"This river, now greatly increased by the junction of the Lion from its pleafant dale, but till preserving all its original rapidity, rolls in majestic state between the rich groves of Taymouth, and at Aberfeldie is croffed by a large ftone bridge, built by General Wade, when the military roads were formed, and graced with a very claffic Latin infcription. The Tumel, lately enlarged by the waters of the Carrie tumbling from the highly improved diftrict of the Blair of Athol, through the hollow pafs of Killicranky, meets the Tay below the romantic fpot of Fafkally, which after paffes through a finely paftured and well timbered vale to Dunkeld, the venerable remains of whofe abbey present a fine object close to the Tay, and in the midst of the Duke of Athol's numerous plantations. High obtruding hills direct its winding courfe in its exit from the Highlands beneath the fcanty remains of the celebrated wood of Birnam, from whence the ruined fortrefs of Dunfinane is feen at a confiderable distance across the plain. "The Tay here makes a confiderable circuit to meet the Ifla from Angus, and then defcending beneath the ancient palace of Scone, to the fine city of Perth, paffes under the arches of its noble bridge, and sweeps in a bold femicircle round the rock of Kinnoul, oppofite to the hill of Moncrieffe, where the Roman legions, ftruck with aftonishment at the grandeur of the scene before them, fuddenly halted, and cried Ecce Tiberim.' The Earne defcends a little below this fpot from Crieffe, and beneath the elevated pile of Drummond Castle, adorns the fertile vale of Straith Earne, through which its courfe is parallel with the Tay, till the two rivers join near Newburgh. Thus is formed that vaft æftuary called the Firth of Tay, at the head of which the important and flourifhing port of Dundee fpreads over a confiderable eminence; this Firth narrows confiderably as it approaches its exit, and falls into the fea beneath the walls of Broughty Caftle." P. 99. THE EASTERN COAST OF CAITHNESS -JOHN A GROAT'S HOUSE, "ON the coaft, between the Fleet, and the Brora, is fituated the noble, but deferted, Caftle of Dunrobin, the apcient seat of the Earls of Sutherland; beyond the latter, the precipices of the rocky Ord of Caithness impend hor ribly over a stormy ocean, above which a road is carried far more exalted and tremendous than that of Penmanmawr in North Wales. This is the only great pafs of the country into Caithness, after which the road divides into two branches, one pursuing the coaft, and the other penetrating through the heart of that county northward to Thurfo. The eastern coast of Caithness, afterthe pafs of the Ord is furmounted, is far lefs mountainous than that of Suther land; one fmall river, called the Wick, defcends to it from the north-weft, originating in the lake of Watten, and forming a fine bay beneath the port fituated on its northern fhore, from which it derives its name. Confiderably further towards the north, Duncanfby Head projects into the fea, marking the north-eaftern extremity of our ifland; advancing towards which, be yond the village of Houna, ftands the memorable ferry-houfe of John a Groat, the Ultima Thule of most Eng lifh travellers, and the laft manfion in Great Britain. The coaft here is wild, bold, and rocky; the Orkney Hlands appear fpread out in front across the boisterous Firth of Pentland, and during fome weeks of the fummer months daylight is never loft to its inhabitants, for which they fuffer by an equivalent prolongation of night in the winter, though the prevalence and brightness of the Aurora Borealis ufually relieves this evil. The bread bay of Dunnet fucceeds, into which the river Thurfo defcends from the fouth; the port, which bears alfo its name, is placed at the mouth of the ftream, and separately approached by the road which diverges from the fhore a little above the Ord of Caithness. "Here end all tracks easily practicable to any but the fcanty inhabitants of this wild coaft, which, indenting the country with deep bays through the remainder of Caithness and Suther land, terminates towards the northweft in the dangerous promontory of Cape Wrath. It defcends then fouthward, interfected with large falt-water lochs, till the mountainous region of Affynt projects again towards the west, near the extremity of Sutherland.' The weftern coaft of Rofs-fhire is not lefs wild and