SECTION II.
From Nanerth rocks, after a pleasant ride of about three miles on the bank of the Wye, we reached Rhaidr Gwy; the word Rhaidr signifies a cataract, or fall of water, and is frequently applied to those falls, among the mountains of Snowden in Carnarvonshire.
Camden seems to think that from the word Rhaidr, the county of Radnor, through the west angle of which, this river directs its course derived its name. The bridge at Rhaidr consists of one wide arch, which from its base forms a very large segment of a circle. It is a plain structure and has little but its romantic accompaniments to recommend it; the immense pile of rocks on which it is elevated, carries the arch so high as to afford from beneath it, an extensive prospect of the adjoining country, in which a small Welsh building called Cwmtather Church appears in a whimsical point of view. The annexed sketch was taken from below the bridge, where the combination of objects is wonderfully grand; and in this dry season, displays in full force the ponderous rocky substances of which it is composed. But in consequence of this drought, we had the misfortune to lose the display and thunder of its cataract, which a less friendly state of the elements would have exhibited in all its grandeur. The stones over which the waters in this vicinity roll, are of an immense size, and in their forms, partake both of the majestic, and the grotesque; their diversified hues, and vast angular prominencies afford in certain lights and in some seasons of the day, under the rays of a bright sun the most brilliant and picturesque effect. Over the bridge passes the high road that leads to Aberystwith, and a more rugged and dreary path, is perhaps scarce to be trod in any of the frequented parts of this principality. Rhaidr, though now but a miserable place, derived formerly some consequence from its castle, which was advantageously situated in a nook of the river not far from the bridge, but of which no trace at present remains. Near the spot whereon the castle stood is a deep trench cut out of a solid rock, and not far distant, are several large Tumuli, or Barrows, called in Welsh, Kern, and Keido. These are conjectured to have been raised as memorials of the dead. Camden confirms this idea, and observes, not very consistently indeed with the respect due to the memory of the departed, “that it is still the custom to cast heaps of stones on the graves of malefactors and self murderers.”
At what period the castle at Rhaidr was built is not ascertained, but it was repaired by Rhys Prince of South Wales in the reign of Richard the first, and near it says Camden, “is a vast wilderness rendered very dismal by many crooked ways and high mountains, into which as a proper place of refuge, that bane of his native country, King Vortigern, whose very memory the Britons curse, withdrew himself, when he had at last repented of his abominable wickedness, in calling in the English Saxons, and incestuously marrying his own daughter.”
His address to the Barons, on the subject of calling in the aid of the Saxons, is thus recorded by an anonymous author.
Below Rhaidr we soon lost sight of that immense rocky scenery, so eminently characterizing its neighborhood, and every reach of the river yielded additional richness and verdure. A detail of each minute change of prospect that occurs in a tour of this nature, however gratifying at the moment to the eye of the curious and picturesque traveller, would be tedious and uninteresting; it is therefore the business of description to record only the most material objects as they occur, and leave imagination to paint the rest. About three miles below Rhaidr, the Wye receives a considerable supply of water from the rivers Eland and Clanven, which unite at a distance of about four miles from their conflux with our river. Below this a copious stream called the Ither, which in its course receives the Dulas and Comar, makes a considerable addition to the waters of the Wye. From the brow of a hill about two miles before we reach the town of Builth, the scenery is peculiarly beautiful, the river spreads itself into a bay, and the immense rocky substances with which its bed has hitherto been spread, rise here in various detached forms many yards above its surface, exhibiting so many small islands, and agreeable breaks in the fore ground of the landscape.
