CARNARVONSHIRE, a county (maritime) of NORTH WALES, bounded on the east by Denbighshire; on the south by the north-
westernmost part of Merionethshire, and by that portion of St. George's channel called Cardigan bay; on the west by that
portion of St. George's channel included in the right angle formed by the promontory of Lleyn and the southern shore of
Anglesey, and commonly called Carnarvon bay; on the north-west by the long, narrow, and rocky strait of the Menai, which
separates it from Anglesey; and on the north by the broad expanse of the Irish sea. It extends from 5e° 45' to 53° 18'
(N. Lat.,) and from 3° 58' to 5° 12' (W. Lon.); and comprises an area, according to Evans' Map of North Wales, of three
hundred and nineteen thousand five hundred and twenty statute acres, or nearly five hundred square miles. The population,
in 1831, was 65,753. The patriotic exploits of the ancient British inhabitants of this county, to whom, during the
successive attacks which they experienced from the Romans, Saxons, Normans, and English, its mountain fastnesses
frequentlyafforded refuge, and the events of importance in the Welsh annals of which it has been the scene, have
rendered its early history peculiarly interesting. It derives is name from the ancient province of Aryan, in which it was
almost wholly included, and which was so called from its situation opposite to Mein, or Mona, the Isle of Anglesey, that
name signifying " adjacent to Mona:" its principal town, from having been a fortified station of the Romans, obtained the
British appellation of Caer yn Amon, of which the present name of the town of Carnarvon is a contraction. On the conquest
of Wales by Edward I., this name was also appropriated to the shire, which was then created, and which comprises the whole
of the ancient province of Arson (excepting only the comot of Ardudwy, which is in that of Merioneth), with the addition
of the comot of Crenddyn, taken from the province of Perveddwlad. The ancient British inhabitants were the Ordovices, who
occupied the whole of North Wales. After the Roman conquest of South Britain, which was first extended into this part of
it by Suetonius Paulinus, soon after the year 58, it was included in the district called Venedotia, forming part of the
great province of Britannia Secunda. Under the Roman dominion, the territory forming the present county of Carnarvon
contained the station Segontium, which was situated close to the town of Carnarvon, and that of Conooium, at Caerhen, or
Caerhun, near Aberconway; besides being traversed by two considerable roads, viz., the Via Occidentalis, which entered it
from the station Heriri Mons at Tommen y Mr, in the parish of Festiniog, in Merionethshire, and proceeded directly to
Segontium; and a branch of the northern Watling-street, which entered it from the north-western parts of Denbighshire, and
passed by Conovium also to Segontium. The latter place (called by the Welsh Caer Segont), and Deganwy, on the eastern bank
of the Conway, at its mouth, were for a long period the residences of the princes of North Wales, affording greater safety
for their families than any other places in their dominions, during the almost perpetual warfare in which they were
engaged. Caswallon, the first prince of North Wales of whom we find any authentic account, had his seat of government at
Aberfraw, in Anglesey; but his son and successor, Maelgwyn, usually resided at Deganwy in this county; and it was he
who, in the year 552, endowed the see of Bangor with lands and franchises, and built the town of that name near the shores
of the Menai. Maelgwyn was succeeded by his son Rhun, who carried on a long and sanguinary war against the Saxons of
Northumbria, and, on his return into Wales, bestowed great and peculiar privileges on the men of Arvon, as a recompense
for having detained them so long from their families on that northern expedition: these are called in the Welsh
chronicles Breinniau gwyr Arvon. Deganwy, having been destroyed by lightning in the year 809, thenceforward ceased to be a
royal residence. About the year 819, Egbert King of the West Saxons invaded North Wales, desolating the whole country, as
far as the mountains of Snowdon, and then proceeded to attack the island of Mona, afterwards called Anglesey.
Carnarvonshire was subsequently, in 853, entered by the hostile forces of the Mercian King Burrhed, who advanced through
it into Anglesey. In the division of Wales into three principalities, by Rhodri Mawr, or Roderic the Great, sovereign of
all Wales, one of which he left to each of his three sons, the territory now forming this county was included in that of
Gwynedd, or North Wales, the seat of the government of which he had fixed at Aberfraw, and was inherited by his eldest son
Anarawd, who also succeeded to the title of Brenhin Cymru Oil, or " King of all Wales." At this period the Snowdonian
range of mountains, in this county, guarded by two rivers, the Conway on the north, and that which discharges itself
through the Traeth Mawr on the south, and extending completely from the northern extremity of the bay of Cardigan to the
bay of Beaumaris, formed a natural barrier over which the Welsh usually retreated when pressed by the English forces, and
the principal defiles of which were defended by strong fortifications. Thus the passage of the Conway was guarded by the
castle of Deganwy, and the pass of Bwlch y Ddauvaen by that of Ca.erhen; a fort was constructed at Aber, D61wyddelan
castle and a watch-tower in the valley of Nant-Francon, and DOlbadarn castle in that of Nant-Peris; while the passage
over the Traeth Mawr, or great sands, was defended on one side by the strong castle of Harlech, in Merionethshire, and on
the other by that of Criccieth, with a watch-tower at Kestel Gyvarch, and a fort at D61- benmaen; the disposition of the
whole displaying in that rude age considerable military skill. About the middle of the tenth century, the sons of Hywel
Dda, princes of South Wales, in their invasion of North Wales, then governed by two princes named Ievav and Iago, laid
waste the whole country as far as the Conway, on the banks of which river, at Llanrwst, they were opposed by Ievav and
Iago, who completely defeated them, and pursued them into their own dominions. About the year 1055, in the reign of Edward
the Confessor, the Saxon leader Harold invaded North Wales, by command of that monarch, to inflict punishment for the
ravages committed by the Welsh on the border, and advanced to the mountains of Snowdon without opposition; but soon
after, having entered into terms of peace with Grufydd, Prince of North Wales, and his ally, Algar Earl of Chester, he
returned into England without proceeding further. Edward, however, soon received fresh provocation from the Welsh, in the
conquest of whose country he determined to employ the whole force of his kingdom, and entrusted the execution of this
important enterprise to Harold. This leader, having first made a partial invasion of North Wales, and retired, fitted out
a fleet at Bristol, with which he sailed round the Welsh coast, while his brother Tostig penetrated with a strong body of
horse through the northern part of the principality, the Welsh fleeing to their accustomed retreat, the mountains of
Snowdon. Harold, on receiving intelligence of the advance of his brother, landed, and joined him with his infantry; and
with these united forces he made himself master of all the more level tracts. Sensible that, in a mountainous region,
broken by rivers, defiles, and forests, his soldiers ought to feel as little encumbrance from their arms as possible, he
provided his infantry with targets made of hides, and other lighter kinds of armour; and, leaving his cavalry on the
plains, under the command of his brother (excepting only a few horse, which, supported by small parties of heavy-armed
infantry, he ordered to follow as a body of reserve), he himself advanced at the head of his troops into the mountains,
and, having driven the Welsh with great slaughter out of their inmost recesses, at length compelled them to sue for peace;
thus subduing those who had never before yielded to the Saxon arms. In the year 1073, Grufydd ab Cynan, son of Iago ab
Edwal, a competitor for the sovereignty of North Wales, who had made a descent in the Isle of Anglesey with a body of
Irish troops, crossed the Menai strait into this county. Trahaern, the reigning prince, on this unexpected invasion,
collected as many troops as he could, and marched to attack his rival, whom he encountered on Bron yr Erw, just beyond the
south-eastern border of the county, near Harlech, in Merionethshire, when the latter was defeated and compelled to re-
cross the Menai in haste. This territory shared with the rest of the northern parts of the principality in the dreadful
ravages committed upon them by Hugh Earl of Chester, about the year 1079: this powerful Norman, in order to preserve the
conquests which he had made in North Wales, erected different castles, among which was that situated near Bangor. In 1096,
at the secret instigation of Owain ab Edwyn, lord of Englefield, and other chieftains of North Wales, a formidable army of
English invaded this country, under the command of the Earls of Chester and Shrewsbury; and Grufydd, the reigning prince,
unable in time to collect a force sufficient to oppose them, retired to the mountains. The two earls, meeting with no
opposition, continued their march through Carnarvonshire to the shores of the Menai, and crossed that strait into
Anglesey, into which Grufydd had further retreated: this county soon after, however, witnessed their retreat; but the
Earl of Chester, in the course of the expedition, rebuilt the castle of Deganwy, the ancient seat of the Welsh princes. In
1115, Grufydd ab Cynan, Prince of North Wales, having agreed to deliver up to Henry I. of England Grufydd, the son of Rh9s
ab Tewdwr, Prince of South Wales, who had taken refuge in his court at Aberfraw, the latter, obtaining intelligence of his
design, suddenly withdrew; but Grufydd ab Cynan, discovering the place of his retreat, sent out a body of horsemen to
take him prisoner and conduct him back: fortunately for the young prince, he had just time to take sanctuary in the
church of Aberdaron, a privileged place at the southern extremity of the county, from which the prince of North Wales
commanded him to be taken out by force; but the clergy, obstinate in defence of their immunities, so effectually resisted
the efforts of his soldiers, that they were unable to effect his orders; and in the night the partisans of the young
prince secretly carried him into South Wales, where he subsequently experienced a series of romantic adventures. In 1210,
the Earl of Chester made an inroad into North Wales, and rebuilt the castle of Deganwy, at the mouth of the Conway, which,
a little before, had been destroyed by Llewelyn ab Iorwerth, the reigning prince of North Wales, who, in return, invaded
the earl's territories, and desolated a great part of them. This inroad greatly irritated the English monarch, John, who,
in revenge for it, invaded North Wales with a powerful army. Llewelyn, thinking it prudent to retire before the storm,
ordered the inhabitants of the most exposed districts to remove with their goods and cattle to the mountains of Snowdon.
