MONMOUTHSHIEE - BEECKNOCKSHIEE. 



73 



Fi"-. 40. — Xewpout. 



portion being drained by the Usk. Along the coast there are extensive " levels," 

 protected by embankments against the high tides of the Severn ; but the greater 

 portion of the county is hilly. The Sugar-loaf Hill (Pen-y-val), to the north of 

 Abergavenny, rises to a height of 1,954 feet. 



The geographical nomenclature is for the most part Welsh, but English is now the 

 predominant tongue, Welsh being spoken only in the coal and iron regions to the 

 west of the Usk, where its use is perpetuated by immigrants from adjoining counties. 

 The towns to the west of the Usk, in the valleys of the Sirhowy, Ebwy, and 

 Llwyd, engage in coal mining and the manufacture of iron and steel, the chief 

 amongst them being Tredegar, Ahersychan, 

 Blaenacon, and Pontypool. Newport, at the 

 mouth of the Usk, is their great shipping 

 port. It has grown from a small village 

 into a populous town, with iron works, nail 

 factories, wire, and nut and bolt works. Its 

 docks give access to the largest vessels, and 

 Caerleon, the Isca Silurum of the Romans, 

 and residence of King Arthur, which lies 

 3 miles above, on the right bank of the 

 Usk, probably at no time equalled it in im- 

 portance. Higher up on the Usk are 

 Raglan, with the ruins of a famous strong- 

 hold, and Abergavenny, a manufacturing 

 town, producing principally boots and shoes. 

 Monmouth (Mynwy), the capital of the 

 county, is seated at the confluence of the 

 Monnow with the Wye, in the midst of 

 wooded hills. Its associations are altogether 

 English. In its castle, now a ruin, was 

 born Henry Y., the victor of Agincourt. 

 Geoffrey of Monmouth, whose Latin Chro- 

 nicles Shakspere made use of, was a native 

 of the town. The Wye, between Monmouth 

 and Chepstow, is renowned for its scenery, 

 presenting an alternation of meadow lands, 

 steep cliffs, and woods descending to the water's edge. The ruins of Tintern Abbey 

 lie about half-way between the two. C/iepstow (Aberwye), near the mouth of the 

 river, is a port of some importance. Its castle, on a formidable cliff overhanging 

 the river, was captured by Cromwell, and is now a picturesque ruin. 



Brecknockshire (Brycheiniog) is an inland county, comprising the upper 

 basin of the Usk as well as the w^estern slope of the Upper Wye. The Black 

 Mountains, which in the Brecknock Beacons attain a height of 2,910 feet, rise 

 boldly to the south of the Usk, whilst the north is filled with the wooded range 

 of the Mynydd Epynt and other lofty hills. The arable land is of limited 

 112 



Scale 1 : Un,000. 

 1 Mile. 



