582 SKETCHES IN DENBIGHSHIRE. [July, 



SKETCHES IN DENBIGHSHIEE. 

 A Ramble round the " Barber j" May 9, 1863. 



The place fixed upon as our starting-point was " Plas Newydd/^ 

 a spot regarded with much veneration by the natives of Llan- 

 gollen for having been the chosen residence of " Lady Eleanor 

 Butler and Miss Sarah Ponsonby/' two Irish ladies, who, for 

 some romantic reason only known to themselves, chose to aban- 

 don their native country, lead a life of seclusion, and adopt an 

 unfeminine and eccentric style of costume. Their portraits are 

 to be seen in almost every house in Llangollen, while they now 

 sleep beneath a monument in the burying-ground of the old 

 parish church. Whatever hidden reasons they had for their 

 oddities, their Welsh residence is at least interesting from the 

 quantity of ancient oak-carving with which they had the good 

 taste to adorn it. The gardens and pleasure-grounds, though of 

 late years much neglected, show traces of former beauty; and 

 then, having crossed a running stream, we find " a wishing well," 

 the water of which falls drop by drop into an ancient baptismal 

 font, which must have belonged to some sacred edifice, probably 

 that little church whose ruins now form a portion of the farm- 

 buildings at " Pengwern Hall." Around the "wishing well" 

 Ferns have found a home, especially the Scolopendrium vulgare, 

 which thrives luxuriantly in its smaller and larger varieties. 



So much for the Plas. Our party being bent on a ramble, did 

 not linger many moments within its gates, but, turning from 

 thence, passed into a narrow lane leading behind " Bache Issa " 

 and " Pen-y-bryn Hall. Later in the season the old hedgebank 

 on the left-hand side will present a waving mass of foliage, as the 

 graceful Filix-foemina and tall Filix-mas mingle amicably one 

 with another. Here the road diverges into two paths, one form- 

 ing a long and gentle ascent to the " Geriaut," or " Barber^s Hill," 

 and the other leading to a mountain gorge, the scenery about which 

 is very romantic and beautiful. We chose the latter path, and were 

 soon rewarded by finding several fine plants of the Lastrea cristata. 

 The green edges of a wood close by were gay with numerous wild- 

 flowers, among which we noticed the rich yellow blossoms of the 

 Caltha palustris, just now in the zenith of its beauty. Skirting 

 the wood, we soon found ourselves in the gorge, and there the 



