Having thus executed my design of a general description of South-Wales and Monmouthshire, I shall return to the narrative of my tour.
GOODRICH CASTLE AND PRIORY—WILTON CASTLE—SCENERY OF THE WYE FROM ROSS TO MONMOUTH—ROSS—GLOUCESTER.
We took our farewel leave of Monmouth on a hazy morning, that concealed the surrounding scenery in the earliest part of our ride to Gloucester. But the mist gradually withdrawing allowed us a gleam of the majestic Wye, about two miles from Monmouth; which, soon deserting the course of the road, winds beneath the bare rocky cliffs of the little Doward, and becomes lost among high wooded hills. Near the seven-miles stone from Monmouth we struck off the turnpike into an embowered lane in search ofGoodrich Castle, a very picturesque ruin, which rises among tufted trees on abold eminence above the Wye. The view of the castellated hill, combined with a grand fertile valley, which extends for many miles in a richly-variegated undulation, enlivened with the elegant though simple spire of Ross church, and with peculiar graces, watered by the copious river, was uncommonly striking: while to the right we caught a glimpse of the grand features about Symonds-gate and the Caldwell rocks, backed by a range of heathy hills that forms the boundary of the forest of Dean.
Goodrich Castle
The remains of this castle shew it to have been of considerable strength, though not very extensive. Its figure is nearly square, measuring fifty-two yards by forty-eight, with a large round tower at each angle. A deep trench, twenty yards wide, is cut in the rock round the walls, leaving a narrow ridge which crosses the moat to the grand entrance. On entering the gateway, a small apartment to the left, with an ornamented Gothic window, and a stone chalice for holding holy-water, appears to have been the chapel; or, considering its small size, rather an oratory. A curious octagon column rising from a mass of ruins opposite has belonged to aprincipal apartment, and most probably the baronial hall. A large square tower was the keep, which is said to have been built by an Irish chieftain named Mackbeth, as a ransom for himself and his son, who were held prisoners in the castle; and until lately two ponderous helmets were shewn as belonging to them, one of which held half a bushel.
There is no doubt but that this was a frontier post held by the Saxons; and many parts of the ruin still bear a Saxon or early Norman character.[349]During the reign of king John, and in several succeeding ages, it was in the hands of the earls of Pembroke, but afterwards deviated from that line. In Jacob’s Peerage, under the article of the earls of Shrewsbury, it is related, that the Hugh le Despencers forcibly seized Elizabeth Comyns at Kennington in Surry, and detained her in confinement above a year; concealing her in their different castles, until she was, by menaces of death, constrained to pass “her manor of Painswick in the county of Gloucester to the said earl, the elder Despencer,and the castle of Goodrich to Hugh the younger; to them and their heirs.”—Thus it was in feudal ages, when every potent baron dared violate the strongest bands of society; when the property and freedom of humble individuals, and the honour of females, were subjected to the will of contiguous power; and suffering innocence could only plead the wrongs that she suffered at the tribunal of the oppressor. But, alas! it is a principle of our being, it is a fact which ought to be treasured in the minds of Britons, that where power is without controul it seldom fails to act unjustly.
In the civil wars of Charles the First this castle was in the hands of both parties successively; and upon the parliamentary cause proving triumphant, it was ordered to be dismantled: but a sufficient compensation was allowed to the countess of Kent, to whom it belonged. The farm-house appertaining to the meadows and corn-fields about the castle is situated a few hundred yards from the castle, to the right, and occupies the site ofGoodrich Priory: the chapel, converted into a barn, and some other Gothic remains, are still visible.
