410 



CONIA CONWAY. 



CONIA, on CONIINE; a vegetable alcali, dis- 

 covered by Brandos in the hemlock, coniuin macu- 

 latum, of which it is the active and poisonous 

 principle. It is an oily liquid, having a strong 

 odour of hemlock. It is excessively poisonous, 

 and appears, by the experiments of professor Chris- 

 tison, to cause death by inducing paralysis of the 

 muscles used in respiration. Probably, if artificial 

 respiration were kept up till the action of the poi- 

 son passed off, life might be restored. 



CONISBOROUGH ; a parish in the west rid- 

 ing of Yorkshire: population in 1841, 1441. The 

 village of Conisborough is of very high antiquity; 

 by the Britons it was called Caer Conan, and by 

 the Saxons Cyning, or Conan Burgh, both signify- 

 ing a royal town ; it must once have been a place 

 of some importance, as it is handed down that it 

 was the seat of a civil jurisdiction, which comprised 

 twenty-eight towns. It stands on a lofty eleva- 

 tion, about six miles to the south-west of Don- 

 caster, overlooking a rich and wooded country, 

 through which the river Don meanders. The 

 church, which is dedicated to St Peter, is an an- 

 cient and remarkable structure, exhibiting the sev- 

 eral characteristics of the Norman, the early Eng- 

 lish, and the later or decorated styles of architec- 

 ture ; so that it has evidently been built at different 

 periods. 



Conisborough Castle figures in one of the princi- 

 pal scenes in " Ivanhoe." Its ruins still remain. 

 Tradition assigns it a very remote antiquity, whilst 

 several modern antiquaries seem disposed to attri- 

 bute the foundation of the present structure to 

 "\\ illiam, the first earl of Warren, to whom the 

 surrounding estate was granted by William the 

 Conqueror. It is, however, indisputable, that a 

 strong-hold of some sort existed bere during the 

 times of the Saxons. Geoffrey of Monmoutb, and 

 some of our old historians, indeed, have carried 

 back its origin to a period preceding the Saxon in- 

 vasion of Britain, but the narrative which they 

 give must be looked upon as fabulous. The Con- 

 isborough estate subsequently passed from the 

 family of Warren, to Richard, earl of Cambridge, 

 who assumed the name of Richard of Conisborough 

 in consequence, it is said, of the castle having been 

 his birth-place. After his death it passed into the 

 hands of his grandson, king Edward IV., and re- 

 mained in the possession of the crown for more 

 than two centuries, when it was given by James 

 II. to Lord Dover. It afterwards became the pro- 

 perty of the family of its present possessor, the 

 duke of Leeds. 



CONWAY, OR ABERCONWAY; an ancient 

 walled town, in Carnarvonshire, North Wales, sit- 

 uated upon the estuary of the Conway river, dis- 

 tant from Bangor thirteen miles, N. E. There are 

 several small vessels belonging to this port, and 

 ships are sometimes repaired here. The Conway 

 river being navigable for ten miles above this place, 

 a tolerable import-trade is carried on by means of 

 flats, which can lower their masts in passing under 

 the suspension bridge. Trefriw is the highest 

 place to which vessels can reach, where a good 

 quay is now formed, and slates exported in large 

 quantities. Llanwrst, Llansaintfraid, Eglwys 

 Vact, and other places, derive considerable advan- 

 tage from the navigation of the Conway ; bark, 

 timbec, and slate are the chief exports ; coals and 

 necessaries for domestic consumption the only im- 

 ports. Population of town and parish in 1831, 

 1245, in 1841, 



The Conway, i. e. the Chief Jliver, takes it 

 rise in a pool called Llyn Conway, situated in the 

 mountainous district above Penmachno and Yspy- 

 thy, in the county of Carnarvon, constituting the 

 boundary between the counties of Denbigh and 

 Carnarvon, for a length of seventeen miles, to a 

 townland adjoining Plas Madoc, whence, after a 

 further course of about twelve miles, it falls into 

 the sea below Conway. Few rivers in England or 

 Wales, in so short a course, afford so great a var- 

 iety of beautiful scenery, and contribute so much, 

 at the same time, to the convenience of the coun- 

 ties through which it flows. Llyn Conway, and 

 the early part of the river, abound in excellent 

 trout, and flow through a most wild and romantic 

 district. Below Lima Hall, the Conway falls in a 

 noble cataract, called the Falls of the .Conway, 

 about fifty feet, the stream of water shooting di- 

 rectly from one aperture in the solid rock, to a 

 considerable distance, and then descending into a 

 rocky basin, surrounded by hanging woods. This 

 | grand scenery is succeeded by the placid gliding of 

 the stream through the beautiful and fertile vale of 

 Llanwrst. One mile below this town, at Trefriw, 

 the river becomes navigable. The river has been 

 celebrated from a very early period for its pearl 

 fishery. 



The fortress of Conway Castle stands in a pic- 

 | turesque situation a short distance from the mouth 

 of the river Conway, at the northern extremity of 

 the county of Carnarvon. It was erected in 1284, 

 by command of Edward I., as a security against the 

 insurrections of the Welch. Soon after its erec- 

 tion, the royal founder was besieged in it, and the 

 garrison almost reduced by famine to a surrender, 

 when they were extricated by the arrival of a fleet 

 with provisions. At the commencement of the 

 civil wars, it was garrisoned in behalf of king 

 Charles, by Dr John Williams, archbishop of York, 

 who, in 1645, gave the government of it to his 

 nephew, William Hookes. Two years afterwards 

 : the archbishop was superseded in the command of 

 North Wales by prince Rupert, at which he was 

 greatly offended. He endeavoured to gain some 

 i redress from the king, but without success, and, 

 j enraged at the injury, he joined Mytton, the par- 

 ; liamentary general, and assisted in the reduction of 

 Conway. The town was taken by storm, August 

 15th, 1646, but the castle held out till the 

 6th of November. It was afterwards granted by 

 king Charles to the earl of Conway and Kilulta, 

 who had scarcely obtained possession, ere he or- 

 dered an agent to remove all the timber, lead, iron 

 and other materials. He did not, however, reap 

 the fruits of this Vandal order, for the vessel in 

 which the materials were being conveyed to Ire- 

 land, was wrecked, arid all the property lost. 

 Thus unroofed and unprotected, the castle has suf- 

 fered much from wind and weather, but it still pre- 

 sents a fine specimen of an ancient fortress. It is 

 in the form of an oblong square, and stands on the 

 edge of a steep rock, washed on two sides by an 

 arm of the river. The walls are all embattled, arid 

 are ten or twelve feet thick. They are flanked by 

 eight vast circular embattled towers, each of which 

 formerly had a slender machicolated tower rising 

 from the top. 



The Iron Suspension Bridge crosses the river 

 opposite the castle, and forms part of the communi- 

 cation between Liverpool and Dublin. It was 

 commenced in 1822, with a view to supersede the 

 dangerou? ferry which formerly existed here; the 



