ANGLESEY, a county (insular) of NORTH WALES, surrounded by the Irish sea, except on the southeast, on which side it is
separated from the county of Carnarvon by the long, narrow, and rocky strait called the Menai: it extends from 53° 6' to
53° 23' (N. Lat.), and from 4° 20' to 5° 5' (W. Lon.); and comprises, according to Evans' Map of North Wales, one hundred
and seventy-three thousand statute acres, or upwards of two hundred and seventy square miles. The population, in 1831, was
48,325. This island anciently formed part of the territory of the Ordovices, by whom it was variously called Ynys dywell,
or "the Shady Island ;" Ynys y Cedeirn, from its heroes, or powerful Druids; and Ynys V6n, or Ynys M6n, afterwards
written singly M6n, which the Romans latinized into Mona. From the first of these names, Mr. Rowlands, in his "Mona
Antigua Restaurata," supposes the Thule of the Romans to have been derived, and considers Anglesey as the "ultimo Thule."
The same respectable antiquary thinks that the name Mon is derived from the position of the island with respect to the
other parts of Britain, that syllable, with the same sound, being found in the names of other western extremities of this
and other countries inhabited by the Celtre. Thus Cornwall was called by the Romans Danmonium (the furthest point of it
being to this day called Penvonlax, or tclad); the Isle of Man, Moneda; and the westernmost part of Ireland, Momonia,
or, in Irish, Mown. The common ancient British appellation of this island, viz., that of Mon mam Gymru, "Mon, the mother,
or nurse, of Wales," is supposed by some to allude to its productiveness, which afforded so great a supply of food to the
other parts of Wales; but by others it is derived from its having been the chief residence of the Druids, whom the
primitive Britons considered the parents of science and the guardians of society. This region, from its remote and insular
situation, its vicinity to the Isle of Man, and the facility with which a passage might hence be made to that island, or
to Ireland, appears to have been chosen, as their most secure asylum, by the Druids, during the persecution which they
endured from the invading Romans. The first Roman commander who penetrated as far as Mona was Suetonius Paulinus, to whom
the supreme authority in Britain was entrusted in the year 58. Having first subdued the continental part of North Wales,
this Roman general crossed the Menai by means of flat-bottomed boats, and by swimming that arm of the sea at low water ;
and made an easy conquest of the island, in spite of the opposition of the Druids, many of whom he massacred, cut down
their groves, overturned their altars, and destroyed the seminary of that ancient order. Suetonius is thought to have made
his entrance into Mona at Porthamel ferry, five miles westward from the site of the Menai bridge; but before he had
wholly completed its conquest, his operations were interrupted by a formidable insurrection of the country in his rear,
under the celebrated Boadicea; and this diversion of the Roman forces gave the remainder of the Druids a respite from
persecution for fifteen years. The next attack which they experienced was under the direction of Julius Agricola, who was
sent by the Emperor Vespasian to command the forces in Britain, in the year 78. This commander, on his arrival, found the
Ordovices, the inhabitants of North Wales, in revolt; but he soon subdued the continental part of their territory with
great slaughter, and compelled their chieftains to take refuge in Mona. He then advanced to the shore of the Menai,
opposite to Moel y Don, in this county; and the struggling Britons, thus hemmed in, were urged to the necessity of
exerting all their energies in defence of their lives, liberty, and sacred institutions. Tacitus describes the British
army, which lined the shores to resist the landing of the Romans, as accompanied by another army of Druids, of both sexes,
and in such confusion, that he designates them as a multitude of viragoes and madmen. The auxiliaries of the Roman army
having crossed the Menai on horseback, to the great surprise and consternation of the Britons, a desperate struggle
ensued, in which the latter were totally defeated; and the Druids, by command of the conqueror, were thrown into their
own sacrificial fires. Under the Roman sway this island is supposed to have contained one station, situated at Caer Gybi,
close to the present town of Holyhead. After the dissolution of the Roman power, and during the reign of Einion Urdd, son
of Cynedda, who united under his government the kingdom of the Strath-Clyde Britons and the province of North Wales, and
resided in his northern territories, the Irish Scots, under the command of Sirigi, or " the Rover," landed in Mona, and,
having defeated the natives, took possession of the island. Oil receiving intelligence of this invasion, Einion Urdd seat
his eldest son, Caswallon Law-hir, to the relief of Mona; and the latter executed his orders by routing the enemy at
Holyhead, where their fleet was lying at anchor, and by slaying Sirigi in a personal encounter. About the year 443,
Casivallon, having succeeded to his father's throne, made choice of Mona for his residence; and, being the eldest branch
of the Cyneddian family of British princes, he enjoyed a pre-eminence in dignity, and received from the other Cambrian
princes homage and obedience, as their superior lord. From this epoch may be dated the establishment of a distinct
sovereignty in North Wales, which country, however, was overrun, and for a few years, early in the sixth century, held in
subjection, by the Saxon monarch, Edwin of Northumbria. About the year 817, in right of that equal distribution of the
property of a deceased person among all his children, by the custom which prevailed among the Welsh, similar to the Saxon
gavel-kind, Howel, the younger son of Rhodri Molwynog, late sovereign of North Wales, laid claim to the island of Mona, as
his share of his father's inheritance. This claim being denied by his eldest brother, Cynan Tindaethwy, the reigning
prince, the contending parties agreed to decide the affair by force of arms, the result of which, in two successive
battles, was favourable to Howel, who thus obtained possession of the disputed territory. But Cynan, enraged at these
defeats, determined to make a vigorous effort, even at the hazard of his crown and life, to recover the island: he raised
a new army and marched against his brother, who, finding himself unable to rally a sufficient force, withdrew to the Isle
of Man, leaving Mona in the possession of Cynan. During the reign of Mervyn Vyrch, who had married Esyllt, daughter of
Cynan Tindaethwy, Egbert, King of the West Saxons, having desolated a great part of North Wales, advanced to Mona, and,
having overcome the Welsh in a bloody battle fought at Llanvaes, near Beaumaris, took possession of the island, which,
though soon recovered by King Mervyn, at this period lost its ancient name of Mona among the Anglo-Saxons, who
henceforward called it Angles-Ey, or "the Englishmen's Isle." Anglesey was again invaded by the Saxons, in 846, under the
Mercian prince Burrhed, who perpetrated the most cruel ravages; but the young prince Rhodri, or Roderic (afterwards
surnamed Mawr, or " the Great"), who had but just succeeded to the sovereignty of North Wales, opposed a spirited
resistance to the invaders, who, unable to effect the entire subjugation of the island, were soon afterwards compelled to
quit it, in order to defend their own territories against the Danish incursions. The Danes, having been repulsed from
England by Alfred, made a descent in Anglesey in the year 873, where, in two successive battles (one fought at BrSu-goleu,
and the other at Mcnegid), they were vigorously encountered by Roderic. About this period the Welsh prince removed the
royal residence from Caer Segont, now Carnarvon, where it had been fixed by the successors of Caswallon Law-hir, to
Aberfraw, on the south-western coast of the island, where that prince had originally established it. An interval of
freedom from the molestations of the Danes afforded the English another opportunity of invading Anglesey with a formidable
army. The Welsh sovereign opposed them with his usual spirit, and at length fell in defence of his country, being slain
with his brother Gwyriad in one of the battles fought with the English. According to the late king's division of the
sovereignty among his three sons, this island was included in the kingdom of Gwynedd, or North Wales, the residence of
whose sovereigns was at Aberfraw, in the palace which had been erected by Roderic. A large body of Danes landed in the
island in the year 900; but this invasion seems only to have been distinguished by a battle fought at RhOs-meilion, in
which fell Mervyn, Prince of Powys. Early in the reign of Edwal Voel, who succeeded to the sovereignty of North Wales in
the year 913, the Irish made a descent upon Anglesey, which they laid waste with great cruelty. A party of marauders from
the same country made another descent in the year 966, destroyed the royal palace at Aberfraw, and slew Roderic, the
youngest son of Edwal Voel. In 969, the island once more suffered from an invasion of the Danes, who ravaged the
easternmost part of the county in the vicinity of Pennon; and in a second enterprise, shortly after, they gained for a
time complete possession of it. Constantine the Black, fired with the deepest resentment at the injuries received by his
family from his cousin Howel, Prince of North Wales, by whom his father Iago was then held in close confinement, collected
an army of Danish pirates, and, in the year 979, laid waste this island: but Howel, having assembled his forces, routed
the Danes in a battle fought at Gwaith Hirbarth, in which Constantine was slain. Meredydd, a prince who ruled in Powys by
right of his mother, about the year 985, took possession of the kingdom of North Wales; but the Danes invading Anglesey
soon after, took prisoner Llywarch, that sovereign's brother, with two thousand of his men, and put out his eyes, which so
terrified Meredydd, that he fled into Powys, leaving his subjects of Gwynedd without a sovereign, and exposed to the
ravages of any invader: in consequence of this, the Danes again landed in Anglesey, and laid waste the whole island. Soon
after the accession of Trehaern ab Caradoc to the sovereignty of North Wales, in 1073, Grufydd ab Cynan thought this a
favourable opportunity to assert his right to the same throne, to which he had an hereditary claim. This prince, during
the late reigns, had sought refuge in Ireland, his mother being a native of that country; and having procured aid from
some of the Irish princes, his kinsmen, he landed a body of troops in Anglesey, of which he soon effected the conquest. He
then passed the Menai, but was defeated by Trehaern in Merionethshire, and compelled to return to this island, where he
soon after received reinforcements from Ireland, and speedily made himself master of the kingdom for which he contended.