In our way from Goodrich to Ross, for the first two miles traced in a bridle road that might with equal propriety be called a ditch, we had frequent views of the proud ruin towering above its incircling groves; which, variously combining with the surrounding landscape at each succeeding station, proved a new and delightful object. We crossed the Wye at Wilton bridge; a short distance above which, on the low western bank of the river, appear the mouldering towers ofWilton Castle, a Norman structure, once the baronial residence of the Greys. Several pleasure-boats with awnings, handsomely fitted up for the reception of company that would navigate the Wye, are moored by the bridge.[351]
I earnestly advise every traveller of taste and leisure, proceeding by the way of Ross to Monmouth, not to neglect the beautiful scenery of this river: he may take one of the boats; or, if he prefer riding or walking,he may enjoy its principal charms by reversing my journey from Goodrich; whence crossing Hensham ferry, he will proceed among pleasant meadows on the margin of the stream in front of the sublime grandeur of the Caldwell rocks; then ascending the isthmus of an immense peninsulated rock called Symond’s gate, at the height of 2000 feet above the surface of the river, he will enjoy a superlative prospect of its mazy extent and the grand scenery around. From the vicinity of Goodrich the Wye urges its course through a narrow valley inclosed by towering woody mountains, or struggles in more limited confines, where protruding rocks plunge their naked perpendicular sides into the body of the stream. Descending from the lofty neck of the peninsula, which is but six hundred yards across in a direct line, although the circuit of the river round the rock is upwards of four miles, he will find himself in a deep valley of astonishing grandeur, formed on one side by the romantic precipices of the peninsula, and on the other by the great Doward, a huge stratified limestone mountain, studded with lime-kilns and cottages. At the New-wier hewill re-cross the river, and soon join the turnpike to Monmouth.
The old town ofRoss, situated on the gently-inclining bank of the Wye near Wilton bridge, afforded us no subject of admiration or interest, except in the recollection which it excited of Mr. John Kyrle, whose public spirit and philanthropy inspired the verses of Pope. We baited our horses at an inn which was formerly his house, and now bears the sign of “The Man of Ross.” The views from the cemetery of Ross church are among the most beautiful that imagination can picture, looking over a lovely value, adorned with the majestic meanders of the Wye, enriched with numerous groves and woods, and finished by a distance of Welch mountains: to detail its several charming features would be as tedious, as it would prove a vain attempt to realize a just idea of the landscape.
We now traversed a well-cultivated district, whose numerous though gentle hills were frequently clothed with apple-orchards, and in about six miles ride, upon a wretched road, gained a heathy eminence, when the great plain of Gloucester appeared before us, stretching to an immense distance in everydirection. At the extremity of the plain, at least in appearance, rose the towers and spires of Gloucester, faintly relieving from the Cotteswold hills, whose high continuous summits were strongly contrasted by the broken form of the Malvern hills afar off on the left.
The Severn, nearGloucester, separates into two channels; which, soon re-uniting, inclose a tract of land called the Isle of Alney; so that we approached the city over two bridges connected together by a high causeway near a mile in length, which traverses the islet. An assemblage of ships, houses, and numerous spires, greeted us with a look of more public importance than we had been used to for several weeks, as we drew near the city. It would require a volume to give an adequate description of this place: all that my limits will allow me to say is, that it is one of the fairest cities in England, regularly composed of four principal wide well-built streets, meeting at right angles in the middle of the town; abounding with Gothic churches and other public structures, and a new-built gaol, which is one of the best in the kingdom. But its chief ornamentis its truly grand cathedral, remarkable for its elegant tower, surmounted with four transparent pinnacles of the most exquisite workmanship, and for having the largest Gothic window in Britain: nor is it less to be noticed for the curious ramifications and transomes of its fretted roof, and the high state of enrichment throughout the structure.[355]We ascended to the summit of the tower, where
“The bursting prospect spreads immense around:And, snatch’d o’er hill and dale, and wood and lawn,And verdant fields, and dark’ning heath between,And villages embosom’d soft in trees,And spiry towns by surging columns mark’dOf household make, your eye excursive roamsTo where the broken landscape, by degreesAscending, roughens into rigid hills;O’er which the Cambrian mountains, like far cloudsThat skirt the blue horizon, dusky rise.”
“The bursting prospect spreads immense around:And, snatch’d o’er hill and dale, and wood and lawn,And verdant fields, and dark’ning heath between,And villages embosom’d soft in trees,And spiry towns by surging columns mark’dOf household make, your eye excursive roamsTo where the broken landscape, by degreesAscending, roughens into rigid hills;O’er which the Cambrian mountains, like far cloudsThat skirt the blue horizon, dusky rise.”
