180 PRINCIPAL FISHING STATIONS. 



hood resided " the Ladies of Llangollen."* There 

 is excellent fishing throughout the whole of the 



* " Lady Eleanor Butler, then (1788) about twenty-eight 

 years of age, was born in Dublin: an orphan from the cradle, 

 and a rich, amiable, and lovely heiress. Her hand was sought 

 by the first families in Ireland ; but she very early announced 

 her aversion to marriage. This taste for independence she never 

 concealed; yet no woman was more remarkable for mildness, 

 modesty, and all the virtues that embellish her sex. From 

 earliest infancy, she was the intimate friend of Miss Ponsonby. 

 By a singular coincidence of events (which struck their ima- 

 ginations), they were both born at Dublin in the same year, 

 and on the same day ; and became orphans at the same pe- 

 riod. It was easy for them to fancy, from this, that Heaven 

 had created them for each other, to perform together the voy- 

 age of life. Their sensibility enabled them to realise the illu- 

 sion ; and their friendship, so increased with their age, that at 

 seventeen they mutually promised to preserve their liberty, 

 and never to part from each other ; and formed from that 

 moment the plan of withdrawing from the world, and perma- 

 nently fixing themselves in the profoundest solitude. Having 

 heard of the charming landscapes of Wales, they made a secret 

 journey thither, in order to choose their place of retreat. 



" On arriving at Llangollen, they found, on the summit of 

 a mountain, a small isolated cottage, in a delightful situation ; 

 and there it was that they resolved to fix their abode. The 

 guardians of the young fugitives, however, traced their steps, 

 and brought them back to Dublin ; but they declared they 

 would return to their mountain as soon as they should have 

 attained their majority. In fact, at twenty-one, in spite of all 

 the entreaties and arguments of relatives, these ladies quitted Ire- 

 land for ever, and went to Llangollen. Miss Ponsonby was not 

 rich, but Lady Eleanor enjoyed a considerable fortune : she 

 purchased the land about the mountain, with the little cottage, 



