but noted for its fine castle founded by Bronwen, added to or rebuilt by Collwyn ap Tango.⁴² in the civil wars of House of york & held by David ap Evan ap Einion for the house of Lancaster.

built evidently at [sic] twice: the old walls & a high buttress very entire, [several letters] the remains of a square tower. sea once ran beneath. now marsh. it was repaired by the workmen who built caernarvon castle who staid there 3 months for that purpose in their way to Aberystwith to build the castle there.

taken by articles march 16^th 1645/6. by G. Mytton x. The govern^r M^r W^m owen. several gentlemen & officers on 28 common soldiers.
Mostyn M:S.x⁴³

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32.

dined here on herrings equal in goodness to those of Lough fine.

passed along a low country parallel with the Sea called Dyffrin ardudwy or the vale of Ard: fertile in grass & & [sic] corn. crossed the river Arthro & came to Corsygedol the seat of W. Vaughan Esq^r where I lay.

July 15.
[?x]Very large woods but quite shorn by the west winds. no great timber. M^r Vaughan gave me a celt or the top of an ensign staff 27 or 28 found in one place & 7 or 8 in another near the house.

In the afternoon rode to Craig y Ddinas The top of a hill surrounded with a vast heap of stones; in many places formed into a regular wall with a good even face; the first appearance of British masonry e'er they knew the use of mortar. probably the whole had been thus faced, but flung down by time. there is an oblique entrance walled on both sides up to it. on one side are two aggers of stone. the whole is on the steep extremity of a hill near which is a pass up the country.

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rode about a mile farther to a small lake x^xxxviii under a lofty precipice where trout & char are found. the last are taken by a bait a worm, & bite very fast.^xxxix

Above that is Llyn Mynych⁴⁵ famous for its excellent trouts. in this neighborhood are Llyn Dulyn, Llyn Ubbi, Llyn cwm mynych & Llyn cwm howel noted for a sort of trout with a most deformed head. very numerous.

pass by Llyn Irddin a small lake. on a plain s.w. are two druidical circles; the first 56 yards in diameter formed of piles of stones; & as if divided into 4 pretty equal parts, by two upright stones placed in about five yards distance from each other, in each quarter. these likewise the loose stones project more into the plain.

30 yards from this circle is a lesser, 32 yards in diameter. it has several upright stones in its sides; but few of the lesser loose stones, which possibly are sunk in the earth. these circles here called. no name. Wynne conjectures a battle was fought here.⁴⁶

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Half a mile s. of these on the side of a hill are Carnedhs of amazing size, they contain a summary of druidical religion, carnedh, Crwmleh, maen hir, & Druids cell.^xl the lesser [?x]has four vast maen hir, one still erect, & these prostrate but entire. one 11 f. high 4 broad, another 11 - 4. by 4 - 9. the third 12 - 8 by -. a fourth 10 - 4- by - at one end is a vast Crwmleh 12 - by 8 - 10. lodged on the loose stones & some upright ones, & surrounded by the former, except at the ends.

The other Carnedh is 55 yards long; & about 12 feet high in the middle. at the E. end is a great crwmleh composed of two sloping stones one placed over the edge of the other. under this is a sqare cell formed of five flat upright stones 7 feet high in one part, 4 - 10 at the lowest, a Druids cell, or perhaps the place where the victims were kept. above 8 yards from this is another Crwmleh lying flat on the carnedh without any upright props

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eleven yards further is another with a large cell, now converted into a shepherds cot, who has placed stone benches within, & formed a chimny thro the loose stones to the top. The Carned extends far beydond this last.

N. W. of this on the top of a hill is an entrenched camp like those in Flintshire with a single foss & on one side another a sort of advanced work. it is called castel DDinas Corthen.

In our road to - corseggedol on an eminence is [several letters] a large Carnedh with a Kest vach⁴⁷ or 4 flat stones placed in form of a chest. this carnedh is remarkable for its name, Bryn Cornyn Jau; or the hill of the horn of Jupiter?⁴⁸

July 16. about a mile & half's ride in a te[?x]nement called vron voel ucha the largest of Crwmlecheu 16 feet 4 inches 7 - 4 broad. 20 inches thick. very even & smooth especially at bottom. supported by loose stones

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at each end; lies about 2 feet above the ground. in a little hollow with a small circle of loose stones round it.

on all the stones of this Country is a lichen of a whitish color called in welch Ken y Cerrig^xli It is gathered by the country people [several letters] is the natural dye of the country; dyes purple or crimson; & sold here at 10^s per hundred.^xlii

About five miles distance is Drws Ardudwy the passage into Trawsfynnyd between two vast craggy mountains;⁵⁰ The sides broke into a thousand precipices ^^{[several letters]} grey & naked^^xliii fragments of stones by millions lie at the sides & in the bottom so that the place looks like the [...]

In the midst is the road or rather horse path over either the smooth surface of the slippery rocks marked with the slidings of thousand of horses

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or on large stones disposed like a staircase;^{xliv 52} after ascending two great steeps, at once appears black Trawsfynnyd, a vast plain of bog, & a little corn bounded by the Renig vawr & Renig vach near Bala, ^^Robell & aran near Moudhwy

In my return passed by the house which gave birth to the Regicide col. Jones, whose insolence is still spoke of in these parts. the house is called Maes y Garnedd from an old Carnedd,⁵³ out of whose materials it was made.

In a field on the road side not far off Llanbedr church are two vast maen hir⁵⁴ one 10 - 7 high the other 7 - 1.

keep near the shore & ride to Mochres isle or rather peninsula about a mile long joined to the land by a ridge of sand & gravel. from this place is continued Sarn Bardigx^xlv a great sand & gravel bank running 22 miles into the sea visi x ble at the ebb of spring tides fatal to numbers of ships many of which are lost without ever being heard of. This was once supposed to have been a habitable country

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swallowed by the sea A D. 500 in the time of Gwiddno Goronhir, when it was named Cantref Gwaelod.x^xlvii

There have been found under mochres about 17 great freestone balls supposed to have been designed as ornaments of Harlech one or two of the same kind being found near it; but for some reason left behind.

In a tenement called Ro wen in Cay Garneddau is a large druidical circle; the nearest I have seen to the sea.

July 17. rode by Fynnon Patric visited by patients in cancerous desorders, [several letters] water carried off in bottles. a chapple near it. saw Uch law coed Regicide Jones's house a poor one.

Glynn Artro finely wooded. fine views towards cwm vychan, just before us a conic rock skirted by a pretty wood. far beyond the lofty mountains that bound the Cwm. ride thro the wood, ascend the Rock which is called Dyinas porchellyn, a wild horizon of rock & rocky mountains & to the west the sea.

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descended & passed thro more woods measured some trees to prove that the country was capable of producing timber, for most that we see are poor & small growing from old shoots. some were 8 feet 2 inches in girth. M^r Vaughan of Corsegeddal has larger.^{x xlviii}

rode between trees above a rapid torrent; a sweet alpine view, a wooden bridge & mill in view. a little farther an antient looking arch flung from rock to rock, over a deep black hole in the river oak trees shoot horizontally over it on one side, ash on the other.

a little further a farm house with a most forward kitchen garden beneath. the trees here disposed in small grooves with each side a narrow meadow. the trees in many parts of this days ride so distant as to admit sight of the grey rocks between them.

go thro a ford near a pool in the river called Llyn sarph or the Serpents hole. reach Dolewriddiog a small flat of rich meadows; Hay makers in full employ, the most active I ever saw.

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wind up a narrow path, rocky & staircase fashion; but not the best I have gone up. come in sight of Cwm vychan; ride above a small lake far beneath, of the same name; reach the house of Evan Lloyd; Lord of the Rocks of this Cwm; a family resident here many hundred of years derived from owen Cadogan who fled here about 1107.⁵⁷

neither bettered or lessened their Income, lived without fame but without its cursed attendents. the present house has its date on a stone near the door 1512 built by ld. Dai Lhuyd to whose ^^xlix the famous [ several letters ]tune was addressed Farewell Dai Lluyd. This the only specimen of an antient welch gentleman's house. furniture rude; the most remarkable the Cistiau Styffylog or oatchests.⁵⁸ great welcome good ale & Beer & coch ruden or hung Goats flesh.⁵⁹ & cheese made of cows & sheeps milk. a large cup made of a Bull's scrotum. the family forced to lay in winter provision being inaccessible for great part of the season. his boat made by himself covered with

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pitched; boarded on the inside, it consists of two parts, which divide it lengthways; & when not in use are separated & put in a garret.

The territories of this antient Briton extend about two four miles consist of a pretty lake swarming with trout; a little meadows, a little wood & very much rock. but the whole forms an august scenery; the Mountains Envelope his vale & lake like an immense Theatre. The best view is from a meadow below the house; where you see the whole circuit; his meadows are divided by a pretty stream bounded on one side by the lake on another by his woods which skirt the feet of the mountains the strea x m passes thro these: & if you give yourself the trouble of passing his groves, you will see them precipate [sic] down several rocks. He keeps his whole territory in his own hands; but distributes his hinds among his vwttas or summer dairy houses,⁶⁰ for the convenience of attending his herds & flocks he has fixed his heir on another part. his ambition once led himn to attempt draining

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it in order to enlarge his landed desman but alas has gained only a few acres of rushes & reeds, so wisely bounded his desire, & saved a beautifull piece of water.^l He is a venerable figure, grey headed & enjoys a viridis senectus,⁶² is now 69: the oldest man of the family for the last 200 years. Tho, they have ever been remarkable for health & vigor. also for being very prolific; perhaps that may be the prevention of their longevity as it is to the joint tenant of these rocks the goat.

The Mountains that guard his Estates are yr Hinog vawr & yr Hinog vach, whose tops are continued [several letters]far only inturrupted [sic] by steps: Carreg Saeth on whose verge is a large maen hir & carnedh. Saeth signifies an arrow, so probably this was a good shooting place for the country abounded with deer.⁶³ My host told me that when he was young he saw one but that his Uncle had seen eighteen grazing in the meadow all at a time. Craig Drwg, Craig y Clip.

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The pools are Llyn du, Gloullyn, his own. & Llyn Eitho.⁶⁴
Cors y Gedol

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July 18. leave Cors y Gedol, pass near a stone now servig as a Foot bridge near Kejllail wart on which this inscription
Hic Jacet Calixtus monedo Rigi.⁶⁵

pass over very shifting & flying sands to Barmouth a small increasing town: most of the old buildings are placed among the rocks of the Cliffs one above another; in six tiers. The new ones along the shore. There is a custom house here being much resolved to by small ships, especially when the Herrings frequent the Coasts. The imports are wheat & Rye; all kinds of goods, coals, Groceries, wines, & coarse wool from England, to supply the manufactories at Dolgelli. Exports are stockings: coarse webs, Bark.⁶⁶

The river here when the tide is in, is a measured mile: is navigable for ships of 100 tuns 6 miles further & the tide flows a mile farther. The shore is high & picturesque, mixed with woods. the true name of the River is Wnion; but is scarce

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known by any other than that of Avon.⁶⁷ as to Barmouth it seems derived from Aber Maw Maw being a river which falls into the wnion.^lii

The entrance into this port is difficult by reason of a bar of sand which lies across. within is about a mile a wide, continues that breadth about four miles; the channel at low water small, & full of broad sands.⁶⁹

Toke [sic] boat & had a pleasant little voyage up the river landed in a pretty bay where the land was beautifully intermixed with woods & very verdant pastures & cornfields: induced to make this excursion to examine into the relation we had heard of a poor woman who had abstained from food for several years. found her boarded in a small house called Tythen bach in the parish of Kylynin examined her very closely, found that nothing had been exaggerated & that her history, (for which I refer to our signed account)⁷⁰ was most truely surprizing.