A tributary sigh escaped as we caught the last gleam of our much-loved principality;nor can I conclude my subject without transmitting that view of the Welch individual character and state of society (particularly alluding to the southern district), which impressed me during my tour, and which I have since believed to be just.
Wales may be considered as exhibiting almost the sole remnant of “the good old times” existing in Britain. Separated from those causes of extrinsic splendour which domineer over other parts of our island, the opulent landholders freely dispense the wealth of their inheritance with unostentatious liberality. Indifferent to outward shew, their first cares evince a parental regard to the poor on their domains, and the maintenance of their forefathers’ good cheer. An interchange of good offices is alike conspicuous between them and the commonalty; and it is no less pleasing to see the friendly solicitude of the one, than the unaffected respect and attachment of the other.
The Welch are justly described to be the most robust and hardy inhabitants of this kingdom; for, unenervated by those sedentary employments foisted on less happy regionsby luxury and avaricious policy, they boast the vigorous frames of aboriginal Britons. Although not generally tall, they possess a more unequivocal criterion of strength, in a fine breath of chest; and hence it has been remarked, that a Cambrian regiment drawn up in line covers more ground than any other. By healthful toil and simplicity of diet invigorated, they are at once potent, courageous, animated, and generous.
It has been asserted, that the Welch are averse from strangers;—but by whom? By those who have provoked that aversion; who, carrying with them a vulgar estimation of superior show at the tables of England, have not known how to approve a regular board of hospitality, when contrasted by the splendid profusion of fashionable entertainments; who, representing the more gay appointments of other resorts, have pitied the Welchman’s old-fashioned furniture, and wondered how any gentlemanly being could exist in his gloomy Gothic habitation. Such as can conceive no other travelling enjoyments than superior inns, sumptuous dinners, and bowling-green roads, may quarrel with our principality.But it is for those who travel with more enlarged views, and proper introductions, to declare the ingenuous welcome that they have experienced: the eager solicitude that was every where manifested to afford them information; and the liberal fare set before them, which not even the greatly-increased expence of family establishments could effectually suppress.
As every virtue has its concomitant shade, we have to lament that the Welchman’s ardent spirit sometimes inclines him to be quarrelsome; yet, as there is generosity at the bottom, his passion seldom becomes vindictive. A disposition for social enjoyment has led him from conviviality to habits of intemperance; and an improvident hospitality, to the ruin of his family’s fortune. An error more harmless in its operation arises from his admiration of illustrious ancestry; which often resolves itself into an association of personal importance, that unbiassed individuals are not inclined to allow. These asperities are wearing away, under the attrition of a more extended and enlightened intercourse. But it is the heartfeltwish of an earnest admirer of their present state of society, equal to every essential duty of a manly people, that the chilling apathy of morbid refinement may never paralize their spirit of independence, that spring of energetic action which forms the noblest attribute of Man.
THE END.
NicholsandSon,Printers,Red-Lion-Passage,Fleet-Street.
[0]The errata has been applied in this eText.—DP.
[6]The Saxons at this period are supposed to have occupied Monmouth, Chepstow, Caerwent, and Caerleon.
[7]Mr. Pennant.
[9]The common appellation of this mode,Gothic, is equally improper with the preceding, as the reign of the Goths was at an end long before its introduction: indeed its origin is wrapped in obscurity. Sir Christopher Wren, and after him many architects and antiquaries, have attributed it to the Saracens, and hence called it Saracenic; but their grounds are very questionable. Perhaps the homely conjecture, that it arose from the pointed form in the intersecting Saxon arches, may be as near the truth as one derived from more laborious researches; indeed, from the specimens of early Gothic which I have seen, I am of opinion, that cogent reasons may be adduced, to prove it rather to be of natural growth from the Saxon modes, and formed in its characteristics by gradual alteration, than a new system of remote and detached origins.
[11]An iron grate, with spikes at the bottom, which was let down after the gate was forced.
