452 



CARDIGANSHIRE. 



Cardigan- are precipitated sometimes in the form of tremen- 

 shire. dous cascades, bear away before them every thing 

 that lies in their way, and even tear up the fertile 

 soil of the vallies, substituting in its place nothing 

 but barren gravel and stones. 



There is a great want of fuel in this county. Coals 

 are scarcely to be had, except at a high price, be- 

 ing all brought from a great distance by sea. Of 

 wood there is but little, and in many places that little 

 is much neglected ; though in other quarters, parti- 

 cularly in the neighbourhood of Hafod, considerable 

 tracts of land have lately been laid out in plantations, 

 which promise to be both profitable to the proprie- 

 tors, and useful to the country. Various kinds of trees 

 have been planted, but those which seem to thrive 

 best are the larch and the beech. The most prevalent 

 species of fuel is peat. There are many extensive 

 tracts producing it, such as the plain between Tre- 

 garon, and Strata Florida or Stratflour, and that part 

 of the coast beyond Aberystwith which borders on 

 the river Dovy. These are capable of great improve- 

 ment, by draining, and other means ; but as the in- 

 habitants depend so much upon peat, such improve- 

 ments might occasion greater harm than good to a 

 numerous class of the people, and therefore is not 

 likely to be soon accomplished. 



The mountains, especially those in the north part 

 of the county, contain lead and other minerals in 

 great abundance : but these are not now an object 

 of attention, either because there is not a sufficient 

 spirit of enterprise, or because the expence and 

 difficulty of working them would more than coun- 

 terbalance the probable profits. Formerly, how- 

 ever, they were in great repute, and found to be 

 extremely productive. In Queen Elizabeth's time, 

 a company of Germans made a great deal by the 

 mines of lead and silver, the ore of which often gave 

 seventy or eighty ounces of silver in the ton of me- 

 tal. In the reign of James the First, Sir Hugh 

 Middleton, for some years, out of a single mine, 

 cleared at the rate of 2000 per month, one ton of 

 lead yielding a hundred ounces of silver, and in this 

 way accumulated that large fortune which he after- 

 wards employed in bringing the New River water in- 

 to London- A Mr Bushel also, who succeeded 

 him, made such immense sums, that, according to 

 one author, he presented Charles I. during the civil 

 wars, with a regiment of horse, clothed his whole 

 army, and lent him, besides, 40,000. The mines 

 wrought by these gentlemen were so much exhausted, 

 as to become ever after of inferior importance. But 

 the mineral prosperity of the north of Cardiganshire 

 did not decrease. In 1690, other mines of great value 

 were discovered on the estate of Gogerthan, belong- 

 ing to Sir Carbery Price. They were eo rich as to 

 obtain the appellation of the Welsh Potosi, and have 

 been celebrated, both in the prose records of the 

 principality, and in the poetical strains of Yalden and 

 Sargent. Afterwards the mine adventurers were at 

 considerable expence in carrying on the works, and 

 had proportionate success in the profits which they 

 derived from them ; but happening to disagree .among 

 themselves, their undertakings declined in prosperity 

 and in value, and have never since been revived with 

 advantage ; though a gentleman well versed in the 



4 



subject lias given it as his opinion, that with money Cardigan- 

 suiucient for carrying on the works in a proper man- shire, 

 ner, it was quite possible to make them produce a ' ~~Y~* 

 clear annual profit of j 12,000. The lead mines of 

 Cwm Ystwith are situated on the sides of two moun- 

 tains, to the right of the river Ystwith, in one of 

 which the lead is obtained with ease near the surface, 

 but in the other the earth must be penetrated to no 

 less an extent than 300 yardc. In Cardiganshire 

 there are also rich veins of copper, which may be 

 digged without great difficulty, but which cannot be 

 carried with advantage through the different pro- 

 cesses, for want of coal, of which there is not one 

 particle to be found in the whole county. 



The antiquities to be met with in Cardiganshire, 

 are neither very numerous nor important. Near 

 Neuodh, in the neighbourhood of Cardigan, there 

 are the remains apparently of some barbarous monu- 

 ment, consisting of nineteen stones. There is ano- 

 ther monumental stone in the parish of Llan Gaed- 

 mor, which is of prodigious size, being half a 

 yard thick, and about six-and-twcnty feet in cir- 

 cumference. Not far from this, is what the Welsh 

 call Lhcch y gotvres, which means the stone of a gi- 

 gantic woman. This stone is remarkably large, and 

 supported by four great pillars, about the height of 

 five or six feet. In the village church of Lhan Dhe- 

 wi Brevi, is preserved the horn of an ox, no less 

 than 17 inches in circumference at the root, and as 

 heavy as stone, being, it is probable, in a state of 

 petrefaction. It is said to have been kept there ever 

 since the time of St David, who lived in the begin- 

 ning of the 6th century. At a house in the vicinity, 

 is a place called Kaer Keslilh, or the Field of Castles, 

 where a great number of stones has been occasion- 

 ally found by digging, bearing inscriptions, some of 

 which have been preserved, though most of them 

 are lost. One of them, according to Camden's in- 

 terpretation, is, Caii Artii manilnis (vel memories) 

 Enniiis Primus. Stratflour, or Yslrad Fhvr abbey, 

 is situated about six miles from Llanbeder, on the 

 bank of the river, and was in former times a place 

 of great note, many of the Welsh princes having 

 been buried in it, and the records of their acts and 

 successions having been kept in it for a long series of 

 years. At Llanfihangel, a parish not many miles 

 from Aberystwith, is a stone monument, 4 feet long 

 and 3 broad, which should seem, from its name, 

 Gwely Taleisin, to point out the grave of Taleisin 

 ben Bierdh, a celebrated poet, who flourished about 

 the year 540. Some, however, suppose that, along 

 with many others of a similar kind, it is an old se- 

 pulchral monument, erected in heathen times. Among 

 the antiquities of Cardiganshire, may also be reck- 

 oned the castles of Cardigan and Aberystwith, which 

 were anciently large edifices, though the ruins of them 

 which remain are inconsiderable. 



There is no district in South Wales, which abounds 

 so much in picturesque and romantic views. Before 

 the traveller can reach them, indeed, it is often necessary 

 to pass over some very bleak and dreary ground. 

 But he is amply repaid for this, by the interesting 

 scenery which he is sure to meet with. It is on a 

 pretty large scale, and in very fine style, exhibiting 

 the grand and the beautiful, both singly and in com- 