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returned & dined at Barmouth. M^r Vaughan shewed me a house now a storehouse in which Henry VII when Duke of Richmond met the E. of Pembroke to concert the means of a revolution. the first was concealed under the protection of the vaughans the last came in boat from Pembrokeshire.

walked up the hill above Barmouth to take horse; saw beneath into the chimnyies of the houses as they lie one above the other. had a fine ride on the sides of the hills over the river; the country very hilly; & most beautifully diversified near the shores with woods & fields. the distant mount^s of a vast height, Cader idris towering above the rest like Saul among his companions.⁷¹

The woods are continually lessening, the freeholders being obliged to cut down their young trees on account of the dearness of fuel; by reason of the 5 shilling duty. this also obliges them to keep much of the ground which would otherwise be fine meadow & hay ground, for Turberies; a great loss where good ground is so scarce.⁷²

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the river after running six miles grows narrow & winds finely up the the [sic] vale. from one spot is a view of the broad part in a direct line to its mouth.

turn a little out of the road to see Kymmer abby:^liv the remains of the church fine: the E. windows are high very narrow & pointed at top. there are three of them, & three lesser just over them, at present covered with a great & gloomy thicket of Ivy. the great hall & part of the abbots house is now a farm house.

In a field near it, Hoel Sele. - attempted to assassinate owen Glendowr^^lvi but suffered for his villainy. There had been a difference between them one being a strong Lancastrian, owen a yorkist: the abbot hoping to reconcile them brought them together; & to all appearance made them friends. As they were walking out, owen observed a Doe feeding, & told Hoel who was reckoned the best archer of his days, that there was a fine mark for him: Hoel bent his bow pretending to shoot at the Doe, but turning suddenly, discharged the arrow full at owen

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who fortunately had his armour beneath his cloaths so received no hurt. enraged at this he seized on Hoel, & carried him off, Nor could any one ever learn what he did with him, but about 40 years afterwards; the skeleton of a large man such as Hoel was found in the body of a large hollow oak, & supposed to be his.⁷⁷

reach Hêngwrt. seat of M^r Hugh Vaughan; great great Grandson of the famous Antiquary M^r Robert Vaughan;⁷⁸ whose collection of M. S. so well known, is preserved here, & M^r Vaughan was so kind as to indulge me with a sight of them. & permitted me to make such extracts as are marked H. M. S. ⁷⁹ lay here

July 19. rode to Dolgellau or the plain of nut groves. a small town, giving a beautifull ^^view at the distance of half a mile, where it is seen at full length with its church & two bridges⁸⁰ for the stream of its river wnion is oftimes too large to be confined in a small compass

a pretty green

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The case of the Church is handsome & spatious within side, without pews. so ill kept & strewed with rushes, that if the benches were removed, one would imagine it ready littered for the reception of Cattle.

In the church is the tomb of Ynir Vaughan who was killed in king William's time at the time of the false report of the Landing of the irish & which spread so suddenly.⁸¹ He was killed bynear Dolgellau being mistaken for one of those people.

The Tomb x of A xxx Vaughan a knight at full length with this inscription round his shield
Hic Jacet Meiric filius Ynir Vychan ⁸²
The trade of Dolgellau is welsh webs which is considerable; & some Gloves which are sent to London.⁸³

toke the road to Nanna seat of the Vaughans ^lxi all the way up hill for next two miles the highest gentleman's seat in Great Britain. There is vast quantity of fine timber belonging to the estate which cover the sides of the Vales

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or glens for many miles. I measured one on the road side next the house. it was greatly decayed, one side quite perished & a hollow thro which we passed forming a gothic arch. yet in this ruinous state its circumference was 27 feet 5 inches. its name is Derwyn Ceubren yr Ellyll ie. The hollow oak haunted by HobgoblinsDæmons.^lxiii

Above Nanna is a high rock with a circle of loose stones round the top, like our Camps. The hill is called Moel othrwm, ie. The hill of oppression
returned to Hên gwrt, saw just above the house a small Tommyn. from thence a fine view of the junction of the wnion & Mowddach, & of the fine flat of meadows on each side. many I should say which ought to have been fine meadows if not deformed by Turberies unhappily made necessary by the coal tax.⁸⁵

measured a scotch fir planted by M^r Vaughan's father aboutnot 50 years ago.⁸⁶

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its circumference was 8 feet five inches.

+^lxiv M^r Rice Jones gave me information about our principal & most antient welch Tunes.
Sedanen
E x rddigan tro Tant &c.⁸⁷

Customary for numbers of people to sit round the harp & sing alternately Penulls or stanzas of old, or new poety & will continue singing 24 hours & never repeat the same penill: if he does, he loses the prize or credit of being the best singer.^lxv The Harper leads; the audience never calls for the tune; sometimes none but the harper can sing to the Tune; sometimes a few, sometimes the whole company. often parishes contend against parishes. oftimes have no drink =^lxvi a custom stemming from the Eisteddvod.⁹⁰

Harp once made of hoops covered with Leather x strings of twisted hair, originally had but one row of strings. the triple rows very recent.⁹¹

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July 20 passed thro Dolegellau ascended a very good road S. W^^lxvii passed beneath Cader Idris supposed to be the second higth mountain in wales;⁹² accessible on horse back, its base very large many miles round. on the left [?several letters] went under Tyrrau mawr a mountain with the highest rocky front I ever roder under. on the right saw two lakes called Llynau Cregenan. At maes Cregenan are the remains of some circles of upright stones with many Carneddau.⁹³ & on be[?several letters] the top of a neighboring rock a vast stone pitched on it carreg ar ei gilydd.⁹⁴ [xx] on the plain are also several maen hir⁹⁵ near the river Cregennan is Llys Bradwen an oblong square inclosed with rude walls of large stones 30 yards each side; the entrance 7 feet wide with two large upright stones on each side. it is supposed to have been the palace of Eden owen ap Bradwen chief of one of the 15 Tribes.⁹⁶ Llwyd itin. 1. 10

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From the ascent just above Dolegelli rode for several miles thro a narrow & quite strait Glenn. bounded like a glade on each side by high mountains. had a fine view of Barmouth & the Sea.

left this Glenn & went on a fine road on the side of hills with a steep slope from thence to the sea at that time finely mottled with black & green from the shade of the broken clouds.

passed afterwards among great & verdant mountains even at their tops & covered with sheep. at a place called Allt Lwyd had a very extensive prospect of the Towen Merionedd a flat near the sea consisteing ^chiefly of turberies & black meadows. saw at a distance Tangarth [?several letters] Ynis y main gwin & the village of Towen. & all bounded by a vast range of mountains even or rounded at their tops & very green.^{= lxviii} descended a steep path thro fields, & dined sub dio⁹⁷ on a great stone beneath Craig a Deryn, a high pyramidal rock on one side a vast precipice on which nestle Cormorants, rock pigeons, & Hawks. continually pieces of stone fall off, which forms a horrid

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& steep slope of loose sharp stones for several hundreds of yards from the bottom of the precipice. beneath runs the river Desuynny, which falls into the sea about 7 miles lower. here the Towen ⁹⁸ is contracted into a fertile vale, extending about x 2 measured miles. near the end is a great & high rock of an oblong form & [sic] but narrow on the top. on this stood the Castle of Teberri. which extends lengthways over xxx the whole even part of the top; & was a fortress of great extent as well as strength. the breadth of the appartment we measured was 36 feet. which was the most complete of any, & was cut into the rock on two xx sides. & had a small arched door on one of the walled side [sic]. above this was a higher building now quite in r x uins, but seemed to have been the high round tower so common in all castles.

towards the middle, on one side the rock forms part of the defence

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skirted all along with a wall. here seemed to have been the castle yard; but even that is deeply hollowed; possibly the place where the stone was got. at the s. w. end is a small door with a great hole thro which the great wooden bar passed.

The walls of this fortress extend along the edge of the rock, are in a strait line on each side; the walls well made, the stones squared, the mortar shells & gravel but very rotten at present. The whole is now overgrown [?several letters] with bushes & briars, which makes the seeing of this place very difficult.

It is called in the Parish of Llan Vihangel Pennant; once defended or possessed by Goch a Pennant.

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returned the same way for a quarter of a mile & turned short on the left near M^r owen's of Cae'r xxx berlan & rode for several miles along the pretty vale of Tall y Llyn very narrow but consisting of fine meadow bounded by high & verdant M^ts very steeply sloping. went by Maes y pandy a seat of the [?several letters] Nanney. rode by Llynymongal, a beautifull lake about a mile long & almost fills the vale. its exit very picturesque contracting itself at that end till it dwindles into a river, rushes thro a good stone arch in a narrow pass, having on one side a church & on the other cottages mixed with wood.⁹⁹

A few miles further the mountains meet at their bottoms; & approach nearer at the tops; & change their appearance. no verdure is now seen; but a general appearance of rude & savage nature: the sides are broke into a thousand crags x^lxx some spiring & sharp pointed but the greatest part project forward & impended over head in such a manner that it was impossible

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to pass under them with [sic] feeling some symptoms of [?several letters] fear. a few bushes grew among them;^lxxii but the color of bushes & rocks were black & horrible; at that time rendered more melancholy by a mist that skirted the tops of them.

one of the precipices is called Llam y Lladron or the Thieves leap; for tradition says that felons were brought up there, & flung down; as the romans did their Criminals from the Tarpeian rock. I make no doubt but such a punishment had been inflicted from this welch Tarpeian by the order of some arbitrary Lord; but believe that we had formerly no capital punishment for any crime, all being atoned for by fines, even murder itself; not but the relations of the deceased generally avenged it, which was the cause of endless feuds & bloodshed.

saw a little lake called Llyn Tri graienyn from three vast stones near its banks. the Peasants tell a ridiculous tale of a giantess finding them in her shoe & thought them gravel. It is very remarkable

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remarkable [sic] that this lake has no discharge that is visible.

Had another view of Cader idris & of the rock a part of it which M^r Wilson painted with the lake called Llyn cay. in this neighborhood are these lakes besides those I saw; Llyn Aron, Llyn Cwrri, & Llyn Gafr. & perhaps others smaller for in this ride we saw several fine cascades tumbling from the hollows between the hills.

go over Bwlch coch & ascend a very bad road; the lower part thro a wood with a torrent beneath falling from rock to rock for a considerable way; go thro Dolgellau & lie again at Hengwrt. Except the last 4 miles; the roads excellent owing to the attention of the gentlemen who live in these parts.

July 21.
Left Hêngwrt. rode along the sides of a narrow pleasant vale greatly wooded; & where no woods, well cultivated. beneath us in many parts ran the wnion. a picturesque view of a rock with a cottage close to it, woods & a vast craggy mountain far beyond.

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the cottage is called Castell y craig. from it is also a fine view backward, Cader Idris is full [xx] in sight & appears in full majesty.

Turned on the left out of the road to see
Castel corn Dochon; seated on a high rock about a mile from the road. two sides of the rock are xx precipices. in front is a deep foss cut in the rock. The first part of the castle is xx a Towr [sic] 43 feet by 22 in the inside; & rounded at one end. behind that the ruins of a square Tower joined to the other by a wall; beyond that is another tower too ruinous to mark its form. on each side of the second tower is a deep foss: then the remains of a wall now quite flung down, & by the xx remains it must have been very considerable. the first is the most entire; the inside faced with square stones & joined with mortar of gravel & shells, is pretty entire.