The English army advanced along the seacoast to the castle of Deganwy, lying opposite to these mountains on the other side
of the river Conway, where it remained for some time. But Llewelyn so infested the roads with light parties, as, by
cutting off their supplies of provisions from England, to reduce John and his forces to the greatest distress: the
soldiers, whenever they stirred from their camp, were exposed to massacre; the Welsh, from their knowledge of the
country, and their being posted on the heights, having the advantage in almost every skirmish. From this situation, after
considerable loss, the king thought it prudent to retreat into England; but, recruiting his forces, he repeated his
invasion a few months after, and, crossing the Conway into this county, encamped on the banks of that river. From that
position he sent a detachment of his army, with proper guides, to burn the town of Bangor, which they effected, and seized
Rotpert, bishop of the diocese, before the high altar. After this, Llewelyn entered into negociations for peace, through
the medium of Joan, his wife, who was John's illegitimate daughter, but obtained it only on hard conditions. Davydd, son
of Llewelyn ab Iorwerth, taking advantage of the infirmities of his father's old age, seized on a great part of the
territories belonging to his brother Grufydd, leaving him in possession only of the cantrev of Lleyn, forming the
southernmost part of the county; and, to allay the ferment produced by the consequent division of interests, the Bishop
of Bangor proposed a conference between the two princes. Grufydd, in consequence of this mediation, began his journey from
Lleyn, in company with that prelate, to meet his brother; but the latter caused him to be seized on the road, and confined
in the castle of Criccieth, on the shore of Cardigan bay, in this county, a circumstance which gave rise to a long and
bloody civil war. On the invasion of North Wales by Henry III., in 1245, Davydd, the reigning prince, being unable to
oppose him in the open country, retired to the mountains of Snowdon, leaving the march of the English monarch unimpeded as
far as the testuary of the Conway, where Henry halted, not venturing to pass that river and enter the mountain defiles,
while the native forces were hovering about him in detached parties. Here he employed himself in rebuilding the castle of
Deganwy: but the Welsh did not remain inactive spectators of a work of so hostile a nature, and which, if suffered to be
completed, was likely to give a deadly blow to their independence. During the ten weeks that Henry was occupied in
erecting this fortress, his army, which lay encamped in the open field, endured numberless hardships, from being but
thinly clad and ill-sheltered during the cold weather, which set in towards the close of the summer; from a frequent
scarcity of provisions, receiving only a precarious supply from Chester and Ireland; and from being greatly harassed, and
their numbers reduced, by the incessant attempts which the Welsh made to cut off their straggling parties, and, in the
night, to storm their camp ' but after one of these conflicts, in which the English had the advantage, the latter
brought in triumph to their camp the heads of nearly one hundred Welshmen. While in this perilous condition, a vessel
laden with provisions for, their supply arrived from Ireland, but, owing to the mariners' want of caution, was stranded,
on the ebb of the tide, on the shore westward from the mouth of the Conway, towards the mountains. The Welsh hastened to
take possession of the prize, but received a check from its commander, Sir Walter Bisset, who with great spirit and
ability defended the vessel until a reinforcement of Welshmen, who were the English sovereign's vassals in the Marches,
had succeeded in crossing the river Conway to his assistance. Having repulsed the assailants, the English party pursued
them with great slaughter up into the mountains, a distance of six miles; and, on their return, flushed with success,
pillaged of its books and plate the abbey of Aberconway, and set fire to its offices. With a rage bordering on phrenzy,
the native forces rushed down the mountains to preserve this venerable pile, the object of their deepest reverence, and
which had lately become the mausoleum of their princes. Finding the English overloaded with plunder, they the more easily
slew great numbers of them, wounded others, and made many prisoners, while the remainder, plunging into the river to
escape the fury of their assailants, perished in the water: several gentlemen of rank, and about one hundred others of
the English, fell by the sword. The prisoners were at first only put into confinement; but the Welsh, being informed that
their enemies had lately put to death some chieftains of their nation, subsequently hanged them all, and then, with
barbarous rage, cut off their heads, and, tearing their dead bodies in pieces, threw the mutilated limbs into the Conway:
many of these prisoners were Welshmen, under the command of the lords of Powys, who had joined the enemies of their
country. The vessel, which was still aground, was again attacked with great violence, and as bravely defended until
midnight, when, on the flowing of the tide, the Welsh were obliged to retire, and, during the night, the party commanded
by Sir Walter Bisset, leaving the ship, escaped to the English camp. In the morning, it being then low water, the Welsh
returned to the vessel, and, finding it deserted, carried away nearly the whole of the cargo, much of which consisted of
wine, and, having fired the ship, effected their retreat: the only part saved by the English was seven tuns of wine,
which they obtained by drawing them out of a part of the vessel not consumed by the fire. Henry, having at length
completed the important fortress of Deganwy, in spite of all the efforts of the Welsh to prevent him, placed in it a
numerous garrison, well supplied with provisions and all kinds of military stores, and then withdrew into England, with
the harassed remains of his army, at the end of October. The territories of the Welsh prince were now reduced to the
present counties of Carnarvon and Merioneth, with the barren parts of the adjoining districts, and, sinking under the
weight of his misfortunes, Davydd died at his usual residence at Aber, on the seacoast near Bangor, and was buried in the
abbey of Aberconway. During the more prosperous course which the affairs of the Welsh took, in the first years of the
reign of his successor, Llewelyn ab Grufydd, the latter, in 1257, laid siege to the newly-erected castle of Deganwy, on
the possession of which he well knew the fate of his country in a great measure depended. Alarmed for the safety of this
important fortress, Henry hastened to its relief; and, on the advance of the English army, Llewelyn raised the siege and
retired across the Conway to the Snowdonian mountains, taking care to break down the bridges, obstruct the roads, plough
up the meadows, render the fords impassable, and remove the women and children, with all the cattle and provisions, out of
the adjacent country. He did not venture to advance further than on the former occasion, but was enabled to maintain his
position at Deganwy until Michaelmas, by the aid of a fleet belonging to the Cinque-Ports, which supplied his army with
provisions. The winter, however, coming on, and having suffered severely from a furious attack made by the Welsh from the
mountains, Henry was at last compelled to abandon the field to Llewelyn, and, with the remnant of his army, was obliged to
make a precipitate and inglorious retreat to Chester. Some time after, Llewelyn succeeded in capturing the important
fortress of Deganwy, which he immediately destroyed; but, in 1263, he was once more compelled to take refuge in the
mountains of Snowdon, by the advance of an English army under Prince Edward, who, however, was called from the campaign by
other important affairs. On his invasion of Wales, in 1277, after his accession to the English crown, by the title of
Edward L, he advanced to Aberconway, and Llewelyn again sought refuge in the mountains of Snowdon, where the vigilance of
the English monarch prevented him from receiving supplies of provisions from Anglesey and other places, whence he had
formerly been accustomed to obtain them; and the Welsh prince was at length compelled by famine to implore the mercy of
the English king, with whom he concluded a peace on the most humiliating conditions, one of which was, that all the barons
in Wales should hold their territories immediately of the king of England, excepting only the five barons in Snowdonia,
who should acknowledge Llewelyn as their lord during his life, but after his death should likewise hold their estates of
the king; and another, that the cantrev of Rhfis, in which stood the castle of Deganwy, with four others, should be given
up to the English sovereign. On the second invasion of Wales by Edward I., during the ineffectual negociations which were
carried on between the king and the prince of North Wales, the latter was remaining at his palace at Aber, between Bangor
and Aberconway, while the Welsh army was most probably stationed on the heights above Penmaen-Mawr, where was the
strongest fortification possessed by the Welsh in the Snowdonian mountains. Edward, about the first of November, advanced
to Aberconway, near which town he stationed his army in advantageous situations, his horse being encamped on the plains at
the foot of the mountains, while the infantry were posted on the sides of the hills, under cover of the woods. Being
unable to bring the enemy to action, Edward despatched a fleet and a strong body of forces, which secured for him the Isle
of Anglesey; and, with a view of gaining possession of the mountains in the rear of the Welsh army, or of opening a
communication with the other part of the English army, he constructed a bridge of boats over the narrowest part of the
Menai strait, from a point called Moel y don, between Bangor and Carnarvon: the boats were fastened to each other by a
chain, and a platform of boards was formed over them, broad enough for sixty men to march abreast. To counteract this
design, the Welsh threw up intrenchments at some distance on the Carnarvonshire side of the Menai, to check the advance of
the enemy from this quarter, and to secure the passes into their mountains. Before the bridge was entirely finished, a
party of English, attended by the Gascon lords, who, with a body of Spanish troops, were then in the service of Edward,
despising the Welsh for the easy conquest which they had allowed them to make of Anglesey, imprudently passed over the
Menai at low water in considerable force, to reconnoitre the enemy's works, or to display their own valour. Richard ab
Walwyn, who commanded the Welsh forces on this side, knowing that the tide would soon flow, and cut off the retreat of the
English to their unfinished bridge, remained quiet within his intrenchments, and offered no hindrance to their passage
over, or to their advance into the country: but as soon as the water had risen so high as to prevent any communication
with the island of Anglesey, the Welsh rushed down from the mountains in great multitudes, attacked their enemies with
loud cries, and pursued them with great slaughter into the waves, in which many were drowned, encumbered with the weight
of their armour. In this action fifteen knights, thirty-two esquires, and one thousand common soldiers, were either slain
or perished in the waters of the Menai: Lord Latimer, who commanded the English, had the good fortune to recover the
bridge by the swiftness of his horse. The situation of Edward became daily more critical: besides the loss he had
sustained, the winter was approaching, his two armies were unable to communicate with each other by land, and the design
of a diversion was become impracticable; while the Welsh were strongly intrenched on the mountains, and possessed
abundance of provisions: so that the English monarch at length deemed it prudent to retreat to Rhuddlan, in the county of
Flint. But the unfortunate and premature death of Llewelyn, immediately after, in South Wales, completely obscured the
brightening prospects of the Welsh, whose forces in the mountains of Snowdon the English monarch proceeded to press more
closely, himself on the side of Aberconway, while his troops in Anglesey made good their passage across the Menai, and
penetrated into the country on the side of Carnarvon. Davydd, Llewelyn's brother, who now regarded himself as the rightful
prince of North Wales, not choosing to risk a general engagement, at first contented himself with maintaining possession
of all the strong holds of the mountains, but soon afterwards renewed active hostilities, though unsuccessfully. A
fortress near the village of Llanberis, in this county, the ruins of which now bear the name of Castell Dolbadarn, strong
both by nature and art, standing near a morass, the only approach through which was by a single causeway, and to attain
the vicinity of which it was necessary to pass through narrow and rugged defiles, had been provided by Davydd with a
strong garrison; but so sunk in spirit were the Welsh, that this castle was surrendered to the English king, after being
closely invested for some time, and every other fortress in the district was immediately given up. The Welsh fled in
dismay on every side; and the passes of the mountains being left wholly unguarded, Edward, stationing his mounted forces
at the foot of the hills, and leaving in each defile a body of troops to intercept all who should attempt to escape,
penetrated in person, with the remainder of his army, into the inmost recesses of the Snowdonian mountains, setting fire
to the houses and slaying great numbers of the Welsh, who were discovered in the most retired solitudes, or intercepted in
fleeing thither. Having subdued the whole of the mountainous districts, Edward collected his scattered forces, and
proceeded to the easy subjugation of the more level tracts, slaughtering more than three thousand of their inhabitants.
The country being thus finally subdued, as a check to any future risings among the natives, Edward erected the two vast
and magnificent castles of Aberconway and Carnarvon, supplying each with suitable garrisons; and in the latter was soon
after born the first prince of Wales of English blood, afterwards Edward II. Edward I. also erected Carnarvon into a town
corporate, with great privileges; and, having settled the affairs of his newly acquired territories, he gave orders that
a tournament should be held at Nevin, on the western coast of the promontory of Lleyn, which was attended by a great
number of English and foreign knights. On the 2nd of January, 1285, Edward issued a writ from Bristol, where he was then
staying, by which the inhabitants of Carnarvon and Aberconway, in common with those of some other towns, were declared to
be for ever free from the payment of the tax called talliage. But having engaged in a war against the French monarch, he,
in 1294, made an experiment of taxation on his new subjects, the Welsh, which proved the immediate cause of three
insurrections in different parts of the principality, nearly at the same time, which were not apparently directed by any
principle of co-operation. Carnarvonshire was the principal scene of one of these revolts, which was headed by Madoc, an
illegitimate son of the late gallant Llewelyn, and who himself assumed the title of Prince. The insurgents, seizing on Sir
Roger de Pulesdon (a man of great power in this quarter, who stood high in Edward's favour, had been commissioned by him
to exact a fourteenth of the people's moveables, and then resided at a mansion in the town of Carnarvon, called after his
name nits Pulesdon), caused him to be hanged, and afterwards cut off his head, which fate was shared by all his associates
In the collection of this odious tax. About the middle of July, Madoc proceeded against Carnarvon, at that time crowded
with English, assembled there at a great fair, and, taking possession of that place, slaughtered them all in cold blood,
plundered and fired the town, and took the castle: the strongest fortress in Snowdon also fell into the hands of Madoc,
who soon after gained full possession of Anglesey. A revolt so daring and so widely spread determined Edward to suspend
his intended expedition to the Continent, and to recall the forces that were ready to embark. Advancing to the Conway, he
crossed that river with a part of his troops, to Aberconway, and, retiring into the castle, waited for the remainder of
his army to follow; having lost, in the passage, many waggons and other carriages laden with provisions, which were
intercepted by the Welsh, who descended in great multitudes from the mountains, and invested the castle on the land side.