[12]Several years ago, when I first set about castle-hunting, I endeavoured in vain to discover a relation between what I saw, and the description with a figure of an ancient castle, laid down in Grose’s Antiquities, and copied by others. I have since seen the greater part of the principal ruins in South-Britain; and the only castles that occur to me as approaching to that gentleman’s plan, are those of Dover and London. I mention this, because persons building a theory on the authorities above-mentioned, might, among ruins, be puzzled, to no purpose, for a practical illustration.
[21]The practice of whitening their dwellings, in Wales, is very general, and of long standing. David ap Gwillim, a bard of the 14th century, thus notices it in his invocation to Summer: “With sun-shine morn gladden thou the place, and greet the whitened houses.”
[22]Of the numerous vessels that sail from Bristol to Swansea, not one is fitted for passengers, and it was our misfortune to enter the worst in the service: we afterwards learned, that two superior vessels, Dimond and Hawkins masters, afford very tolerable accommodation. The sailing of these might be learned from a correspondence at Bristol, and a pleasant conveyance obtained,—at least for men.
[29]The cromlech is certainly a relic of the Druidical age. It is variously contended to have been a place of worship, a sepulchral monument, and an altar for sacrifice. The latter opinion appears to me best supported; nor can I look on a cromlech without adverting to those horrid rites wherein human victims were immolated by Druid-craft to excite the terrors of superstition.
[62]See the Introduction, Section 3.
[67]A Description of England and Wales, Vol. VII.
[71]The shores of Milford-haven abound with lime-stone; which, affording a rich manure (with coals and culm), is conveyed by water over a great portion of the country. In the shores of the haven also, near its junction with the open sea, are many veins of copper ore, some of which are conjectured to be very rich; but none have been explored with perseverance.
[72]Lord Kensington described to me a very picturesque ruin called Benton cattle, situated upon the borders of Milford-haven near the arm of Lawrenny. This ruin I had not an opportunity of seeing, nor do I remember having read of it in any of the descriptions of Wales.
[73]I asked one of these young women, with the utmost seriousness and civility, at least with all that I was master of, what they made use of to render their teeth so uncommonly white; when the arch hussy waggishly replied, “Only a little nice white sand, and a scrubbing-brush, Sir.”
[81]From Haverfordwest, a turnpike road extends to Caermarthen, 33 miles distant. About nine miles from Haverford, and one to the left of the road, is Lawhaden castle, picturesquely seated on a bold eminence, overlooking an extensive country. This castle was the principal seat of the Bishops of St. David’s; but in the year 1616 Bishop Milborne obtained leave to dismantle it, the lead and other expensive materials having been purloined by his holy predecessors. Narbeth, a small irregular town built on a hill about 11 miles on the road, has some inconsiderable ruins of a castle erected by Sir Andrew Perrot, whose ancestor came over at the Conquest. The road, pawing through St. Clare, a pleasing village, continues onward without any particular attraction.
[84]Aber, in Welch, signifies the mouth of a river: hence Abertivy, Aberystwith, &c.
[85]Powell, in his History of Wales, says, that it was rebuilt before the year 1176; when Rhys, Prince of South Wales, made therein a great entertainment at Christmas, at which were present many hundreds of the English, Norman, and Irish nobility. Among other things for their entertainment, he caused all the bards throughout Wales to come thither; and seating them round the hall, they had to contend with each other in rhyme: such as excelled, were promised great rewards and rich presents. The North Wales bards were acknowledged victors in poetry, and Prince Rhys’s own servants the ablest musicians.
[91]The equilibrium is now destroyed.
[92]See p. 29.
[94]Camden says, it often holds its tail between its teeth, to render its springs more immediate.
[98]Near Penrhyn a British gold coin was found, of about equal weight with a guinea, a little hollowed on one side, and different from any of the coinage of the Romans, or their successors: whence, and from other instances, it is inferred, that the Britons had gold and silver coin before the arrival of the Romans. In the church-yard is a large rough-hewn stone, bearing an inscription that has not yet been interpreted.
