WYE 



by Mafon as the fcene of his drama of Elfrida ; for therq 

 Ethelwold, the confidante of king Edgar, had his caftle, in 

 which the fair Elfrida was concealed. Five miles farther 

 down, on the eaft bank of the river, is Rofs, confecrated in 

 the poetry of Pope by his fafcinating defcription of what 

 could be and adually was accomphflied by the " Man of 

 Rofs," with " five hundred pounds a year." The memory 

 of this worthy man, John Kyrle, is preferved by a monu- 

 ment in the church of Rofs. On the well fide of the nver 

 are the remains of Wilton caftle, a Norman ftrufture, once 

 the refidence of the Greys. Following the courfe of the 

 Wye on the weft, on the fummit of a bold promontory 

 clothed with wood appear the lofty towers of Goodrich 

 caftle, of great antiquity ; for in 1 204 it was granted by 

 king John to Marlhall, earl of Pembroke. The views 

 from the caftle are extcnfive and highly interefting. At 

 Coldwell rocks the fcenery of the Wye is peculiarly grand, 

 the prominences are overhang with oaks and flirubs, and 

 feparated by deep fhadowy dells. From Symond's-gate or 

 Yat, the fummit of a lofty hill, the fpeftator difcovers a 

 Angularly grand view of the windings of the river, and its ro- 

 mantic banks. Soon afterwards, entering a Ihort way into 

 Monmouthfhire, the Wye bathes the walls of the capital, 

 near which isTroy-houfe,the ancient feat of the duke of Beau- 

 fort, and aftuming a fouthern direftion, runs along the limit 

 between that county and Gloucefterfliire. The courfe of the 

 river, in the latter part of the range, is lefs irregular than that 

 through Herefordfhire, but it is not lefs interefting. About 

 a mile diftant from its eaft bank, on an eminence, ftands St. 

 Briavel's caftle, once of great extent and great ftrength, 

 erefted by Miles, earl of Hereford, m the reign of Henry I. 

 JLower down the ftrcam and on the weft bank is the curious 

 village of Llandogo, difperfed among trees on the fide of a 

 hill. Proceeding down the river by an eafy bending courfe, 

 in the midft of very pifturefque fcenery, appear the dilapi- 

 dated and highly pifturefque remains of Tuitern abbey, at 

 the opening of a valley on the weft bank. This venerable 

 ruin is apparently inckifed by fteep hills and hanging woods, 

 which are feparated by the broad ftream in the bottom. 

 Palling much fcenery equally beautiful, the eaft bank of the 

 river prefents a fcreen of rocks, called Thorn and Black 

 Cliffs, to which the tide reaches, and afterwards marfhy 

 lands appear on both fides. Next appear the rocks belong- 

 ing to the celebrated grounds of Piersfield. Thefe refemble 

 the projefting baftions of a caltle, and powerfully rever- 

 berate lounds that ftrike againft them. A little lower 

 down is the Lover's Leap, a precipitous rock ; and the 

 next fwecp of the river brings before the eye the noble re- 

 mains of the caftle of Chepftow, perched on the fummit of 

 a lofty perpendicular cliff, impending over the weft fide of 

 the river. The fituation of the caftle and the town of 

 Chepftow is peculiarly piclurefque. The beauties of the 

 fcene are, in the opinion of Mr. Wyndham, " fo excellent, 

 that the moft exaft critic in landfcape would fcarcely wifti 

 to alter a pofition in the affemblage of woods, chffs, ruins, 

 and water." Chepftow caftle is undoubtedly ancient, and 

 Roman-Britifh bricks are difcovered in the walls ; but its 

 foundation can be traced only to Fitzoft)orne, eai 1 of Here- 

 ford, who erefted it for the defence of the poflinions he 

 received from Wilham of Normandy. Notwithftanding the 

 height and rapidity of the tides at Chepftow, a bridge has 

 long been eftabliftied there acrofs the Wye. It was for- 

 merly conftrufted wholly of timber, but is now made of 

 caft-iron. Although the tide be fenfibly perceived only 

 about Tintern abbey, five miles above Chepftow, yet the 

 V/ater rifes in the river at this town to a very extraordinary 



7 



W Y F 



height. Formerly not lefs than feventy feet, as it is afferted; 