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in Llan uwch Llyn Church is a very antient monument of Johannes ap Madoc M:CC xx C: V88. in full arm^r & spurs. on his breats plate roses, & on his belly a wolfs head.¹⁰⁰

near the end of Bala Lake or Llyntigid is Caergai a house of Sir W. W. W. the name savors of antiquity; perhaps a roman station.

Glan a Llyn another seat. the ride along the Lake fine. its sides well cultivated, & diversified with small woods. The mountains low & green. The length of the Lake is scarce four miles its breadth 1/2 a ^{x lxxiv} mile. it is almost of an equal breadth, but towards the upper end a piece of of [sic]land on each side projects into it after which it grows narrower to its utmost limits. it is fed by the, Leu ^Dwrch & the Dee. The first is a considerable stream: the last very

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small; each unite before they fall into the pool. as to the Dee it is there called by no other name than avon Llan; & does not get the title of Dee till it runs out of the Lake where it joins with the Trouerin a large & rapid stream; & from that union is called the Dee i.e Dwr=dwy or two Rivers.¹⁰¹ by Glan Lyn, the lake receives another supply from the avon Llafar, ^^lxxv & some other inconsiderable rills help to encrease it. on the opposite side the river Llangywer empties itself into the lake. The river at the lower end discharges itself thro a bridge of 3 arches. the quantity of water usually but small seemingly far less than what the united streams discharge into it above.

The The lake sometimes rises 9 feet & overflows the lower countries of Ederneon. it is often very rough its wat billows almost mountaneous. its depth various. M^r Dyson of chester sounded it & found the deepest part 46 yards with 3 feet of mud, except near Bala Llan nekil & the Bridge.^lxxvi Sir W.

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fisherman found 60 yards depth ^lxxviii in one place. it [sic] depth may be more for possibly the bottom may be as unequal as the neighboring country. its fish Pike, biggest from 20 to 25 lb. Pearch one taken of 9 lb. Trout, Guiniads, & great Eels.

Sir W. W. assumes the power over this lake notwithstanding he has but two, or three places he can draw on. the greatest part of the s x hores belonging to other Gentlemen or Freeholders.

Bala a small town ill built its church Llan uchil a mile distant on the [...] side of the lake. vast trade in stockings: every saturday morning taking one with another throughout the year, 200^£ worth sold; on some ^^lxxix days 500^£; but at other times far less than 200^£. vast industry thro the county, not a beggar to be seen.^lxxx In winter 20 or 30 neighbors mostly wo xx men assemble at one anothers houses to knit; sit round a fire, hearing some old tale, or else a song if any songster in company. this is called a Cwmmorth gwai or knitting assembly.¹⁰²

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close to Bala is a great green mount called Tommyn y Bala, & close to M^r Davies's ^^lxxxii by the bridge is another, on the Road to Ruthin.

[...]

July 22. passed thro Llanvair ^lxxxiii a small village ^^{cross the Trouerin first} went along a very dull hilly road; from whence a fine view of the Lake the high moun^ts that are at the w. end such as aron benlli the Rhinogs,¹⁰⁴ & at a distance cader Idris. on the road side 5 miles from Bala is caer Crini x a small entrenchment quite flat & smooth on top with a large opening towards *¹⁰⁵ Corwen. The view of the rich vale of Ederneon very fine; the ground uneven but well cultivated inclosed & embellished with a beautifull wood above Rhûg. The same prospect is continued all the way to Bala, by another road, where there is a view of the Dee most of the way.

descend into the vale cross the Alwyn which rises in Llyn Alwen a large stream falling into the Dee

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65

cross that river on a good bridge of 6 arches. two extensive & strait views of the river above & below very fine. reach the small village of Corwen.^lxxxiv

It [sic] church built like a cross; neat. in it a tomb of [...]
Hic Jacet Iorwerth SULIEN: vicarius de Corvaen. ora pro es. a priest as if in his coffin. head & breast visible holding a chalice. coffin lid prettily ornamented covers the rest. round that the inscription.¹⁰⁷ on a stone in the wall of the churchy^d a mark cut in of this form
[DIAGRAM marked: 10 inches/10] called owen Glendowers sword.¹⁰⁸ a cross in the ch. yard let at the bottom into a large round stone, which is supported by 4 others at bottom like a Cromleh [sic].¹⁰⁹ the capital has some neat engravings like our maen y chyfan.

near it a neat building of 6 houses for 6 clergymens widows,+^lxxxv called Corwen college. founded by W^m Eyton of [...] ¹¹⁰

[...]

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^lxxxvi

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66.

x on one side of the ch. porch a rude sharp stone called carreg pig.¹¹² like a maen hir.¹¹³

breakfast at corwen, ford the Dee see on an adjacent hill another entrenchment taking in the top & part of the side sloping downwards & facing caer crinc. this is called Caer Trewyn. the agger is formed of lo xx ose stones.

a few miles farther on a plain in the road to Ruthen is a circular entrenchment, small & flat at top; this & caer Crini are different from others I have seen; the whole circuit within the trench being raised like a low mount & quite flat at top. this is called caer Cyrsyon.[...]. I once saw at about two miles distance from this a large Tommyn in a bottom [...]

on the right is a place called Bryn Tango remarkable only for the name.¹¹⁴

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descend in a pleasant small vale thro which the clwyd runs. pass by Nantclwyd the seat of the [...] ¹¹⁵ pass over Coed Marchon a mountain near Ruthen on which is a large stratum of dark red & white marble. opposite is a double ridge of rocks one above another forming two regular precipices high on a hill side, called. [...]

dine at M^rs Roberts of Llanreeth. the Church near the house small but neat. a good bust of Ambrose Thelwall, ruffle & grey beard. date 1653.¹¹⁶

Another monument. John Thelwall & his wife Sarah¹¹⁷ Daughter of Tho. Griffith of Pantaloydy, kneeling. beneath 9 sons & five daughters small, also kneeling. names over each. one in armour. those that died unmarried, have a deaths head in their hand.¹¹⁸ [...]

The vale extends above a mile farther [...] & the [sic] terminates at [...]

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68.

return along the edge of the vale, cross the mountains beneath Bryn y cloddiau & arrive safe at Downing at night.

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69.

Aug. 12. left Downing, went the same road as before as far as Whitchurch, turned on the left along the Turnpike road & in less than two miles reached M^r Roberts vicar of Llanrhaider, breakfasted with him. near his house a little eminence projects into the ^^vale called Cader yr Gladys being a favorite seat of an old Ladiesy. the view from it extremely beautifull; as far as Ruthen & down to Denbigh.^lxxxvii the whole breadth of the vale chequered with wood, meadows & corn fields is commanded from this spot: the E. side is remarkably elegant; the hills that bound it are finely sloped for a considerable space; & cultivated far up as if only a continuation of the good husbandry the vale is so remarkable for. The upper part of the hills are cloathed with heath whose purple flowers at setting sun glow in a most beautifull manner.

At the foot of this eminence is a large spring called Fynnon Dyfnog from a saint of that

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[72r]

70.

name. The fountain head is inclosed in a heptagonal wall decorated with small human figures. before is an oblong bathing place. it was once much resorted to by votaries.

Near this are some comfortable almshouses for 8 widows founded by M^rs Jones (a Bagot) of Lanrhaeder 1729. each has her garden 2^s per week & coals.

The church is a good one. noted for a very fine window of painted glass dated 1533. at the bottom is Jesse lying down; from him springs 17 large figures filling the five great compartments; with some smaller figures in the lesser.¹¹⁹

In this church is a vast monument in marble of Maurice Jones esq^r of Lanrhaider, he lyeaning on his elbow. attended by weeping Genii &c.¹²⁰ whoever has not been in London to see [...] Eternal buckle take in parian stone may here see it in full absurdity.¹²¹

This part of the vale full of Poplar & witch elm. dine & lie at Gwaennunog.^lxxxviii

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Aug 13. ride over a hilly country far lesse f x ertile than the vale; but pretty much inclosed but naked. on the summits of these hills are the marks of the plough; for in former times the vales were covered with forests, & the hills were the only arable lands. reach
Llansanan a small village in a pleasant bottom washed by the Alled which flows out of the Llyn alled. Church dedicated to s^t Sannant.

Stopped at Dyffryn alled a rugged old house of miss Wynn's. about a quarter mile distant on the top of a hill is the rock called arthur's round table; there is not the lest markeds of seats as has been feigned; nor indeed any sign of Art.^lxxxix all that has been said of it is fiction, taken from the welsh name bwrdd Arthur.¹²⁵ opposite to it is Cadair Marsli, his wife's seat.¹²⁶

cross the hills dry & good pasture to Llangernio [sic] a village near which is the Elwy & Gernio,¹²⁷ dined at Havodynos.

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[71v]

^xc

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72.

pass over a wide common with black moors on all sides: on one a view of the vast mountains of snowdon; at this time a mist cloathed the sides & left the bottom & summits visible. descend a steep hill to
Llanrwst. a small town on the Conway here a considerable river: over which a bridge of 3 beautifull arches describing a very small segment of a circle said to have been the work of Inigo Jones born near this place. one [sic] one side are the arms of England on the other the Plume of Feathers the date is 1636.¹³¹ In February & march numbers of smelts are taken here: also some quantity of Salmon. the fishers go in coracles & manage their nets with great dexterity in those tottering barks.

The church whas in it several curious things;¹³² such as the stone coffin of Lewelin the great 7 feet long brought from Conway abby.¹³³ The figure of Hoel Coytmor in arm^r very antient said to have sold Gwider to the wyns.^{134 xci}

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Six brass plates of heads of the Gwider family with inscriptions.¹³⁷ White alabaster monument with two obelisks Johannes wyn de Gwyder 1559.¹³⁸ =^xcii

The wood work is very neat & prettily carved, brought from Conway abby. annexed to the church is a small chapple with this Inscription Richard Wyn de Gwyder miles et Baronetta Reginæ majest. Thesaur. propr. nobilisque defuncti patris sumtibus struxit 1634.¹⁴⁰
= a tomb stone of the Sir John Wyn who died at Lucca æt. 30 17613.
a little child in marble aged one month very neat.

walk to Gwider once the seat of the wyns now in the ancaster family.¹⁴¹ it lies in Caernarvonshire a mile from Llanrwst: the lower house a large & most irregular pile lies at the foot of a hill

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[73v]

^xciii

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74.

the upper house was seated above on the edge of a bold eminence & commanded a fine view of a rich tract of meadows watered by the conway; bounded on one side by hills greately inclosed wooded & cultivated: on the other by the rugged mountains of Caernarvonshire. The tide comes up within a mile of Lanrwst. on the rocks near Gwider¹⁴⁹ grew timber of great size; sold by the late Duke who was so cheated as to be loser by the bargain.¹⁵⁰ near the upper house is a neat chapple; where prayers are said once a quarter. the upper house is now pulled down; [several letters] Agent a medly of sawyer, malster ^^miller, Parson &c told me He meant to make something smart & tasty. his worse trade is that of Divinity which as he just told the Bishop of Bangor¹⁵¹ might go to the Devil if he was to give up the rest. This man is a vagrant Englishman on whose account my late worthy friend_x ^xciv fell into the sin of Jeroboam [several letters] by making a priest of the lowest of people¹⁵²

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the Heiress of this house ran away with a [...] & met with her reward being confined by him the rest of her life.¹⁵³ the estate is now near 4000 per ann. every penny of which is sent out of the country. Lye at Llanrwst.