[106]At Lhanar, a small village two or three miles distant, on the right bank of the river, there was a Cistercian nunnery, a cell to Starflower Abbey, of which I understand some imperfect vestiges remain.
[123]According to Tanner, Leland, and Dugdale. Camden says it was for Cluniacs.
[130]The mansion of Mr. Vaughan, the greatest landholder in Caermarthenshire. We did not visit this seat, or Middleton hall, also southward of the valley a few miles nearer Caermarthen, but without commanding any of its beauties. The latter place, built a few years since by Mr. Paxton, formerly a banker at Bengal, I understand to be the most splendid specimen of modern architecture in Wales; but, unfortunate in its situation, it is already neglected.
[131]The ruins of Gruslwyn castle occupy a bold conical hill about half-way between Llandilo and Caermarthen, in the Vale of Towey. Nearer Caermarthen, until lately, stood the venerable remains of Green castle, built by Uchtred, prince of Merionethshire, in 1138; but the ruin is now reduced to a few unimportant walls: both these fragments of antiquity are within view of the road.
[135]“Dim Sarsnic” (no Saxon) is a common expression, grounded on their anciently confounding all foreigners with their mortal enemies the Saxons; as the lower class in England consider every foreigner a Frenchman. This is said to be connected with a marked dislike and incivility to strangers; yet, so far as my observations extend, a greater disposition to acts of kindness is not to be met with in any part of the kingdom than in South Wales.
[140]Along with the degeneracy of social affections, manly prowess, and other noble affections, that hang on nations and places absorbed in the pursuit of trade, the dereliction of chastity is greatly conspicuous. In Manchester, for example, an almost promiscuous intercourse prevails in the great class of the people: insomuch that the Magistrates attempt to check the increase of bastard children by inflicting stripes and imprisonment on the women who bear above a certain number! But why enumerate particular instances of the debasing tendency of too much trade, when the history of the world furnishes abundant proofs to establish the fact as an axiom.
[145]Rail-ways are so called, from being constructed of iron (in some places wooden) rails, placed in such a manner as to receive the wheels of a sort of low cart, used in the conveyance of metal and coals. These cars, as they are called, are of very ponderous structure; their wheels, grooved round, with a shoulder dipping on the inside, pass with great facility over the rails; which latter, projecting an inch or two above the ground, are kept in their places by a sunken frame of wood. The advantages of these roads are very considerable for the purposes to which they are applied; insomuch that many persons have suggested their usefulness for public ways; but perhaps without considering the numerous practical objection that would encounter the project.
[150]Single stonesmay be considered among the remotest monuments of antiquity: we read of such in the Old Testament, raised in commemoration of signal victories, and as noted sepulchres. Jacob erected one at Lug; and placed another over the grave of Rachael.
[153]They were wrecked on the Margam estate upwards of a century since.
[155]This is called part of the Abbey church in Grose’s Antiquities; but, as the foundation of that edifice is demonstrable near the chapter-house, it appears to be an error.
[163]In this neighbourhood several Roman coins have been dug up, among which were some very scarce ones of Æmilianus and Marius.
[164]Llancarvan, about three miles from Cowbridge, is said to be the site of a Monastery built by St. Cadocus in the year 500.—Boverton, a village a short distance from Cowbridge in the road to Cardiff, is thought to be the Bovium of the Romans.
[173]From this place a turnpike-road extends through the mountains to Brecon, a district so wild as not to present a village, and scarcely a habitation in an extent of eighteen miles.—In the neighbourhood of Merthyr-tydvill I find described Morlashe castle, a ruin.
[174]An outwork that defended the drawbridge.
[175]The external staircase entrance to the hall spoken of by Camden, “the roof whereof is vaulted and supported by twenty arches,” is now rendered nearly impassable by rubbish.
[177]On a mountain near Caerphilly is a monument known by the name ofY Maen hir. It is a quadrangular stone pillar, rather inclining, and about eight feet high: close to the base is a mound, inclosing the space of six yards; and in the midst, a square area. On the pillar is an inscription in Welch, which signifies, “May’st thou awake;” from which it is inferred to be a funereal monument.—Grose’s Antiquities.
