Abergavenny

“ To the west was a very conglomeration of mountains, seemingly crowded against one another, yet all apart, each distinguishable by an outline and aspect of its own. Most conspicuous of these, the conical Sugarloaf, the two Skyrrids—one of them named Holy Mountain—and the Blorenge, all towering above the town of Abergavenny, which is surrounded and embraced by them as the arena of an amphitheatre by its outer and more elevated circle. ”

“ Cheyne threw himself into Dover Castle: Southwell and Abergavenny held to the Queen as had been feared. Abergavenny raised two thousand men, and attacked and dispersed a party of insurgents under Sir Henry Isly on Wrotham Heath; but Abergavenny's followers deserted him immediately afterwards, and marched to Rochester to Wyatt. Southwell could do nothing; he believed that the rebellion would spread to London, and that Mary would be lost. ”

“ Remembering the words of Goldsmith,--"The young noble who is whirled through Europe in his chariot sees society at a peculiar elevation, and draws conclusions widely different from him who makes the grand tour on foot," I determined to make my way to Abergavenny either by means of my own legs or through the chance aid of those of a Welsh pony. So, one bright morning, with stick in hand, knapsack on shoulder, and a wandering artist for a companion, I started for the iron district, as that part of Wales is termed. ”

“ THE MOAT, RAGLAN CASTLE.
LLANTHONY PRIORY.
It raised its head again and took an active part in larger wars; but it adds little nowadays to the attraction of Abergavenny, whose charms are altogether those of peacefulness and depend on the quiet Usk, and the hills that grow so purple against the evening sky. [Pg 255] To reach Llanthony we must drive on into the heart of those hills, with the Skirrid Fawr, or Holy Mountain, on the right and the Sugar Loaf on the left; then, at Llanfihangel Crucorney, turn sharply to the left down a short but very steep hill, and so enter the Vale of Ewyas. ”

“ But everybody confessed that it was not pleasant to live at Abergavenny as it formerly had been, and agreed that if Sir Jenkin were not done away with the castle, convent and city would all go to the devil together. And then began consultations and whisperings and conferences to take place and messengers were running all day from the castle to the convent, and from the convent to the town ”

“ Near its head, where it lies open towards the north-west, it was guarded by the hill-castle of Dinas, and lower down by Tretower. Still lower down, the Usk itself is protected by the castled mound of Crickhowel, and still lower by that of Abergavenny; so that between the seigniorial castles of Blaen-Llyfni, Dinas, and Abergavenny, and the private posts of Tretower and Crickhowel, the incursions of the Welsh of Brecknock and Radnor were liable to be checked in their advance, and altogether cut off in their retreat. ”

“ BIT OF THE ROMAN WALL AT CAERLEON (p. 155) .
“Hard and hye” the mountains do rise and tower above the luxurious valley of “pastor grounds.” Not so long ago all the streets of Abergavenny were narrow and crooked, but of late years there has been a great display of public enterprise. Whether the changes that have been effected are to be regarded as improvements is questionable; for with the widening of the thoroughfares and the building of a new town hall and markets, and so forth, the individuality of a town is apt to disappear ”

“ The Abergavenny Board of Guardians, we read, has decided to accept an offer by Lord Abergavenny to purchase the local workhouse for £3,000.
Three of the new peers have now chosen their titles. Sir Edgar Vincent becomes Baron d'Abernon; Major-General Brocklehurst, Baron Ranksborough, and Sir Edward Lyell, Baron Lyell. Rather lazy of Sir Edward.
A lioness which escaped from a circus at Bourg-en-Brasse, France, the other day, was killed, and a gendarme in the hunting party was shot in the leg. As the lioness was not armed it is thought that the gendarme must have been shot by one of the party. ”

“ For the Lord Abergavenny, the Sheriff, and the rest of the Gentlemen, with such other of the Queen's true and faithful subjects, as with great pains taking to climb the Hill and to hold way with the Horsemen, overtook the rebels at a field Blacksoll Field. called Blacksoll Field in the parish of Wrotham, a mile distant from the very top of the Hill; where the Lord Abergavenny, the Sheriff, the Gentlemen aforenamed, and others the Queen's true and faithful subjects, The Skirmish. ”

“ Within a short distance southward of the road from Monmouth to Abergavenny, and about three miles from the first-mentioned town, are the small remains of the abbey of Grace-dieu, chiefly formed into a barn, situated on a sequestered bank of the Trothy. ”

“ The castle at Abergavenny formerly belonged to the Nevilles. The Welsh chroniclers have celebrated the Mountains of Carno, near this place, as having been bedewed with the blood of the Saxons.
The magnificent ruins of Ragland Castle lie half way between Monmouth and Abergavenny. Charles I. was entertained here during the first troubles of his reign, with noble hospitality by the aged Marquess of Worcester, who surrendered the castle, after a siege of almost three months, to the [pg 202] Parliamentary army under Sir Thomas Fairfax, in 1646:
"Majestic Ragland! ”