barbarous, being penetrated with till deeper arms of the fea, as it 3 R 2 defcends defcends by the weft to the fouth; the large ifland of Lewes appears from thence at a confiderable diftance in the north-weft; and Skye, the principal of the Hebrides or Western Islands, almoft clofes in with it, as it approaches the borders of Inverness-fhire. The western coaft of that great county abounds in fimilar features, being little lefs wild, dreary, and inacceffible; it is alfo in like manner penetrated with vaft arms of the fea to its junction with Argyle-fhire. The northern part of that district participates in the fame qualities, as it makes a fweep to form the found of Mull, oppofite to the ifland of that name, and then defcends again fouthward to the straits of Jura, and from thence to the extreme point of the Mull of Cantire, oppofite to Ireland, which it doubles, to form a fine bay round the islands of Arran and Bute, beyond which, it reaches the confines of Dumbarton-fhire, and the mouth of the Clyde. habitants, providing alfo their only means of fuftenance. Mines are faid to abound in this great expanfe, and fome of these are supposed to be of confiderable value, but they are seldom explored on account of the fcantinefs of its population, and the want of general animation; the mountains of Aflynt are defcribed as containing maffes of marble, equal to the Parian in whitenefs and purity, and the hidden minerals are fuppofed to be frequent, as well as valuable, in the forefts of Dirrymoor, Durnefs, and Fainith, as well as in the districts of Coygach, Groinard, Gareloch, Applecrofs, and Kintail. Except fome trifling ftreams which fall into the salt-water lochs, there appears to be a total failure of rivers from the Thurfo of Caithness on the northern coaft, to the Spean of Invernefs-fhire on the western; a vaft outline, widely differing from the rest of our island, both in this, and most other circumftances. "This immense tract of coaft, which forms the point of the Mull of Cantire to Cape Wrath, extends northward COMMENCEMENT OF THE BRITISH near four degrees, viz. from almost the CHANNEL TO THE LAND'S END. 55th to the 59th, is nearly alike favage, "THE western coaft of England dreary, and inacceffible. The interior may be faid to begin, where the shipping of the country correfponds with it in of King Road, at the junction of the wildnefs, few and uncertain being the Lower Avon with the Severn, properly roads which penetrate it, and mifer- conftitutes that great æftuary of the able, as well as fcanty, its villages, Briftol Channel, a little below the opwhile cultivation is only purfued in a pofite conflux of the Wye from Wales, few favoured fpots, and that but im- though fome navigators do not allow perfectly. Deftitute of accommoda- it that title till it reaches the islands tion for travellers, and full of craggy called the Holmes near Cardiffe. The mountains, interfected with lakes and Somerfet fhire fhore' ftretches out at deep moraffes; moft part of this diffirft in the broad plain before describmal territory is unknown, except to thofe who are interested in it either as inhabitants or proprietors. The people, however, are understood to be far more civilized, than the climate and country they live in, together with their poverty and feclufion from the world, would warrant; minifters of the Scotch kirk being refident with decent appointments in most of the villages, and medical affiftants of fuffiient skill and character, being difperfed over the whole peninfula. The feveral falt-water lochs, which penetrate this district in every direction, from the northern and the western coafts, open an immenfe field for the herring fishery, which in fome parts is purfued with great affiduity, and in moft forms early the whole occupation of its in ed, bordered by marthes, while the undulating range of the Mendip hills, covered with fern and abounding in mines, closes the horizon, as it advances through the country from the borders of Wiltshire, above the pleafant city of Wells with its neat cathedral, towards the great expanse of water below Axbridge. "Great marfhes afterwards fpread far into the country, of which the rich level of Sedgmoor is the most confiderable, and the coaft continues chiefly level till the waving line of the Quantox hills in the fouth-weft oppofes the parallel ridge of the Mendip in the north-eaft, between