252 WALES. 



the three several shires of Flint, Denbigh, and Montgomery. The 

 shires of Caernarvon, Merioneth, and Anglesey, are under the justices 

 of North Wales. Those of Caermarthen, Pembrokeshire, and Car- 

 digan, have also their justices ; as have likewise those of Radnor, 

 Brecknock, and Glamorgan. By the 18th of queen Elizabeth, one 

 other justice-assistant was ordained to the former justices ; so that 

 now every one of the said four circuits has two justices, viz. one 

 chief justice, and a second justice assistant. 



Revenues. ...The crown has a certain though small property in the 

 product of the silver and lead mines ; but it is said that the revenue 

 accruing to the prince of Wales, from his principality, does not ex- 

 ceed 7 or 8000/. a year. 



Arms.. ..The arms of the prince of Wales differ from those of 

 England only by the addition of a label of three points. His cap, or 

 badge of ostrich feathers, was occasioned by a trophy of that kind, 

 which Edward the Black Prince took from the king of Bohemia, 

 when he was killed at the battle of Poitiers, and the motto is Ich dien y 

 I serve. St. David, commonly called St. Taffy, is the tutelar saint 

 of the Welch ; aud his badge is a leek, which is worn on his day, the 

 1st of March. 



Religion... .The established religion in Wales is that of the church 

 of England ; but the common people in many places are so tenacious 

 of their ancient customs, that they retain several of the Romish 

 superstitions, and some ancient families among them are still Roman- 

 catholics. It is likewise said that Wales abounds with Romish 

 priests in disguise. The principality also contains great numbers of 

 protestant dissenters. 



For Bishopricks. see England. In former times, Wales contain- 

 ed more bishopricks than it does now ; and about the time of the Nor- 

 man invasion, the religious foundations there far exceeded the wealth 

 of all the other parts of the principality. 



Literature, learning, and learned men.. ..Wales was a seat 

 of learning at a very early period ; but it suffered much by the 

 repeated massacres of the bards and clergy. Wickliffism took shel- 

 ter in Wales, when it was persecuted in England. The Welch and 

 Scotch dispute about the nativity of certain learned men, particularly 

 four of the name of Gildas. Giraldus Cambrensis, whose history 

 was published by Camden, was certainly a Welchman ; and Leland 

 mentions several learned men of the same country, who flourished 

 before the Reformation. The discovery of the famous king Arthur's 

 and his wife's burying-place was owing to some lines of Thaliessin 5 

 which were repeated before Henry II, of England by a Welch bard. 

 Since the Reformation, Wales has produced several excellent anti- 

 quaries and divines. Among the latter were Hugh Broughton, and 

 Hugh Holland, who was a Roman-catholic, and is mentioned by Ful- 

 ler in his Worthies. Among the former were several gentlemen of 

 the name of Llhuyd, particularly the author of that invaluable work, 

 the Archseologia. Rowland, the learned author of the Mona Antiqua, 

 was likewise a Welchman ; as was that great statesman and prelate, 

 the lord-keeper Williams, archbishop of Yoi'k in the time of king 

 Charles I. After all, it appears that the great merit of the Welch 

 learning, in former times, lay in the knowledge of the antiquities, 

 language, and history of their own country. Wales, notwithstand- 

 ing all that Dr. Hicks and other antiquaries have said to the contrary, 

 furnished the Anglo-Saxons with an alphabet. This is clearly de- 