[181]This is called the magazine, from its having been applied to that purpose in the civil wars of Charles the First.
[184a]There is no cross aile to this cathedral, as there is to all the others in England and Wales: nor any middle steeple, as there is to all the others except Bangor and Exeter.
[184b]Castle coch, or the Red castle, situated upon a high bank of the river Taffe, about four miles above Landaff, is a small ruin which we neglected to visit.
[185]Monmouthshire has been separated from Wales by the judicial arrangement of later times; yet the character of the county throughout is so entirely Cambrian, that I cannot consider myself out of Wales until after having passed the Wye. Indeed, this highly-varied and interesting district may be considered as an epitome of the whole principality. The mountains stretching over the north-west of Monmouthshire shire may vie with any in South-Wales, and even aspire to the majestic wildness of some in North-Wales; the rich fertility, or broken precipices accompanying the course of the Severn, Wye, and Usk, with much contrastive grandeur, possess the highest pretensions to picturesque fame; and its numerous ruins and other monuments of antiquity are among the most celebrated in the kingdom.—An elegant and able work, in two volumes, quarto, has been lately published, descriptive of Monmouthshire, and illustrated by no less than 90 excellent plates. The researches of its author (Mr. Coxe) have been so accurate and complete, as to leave little more for a succeeding tourist to do than to select and transcribe. The descriptions I always found highly satisfactory and just; I have therefore, in the generality of instances, thought it unnecessary to follow any other authority for documents in history and antiquities.
[192]An officer who had the superintendance of the walls, and collected a toll for keeping them in repair.
[195]We did not visit Rogeston castle, about two miles north-west of Newport, a fortress of the Stradlings who came over with Fitzhammon. Part of its remains appear in the foundation of the mansion built on its site, belonging to the Morgans, but tenanted by Mr. Butler of Caerleon, and employed as a manufactory of iron bolts and tin plates.
[200a]In ancient military architecture “circinatio angulorum;” a plan condemned by Vitruvius, because it rather sheltered the besiegers than the besieged, “quia hostem magis tuentur quam civem.”
[200b]A decent little inn, and the only one in the town.
[208]These ruins are attributed to the ravages of Owen Glendower, who sacked and burnt the town.
[209]From Usk to Abergavenny, the road passes several objects worthy of a tourist’s notice. I must here borrow from Mr. Coxe’s survey, not having travelled on the road. The church of Kemys Commander, between three and four miles from Usk, to the left of the road, is a small Gothic structure; its cemetery is remarkable for a hollow yew-tree, fifteen feet in girth, within which is inclosed an oak not less than seven feet in circumference; its branches shadow the parent trunk, forming a singular combination of foliage. The church of Bettus Newydd, on the right of the road in the same neighbourhood, is noticeable for the entire state of its ancient rood-loft. A mile and a half further the road is graced with an elegant Gothic gateway, of modern execution, appertaining to Clytha house, the seat of William Jones, Esq.; and near it is Clytha castle, a structure erected by Mr. Jones to the memory of a beloved wife. At seven miles from Usk, to the right of the road, is the old mansion of Lansanfread, a residence of James Green, Esq. M.P., for Arundel. Colebrook, about two miles further, and nearly the same distance from Abergavenny, is a seat of Sir John Hanbury Williams. The house was an irregular old pile, with square towers at each angle, until about fifty years since, when the present front and Doric portico were erected, from a design of Sir Charles Hanbury Williams, of diplomatic and facetious memory.
[214]The walls here and in many other parts of the ruin are not deprived of their facing stones, as is generally the case with these remaining monuments of baronial splendour; but, constructed of a superior sort of light grey stone, they still exhibit a specimen of exquisite masonry; and where they have not been wilfully dilapidated appear as perfect as if just finished.
[219]List of the household, and method of living, at Raglan Castle, by the Earl of Worcester, in the reign of Charles the First, 1641.
