598 
MISCELLANEA. 
Meelyn, or Wild Pony Hunting in Wales. 
A century, or rather more, has effected a marked change in 
many of the habits and customs of the Welsh. Though they 
continue to be a distinct people, yet some of their most striking 
peculiarities no longer exist ; among the rest, the lasso, which 
once was universally resorted to in Wales for catching the merlyn 
or mountain-pony, is now unknown. This instrument has been 
repeatedly described by various authors. It is used in Spain for 
subduing the fury of the savage bull ; in the deserts of Africa, 
the hunter avails himself of the lasso in capturing the great 
ostrich ; and in Canada also the wild bull is tamed by the lasso. 
Its simplicity of construction, as well as the unerring certainty 
with which it enables the hunter to overcome the most dangerous 
and powerful animals, are admirable. It consists of a coiled 
rope, or, in some countries, strips of leather, of sufficient length, 
at one end of which is a running noose of the required size, well 
greased, in order to prevent the effects of friction, caused by the 
struggles of the entrapped animal. Hugo Garonwy, a farmer, 
lived in the neighbourhood of Llweyn Gevril two or three gene- 
rations ago ; the chief part of his wealth he derived from the 
open uncultivated mountains ; the products of enclosed lands 
were of secondary consideration. Hugo Garonwy possessed a 
temper enterprising, vehement, and open-hearted ; his pursuits 
depicted the bias of his mind ; though he held the small tilt 
plough, and handled the other farming tools in their due season, 
yet the catching of the merlyn, the fox, or even the hare, were 
more congenial pursuits ; and the tumbles and thumps he re- 
ceived, which were accidental to the pony hunter, served but to 
attach him to the sport ; but it is not to be supposed, in so rug- 
ged a country as the Merioneddshire coast and its environs, 
abounding with precipices and morasses, that such were the 
only casualties. Far worse did it fare with Garonwy. Garonwy 
had proceeded to the hills, accompanied by two hardy fellows 
and their greyhounds. These animals are much more muscular 
and thickset than the lowland dog of that name ; they are 
clothed with rough, wiry, yellow hair, and eyes so piercing that I 
do not know whether all writers have said of the brilliant vision 
of the houri, the antelope, or fiery glare of the basilisk, ap- 
proaches my idea of the inconceivably bright eye of these dogs. 
Garonwy, mounted upon the swiftest little horse in the county, 
with the lasso coiled upon his right arm, and his legs armed 
with haybands for protection in close quarters, proceeded to the 
hills. On the arrival of the party at the mountain’s brow, the 
distant herd of ponies took alarm ; sometimes galloping on- 