which the infulated terrace of Powlett, or Polden Hill, exalts itself, traversed beautifully by one of the western roads from Bath to Bridgwater Bridgwater. Two great plains are thus formed, through the first of which the Brue defcends by the magnificent pile of Glaftonbury, whofe conic hill, crown ed with the tower of its Torr, is visible at a vast distance: the latter expanfe comprehends the vale of Taunton Dean, one of the richeft in the weft of England, between the ranges of its high impending barriers. The Parrett and Thone, united, pafs through this territory to form the Bay of Bridgwater, to which that of Minehead fucceeds, where the majestic pile of Dunfter Caftle appears proudly elevated on a high mount above its town. This delightful spot has been much improved by the taste of its owner Mr. Luttrell, with the numerous plantations of whofe park many of the neighbouring hills are covered, one of which is marked by a lofty but unfinished tower. This part of the Somersetshire coaft, together with that of Devonshire which foon joins it, may be called mountainous, abounding in dark cliffs and rocky hollows, inceffantly following each other, of which the valley of Stones, near Linton, is an extraordinary fpecimen; a few romantic ftreams (but none of any note) defcend through thefe clefts, and the towns of Ilfracomb and Comb Martin occupy bold pofitions on the edge of the fea, the former of which (being in Devonfhire) is reforted to as a bathing-place from the grandeur of its furrounding fcenery. The fhore of Glamorganfhire, Caermarthenshire, and Pembrokeshire, fronts thefe towns across the Bristol Channel, which is here become almoft an open fea; while that of Devonshire deeply indents the country, forming the bays of Barnstaple and Biddeford, and terminates in the bold point of Hartland, in front of Lundy Ifland, and a little beyond the fingular village of Clovelly, which defcends in precipitous ftages through a rocky hollow to the fea. The Devonshire coaft now inclines to the fouth, foon uniting with that of Cornwall, bounding there the rich and level diftrict of Stratton; after which, high hills advance again before Camelford, enclofing the plain and villages of Boffineo and Bofficaftle, where the fragments of Tintagel Caftle occupy a cliff which ftretches out far into the fea, exhibiting the curious, though imperfect, remains of our British King Arthur's palace. The coat turns more and more weftward from the fouth, after it has formed the bay and harbour of Padstow at the mouth of the Camel, being indented at last by the femicircular bay of St. Ives, at the extremity of the broad bafin formed by the Heyl. Thus is the extreme western point of Cornwall almost infulated, in the fame manner with the northern peninfula of Scotland, the two feas advancing towards each other, and large inland ftreams dividing the country fo as almoft to join them. The little port of St. Ives graces its bay, after which, the coaft defcends in a fouth-weft direction till it makes its grand and final compafs by the fouth towards the caft round the Land's End, enclosing a naked tract of country, where the me lancholy villages of Senan and St. Buryen exhibit the laft poor habitations of England to the Atlantic ocean, whofe waves, dashing against the black rocks which rife in piles around this dreary peninfula, roll afterwards with uninterrupted force towards the continent of America. After "The iflands of Scilly, fo dangerous to the navigation of this fea and the entrance of the English Channel, are vifible from the point of the Lard's End, where a rock at a small diftanee from the fhore is furnished with a lighthoufe, of a very curious conftruction, for the direction of mariners. compaffing this extraordinary point, the Cornifh fhore advances fouthward, with fome fwells to the caft, and prefently expands itfelf into the capacious bay of St. Michael, in the centre of which rifes a fingular infulated rock, crowned with the ftriking remains of an abbey, which was formerly dedicated to that faint. Sir John St. Aubyn, the proprietor, has converted this into a temporary dwelling, adding where it was neceffary to make the pile habitable, and uniting the ancient ftyle of building with the modern very judiciously. St. Michael's Abbey thus prefents a fingular manfion, highly exalted on a ftupendous cliff, curiously overhanging the fea in perpendicular