A sudden rise of the waters of the Conway likewise prevented Edward's troops from passing the river, or affording him any
assistance, thus rendering his situation very perilous. The Conway, however, as suddenly subsiding as it had risen, his
forces were enabled to cross to his assistance, and the Welsh, abandoning the siege, retired to the mountains of Snowdon,
leaving the English king to spend his Christmas at Aberconway without molestation. While the English forces were lying
here, the Earl of Warwick, receiving intelligence that a large body of the enemy was encamped in a valley enclosed on each
side by a wood, at no very great distance, determined to attack them unawares. For this service he selected a squadron of
horse, with a detachment of cross-bowmen and 'rtchers, and with this force, marching silently in the nig14, he suddenly
surrounded the Welsh, who, although little expecting such an assault, fixed their spears in the ground, and, presenting a
formidable front, maintained for Dove time their position, and kept off the English horse. L le to make any impression,
Warwick placed a cross-b, an, or archer, alternately with the horsemen, in th ranks of the latter; and these, fighting at
a distan slew great numbers with their arrows: then charging he remaining body with his horse, the Welsh phalanx s
broken, and soon routed with great slaughter. After action, Edward, finding no enemy to resist him, adv. ced to the shore
of the Menai, which he crossed into Anglesey. Then, after laying the Carnarvonshire territoryi more open, by cutting roads
through the woods, and se)Ferely punishing some of the persons concerned in the minrder of Roger de Pulesdon, he returned
with his army to England, without having reduced to obedience the insurgent Madoc, who, however, was soon after taken
prisoner, while engaged in a predatory incursion on the English border. In 1402, Carnarvon was besieged by an army of
insurgents, under the celebrated Welsh leader, Owain Olyndwr, but was bravely defended for the English king, Henry TV., by
Ievan ab Meredydd, to whom, with Meredydd ab Hulkin Llwyd of Glynllivon, under the command of an English captain, the
custody of the castle had been entrusted: and in the same year the cathedral of Bangor was pillaged and laid in ruins by
these revolters. DAlbadarn castle, near Llanberis, was occasionally in the power of each party during this protracted
warfare, and the possession of it was often warmly contested as the master key to the mountains of Snowdon. On the
breaking out of the civil war of the seventeenth century, Aberconway castle was garrisoned for the king by Dr. John
Williams, Archbishop of York; while on the other hand Carnarvon was seized on behalf of the parliament, in 1644, by
Captain Swan-ley, who took in it four hundred prisoners and a considerable store of arms and ammunition. In May 1645,
Prince Rupert superseded the Archbishop of York in the command of North Wales, under circumstances injurious and offensive
to that prelate, who, thereupon, having received an offer of protection from General Mytton, joined the party to which he
had before been opposed, and assisted Mytton in the reduction of Aberconway, which town was taken by storm on the 15th of
August, 1646; and the castle surrendered on the 10th of November following. In this year also the town of Carnarvon was
besieged by the parliament's troops under Generals Mytton and Laugharne, to whom it was surrendered on honourable
conditions by the governor, Lord Byron. In 1648, General Mytton was in turn besieged here by a small force under that
zealous royalist, Sir John Owen, who, however, receiving intelligence that Colonels Carter and Twisselton, with a superior
force, were marching to its relief, raised the siege and advanced to meet them. The encounter took place on a piece of
ground called Talar Mr, in the vicinity of Aber-Gwyngregyn, near the foot of the mountain of Penmaen-Mawr; and, in the
furious battle which ensued, Sir John was defeated and made prisoner, after which the whole of North Wales submitted to
the authority of the parliament. This county is in the diocese of Bangor (excepting only the parishes of Eglwys RhOs,
Llangwstenyn, and Lltsvaen, which are in that of St. Asaph), and in the province of Canterbury: it is partly included in
the archdeaconry of Merioneth, but chiefly in that of Bangor, which contains the deaneries of Arlechwedd, Arvon, and
Lleyn, and is wholly comprised within its limits; while the parishes in the former constitute the deanery of Evionydd:
the parishes included in the diocese of St. Asaph are in the archdeaconry of St. Asaph, and deanery of Rhils: the total
number of parishes is sixty-six, of which twenty-four are rectories, twelve vicarages, and the rest perpetual curacies.
For purposes of civil government it is divided into the ten hundreds of Cornmitmaen, Creuddyn, Dinllaen, Evionydd,
Gaflogion, Isgorvai, Llechwedd hay, Lltchwedd Uchav, Nantconway, and Uchgorvai. It contains the city and newly created
borough of Bangor; the borough, market, and sea-port towns of Carnarvon, Aberconway, or Conway, and Pwllheli; the
borough and market towns of Crfigcaeth, commonly called Criccieth, and Nevin; and the market town of Tremadoc. One knight
is returned to parliament for the shire, and one representative for Carnarvon and the rest of the boroughs collectively:
both the county member and the member for the boroughs are elected at Carnarvon: the polling-places for county elections
are Carnarvon, Aberconway, CapelCurig, and Pwllheli. This county is in the North Wales circuit: the assizes and quarter
sessions are held at Carnarvon, where stands the county gaol and house of correction: there are thirty-one acting
magistrates. The parochial rates raised in the county for the year ending March 25th, 1830, amounted to £23,440, and the
expenditure to £23,005, of which £19,608 was applied to the relief of the poor. The aspect of the county is for the most
part wild and mountainous, and its scenery throughout remarkably various and striking. The principal of the mountains
constitute the Snowdonian range (so called from its central and loftiest summit, Snowdon), whose elevated peaks, from
their height and shape, form characteristic features in the scenery of the surrounding districts to a great distance. This
range, the loftiest and most remarkable in the principality, commences in a tremendous precipice overhanging the sea, a
few miles to the west of Aberconway, called Penmaen-Mawr, and thence extends south-westward in the same direction as the
other great mountain ridges of Wales; includes the mountain called Carnedd Liewelyn, the Peak of Snowdon, and a long
tract of mountains to the south of Llanllyvni; and terminates in the lofty and triple-peaked Reivel (in Welsh called Yr
Eivl, in allusion to its furcated outline), whose base is washed by the waves of Carnarvon bay, to the south-west of
Clynnog. The length of this mountainous range, following the zigzag direction of its summits, is forty-six miles; but the
distance between its extreme points, in a straight line, is only twenty-five miles. Upon this chain, Yr Wyddva, commonly
called the Peak of Snowdon, is the highest summit, and the most elevated point in South Britain, rising to the height of
three thousand five hundred and seventy-one feet above the level of the sea. The second in height is Carnedd Llewelyn,
which attains an elevation of three thousand four hundred and sixty-nine feet above the same level. Carnedd Davydd rises
to the height of three thousand four hundred and twenty-seven feet; while the two extremities of the range are of far
less elevation, PenmaenMawr being only one thousand five hundred and forty feet high, but remarkable as forming its abrupt
termination; and the Yr Eivl mountain, one thousand eight hundred and sixty-six feet high. Other more remarkable
mountains, connected with this chain, are Trevaen, Moel Ogwen, Moel Siabod, the two Glyders, the two Llyders, Moel Llyvni,
Moel Mynydd y Nant; Gerwyn GOch, one thousand seven hundred and twenty-three feet high; Bwlch-Mawr, one thousand six
hundred and seventy-three feet high; and Rhiw, one thousand and thirteen feet high; over all of which tower the three
pre-eminent summits of Snowdon, called Yr Wyddva, or " the conspicuous summit," Crib y distyll, or "the dripping peak,"
and Crib GAch, or "the red summit." This mountain, called by the English in modern times Snowdon, on account of, its
summit being frequently covered with snow for a long period, when the plains beneath were entirely free from it, was
anciently called by the Welsh Creigiau 'r Eryri, by some translated to signify " the snow-clad rocks," while others
consider the latter part of the name to be derived from eryr, an eagle, and the whole to signify " the eagle rocks," from
the number of those birds that here fixed their alpine abode. To a spectator looking from the summit of Yr Wyddva it has
the appearance of being propped by five immense rocks, as buttresses: these are Crib y distyll and Crib GOch, between
Llanberis and Capel-Curig; Lliwedd, towards Nan Gwynan; Clawdd Coch, towards Bethgelart; and Llechog, the mountain that
forms the southern side of the vale of Llanberis, towards Doh hadarn. These nearly impassable heights for centuries formed
an almost unassailable refuge for the overpowered but unsubdued Britons, when obliged to retreat before the Roman, Saxon,
or English forces. Many of the mountains extend in length from north to south, while others take a line from east to west,
and nearly all range in one of these directions. The precipitous declivities of the summits of the Snowdonian chain for
the most part face towards the Menai strait; but the declivities in every other direction vary with the inclinations of
the strata. The vegetation of these elevated regions, in the multifarious variety of plants of which it is composed,
presents a rich field for the botanist: it peculiarly abounds with that species of herbaceous plants called by Linnaeus
etherece, as being found only towards the summits of mountains; and numerous other genera display their beauties in these
elevated wilds, of which many are rarely found in any other situation. Amidst these mountains are very deep hollows, and
narrow dells and valleys called clams, through which the numerous streams that issue from the various lakes above rush
with impetuous violence to a lower level, forming the most romantic cataracts, and then pursue a calmer and more
meandering course to the ocean. The lakes, though generally small, are upwards of fifty in number, and many of them abound
with fish of different species, of which some are peculiar to alpine waters, and others are of extraordinary conformation.
Those most distinguished for their extent, or the beauty of their surrounding scenery, are the following: riz., the two
that nearly fill the narrow valley of Llanberis, called L13niau Llanberis, the upper of which (about a mile long, and half
a mile broad), though the smaller in extent, is the finer piece of water, and its depth is in some places no less than one
hundred and forty yards; the other is about a mile and a half long, but so narrow as to have the appearance of a river
rather than a lake: LVn Cawellyn, forming a fine expanse of water at the foot of Mynydd-Mawr, a vast precipice which
recedes in a semilunar form from the shores of the lake, which is more than a mile and a half long, and nearly three-
quarters of a mile broad; Nanlle, two fine sheets of water adjacent to each other, and situated in the same part of the
county as the last-mentioned; and LlS,n Ogwen, L13n Idwal, &c. &c. Westward from the mountains, and between them and the
Menai, lies an extensive plain, almost a perfect level, but not low: it is thickly strewed with large rounded fragments
of rock, of the same kind as the rocks of the mountains. Indeed, over nearly all the lands adjacent to the mountains are
scattered immense masses of stone, the removal of which, a process that can only be effected with the aid of gunpowder, is
an essential step towards the improvement of the estates which they encumber. The scenery on the rocky shores of the Menai
is particularly bold and pleasing. The Vale of the Conway, on the eastern border of the county, and to the east of the
Snowdonian chain, abounds with interesting prospects: it is watered by a river whose natural beauties and historic
interest have often made it a theme for poetry, and presents all the diversity of prospect afforded by a well-wooded and
highly cultivated country, strikingly contrasting with the bare and rugged aspect of the cloud-capped mountains which rise
in frowning grandeur to the west of it, down the declivities of which, through innumerable chasms, fissures, and gullies,
rush the superfluous waters of the elevated mountain lakes, to swell the more pacific stream of the Conway. The scenery in
this part of the county is most varied in the vicinity of Pont DOlgarrog and Pont Porth Llwyd, which are simply alpine
bridges thrown across the streams which respectively issue out of LlSin Cowlyd and L13n Geirionydd. This vale, though
stretching parallel with the Vale of Clwyd, from south-east to northwest, is inferior to it in extent and fertility,
having the sloping argillaceous hills of Denbighshire only on the east, while on the west it receives deposites of soil
only from the hard, steep, primitive rocks of Carnarvonshire. The peninsula on the eastern side of the mouth of the Conway
forms the hundred of Creuddyn, and terminates in the promontory of Great Orme's Head, or Llandudno Rocks. The cliffs
forming this extremity are of limestone, very lofty, and almost perpendicular: during the summer months they are
frequented by countless flocks of various sea-birds of passage, such as peregrine falcons, cormorants, razorbills,
guillemots, oystercatchers, stormy peterels, divers, terns, curlews, gulls, and puffin-auks, or coulternebs. The
promontory of Lleyn (so called from the ancient cantrev which formerly comprised the greater part of it, while that of
Evionydd contained the rest), forming the southernmost part of Carnarvonshire, and beyond the south-western extremity of
which is situated Bardsey Island, is almost the only continental part of North Wales which bears any remarkable similarity
to the Isle of Anglesey, which similarity, in this instance, extends to the various particulars of surface, soil, climate,
course of tillage, agricultural implements, live stock, &c. Its surface, though varied, is no where mountainous; nor does
it contain any of those deep glens which form so striking a feature in the scenery of most other parts of the county. It
consists chiefly of what in England would be denominated upland pasture, here and there intersected Lby narrow marshy
valleys, and interspersed with conical hills, isolated or in small groups. The fences, as in most other enclosed districts
of Carnarvonshire, are formed of stone walls or earthen mounds: the small valleys are watered, as Mr. Pennant observes, "
by a thousand little rills; " and the coast consists of a rocky boundary, the regularity of which is broken by several
small creeks, affording safe shelter during storms to boats and inferior vessels employed in fishing. The small and once
distinguished island of Bardsey is separated from the termination of this promontory, which is composed of the vast piles
of rock forming the bold headland called Braich y Pwll, the Canganorum Promontorium of the Roman geographer, by the " Race
of Bardsey," a strait about a mile broad, through which is a rapid current. From this natural circumstance it originally
received the British name of Ynys Enlli; but the Saxons afterwards called it Bardsey, probably from its having formed a
place of refuge for the British bards. It is about two miles long and one broad, and comprises about three hundred and
seventy acres of land, of which nearly one-third is a mountainous ridge, affording food only for a few sheep and rabbits.
