LLANIDAN (LLAN-IDAN), a parish, in the union of CARNARVON, hundred of MENAI, county of ANGLESEY, NORTH WALES, 7 miles (S.
W. by W.) from Bangor; containing 1409 inhabitants. This extensive parish, which is situated on the western shore of the
Menai strait, was in ancient times one of the principal stations of the Druids, and comprehended a large district, in
which the arch-druid, the sub-druid, and other priests of that order had their residence. From this circumstance is
derived the names of the several hamlets of the parish, of which Tre 'r Dryw was the seat of the arch-druid; Tre 'r
Beirdd, that of the bards; Bodowyr, the residence of the priests; and Biid Drudan, the habitation of the Druids.
Suetonius, who entirely destroyed the authority of these priests in Britain, is said to have landed his forces at
Porthamel, not far from this place, at a spot still called Pant yr Ysgraf, or " the valley of skiffs," from his having
transported his infantry across the Menai in flat-bottomed boats. Being almost o immediately	to retreat by the insur-
rection under Boadicea, the Roman general was unable to make any permanent settlement here, nor have any Roman remains,
either of this or a later period, been discovered, with the exception only of a few coins, that have been occasionally dug
up in the neighbourhood. The lands, with some trifling exceptions, are inclosed, and in a good state of cultivation; and
limestone abounds in the parish, the quarrying and burning of which afford employment to several of the inhabitants;
great quantities being prepared for manure, and shipped in the Menai, to be conveyed coastwise to Liverpool and other
places. At BOn Siencyn, near the strait of the Menai, in the parish, fairs are held on March I 1th, April 14th, September
13th, October 12th, and November 12th. The living is a discharged vicarage, with the perpetual curacies of Llanddaniel-
Vab, Llanedwen, and Llanvair-y-Cwmmwd annexed, rated in the king's books at £10; present net income, £292: one-third of
the great tithes belongs to the vicar, and the remainder to Lord Boston, who is patron. The church, dedicated to St.
Aidan, was originally founded in 616, and was afterwards appropriated to the convent of Bethgelart; its revenues shared
the fate of that establishment in 1535, and the advowson was granted by Queen Elizabeth to Edward Downam and Peter Ashton,
who, in 1605, sold it to Richard Prytherch of Myvyrian, whose daughter conveyed it by marriage to the Llwyds of Llugwy, on
the extinction of which family it was purchased, with the rest of their estates, by Lord Uxbridge, who bequeathed it to
the ancestor of Lord. Boston. The present structure is spacious, and contains several good monuments; and a curious
reliquary is preserved in it, formed of common gritstone, with a cover of the same material in the shape of a dome: a
stone called Maen Morddwyd, or " the stone of the thigh," to which the faculty of locomotion was anciently attributed, is
said to be now built up in the wall of the edifice, but it is not sufficiently conspicuous to be easily distinguished.
There are places of worship for Baptists, Independents, and Calvinistic and Wesleyan Methodists: about 30 children of
both sexes are instructed in a day school at the expense of their parents; and there are three Sunday schools, in which
nearly 440 males and females are taught gratuitously. The Rev. Henry Rowlands, in 1616, bequeathed a rent-charge of 8r. on
his estate of Plfis Gwin, besides which there are some other small rent-charges amounting to about as much more, and a few
charitable donations and bequests for distribution among the poor; principally a sum of £1 paid annually by Lord Boston,
and a similar amount from a bequest of an unknown donor to be divided among 20 old men: two small charities have been
lost. The estate of L15'slew, bequeathed by Dr. H. Rowlands, Bishop of Bangor, for the support of his free grammar school
at Bottwnog, is one of the best farms in the parish. Of the numerous Druidical and other British antiquities, with which
the parish abounded, and of which so exact an account has been given by the Rev. H. Rowlands, in his "Mona Antigua
Restaurata," but very few are at present in any tolerable state of preservation, and of many there are scarcely any
vestiges. The spacious grove and temple of 'r Dryw are now scarcely distinguishable; and only a few of the atones that
formed the sacraria are now remaining to mark out the site. Brs)n Gs*, the grand consistory of the Druidical
administration, a circular cavity one hundred and eighty feet in diameter, and surrounded originally by an immense rampart
of earth and stones, has only a few upright stones left, one of which, now forming part of the gable of a dwelling-house,
is twelve feet in length and of proportionate bulk. Tre 'r Beirdd, " the seat of the bards," has been almost entirely
demolished, the materials having been used for building, its site is now occupied only by two small tenements. Bddowyr
contains a cromlech, supported on four upright stones, in a tolerably perfect state, but the circle has been entirely
removed. Trevrti has only three upright stones remaining, at a great distance from each other; the foundations have
removed, and the site was levelled by the plough in 1827. Tan Ben y Cevn remains in an entire state, though concealed from
observation by the brambles with which it is overspread. Two upright stones only are left at Llislew; and of numerous
others, noticed by Mr. Rowlands, not the slightest vestiges can be traced. Caer 145, or " the molded intrenclirnent,"
supposed to have been the residence of the arch-druid, is in good preservation, and forms-a quadrangular area, defended by
a double rampart, with a broad intervening ditch, and surrounded on the outside by a ditch of smaller dimensions; within
the area are foundations of square and circular buildings. Castell Idris, built on the summit of a rock, and defended on
the accessible sides by three walls in the form of a crescent, appears to be a fortress of later date, though of British
origin; it is a place of great strength and in good preservation, though overgrown with brambles, and concealed by a
young plantation of forest trees. The Rev. Henry Rowlands, an eminent antiquary, and author of the "Mona Antigua
Bestaurata," was vicar of the parish at the time he wrote that work.