At eleven o’clock in the forenoon the castle gates were shut, and the tables laid; two in the dining-room; three in the hall; one in Mrs. Watson’s apartment, where the chaplains eat (Sir Toby Matthews being the first); and two in the housekeeper’s room, for the ladies’ women.
The Earl entered the dining-room, attended by his gentlemen. As soon as he was seated, Sir Ralph Blackstone, steward of the house, retired. The comptroller, Mr. Holland, attended with his staff, as did the sewer Mr. Blackburne; the daily waiters, Mr. Clough, Mr. Selby, Mr. Scudamore; and many gentlemen’s sons, with estates from two to seven hundred pounds a year, who were bred up in the castle; my lady’s gentlemen of the chamber, Mr. Morgan and Mr. Fox. At the first table sat the noble family, and such of the nobility as came there.
At the second table, in the dining-room, sat knights and honourable gentlemen attended by footmen.
In the hall, at the first table, sat Sir Ralph Blackstone, steward; the comptroller, Mr. Holland; the secretary; the master of the Horse, Mr. Dolowar; the master of the Fish-ponds, Mr. Andrews; my Lord Herbert’s preceptor, Mr. Adams; with such gentlemen as came there under the degree of a knight, attended by footmen, and plentifully served with wine.
At the second table in the hall (served from my Lord’s table, and with other hot meats) sat the sewer, with the gentlemen waiters and pages, to the number of twenty-four.
At the third table, in the hall, sat the clerk of the kitchen, with the yeomen officers of the house, two grooms of the chamber, &c.
Other officers of the household were, chief auditor, Mr. Smith; clerk of the accounts, George Whithorn; purveyor of the castle Mr. Salisbury; ushers of the hall, Mr. Moyle and Mr. Cooke; closet-keeper; gentleman of the chapel, Mr. Davies; keeper of the records; master of the wardrobe; master of the armoury; master grooms of the stable for the war-horses, twelve; master of the hounds; master falconer; porter and his man. Two butchers; two keepers of the home-park; two keepers of the red-deer park. Footmen, grooms, and other menial servants, to the number of 150. Some of the footmen were brewers and bakers.
Out Officers: Steward of Raglan, William Jones, Esq.; the governor of Chepstow Castle, Sir Nicholas Kemys, Bart.; housekeeper of Worcester-house in London, James Redman, Esq.; thirteen Bailiffs; two counsel for the bailiffs to have recourse to; solicitor, Mr. John Smith.
[222]The Romans constructed their roads with large masses of stone closely layed together: each piece was often six or seven feet long and carefully squared. The road to Caerwent, formed on such a foundation, though passing through a low swampy country, is observed to be uncommonly compact and dry. Thus the utility of that once great people’s work is transmitted through the constant wear of fifteen centuries; and excites the admiration of even our own enlightened age.
[236]Camden’s Britannia, p. 714, ed. 1722.
[238]About half a mile from the shore is a rocky islet called Charston rock, much esteemed for the durability of its stone: it has lately been employed in the lower part of the piers of Newport-bridge.
[244]The stone coffin, containing the remains of St. Theodoric, was discovered some time since: upon removing the lid, the skeleton appeared perfectly entire, except a large fracture on the skull, which probably occasioned the death of the hero.
[251a]Owing to a neglect of the roof, the upper stories of the building were swimming with water, and perishing very fast. It is to be hoped, that before this the Duke of Beaufort’s agents have looked to their charge, and adopted proper means to prevent the entire loss of a useful habitation, and an interesting remnant of antiquity.
[251b]Southey’s Poems, p. 378.
[252]Several of the glazed figured tiles used by the Normans, commonly called Roman tiles, patched up in different parts of the ruin, and a few Roman bricks built in the heterogeneous mass that composes the grout-work of the walls, have occasioned many persons to consider the castle as of Roman foundation. But these circumstances, standing alone, afford very inconclusive grounds. On the Normans building the castle, the Roman fragments were most probably brought from the then decaying town of Caerwent, and with other rubbish applied to the work.
[255]In the garden of a house in Bridge-street is the phenomenon of a well of soft water that ebbs and flows regularly is an exact opposition to the tide.
