CARMARTHENSHIRE-L Archives

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Subject: Wild Wales Part I
Date: Mon, 3 Jul 2000 13:17:07 EDT

Wild Wales by George Borrow 1862 Hafod to Aberystwyth

A Morning View - Hafod Ychdryd - The Monument - Fairy-Looking Place -
Edward Lhuyd.

The morning of the sixth was bright and glorious. As I looked from the window
of
the upper sitting.. room of the hospice the scene which presented itself was
wild
and beautiful to a degree. The oak-covered tops of the volcanic crater were
gilded
with the brightest sunshine, whilst the eastern sides remained in, dark shade
and
the gap or narrow entrance to the north in shadow yet darker, in the midst of
which
shone the silver of the Rheidol cataract. Should I live a hundred years I
shall never
forget the wild fantastic beauty of that morning scene.
I left the friendly hospice at about nine o’clock to pursue my southern
journey. By
this time the morning had lost much of its beauty, and the dull grey sky
characteristic of November began to pre-vail.. The way lay up a hill to the
south-east; on my left was a glen down which the river of the Monk rolled with
noise and foam. The country soon became naked and dreary and continued so for
some miles. At length coming to the top of a hill saw a park before me,
through
which the road led after passing under a stately gateway. I had reached the
confines
of the domain of Hafod.
Hafod Ychdryd, or the summer mansion of Uchtryd, has from time immemorial
been the name of a dwelling on the side of a hill above the Ystwyth, looking
to the
east. At first it was a summer boothie or hunting lodge to Welsh chieftains,
but
subsequently expanded into the roomy, comfortable dwelling of Welsh squires,
where hospitality was much practised and bards and harpers liberally
encouraged.Whilst belonging to an ancient family by the name or Johnes,
several
members of which made no inconsiderable figure in literature, it was
celebrated,
far and wide, for its library, in which was to be found, amongst other
treasures, a
large collection of Welsh manuscripts on various subjects—history, medicine,
poetry and romance. The house, however, and the library were both destroyed
in a
dreadful fire which broke out. This fire is generally called the great fire
of Hafod,
and some of those who witnessed it have been heard to say that its violence
was so
great that burning rafters mixed with flaming books were hurled high above the
summits of the hills. The loss of the house was a matter of triviality
compared with
that of the library. The house was soon rebuilt, and probably, phoenix-like
looked
all the better for having been burnt, but the library could never be
restored. On the
extinction of the family, the last hope of which, an angelic girl, faded away
in the
year 1811, the domain became the property of the late Duke of Newcastle, a
kind
and philanthropic nobleman and a great friend of agriculture, who held it for
many
years and considerably improved it. After his decease it was purchased by the
head
of an ancient Lancashire family, who used the modern house as a summer
residence, as the Welsh chieftains had used the wooden boothie of old.
I went to a kind of lodge, where I had been told that I should find somebody
who
would admit me to the church, which stood within the grounds and contained a
monument which I was very desirous of seeing, partly from its being considered
one of the masterpieces of the great Chantrey, and partly because it was a
memorial
to the lovely child, the last scion of the old family who had possessed the
domain.
A good-looking young woman, the only person whom I saw, on my telling my
errand forthwith took a key and conducted me to the church. The church was a
neat
edifice with rather a modern look. It exhibited nothing remarkable without,
and
only one thing remarkable within, namely the monument, which was indeed
worthy of notice, and which, had Chantrey executed nothing else, might well
have
entitled him to be considered, what the world has long pronounced him, the
prince
of British sculptors.
This monument, which is of the purest marble, is placed on the eastern side
of the
church, below a window of stained glass, and represents a truly affecting
scene a
lady and gentleman are standing over a dying girl of angelic beauty who is
extended on a couch, and from whose hand a volume, the Book of Life, is
falling.
The lady is weeping.
Beneath is the following inscription