Aug 14. ride ^^{in woods} by the sides of the Conway. under Carreg y Gwalch & a rock called Klogwen ogo ap Shenkin, a cave the residence of an outlaw of that name. these rocks were once covered with great oaks, now with young ash, birch & firs.¹⁵⁴ the appearance of these high rocks are very grand; soaring to a great height. the meadows on the opposite sides very rich, many are sprinkled with large oaks.

our Guide told us of a cave with a stone chest in it, which the miners never could get at: either the ground fell in, or else they were prevented by a bird the genius of the place.

Turn to the right, cross Pont y pair; a singular bridge of 5 arches, flung from rock to

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rock, which are excellent natural piers, at this time the river runs only under one arch falling down a deep precipice above; & forming under the arch a vast deep & black chasm; the sides oddly perforated ^.^xcv this scene was much improved by the sight of a great cattle fair held opposite to us.

The country now changed its appearance; & looked very alpine. The sides of the hills were well wooded; the pasture & arable land very trifling, mixed with trees;¹⁵⁶ watered by the river Llugwi or xx bright river.¹⁵⁷ a little further is Rhaiader Y wennol; a great cataract to be descended to with some difficulty when you get to the bottom you are surrounded in such a manner by hill & precipice that you seem inaccessible. The river falls down some great sloping rocks with v x ast impetuosity & foam; the river beneath is deep & black; the whole shaded by trees on every side.

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[76v]

The LLigwy for some time before it reaches the first fall runs along a rocky bed; the greatest quantity of water rushes down beneath trees on the N. side & two lesser streams slide over the middle of the rock. after dropping into the black chasm beneath with great foam & violence; it forms a complete sheet of water rushing over a fine rocky slope; after that falls broken amidst rocks into the great precipice, under Pencraige. looking from above over the first fall is a fine view of the river with a wild perspective of Y Wyddfa, Y Glyder & moel shabog bounded by high rocks, whose sides are cloathed with trees.

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the vast precipice is ^also cloathed with trees, which start out of its fissures. Just above is another cataract; the chasm it falls into is blacker & more horrible than the other. the people believe that the ghost of Sir J. Wyn was layed. in it. Keep along this vale, have a sight of moel shabog on the left. pass a narrow road by the side of the river; ascend a narrow path above several cascades.

enter Dyffryn Mumber; woods & even trees now disappear; pass by Cappel cerrig the meanest church I ever saw.¹⁵⁸ on the gravestones several inscriptions. the fond ambition of transmitting their names to posterity possesses even the inhabitants of this secluded spot. ride above two small Lakes communicating with each other. Snoowdon [sic] & all its Sons crib coch, crib y distilh twoLliw,¹⁵⁹ Pigin nest, or Pen gallt wenallt, Yr Raran, appear full in view & exhibite a tremendous front.

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[77v]

dine at Gorphwysfa or the resting place

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78

At the end of this vale have a full view of [several letters] Nant Gwynan & its Lake, a pretty fertile & wooded vale; the pass this way thro bwlch y Gwiddel to Bethkelert from Llan [several letters] rwst.^{x xcvi} go thro it down a long steep naked dell under Glyder mawr; observe the strata on its sides of a columnar form in groupes.^{x xcvii} vast fragments of this amazing rock fall down. its ruins are scattered in all parts, & exhibite awefull specimens of the frequent lapses from its heights. one called the Cromleh [sic] a single stone measured 60 feet in length 46 in breadth 16 in thickness: it fell on other stones, & is supported like a druidical cromleh. is now a sheep pen. tradition says that it once was the habitation of an old woman.¹⁶¹ arrive at Llanberis a small village at the head of some pretty meadows scarce 1/4 mile broad. the view down its vale over these meads, the two lakes;¹⁶² the Castle Dolbadarn; & the distant rocks which bound the lakes form a fine viewperspective.

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^xcviii

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79.

C. Dolbadern consists at present of only one lofty round tower but its extent was once great as appears by the remains of the walls that border the rock. the diameter of the tower is 26 feet. The walls thick made of thin luminated stones cemented by a strong mortar without shells in it. The situation is bold. it commands the pass towards Dyffrin Mumber & the cross pass to Bethkelert.

The first lake is above a mile long 140 yards deep; It communicates with the greater by a river: the length of the last is above two miles. the sides well bounded by lofty white rocks.

At LLanberis is a small square well inclosed with a wall. in it is a small trout which appears now & then out of the holes in the side; from ^^which the Sybil of the place draws a divination as to the person that consults her.^xcix

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[82r]

80.

Llyn beris abounded with char, now destroyed since the discovery of the copper works, whose poisonous particles have infected the waters.

The vale and lakes¹⁶⁶ take their name from s^t Peris

lay at M^r Closes mine agent.

Aug 15. set out, went along the side of the first lake up & down a continued staircase road; one flight consisted of 60 steps; all this road is artificial quite to C. Dolbadern. turn short on the left. see [several letters] Caunant vawr a great cascade præcipitating down two vast rocks into horrible chasms at some distances from each other. [several letters] go up Cwm Brw xx ynog a deep vale; very fertile in grass as appears from the number of Hayricks made of Gwair or Rhosydd or short mountain hay thick, & very coarse.¹⁶⁷

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[80v]

^c

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81.

o[several letters] above are the sheep walks which are very extensive to every Farm. the sheep at this season keep very high in the mountains.

pass thro bwlch y mascwm, skirt the base of snowdon, a sheep walk or Hay ground till we reach Bwlch cwm Brunnog,^{+ ci} where the ascent becomes very steep & rocky so are forced to leave our horses & begin our ascent on foot.

clamber among the rocks a difficult way; on our left the steeps down to cwm Brunnog; on the left right another to the small lakes, Llyn glas, Llyn. nadron, & Llyn coch, the ^{+ cii} last the highest on this side the mountain, on whose margins (in fairy days) those diminutive beings were said to keep their revels.¹⁶⁹ the lake beneath us in cwm Brunnog has the xx Name of Llyn du yr arddwy. walk along a green tract, afterwards another stoney steep; then a second green space; near which is a fine spring of the coolest & best water I ever tasted. the summit or

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conic point of Snowdon & what is called Y Wyddfa i.e. the lofty, or conspicuous place, is rocky & [several letters] terminates almost in a point on which is formed a small ^^{circular wall} shelter of loose stones in which those who visit this mountain, take their repast. The mountain from hence appears supported by four vast buttresses between which are four deep cwms;¹⁷⁰ each, except one ^^ciii had a lake or more at a tremendous depth beneath us. the nearest to us was Fynnon Lâs immediately under us. we had the curiosity to climb to an [several letters ]jutting rock that impended over; on which we stood like mercury ready to take his flight, a horrible & foolish experiment. the lake is about a quarter of a mile round, the middle appears black & as if unfathomable; the edges about a yard below the surface entirely green, not like a vegetable green; but as if tinged with a solution of copper: this lakes [sic] has no fish in it.=^civ

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The water of Fynnon lâs falls into the beautifull lake of Llyn Llydau; narrow but extending a mile & a half a along the cwm¹⁷¹ its sides are indented; & pretty near its shores are some little isles a rarity in our welsh lakes. xx near the upper end is a diminutive water called LLyn Teyrn ⁺.^cv

The bottom that contains these lakes is surrounded by the highest hills; the greatest part of whose sides are stupendous precipices, forming the most magnificent amphitheatre in nature. The Wyddfa forms one side; y Crib ^^cvi y distilh with its ragged, or serrated tops another; beneath that y Crib coch; & opposite to these the long extended precipices of LL x iw x edd. The next cwm¹⁷² ( [sic] thro which flows the river that goes to Pont aberglaslyn is bounded by a long ridge like a saddle called claudd coch. the boundary of the next cwm¹⁷³ is a vast high smooth mountain¹⁷⁴

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[84.]

M^r Greenwood next to the corner of Golden Square ¹⁷⁵
M^r Grace ¹⁷⁶
Camel & Drom. Adam & Eve¹⁷⁷ Tottenham C. Road
M^r Bloxam Stationer next door to the Post in Lombard Street. paper & pencils
[A DIAGRAM FOLLOWS, showing two vertical blocks with a horizontal block above.]

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^cvii

Johannes ap Madoc Plas madoc of stone in arm^r hinds together praying wolfs head on his belly Lion at his feet breast plate set with roses. MCCC:VXX

[SIDEWAYS] Made of cloth [one word]