In 1096, during the reign of William Rufus in England, and of Grufydd ab Cynan in Gwynedd, a formidable army of English,
under the command of Hugh Lupus, Earl of Chester, and Hugh the Red, Earl of Shrewsbury, invaded North Wales, at the secret
instigation of several powerful native chieftains; and Grufydd retired to the mountains for safety. The two earls,
encountering no resistance, advanced into that part of Carnarvonshire which lies nearest to Anglesey; when Grufydd,
anticipating the danger which threatened the seat of his government, crossed the Menai into this island, and receiving a
small reinforcement from Ireland, resolved to defend this part of his territory. At this critical moment, however, ()wain
ab Edwyn, lord of Englefield, one of the secret betrayers of his country, whose daughter was the wife of Grufydd, and who
was himself his prime minister and adviser, openly avowed his treachery, and joined the English army with his forces. The
Welsh prince, alarmed at the defection of so powerful a chieftain, and unable to oppose the increased numbers of the
enemy, withdrew to Ireland. Thus again left unprotected, Anglesey fell an easy prey to the English, who took ample revenge
upon its inhabitants, for the cruelties which had a little before been committed by the Welsh on the English border, by
massacring many, and cutting off the hands and feet and otherwise barbarously mutilating others. The deliverance of North
Wales at this perilous period was brought about by a train of fortuitous circumstances. Magnus, son of Harold, King of
Norway, having taken possession of the Orkneys and the Isle of Man, accidentally arrived at this time on the coast of
Anglesey, and attempted a descent upon it. In the opposition which the English made to his landing, the impetuous valour
of the Earl of Shrewsbury having hurried him into the water, the Norwegian prince levelled an arrow at him, which, through
the opening of his helmet, pierced his brain through his right eye, and he fell convulsed in the sea: the Welsh regarded
this as a stroke of retributive justice coming immediately from the hand of the Almighty. The death of the Earl of
Shrewsbury produced some disorder among the English, and compelled them to abandon the shore; and the Earl of Chester, on
this disaster, suddenly withdrew to Bangor, where he for some time fixed his abode, carrying on a desultory warfare with
the inhabitants of Anglesey, whom he annoyed with frequent aggressions. The latter earl, in the course of this expedition,
erected a castle at a place called Aberllieniog, on the shores of the Menai, near Beanmaris. The Norwegians, finding that
the English had left nothing to plunder, immediately re-embarked; and this was the last attempt made by any of the
northern nations to ravage or subdue this island. In the year 1151, Cadwalader, brother of Owain Gwynedd, Prince of North
Wales, who had long been kept in confinement by his nephew Hywel, escaped from prison, and, fleeing to Anglesey, brought a
great part of the island under subjection: but a formidable body of troops having been sent against him by the Prince of
North Wales, he was obliged to seek refuge in England. At the period of the invasion of North Wales by Henry II., in 1157,
the English fleet, which, under the conduct of Madoc ab Meredydd, Prince of Powys, sailed from Chester to infest the
coasts of North Wales, made a descent on Anglesey, and ravaged a part of the island; but, in returning to their ships,
the force which had landed was attacked by the whole strength of the island and entirely destroyed, and the English fleet
immediately weighed anchor, and sailed back to Chester. In 1173, Davydd ab Owain Gwynedd, Prince of North Wales, forcibly
took Anglesey from his brother Roderic, whom he put into close confinement: on this occasion the island suffered
considerable devastation. On the invasion of Wales by Henry III., in 1245, that monarch's justiciary in Ireland received
orders to make a diversion from that kingdom on the Isle of Anglesey, which was accordingly made in August, by the Irish
forces, and the whole island laid waste; but not being promptly supported by the English king, they were assailed by the
inhabitants, when laden with plunder, and driven back to their ships. On the eve of the great invasion of Wales by Edward
1., in 1277, that sovereign directed a fleet from the Cinque Ports to cruise on the coast of Wales, one object of which
was the reduction of this island, which it fully effected. Llewelyn ab Grufydd, the reigning prince of North Wales, being
shortly after compelled to sue for peace, obtained it only upon hard conditions, one of which was that, though he should
continue to hold the island of Anglesey, he should pay for that permission the annual sum of one thousand marks, and, if
he died without issue, the island was then to be vested in the King of England and his heirs for ever: Edward, however,
remitted the yearly tribute of one thousand marks. This treaty being afterwards broken, Edward, in his next invasion of
Wales, while lying in the vicinity of Aberconway, again, in like manner, ordered a strong detachment of marines and other
forces, in the vessels of the Cinque Ports, to take possession of Anglesey, in order not only to deprive the Welsh of the
advantage of that fruitful island, as a source of provisions, but also to confine them within narrower limits, and, by
dividing their attention, to facilitate his entrance into the inner recesses of their continental territory. This service
was performed with complete success: the island was easily taken, as the chief persons in it supported the interests of
Edward, in conformance with the oaths which they had taken at the late peace. The English in Anglesey then made
preparations for crossing the Menai by a bridge of boats, constructed from the point called Moel y don; bnt, owing to the
imprudence of a part of their forces, which crossed that arm of the sea before the bridge was completed, and was
consequently surprised and destroyed by the Welsh, the rest were compelled to remain for a time in Anglesey; nor did they
finish the bridge and make good their passage until after the unfortunate death of Llewelyn, in the winter following.
After the complete subjugation of the principality in this campaign, Edward allowed its inhabitants to enjoy their estates
under the tenures by which they had held them under their native princes; and the rents which the inhabitants of Anglesey
had been accustomed to pay were reduced in amount to four hundred and fifty pounds a year, although they had formerly
yielded a thousand marks annually to Llewelyn. Though conquered, and reduced in numbers by the long war which they had so
bravely maintained, the native spirit of the Welsh remained unsubdued, and was often exasperated into rebellion by the
tyranny of their new masters, who found it necessary, for the maintenance of their authority, to fortify themselves in
numerous strong castles. The Isle of Anglesey at this time formed the principal rendezvous of all the native chieftains,
who, notwithstanding their formal submission to the authority of Edward, were unceasingly engaged in plots to throw off
the English yoke, and made this the centre of several important insurrections, which were successively quelled. Edward, in
1284, appointed his favourite, Sir Roger de Puleston, sheriff and keeper of Anglesey: this powerful knight was afterwards
slain, in 1294, during the insurrection led by Madoc, an illegitimate son of the last Llewelyn, who soon after gained
possession of Anglesey. Edward, having quelled the rebellion in the continental part of the principality, crossed the
Menai into Anglesey; and the English forces on this occasion destroyed the church, with some part of the other buildings,
of Llanvaes priory, and devastated its lands. Edward, seeing the impossibility of preventing the excitement of other
rebellions, which might threaten the stability of his dominion in Wales, whilst Anglesey, without an English garrison,
afforded inch facilities for combination, found it necessary to erect in this island a castle equal in strength and
importance to those which he had previously built at Carnarvon and Aberconway, and to place in it a garrison equally
formidable. As the site of this fortress, he selected Porth Wgyr, a place of great antiquity, near the easternmost
extremity of the county, which at that time had acquired the name of Bonover, and to which the Anglo-Normans, on account
of its situation in a flat on the sea-shore, gave the appellation of Beaumarais, since slightly modernized into Beaumaris:
the work was completed in 1296. The ill-fated Sir Grufydd Llwyd, who received the honour of knighthood from Edward I.,
on bringing him the intelligence of queen Eleanor's being delivered of a son (afterwards Edward II.), in Carnarvon castle,
was a native of Tregarnedd, in this county, and subsequently did homage for his estates to this young prince, at Cheater.
