90 



after great raine is parfightly seen of redde color in the middest of the lake. 

 After that it is frozen, and with thaw it beginneth to breke, it makith such 

 a noise, that a man would think it thunder. It bereth, as the principal 

 fisch, a great number of bremes, and they appeare in Slay in mightie sculles, 

 so that sumtimes they breake large netes; and ors frayed appereth (not in the 

 brimme of the water) that yere againe. It bereth good pikes also, and perches 

 in great number. Troutes also, and chevyns (or chub) by the coming in of 

 Llaveny. Menne fish then uniligneis and they be very narrow. The hedde of 

 the lake, where Lleveny river coineth in, is at Llanvihengle Kythedine. The 

 ende is at Llanvihengle Talyllyn." 



The noise made by the ice during the thaw, and even during a frost, 

 is very loud. That, and the partial discoloration of the water of the lake at 

 particular times, are of course, due to natural and well-known causes. I have 

 myself frequently noticed, when the brook flowing from Llangorse village is 

 flooded, a streak of red, extending from the point at which it enters, to the 

 outlet of the lake. 



The three parishes that lie close to the lake are Llanvihangel Talyllyn, 

 the church sacred to the Archangel Michael, at the head of the lake ; of 

 Llangasty Tal-y-llyn, the church of St. Gastayn, at the head of the lake ; and 

 of Llangorse, or Llan-yn-y-gorse, the church in the fen or marsh. 



In Llanvihangel parish, near the lake, there is the appearance of an old 

 road or causeway leading to it from the village, as there is likewise from 

 Llangorse on the North, and Llangasty Tal-y-llyn on the South. In Llangasty 

 there are two mansions, formerly of celebrity, Tallyn house, and Trebinshwn. 

 The first was the residence of the lord of the manor, and Jones doubted once 

 whether the house was more than three centuries old. He was, however, 

 induced, by seeing the arms of painted glass, taken out of a window in the 

 house by the late Mr. Davies, of Courtygollen, to believe that the remains of 

 a fabric of a much earlier date may be found there, though the house had at 

 different times undergone such alterations as to have no resemblance whatever 

 to the ancient manorial mansion. The late Mr. Crespigny intended to have 

 rebuilt it upon a grand and extensive plan, but after some progress in the 

 work it was stopped. Mr. Crespigny, through heavy losses, was soon obliged 

 to sell the property, and it passed into the hands of the Holf ord family. Jones 

 thinks that the painted glass was brought to the house from Blaenllyfni castle. 

 Above the house, by the side of the parish road, is a mound, which has 

 evidently been artificially raised ; it is probably a tumulus or burying place. 



Llangorse is called Mara in Pope Nicholas's taxation. In a grant of 

 certain lands the tenements are described as being " at the town of the meer 

 or lake of Breconium, situate on the side between the land of the lord of 

 the manor and the lands of Roger the fisherman on one side, and on the other 

 side nejet to the road or highway leading to Breconium." 