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Editorial notes

1. 'Seek out your ancient mother'. A quotation from Virgil, Aeneid, 3.96.
2. A lichen growing on stones, used to create a dye. See GPC s.v. cen¹
3. For John Lloyd's remarks on the topic discussed here, see Loose leaves, l_1r and l_1v, below.
4. The relationship of these three figures, contemporaries of Pennant's, with Flint Castle is unclear.
5. See Loose leaves, l_2r, for comments by John Lloyd relevant to this section.
6. For this reference to Moel y Gaer near Bodfari, see Edmund Gibson (ed.), Camden's Britannia newly translated into English, with large additions and improvements (London, 1695), pp. 687–8, here [external link] [accessed 16 March 2023].
7. See facing page (p. 11v) for the two inserts marked '^" relating to the death of Grufud ap Llewelyn ap Ynir.
8. The name Maes Garmon commemorates an alleged battle between the Britons and the Saxons and Picts in AD 420, in which the latter were ambushed by the Britons. Directed by St Germanus, Bishop of Auxerre, the newly baptized recruits startled the Saxons by emerging from hiding, crying aloud 'Alleluia!', hence the name 'Alleluia victory' associated with the event. The identification of this site with the battle (an identification since discounted) was made by Archbishop James Ussher, and led to the erection of a commemorative obelisk in 1735. John Koch (ed.), Celtic Culture: A Historical Encyclopedia, 5 vols (Santa Barbara, 2006) s.n. St Germanus; here [external link] and here [external link] [both accessed 30 October 2023].
9. This refers to Joseph Ayloffe, Calendars of the Ancient Charters, and of the Welsh and Scottish Rolls, which made mention of Welsh rolls in the section named 'Rotuli Walliae' at pp. 62-103. Note that it was not published until 1772.
10. Pennant corrects this anecdote in A Tour in Wales 1770 [1773] (1778), I, pp. 410-11, where the suggestion that the roof at Basingwerk Abbey 'would do very well for a church beneath Moel Famma' is attributed to the vaticinatory poet, Robin Ddu.
11. For a description of a brass portrait at St Marcellus churchyard, Denbigh commemorating Richard Myddelton and displaying him with his nine sons placed behind him, and seven daughters kneeling behind his wife, see here [external link] [accessed 10 November 2023].
12. A tomb dated 1588 to Sir John Salusbury (b. c.1520, d. 1578) of Lleweni is among the monuments at St Marcella's Church, Llanfarchell, Denbighshire. See here [external link] [accessed 10 November 2023]; and for an image showing Sir John and his wife, Jane, here [external link] [accessed 13 November 2023].
13. For an image from St Marcella's church, Denbigh, which answers to Pennant's description of a memorial to Humphrey Llwyd (c.1527–68) but is now widely believed to be a monument from the Victorian era, see here [external link] [accessed 13 November 2023]. A copy made by Moses Griffith is found in Pennant's extra-illustrated A Tour in Wales, vol. 1, p. 34/4, here [external link] [accessed 30 September 2024].
14. Pennant refers to Thomas Fuller, The history of the worthies of England who for parts and learning have been eminent in the several counties: together with an historical narrative of the native commodities and rarities in each county, where the section on Flintshire includes information about Richard Clough on pp. 39-40. See here [external link] [accessed 10 November 2023].
15. The fact that book most likely referred to here, Joseph Ayloffe's Calendars of the Ancient Charters, and of the Welsh and Scottish Rolls, Now Remaining in the Tower of London was not published until 1774 suggests that this note was added at a later date to Pennant's travel notebook.
16. This may refer to the work of historian William Whitelocke (c.1520–1584), which included 'Chronicon Lichefeldensis ecclesie', a history of the cathedral of Lichfield, first produced in 1569. See ODNB s.n. Whitelocke [Whitlock], William (c.1520–1584).
17. The tradition noted here about a John Salusbury (sometimes given the title 'Sir'; d. 1289) is discredited in DWB s.n. Salusbury, Salisbury, Salesbury family, of Lleweni and Bachygraig; see here [external link] [accessed 1 October 2024].
18. Pennant's reference to Edward III is clearly an error for Edward I, who granted the lordship of Denbigh to Henry de Lacy, fifth earl of Lincoln.
19. On the unfinished condition of the great gatehouse of Denbigh castle at the death of de Lacy in 1311, see here [external link] [accessed 14 November 2023].
20. This may refer to the civil war Parliamenterian general, John Lambert.
21. Pennant evidently misses out a generation here; elsewhere he describes this predecessor as his 'great, great grandfather'.
22. For the oak trees still standing in the garden of Gwaenynog, see here [external link].
23. The claim made here about Ellis Price, Plas Iolyn's way of addressing Robert Dudley, earl of Leicester, is sceptically rebuffed by Peter R. Roberts in ODNB s.n. Price [Pryce], Ellis [called y Doctor Coch] (c.1505-1594).
24. The information is left incomplete.
25. For comments by John Lloyd on this location, see Loose leaves, l_3r-l_3v, below.
26. See material by John Lloyd in Loose leaves, l_3r and l_3v, below.
27. This material appears on the facing recto page but without a precise mark to note its intended location in the recto page text.
28. The proper name of a valley between mounts Olympus and Ossa in Thessaly, Tempe is here used as a general name for a valley or 'delightful rural spot'. See OED s.n. Tempe.
29. See John Lloyd's comments on Beddau Gwŷr Ardudwy in Loose leaves, l_4r-l_4v, below.
30. This may be a reference to the Wynnes of Gwydir.
31. This material is presented on f. 27v, with no location marker in the main text.
32. There are numerous possible locations in Merioneth that can are called by this name, including Tyddyn-du, Maentwrog [external link] and Tyddyn Du, Trawsfynydd, for which see here [external link] s.n. Tyddyn Du, Trawsfynydd [all accessed 2 October 2024].
33. The association of the name 'velyn rhyd' with that of 'Yskir nolwyn' here is unexpected and appears to conflate two houses at some distance from one another. Esgair Olwyn is located in Ardudwy, whereas 'velyn rhyd' (lit. the yellow ford) is the name of two locations near the river Dwyryd in the Maentwrog area, Felenrhyd Fach, a field (see here [external link]), and Felinrhyd-Fawr, a house dated c.1800 but with earlier origins (see here [external link]); both sources accessed 2 October 2024.
34. Unidentified.
35. Unidentified.
36. Unidentified.
37. Standing-stone, monolith, menhir. Further on the sandstone pillar known as Maen Twrog (the stone of Twrog), now standing to the east of the south porch of St Twrog's Church, see here [external link] [accessed 2 October 2024].
38. ^the velyn rhyd.
39. Pennant may be referring to Lhuyd's Archaelogia Britannica of which, however, only one volume was published; or possibly to a preparatory work often referred to as his Itinerary.
40. ^ sometimes the circles intersect each other. vide suecia hodierna et antiqua. tab. 322.
vide Mona antiq. 27.
41. 'The Irishmen's huts'.
42. For related comments by John Lloyd see Loose leaves, l_5r-v, below.
43. Although Pennant marked this information with a cross (x) it is unclear where in the text above it should be inserted.
44. There is no marker for this insert on the facing verso page, f. 32v.
45. Pennant may here be referring to the lake which he later names Llyn cwm mynych.
46. Pennant refers to a battle in the area around 'Curneddi [sic] Hengwm', Ardudwy, discussed in Wynne (ed.), The History of Wales (1697; 1774 edn.), p. 68.
47. 'Small chest'.
48. For John Lloyd's views on Bryn Cornyn Iau and other archaeological remains in the adjacent area, see Loose leaves, l_6r-l_6v, below.
49. For 'cen y cerrig', see GPC s.v. cen¹, where it is defined as 'lichen growing on stones from which growth a dye was manufactured'. 'Lleu' means 'light, brightness, bright' or may be a variant of 'lliw', meaning colour.
50. The two mountains are Rhinog Fawr to the north and Rhinog Fach to the south.
51. 'Doves' stone'.
52. This passage on the facing page (f. 36v) has no marker to link it to the text on f. 37v.
53. 'Cairn, tumulus'.
54. 'Standing stone(s)'.
55. 'Provision consumed by the sea.'
56. Pennant's translations of the words in the name 'Cantre'r Gwaelod' hold good.
57. The date mentioned here, together with the descent from Bleddyn ap Cynfyn which Pennant noted for the Lloyd family of Cwm Bychan suggests that 'Owen Cadogan' could be identified with Owain ap Cadwgan. The latter's lack of issue raises questions about the identification, however.
58. See GPC s.v. cist ystyffylog, which gives the definition 'bin, hutch'. 'Cist' translates as 'chest', whilst 'ystyffylog, styffylog' (as a noun likewise meaning a 'chest, trunk') is translated as 'squat; wiry, sinewy' when an adjective. See ibid. s.v. cist; ystyffylog, styffylog.
59. In the published equivalent of this account, Pennant gives 'Coch yr Wden'; see Pennant, A Tour in Wales 1770 [1773] (1st edn.), I, p. 115. For 'cig coch yr wden (y gwydyn)', see GPC s.v. cig, where the translation gives 'smoked or dried goat's flesh or venison', with a 1762 example.
60. This appears to be Pennant's rendition, by ear, presumably, of the word 'havadwys', a variant of 'hafoty, hafotai', which he uses in the published account. See Pennant, A Tour in Wales 1770 [1773] (1st edn.), I, p. 116; GPC s.v. hafoty.
61. This sentence appears on f. 36v with no marker to indicate where it should be placed within the text on f. 37r.
62. 'Youthful old age'.
63. The type of animal is not precisely specified here. Described as 'formerly very common in Wales' in Pennant's British Zoology, the Roe Deer may be considered a suitable species for hunting in the historical context outlined here. See Thomas Pennant, British Zoology (4th edn., Warrington: William Eyres for Benjamin White, 1776-7), vol. 1, p. 49.
64. These apparently small expanses of water, or 'pools', have not been identified. It is not entirely clear whether they belong to the Llwyd territories at Cwm Bychan or to those of William Vaughan at Corsygedol.
65. 'Here lies Calixtus [monedo Rigi].' Further on the stone and its inscription, first noted by Pennant and Richard Gough, see here [external link] [accessed 22 February 2024].
66. Pennant testifies to the expansion of trade in the seaside town of Barmouth, leading to the construction of ships for facilitating the export of Welsh webs destined for the cloathing of enslaved people in America. The 'coarse wool' named among the imports through this port would have boosted the outputs of those involved in the weaving craft at nearby Dolgellau. Geraint H. Jenkins, The Foundations of Modern Wales 1642-1780 (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1993), pp. 284-5, 298. See further n. X below.
67. Welsh for 'river'.
68. Pennant, having been a visitor to Dinas Mawddwy since his youth, naturally makes the connection between the river named 'Maw' and this form.
69. For Lewis Morris's plan of 'Barmouth Bay and Bars, in Meirionethshire', see here [external link], Plate 15 [accessed 26 February 2024].
70. The account mentioned, 'taken from her own mouth', signed by Pennant, John Lloyd, Hafodunos, and John Lloyd, Caerwys, and dated 18 July 1770, is found in NLW 2594E, Merionethshire folder.
71. This may refer to the journey to Damascus in Acts 9, when Saul underwent a conversion, whereas his travelling companions 'saw the light ... but did not hear the voice of Him who spoke to me' (Acts 22:9).
72. From the investigations carried out by Walter Davies in 1797 for an account of the state of agriculture in north Wales, it is apparent that the difficulties mentioned by Pennant here continued into the latter part of the eighteenth century. Duty on coal is reported as 5s 6d per chaldron, and Davies reported that 'Upon enquiry into the chief "obstacles to improvement" in agriculture - "the duty upon coal" was included in every list'. See Walter Davies, General view of the agriculture and domestic economy of north Wales (London: Richard Phillips, 1810), pp. 362-3. For the use of turbaries for fuel, see ibid., p. 266.
73. Cadwgan ap Bleddyn had at least seven sons (and possibly one daughter) with five or more women. See ODNB s.n. Cadwgan ap Bleddyn (d. 1111).
74. Pennant correctly notes the page reference for Powel's description of the attack on Cymer castle ('Eneon ap Cadogan and Gruffydd ap Meredyth ap Blethyn did lead their power against a castell that Vchtryd ap Edwyn had built at Cymer in Merionyth'). The year given is 1116.