But afterwards, indignant at insults offered to himself, and deeply resenting the wrongs and oppressions heaped upon his
duped and suffering fellow-countrymen, he formed a plan for liberating them from that intolerable slavery to which he
considered that he had contributed, in accepting, with other chieftains, the young prince Edward as his sovereign. In
1322, he took up arms, and for a time overran some parts of North Wales with irresistible impetuosity; but at length
being defeated by the English troops, he retreated into Anglesey, to his house of Tregarnedd, which he had strongly
fortified, and garrisoned with his followers another strong hold, called Ynys Cevni, about three-quarters of a mile
distant, in a marshy part of the sands called the Malltraeth, a spot which he contrived to insulate by surrounding it with
the waters of the river Cevni. Here, after a desperate struggle, he was at last taken prisoner by a body of English, and
conveyed to Rhuddlan castle, in Flint-shire, where he was executed soon after. The custody of the castle of Beaumaris,
together with the whole county and dominion of Anglesey, was granted by Henry IV. to the renowned Henry Percy, surnamed
Hotspur. During the great revolt under Owain Glyndwr, in this reign, the monks of Llanvaes priory being suspected of
favouring his designs, the English monarch, on his first taking the field against the insurgents, put some of the friars
to the sword, carried the rest away prisoners, and plundered the convent. In the great civil war of the seventeenth
century the inhabitants of this island distinguished themselves by their persevering attachment to the royal cause. So
early as the year 1642, Beaumaris castle was garrisoned for the king by command of its constable, the Earl of Dorset.
Thomas, the first Lord Bulkeley, afterwards succeeded to the constableship of the same fortress, and his son, Col. Richard
Bulkeley, assisted by several other gentlemen of the county, held it for the king, until June 1646, when it was
surrendered on honourable terms to General Mytton: it appears, however, to have fallen again into the hands of the
royalists. In 1648, the inhabitants of the whole island rose for the purpose of aiding in the restoration of the
unfortunate monarch's affairs, at the time that several diversions were made in different parts of Britain, with a view to
the liberation of Charles, then a prisoner in the Isle of Wight. Resolutions were immediately drawn up; and it was
decided by a council of war that a general declaration should be published, subscribed by all the inhabitants from the age
of sixteen to sixty. The words of this curious document are as follows:- " We, the inhabitants of the Isle of Anglesey,
whose names are hereunto subscribed, after mature consideration, and hearty invocation of the name of God for directions
and assistance, do remonstrate and declare to our fellow-subjects and neighbours, whom it may concern, that we, having,
according to our bounden duty and allegiance, preserved the said island in due obedience to our most dread sovereign Lord,
King Charles, during the time of this intestine war and rebellion; and, by God's blessing upon our careful endeavours,
defended the same until the enemy had over-mastered the whole kingdom (a few strong holds excepted), this being the only
county of England or Wales for two months together kept entire under his Majesty's authority and command; and being then,
through the vast number of men and horse threatened to be poured in upon us (finding no possible expectance of relief),
enforced to submit to the then prevailing power; do now, out of conscience towards God, and loyalty towards his anointed,
with all humbleness, prostrate ourselves, our lives and fortunes, at his Majesty's feet, resolving, with the utmost
exposal of all that we are, or have, to preserve the said island, together with the castle and holds therein, in due
obedience to his sacred Majesty, his heirs and lawful successors, against all rebellious opposers and invaders whatsoever;
and do also, with sincerity of heart, profess that we will, according to our several degrees, places, and callings,
maintain the true Protestant religion by law established, his Majesty's royal prerogative, the known laws of the land,
just privileges of parliament, together with our own and fellow-subjects' legal properties and liberties. And we also do
farther declare and protest, that we shall and will account all those that do, or shall, stand in opposition hereunto, to
be enemies and traitors to their king and country, and accordingly to be proceeded against, being most ready to contribute
our best abilities for their reducement, and re-instating of our gracious sovereign (who hath long endured the tyranny and
oppression of his barbarous and bloody enemies) to his rights, dominions, and dignity, according to the splendour of his
most illustrious progenitors. Given under our hands the 14th day of July, 1648." This declaration immediately led to an
expedition for the reduction of this island, under the command of General Mytton; and, when the parliamentarian forces
were descried from Beaumaris green, approaching over the mountain of Penmaen-Mawr, on the opposite side of the Menai,
great demonstrations of defiance were made at the former place. However, after a slight skirmish near Cadnant with Major
Hugh Pennant's troop of horse, General Mytton's forces advanced without further opposition to Orsedd Migin, where they
held a rendezvous, the morning after their passage across the straits. Hence they marched immediately upon Beaumaris, by
way of Red-hill Park, and drew up in order of battle upon the hill; the islanders, commanded in chief by Colonel
Bulkeley, and by Colonel Roger Whitely as major-general, drawing up in the fields below the hill. A smart engagement
speedily ensued, in which the royalists were defeated and put to flight, with the loss of some slain and four hundred made
prisoners. The town was now closely pressed and soon taken, notwithstanding that the church was obstinately defended by a
number of men who had been left locked up in it by their commander. Most of the royalist commanders retired into the
castle, to which General Mytton sent a summons, demanding the bodies of the two colonels, Bulkeley and Whitely, who
immediately surrendered themselves to save the effusion of blood in the slaughter of the prisoners, which was threatened
in case of a refusal. Unable successfully to resist the formidable force brought against it, the garrison in the castle
also capitulated on honourable terms, on the 2nd of October; and articles of agreement were drawn up and signed by the
parliamentarian commissioners and by those appointed for the purpose by the governor of the castle, on behalf of the
inhabitants of the whole island. On the 9th of October, instruments were interchanged, in which it was stipulated that the
estates of persons within the island should be relieved from sequestration, on condition of paying one twenty-fifth of
their value; and that they should be permitted to compound for them at the rate of two years' income for all estates of
inheritance, and for other estates in proportion. This mulct was paid by instalments, and the total amount of the money
thus obtained from the island is supposed to have been about £20,000. Anglesey is in the diocese of Bangor, and province
of Canterbury; and forms an archdeaconry, which was annexed to the bishoprick by act of parliament of the 1st of James
I., comprising the deaneries of Llivon and Tal y bolion, Menai and Malltraeth, and Tyndaethwy and Twrcelyn: the number of
parishes is sixty-nine, of which twenty-two are rectories, four vicarages, and the rest perpetual curacies. For purposes
of civil government it is divided into the six hundreds of Llyvon, Malltraeth, Menai, Tal y bolion, Twrcelyn, and
Tyndaethwy. It contains the boroughs, market-towns, and sea-ports of Amlwch, Beaumaris, and Holyhead; the borough and
market town of Llangevni; and the market-town of Llanerchymedd. One knight is returned to parliament for the shire, and
one representative for the united boroughs: the county member and the member for the boroughs are elected at Beaumaris:
the polling-places are Beaumaris, Holyhead, and Llangevni. This county is in the North Wales circuit: the assizes and
sessions are held at Beaumaris, where stands the county gaol and house of correction: there are twenty-two acting
magistrates. The parochial rates raised in the county for the year ending March 25th, 1830, amounted to £19,196, and the
expenditure to £19,209, of which £16,006 was applied to the relief of the poor. The exact form of this island, of which
the general outline is somewhat oblong, extending in length nearly from north-west to south-east, is extremely irregular,
the rocky barrier of its sea-worn shores being broken in numerous places by small bays, creeks, and other inlets: it is
the only county in the principality of which the surface approximates to uniformity of character, the whole gently
undulating, and there being few swells that can properly be termed hills, or hollows deserving the name of valleys. The
interior being also devoid of wood, nearly all the land is enclosed, and these enclosures seldom surrounded by the lively
green of quickset hedges, the whole district exhibits a very dreary aspect, and impresses the beholder at first sight with
an idea of sterility, which, however, does not predominate, the land, when under proper management, being in general
highly productive. The only part possessing any variety of sylvan beauty is that bordering on the Menai. Although the
scenery of the island is so little interesting, yet the traveller, after proceeding a few miles from the shores of the
Menai, by looking across that arm of the sea into Carnarvonshire, will obtain a splendid view of the chain of mountains
which stretches through that county, and the outline of which is varied at irregular intervals by numerous diversified
peaks, above all which rises the majestic Snowdon. As the spectator recedes from the Menai, the connecting links of this
magnificent chain are gradually lost, and only the insulated summits of the highest mountains remain visible in the
distant horizon. The high table land, called Mynydd y Trysclwyn, in the northwestern part of the county, is an object of
especial interest to travellers, from a part of it forming the farfamed Parys mountain, so distinguished for its mineral
treasures, and which has been supposed to derive its name from one Robert Parys, a commissioner in an inquisition, in the
8th of Henry IV., to fine such of the inhabitants of Anglesey as had taken part in Owain Glyndwr's insurrection. The
aspect of this elevation, rising into enormous rugged rocks of coarse aluminous shale and whitish quartz, is naturally
very rude; and the romantic grandeur of its outward form has been further heightened by the vast mining operations which
have penetrated its interior, yet lie open to the day like immense quarries. The most extensive tract of marsh land is
that of Malldraeth, or Malltraeth, near Newborough, in the southern part of it, which is situated on the shores of a sandy
creek, extending a considerable distance inland, in a north-easterly direction, and comprises about three thousand acres.