On the south-east and south-west it is much exposed to violent blasts from the ocean, but on the north and north-east it
is sheltered by the above-mentioned elevation, which on its sea front presents high, perpendicular, and rocky cliffs,
resorted to by numerous flocks of the various kinds of sea-fowl above mentioned, the eggs of which are taken from their
nests on the face of the cliff by some of the adventurous islanders, who descend from the summit by means of ropes
carefully secured at the top. The innermost creek of the northern part of Cardigan bay forms extensive sands, called the
Traeth-Mawr, which formerly were overflowed by the tides, and through which the small river Gl&slyn pours its waters into
the ocean. The late W. A. Madocks, Esq., of Tan yr Allt, in the immediate vicinity, having, about the commencement of the
present century, succeeded in securing an extent of nearly two thousand acres of rich land, called Penmorva Marsh, on the
western side of the Traeth Mawr, was induced to attempt the more arduous task of reclaiming the whole, by extending an
embankment from side to side across its mouth. This gentleman, in the year 1808, obtained an act of parliament vesting in
him and his heirs, or assigns, the whole of these sands, from Pont Aber Gl&slyn, at their head, to the point at Gest, at
their lower extremity; and he shortly afterwards proceeded to execute the bold design which he had formed, in spite of
great and unforeseen difficulties. He thus secured from the flow of the tides a tract of about two thousand seven hundred
acres, which was before subject to periodical overflow, besides the great extent of land adjoining, which will in
consequence be drained or secured from the injuries of floods, to which they were before liable; and of this land, so
drained and secured, Mr. Madocks was to have two thousand acres in fee, and one-fifth of the rent of fifteen hundred more,
or one-fifth of the land, the remainder to go to the freeholders who claim right of common upon the adjoining marshes. On
a part of the tract first secured stands the little modern town of Tremadoc. The northern shore of the county, from the
mouth of the Conway westward, borders on Beaumaris bay, a fine expanse of sea, which is so completely sheltered on one
side by the promontory of Creuddyn, terminated by Great Orme's Head, as above described, and on the other by the
easternmost extremity of Anglesey and the little island of Priestholme, that it forms a fine roadstead for ships
navigating the Irish sea, and one in which they may ride in safety during the most violent tempests. The greater part of
the bay is left dry on the reflux of the tide, for several miles adjoining the shore, forming a tract called the Lavan
Sands, which are supposed to have once constituted a habitable hundred belonging to the territory of Arvon, and are said
to have received their ancient name of Wylovain, or " the place of weeping," from the shrieks and lamentations of the
inhabitants on its being suddenly overwhelmed by the sea in the sixth century. Lavan is supposed to be an abbreviation of
Traeth Trelaven, or " the fermenting sand," from the advancing tide boiling up through the quicksands; nor is the
tradition of the inundation of this tract unsupported by natural circumstances, one of the most remarkable of which is,
that trunks of oak trees, nearly entire, have been discovered in it at low water, lying in an extensive tract of hard
loam, far within the present high water mark. The climate, owing to the maritime situation of the county, and the great
variety of elevation in its surface, has many peculiarities. In some years the winter's snow remains on the higher summits
of the Snowdonian chain until the month of June, though in the more immediate vicinity of the sea, and more especially in
the great promontory of Lleyn, it seldom continues long upon the ground, even in the depth of winter. The rains among the
mountains are frequent, generally sudden, and often very heavy, swelling the otherwise insignificant streams which descend
from them into powerful torrents. Grain, on the lighter soils and in the lower vales, ripens early in August; and it is
remarkable that this county, so great a portion of which is occupied by the loftiest and most rugged mountains of South
Britain, should also contain the ground which of all others in North Wales is the earliest in its seasons, via., Tatar Mr,
a piece of sandy soil with some gravel, on a substratum of sea-beach pebbles, at the foot of the mountain of PenmaenMawr.
But corn sown in elevated situations approaching the mountains, although it may for some time give promise of a good crop,
frequently never ripens, or, if at all, only very late in the season; in which latter case the sudden gusts of wind and
tornadoes, so frequently bursting from the dells and hollows of the mountains at this season, sometimes beat off the ears,
and leave little but the bare straw. The climate of the promontory of Lleyn is the driest and warmest of any district in
the county, and consequently the most favourable to the success of agriculture. All attempts to introduce the profitable
culture of fruit trees have hitherto proved unsuccessful; the spring, even in the vales, owing to the contiguity of the
mountains, being seldom mild enough to preserve the blossoms from the destructive effects of frost, while the wetness and
coldness of the summer, from the same causes, should the trees escape the first danger, vitiate the flavour of the most
delicious fruits. The westerly winds prevail three-fourths of the year, and are experienced in their utmost fury about the
equinoxes. The inhabitants are remarkable for their longevity, numerous gravestones in the different churchyards being
inscribed with ages far exceeding eighty years: this circumstance is ascribed to the frugality of their fare, and the
bracing effects of a cold, sharp, oxygenated atmosphere. The soils are extremely various. The best are the strong looms,
excellently adapted for the culture of wheat and for permanent pasture, which are found on the banks of the Conway near
Marl, and thence upwards towards Maenan and Trevriw, as also on the shores of the Menai near Llanvair is Gaer, &c. The
soil of Bardsey Island is also chiefly argillaceous, and of considerable fertility, producing excellent wheat and barley,
and having a small quantity of good grass land; and the whole of the hundred of Creuddyn, lying on the eastern side of
the mouth of the Conway, is occupied by strong cohesive loams, which are among the best wheat soils in North Wales, and
perhaps not inferior to any in Britain. Next to these rank the dry, free, and rather stony soils, adapted for the general
purposes of tillage, which occupy the middle parts of the larger vales, the lower parts of the smaller valleys, and the
interior of the promontory of Lleyn. The greater part of the promontory of Lleyn has also a still lighter soil, consisting
of various admixtures of sandy loam, rounded pebbles, shivery gravel, peat, &c., peculiarly adapted for the culture of
barley, peas, turnips, &c.; as have also the valleys of the other parts of the county in their upper levels, and the
slopes of vales having a southerly aspect. The substratum of the soils in the vicinity of the Menai consists of limestone,
and hence the soil towards and amidst the mountains is of two kinds; first, where the ground is dry, it consists of a
reddish loam, much intermixed with pebbles and stony fragments, which, when well manured, is very productive in corn, or
almost any other agricultural crop; but, ascending higher, this surface soil becomes gradually shallower, and less
promising for culture: the soil of the great levels lying between the Snowdonian chain and the Menai is alluvial,
consisting of gravel and sand, or shingle. The other soils are peaty, and are widely spread over many of the meadows and
heathy wastes and commons, which, being generally wet and boggy, produce in wet summers nothing of value either as
pasturage or for hay: this peat is found even on the summit of Carnedd Llewelyn, but is of the greatest depth in the flats
and hollows favourable to its production, and of less depth upon moderate slopes, where the substrata will not readily
admit the filtration of water. In this latter situation it is generally covered with a coarse matted herbage,
characterizing what is provincially called Rlakiydd, the surface of which, when the elevation is not too great, is
sometimes pared and burned for a crop of rye, and then laid down again with grass seeds. Most of the cwms, or narrow
valleys among the hills and mountains, have also a peaty soil, producing an abundance of the kind of hay here called gwair
y rhosydd, which is composed of a few kinds of alpine grasses, thickly intermingled with various species of rushes, and
frequently besprinkled with a few varieties of sedges: the hay produced in the bottoms and lower meadows is particularly
fine and soft, consisting chiefly of bent and fescue grasses. Till, a hungry light mould tinged by the orange oxyde of
iron, is occasionally found on the uplands having a slaty substratum; and a ferny soil, or hazel loam, occurs in various
upland situations among the soils above described. The most extensive tract of entirely sandy soils is that of the Traeth
Mawr, already mentioned, on the south-eastern confines of the county. Of the whole extent of Carnarvonshire, little more
than seven thousand acres are actually under tillage, and these are almost wholly in the hundred of Creuddyn, the Vale of
the Conway, the promontory of Lleyn, and the vicinity of the Menai. Wheat is grown on the stronger soils above described,
upon which oats are seldom sown, and a dry spring makes them quite unfit for barley. On the lighter soils oats and barley
are chiefly cultivated, frequently in very impoverishing rotations, iu which the same grain is sometimes sown for two or
three years successively, and with the last crop are always sown grass seeds: oats are the principal crop on the poorer
lands. The average return of wheat in the hundred of Creuddyn, near Aberconway, is nine or ten times the quantity of the
seed sown; that of barley, on warm soils, somewhat more; but of oats in the uplands, not more than from three to five
times the quantity. In Lleyn the naked scythe is the only instrument used to cut all kinds of corn; in other parts of the
county the reaping-hook is most commonly used to cut wheat, though the scythe is used to cut the barley and oats. Rye is
sometimes grown by some of the small farmers on patches of the wastes, which they pare and burn for the purpose, and
afterwards throw open again. Peas and beans are seldom cultivated as agricultural crops; but potatoes are grown to a
considerable extent in different parts of the county, and Carnarvonshire ranks next to Anglesey in the neatness of its
potatoe culture: the inhabitants of the Vale of the Conway and the vicinity of Carnarvon formerly imported this useful
root from Lancashire, but at present they grow more than is required for their own consumption, and the surplus is
exported for the partial supply of Liverpool, where the Welsh potatoes obtain a preference in the market, on account of
their superior flavour. Turnips are frequently cultivated on the soils best adapted for the purpose: a few small patches
of hemp are seen scattered in different places. Artificial grasses are a common agricultural crop: the most ordinary kind
is the common red clover, with which other grasses are frequently intermingled, such as white clover, trefoil, and rye-
grass. Rather more than one-half of the surface of the whole county, besides the amount of land under tillage, is
enclosed, and constitutes meadows and pastures of very various quality: the rest, forming its waste lands, is also for
the most part depastured during the summer. Indeed the farmers are chiefly herdsmen, who pay their rents out of the
profits of their butter, wool, and lambs, their stock consisting of small cows and numerous herds of diminutive sheep.
During the summer months these are taken to pasture on the hills and mountains; and such has been the opinion entertained
of the extent of pasturage on the mountains of this county, that, according to an old proverb, " As Mona could supply corn
for all the inhabitants of Wales, so could the Eryri mountains afford sufficient pasture for all its herds, if gathered
together." The purpose to which the grass lands are more peculiarly applied is the rearing of great numbers of cattle and
sheep, which are sold lean to the graziers of districts having richer meadows, to be fattened for places where there is a
greater consumption of animal food. The land-owners of this county introduced into it, about the commencement of the
present century, professed improvers of land, who advertised an offer of their services in draining, irrigating, &c.; and
much land has since been brought under irrigation in some of the valleys. As fattening cattle forms no part of the rural
economy of Carnarvonshire, and as the whole stock of the farm, both cattle and sheep, during the spring and summer, feed
on the open commons and the cow-lights on the sides of the mountains, the enclosed meadows are regularly pained up and
reserved for crops of hay. These, where the land is occasionally maimed, are tolerably good; but in numerous instances
the crops are scanty, and the hay of a mean quality. Owing to the general coldness of the atmosphere among the mountains
and in their vicinity, the hay harvest is usually late, and the frequency of the rains, that fall from the clouds
attracted by their elevated summits, renders it highly precarious, the hay being often spoiled before it can be got in.