75. Pennant's information here, expanding on the reference to 'Kymmer abby' on the facing page (f. 47) is very convoluted and confused, as his corrections in the published version of this part of his tour suggests. See Pennant, A Tour in Wales 1770 [1773] (1st edn.), II, p. 98. In this notebook account of the 1770 journey, he appears to be referring to Llywelyn ap Iorwerth, although the reference to his being son of 'Gervase Iorwerth' is unexpected and perhaps a conflation of the figure of Llywelyn's father, Iorwerth Drwyndwn, and his own clerk and vice-chancellor, known as 'Master Gervase' or Master Iorwerth. For the latter, see J. Beverley Smith, Llywelyn ap Gruffudd Prince of Wales (new edn., Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 2014), pp. 323, 409, 554 n. 154. On the grants made by Llywelyn ab Iorwerth to the Cistercian abbey of Cymer, see ibid., p. 205-6; and K. Williams-Jones, 'Llywelyn's charter to Cymer abbey in 1209', in JMHRS, vol. III, part I (1957), 45-78. None of this information appears in Powel's Historie of Cambria, now called Wales at the location specified.
76. The identities of the unclear place name 'Llangwhist'and of the castle named here are uncertain. The first may be a reference to Llanrhydd, whereas the castle may be related to the defended enclosure, Cefn Du, at Llansannan, Denbighshire; or less likely to Cefn-du Camp at Guilsfield, Powys, both dating from the Iron Age but without any attested connection to Owain Glyndŵr. See here [external link] and here [external link] [accessed 27 February 2024].
77. For other renditions of this tale, two of which, attributed to Robert Vaughan of Hengwrt, predate Pennant's, see Elissa R. Henken, National Redeemer: Owain Glyndŵr in Welsh Tradition (Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 1996), pp. 130-2. Pennant's published account is in A Tour in Wales 1770 [1773] (1st edn.), I, p. 324-5.
78. Hugh Vaughan was son of Robert Vaughan (1695-1750), son of Howel Vaughan (b. 1647), son of Hywel Vaughan (1628-75), son of Robert Vaughan, the antiquary, making the latter his great great-grandfather.
79. Loose leaves, l_7r-l_7v, below, contain an example in an unidentified hand of material extracted from the Hengwrt manuscripts preserved within the covers of this notebook; Loose leaves, l_8, possibly in Thomas Pennant's hand, may also be an extract from the same source, although this is not stated.
80. Dolgellau's two bridges, crossing the rivers Arran and Mawddach respectively, are Pont yr Arran and Bont Fawr.
81. It is unclear which king named William is intended here. None of the English monarchs of that name up to the time of composing this account were contemporaries of Ynyr Fychan, whilst the reference to a rumour of an Irish landing is difficult to place and may well represent misinformation gathered on the ground. This material was not reproduced in Pennant's published account of this part of his journey. See A Tour in Wales (1784), II, p. 87.
82. 'Here lies Meurig son of Ynyr Fychan.'
83. Merioneth and in particular the Dolgellau area was renowned for its production of Welsh webs, a hard and tough material known to have been exported to the American colonies to create cloathing for enslaved people. See Marian Gwyn, 'Merioneth Wool and the Atlantic Slave Trade', JMHRS, vol. XVIII, part III (2020), 284-98, especially 285, 292, 293.
84. The place name Glyn Kymmer has not been identified but bears a clear relation to the name of the abbey located in the parish of Llanelltyd, Cymer Abbey.
85. See note 77 above.
86. An insert at this point noting early Welsh names for 'animals of the Deer kind' is given as Loose leaves, l_9, below. The location of the material suggests that the information it contains on Welsh names for animals, deriving 'from Poets of the first times', came to Pennant's hands through contacts in the Dolgellau area, probably either at Hengwrt or Blaenau.
87. 'Sidanen', a tune named for its association with a standard of female beauty, was called for to present a ballad about Elizabeth I, with further versions appearing in print during the eighteenth century. 'Erddigan Tro'r Tant' was likewise published in collections during this century; it is a series of sequences and repeated short motifs, lacking formal structure and clearly origiating earlier than this period. Phyllis Kinney, Welsh Traditional Music (Cardiff: University of Wales Press in association with Cymdeithas Alawon Gwerin Cymru, 2011), pp. 13-14, 22-3.
88. 'Stanzas, verses.' See GPC s.v. pennill.
89. 'they compete with each other in open and spirited contention; defeated by death life often ends by failing in spirit sooner than in song'. Pennant quotes from Pliny, Natural History, X:43. The material is reproduced in A Tour in Wales 1770 [1773] (1st edn.), II, p. 92.
90. Much of this material was incorporated into A Tour in Wales 1770 [1773] (1st edn.), II, p. 92, but there are subtle differences (e.g. 'the audience usually call for the tunes' rather than 'the audience never calls for the tunes') which suggest verification and correction of material perhaps relatively hastily jotted down in situ.
91. Pennant seems to describe two evolutionary stages of the development of the single row Welsh harp in his apparent (although not entirely lucid) reference to an instrument covered in leather and strung with 'twisted hair'. The earlier Welsh harp was a delicate instrument with horsehair strings, while an innovation in design in the fourteenth century led to the creation of harps 'covered in leather and with gut strings'. The triple harp, originating in Italy, was not adopted by Welsh harpers until the latter half of the seventeenth century and, whereas the most illustrious among them made it their first choice, many other musicians continued to use the single harp well into the nineteenth century. Osian Ellis, The Story of the Harp in Wales (Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 1991) pp. 6-7, 50-2. Further notes by Pennant on the harp are found in Loose leaves, l_10r-l_10v.
92. At 893m, Cader Idris is ranked nineteenth for height among the mountains of Wales.
93. 'Cairns'.
94. 'Stone upon stone'.
95. 'Standing stones'.
96. See John Lloyd's note in Loose leaves, l_11r, below.
97. 'Under the open sky'.
98. Pennant here invokes the Welsh noun 'tywyn', meaning 'beach, seashore, strand, coast, sand-dune', also the name of the nearby Merioneth town of Tywyn. See GPC s.n. tywyn².
99. Pennant's description of this locality is closely echoed in Samuel Lewis, A Topographical Dictionary of Wales, 2 vols. (London: S. Lewis and Co., 1833), II s.n. Tàlyllyn.
100. An effigy dated 1395 at St Deiniol's Church, Llanuwchllyn, shows Ieuan ap Gruffudd ap Madog ap Iorwerth, lying on his back in knight's armour. See here [external link] [accessed 11 April 2024]. John Lloyd's record of this monument are at Loose leaves, l_12, below.
101. Pennant refuted this etymology in A Tour in Wales 1770 [1773] (1st edn.), II, p. 71, claiming that it could not be the case, 'because [the Dee] does not appear to flow from any two particular fountains'.
102. Literally 'knitting assistance or assembly'. See GPC s.n. cymorth.
103. 'Tomen' meaning 'mound'.
104. The Rhinogydd or Rhinog range is made up of Rhinog Fawr and Rhinog Fach.
105. This star sign is not answered by a similar mark on the facing page.
106. This appears to be an aide-mémoire for Pennant to reference Powel's account at this location in The Historie of Cambria, now called Wales of the meeting at Corwen in 1165 of forces from all parts of Wales (including men led by Owain Gwynedd and his brother Cadwaladr from north Wales, Lord Rhys from south Wales, Owain Cyfeiliog and Madog ap Meredydd from Powys) gathered to repulse an imminent attack by Henry II.
107. A semi-effigy of Iorwerth Sulien, a vicar of Corwen, is found on his tomb at St Mael and St Sulien's Church, Corwen, Merioneth, dated  c.1340-50. The inscription reads 'X HIC IACET IORWERTH SULIEN VICARIVS DE CORUAEN ORAPROEO ('Here lies Iorwerth Sulien, Vicar of Corwen, Pray for him'. See Andrew Davidson, 'Parish Churches', in J. Beverley Smith and Llinos Beverley Smith (eds.), History of Merioneth Volume II: The Middle Ages (Cardiff: University of Wales Press on behalf of the Merioneth Historical and Record Society, 2001), pp. 326–85, especially pp. 337, 383c.
108. An eighteenth-century source refers to an engraving in a stone above a door on the south side of St Mael and St Sulien Church, Corwen, by the name of 'Cleddyf Owen Glynn-dyfr, the Sword of Owen Glyndwr', noting that it was of 'about 23 Inches long'. Pennant's measurement of '10 inches' on the sketch of the sword included here is shorter, and the location is a little confused (stated to be 'on a stone in the wall of the church yd' here but 'On the south side of the church wall' in the tour published in 1778). See Elissa R. Henken, National Redeemer: Owain Glyndŵr in Welsh Tradition, (Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 1996), pp. 152–3; A Tour in Wales 1770 [1773] (1st edn.), II, p. 61; and further, Nancy Edwards A Corpus of Early Medieval Inscribed Stones and Stone Sculpture in Wales Volume III North Wales (Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 2013).
109. A quadrangular shaft tapering towards the top and set in a circular base in the churchyard of St Mael and St Sulien's Church, Corwen, Merioneth. It contains what is probably a runic inscription, suggesting that its earliest phase dates to the tenth or eleventh centuries. See here [external link] [accessed 22 April 2024]; and Nancy Edwards, A Corpus of Early Medieval Inscribed Stones and Stone Sculpture in Wales Volume III North Wales (Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 2013).
110. See Pennant, A Tour in Wales 1770 [1773] (1st edn.), II, p. 62, where the home of William Eyton is noted as 'Plâs Warren, in Shropshire'.
111. It is not clear what Pennant expected to take from Lyttelton's The History of the Life of King Henry the Second at the point indicated. The material treats of the borough of St Albans.
112. A stone pillar located in the churchyard of St Mael and St Sulien's Church, Corwen. Its full name, 'Carreg y Big yn y Fach Rewlyd [sic]', may be translated as 'the pointed stone in the icy nook'. See J. Y. W. Lloyd, 'History of the Lordship of Maelor Gymraeg or Bromfield, the Lordship of Ial or Yale, and Chirkland, in the Principality of Powys Fadog', Archaeologia Cambrensis, Fourth Series, no. XXXVI (October 1878), 273–92, especially 275; and here [external link] [accessed 23 April 2024].
113. 'Standing stone'.
114. Pennant's interest may be tied to his (incorrect) rendition of this name, Tango perhaps bringing to mind the name of the leader of one of the Fifteen Tribes, Collwyn ap Tangno. See HPWaH, pp. 295-8, 316.
115. Nantclwyd, Llanelidan, passed from the Thelwall to the Kenrick family following the marriage of Martha (bap. 1693), daughter of Susan (née Thelwall) and Sir Roger Puleston of Emral, to Andrew Kenrick of Chester and Woore Manor, Shropshire. In 1770, it was their eldest son, Richard (d. 1802) who would have held the seat. See here [external link] [accessed 23 April 2024].
116. A memorial for Ambrose Thelwall (1570–1652), ninth son of John Thelwall (1533–1630) of Plas y Ward, Denbighshire, buried at St Meugan's Church, Llan-rhudd. See here [external link]; and for his association with Sir Francis Bacon and the Stuart kings James I, Charles I, and Charles, Prince of Wales (later Charles II), see DWB s.n. Thelwall family, Plas y Ward, Bathafarn, Plas Coch, and Llanbedr, Denbighshire, here [external link] [accessed 24 April 2024].
117. Located on the north wall of the chancel at St Meugan's Church, Llan-rhudd, the funerary monument to John Thelwall (d. 1586) and his wife Jane (d. 1585) displays them kneeling, with smaller figures of their ten sons and four daughters, each named, beneath. See here [external link] [accessed 24 April 2024].
118. Note that the correct name of John Thelwall's wife commemorated in this funerary monument was Jane.
119. Pennant here describes the 'Jesse Window' on the East wall of the North Nave at St Dyfnog's Church, Llanrhaeadr-yng-Nghinmeirch. Depicting the popular subject of the tree of Jesse, it was constructed by an unknown master in 1533 and testifies to a renewal in the commissioning of Welsh religious iconography following the turmoil of the Glyndŵr years. See Peter Lord, The Tradition: A New History of Welsh Art 1400–1990 (Cardigan: Parthian, 2016), pp. 16–17.
120. An imposing monument to Maurice Jones (d. 1703) is located on the southern wall of the South Nave at St Dyfynog's Church, Llanrhaeadr-yng-Nghinmeirch, Denbighshire. See here [external link] [accessed 8 May 2024].