Acts of parliament for enclosing it were obtained in the years 1788 and 1790, and an embankment across the lower part of
it, one thousand four hundred yards long, was nearly completed, when the whole work was suddenly abandoned, and an
uncommonly high tide, on the 23rd of January, 1796, added a breach, twenty roods long, to the space of about twenty roods
which had been left unfinished. In this neglected state the work remained until early in the present century, when a
scheme for erecting another embankment, upon a more enlarged scale and durable plan, was carried into execution, under the
provisions of an act obtained in 1815, and the work was completed in 1819. It is probable that Anglesey originally joined
the main land; for near Porthaethwy, on the shores of the Menai, a line of rocks, called the Swelly rocks, juts out
nearly across the channel, which are supposed to be the remains of an isthmus: in the rugged openings between them, the
sea, for about an hour after the commencement of the flood tide, violently fluctuates and foams, owing to the meeting of
two currents, called Pwll Ceris, which renders the passage very dangerous. Across the Menai strait there were formerly six
ferries, sanctioned by authority; but this number has been reduced to five by the erection of the magnificent iron
suspension bridge over the narrowest part of it, where was formerly the ferry of Porthaethwy, commonly called Bangor
ferry. On the subjugation of North Wales by Edward I., the ferries became the property of the crown; but this monarch
soon granted one of them, viz., that of Cadnant, to EinioneBishop of Bangor, for christening the young prince Edward of
Carnarvon: the rest continued in the possession of the crown until the time of Henry VIII., who granted four of them to
Richard Giffard; and the latter, in the twenty-third year of that monarch's reign, let them on a term to William
Bulkeley, from whose descendants they have since been transferred to different hands. Though the situations of these
appear to have been well chosen, according to the nature of the strait, yet, owing to sand-banks, opposing tides rushing
into them from each extremity, and other natural causes, the passage is not absolutely safe by any one of them, and
serious accidents have occurred at each The most southern of the five remaining ferries is that of Abermenai, opposite to
Carnarvon; the next, at a distance of three miles north-eastward, is that of Tal y Voel; four miles beyond which is that
of Moel y don, and, three miles further, the Menai bridge; beyond which is that of Cadnant, now removed to Garth; and
lastly the longest of all the ferries at high water, viz., that between the town of Beaumaris and Aber, in Carnarvonshire.
The shores of Anglesey are studded with several small islets, of which the principal are the following; viz., that of
Priestholme, Ynys Seiriol, Glannauch, or Puffin Island, separated from the easternmost extremity of the county by a deep
channel about half a mile broad: it is of an oval form, about a mile long, and half a mile broad, extremely lofty, and
has a precipitous shore on every side, except that which faces the promontory of Penmon, where the land is not quite so
elevated: it slopes gradually from the summit to the edge of these cliffs, and forms a bold boundary on the west to the
broad bay of Beaumaris. The next to this, proceeding along the northern coast of the island, is Ynys y Moelrhoniaid, or
"the Isle of Seals," commonly called the Skerries, situated at its northernmost extremity, in front of the village of
Llanrhwydrys, and about half a league from the main land, from which it is separated by a deep and dangerous channel: its
surface is composed chiefly of rocks, half covered with vegetation, and on its highest point is a lighthouse, erected
about the year 1730. To this succeeds Ynys Cybi, or Holy Island, at the westernmost point of Anglesey, comprising the
parishes of Holyhead and Rhoscolyn, and consisting for the most part of barren rocks and dreary sands: the channel
separating it from the rest of Anglesey is narrow, and is fordable in some places at low water; and the great Irish road
is carried over it by means of a noble embankment, three-quarters of a mile long. A remarkable phenomenon attends the
tides on the shores of this county, more particularly in the straits of the Menai. It appears that two tides set in from
the western sea, which are divided by the Isle of Anglesey, one part passing through the Menai straits, and the other
through the great channel lying between Holyhead and the Irish coast. The latter tide, having to extend its influence
round the greater part of the island before it can reach the north-eastern entrance of the Menai, the flow is more than an
hour earlier at Carnarvon than at Beaumaris; and the water from the main sea begins to pour into the strait at Carnarvon
while it is yet ebbing out of it at Beaumaris; consequently, the water in the vicinity of Carnarvon continues falling
after the direction of the current is changed. In like manner the ebb commences at Carnarvon before it is high water at
Beaumaris, and though the direction of the current in this case is also changed, yet it continues rising at the Menai
bridge for a considerable time after it has begun to ebb at Carnarvon. These tides (the one entering the Menai from St.
George's channel, and the other from the Irish sea) meet at a place near Beau-minis, called Taraw Point. The climate of
this county, owing to the sea-breezes which constantly blow over it, and the greater uniformity of its surface, is milder
and less boisterous, and the snow lies upon the ground a shorter time, than in the neighbouring counties. But, from the
same causes, it is incommoded with frequent mists in the autumn, during which damp season the inhabitants are subject to
intermittent fevers: still they are in general healthy and long-lived. The soils, though various, are for the most part
fertile: they consist chiefly of the following kinds, viz., a friable mould; a shallow soil on light sand; a coarse
healthy soil on hard rock; a quick warm soil, invigorated by marl; a reddish and stiffish loam; and a black peaty earth;
under which there are generally beds of peat, forming useful turbaries. There is also an abundance of manly soils, lying
in contiguity with the ranges of limestone hereafter described. The reddish loams are of excellent quality, and lie near
the shores of the Menai, in the vicinity of Llanidan: the light soils, consisting of various admixtures of sandy loam,
rounded pebbles, gravel, peat, &c., occupy the greater part of the island, and are best adapted for the culture of barley,
peas, turnips, &c.: free barns, of a rather better quality than the latter, are found in different parts of the interior.
