A TOUR ROUND NORTH WALES. 153 



cefterfhire. It defcended to him from one 

 of his anceftors who .attended that prince 

 in his infancy, and to whom it became an 

 honorary perquisite. This fingular piece of 

 antiquity, which I have delineated on the 

 oppofite page, from an engraving in the Lon- 

 don Magazine for March 1774, is made of 

 heart of oak, whofe fimplicity of conftruc- 

 tion, andrudenefs of workmanfhip, are vifi- 

 ble demon fixations of the fmall progrefs that 

 elegancy had at that time made in orna- 

 mental decorations. On the top of the 

 upright pofts are two figures of birds, 

 fuppofed, by fome, to have been intended 

 for doves, the emblems of innocency, but 

 though thefe fomewhat refemble owls in 

 their fhape, I conjecture them to have 

 been intended for eagles, as the tower was 

 called the Eagle tower, and had a figure 

 of that bird at the top of it. The cradle 

 itfelf is pendent on two hooks driven into 

 the uprights, linked by two rings to two 

 M 3 ftaples 