Even should the weather continue dry, liability to damage arises from another quarter: whirlwinds or tornadoes are not
unusual, the approach of which is first indicated by a distant rumbling noise, which becoming louder and louder, they are
perceived advancing up the narrow valleys and hollow ravines, whirling in a circular direction, and carrying in their
vortices the light and loose objects which lie within their influence. It is also necessary to secure the hay with great
care in the stacks, which are thatched, first, by spreading thinly over them straw, coarse hay, or rushes, which covering
is fastened down, not, as in most parts of England, with hazel rods pegged down by spars or double splinters, but with
hay-ropes stretched horizontally at small distances from each other, and the intervals crossed by similar bands, the whole
having the appearance of net-work, and exhibiting a peculiar degree of neatness. The extraordinary manures employed in
this county are various: the following are the principal, viz., shell-sand, which is found on different parts of the
coast, and is carried many miles inland in carts and waggons, and coastwise in sloops; sea-weed, which is collected on
the coast in large quantities after storms, more particularly on the shores of Bardsey Island, and is most commonly spread
on the fields to be immediately ploughed in, though sometimes made into various composts; and lime, in the vicinity of
the limestone rocks, hereafter described: Carnarvonshire has also some marl on the coast of the Menai. The old Welsh
plough is still the most common implement of the kind used in the county; but the Lummas and Scotch ploughs, of a lighter
construction, have been introduced in a few instances. Most of the farmers, by the aid of the mountain and other
commonable pastures, are enabled to keep a greater quantity of cattle and sheep, during the summer half of the year, than
the produce of the farm will maintain through the winter; consequently, on the approach of the latter season, they sell
off a considerable portion of stock, in order that they may have sufficient winter food for the remainder. The promontory
of Lleyn and Evionydd, having the same kind of undulating surface, though not altogether so good a soil, as Anglesey, has
likewise a breed of cattle similar in most respects to those of that island, and annually supplies, for the consumption of
England, about one thousand five hundred yearlings, and four thousand five hundred cattle of two years old and upwards.
The cattle of the rest of Carnarvonshire, with the exception of a few select stocks, seem to be diminutives of the above
breeds of Anglesey, Lleyn, and Evionydd, and have little to recommend them except that they are extremely hardy and may be
reared with little expense. These, though not in high esteem with the graziers or carcass butchers, exhibit a pleasing
symmetry of form, being compact, short-legged, and deep-bodied: their colour is chiefly black, and the cows are in
considerable esteem for the dairy. For the improvement of this breed, various importations of the best kinds of cattle
from England have been made at different times. The sheep are of the ancient diminutive alpine breed, which also occupies
the mountainous tracts of the other counties of North Wales, but is here found in its purest state, unchanged by any
foreign mixture. In proportion to their size, they have long legs and slender bodies, with handsome necks and faces, some
of them in symmetry resembling the Spanish Merino breed. Like these also they are migratory, though not to so boundless a
degree; ranging the mountains during the summer months, and at the approach of winter descending to the lowland pastures.
Their faces and legs are generally white, and some of them are horned: the smaller sort weigh from seven to nine lb. per
quarter, and bear a fleece weighing from three-quarters of a pound to a pound and a half; the larger weigh from nine to
twelve lb. per quarter, and yield from a pound and a half to two pounds and a half of wool. This wool is generally coarse
and of a short staple, though in many instances that of the neck and shoulders possesses a considerable degree of
fineness, and is chiefly used in the flannel manufacture of North Wales, for which it is peculiarly adapted. From their
mode of existence, these sheep are of a very different character from those of an enclosed country. Roaming wherever
inclination leads them, confined by no fences, and frequently unattended by a shepherd, they are in the first instance
obliged to use their own exertions against the attacks of their formidable enemies, the foxes, so numerous among the
mountains of this county, as also for their defence from the ravens and large birds of prey. Instead of assembling in
large flocks, they form parties, generally consisting of ten or twelve, of which number, if one perceives any thing
advancing towards the little flock, he turns and faces the object, which he permits to approach within about a hundred
yards, when, if its appearance be hostile and it continues to advance, he warns the party by a shrill whistling noise,
which he continues until they have all taken the alarm, when the whole scamper off to the more inaccessible parts of the
mountains: the instinctive powers of the shepherds' dogs employed in collecting these flocks are no less remarkable. Some
few minor crosses have been introduced among the sheep in the more enclosed districts. Formerly numerous goats were bred
amongst the mountains of this county, many of which were so far domesticated as to be regularly milked; but their numbers
have long been rapidly diminishing, and they are now no longer considered as forming part of the farmers' stock, their
value having been greatly lessened, on account of their destructiveness to young plantations, and on the general disuse of
the bushy wigs which were usually made from the hair of these shaggy animals, which was distinguished for its length and
fineness: the few now remaining in Carnarvonshire are principally confined to the mountain of Moel Siabod, where they run
entirely wild. The native breed of hogs much resembles that of several districts in Ireland: they are thin-bodied, tall,
and ill-shaped, with long heads and large ears: but more valuable kinds have been introduced from England, chiefly the
Berkshire breed, which is now become very common. Three thousand hogs are annually sent to the English markets from the
promontory of Lleyn and Evionydd; and great numbers are sold in the autumn from other parts of the county. The horses are
of mixed breeds: the best bred in the county are those of the promontory of Lleyn. Tender furze, bruised with mallets
armed with iron, or ground in mills erected for the purpose, was formerly a common article of fodder for the horses, but
is now seldom given. Little corn being raised, few domestic fowls are kept, the county being supplied with poultry from
Anglesey, as it is also for the most part with rabbits from the extensive warrens between Llanveirian and Llanvaelog, in
that island, although there are considerable numbers in some places near the sea-coast, where the sandiness of the soil
favours their burrowing, more especially on Morva Dinlle, near Carnarvon. Of such animals, being fere naturd, as formerly
inhabited the grand Snowdonian chain of mountains, the principal were the wolves, deer, goats, and foxes: the wolves were
exterminated several ages ago, and the deer, which, in Leland's time, appear to have prevented the growth of corn, were
extirpated about the year 1626. Numerous foxes still find shelter in the holes and clefts of the rocks and crags so
abundant in this district, and, by their nocturnal depredations on the poultry, lambs, and sheep, are a great annoyance to
the farmers. Among the rare and curious birds, the golden eagle is known to have bred, though seldom, among the Snowdonian
mountains, those which are seen there being generally occasional visitors in quest of prey. The ring, or rock, ouzel,
though in most places a migratory bird, here takes up its constant abode. Seals are native on the coast of Carnarvonshire,
and are seen most frequently between Lleyn and the shores of Anglesey: many are found about Carreg y Moelrhon, to the
west of Bardsey Island, moelrhon being the Welsh name for a seal. This county, owing to the general unfavourableness of
its climate and aspect, is not distinguished for its horticultural productions, and great numbers of the cottages are
entirely without gardens. One circumstance, however, is worthy of notice, viz., that sea-kale grows wild on its coasts,
being found in the greatest abundance from the mountain of Penmaen-Mawr westward to Bangor, and thence along the whole
western coast to Nevyn and Aberdaron: it has, in various instances, been transplanted into gardens, where it is found to
be an excellent substitute for asparagus, which it also precedes in the spring. In Leland's time the sides of the
Snowdonian mountains were covered with timber, but at present they are almost entirely bare, excepting the woods above
Gwydir, on the eastern side of them, which add greatly to the picturesque beauty of the Vale of Llanrwst; and those of
Mr. Thomas A ssheton Smith, in a very high situation at Talmignedd, near Bethgelart; to which may be added those
belonging to the latter gentleman at Vaenol, near Bangor, occupying about two hundred acres, and the plantations on the
Pant Gilts estate, on the south-eastern side of the county. Very extensive plantations were also made in this county,
towards the close of the last century, by the late Lord Penrhyn; but, with the exception of a few comparatively recent
plantations, near gentlemen's seats, the whole promontory of Lleyn and Evionydd is destitute of wood: the principal of
these plantations are in the vicinities of Llanystyndwy, Gwknvrkn, and Plas Hen. The hundred of Creuddyn, forming the
north-easternmost division of the county, from the rest of which it is separated by the river Conway, is well wooded in
the vicinities of Marl, Bodyscallen, and Gloddaeth. The trees are of various kinds, consisting of oak, ash, beech, &c.,
with several species of fir. The whole of the extensive region formed by the Snowdonian mountains was, on the conquest of
Wales by Edward I., studiously depopulated by the policy of that monarch, who well knew the asylum it might afford to any
of the native malcontents, and who, therefore, converted the chief part of it into a royal forest. In consequence of this,
much of the mountainous part of the county still belongs to the crown; and numerous warrants, issued at different
periods, for killing and appropriating the deer are yet extant. One of these, signed by Henry Sidney, in 1561, arbitrarily
extended the boundaries of the forest of Snowdon into Anglesey and Merionethshire, with the view of gratifying Queen
Elizabeth's favourite, the Earl of Leicester, who had been appointed chief ranger; although, in the reign of Henry VIII.,
it had been ascertained to be wholly included within the county of Carnarvon. Presuming on this authority, the Earl of
Leicester, as ranger, proceeded to tyrannise over the three counties, which he pretended were included in his commission,
with the most rapacious injustice and insufferable insolence. It having been suggested to him that by constructive
evidence nearly the whole of the surrounding freehold property might be brought within the boundaries of the forest,
commissioners were appointed, and juries impanelled, to enquire into the numerous encroachments made on the royal
property, but the integrity of both caused them to come to a decision contrary to the ranger's wishes. After this
disappointment, a special commission was appointed, in 1578, composed of persons immediately dependent on the earl; and a
jury, equally subservient to his views, was subpomaed to attend at Beaumaris, and directed to survey the Malltraeth marsh,
in Anglesey, after which they delivered their verdict, declaring that they found that tract to lie within the verge of
Snowdon forest, notwithstanding its being in the county of Anglesey, and separated from the county in which that forest
was situated by an arm of the sea. This decision was chiefly obtained from the jury by the instruction of the
commissioners, who told them that in the Exchequer of Carnarvon they had found a document, stating that a stag had been
roused in the forest of Snowdon, in Carnarvonshire, which, being pursued to the banks of the Menai, swam over that strait,
and was killed at Malltraeth, " infra forestam nostram de Snowdon." Sir Richard Bulkeley, who had been one of the former
commissioners, conscious of the rectitude of their resistance, and relying on the justice of the cause he had espoused,
personally laid before the queen, on behalf of the landholders of the three counties, a representation of the unparalleled
oppressions inflicted upon the Welsh by the power exercised under the commission`; and at length prevailed upon Her
Majesty to recall the commission grant, which was done by public proclamation at Westminster, in the year 1579. This
remonstrance, however, caused Lei. cester to pursue Sir Richard with an inveterate animosity, which ceased only with the
life of the former. Although numerous large and small freeholds escaped the grasp of despotism on the subjugation of the