The agriculture of the county has much improved since smuggling, which was formerly carried on by the inhabitants to an
amazing extent, has been nearly suppressed by the vigilance of the government; but the greater part of the island still
presents a mixed aspect of wildness and cultivation, excepting a few scattered farms, which are managed under superior
systems. Of the enclosed lands, which occupy nearly the whole of its surface, about an eleventh part is actually under
tillage; and of this quantity, about one-fourth is annually sown with oats, and the remainder with barley and wheat, in
equal proportions. The rotations of crops are various, but the white corn crops of oats and barley are too frequently
taken in unvaried succession, or alternately with each other, for five or six years. The average produce of oats is only
from four to six times the amount of seed sown, although sometimes, under superior management, as much as from fifteen to
sixteen: the produce of barley is very various; and that of wheat ayerages no more than that of oats, although some
farmers obtain from eight to ten times the quantity sown. The cultivation of peas, which used formerly to be considerable,
is now greatly diminished; and beans are hardly ever seen; but there is no part of North Wales where potatoes are
cultivated so well and so extensively as in this island. Turnips were first introduced as an agricultural crop in 1765,
and their culture has been since gradually increasing in extent: in 1797, there were about fifty acres under turnips, of
which only seven were drilled. Anglesey is distinguished for a native species of this root, which is a small, yellow,
garden turnip, called in the adjacent county of Carnarvon Maip sir Von. A few small patches of land are occasionally sown
with hemp. The artificial grasses are of the ordinary kinds. Burnet grows naturally on the limestone hills near Llanidan,
bordering on the Menai; and the plantago maritima, or narrow-leaved sea plantain, is found wild on different parts of the
sea-shore: the latter tastes like samphire, is very succulent, and is eagerly eaten by sheep. Anglesey contains nearly
one hundred and fifty thousand acres of meadows and pastures, of which the natural produce is in general of a fine
quality, great quantities of hay seeds being annually conveyed from it as far as the hilly parts of Denbighshire and
Merionethshire. The grass lands are almost exclusively devoted to the rearing of cattle, to be sold lean to the graziers
of other districts having richer pastures, where they are fattened for different places requiring a large supply: lean
cattle, therefore, constitute one of its chief articles of export. The dairies are so few and on so small a scale as
hardly to supply the consumption of the island; nor, indeed, is the cheese made in it of good quality, for, to supply the
want of that richness of which the milk is robbed for the sake of making butter, the curds are so saturated with rennet as
to make it quite spongy. The extraordinary manures are various and valuable. Lime is extensively used within a convenient
distance of those parts of the island where it is burned; and sea-weed, or sea-thong, and the focus of various kinds, are
collected on the shores after storms, and spread on the fields to be immediately ploughed in, or made into composts with
various other manures. But that for which Anglesey is more particularly distinguished is the shell-sand found on different
parts of its coasts, but of the best quality in the Traeth Coch, or Red Wharf bay, in the eastern part of its northern
shores; that which is obtained at this place contains about two-thirds, and from that to four-fifths, of decayed shells:
it is carried to every part of the island in carts and waggons, is generally laid upon the land about an inch thick, and
if its fertilizing particles are not suddenly washed away by violent rains, it enriches the soil for ten or twelve years.
The first time this shell-sand is known to have been used as a manure was in 1645, by the Rev. Thomas Williams, rector of
Llansadwrn; but at present, besides the extensive consumption of it in the island, great quantities are annually shipped
coastwise to Denbighshire and Flintshire. Both the shell-sand and the sea-weeds are preferred to lime upon lands that have
been for some time under cultivation. The plough in most common use is of the large old kind, which was universally used
in North Wales prior to the introduction of the lighter Lummas plough, about the year 1760: the mould-board is a plain
plank, which turns the split over by its extreme length; and by the holder pressing much on the left handle, its nether
edge forms an acute angle with a line parallel to the surface of the soil, by which means a feather-edged split is formed,
which, in ley grounds, does not afford a sufficient depth of mould for the harrow: the surface resting on the ground from
the heel to the point of the share is four feet long, and the friction occasioned by this large surface requires great
force to overcome it. In this county, where the rearing of cattle is in most cases the farmer's principal object, and the
dairy is almost entirely neglected, the calves are not weaned until they arrive at double the age at which they are
commonly weaned in other counties. This partly accounts for the bull-like appearance of the oxen about the head and dewlap;
but it is a received opinion that they are hardier on that account, and may be kept on coarser pasture. The
characteristics of the choice Anglesey oxen, commonly called (from their small size and peculiar appearance) runts, are
(says the Rev. W. Davies, in his View of the Agriculture of North Wales,) the same in most points with those of the Roman
oxen described by Columella. Their colour is coal black, with white appendages: they have remarkably broad ribs, high and
wide hips, deep chest, large dewlap, flat face, and long horns turning upwards: their average weight, when fat, at three
or four years old, is from eight to eleven score lb. per quarter. These deep-chested and short-legged oxen are much
esteemed by the graziers for their aptness to fatten; but they are not quite so well adapted for draught. Anglesey is
distinguished for its sheep, which are the largest native breed in North Wales, weighing, according as they are variously
fed, from ten to sixteen lb. per quarter, and sometimes as much as eighteen lb.: they have black legs and faces, and are
generally without horns; but whether they were originally from the same stock as the present small sheep of the county of
Carnarvon, and attained their present superiority in size from a milder climate and better pasturage, or are a foreign
species brought over at some remote period from Ireland, cannot now be ascertained. They bear a fleece weighing from one
lb. and three-quarters to two lb. and a half; and are shorn about the middle of May, or early in June: some are shorn
twice a year. Several experimental farmers have introduced other breeds from England. Great numbers of hogs were formerly
bred in this county for the English markets, but since the establishment of steam-boats from Dublin to Liverpool, which
has caused the importation of great numbers to the latter place from Ireland, this practice has declined. The native breed
of horses is but of an inferior description, and their natural awkwardness and want of symmetry is further increased by
the universal custom of fettering them, as well as the sheep; a practice which is rendered necessary owing to the want of
proper fences. Tender furze, bruised with mallets, or ground in mills erected for the purpose, used formerly to be a chief
article of fodder for horses, and the farmers were then accustomed to sow furze, and sometimes to let the crop at a
certain price per acre, in which case it was frequently more profitable than a crop of wheat; but this system is now
abandoned. Rabbits are very numerous in some places in the vicinity of the sea-coast, where the sandy soil favours their
burrowing, more especially near the ruins of the monastery of Llanddwyn. Seals are frequently seen on the shores of this
island. The water-rail is a constant visitor of Anglesey early in the spring; and that rare quatic bird, the shag,
sometimes makes its appearance on the shore near Holyhead. The horticulture of the county presents nothing remarkable,
except that sea-kale, which grows in abundance on the coasts, has in some places been introduced into gardens, and is
found an excellent substitute for asparagus, being also somewhat earlier in the spring. Anglesey is said to have been
anciently called the dark or shady island, in allusion to its thick groves of wood; but at present its woodlands are
almost wholly confined to a narrow slip along the Menai; and even here, great numbers of the trees, sinking beneath the
force of the western blasts, which sweep over them loaded with saline particles, have a stunted and blighted appearance.
Lord Boston, however, has some considerable woods at Lligwy, in the parish of Penrhas Lligwy; and a few plantations have
been made on different estates, and have flourished, with the exception of those trees immediately exposed to the westerly
winds, which are always gradually destroyed. Wherever a few trees occur in the hedge-rows, they are invariably much
inclined towards the north-east by the violent winds from the opposite quarter. At the commencement of the present century
the amount of waste land was between twelve and thirteen thousand acres, from which must now be deducted the whole extent
of Malltraeth marsh, which has been embanked and enclosed: of this amount, nine thousand acres, including Malltraeth
marsh, are level and highly improve-able. The principal unenclosed tract on the uplands is Talwrn-Mawr, an extensive and
continuous chain of wastes, intermixed with old enclosures, and running through the greater part of the county. The
surface of the unenclosed level wastes is continually pared by the poor inhabitants for fuel. Some of the flat lands lying
adjacent to the sea are covered with drifting sands, more especially those near the southernmost extremity of the county.