121. Pennant quotes from Alexander Pope's 'Of the use of riches: An epistle to the Right Honorable Allen Lord Bathurst'. For a reading of this poem's treatment of financial inequality including its grotesque depictions of aristocratic misers, see J. Ferraro, 'The Distribution of Wealth in Alexander Pope's Epistle to Bathurst', The Review of English Studies, vol. 72, issue 305 (June 2021), 502-19, here [external link] [accessed 8 October 2024].
122. A group of three sweet chestnuts, dating from the late seventeenth-century, in the garden of Bachymbyd, Llanynys, Denbighshire. See here [external link] [accessed 8 May 2024].
123. The Bagot estate in north Wales was made up of extensive lands belonging to the Salesbury family. They were incorporated into their holdings in Staffordshire following the marriage in 1670 of Jane Salesbury (d. 1695) and Sir Walter Bagot, third baronet (1644–1705), and comprised more than 17,500 acres in the counties of Denbigh and Merioneth, including the house and lands of Bachymbyd. See here [external link] [accessed 8 May 2024].
124. Pennant refers to Leland's comments regarding a location in the parish of Llansannan, Denbighshire, where 'There is ... in the Side of a Stony Hille a Place where ther be 24. Holes or Places in a Roundel for Men to sitte in', called by some 'the Rounde Table'. See The Itinerary of John Leland the Antiquary, V, p. 52; and Pennant's dismissal of the link between this location and Arthur on f. 71r.
125. 'Arthur's table'.
126. It has not been possible to identify any references to this location, which Pennant with typical scepticism suggests may have been connected in local memory with the nearby site of 'Bwrdd Arthur'. The premise that Marsli (rather than Gwenhwyfar) was the name of Arthur's wife is surprising and may represent some misunderstanding on Pennant's part, reflected in the fact that this information was not related in the published tour. See description of the visit to Llansannan in Pennant, A Tour in Wales 1770 [1773] (1st edn.), II, p. 46.
127. There is no suitable river named 'Gernio' in the area described. Since Pennant gives the form 'Llangernio' for Llangernyw, it may be a false assumption on his part that 'Gernio' was a river name whereas in fact the word in question in the place name Llangernyw is 'Gorneu', a variant form of 'Cernyw' (Cornwall). The church at Llangernyw is dedicated to St Digain, son of St Cystennin Gorneu. The incorrect names were not replicated in the published tour, where Pennant gives the village by the name 'Llangerniew' and makes no mention of a river 'Gernio'. See Pennant, A Tour in Wales 1770 [1773] (1st edn.), II, p. 48; and Baring-Gould and Fisher, The Lives of the British Saints, vol. III, p. 117.
128. The significance of this note is unclear. The Mr Lloyd mentioned may possibly be a reference to John Lloyd, whose home, Hafodunos, is mentioned on the preceding page, f. 71r.
129. Pennant refers to his discussion of the instrument on f. 50r, above. It is unclear why he should refer to this here.
130. This refers to the tribe of Collwyn ap Tangno, Lord of Ardudwy and Eifionydd, fifth among the 'Fifteen Tribes of North Wales' which Pennant was to describe in his 1796 The History of the Parish of Whiteford and Holywell. See HPWaH, pp. 295–8.
131. A stone relief of the Stuart Arms, with the date 1636 below, is found above the central arch of Llanrwst bridge, while the Prince of Wales feathers are displayed in a parallel position on the north parapet. See here [external link] [accessed 9 October 2024].
132. Pennant does not appear to differentiate between St Grwst's Church proper and the annexed Gwydir Chapel. For the numerous commemorative features in the interior of Gwydir Chapel, including several obelisks and portrait heads, see here [external link] [accessed 10 May 2024].
133. Pennant refers to a medieval stone coffin at Gwydir Chapel (annexed to St Grwst's Church, Llanrwst) associated with Llywelyn ap Iorwerth (d. 1240), although work carried out in 1914 suggests that it was up to a hundred years later than the date of Llywelyn's death. It was probably brought to Gwydir from Maenan Abbey after its dissolution. See here [external link] [accessed 10 May 2024].
134. Pennant's assertion does not hold true in view of the chronologies involved. J. Y. W. Lloyd maintains that Gwydir was the property of Dafydd, son of Hywel Coetmor, who sold it to Maredydd ab Ieuan ap Robert of Cesail Gyfarch, and that it was he who began the construction of the house now standing. See J. Y. W. Lloyd, The History of the Princes, the Lords Marcher, and the Ancient Nobility of Powys Fadog, and the Ancient Lords of Arwystli, Cedewen, and Meirionydd [sic] and many of the descendants of the fifteen noble tribes of Gwynedd (London: T. Richards, 1884), p. 270. The 1770 Tour manuscript account includes between fols. 72 and 73 further information about the Wynn family of Gwydir in John Lloyd's hand. See Loose leaf l_13, below.
135. 'Here lies Howel Coytmor ap Gruffudd Fychan ap Gruffudd. Esquire'. For an image of the effigy at Llanrwst Church of Hywel Coetmor, 'complete with basinet, hauberk, vambrace, and breastplate, and an inscription which describes him as an esquire, armiger', see here [external link] [accessed 9 May 2024]; and, further, Davies, The Revolt of Owain Glyn Dŵr, p. 205.
136. For Pennant's discussion of the monument to the man whom he describes here as the grandfather of Hywel Coetmor at St Mary's Church, Betws-y-Coed, see A Tour in Wales 1770 [1773] (1st edn.), II, p. 134; and for an image, here [external link] [accessed 13 May 2024].
137. Portrait heads of numerous significant members of the Wynn family (both male and female) are set in lozenge-shaped brasses on the interior walls of St Grwst's Church, Llanrwst. See here [external link] [accessed 10 May 2024].
138. For another notice of this monument, see Williams, Faunula Grustensis (1830), p. 7.
139. 'Founded by John Wynn of Gwydir son of Maurice, soldier and baronet 1610'.
140. 'Richard Wyn of Gwydir, knight and baronet, Treasurer to Her Majesty the Queen, built [this] at his own expense and in memory of his noble deceased father, 1634'. Wyn was appointed treasurer to queen Henrietta Maria in 1625; see here [external link] [accessed 9 October 2024]. Further on this inscription, see Williams, Faunula Grustensis (1830), p. 7.
141. The Gwydir estate became part of the holdings of this family following the marriage of Robert Bertie (1660–1723) to Mary Wynn, daughter of Sir Richard Wynn, fourth baronet. The holder of the title and the estate at the time of Pennant's visit in 1770 would have been Peregrine Bertie, third duke of Ancaster and Kesteven (1714–78).
142. Pennant had a range of 'pocket books' recording sections of his Welsh tour. For a reference to an example shared with a colleague prior to publication, see Philip Yorke to Thomas Pennant, 10 April 1777, here [external link] [accessed 13 May 2024].
143. This may be a reference to William Dugdale's Monasticon Anglicanum, more clearly named later in this list.
144. The sums of 162.15.1 and 179.10.10 record the revenues of Maenan Abbey upon its dissolution, as given by Dugdale and Speed in unspecified publications. See Pennant, A Tour in Wales 1770 [1773] (1st edn.), II, pp. 145–6.
145. As Pennant indicates, the site of the abbey and the township of Maenan were granted to Elizeus Wynne in 1563 and a mansion built in lieu of the old buildings, which were largely demolished. See Samuel Lewis, A Topographical History of Wales (London: S. Lewis & Co., 1849), here [external link] s.n. Maenan-Abbey, or Maenan-Myn-Achdŷ [accessed 15 May 2024].
146. Pennant's reference is to the Bull concerning the transfer of the Abbey of Aberconwy ('Bulla de translatione Abbatiæ de Aberconwy'), dated 1289. See Thomas Rymer, Foedera (Londini: J. Tonson, 1726), II, pp. 427–8.
147. See Tanner, Notitia monastica, p. 707, where details are given of the founding of Maenan Abbey (given there as 'Maynan, Maenen or Aberconwey') in 1283, with reference to the work of Rymer and Dugdale.
148. See the 'Rotuli Walliae' in Ayloffe's Calendars of the Ancient Charters, and of the Welsh and Scottish Rolls, Now Remaining in the Tower of London, p. 92, where notice is made of grants given to two individuals in compensation for lands and rents at Maenan Abbey.
149. Pennant may be still referring here to the 'upper house' rather than the larger manor of Gwydir.
150. The duke of Ancaster in 1770 was Peregrine Bertie, third duke (1714–78); Pennant may here be referring to his father and namesake, the second duke of Ancaster and Kesteven.
151. The incumbent bishop of Bangor was John Ewer, who succeeded John Egerton (1721–1787), translated to Lichfield and Coventry in October 1768.
152. The colourful portrayal of this roguish Jack of all trades given by Pennant here suggests that the Gwydir agent, John Williams (fl. 1742–86), had been consecrated priest by Richard Newcome (d. 1769), bishop of St Asaph. He may be identified with the John Williams who was ordained by Newcombe in 1765 for a stipendiary curacy at Llanfaircaereinion, Montgomeryshire, and tended his resignation as curate of Llanyblodwel, Shropshire, in 1783. See here [external link] s.n. Williams, John (1765-1783) [accessed 16 May 2024]. Pennant equates the act of consecration with the injudicious behaviour of Jeroboam, who 'made again of the lowest of the people priests of the high places: whosoever would, he consecrated him'. See 1 Kings 13.33.
153. The story of the heiress of Gwydir outlined here has not been traced and does not appear to feature in the printed Tour.
154. On the prevalence of woods in the Conwy valley during the time of Owain Glyndŵr's revolt and onwards into his own day, see Wynn, The History of the Gwedir Family (1770), p. 133. Wynn's account of his family's history is dated c.1580-1616. See Wynn, The History of the Gwydir Family and Memoirs (1990), p. xxiii.
155. The reference (at the point indicated here by Pennant) relates to information about the discovery of 'great holes in the mountains on the banks of rivers' in the northern English colonies of America, which Pehr Kalm believed 'must exactly have been such giant pots, as are to be met with in Sweden'.
156. Cf. the observations of Walter Davies about the extent of wooded cover in the Snowdonia region c.1810, which suggest that forests were a thing of the past: 'To cover the sides of our Snowdonian Alps with woods, would at present be deemed more than a Sisyphean labour; but it is certain they were once covered'. Davies, General view of the agriculture and domestic economy of north Wales, p. 229; and see note in ibid.
157. See GPC s.v. llugwy, where the suggested meaning of 'llugwy' is 'flow of tears', rather than Pennant's 'bright'.
158. Pennant refers to the chapel of St Curig, dating from the sixth century, which gave its name to the village of Capel Curig. See here [external link]; and for the Church of St Curig in the same village, not built until the 1880s, here [external link] [both accessed 23 May 2024].
159. This may refer to Lliwedd.
160. Mr Mason may possibly be identified with the Dr Mason of Cambridge to whose manuscript travels Pennant refers in the published tour. See Pennant, A Tour in Wales 1770 [1773] (1st edn.), II, p. 211.
161. This material is replicated in the published tour; see Pennant, A Tour in Wales 1770 [1773] (1st edn.), II, p. 171.
162. Llyn Padarn and Llyn Peris.
163. Pennant mentions Cefn Cwm Gafr within a chain of mountains which bound the Vale of Nant Peris. A relationship with the site known as Cwm Gafr is possible. See A Tour in Wales 1770 [1773] (1st edn.), II, p. 157.
164. One of the biographical Lives of the Greek historian and philosopher Plutarch. Arranged in pairs, the Life of Julius Caesar was set alongside that of Alexander the Great. Pennant may have in mind evidence of Caesar's consultation with seers who conducted sacrifices confirming the 'womanish superstition' of his wife Calpurnia in advance of his assassination on the Ides of March, 44 BC. See Plutarch, Life of Julius Caesar, chapter 63.
165. Pennant refers here to superstitious beliefs held by inhabitants of Llanberis, using the work of sixth-century monk Gildas as evidence for the blind credulity of the early inhabitants of Britain. See Gildas, De Excidio Britanniæ, 'De contumacia', 4:3: 'Neither do I, by name, inveigh against the mountains, valleys or rivers, once destructive, but now suitable for the use of man, upon which divine honour was then heaped by the people in their blindness' (translated here [external link] [accessed 23 May 2024].
