THE WATERS OF CADER IDRIS 



ing sun shone upon them the next day, what radiancy- 

 was theirs ! what sparkling meadows, what glowing 

 hillsides ! 



Those much less frequent days when the upper and 

 rapid part of the water was fishable, and provided a 

 change of venue, always brought pleasurable antici- 

 pations and sometimes pretty fair results, as results 

 were counted on the Dysynni. The river is smaller up 

 here, just an ordinary trout stream of the less rugged 

 Welsh sort, a stream of pools and gravelly glides easily 

 compassed from its meadowy bank. It soon ran down 

 out of condition, but in the process we generally had 

 a fairly merry time with the sewin, which sometimes 

 took a Devon minnow in the clearing of the water 

 from porter to brown sherry colour. All this fishing, 

 both upper and lower, was known as the Peniarth 

 water, and that ancient mansion of the Wynns, amid 

 its thick, wind-buffeted woods, stood here near the 

 river bank, the repository at one time, and still I 

 think in a measure, of the famous Peniarth MSS., one 

 of the most valuable collections of ancient manuscripts 

 in Wales. Most of this Peniarth water had been 

 handed over to the association for the benefit of 

 Towyn and its visitors. 



But above these reaches, and running up through 

 the narrowing and always lovely valley to the village 

 of Abergynolwyn, came a long stretch of private water 

 preserved by its owner, who was both resident and a 

 keen fisherman, though now long dead. I always 

 admired that unselfish soul, though I scarcely knew 

 him to speak to. One of our party had a slightly 

 nearer acquaintance, so his generosity to us was per- 



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