Anglesey being comparatively destitute of coal, peat, and wood, the inhabitants are chiefly supplied with coal brought
coastwise from Flintshire and Lancashire, which being sold at a high price, the poor are frequently unable to purchase it,
and are thus compelled to collect the dried dung of cattle from the moors and fields, to the great injury of the soil, and
the paring of the surface of sound waste land. The Anglesey Agricultural Society was established in the year 1808. The
mineral productions are of great variety and importance; but the geology of the island, which is also interesting, has
received but very little illustration. The prevailing rock may be said to be clay-slate, but granite occurs in a small
spot near its centre; and on its south-eastern and north-eastern sides there is an abundance of limestone and gritstone,
which in some places are accompanied by a few thin and poor strata of coal. The immense produce of the island in copper is
wholly obtained from the Parys mountain mine and the Mona mine, which are in fact only portions of the same mine,
distinguished under these two names to mark the possessions of two different proprietors, and situated in the northern
part of the island, in the vicinity of Amlwch, a town which entirely owes its elevation from the rank of an inconsiderable
fishing village to the discovery and extensive working of the mineral treasures of the neighbouring high ground of
Trysclwyn, in which these mines are contained. There is abundant reason to suppose that copper-ore was procured and
smelted here at a very remote period; but the main stratum, after several unsuccessful attempts, was discovered only on
the 2nd of March, 1768, the anniversary of which day was for many years kept as a festival by the miners. This mass is in
some places more than three hundred feet thick, and lies in vast clusters, commonly called stock works. Both the mines are
situated on this grand vein, which has numerous branches, and is worked, not, as in other mines, by means of subterraneous
excavations, but open to the day, in the manner of a quarry; the reason of which is, that the chief substance of the
mountain itself consists of copper-ore. The matrix of this ore is a dark-coloured petrosilex, over which lie strata of
aluminous schistus, and a yellow earth containing ores of lead: in many places the ore is immediately covered by a thin
stratum of red shale and ochre: the various strata, thus bounding the ore, dip in general towards the north, at an angle
of about forty-five degrees. The ore consists chiefly of the yellow sulphate of copper, the richest of which generally
contains twenty-five per cent. of metal, and the same amount of sulphur, while the remainder consists wholly of refuse.
The worst ore yields nearly the same quantity of sulphur, for which it is chiefly worked, but produces only from one and a
quarter to two per cent. of copper. These mines also produce black ore, consisting of copper mixed with galena, calamine,
and a little silver; malachite, or green and blue carbonate of copper; native copper, though in very small quantities ;
sulphate of copper, crystallized and in solution; sulphate of lead in considerable quantities, containing a tolerably
large portion of silver; and native sulphur. Although these ores are not equal in richness to those obtained in Cornwall,
yet they are rendered of immense value by their abundance and the facility with which they are worked. As the greater part
of the ore consists of sulphate of copper, the roasting of it for the sake of the sulphur forms a considerable branch of
its manufacture. The regulus of copper, which collects itself, during the process of roasting, into a globule in the
centre of the ore, is separated from the rest by breaking the latter, and then sent to be smelted. The amount of ore
annually raised, and thus manufactured at Amlwch, is estimated at about sixteen thousand tons. Towards the close of the
last century, when the Parrs and Mona mines were most prosperous, the quantity of available ore annually procured amounted
to no less than thirty thousand tons, the raising of which afforded employment to fifteen hundred men. The works
afterwards declining, the number of men gradually decreased, so as, in the year 1809, not to exceed six hundred, the
remainder having emigrated to Liverpool and other places; but the concern having some years afterwards gradually and
materially improved, the number of workmen has increased in proportion, and now amounts to upwards of fourteen hundred,
who are employed in the different departments of these extensive and important works. The finest metal obtained is that
from the sulphate of copper held in solution in the vitriolic waters, which, by pumps and other machinery, are raised from
the mines into large cisterns, about two feet deep, some square and others oblong, into which are thrown quantities of old
iron, brought from different parts of the country, and shipped for the most part at London and Liverpool; and the supposed
transmutation of iron into copper, which this mineral water is so remarkable for producing, immediately commences. By the
laws of elective attraction, as it is termed by the chemists, the sulphuric acid, having greater affinity with, and
stronger attraction to, iron than copper, lets go the latter, which is precipitated to the bottom of the cisterns in the
form of a ponderous muddy sediment, of a yellowish colour, and attaches itself to the iron, which it dissolves and retains
in solution in the same manner as it at first did the copper. When this change in the circumstances of the two metals is
completed, the acid menstruum containing the iron is drawn from the cisterns, and received into other pits on a lower
level, leaving the precipitate of copper behind, which is collected together, dried on the kilns, and smelted. One ton of
iron will precipitate from its solution an equal weight of copper mud, which, when smelted, produces twelve hundredweight
of the purest copper. The only value of the sulphate of iron in the lower pits is at present derived from its deposition
of yellow ochre, which is refined, dried, and shipped off for the use of painters. " Nature," as Mr. Pennant observes, "
has been profuse in bestowing her mineral favours on this spot; " for besides the above, together with an ore of zinc,
which, after being properly prepared, is sent off to London, there is found, above the copper-ore, and about three-
quarters of a yard beneath the surface soil, a bed of yellowish greasy clay, from one to four yards, thick, containing a
large proportion of lead, of which metal one ton of it yields from six hundred to one thousand lb. weight, containing no
less than fifty-seven ounces of silver per ton: this is smelted at extensive works erected for the purpose. Next to
Flintshire and Denbighshire, Anglesey claims the third place among the counties of North Wales possessing coal mines. The
coal strata have all the usual accompaniments of that mineral, except iron-stone; but hitherto only a small profit has
been derived either to the proprietors or the public from working them, which has been attempted only on the borders of
the Malltraeth marsh, and between the small rivers Braint and Caint. In the former place were found,—first, sand to the
depth of five feet; secondly, freestone for the next sixty-six feet; thirdly, black shale, for a further depth of six
feet; fourthly, a bed of good coal, three feet and a half thick; fifthly, indurated clunch, two feet deep; and lastly,
freestone to an unknown depth. In the latter occurred—first, peat; then, gravel; next, clay; and lastly, coal metal, as
the workmen term it, that is, shaly clunch, having tumblers of coal interspersed with it in irregular masses, some of
which were of several tons weight: but having reached this, the work became flooded, and was abandoned after being
carried, at a great expense, to the depth of one hundred and twenty feet. It has been stated, as a discouraging symptom in
boring for coal in this island, that its strata dip almost perpendicularly; but the inclination of the three feet and a
half coal, near the Malltraeth, appears to be only one yard in ten, which is towards the east by south; and the
concomitants of coal, freestone, and limestone, appear in nearly horizontal strata, in several parts of the island. The
vast limestone ranges of Denbighshire and Flintshire, which also form the Great Orme's Head, in Carnarvonshire, are
continued from this latter point, under the bay of Beaumaris, to the easternmost extremity of the island, whence they
extend, in the same north-westerly direction, along the sea-coast to Dulas, and thence beyond Amlwch to Cemmaes and the
northernmost parts of the county. From several points of this range ramifications extend quite into the interior of the
island, and, in some instances, even entirely across it, as from Llugwy to Llanfinnan and Llangevni; and from Penmon, at
its easternmost extremity, along the shores of the Menai, where it appears at Mils Newydd and Llanidan. From the latter
place a line of insulated limestone rocks is continued in the same direction by Trevdraeth, B6dwrog, and Llanvaethlu.
Between these two lines are quarries of millstone, and some inferior kinds of grit-stone; and between the south-western
part of the latter and the bay of Carnarvon is found a much finer kind of freestone: some of the limestone strata are of
the kind called terras limestone. Anglesey contains a great abundance and considerable variety of marbles, some of which
are excellently adapted for sculpture and ornamental architecture. White marble is found at Llangwyvan; blue-veined grey
marble and blue-veined white marble at Cemmaes, near Amlwch; black, grey, and mottled brown marbles on the northern
coast, between Traeth C6ch, and Moelvre Point, which are in considerable demand, to be manufactured for sepulchral mo.
numents and architectural ornaments; and asbestine marble near Cemlyn bay, in the parish of Llanvairynghornwy, which is
intersected by narrow veins of a remarkably white incombustible substance, of a silky appearance, which, from its brittle
nature, renders the stone in which it is enclosed unsusceptible of a very high polish. A green marble is found near
RhOscolyn, in Holy Island, which contains a green amianthus, or brittle asbestos; and unripe asbestos, of a waved
schistose appearance, occurs in different parts of the county, more especially on the shores of the Menai, from Bangor
ferry to Maes y Porth, opposite to Carnarvon. Serpentine is found at Maes y Porth and at Cemmaes. This island also
produces different kinds of potters' clay, both white and yellow. Fullers' earth, both white and of a dusky colour, is
found in small quantities at Mynydd y Twr, near Holyhead; as also is a peculiar kind of soponaceous argil. In the
vicinity of Amlwch is found a kind of earth, remarkable for yielding two-thirds of pure magnesia. Steatite, or soap rock,
occurs both at Mynydd y Twr, and in the vicinity of Llanvairynghornwy. Three kinds of marl are found in this county,
adjacent to its limestone rocks: these are distinguished according to their different colours, which are red, grey, and
white: pits of the two former are known to be as much as two hundred years old; and the white marl, at Llanddyvnan, was
discovered about the year 1652, by some of the parliamentarian soldiers then stationed in Anglesey. Barytes, united with
vitriolic acid, and tinged with red, occurs at Llangeinwen. The manufactures, excepting those of the mineral productions
at Amlwch and in its vicinity, are very inconsiderable. Many of the inhabitants buy quantities of the coarse wool of the
mountainous districts of Carnarvonshire at the fairs of Carnarvon and Bangor, and manufacture it, intermixed with a
proportion of the native wool of the island, into cloths of a deep blue, flannels, blankets, &c., entirely for home
consumption; and these manufactures are facilitated by a few carding and spinning machines erected in different places.