 but fifty-fix feet is the greateft rife obferved durintr the laft 

 hundred years. The tide fetting up the Briftol channel 

 from the Atlantic is, by the gradual contraftion of its 

 courfe, forced to fwell up in a very uncommon manner ; and 

 its progrefs is ftill farther impeded by the advance of the 

 land on the north of the entrance of the Wye, up which 

 river, as well as more direftly up the Severn, it rufhes with 

 peculiar force. In defcending the Wve from Chepftow, the 

 high impending rocks have a very ftriking effeft. At the 

 conflux with the Severn, three miles below the town, the 

 eftuary of the latter river appears, bounded by the diftant hills 

 of Gloucefterfliire and Somerfetlhire. The general charafter 

 of the river Wye is thus repreiented by Mr. Coxe : " It is 

 diftinguiftied by its ferpentine courfe, the uniform breadth of 

 its channel, and the fcenery of its banks. In the navigable part 

 from Hereford downwards, the banks for the moft part rife 

 abruptly from the edge of the water, and are clothed with 

 forefts and broken cliffs. In fome places they approach fo 

 near tliat the river occupies the whole intermediate fpace, 

 and nothing is feen but wood, rock, and water : in others 

 they alternately recede, and the eye catches an occafional 

 ghmpfe of hamlets, ruins, and detached buildings, partly 

 feated on the margin of the ftream, and partly fcattered on 

 the rifing grounds. The general charafter of the fcenery, 

 however, is wildnefs and folitude : and if we except the 

 populous diftrift of Monmouth, no river perhaps flows 

 for, fo long a courfe through a well-cultivated country, 

 the banks of which exhibit fo few habitations." Large 

 hoys fitted to navigate the Severn can, with the tide, afcend 

 the Wye to Brcokfwear, a populous village midway between 

 Monmouth and Chepftow, where they receive from and tranf- 

 fer into fmall craft the various commodities with which they 

 are loaded. The Wye as well as the Severn furnifties a con- 

 fiderable quantity of falmon. — Beauties of England and 

 Wales, North Wales, by the Rev. J. Evans, 8vo. 1810. 

 Ditto, Monmouthftiire, by J. Britton, 1808. Hiftorical 

 Tour in Monmouthftiire, by the Rev. William Coxe, 2 vols. 

 410. 1801. Obiervations on the River Wye, by the Rev. 

 William Gilpin, 8vo. 1789. 



Wve, a river of England, which runs into the Derwent, 

 near Bakewell. — Alfo, a river of Maryland, which runs into 

 the Cliefapeak, N. lat. 38° 54'. W. lung. 76^ 20'. 

 WYENOKE, a town of Virginia. 

 WYERSDALE, Nether, a townfhip in the hundred 

 of Amoundernefs, county palatine of Lancafter, England, 

 is fituated four miles N.N.E. from Garftang, and was itated 

 in the return of the year 181 1 to contain a population of 

 713 perfons, occupying 14; houfes. 



Wyersdale, Over, a townfhip in the- hundred of Lonf- 

 dale South of the Sands, Lancafhire, England, is fituated 

 fix miles N.N.E. from Garftang, and in the year 181 1 con- 

 tained 154 houfes and 802 inhabitants. A colony of Cif- 

 tcrcian monks were for fome time fixed here, but about 

 A.D. 1 188 they removed into Ireland, and founded the 

 abbey of Wythney. 



Wyersdale i^or^. See Lancashire, Forejls in. 

 WYFFLERS, in Military Language, fubordinate officers 

 in the Englilh infantry, whofe bufinels, in the time of queen 

 Elizabeth, appears to have been to drill the men, to in- 

 ttruft them how to carry their arms, and to arrange them 

 according to their ranks in proper order. 



WypORDBY, or Wyverisy, in Geography, a fmall 

 parifh in the hundred of Framland, county of Leicefter, 

 England, is fituattd three miles E. from Melton Mowbray ; 

 and in the population report of 181 1 was returned as con- 

 taining 



