28 JOURNAL OF AN EXCURSION TO EASTBURY AND 
" ' Who is there ? ' said the landlord (who had long retired to 
rest, and was now called out of bed). 
" The traveller mentioned his name, which was well known. 
" ' It is you, is it ? How did you come ? ' said the landlord. 
" ' How did I come ? Why, over the bridge to be sure ! ' 
"'What! on horseback ? ' 
" ' Yes ! ' 
"'No,' said the landlord, ' that is impossible: however, as you 
are here, I'll let you in.' 
" The host, when the traveller repeated his assertion, was 
staggered. He was certain that he must have come over the 
bridge, because there was no other way ; but also knowing the 
state of the- passage, he could only attribute the escape of the 
traveller to witchcraft. He, however, said nothing to him. that 
night, but the next morning took him to the bridge, and showed 
him the plank that his horse must have passed over, at the same 
time that he pointed to the raging torrent beneath. Struck with 
this circumstance, the traveller, it is said, was seized with illness, 
from which he did not speedily recover." — European Magazine, 
Sept., 1806. 
10 M"^ Morrice. — This was Valentine Morris. The following I 
quote from Taylor's Shilling Illustrated Guide to the Banlcs of the 
Wye, j)ublished at Chepstow. 
"In 1736, Colonel Morris, of the island of St. Vincent, purchased 
Piercefield ; and it was by his son, Valentine Morris, Esq., that 
these delightful walks were ordered to be constructed. He was a 
man of an extremely benevolent disposition, and hospitable beyond 
prudence. This, with an unsuccessful attempt to supplant the 
Morgan family, of Tredegar, in the reioresentation of the county in 
Parliament, was the cause of his being obliged to break up his 
establishment here. He was greatly beloved, and when his 
embarrassed circumstances compelled him to sell Piercefield and 
leave the neighbourhood, his departure excited universal regret in 
the minds of all classes in the vicinity. He divided money amongst 
the poor assembled in the churchj'ard, was follov\^ed by a procession 
of carriages as far as the Old Passage, and the bells rung a 
mufEed peel on the day on which he left Chepstow. 
" To the honour of Valentine Morris, be it said, that he was a 
strenuous promoter of good roads in the county, and that brought 
him into opposition with many of the gentry of the county who 
opposed the Turnpike Act. Morris was [examined at the Bar of 
the House of Commons; and being asked, ' What roads are there in 