[261]Col. Wood is about to dispose of this estate.
[264]She was a niece of lord Peterborough.
[265]This part of our journey, in wading through a right Welch road, brought to my mind an anecdote of Mr. Morris. When a bill was before the House of Commons for the improvement of the roads in Monmouthshire, many gentlemen of the county, willing to plod through the same mire that had bedaubed their ancestors, gave it a strong opposition. Mr. Morris, who had a mind above vulgar prejudices, and who was a warm promoter of every useful improvement, being examined at the bar of the House and questioned, “What roads have you in Monmouthshire?” replied, “None.”—“How do you travel then?”—“In ditches,” was his reply.
[268]A rough carved figure of a man in a coat of mail is shewn as the effigy of Richard Strongbow, Earl of Pembroke, the founder of the abbey. This account, however, is altogether erroneous: Richard was only great nephew of the founder, and he was buried in the chapter-house of Gloucester.
[274]The neighbourhood that has risen round the abbey is called Abbey Tintern, to distinguish it from this village, which is about a mile distant.
[285]The Herberts came over soon after the Conquest, and settled at Worndee, near Abergavenny.
[287]The manor of Troy deviated from the Herbert line to that of the earls of Worcester about the beginning of the seventeenth century. In the Apophthegms of the Marquis of Worcester is related a punningjeu d’espritupon the word Troy, between the old Marquis and his royal guest Charles the First. Sir Thomas Somerset, the Marquis’s brother, residing at Troy-house, possessed a greater art in forcing plants than was at that time generally understood in England; which enabled him to send a present of fruit to the Marquis that was entirely out of the natural season. The old Peer, highly pleased, carried them to the King, and said, “Here I present you, Sire, with that which came not from Lincoln that was, nor London that is, nor York that is to be, but from Troy.” Whereupon the King smiled, and answered the Marquis, “Truly, my Lord, I have heard that corn grows where Troy town stood; but I never thought that there had grown any apricots before.”
[308]This cross-legged position of sepulchral effigies does not denote that the person represented was a Knight Templar, as is generally supposed; but that he had visited the Holy Land: indeed, his having entered into vows that he would perform the journey, entitled him to this distinction.
[310]One of his posterity, William de Braose, in the reign of King John, says Dugdale, “gave the tithes of his castle,viz.of bread, wine, beer, cyder, all manner of fresh, fish, salt, honey, wax, tallow, and in general whatsoever should be brought thither and spent there, upon condition that the Abbot and Convent of St. Vincent’s in Mans, to which the priory was a cell, should daily pray for the soul of King Henry the First; as also for the soul of him the said William and the soul of Maud his wife.”
[313]See Page 290.
[330]There is an oblong camp in the neighbourhood of the town calledY Gaer; where Roman bricks, bearing the inscription LEG. II. AUG. are frequently ploughed up. Near this camp is a rude pillar, about six feet high, called themaiden stone; on one side of which are the figures of a man and woman coarsely carved in relief.
[343]Cairns, or barrows, in the druidical ages, were large heaps of stones raised over the bodies of deceased heroes. After the introduction of Christianity, similar piles were placed on malefactors, to give a sort of counteraction to the old custom; and it soon became the bitterest wish a man could give his enemy, “that a cairn might be his monument.”
[349]InDugdale’s Monasticon, the signatureGodricus Duxioccurs twice among the witnesses to two charters granted by king Canute.
[351]The distance from Ross to Chepstow, in a straight line, is not more than sixteen miles and a half; but owing to the sinuosity of the river the voyage by water is near thirty-eight miles. The boats descend with the current, and are towed all the way back by men: this laborious task may account for the expensive hire of a boat, which I understand to be three guineas.
[355]We did not neglect to visit the remains of Lanthony Abbey near Gloucester, the successful rival of the foundation in Monmouthshire. The ruins are situated about a mile southward of the town: they are by no means picturesque, consisting of a series of buildings which surround a large square area; the dilapidated walls of the chapel are standing without encumbrance; but the other parts are made up into farming habitations, with numerous out-houses and sheds.