The annexed view was sketched from this spot, in which it is much to be regretted that the bridge of Builth could not be introduced, as it would considerably have added to the beauty of the scenery. Builth is a town of little consequence, yet from its antiquity, and the salubrity of its air, it becomes highly deserving our attention. We happened to be there on a market day, when the town was so thronged with people, that we could scarcely pass through it. It resembled rather a fair than a market, and the immense croud collected together, presented to the eye a scene in effect, similar to that of one continued mass of long blue cloaks, apparently in perpetual motion. Not a house, nor a stable but was occupied, and it was really a matter of astonishment, that in so small a town, and on so common an occasion as that of a weekly market, such a vast concourse of people should have been assembled; but a market or fair, is the pride and glory of the Welsh; and, happy souls! why should they not in a sultry summer’s day, enjoy the suffocating luxury of a long blue cloak, as well as the Londoner his summer theatre, amidst “the raging dog star’s heat.”
In an extensive tour through Wales, I witnessed a scene at Aberystwith very similar to that I have just described, and as the surrounding objects were there more peculiarly marked with the picturesque than those at Builth, a representation of the scene, although at a considerable distance from hence, may perhaps not prove unacceptable to the reader. In this view appears part of the castellated dwelling of Uvedale Price, Esq.; a man not less distinguished for the elegance with which he cultivates the fine arts, than for his powers of discrimination, and the accuracy with which he defines them. The house is recently erected on the shore, and commands an extensive prospect of the sea, the only one in fact it does command.
At this market or fair, the usual artifices to amuse and delude, were exhibited with the usual success; other centuries revolve, and other generations arise, but rustic manners remain unchanged, the same pursuits occupy the mind, and the same toys interest and beguile. There were, “Ribbands of all the colors ith’ rainbow. Dancing and music, ballads all pitiful and true, one of a fish that appeared upon the coast, on Wednesday the of April, forty thousand fadom above water.” Autolicus with all his rhetoric could not more artfully have displayed his wares, nor could the following lines have had a better effect on his auditors than the tricks presented here.
Builth is happily encompassed with a range of hills that afford shelter to the place, and screen the neighbouring woods with which it is enriched. On the skirt of the town stand the remains of an ancient castle; they comprise near four acres of ground, and though not sufficiently massed to form an object for the pencil, yet the remaining fragments convey a general idea of its former dignity.
The eminence which is contiguous to the remains of the fortress, denotes what the Romans called the Presidium. This castle is reported to have been erected by the Breoses and Mortimers, after the demolition of a former one by Rhys ap Gryffydh. Ptolomy calls the town of Builth, Bullæum Silurum, from whence it derived its name, but Doctor Horsely is inclined to think that the ancient Bullæum of Antoninus, was at Uske in Monmouthshire, from the ruins of a Roman fort, or city, being found there. The neighbourhood of that place is still called Bualht.
Traversing the vicinity of the castle, our Welsh guide pointed out to us a field at about two miles distance, called Cavan, in which Prince Llewellyn is reported to have been buried, and so fertile he observed was the soil, that each stem bore two heads of corn. From the same authority, we are told that as that Prince was one day crossing the field in disguise, he asked of an old woman the name of a small brook that ran across it, who replied, it was called Nantytrrad, then said he, let it in future be named Cwm Llewellyn, for that shall be the burial place of that Prince. Where is there a Welchmen who does not deplore the loss of his brave Llewellyn? but our guide drew much consolation from there being yet a good Prince of Wales, who in the hour of need, would certainly defend and fight for his countrymen. Llewellyn is reported to have been murthered in a small castle that stood at a place called Llechryd, about one mile from Builth, while he was meditating his escape into Glamorganshire. A modern house, with a moat surrounding it that includes about three acres, marks the spot whereon the castle stood. Builth Castle is well situated for defence, it stands on an eminence, and the point of land, is in part surrounded by the beautiful river Irvon, which in a semicircular direction winds its course into the Wye, about half a mile above the town. This river is of considerable width, and derives its source from the hills in the vicinity of Strata Florida in the county of Cardigan; thence after taking a south west direction it winds towards the north east, and falls into the Wye near Builth. Within a small distance of its junction with our river, it receives a brook called the Wevery, which rises on the Brecknockshire hills about eight miles distant, and produces remarkable high flavoured salmon and trout.
