f)82 



ANNUAL REGISTER, 1804. 



uncommonly neat for the celcbra- 

 tioH of a wedding dinner : 



"Arriving, I crept through 4 hole in 



the door, 

 Some stones were laid down, and some 



not, on the floor. 

 The whole was one dark room, with 



three windows, so sniHll, 

 That the light down the chimney quite 



outstript them all : 

 Bat this great relief came to soften their 



cares, 

 Neither soher nor drunk could they 



tumble down stairs. 

 Two beds grac'd the mansion, whicli 



made it appear, 

 That cleanliness, prudence, and order 



reigu'd there. 

 That tables and cupboards, which open'd 



to view, 

 ehcw'd the hand of industry had polish'd 



their hue. 

 The shelves and their crockery, both 



china and delph. 

 Were clean, and w ere orderly rang'd on 



the shelf. 

 Dad, mam, and nine children, wliich 



fortune bestow'd, 

 In harmony liv'd in this darksome 



abode; 

 Nor can wc consent to call those people 



poor. 

 Where Prudence steps in, and bars Want 



from the door. 



'' The usual food of the labouring 

 Welsh is bread, cheese, and myk ; 

 ami sometimes what they call ilura- 

 mery, a composition of o.atmeal and 

 milk. Animal food and ale are by 

 no means among their usual fare. 



" The women of the mountainous 

 parts of the country are generally 

 a middle size, though more frequent- 

 ly below that than above it. Their 

 features are often very pretty, but, 

 in point of figure, they are in gene- 

 ral uninteresting ; and their long, 

 and thickly matted hair, crowned 

 with hats similar to those Avorn by 

 the men, affords the unpleasant idea 



4 



of a due want of cleanliness. They 

 wear long blue cloaks, that descend 

 almost to their feet. These they arc 

 seldom to be seen without, even in 

 the hottest weather; owing to the 

 frequency of showers in a country 

 surrounded with mountains. On 

 their Ic^s they have blue stockings, 

 without any fect'to them: <jiey 

 keep them do^\ n by means of a 

 loop fastened round one of their 

 toes. In the more unfrequent- 

 ed parts, the women seldom wear 

 any shoes, except on a Sunday, or 

 the market-day, and even on those 

 days they often carry them in their 

 hands as they go along the roads. I 

 have sometimes seen six or eight of 

 them, after their journeys from the 

 adjacent villages, seated on the. 

 bank of a rivulet, in the act of 

 washing their feet previously to 

 their entering the towns. During 

 these journeys, they often employ 

 their time in knitting, and a heavy 

 shower of rain will not sometimes 

 compel them to give up their work. 

 Their employment within doors, be- 

 sides their family duties, is chielly in 

 spinning wool. What has been re- 

 peatedly asserted of the Welsh peo- 

 ple, that they arc naturally inquisi- 

 tive and curious respecting strangers, 

 is certainly true; but it is a circum- 

 stance by no means peculiar to this 

 country. In all wild and unfre- 

 quented parts of the world, it is the 

 same; and it is in such parts of 

 W^ales th.it this disposition is chielly 

 observable. It is easily accounted 

 for when wc consider their manners 

 of life, and general ignorance. Sur- 

 prise on the appearance of strangers, 

 where, in their limited ideas, there 

 could seem no inducement to repay 

 the trouble orexpcncc of a journey, 

 would naturally excite their wonder, 

 and this as naturally leads to the 



questions. 