Most of the remaining wool is disposed of to the Yorkshire clothiers at Chester fair. It appears that Anglesey was in
ancient times a place of much commercial importance; and its exports are still of great value, consisting of copper,
sulphur, yellow ochre, zinc, and lead; shell-sand, for manure; barley and oats in productive seasons; and cattle, sheep
and hogs. The number of cattle annually sent to the English market has been variously estimated, but, according to the
best authority, it averages about eight thousand, of which nine hundred are yearlings, two thousand one hundred of two
years old, and five thousand of three years old and upwards. Before the erection of the grand suspension bridge over the
Menai, the numerous herds purchased here were compelled to swim in droves across that strait, and although numbers of the
weaker sort were sometimes swept down by the force of the current, a distance of several miles, yet losses were seldom
experienced. The annual exportation of sheep to the English markets is from five to seven thousand, and of hogs about one
thousand. The chief imports, besides the ordinary supplies of foreign articles, are corn and coal. An extensive illicit
trade was formerly carried on by the inhabitants, more especially in the several narrow sandy coves between the rocks on
the southern coast of the island, so well adapted for receiving small vessels unobserved by the revenue officers; but
this has long been nearly annihilated by the vigilant measures of the government. The natural harbours are numerous, and
some of them have been much improved by art. Beaumaris, near the easternmost extremity of the island, has a good harbour:
the custom-house at this place is not only the controlling office to the different other ports of the island, but also to
all those of North Wales, from the Point of Air, at the mouth of the Dee, to Aberdovey, at the southernmost extremity of
the coast. To the north of Beaumaris is Traeth COch, or Red Wharf bay, which is of considerable extent, and receives the
waters of the small river Torryd, but is too much exposed to winds from the north-east, an inconvenience which can only be
removed by the erection of a pier. Two leagues further along the northern shore of the county is Dulas bay, at the mouth
of the Dulas river, which is narrow at the entrance, and obstructed by fragments of rock. Proceeding round St. Elian's
Point is Amlwch, where, by excavating a vast rock, a harbour has been formed, about two hundred and fifty yards long and
forty wide, capable of containing thirty vessels, of from one hundred to three hundred tons' burden each, which are
chiefly employed in the copper trade. Cemlyn, or Crooked Pool bay, in the northernmost part of the island, might, at a
little expense, be rendered a safe port. Holyhead, which, being only twenty leagues from Dublin, has been selected as the
station for the Irish packets, had naturally a good port for the reception of small vessels, formed by some cliffs, on the
summit of which stands the church of that town, and by a small island, called Ynys Cybi, on which stands a lighthouse:
this was rendered more commodious at the expense of government. Aberfraw has a small harbour, capable of admitting vessels
of thirty tons' burden, which is susceptible of great improvement, as also is that of Malltraeth, situated between
Aberfraw and the south-western entrance to the Menai, at the mouth of the small river Cevenny, or Cevni. Beaumaris is a
place of considerable resort for the purpose of sea-bathing. The waters immediately surrounding the shores of Anglesey
abound wish various kinds of fish, namely cod, turbot, soles, plaice, herrings, whitings, crabs, lobsters, and oysters of
different kinds. The crabs and oysters are remarkably abundant and excellent: the former are chiefly taken on the rocky
coasts in the vicinities of Llanddwyn, Rhoscolyn, Holyhead, and Penmon, where they are found at low water, hidden under
stones amongst the sea-weed left by the previous tide. The large kind of oysters found in the channel at the eastern
extremity of the county, which separates the little island of Priestholme from the main land of Anglesey, are in great
esteem, under the name of " Penmon oysters," and great quantities are annually pickled, packed in neat small casks, and
exported to different parts of the kingdom. This channel is also remarkable as the abode of different peculiar species of
fish, among which the Beaumaris shark, the Anglesey morris, and the trifurcated hake, are most worthy of notice: here are
also found several rare species of muscle. Various kinds of beautiful shells are taken by the dredgers for oysters in this
channel, and in Red Wharf bay. The cliffs of Priestholme island produce abundance of samphire, the gathering of which,
together with the eggs of the sea-fowl, forms a hazardous employment, which is followed by many of the hardy islanders:
the south-western end of the same island also abounds with the smyrnium olusatrum, or Alexanders, which, when boiled,
afford a salutary repast for sailors just arrived from long voyages. Anglesey is wholly devoid of inland navigation,
natural or artificial; but it is pleasingly watered by twelve small streams, which flow from the gentle elevations of the
interior in various directions to the sea, among the principal of which are the Cevenny, or Cevni, the Alan, the Fraw, and
the Dulas. This island having long been the grand thoroughfare to Ireland, and possessing an abundance of excellent
materials for making and mending the roads, these mediums of communication received great improvement in this county, as
early as in any other of the principality; and at present the Irish mail road, which runs the whole length of the island,
from the shores of the Menai to Holyhead, as also the roads connecting the principal towns and villages, are in good
repair. Early in the present century, Lord Bulkeley formed an excellent road, at his own expense, along the beautiful
shore of the Menai, from Bangor ferry to Beaumaris; and various other important public improvements and alterations have
since taken place, among which may be noticed the erection of the superb suspension bridge over the Menai in the vicinity
of Bangor. Great alterations were also made, early in the present century, in the mail coach route from Bangor to
Holyhead, by which the distance was reduced from twenty-five to twenty-one miles, and several fatiguing ascents avoided.