principality by Edward I.; and the transfer of property has, in few instances, received any disturbance from the crown for
many years, yet several of the estates in Carnarvonshire are at the present day held by regal grant, and most of its vast
extent of waste lands are still the property of the king, are enumerated among the sources of his ordinary revenue, and
are subject to inquisition from the Exchequer. This county, as before described, the promontory of Lleyn excepted, seems
for the most part to be one vast assemblage of huge rocky mountains, some of which, including Snowdon itself, are common,
while others, by grants from the Welsh princes, are claimed as private property up to their very summits. No less than one
hundred thousand acres of land are not only unfit for cultivation, but are wholly incapable of receiving it, consisting of
rugged mountains and moors, deep rocky dells, and horrid chasms. There are few farms that do not possess a common right on
some of these wastes, and that attached to those in the vicinity of the mountains is almost unlimited; but the rocks, of
which the mountains are composed, not being decomposable by the action of the atmosphere, their sterility is very great,
the hollows and slopes upon peat, or clay, being the chief spots which produce any herbage for the support of the hardy
race of sheep and cattle which are depastured in these alpine tracts during the summer. Several of the more improveable
wastes, such as Rhos Hirwaen, in Lleyn, consisting of about three thousand acres; Penmorva marsh, on the south-eastern
border of the county, comprising about two thousand seven hundred acres; Morva Dinlle, a sandy marsh with some clay,
extending from Dines Dinlle, an ancient British encampment, to the entrance of the Menai, near Carnarvon, and containing
two thousand five hundred and sixty acres; and the wastes in the parishes of Llandeiniolen and Llanreg, have been
enclosed in pursuance of acts of parliament obtained since the commencement of the present century. The common fuel is
peat, an abundance of which is obtained in the morassy parts of the wastes and commons, and stored up for winter use:
much of this valuable material contains a large portion of bituminous matter, which renders it a tolerable substitute for
coal, an article of very limited consumption in this county, being only procured at a great price from the collieries of
Lancashire and Flintshire: almost every farm has its appropriated turbary, and such as have no right of common buy peat
by the load. The Carnarvonshire Agricultural Society, instituted in the year 1807, and consisting of the principal landed
proprietors, has exercised considerable influence in the improvement of its husbandry, &c. The geological features of
Carnarvonshire are peculiarly varied and interesting, though they have received but little illustration; and its mineral
productions are of great importance, consisting for the most part of copper and lead ores, slates, limestone, and other
kinds of stone used for building. The mountains are in general of the primitive siliceous kind, steep, and rugged. The
highest peaks of the Snowdonian chain are composed of porphyritic rocks, belonging to the trap formation, passing into
nearly compact, or schistose, hornblende: these, on the western side, form numerous basaltic columns on a bed of
hornstone, or chert; and large coarse crystals, cubic pyrites, and various mineral bodies are frequently found in the
fissures: these columns are perpendicular, and more or less regularly pentagonal: their length is various; their
diameter about four feet, with transverse joints from six to eight feet asunder, and considerable depositions of thin
laminated quartz in the joints. Near the summit of Snowdon, however, there is reason to believe that schistose rocks
belonging to the grey wacki formation are also to be found, enclosing impressions of shells. The rocks composing the
higher parts of the chain are also said to include granite and the granitel of Kirwan, schistose hornblende, and schistose
mica; and contiguous to these, on each side, are vast beds of clay-slate, forming secondary mountains, which constitute
the first parapet of the Snowdonian chain, and accompanying which are also found beds of chert, quartz, burr-stone,
serpentine, and an endless variety of combinations of other mineral substances of less bulk: the promontory of Lleyn is
formed almost entirely of clay-slate, but the hills on the north-eastern coast, to the west of the river Conway, are
composed in a great measure of chert; and several of the mountains, the bases of which consist of argillaceous schistus,
have their middle parts covered with blocks of chert, and their summits surmounted by masses of a granitic character. The
argillaceous schistus supports a range of mountain limestone strata on the shores of the Menai: and the substrata of the
hundred of Creuddyn consist for the most part of the same kind of limestone, and are part of the formation which also
occupies portions of the counties of Denbigh and Flint, and terminates westward in the cliffs overhanging the sea near
Llandudno, commonly called Great Orme's Head, which forms the eastern boundary of the bay of Beaumaris. Of ores, the
mountains appear to contain more copper than lead. The primitive rocks in mass contain no metals, but copper is found in
several of the hornstone stratified mountains, of which those at Llanberis and Pont Aberglislyn are examples: in these
mines the ore is for the most part sulphate of copper, and yields from eight to ten per cent. of pure metal. Oxydated
carbonate of copper, with some specimens covered with lancet-pointed crystals of an amethystine colour, is obtained at
Derwen deg, to the southwest of Aberconway; and sulphate both of copper and lead is found at Haveld y Llan, near Dines
Emrys. A copper mine is also worked with spirit in the limestone strata of the hundred of Creuddyn, near Great Orme's
Head, in the parish of Llandudno, and produces some beautiful specimens of malachite, or mammelated green carbonate of
copper, of which all the ore there raised consists. But the copper mine at present most extensively worked in this county
is one near Lliniau Dinlle, in the parish of Bethgelart, where upwards of two hundred men are employed, and the ore
obtained in it is sent down the rail-road to Carnarvon, to be there shipped for Bristol, Swansea, &c. At Bwlch-haiarn,
near Gwydir, on the road from Llanrwst to Capel-Curig, are very extensive lead mines, the veins of ore crossing each
other, from north to south and from east to west: the matrix is of quartz and calcareous spar, though the surrounding
rocks consist of slate, bituminous shale, and trap, or whinstone: the ores chiefly lie about twelve feet beneath the
surface: calamine is found in conjunction with the lead, and the whole is intermingled with ferruginous ochre and a small
quantity of copper pyrites. Ores of copper and calamine are also raised at Capel Curig; and the latter metal from both
these places is shipped off at Trevriw, on the Conway, for the foundries at Bristol. Other veins of lead-ore are worked at
Penrhfrn dO, adjoining St. Tudwal's islands, near the southern extremity of the county, and at Gest, near Penmorva, on its
south-eastern frontier. Great quantities of the argillaceous schistus, so abundant in this county, are converted into
slates for roofing houses and other purposes, and form its most important article of commerce. These slates are raised
between Aberconway and Bwlch y Dderwen, at Treyriw, in the Llanberis and Llanllyvni hills, on both sides of the promontory
of Lleyn, and in the parish of Llandeiniolen; but the principal works of this kind are the following, viz., those of
Braich y Cavn, near Dols-wen, on the road between Capel-Curig and Llandegai, which, about the year 1780, produced only one
thousand tons annually, and gave employment to sixty men; but, coming into the possession of the late Lord Penrhyn, that
nobleman, in 1782, opened a vast quarry, which has ever since been worked, and now annually produces upwards of forty
thousand tons of slates, which are conveyed by means of an iron railway to Port Penrhyn,  which was formed by his lordship
for the convenience of the vessels engaged in this trade, and at which they are shipped in large quantities to Ireland,
America, the West Indies, &c., and also to London, Bristol, and Liverpool: and the Cilgwkn quarries, in the parish of
Llanllyvni, and those of Llanberis, from which conjointly are obtained about double the quantity produced at DOlawen: the
produce of these is for the most part shipped at Carnarvon, for Ireland and different parts of Britain, though many from
the Llanberis quarries are taken on board in a small creek of the Menai, opposite to Moel y don ferry. The Carnarvonshire
slates are exceedingly smooth and of a fine grain, generally of a beautiful blue colour, and may be separated into lamina:
as thin as wafers; which properties render them the best for roofing, and for manufacturing into writing slates: they
consist of forty-eight parts of silex, twenty-six of argil, eight of magnesia, four of calx, and fourteen of iron. Of the
three great quarries above mentioned, that of Cilgwjm produces slates of the coarsest quality, which are also of a deep
red colour; those of DOlawen are exceedingly smooth and of a brilliant blue, or slate grey; while those of Llanberis are
of an -intermediate quality, and generally of a reddish purple hue. The slates of a deep blue colour are the best adapted
of any in Europe for writing slates; and those obtained from the DOlawen quarries are planed and framed of various sizes,
in a manufactory established by the late Lord Penrhyn, near Bangor, to the number of about ten thousand dozen annually:
these are not only distributed over all parts of the United Kingdom, but considerable quantities are also exported,
without frames, to different parts of the continent: ink-stands and other fancy articles are also manufactured here of
the same material. The slates raised in the quarries are divided by the manufacturers into the following classes: viz.,
duchesses, measuring twenty-four inches by twelve; emutesses, twenty by ten; ladies, sixteen by eight; doubles, twelve
by six; ton slates, large and of various sizes; and patents, with square heads; which are sold by the thousand, except
the last two, which are sold by the ton: in some of the quarries are also other classes, called respectively singles,
rags, and kiln-ribs. Besides the above-named articles, the slate is also converted into tombstones, dados and plinths for
stables and passages, chimney-pieces, hearth-stones, sink-stones, dairy tables, sideboards, panels for doors, shutters,
&c., fences, and washball stands, and is used to form cases for the outside of buildings, as a defence against the weather;
and in such situations, by being painted and sanded, is made to bear the appearance of stone. A quarry of burr, for
millstones, has been opened since the commencement of the present century, near Aberconway, in a vein running from east to
west along the hill called Mynydd y Drev. Near Cwm Idwal is a large quarry of the novaculite of Kirwan (of the second and
third varieties of that species), where great quantities of scythe-hones are cut, and sent to London, Dublin, &c.: hones
are also obtained from a rock on the eastern side of the valley of Nant Francon. Steatite, or soap-rock, is found in
different places, especially at Craig y Sebon, and on the hill to the north of Penmorva. Serpentine abounds in the
vicinity of Capel-Curig. Ochre is dug out of a mine near the DOlawen slate quarries, and is then separated from the sand
with which it is intermixed by grinding and successive filtrations, being finally collected in a sediment, which is dried
by the sun and air in summer, and upon kilns during the winter: the general colour of this earth is yellow, but in the
same manufactory, and also for the use of painters, others of various hues are ground, with which, in their raw state, the
Snowdonian shepherds mark their sheep. Large siliceoui crystals, commonly called rock diamonds, are frequently found in
the fissures of the rocks among the mountains, whence they are washed down by the violent torrents caused by the heavy
rains frequently experienced in these alpine tracts, and, being collected by the poor inhabitants, are presented by them
for sale to travellers and tourists, as extraordinary and valuable productions. Some curious specimens of cubic pyrites
and crystallized tin have been discovered at different times. The manufactures and commerce of Carnarvonshire are various,
but of minor importance. Besides supplying themselves with wearing apparel, the inhabitants annually send a few pieces of
blue cloth into Merionethshire, and some of a peculiar drab-coloured cloth, called brethyn sir Von, into Anglesey, to be
sold at the Llanerchymedd fairs: these cloths are generally seven-eighths of a yard wide. The flannels manufactured here
are coarse. The employment of the mountaineers, both in summer and winter, besides tending their herds, and the labours of
the dairy, consists in carding and spinning the wool produced by their flocks, of which they make cloth for their own
