B R E 



450 



B R E 



Brechin, fairs, particularly Trinity fair, which is held about 

 Brecknock. a m ji e f rom t j, e towtl) an d i s acknowledged to be the 

 *~ -~v b est f a j r f or sheep, cattle, and horses, in the north 

 of Scotland. 



The Osnaburgh or brown linen manufacture is here 

 carried on to a considerable extent ; and, of late 

 years, a good deal has been done in the manufacture 

 of sail-cloth. There are, in the town, three mills for 

 spinning flax ; the machinery driven by water ; and 

 they give employment to 200 people, of both sexes, 

 and of all ages. Another mill, of the same descrip- 

 tion, is in the country parish, which employs be- 

 twixt 80 and 90. In one of these mills, four looms, 

 for the weaving of linen, have been lately erected, of a 

 new construction, which are driven by water, and 

 have hitherto fully answered the expectation of the 

 proprietor. The following facts may, in some mea- 

 sure, ascertain the extent of those manufactures. 

 The average number of yards of linen stamped in 

 Brechin annually, from November 1800 to Novem- 

 ber 1810, is 730,000 ; the average number of yards 

 of sail-cloth manufactured annually, from November 

 1805 to November 1810, is 155,000 ; besides be- 

 twixt 2000 and 3000 yards of canvass. 



Several years ago a beer and porter brewery was 

 erected upon a pretty large scale, at which there 

 were brewed last year (1810) between 5000 and 

 6000 barrels of porter. It gives employment to 20 

 persons ; but as it is now fitted up for brewing 

 20,000 barrels annually, more hands will of course be 

 needed for preparing that quantity for the market. 

 The porter is sent to London, and to various parts 

 of Great Britain. In consequence of the war, the 

 proprietors have been prevented from executing 

 their original design of exporting to the continent : 

 at present, however, a considerable quantity is ex- 

 ported to the West Indies. This brewery pays be- 

 twixt 700 and j800 of duty on beer and porter 

 every six weeks, nd about j70 weekly of duty on 

 malt ; so that it yields an annual revenue to govern- 

 ment of about j69,700. It has been remarked, that 

 since its commencement, the demand for spirits 

 among the lower classes of people has greatly de- 

 creased, and their morals, of consequence, have been 

 evidently improved. The population of the town is 

 nearly 5000. N. Lat. 56 40', E. Long. 2 18'. 

 See Pennant's Tour through Scotland, vol. ii. ; 

 Grose's Antiquities, vol. ii. ; Statist. Hist. vol. xxi. 

 (A. F.) 



BRECKNOCK, or BRECON, called by the Welsh 

 Aber Hondey, is the principal and county town of 

 Brecknockshire, in South Wales, romantically situa- 

 ted at the confluence of the rivers Hondey and Uske. 

 Its aspect, at a distance, excites no expectations, 

 which the narrowness, irregularity, and dirtiness of 

 its streets, and the general meanness of the houses, 

 can much disappoint. Yet the mixture which it ex- 

 hibits of modern buildings, dismantled towers, and 

 religious ruins, render its internal appearance sufficient- 

 ly interesting. Formerly it was surrounded with a 

 strong wall, in which were four gates. At present it con- 

 sists of three principal streets, in which scarcely one 

 handsome house occurs. If therefore Mr Malkin's state- 

 ment be correct, that Brecknock is one of the " best 

 built towns in Wales," we must form but a sorry opi- 





nion of the other towns in this principality! The Brcckn 

 objects most interesting to a stranger in Brecknock V. 

 are the ruins of a castle and monastery, founded in 

 the reign of Henry I., by Bernard de Newmark, a 

 Norman lord. Of the castle, which seems to have 

 been a grand pile of building, only a few detached 

 fragments remain, and these fragments are degraded 

 and disfigured by a number of ugly cottages, erected 

 in the midst of them. A tennis court has been for- 

 med in one angle of the fortress, and an undershot 

 watermill, probably an original appendage, adjoins its 

 scite. One tower of this castle still remains. It is 

 called Ely tower from I3r Morton, bishop of Ely, 

 who was confined in it by order of Richard III. ; 

 and who concerted here, in conjunction witli Stafford, 

 Duke of Buckingham, the scheme of uniting the two 

 houses of York and Lancaster, in consequence of 

 which, the tyrant was bereft of his kingdom and his 

 life, and Henry VII. was elevated to the throne. 

 " On the banks of the Uske,'' says an anonymous 

 traveller, " amidst the solemn gloom of trees, may be 

 traced the venerable and extensive ruins of a benedic- 

 tine priory ; -and on the east of the town stands the 

 college, once a dominican priory, now a collegiate 

 church, with a dean and other dignitaries." Of this 

 establishment the unfortunate I3r Dodd was a pre- 

 bend. In his beautiful lines, entitled " Pious Me- 

 mory," he has described a custom which prevails in 

 this vicinity, of decking the recent graves with Bowers. 

 The priory walk, on the shadow declivity of a hill, 

 the foot of which is laved by the Hondey, is extreme- 

 ly pleasant. To the east of the town is a lake well 

 Stored with fish. 



The coins occasionally found at Brecknock, and the 

 evident traces of Roman entrenchments and fortifica- 

 tions, afford undoubted proof, that this was once oc- 

 cupied as a station, by the conquerors of the world. 

 Of these antiquities, the most remarkable is a fortifi- 

 cation, named Y-GAER, about two miles N. W. from 

 the town. It is situated on a gentle eminence, over- 

 looking the Uske ; part of its walls remain ; and 

 within the area of the camp, some Roman bricks 

 have been found similar to those at Caerlon, with the 

 inscription LEG II AUG. Contiguous to the 

 camp, in the middle of a highway, is a rude carved 

 pillar, called, in the language of the country, the Vir- 

 gin's Stone. Another monument of Roman antiqui- 

 ty, mentioned by Gough, is a sepulchral pillar, stand- 

 ing erect on the roadside, with an inscription, of 

 which only the word VICTORINI is now legible. 



Brecknock has some manufactories of cloth and cot- 

 ton stockings. Besides three churches, it contains 

 499 houses, and 2576 inhabitants, of whom Got were 

 returned in the report to parliament, (1802,) as 

 being employed in trade and manufacture. Its arse- 

 nal is a substantial and beautiful brick building, 99 

 feet long, 85 broad, and two stories high. The 

 tower, already mentioned, contains an armoury for 

 15,000 stands of arms, and 1500 swords, arranged in 

 the manner of the armoury in the Tower of London. 

 This town sends one member to parliament. It is 

 governed by two bailiffs, fifteen aldermen, two cham- 

 berlains, two constables, a town-clerk, and other of- 

 ficers. The market days are Wednesday and Sa- 

 turday : fairs are held here on the 4th of May, 5th 