The mail coach roads from London to Holyhead, by Chester and Shrewsbury respectively, uniting near Bangor, enter this
county over the Menai bridge, and take nearly a direct course by the Mona Inn to Holyhead, the station for the Irish
packets, which sail regularly thence to Dublin, a distance of twenty leagues: near the bridge a road branches off in a
northeastern direction to Beaumaris. The remains of antiquity are numerous and of great interest. In ancient times
Anglesey formed, as before mentioned, a chief place of refuge for the Druids, when expelled from their former abodes by
the progress of the Roman arms, and various memorials of that remote period of its history are yet visible. The parishes
of Llanedwen, Llanddaniel Vab, and Llanidan, on the borders of the Menai, include a district abounding with remains
indicative of its having been a scene of Druidical worship, which Mr. Rowlands, in his "Mona Anti-qua Restaurata,"
attempts to prove was the principal seat of the religious rites of the Druids, and contained the residence of the arch-
druid. Among the monuments now existing are two cromlechs, standing contiguous to each other, in the park of Hits Newydd,
the seat of the Marquis of Anglesey, one of which is said to be the largest in the island, the table stone being about
thirteen feet long, eleven broad, and four thick. At a little distance is a large carnedd, which, on being opened, was
found to contain various singular rude apartments; and at Bodowyr, in the same vicinity, is a remarkable cromlech, the
table stone of which, resting upon three strong supporters, is seven feet long, six broad, and six thick. At 'Fre'-vry are
some small traces of stone circles; but the most remarkable monument of this period yet existing, and around which these
and some smaller remains of Druidical antiquity are scattered, is that which has been supposed to be the seat of the
arch-druid, at a place called Tre'r Dryw: this, called by Mr. Rowlands the Brein Gw3)n, or royal tribunal, is a circular
hollow, one hundred and eighty feet in diameter, surrounded by an immense rampart of loose stones, evidently brought
hither from a distance: it has only a single entrance, and near it are the remains of a circle of stones, with a cromlech
in the midst, and of a gorsedd, or great copped heap of stones, all extremely imperfect: two of the stones of the circle
are very large; one, which at present serves for the end of a house, being twelve feet seven inches high, and eight feet
broad; while another, yet standing, is eight feet high, and twenty-three feet in circumference. Various other cromlechs
are seen in different parts of the island. A very large one is situated in the grounds of Llugwy, in the parish of PenrhOs
Llugwy, where are also several Druidical circles, nearly contiguous to each other, comprising numerous upright stones:
the table stone of the cromlech is of a rhomboidal form, seventeen feet and a half long, fifteen feet broad, and four feet
thick, supported by several upright stones at the height of only two feet from the ground. In a field near the seat called
Presaddved, in the western part of the island, are two large cromlechs, one yet standing, the other fallen, the table
stones of which are about thirteen feet long and nine broad. Near Pentraeth are two small stones standing upright, at the
distance of about fifty feet from each other; and another similar one lies prostrate at a short distance: the whole are
supposed to have once formed some Druidical monument. The remains of Roman antiquity discovered in Anglesey are few and
inconsiderable. On the summit of Gwydryn hill is a semicircular fortification, called Caer Idris, or Casten Idris,
consisting of a triple fosse and vallum, which is also thought to have been of British origin, but to have been afterwards
occupied by the Romans. Various remains of fortifications, in whicn the discriminative peculiarities of Roman workmanship
are visible, are yet left standing in the vicinity of Holyhead, among which may be specified the massive walls which
nearly surround the churchyard, in the form of a parallelogram, at one corner of which is a circular bastion tower; a
long dry wall, twelve feet high, and in many places regularly faced, which runs along the side of the hill called Pen Caer
Cybi; and Caer twr, a circular building on the summit of the same elevation, supposed by Mr. Pennant to be the ruins of a
pharos, or lighthouse. At Tan y Cevn, on the river Braint, and in the neighbourhood of the great assemblage of Druidical
remains above-mentioned, are two large quadrangular intrenchments, nearly contiguous to each other; and Caerleb, or " the
moated intrenchment," in the same vicinity, is also of a square form, having a double fosse and vallum, and comprising
within its area the foundations of various buildings, both circular and angular. At a place called Casten, between
Llanerchymedd and Tregayan, coins of several Roman emperors have been found. In the parish of Llanvlewyn were dug up,
about the commencement of the present century, three golden bracelets and a Roman bulls of the same metal; and near
Aberfraw have been frequently found the amulets called gleiniau nadroedd, or "snake gems," supposed to have been
manufactured by the Romans, and given to the superstitious Britons in exchange for the commodities of their country. On
a precipitous hill, called Bwrdd Arthur, or " Arthur's Round Table," in the vicinity of Llangoed, are vestiges of an
ancient fortification, surrounded by two lofty ramparts of loose stones, and called Din, or Dinas Sylwy: within the area
are the foundations of oval buildings. About a mile from the village of Monachty, or MynachdY, are two circular
encampments, formed by single ditches and ramparts, and commonly called Castell Crwn; and another British fortification,
called Craig y Ddinas, is situated on a rocky eminence on the sea-shore of the parish of Llanvair-PwllgwYngyll.
Tregarnedd, a farm-house in the parish of Llangevni, derives its name from an immense carnedd, or piled heap of stones,
surrounded by a circle of upright stones: beneath are numerous hollow passages, formed by flat flag-stones laid upon
others placed edgewise. In a deep gully leading from Llanddona church to the sea-shore are two round tumuli, supposed by
Mr. Pennant to have been thrown up by the Danes for the protection of their vessels, which were often moored in Red Wharf
bay, on this part of the coast. About a mile from MonachtY also are three of those large upright stones commonly called
rneini hlrion, which stand at the distance of about five hundred yards from each other, the intermediate space forming
nearly an equilateral triangle; and another, called Llech-gynvarwydd, stands on an eminence near the church of that name.
In the centre of Penmon park, near Beaumaris, stands a very ancient British cross, curiously and richly sculptured. At the
period of the Reformation there were, at Penmon, a priory of Benedictine monks, and at Holyhead a college of prebendaries:
at Llanvaes a house of Franciscan friars was existing in the reign of HenryV. There are yet extensive remains of Penmon
priory, and part of the ancient conventual church at present serves as the parochial church: the round arches by which
the architecture of this edifice is distinguished, and which in England are regarded as evidences of the.Saxon or early
Norman erection of the buildings in which they are found, are in this instance supposed to be of ancient British
construction. The chapel of Llanvaes priory is now used as an outhouse to the seat of Sir R. B. Williams Bulkeley, Bart. ;
and near the centre of Priestholme island, or Ynys Seiriol, amidst the scattered vestiges of other buildings, is an
ancient tower, supposed to have formed part of a religious house, a cell to the neighbouring priory of Penmon. Most of the
seventy-four parishes of this island have their churches situated near the sea-shore, and some of them are so placed as to
oblige their ministers to regulate the time of divine service according to the state of the tide, which at high water
completely surrounds them: such is the case with that of Llangwyvan, on the western side of the island, and with that of
Llandysillio, on the shore of the Menai. The churches most distinguished for architectural curiosity are, St. Mary's, at
Beaumaris, a handsome edifice; that of Holyhead; and that of Llaniestyn, celebrated for containing a tomb of remarkably
curious workmanship and very remote antiquity: that of Llaneilian is distinguished for its handsome tower and spire, of
which appendages most of the churches of Anglesey are destitute, having simply at the west end a small turret, with an
arched aperture, in which is hung a single bell. Almost the only ruins of any mural fortress at present existing are those
of Beaumaris castle, which are very grand and extensive. Vestiges of a small fort of Norman erection are, however, yet
visible at the back of a farm-house at Castell Aber Llieniog, near the sea-shore in the vicinity of Beaumaris. The most
remarkable old mansions are Tre'r Castell, in the same vicinity, now occupied as a farm-house; Bodychan, about half way
between the Menai bridge and Holyhead, now used as a barn; Penmynnedd, near the centre of the island; and Court Mawr, in
Beaumaris. Some trifling remains of the ancient royal palace of the princes of North Wales, at Aberfraw, are yet shown in
the walls of a barn at that place. The seats of more modern date most worthy of notice are, Plis Newydd, the residence of
the Marquis of Anglesey; Baron Hill, that of Sir R. B. Williams Bulkeley, Bart.; B6dorgan, that of 0. P. Meyrick, Esq. ;
Cadnant, that of J. Price, Esq.; Fryars, that of Lady Williams; HenThYs, that of J. H. Hampton Lewis, Esq. ;
Llanddyvnan, that of Mrs. Lewis; Llangoed, that of the Rev. R. J. Hughes; Llanidan, that of Lord Boston; Llwydiarth,
that of W. P. Lloyd, Esq.; Plhs C6ch, that of Sir W. Bulkeley Hughes; P118 Gwyn, that of B. Panton, Esq.; Presaddved,
that of Captain King; Red Hill, that of W. W. Sparrow, Esq.; Tregayan, that of Admiral Llwyd; and Tre-Iorwerth, that of
the Rev. H. W. Jones. A few of the farm-houses and their offices are particularly well built and commodious, but the
greater number is of an inferior description; and the cottages are generally of the most wretched appearance. Quickset
hedges, as well as timber, flourish on the shores of the Menai; but in the interior the vast expanse of horizon, without
any interruption from woods or hedges, is wearisome to the eye: there the common fences are banks of sods, about four
feet and a half high, with a ditch on each side. Dry stone walls are not uncommonly used to form enclosures on the larger
estates; and of late years great progress has been made in the raising of quickset hedges, notwithstanding the antiquated
opinion of its impracticability. Furze is sometimes sown on the banks, and both hawthorn sets and furze seed are imported
from Ireland. The common household bread is made of barley or oats. Servants hired by the year generally commence their
term of service on the 1st of May. Anglesey confers the title of marquis on the noble family of Paget, the present marquis
having been raised to that dignity on the 23rd of June, 1815, in acknowledgment of the bravery and heroism which
distinguished his military career during the late continental war.