wear, and for sale at the neighbouring fairs and markets, more particularly at those of Carnarvon and Llanrwst. They also
make great quantities of striped linsey-woolsey, of different patterns, which they call stuff, and which is used for the
women's gowns. But those who have more wool than the family can manufacture sell it at the neighbouring fairs, of which
that of Llanrwst is the principal mart for this article, and is attended by the English buyers: the price obtained for
the wool at this fair is usually the standard for the year. A considerable quantity of coarse linen yarn is spun and woven
by the inhabitants of the mountainous districts, both for their own use and for sale, but chiefly for the latter. The
spinners and weavers have a measure peculiar to themselves, commonly called the Welsh yard, which is forty inches long,
and by which all their milled cloth, flannels, linseys, and linen are measured when sold. The knitting of woollen
stockings and socks is carried on most extensively in the southeastern extremity of the county, in the neighbourhood of
Llanrwst and Penmachno, which is included in the great manufacturing district for those articles, of which the town of
Bala in Merionethshire is the centre. Formerly all the wool that was not home-spun and custom-wove, after being sold, was
exported to be manufactured in different parts of the kingdom; but since the commencement of the present century, various
establishments have been formed on some of the numerous small streams for carrying on different branches of the woollen
manufacture. Thus, in the parishes of Llanreig, Llanwnda, &c., are slubbing and carding engines, with jennies and billies
for lulling and spinning, which prepare the worsted yarn, and in some instances manufacture it into cloth. At Tremadoc, on
the south-eastern confines of the county, is a large manufactory for weaving drug-gets and coarse army cloth, of like
modern establishment. In the parish of Llanreig is a paper-mill, and another at Porth llwyd, on the Conway, below Llanrwst;
and to this list of manufactures may likewise be added the important one of slates, above described. The commerce of the
county, until of late years, was almost wholly confined to the port of Carnarvon, which, like all the others within its
limits, is under the control of the custom-house at Beaumaris in Anglesey; but a great trade in the article of slates,
which was formerly engrossed by Carnarvon, is now carried on from Porth Penrhyn, as above stated, and has greatly
increased, since the removal of the coast duties, in all the ports near the quarries. Although its commerce is
comparatively so unimportant, yet the harbours of this county are numerous. In the promontory of Lleyn are several small
creeks, affording safe retreats from storms to boats and small craft engaged on the coast during the fishing season:
among these are Porth Towyn, Porth Colman, Porth Gwylan, Porth Ysgadan, and Aberdaron, the last of which is a village
chiefly inhabited by fishermen, and the place whence the passage is usually made to Bardsey Island, on the south-eastern
side of which is a small well-sheltered harbour for vessels of from twenty to forty tons' burden. The small bay between
Porth Towyn and Ceiriad Road is vulgarly called by mariners " Hell's Mouth," from the danger, in rough weather, of being
driven into it and wrecked, in attempting to gain St. Tudwal's Road, near Pwllheli, which as a haven is deemed inferior to
none in Britain, being not only commodious, but extensive enough to receive the largest fleet, well defended on one side
by the promontory of Lleyn, and on the other by two islets, called St. Tudwal's Islands. Pwllheli, having a harbour
capable of admitting vessels of sixty tons' burden, forms the grand depot for articles imported for the supply of the
southwestern part of the county. The small harbour of Nevin, or Porth-din-Lleyn, was improved early in the present century
by subscription. Carnarvon has a very commodious harbour, though impeded by a bar; but the tide rises so high here, that,
with proper attention, ships of almost any size may pass and repass in safety:.this port carries on a very considerable
coasting trade with London, Bristol, Liverpool, and Ireland, and is by far the most important in North Wales. Porth
PenrhYn, formerly called Abercegin, close to the town of Bangor, being naturally only a small inlet, was converted, by the
late Lord Penrhyn, into a commodious harbour, capable of admitting vessels of three hundred tons' burden, for more
conveniently exporting the slates from his quarries, about six miles distant. Aberconway, situated on the left bank, and
within a short distance of the mouth of the river Conway, has a dry harbour, frequented by a few coasting vessels. The
chief exports through the medium of these ports, more particularly of those of Carnarvon and Porth PenrhSrn, are slates
for roofing; writing slates; ores of copper; ground chert, &c., for the English potteries; and ochre. The principal
exports by land are cattle, sheep, hogs, and raw wool. The imports, besides those of groceries, and other ordinary
articles of retail trading, consist chiefly of grain and coal. The principal fishery is on that part of the coast between
Pwllheli and Bardsey Island, where the bays and creeks are frequented in the season by vast shoals of herrings, some of
which, when taken, are salted on shore, and the rest chiefly sold to Irish vessels of small burden, which come hither for
the purpose of purchasing them: great numbers of dories are caught here, as also are smelts near Pwllheli; and a small
kind of lobster is frequently found burrowing in the Sands on the shore. The rivers, owing to the peninsular situation of
the county, for the most part run only a short course, from the mountains immediately to the sea; but the waters of some
of them are very copious. The Conway, which is the principal, forms an exception, taking a longer course through a
spacious and delightful valley, extending parallel with the Vale of Clwyd, in Denbighshire, between which county and that
of Carnarvon it forms the line of division during the greater part of its course. Issuing from Llyn Conway, near the point
of junction of the three counties of Carnarvon, Denbigh, andMerioneth, it first takes a southerly, afterwards a north-
easterly, and lastly a northerly, course, at first precipitating its waters in successive falls, until, emerging from
under the high wooded cliffs of Gwydir, it rushes into the beautiful vale of Nantconway, and, flowing under the elegant
bridge of Llanrwst, meanders in beautiful curves to the town of Aberconway, where it swells into a noble tide river, and
soon after mingles its waters with those of the Irish sea, in the eastern part of Beaumaris bay, after a course of about
twenty miles, in which it is joined by almost as many smaller streams, of which the principal are, the Machno, the Ceirio,
and the Llugwy, all from Carnarvonshire. The Conway meets the tide and becomes navigable at Tirevriw, about two miles
below the town of Llanrwst, and at its mouth is about a mile broad, and capable of admitting vessels of great burden.
Although the boundary between Carnarvonshire and Denbighshire, during the earlier part of its course, yet a small portion
of the former county, below Llanrwst, is situated on its eastern banks; and from the vicinity of the village of
Llansaintfraid, in the latter, the remainder of its course is wholly in the former, in which it separates the hundred of
Creuddyn from the rest of the county. In the lower reaches of this river, the silt brought up and deposited by the tides
has raised its bed above the level of the vale on each side, a circumstance which greatly tends to the injury of the
adjacent meadows. A ledge of rocks, milled the Arrow, crossing the Conway, about a furlong above Ti l y cavn ferry,
forming a great obstacle to its navigation, and over which, at low water, there was a fall of no less than three feet, has
been partially removed. The Seiont, a small and rapid river, has its source in a lake on the eastern side of Snowdon,
whence, suddenly turning towards the north-west, it flows through the two beautiful lakes of Llanberis, from the lower of
which it proceeds westward, at first under the name Rythel; but afterwards, assuming that of Seiont, it passes the site
of the ancient Segontium to the town of Carnarvon, where it discharges its waters into the Menai, its small actuary
forming a safe and commodious harbour: the lakes and the channel between them are navigated by boats, which convey
slates, &c., to the lowest extremity of the lower lake, whence they are forwarded by carts to Carnarvon. The Gwyrvai, a
stream much resembling the Seiont in size and character, takes a course nearly parallel with it a few miles further
southward, and falls into the Menai, near the south-western entrance of that strait. The Ogwen, a small river from Ogwen,
is equally rapid in its current, and, running north-westward, falls into the Menai, about two miles north-east of Bangor.
The promontory of Lleyn is watered only by inconsiderable streams; and the Gwynedd, or GIts-lyn river, is the only one on
the southern side of the county worthy of especial notice: it has its source in one of the wildest parts of the
Snowdonian mountains, and, after forming the lake of LVn Gwynedd, it pursues a southerly course by the village of
Bethgelart, below which it rushes through a vast chasm in the mountains, which here separates the counties of Carnarvon
and Merioneth, the boundary between which it forms in the rest of its course, flowing through the now secured and enclosed
sands of the Traeth Mawr, which once formed its great:estuary, and pouring its waters into the northernmost part of
Cardigan bay, a few miles north-eastward of the borough of Criccieth. Carnarvonshire has no artificial inland navigation,
but possesses three railroads, one for the conveyance of slates from the quarries near Dolawen to the vessels at Port
Penrhyn, the length of which is six miles; one for the conveyance of slates from Llanberis to Porth Dinorrweg, a distance
of six miles; and the third, for the conveyance of copper-ore and slates to Carnarvon, extending from Lliniau Dinlle to
Carnarvon, a distance of nine miles. The roads, which were formerly among the worst in the principality, have undergone
great improvements, notwithstanding the difficulties experienced in the execution of such undertakings in so mountainous a
country. Amongst the instances most worthy of notice may be mentioned the construction, in the year 1770, of a good road
over the vast precipice of Penmaen-Mawr, lying in the old road to Ireland by way of Chester and Holyhead, and in which the
government afforded considerable assistance; and the formation, by the late Lord Penrhyn, of an excellent road from
CapelCurig, through Nant Francon and the romantic interior of the Snowdon mountains, to Dillawen and Bangor, and which now
forms part of the nearer route of the Irish mails; that of a new road from Carnarvon to Clynnog, Pwllheli, and Nevin ;
that of one under the direction of the late Mr. Madocks of Tan yr Allt, from Aberglaslyn bridge through Tremadoc to Nevin;
and that of another from Llanrwst and Capel-Curig, over Bwlch yr Eisteddva, or Gorphwysva, and through Nant Penis, on
the western side of the lakes, to Carnarvon: besides these may also be mentioned the construction of the magnificent
suspension bridge over the Menai, near Bangor, and that over the broad channel of the river Conway, at Aberconway. The
road from Carnarvon to the Aberglaslyn bridge, which forms the entrance into Merionethshire, running a distance of upwards
of twelve miles through the romantic wilds of Snowdon, was reconstructed by subscription, about the commencement of the
present century; and the communication with Merionethshire is now excellent, by means of a good road across the Traeth
Mawr to Tan y Bwlch. Carnarvonshire, as has been already noticed, abounds throughout with excellent materials for the
making and repairing of roads. Its numerous streams, when swelled by the frequent and sudden rains that fall in the
mountains, require the roads to be carried over them by bridges of a greater length than would be requisite in a champaign
country; which increase of size is obtained sometimes by extending the span of a single arch, and at others by continuing
the structure in the manner of an arcade. Thus diversified in their shapes, and in most instances erected, not at right
angles across the stream, but obliquely, they form very ornamental objects in the picturesque scenery of the district. The
mail-coach road from London to Holyhead, by way of Chester, enters the northern part of this county, from Abergele in
Denbighshire, and passes through Aberconway, and over the Penmaen-Mawr mountain to Llandegai and Bangor, from which latter
place it is carried over the Menai strait by the chain bridge recently erected. That from London to Holyhead, by way of
Shrewsbury, which is shorter than the former by fourteen miles, enters from Pentre-Voelas in Denbighshire, and becomes
identified with the new line above mentioned, passing by Capel-Curig to the village of Llandegai, near Bangor, where it
forms a junction with the road by Chester: the branch from this at Capel-Curig to Carnarvon has been noticed above.