rocks, and commanding in great perfection the ftrong features of its appropriate bay. These are not lefs bold than the rest of the Cornish coaft, but they are happily intermixed with a very interefting difplay of cultivation, paftures, woods, and villages, among which the handfome town of Penzance overfpreads, overspreads an eminence on the weft above the fea, backed by fome fine groves; and the little port of Merazion, or Market Jew, occupies the centre of the bay in the north, while the Lizzard Point clofes the view towards the fouth-eaft at a confiderable diftance. Thus is this extraordinary building of St. Michael's Abbey fituated, being approachable at low water from Merazion only by land, but completely infulated by every flow of the tide; it is alto very difficult of accefs from the rugged and winding flight of steps by which alone its rock can be furmounted." P.252. LXXXVI. The Cambrian Itinerary; or Welsh Tourift: containing an hiftorical and topographical Defeription of the Antiquities and Beauties of Wales. Wherein are inutely and feparately defcribed, according to their geographical and modern Divisions, all the different Counties, Towns, Villages, Hamlets, Mountains, Vales, Agriculture, Manufactures, Rivers, Canals, mineral Waters, Foffils, Antiquities, Caverns, Mines, Monafteries, Cafles, Camps, Cromlechs, Ciftvaens, Carneddau, &c. &c. Alfo, the principal Houfes of Accommodation, or Inns, in the Country. Likewife a colloquial Vocabulary, in English and Welth; and an Appendix, containing the Bardic or ancient Welsh Alphabet, indifpenfably neceflary for every Tourist. The Whole illuftrated by a new and correct Map of the Principality, including the Roads, Rivers, and Mountains. By THOS. EVANS. 8vo. pp.384. 10s.6d. Hur ft. EXTRACTS. CARN, CARNEDDAU, OR CARNEDD, ARE heaps of ftones very common on the Radnorfhire mountains, and many other places in Wales. The most perfect that I have feen in this county are near Abbey Cwmhir, and on Gwaftedyn Hill, near Rhaiadr-gwy, mentioned by Camden and Gibfon. Thefe confit of ftones to the amount of thirty or forty cart-loads, thrown down promifcuously to form what is termed a carn. The origin and use of fuch memorials have often been difcuffed, and generally admitted to have been fepulchral monuments erected by the Britons in commemoration of their hero or chieftain, who fell in battle, and not what fome ingenious gentlemen have denominated Carnedd Lladron, or the Carn-Buttain. For those unaccustomed to see these little memorials of the dead, a more general defcription may be useful and fatisfactory. Thefe heaps are found in various fituations and of different dimenfions; but the largest does not much exceed fixty feet in diameter, and about seven feet deep in the middle, where the carn is always moft protuberant, to conceal the cheft, or ftone coffin, which is ufually found in this part, covered with a large ftone. It frequently happens that a circular range of large ftones are pitched an end on the outfide of within are piled loofely in circles about the heap, while the ftones contained the tomb, and the interftices filled up with leffer ftones. Some of the carns are covered with earth, almoft conical, and approach near the form of a tumulus. In many of these carns the ftones bear marks of ignition, being remarkably red and brittle by the ac tion of fire, which appears to have been fo vehement in fome, that the ftones perfect carn there is always a large are in a great measure vitrified. To a ftone placed endwife within ten, twenty, thirty, forty, or fifty yards of it; and fuch as want them at prefent may be fuppofed to be deprived of them fince their firft erection, and converted to other purposes. There is likewife fome small diftinction to be obferved; for inftance, the tumulus and carn ap Pearing together, prove the interred to be fome ancient chief; while the fepulchres of the commonalty are always found on the hills, where there is a fmall declivity and hollow to be seen, of an oblong form, with the earth heaped like a fmall hillock. When thefe are opened, a ftratum of afhes, blackifh, or red burnt earth, is discovered; but in digging a little deeper we foon perceive a difference, and come to the native foil. It is very uncommon to travel over a barren hill in Wales, without perceiving a gwyddfa, the British for any confiderable lapse or fall, or fome