166. Llyn Padarn and Llyn Peris.
167. For 'Gwair [o'r] Rhosydd' (literally 'hay from the moor'] see GPC s.v. gwair (gwair rhos and gwair rhostir) where the definition given is 'rough hay growing in moorlnd, &c.'.
168. Both quotations from Leland appear in vol. V, p. 37, in Thomas Hearne's edition of The Itinerary of John Leland the Antiquary (Oxford: Thomas Hearne, 1710), which also notes the location in the original manuscript as 'Fol. 47'.
169. John Rhŷs, writing at the turn of the twentieth century and referencing this claim of Pennant's, maintained that 'There is no legend now extant, so far as I can ascertain, about the Llyn Coch fairies'; but provided a lengthy tale about the appearance to a local farmer of a beautiful vision at a lake near Llanberis, whose name the informant did not recollect. See John Rhŷs, Celtic Folklore: Welsh and Manx, 2 vols. (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1901), pp. 125-30.
170. 'valleys'. See GPC s.v. cwm, where the definition is 'a deep narrow valley, coom, glen, dale'.
171. 'valley'.
172. 'valley'
173. 'valley'
174. The account of Pennant's travels during the summer of 1770 come to an abrupt end here. It is followed by two pages of notes within the notebook proper, and a series of loose leaves, included in Loose leaves, l_14-25, with l_25 representing text found on the outer back cover of the volume.
175. Artist and auctioneer John Greenwood exhibited his work at the Society of Artists following his arrival in England in 1763, using an address in Golden Square during 1768–9. See Neil Jeffares, Dictionary of pastellists before 1800: Online edition (updated 26 November 2021), here [external link] [accessed 2 July 2024].
176. Mr Grace has not been identified, but see Edward Grace and Co, brokers and merchants active from 1766, whose premises included an address at Cornhill, here [external link] and here [external link] [both accessed 4 July 2024].
177. This may refer to the Adam and Eve Tavern on Tottenham Court Road, shown here [external link] on a map of 1746 [accessed 4 July 2024].
178. See f. 1 above for Pennant's comments about Coparleni or Gop Hill.
179. See f.11 above for Pennant's comments on Moel Fenlli.
180. See f. 24 above, where Pennant makes note of Sarn Helen.
181. This leaf is placed between pages 10 and 11 in the manuscript 1770 Tour but clearly does not refer to the material found at that location. Relevant sections in Pennant's text are found on fols. 24r and 27r, with the former the most likely point of reference. As elsewhere, the page reference given by Lloyd probably refers to a pre-publication version of the Welsh Tour.
182. It is unclear whether Lloyd refers here to the farm named Croesor, mentioned earlier in this paragraph or to the village of the same name.
183. Once more, it is unclear whether Lloyd refers here to the farm named Croesor, mentioned earlier in this paragraph or to the village of the same name.
184. The form 'croesor' is not included in GPC. It may be compound noun made up of 'croes' (suffering, pain, affliction) and 'awr' (hour; cf. the related plural form 'oriau'' and noun 'orig').
185. Pennant mentions Beddau Gwŷr Ardudwy on f. 27, above.
186. John Lloyd's page reference does not appear to relate to the manuscript volume of the 1770 tour, but see f. 27 above for Pennant's record of Beddau Gwŷr Ardudwy on this journey.
187. See Pennant on Bronwen and Collwyn ap Tango on f. 31, above.
188. As Lloyd denotes later in this paragraph, much of this information is taken from Rowlands, Mona Antiqua Restaurata (1723), pp. 145, 166.
189. 'A rectangular grave was made for Bronwen Daugher of Llŷr on the bank of the river Alaw and that was where she was buried'.
190. For Pennant's comments on Bryn Corn Iau, see f. 35, above.
191. See further f. 48, above.
192. It was at Sempringham in Lincolnshire that Gwenllīan in fact lived out her life as a nun.
193. The fact that the glass used is described as Norman would suggest that it was coloured, unlike glass produced in Britain at this time. Ex inf. Martin Crampin.
194. Llywelyn ap Gruffudd died on St Damasus day, 11 December (not November as noted here) 1282, which did indeed fall on a Friday that year.
195. A reference to the celebratory festivities carried out by Edward I following the conquest of 1282, including a 'round table' at Nefyn. See R. R. Davies, Conquest, Coexistence, and Change: Wales, 1063-1415 (New York: Claredon Press, Oxford University Press, 1987), p. 355.
196. See further f. 48, above. The hand is uncertain but may be that of John Lloyd.
197. 'It was in 1349 that the plague first hit Wales and that Owen Glyndŵr was born.'
198. See f. 48 [sic], above.
199. 'Stag.'
200. 'Hind, doe, roe.' See GPC s.v. ewig, where examples date from the 12th century onwards and include the Latin name used by Pennant, 'Cerua', from John Davies, Dictionarium Duplex (1632).
201. 'Young deer from the deer.' See GPC s.n. elain (where the connection with the form 'Hinnulus' used here by Pennant is recorded in a 1604-7 dictionary); ailon, eilion.
202. Two of the specimens mentioned in this list - 'y carw' and 'yr Ywrch' ('iwrch') - are cited by their Welsh names in a section on 'Antient Hunting' in A Tour in Wales 1770 [1778] (1st edn.), II, p. 117.
203. 'Britain.'
204. Placed at f. 50 in the manuscript tour, this material represents an elaboration on the theme of music in early civilizations, with particular notive to the harp. The identity of the hand is uncertain.
205. See Benjamin Stillingfleet, Principles & Power of Harmony, p. 133, paragraph 182, where the boy playing the cithern features among several examples showing how 'men were incited and encouraaged to work by the power of their music', an 'encouragement ... not unusual amongst the antients'.
206. Stillingfleet names Clemens Alexandrinus and Ælian as writers who testified 'that deer are affected by music', and quotes from 'Waller, in a poem addressed to lady Isabella playing on the lute'. See Principles & Power of Harmony, pp. 142-3, paragraph 193. The quotation from Playford (also given by Stillingfleet) can be found in John Playford, An introduction to the skill of musick, 19th edn. (London: printed by William Pearson, for Benjamin Sprint, 1730), unpaginated.
207. This material contains quotations from a section on the harp in Stillingfleet, Principles & Power of Harmony, pp. 41-2, paragraph 63, which in its investigation of the history and development of the instrument refers to Venatius Fortunatus, mentions the 'Nablium' described by Flavius Josephus, the Egyptian vase of the Medici family, the 'bull Apis, in the Isiac table', and the view of Diodorus Siculus. Stillingfleet also consulted the work of Bianchini, and appears to have been followed in this here, where clear references are made to some of Bianchini's illustrations.
208. 'And the barbarian harp shall applaud thee alongside the Roman lyre'.
209. Sacred bull of the ancient Egyptians. For an image of a statuette dating between the seventh and fourth centuries B.C., see here [external link] [accessed 16 April 2024].
210. 'taken from an Egyptian engraving in the Horti Medici published by Kircher in volume 4'.
211. The figure appears facing p. 29 in Bianchini's De Tribus Generibus Instumentorum Musicæ Veterum Organicæ Dissertatio, showing an instrument with a concave right hand side and a convex left hand side.
212. See f. 53 [sic], above, for Pennant's mention of Llys Bradwen.
213. See f. 61 above for the discussion by Pennant of this monument at Llanuwchllyn church.
214. For this monument to Ieuan ap Gruffudd ap Madog ap Iorwerth, see note 100 above. The letters 'o', 'r', and 'w' in Pennant's text here are marked with dots, as he mentions below.
215. Placed sideways along the right hand margin of this loose leaf of paper, this volume and page number bear no relation to the pagination of the manuscript 1770 Tour. They are, rather, probably a reference to the location of Pennant's account of Llanuwchllyn in a pre-publication draft version of his tour. The published account appears in A Tour in Wales 1770 [1773] (1st edn.), II, p. 76.
216. See f. 72, above, where Pennant writes of the Wynne family of Gwydir.
217. A battle took place at Blackheath on 17 June 1497 between Henry VII and Cornish subjects revolting on account of the king's harsh imposition of taxation. The Cornishmen were defeated. See ODNB s.n. Henry VII (1457-1509).
218. 'It is enough for the lion to have overthrown'. This Latin motto used by Sir Thomas Salusbury (d. 1505) is a quotation from Ovid, Tristia III, v. 33. See Ursula Georges, 'Heraldic Latin Mottoes: Sixteenth- and Seventeenth-Century Welsh Evidence', here [external link] [accessed 4 July 2024].
219. 'He conquers who endures'.
220. 'To have the power without the wish is noble'.
221. Pennant deleted this incorrect date for the execution of Thomas Salusbury in the Babington plot of August-September 1586.
222. These were probably Thomas Salusbury's eldest son, Thomas (b. 1634) and his younger brother John (d. 1684). See ODNB s.n. Salisbury, Salesbury, or Salusbury, Thomas (d 1643), here [external link] [accessed 4 July 2024].
223. 'Henry Salusbury of Lleweni, son of Radulph Salusbury, esquire. Died 1400'.
224. It is unclear whether the information given here about what appears to be a drawing viewed by Pennant continues to relate to Randulph Salusbury, details of whose effigy was given previously. The work (or possibly two works) in question have not been identified and are not mentioned in the published version, Pennant A Tour in Wales 1770 [1773] (1st edn.), II, pp. 25-7, where Pennant describes portraits at Lleweni.
225. This portrait head of Robert Devereux, second Earl of Essex, has not been identified, but for a list of likenesses, see ODNB s.n. Devereux, Robert, second earl of Essex (1565–1601).
226. This portrait of an old 'Knight Bachelor' ('Kn B') who died in 1633, 'aged 60', has not been identified and, once again, is not mentioned in Pennant's published account of portraits at Lleweni; see Pennant A Tour in Wales 1770 [1773] (1st edn.), II, pp. 25-7.
227. 'Aged 19, the year 1613'. Henry Frederick in fact died on 6 November 1612.
228. Ann and Mary, daughters of Katheryn of Berain and her second husband, merchant Richard Clough, are referenced here. Like Pennant, contemporary bards such as Rhisiart Phylip and Simwnt Fychan were keenly aware of the wealth and the land accumulated through the marriages of these daughters into the Salusbury and Wynne families. See Williams-Ellis, 'Delweddu Catrin o Ferain Mewn Llun a Gair', p. 481.
229. For the proverb 'Ef a aeth yn Glwch' ['He became a Clough'] in reference to a person who has amassed wealth like the affluent Sir Richard Clough (d. 1570), see GPC s.v. clwch¹.
230. Pennant's reference to 'Nichols & Saxons' appears to be an error for the name of Nicholas Saxton.
231. For an identification of Mediolanum not with Maentwrog but with Meifod, Montgomeryshire, see below under Mediolano.
232. David Powel's view in annotations on Giraldus Cambrensis's Itinerary, was that 'the ancient Mediolanum was seated where the village of Meivod stands at present; but also that the same village and places adjoyning afforded in his time several such remarkable Monuments, as made it evident, there had been formerly a considerable town at that place'. "Camden's Britannia newly translated into English, with large additions and improvements; publish'd by Edmund Gibson ..." (Early English Books Online 2 digital edition), Additions to Montgomeryshire', 1.39, here [external link] [accessed 3 July 2024]. Current scholarship locates Mediolano in the Ravenna Cosmography at present-day Whitchurch in Shropshire. See here [external link] [accessed 4 September 2024].
233. Sandonio in the Ravenna Cosmography probably refers to a legionary works depot on the banks of the river Dee at Holt. See here [external link] [accessed 4 September 2024].
234. Pennant's identification of Ptolemy's Toisobius with Conwy is no longer attested, with recent scholarship favouring a large, sandy estuary in Cardigan Bay as a more likely site. See here [external link] [accessed 4 September 2024].
235. Cancanorum Promontorium is identified with the Welsh 'Cap Braich-y-pwll' (Pennant's Brachipalt point) in Pliny, Naturalis historia. See here [external link] [accessed 4 September 2024].
236. Identified as Bodfari here, see also a possible connection with St Asaph, located some six miles north-west.
237. Already in poor condition when Pennant viewed it in the early 1770s, a recent report suggests that 'few medieval features survive' at this site. See here [external link] [accessed 4 September 2024].