Another road from London reaches this county, by way of Welsh-pool and Harlech, entering it from the latter town, in
Merionethshire, at Pont Abergl&slyn, whence the main line is continued to Carnarvon, and over the Aber-menai ferry into
Anglesey; while a branch extends into the promontory of Lleyn, communicating with the towns of Criccieth, Pwllheli, and
Nevin. The remains of antiquity are numerous, various, and interesting. Some are of the class usually considered Druidical;
such as the circle of upright stones, eighty feet in diameter, with a kistvaen in the centre, situated in the parish of
Dwygyvylchi; the small Druidical circle, of which some of the stones are deranged and others fallen, situated above
Penmorva; the larger circle on Bwlch Craigwen, which is almost entire, and is composed of thirty-eight upright stones;
the three cromlechs near Ystum Cegid; the uncommonly large cromlech, in a field near the sea-shore, about half a mile
from Clynnog, about thirty yards from which stands a single rude pillar of stone; and the large cromlech situated near
the old mansion of Cevn Amwlch, called by the common people Coeten Arthur. The remains of the Roman stations Segontium and
Conovium (described under the heads of Carnarvon and Caerhen), with those of a few detached outposts, and of the
connecting roads between them, are yet visible. Part of a Roman road is seen extending from the ancient Segontium to the
strong post of Dinas Dinlle, which latter comprises the summit of a large mount, apparently artificial, on the sea-shore,
and on the verge of an extensive level, formerly a marsh: it is of a circular form, four hundred feet in diameter, and
surrounded by a vast rampart of earth, within which are included vestiges of buildings of an oblong form, constructed of
loose stones, and a tumulus formed of the same materials: here have been found Roman coins; and on a stream, called Y
Foriad, that runs at a little distance, are two fords, still called respectively by the mixed British and Roman names of
Rhgd pedestre and Rhgd equestre, " the passage for the infantry," and " the passage for the cavalry." In connexion with
this great centre of observation and action were several other forts, lying diagonally across the country, some towards
the north, and others towards the south. The most considerable are, Dinas Dinorweg, in the parish of Llandeiniolen, which
is still entire, and consists of an extensive area, including the remains of a circular stone building, supposed to have
been a pretorium, surrounded by two ramparts of loose stones, within which are two valla formed of earth, and two very
deep fosses; Yr hen Gastell, or "the old Castle," near the brook Carrog, in the parish of Llanwnda, which is a small
intrenchment with a single rampart, about fifty paces long; Dinas Gorvan, near Pont Newydd, in the same parish, the only
vestige of which is its name; and Craig y Ddinas, on the river Llyvni, a mile and a half distant, and about a mile south-
west of the road leading from Carnarvon to Pwllheli, a quarter of a mile from the seat called Lleiar, which is a circular
encampment, about a hundred paces in diameter, and the ramparts of which, defended by a treble ditch, are very strong, and
composed of uncemented stones: the entrance is towards the north, very narrow, and forty paces in length. Further on,
towards the extremity of this southern diagonal line, at the foot of Llanelhaiarn mountain, is a small fort on the summit
of a high rock, called Caer, a Roman post of observation: smaller intrenched camps are seen on the western side of the
county. Forth-dinLleyn, near Nevin, is thought, from vestiges of strong intrenchments in the vicinity, to have been a
harbour made use of by the Romans; and in the parish of Llaniestyn, a little further southward, various Roman urns have
been found. The Via Occidentalis entered this county from Merionethshire, between Pont Abergl&slyn and Bethgelart: some
inconsiderable traces of it are yet visible in its progress to the ancient Segontium; and it gives name to a farm over
which it passes, called Ystrad, or " the Street." The other Roman road above mentioned, as entering this county from
Denbighshire, from the station Conovium, ascended the hill by Bwlch y Ddeuvaen, and thence passed towards the coast, where
it ran nearly parallel with the Menai to Segontium. Carnarvonshire contains several intrenched camps, the construction of
which proves them to be of British origin. On the mountainous ridge of the Reivel, forming the southernmost of the more
distinguished summits of the Snowdonian chain, is one of the grandest and most artfully constructed British posts in the
kingdom, called Tre' r Caeri, or the town of fortresses. The only accessible side seems to have been defended by three
walls, the first of which is now imperfect, the second nearly entire, and the third ranges unequally round the highest
verge of the hill: these walls appear to have been regularly faced/.are very lofty, and exhibit from below a grand and
extensive front. The enclosed area is of an irregular shape, and nearly in the centre of it is a quadrangular space,
fenced with stones, and surrounded by two rows of cells, while numerous others are scattered over the surface. These
remains of habitations are of various forms, — circular, oblong, and square; some fifteen and others thirty feet in
diameter, with long entrance passages faced with stone. From many eminences in the vicinity being similarly fortified,
namely Carn Madryn, BOduan, Moel Benwrch, Castell Gwgan, Moel Garn Guwch, and Pen y Geer, it has been supposed that this
part of the county formed one of the principal retreats of the Britons, when hard pressed by their invaders. Near the
village of Aberdaron, at the southern extremity of the county, is a small circular encampment, about fifty yards in
diameter, which is defended by a double ditch and rampart; and on an isolated hill, at the foot of the lower lake of
Llanberis, there is an agger of loose stones, once a British fortification, called Caer Cwm y Glo; besides which, on the
left side of the valley of Nant Gwynant, near the village of Bethgelart, on the top of a precipitous rock, called Dines
Emrys, or the " fortified city of Ambrosius," is a considerable area, the approach to which is defended by two large
ramparts: this comprises the ruins of an ancient stone edifice, about ten yards in length, the walls of which, built
without cement, are very thick and strong. The bwlch, or hollow, which forms the entrance from the mountains into the
plain called Nant Gwrtheyrn, or " Vortigern's Valley," near the town of Nevin, is crossed by a vast artificial rampart of
loose stones, once forming the defence of this important pass. The religious houses, at the period of the Reformation,
were as follows: at Bangor was a house of Friars preachers; in Bardsey Island, a very ancient abbey, founded before the
year 516; at Bethgelart, a priory of Augustine canons; at Clynnog-Vawr, a collegiate church; and at Maenan, near
Llanrwst, a Cistercian abbey. Foundations of the walls of the college of Clynnog are yet visible; and there are also some
small remains of the abbey of Bardsey Island. The most remarkable specimens of ecclesiastical architecture exist in the
cathedral church of Bangor; in the collegiate church of Clynnog, situated on the sea-coast to the south of Carnarvon,
which is the most magnificent religious edifice in North Wales, and near which are the remains of a smaller and more
ancient structure and in the parish church of Llandegai. The churches are more numerous in the promontory of Lleyn than in
any other part of the county; and, from old inscriptions in them and in their cemeteries, many of them appear to have
been founded soon after the introduction of Christianity into Britain. There are extensive and magnificent ruins of the
castles of Carnarvon and Aberconway, erected by Edward I., those of the latter being scarcely equalled in grandeur by any
in the island. There are also very curious ruins of the castle of Criccieth; some small remains of the celebrated
fortress of Deganwy, in the detached hundred of Creuddyn, forming the northernmost division of the county; picturesque
ruins of Dillbadarn castle, near the village of Llanberis; also of an ancient, strong, and extensive castle on the summit
of a hill called Braich y Ddinas, rising out of the Penmaen mountain, which overlooks the bay of Beaumaris; and of a
small ancient fortress on a lofty rock at the head of Llytin Cawellyn. The foundations of the castle of Bangor are yet
traceable; and at DOlbenmaen, near Criccieth, is an ancient circular tower, supposed to be of British construction. The
town of Carnarvon is yet surrounded by its ancient wall, which is of great height and thickness, and flanked at short
intervals by numerous semicircular bastion towers; and the walls and the four principal gateways of Aberconway are still
standing, and in tolerable preservation. The ancient mansions most worthy of notice are, Gloddaeth, the seat of E. Mostyn
Lloyd Mostyn, Esq.; Gwydir, that of Lord Willoughby de Eresby; and the episcopal palace at Bangor. L13rs Dinorweg, in the
parish of Llandeiniolen, is said to have been a palace of the last native sovereign of Wales, Llewelyn ab Grufydd, who had
also a residence at Aber, in this county. The seats of more modern date most worthy of enumeration are, the elegant
mansion of the Rev. H. Colton, and that of R. Heywood, Esq., at Bangor; Bodegroes, the residence of W. Glynn Griffith,
Esq.; Brjrnod61, that of John Griffith, Esq.; Coed Helen, that of Rice Thomas, Esq.; Glynllivon Park, that of Lord
Newborough; Gwknvrkn, that of O. I. Ellis Nanney, Esq.; Llanbeblig vicarage; Nanhoron, the seat of Richard Lloyd
Edwards, Esq.; Penrhyn Castle, that of I.H.D. Pennant, Esq., lately erected on the site of a very ancient mansion; Tan
yr Allt, that of William Alexander Madocks, Esq.; and Vaenol House, near Bangor, that of Thomas Assheton Smith, Esq. The
farm-houses and offices are in some instances well arranged; but they are mostly of a very inferior description. The
houses of the peasantry are in general extremely mean and rude. In some parts, particularly in the promontory of Lleyn,
their walls are built of what in some English counties is called cobb, that is, an argillaceous earth having straw or
rushes mixed with it, placed in layers between boards, until the whole is ready for the roof, which is made beforehand,
and composed of thatch, either of straw, fern, or heath. Many of these huts, which have hardly ever more than two rooms,
are without chimneys, the smoke escaping by a hole at one end of the building. In the more mountainous parts the cottages
are constructed of loose stones, such as are found in abundance round the bases of the mountains, which are piled upon
each other, and the interstices stuffed close with moss, to keep out the wind and driving rain. The houses of the small
farmers, however, have these openings filled with mortar, and in some few instances are plastered and whitewashed. In the
more frequented parts of the county, between Aberconway and Carnarvon, and in the vicinities of the slate quarries, the
cottages, as well as the houses of a superior class, are chiefly built of unhewn stone. The roofing is generally formed of
the fine blue slate of the district, which, when the walls are externally whitewashed or rough-cast, gives them a very
cheerful appearance. In situations exposed to the westerly winds, the walls of dwelling-houses in this part of the county
are not unusually guarded by a casing of slates, each successive course of which partly overlies the one below; the
object being to prevent the sea air from penetrating the walls and rendering them damp inside. When a front of this kind
is neatly executed with dark-coloured mortar in the interstices, it has a pretty appearance; but, otherwise, its aspect
is very unpleasing. The fires in the rural habitations are usually made by piling ignited peat on the stone hearth; for,
though grates have long been in use in some houses, yet many families have a notion that a fire raised above the level of
the floor is far less calculated for the purposes of warmth than one kindled on the hearth. The mode of living of the
mountaineers is particularly simple: their bread, called in Welsh bara ceirch, is of oats; and their principal beverages
are whey or butter-milk, with a few bottles of cwrw, or ale, preserved as a cordial in case of illness. This plain and
humble fare, together with their invigorating climate and active employments, renders them a hardy and long-lived race:
whenever medicines are deemed necessary, the herbs growing in the neighbourhood furnish the supply, which is commonly
administered by the advice of some matron of reputed skill. Oaten cakes are not only eaten in the mountainous districts,
but also constitute the household bread of all the other parts of the county, except only in genteel families, in some of
the towns, and in the inns on the post roads: they are unleavened, and baked on iron plates suspended over the fire,
called bake-stones. One daily meal throughout the year consists of a very wholesome vegetable mucilage, called iiymru (in
English flummery), which is made by adding as much warm water to finely-ground oatmeal as it can well absorb, to which
some sour butter-milk, leaven, or other ferment, is added, and in three or four days' time more warm water is put in, to
make it thin enough to be strained through a hair-sieve and boiled, after which it is ready for use: the slight
fermentation it undergoes, during its infusion, gives it a pleasant acidity, which contrasts well with the sweetness of
the milk with which it is generally eaten. Servants hired by the year generally commence their term of service on the 1st
of May. The surface of the county, with regard to its fences, wears a singular aspect to a stranger arriving from a well-
cultivated country. Much land not deemed waste has for ages been devoid of fences, and where these are found, they are
generally such rude barriers as to admit the trespass, not only of sheep, but of cattle and horses, to the great annoyance
and loss of the farmer. Few quickset or coppice hedges are any where to be seen, the enclosures being ordinarily made by
walls, three feet, and in some places not more than two feet, high, constructed of loose stones collected from the land so
enclosed, or from the neighbouring commons: these are piled loosely and promiscuously, except that frequently smaller
pieces are laid upon a huge block, evidently lying iu its natural situation and position; and the curvature of many of
these fences appears to be owing to the accidental position of the several massy blocks discoverable in them. Parts of
these unstable erections frequently fall, and open breaches for all kinds of errant cattle; nor do they ever present any
obstacle to the active sheep pf the country, which of themselves descend from the mountains in large and numerous flocks
on the approach of winter, spread in swarms over the lowland fields, and devour every kind of vegetable produce within
their reach. Different gentlemen, however, in clearing their land of the immense blocks of stone which encumbered it,
having blasted them with gunpowder, have employed them in the improvement of their fences, many of which are now compact
and of a proper height. To the east of the church of Llandeiniolen is a spring, esteemed in the neighbourhood for its
sanative properties, and called Fynnon Cegin Arthur, or " Arthur's kitchen water." The cataracts formed by the mountain
streams are very numerous, but the most remarkable for their grandeur and beauty are the following:Rhaiadr Cwm Dyli,
which consists of two distinct waterfalls, formed by a rivulet issuing from the alpine pool in the mountains above, called
Lltn Llwydaw, and which, precipitating itself over two rocky ledges, breaks in foam and spray down their broken fronts ;
Ceunant Mawr, a tremendous fall, half a mile south of Dolbadarn castle, which is more than sixty feet in height, and is
formed by a torrent from Cwm Brwynog; Rhaiadr Mawr, in the romantic glen in which is situated the village of Aber
Gwyngregyn, forming two successive falls, the upper of which is again broken into several parts by projecting ledges of
rock, while the lower one precipitates itself in one broad sheet from a height of upwards of sixty feet; another Rhaiadr
Mawr, formed by the stream issuing from Lltn Geirionydd, and regarded by Mr. Bingley as the grandest and most picturesque
waterfall in North Wales; and the fall on the stream that issues from Lltn Cowlyd, in the vicinity of the last-mentioned.
Down a rocky height called the Benglog, situated on one side of the valley of Nant Fran-con, rush the united waters of
five lakes (giving rise to the river Ogwen) into a deep pool beneath, forming three successive cataracts of striking
grandeur and beauty. And to this enumeration of natural curiosities may be added the little floating island on a small
lake called Llin y Dywarchen, or "the lake of the sod," which lies to the right of the road leading from Carnarvon to
Betbgelart.