memorial of the ancient Britons." P. §3. BUALT -SUALT-DEATH OF LLEWELYN. "IN recurring to the Chronicle of Caradoc, we find this place fuffered confiderably by the Danes in 893, who being perfecuted by Alfred, failed to Wales, and after deftroying the country about the coaft advanced to Bualt, which they likewife demolifhed. The fame fatal confequences happened likewife in 1216; for when Reynold de Bruce peremptorily broke off his alliance with Llewelyn ap Jorworth to make peace with Henry III. the former deftroyed all Bualt except the caftle. Like most places of importance in former times, this appears to have had a caftle for its defence, built by the Bruces or Mortimers; but being out of repair in 1209, Gilbert Earl of Glofter fortified it for his own ufe. After this, about 1215, we find it in the poffeffion of Giles de Bruce, bishop of Hereford; but when he formed a confpiracy against Llewelyn ap Gruffydd, the latter came in perfon to Bualt, and had the caftle delivered to himself; however, it reverted again to Reynold Bruce, who was befieged in it by fome Welsh barons in 1220, but before it could be taken Henry III. raised the Giege. "About 1256, we find it in the poffeffion of Rhys Fychan, whom Llewelyn ap Gruffydd defeated, and forced out of Bualt; afterwards conferred the fame on Meredith ap Rhys, but he was foon difpoffeffed of it by Roger Mortimer, with whom it continued till 1260, when Llewelyn retook it without oppofition, and found within a plentiful magazine. Of the town and caftle nothing more is mentioned till the unfortunate event which put a period to the independency of the Welsh, and their royal line of princes, occafioned by the death of Llewelyn ap Gruffydd, who was here bafely betrayed by the inhabitants of Bualt, on Wednefday, December the 11th, 1282.The minute circumftances preceding and following this great event are nowhere recorded, except in the following account preferved by tradition among the inhabitants of this place. Llewelyn had pofted his army on a hill near Mochryd, a village about three miles below Bualt, on the fouth fide of the Wye. On the north fide of the river, two miles below Bualt, the prince had a house called Aberedw, to which he came for the purpofe of conferring with fome chieftains of the country. During his stay there, he was alarmed by the approach of fome English troops, who probably had intelligence of his fituation. The prince, to extricate himself from the danger that threatened him, caufed his horfe's fhoes to be reverfed, to deceive his pursuers, as the fnow was on the ground: but this circumstance was made known to the enemy, through the treachery of the fmith; and they followed fo clofely, that Llewelyn had but just time to pafs the drawbridge at Bualt, which being drawn up fecured his retreat. In the mean time, the English troops pofted at Aberedw had information of a ford a little lower down, called Cefn Twm Bach, which they croffed, and by that means came between Llewelyn and his army ftationed at Mochryd. The only means of fafety that now offered was to fecrete himself: but the enemy were fo diligent in the purfuit, that the Welfh prince was foon found in a nar row dingle, in which he had concealed himself, three miles north of Bualt, and about five miles from his army, which place, from this event, was called Cwn Llewelyn. After Llewelyn was killed, they cut off his head, and buried him near the spot; and at fome fubfequent period a farm-houfe was erected over his grave, which goes by the name of Cefn-y-Bedd, or the Top of Llewelyn's Grave." P. 81. MERTHYR TYDFIL "IS fituated on the borders of Brecknockshire, thirty miles from Bre con. The fpot on which the town ftands, and the immediate neighbourhood, was the fortunate purchase of Mr. Crawthay, and coft him only 800% while in ground-rents alone he has at prefent more than the yearly rent of 1000l. "Unfortunately, the town is fituated in a barren diftrict, and fupported folely by the iron trade, which the owner deems precarious, therefore is adverse to letting out any more on building leafes, being prepoffeffed with this abfurd notion, that if he fuffered mafons to lay stones and mortar on his estate, he would, perhaps, at fome diftant period, be at the expenfe and trouble of removing them. This is acting on a very narrow-minded policy indeed; for not the prefent owner, or many fucceeding generations, |