Near to the Wye a new stone bridge is building over the Irvon, contiguous to the old one which was of wood. This new structure consists of six elliptical arches; it is erecting at the joint expence of the counties of Brecon and Radnor. The elevated span of the upper circle of this bridge, however necessary here from the great floods that happen in the winter season, is yet a taste too prevalent in the general construction of our bridges. The bed of the upper surface is usually so high as to become a large segment of a circle; this custom militates not only against every principle of utility to the horse and traveller, but shuts out the general prospect, which even by an artist whose ideas are not too narrowly confined to his own science, should in a country like this be made an object of some consideration.
In Italy and France, a contrary system has very judiciously been adopted, by which means, in every point of view the eye finds relief from the diversified scenery around. This practice is supported by the classical productions of the elegant Claude Lorraine, who, whether he designs from nature, or has recourse to his own refined ideas of his art, always adheres to this principle. Near Builth are the remains of Llandrindod-wells, once in high esteem, and celebrated for their excellent medicinal quality. This spring of water issues out of the side of a rock, which is of the slate kind, it is strongly impregnated with nitrous salt, sulphur, and steel; and produces an effect similar to the waters of Scarborough and Cheltenham, but it is of a more powerfully quality. The wells are now greatly in decay, and consequently are not so much frequented as formerly. On a high hill named Caven Durris, about a mile from Builth, David Thomas, Esq.; has erected a handsome stone residence, which when viewed from the town, appears too much exposed, but on a near approach, is found to be happily screened from the northern winds by the surrounding hills: It commands a very noble and extensive view, as well on its own level towards the South, as from that part which looks down towards the town of Builth, and at the same time includes a beautiful command of the meandering course of the rivers Wye and Irvon, and of the extensive bridge of Builth in the vale beneath. This bridge is a simple and well constructed modern edifice, consisting of six arches, within a mile of which a small river called the Dihono having a small bridge of one arch thrown over it, empties itself into the Wye. From the ferry a little below, a beautiful reach of the river terminates in a view of the small remains of Aberadway castle, of which no history is to be traced. Its ruin is very insignificant, little more than a stone wall, now over grown with ivy remains. At the extremity of it are the fragments of two round towers. These rude specimens of art, are finely contrasted by the adjoining and truly wonderful productions of nature. These are an immense range of rocks running parallel with the river, exhibiting a variety of the most strange and fantastic forms imaginable. In different points of view, they convey to the mind, the idea of so many towers and castles shouting from amidst the oak coppices and other shrubs that enrich this majestic scenery. These vast prominencies in their various shapes, received at the instant of viewing them, additional grandeur and effect from the solemn shade, produced by a declining sun, and presented a scene truly worthy the pencil of a Salvator, or amongst our countrymen, his rival, the late John Mortimer. Near this charming spot, the river Edwa, from which these rocks derive their name, empties itself into our river. For a considerable distance in passing down the Wye, we have on a smaller scale perpetual breaks of the same rocky kind of scenery till we reach Llangoed, the seat of Mr. Edwards; from hence we ride through a charming wood of young oaks, ranged for a considerable distance on an elevated bank of the Wye, they give at each break and opening, an enchanting view of our beautiful and picturesque river, which on the approach to a village called Swains, about a mile distant, wears the appearance of an extensive bay, while the mountains in the back ground gradually recede, and the general face of the landscape assumes a new character. In the annexed view of Glasebury, the scene when contrasted with that at Aberedway or at Builth, will best illustrate this idea, here all around wears an air of placidity; the river’s rocky bed no more agitates the water in its course, it flows a tranquil and a gentle stream, reflected on whose glassy surface under the evening’s lengthening shade
In the midst of this rich and beautiful valley, an elegant stone bridge of seven arches is thrown across the river. It was built about fourteen years ago by the family of Edwards, under the direction of their father, the celebrated architect of Pont-y-pridd. The adjoining view was made in August, 1794; in the ensuing winter the bridge was totally destroyed, which will in some degree give value to this sketch, as a memorial of that which is at present, little more than a wreck; every arch of it having been blown up by the torrent of ice, which poured down on the very sudden thaw, after the long frost in the beginning of 1795.