OF THE WELSH. 267 



The ufual food of the labouring Welfli is bread, 

 cheefe, and milk ; and foin^UiUjs what they call 

 Jiiwirnery, a Gompofidon of oatmeal and milk. Ani- 

 mal food and ale are by no means among their ufual 

 fare. 



The women of the mountainous parts of the. 

 country are generally of a middle fize, though more 

 frequently below that than above it. Their features 

 . are often very pretty, but in point of figure they 

 are in general uninterefting ; and their long, and 

 •thickly matted hair,/ crowned with hats fimilar to 

 thofe worn by the men, affords the unpleafant idea 

 of a due want of cleanlinefs. They wear long blue 

 i:loa^s that defcend almofl to their feet. Thefe they 

 are feldom to be feen without, even in the hottefl 

 weather ; owing to the frequency of fhowers in a 

 country furrounded with mountains. On their legs 

 they have blue (lockings without any feet to them : 

 tfiey keep them down by means of a loop faflened 

 round one of- the toes. In the more unfrequented 

 parts the wgmen feldom wear any fhoes, except on 

 a Sunday, or the market-day, and even on thofe days 

 they often carry them in their hands as they go 

 along the roads. I have fomedmes feen fix or eight 

 of them, after their journies from the adjacent vil- 

 lages, feated on the bank of a rivulet, in the a6l of 

 waihing their feet previoufly to their entering the 

 towns. During thefe journies they often employ 

 then- time in knitting, and a heavy Ihower of rain 

 will not fometimes compel them to give up their 



work. 