To the Memory of
Mary
The only child of Thomas and Jane Johnes
Who died in 1811
After a few days’ sickness
This monument is dedicated
By her parents.
An inscription worthy, by its simplicity and pathos, to stand below such a
monument.
After presenting a trifle to the woman, who to my great surprise could not
speak a
word of English, I left the church, and descended the side of the hill, near
the top
of which it stands. The scenery was exceedingly beautiful. Below me was a
bright
green valley, at the bottom of which the Ystwyth ran brawling, now hid amongst
groves, now showing a long stretch of water. beyond the river to the east was
a
noble mountain, richly wooded. The Ystwyth, after a circuitous course, joins
the
Rheidol near the strand of the Irish Channel, which the united rivers enter
at a
place called Aber Ystwyth, where stands a lovely town of the same name, which
sprang up under the protection of a baronial castle, still proud and
commanding
even in its ruins, built by Strongbow the conqueror of the great western
isle. Near
the lower part of the valley the road tended to the south, up and down through
woods and bowers, the scenery still ever increasing in beauty. At length,
after
passing through a gate and turning round a sharp corner, I suddenly beheld
Hafod
on my right hand, to the west at a little distance above me, on a rising
ground, with
a noble range of mountains behind it.
A truly fairy place it looked, beautiful but fantastic, in the building of
which three
styles of Architechture seemed to have been employed. At the southern end was
a
Gothic tower; at the northern an Indian pagoda; the middle part had much the
appearance of a Grecian villa. - -The walls were of resplendent whiteness,
and the
windows which were numerous shone with beautiful gilding. Such was modern
Hafod, a strange contrast, no doubt, to the hunting lodge of old.
After gazing at this house of eccentric taste for about a quarter of an hour,
sometimes with admiration, sometimes with a strong disposition to laugh, I
followed the road, which led past the house in nearly a southerly direction.
Presently the valley became more narrow, and continued narrowing till there
was
little more room than was required for the road and the river, which ran deep
below
it on the left-hand side. Presently I came to a gate, the boundary in the
direction in
which I was going of the Hafod domain.
Here, when about to leave Hafod, I shall devote a few lines to a remarkable
man
whose name should be ever associated with the place. Edward Lhuyd was born in
the vicinity of Hafod about the period of the Restoration. His father was a
clergyman, who after giving him an excellent education at home sent him to
Oxford, at which seat of learning he obtained an honourable degree,
officiated for
several years as tutor, and was eventually made custodiary of the Ashmolean
Museum. From his early youth he devoted himself with indefatigable zeal to the
acquisition of learning. He was fond of natural history and British
antiquities, but
his favourite pursuit and that in which he principally distinguished himself
was the
study of the Celtic dialects; and it is but doing justice to his memory to
say, that he
was not only the best Celtic scholar of his time, but that no one has arisen
since
worthy to be considered his equal in Celtic erudition. Partly at the expense
of the
university, partly at that of various powerful individuals who patronized
him, he
travelled through Ireland, the Western Highlands, Wales, Cornwall and
Armorica,
for the purpose of collecting Celtic manuscripts. He was particularly
successful in
Ireland and Wales. Several of the most precious Irish manuscripts in Oxford
and
also in the Chandos Library were of Lhuyd’s collection, and to him the old
hail at
Hafod was chiefly indebted for its treasures of ancient British literature.
Shortly
after returning to Oxford from his Celtic wanderings he sat down to the
composition of a grand work in three parts, under the title of Archmologia
Britannica, which he had long projected. The first was to be devoted to the
Celtic
dialects; the second to British Antiquities, and the third to the natural
history of the
British Isles. He only lived to complete the first part. It contains various
Celtic
grammars and vocabularies, to each of which there is a preface written by
Lhuyd in
the particular dialect to which the vocabulary or grammar is devoted. Of all
these
prefaces the one to the Irish is the most curious and remarkable. The first
part of
the Archarilogia was published at Oxford in 1707, two years before the death
of
the author. Of his correspondence, which was very extensive, several letters
have
been published, all of them relating to philology, antiquities, and natural
history.
#################################################################
Wild Wales by George Borrow 1862
The first edition was 1862. A delightful journey through Wales. This is a
diary of Borrow's journey through Wales, much of it off the beaten
track on foot or on horseback. The route from Chester to Chepstow via amongst
other places, Ruthin, Capel Curig, Bangor, Anglesey, Caernarvon, Bala,
Sycharth,
Mallwyd, Machynlleth, Aberystwyth, Lampeter, Llandovery, Swansea, Merthyr
Tydfil, Newport.



***********
Richard James
CarmarthenshireFHS
View Carmarthenshire Web Pages:
http://members.aol.com/cmnfhs1/
View Genweb Carmarthenshire: http://www.rootsweb.com/~wlscfhs/cmngenweb.htm
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