m 
MERIONET H SHIRE. 
them. Sulphstt of copper, in particular, is found at Aber- 
dyfo, and at Buddugre and Glogiau mines near Dolgelly. 
The two latter are the principal in Merionethfliire, and 
perhaps the only ones which are wrought with any de¬ 
gree of fpirit or profit. At Moel-Itbri, in the parifh of 
Llanellyd, Pont-yr-avonddu, Bulch-y-plwm, and Craig- 
wen, near Dinas-Mowthy, are the chief veins of lead. 
The fame metal alfo abounds at Melin, Illyw-y-pair, in 
the parifh of Tywyn, and at Bryndir.as, near DyfFryn- 
gwyn. This county poffeffes no iron ores, and can only 
boaft of one infulated white lime-rock at Gwerclas, near 
Corwen, in which about 50,000 buihels are annually 
burnt. Merionethfliire affords no coal, l'o that peat forms 
the chief article for fuel. In a level part of the county, 
called Towyn Meironydd, rifes a very lingular rock of 
immenfe fize, and terminating in a conical form. Quartz 
conftitutes the chief matrix of the lead and copper ores 
here. In fome places feveral veins confift entirely of this 
mineral upon the furface. A line of dark-coloured argil¬ 
laceous limeftone can be traced in a fouth-weftern direc¬ 
tion, ftretching through the whole extent of the county 
to Cadair-Ddinmael, near Cerrig-Druidion: but this lime 
is of little value, either as a cement or a manure. 
The principal river in this county is the Dee, which 
takes its rile from feveral fprings on the declivity of the 
lofty Aren. Thefe quickly uniting their breams enter 
the lake, called by the Welih Llyn-tegid, and by the Eng- 
lifh Pimblemeer, and from thence flow through the beau¬ 
tiful vale of Edernion, towards Corwen, a little below 
which town it enters Denbighlhire. The Dee, in its 
courfe through "this county, forms feveral fine cataraflrs. 
That called Ithaiadrdu, or the Black Catarabt, from the 
colour of its waters, is fituated in the vicinity of Dol¬ 
gelly, and is a double fall about fixty feet in height, 
where the river dallies rapidly over a feries of, black rug¬ 
ged rocks, which are covered in many places with white 
lichens, and thus give a peculiar appearance to the fcene. 
The other rivers of importance, beiides the Dee, are the 
Maw or Mawddach, the Dovey or Duff, and the Giaflyn 
and Dwyrid, the two laft of which form a junction, and, 
paffmg Traeth-Mawr and Traeth-Bychan, empty their wa¬ 
ters into the Irifh Sea. There is in this county a variety 
of lakes: the principal ones are Llyn-Tegid near Bala, 
and Llyn-Tallyn at the fouthern foot of Cader-Idris. 
The political divifions of this county have varied at 
different periods. At prefent it comprehends five comots , 
or hundreds, viz. Ardwdwy, Penllyn, Eftumaner, Eder¬ 
nion, and Talybont; thirty-feven pariihes, and feven 
market-towns, which are, Harlech, Bala, Dolgelly, Di¬ 
nas-Mowthy, Corwen, Towyn, and Barmouth. Harlech, 
the county-town, is hut a poor place, though governed 
by a mayor. Barmouth is the only port in the county. 
Dolgelly is diftinguiihed as the place where the fummer 
affifes are held, and is perhaps the moft thriving town in 
Merionethfnire. Bala is likewife a thriving town. Dinas- 
Mowthy, although 'now a mean town, was anciently a 
fortified city, and the refidence of a Welfh prince or chief¬ 
tain. It is bill a corporate town, with a mayor, alder¬ 
man, recorder, and leveral burgeffes: the mayor has the 
right of trying criminals, but of late years that privilege 
has not been put in prailice: lie Hill, however, retains 
'all the infignia of his magifterial office. Befides thefe 
towns, there is a variety of villages difperfed through 
different parts of the county. Of thefe, Feftiniog and 
Mallwyd are remarkable for the beauty of their fituation, 
and noble profpebts which they command. Feftiniog has 
been celebrated by feveral authors, but more efpecially 
by lord Lyttelton. The vale in which this ftands has 
been compared to the celebrated Vale of Tempe; and it 
muft he confeffed that few fpots in this ifland can boaft of 
Inch varied and romantic feenery. 
•This county is not diftinguiihed for its manufactures; 
but at Bala and Dolgelly lome ftrong cloths, druggets, 
kerfimeres, &c. are made. Bala is particularly noted for 
its ftockings and wigs. 
Merionethfliire contains many interefting monuments 
of remote ages.—Above Nannua, in the neighbourhood 
of Dolgelly, on a rocky eminence, is a vaft collection of 
loofe ftones, which have evidently formed the rampart of 
a Britifh poll. The hill on which thefe ftones are placed 
is emphatically denominated Moel-Orthrwm, or the Hill 
of Oppreffion.—The remains of a cable, formerly of great 
ftrength and extent, occupy the top of the infulated rock 
near Towyn-Meironydd, already noticed. It appears to 
have ftretched longitudinally over the whole furface of 
the fummit. One of the apartments, thirty feet in dia¬ 
meter, is excavated in the rock. In fome parts, the lines 
of circumvallation confift of ftones loofely piled on the 
edges of the precipices, but on other parts appear well- 
built walls of fquared ftones, cemented with mortar com- 
pofed of calcined ffiells and gravel.—St. Cadwan’s bone, 
in the church-yard of Towyn, is traditionally reported 
to have been ereCted, in honour of that faint, in the fixth 
century.—In the pariili of Llanelltyd are the ruins of 
Cynmer-abbey, founded by two Welffi princes in 1198.—- 
On the mountain called Mikneint, near Rhyd-ar-Helen, 
ftand lome remarkable bone monuments, at leaft thirty 
in number. Each feparate grave has four ftones, one at 
each corner, rel'emblingEmail fquare pillars, two or three 
feet high, and about nine inches broad. Tradition fays, 
they ferve to commemorate fome perlons of note, who 
fell in the battle fought here between the men of Dyffryn- 
Ardwdwy, and fome of Denbighlhire. A confiderable 
number of fimilar monuments are found likewife in the 
parifh of Trawsfynudd- Several bone circles appear in 
the vicinity of thefe graves, the largeft about fifty-two 
feet in diameter, and a vaft carnedd, with two upright 
ftones; alfo feveral fmaller circles, the whole apparently 
furrounded by one of much greater circumference.—Near 
Rhuw-goch is a fmall fort, in a Angular polition, on a cir¬ 
cular ifolated rock, refembling an artificial mount, be¬ 
tween the hills, evidently intended for the defence of the 
pafs. Some perfons have fuppofed that this was of Bri¬ 
tifh conitruCtion; but the regularity of its facings, and 
the numerous coins which have been found in its neigh¬ 
bourhood, feem to imply that it was of Roman formation. 
Befides, in the inclofed country immediately adjacent, 
is a large encampment, undoubtedly the work of that 
people. This commands a variety of pafles, which are 
defended by minor pofts.—At one extremity of the vale 
of Maentwrog is a large upright bone, fuppofed to he the 
monument of a faint fo named, who was contemporary 
with St. Bruno.—The large artificial mount called To- 
men-y-Bala, near the lake of Bala, is fuppofed to have 
been originally Roman, but afterwards to have been oc¬ 
cupied by the Welfh during their conflicts with the Eng- 
liffi.—Situated on an eminence fronting the town of Cor¬ 
wen, is the Britifh poft called Caer-Drewin, which conlifts 
of a circular wall, about a mile and a half in circumfe¬ 
rence, and is fuppofed by Mr. Pennant to have been one 
of thofe ftrong holds in which the Welffi fecured • their 
families and their property, in the event of an invafion. 
Lyttelton conjectures that Owen Gwynnedd occupied this 
poft, while Henry II. encamped on the oppofite fide of 
the vale; from whence, however, he was forced to return 
to England in chagrin, without being able to ftrike a 
Angle blow. It was afterwards the retreat of the brave 
and heroic. Owen Glendower, whole memory continues 
to he highly revered by the inhabitants of the furround¬ 
ing diftrict. 
Harlech or Harloch Cable deferves a feparate notice, as 
it has been imperfectly deferibed under the word Har¬ 
loch, vol. ix. The remains of this very-ancient edifice 
are feated on the brow of a cliff, which overhangs a flat 
marffi, on the fea-coaft, near Cardigan Bay. The exterior 
walls are nearly entire, and affume a fquare form of about 
twenty feet each way, with round towers at the angles, 
and at the entrance. A fortrefs is laid to have been built 
on this feite by Maelgwn Gv/ynedd, prince of North 
Wales, about the year 530 ; but Edward I. ereCted the pre- 