“ He and his being fully persuaded that there could be no great force raised against him in the Shire; whereof the most part should not be his when it should come to the shew. Wherein although he might be deceived, as indeed he was; yet his quarrel, with the disposition of the people thereunto well considered, with the end of his travail which could be but spoil and ravin (ready means and lures to draw the careless multitude unto him) : it seemed to the Lord Abergavenny and such as served with him, better policy for to weary Wyat, and weaken him by the cutting away of his strength from him ”

“ There is a free grammar school, which till 1857 had a fellowship at Jesus College, Oxford. Breweries, ironworks, quarries, brick fields and collieries in the neihbourhood are among the principal industrial establishments. Abergavenny was incorporated in 1899, and is governed by a mayor, 4 aldermen and 12 councillors. Area, 825 acres.
This was the Roman Gobannium, a small fort guarding the road along the valley of the Usk and ensuring quiet among the hill tribes. There is practically no trace of this fort. ”

“ To be sure, the town has scanty remains of a castle rising from a tree-clad hill to overlook the houses and the river. Part of the castle area is covered with houses, and another part has been converted into public gardens. The associations of the fortress are none of the noblest, for historians tell us that “it was dishonoured by treason oftener than any other castle in Wales.” It seems to have been the practice of the Norman lords of Abergavenny Castle to invite neighbouring Welsh chiefs to feasts within the walls of the stronghold, and then treacherously murder them. ”

“ That hist'ry's self might blush to name [1] .
[Footnote 1: In Jones's History of Brecknockshire, the castle of
Abergavenny is noticed as having been the scene of the most shocking
enormities.]
At length, through each retreating shower,
Burst, with a renovating power,
Light, life, and gladness; instant fled
All contemplations on the dead.
Who hath not mark'd, with inward joy,
The efforts of the diving boy ”

“ This “preatie tounlet stondith as in a valley upon Wisk,” Leland says; and, indeed, its situation on the north-east bank of the river is beautiful. Whichever way one looks, the scenery is charming in its attractiveness and rich in the romantic and the picturesque. Close to the Abergavenny road stand the ruins of what once must have been a castle of very considerable dimensions, which covered as much as eight acres of ground. Even in the days of Elizabeth this castle was nothing more than a ruin. No great distance from Crickhowell is the Well of St. ”

“ It is called by the Welsh now Hwlford (the sailing road) because the tide comes up to the town. Aberhonddu, at the mouth of the R. Honddi or Honddu (the county town of Brecknock) , and Aberdovey, at the embouchure of the R. Dovey in Wales. In Scotland, Aberbrothwick or Arbroath, Abercorn, anc. Aeber-curnig, Aberdour, Abergeldie, Abernethy, at the embouchure of the Brothock, Cornie, Dour, Geldie, and Nethy. Aberchirder is Abhir-chiar-dur (the conf. of the dark water) ; Abercrombie (the curved conf.) ; Aberfeldy, i.e. Abhir-feathaile (the smooth conf.) ; Aberfoyle (the conf. of the pool, phuill) ”

“ For the future life, the Aberdonian has no fears, and if he will only recommend you to Saint Peter, you will not have to wait long at the gates of Paradise.
Society in Aberdeen is of the choicest. Its aristocracy is an aristocracy of talent. In Aberdeen, as in Edinburgh, the local lions are the professors of the university, literary people, doctors, barristers, and artists. To cut a figure there, you need not jingle your guineas, but only show your brains and good manners. In Glasgow, show your savoir-faire; but, in Edinburgh and Aberdeen, your savoir-vivre. ”

“ The county of Aberdeen is not only one of the great intellectual centres of Scotland, it is the home of Caledonian shrewdness and pawkiness. Aberdeenshire alone furnished more than half the anecdotes collected by Dean Ramsay.
The Aberdonians are the chosen people, the elect of God.
Every Scot is proud of his nationality, but an Aberdonian will tell you: "Not only am I a Scotchman, but I was born in Aberdeen." ”

“ There is no city that looks so Scottish, and yet so different, as Aberdeen. It is a dignified and an extraordinarily clean city. After a rain its granite glitters as though it had been newly cut, and to one accustomed to smoke-grimed American cities Aberdeen looks as though it were built this morning, when no doubt much of this granite has a right to the hoar of antiquity. ”

“ The Aberdonians, as is known, pride themselves on a hard-headedness answering to their native granite. The legend goes that an Englishman once attempted to defraud these far northerners, but the charge against him was scornfully dismissed by an Aberdeen bailie: “The man must be daft!” By the rest of Scotland, Aberdeen is looked on as concentrating its qualities of pawkiness, canniness, and thrawnness; the Edinburgh man cracks upon it the same sort of jokes as the Cockney upon Scotland in general. ”

“ The town of Fishguard hangs, as it were, upon the slope of a precipitous hill overlooking the vale of the Gwaen, which here, as George Owen puts it, 'falleth into the sea, making a faire Haven and goode Harborow for shipps and Barks.' Its waterside suburb of Abergwaen, approached by one of the steepest bits of coach road in the Principality, is mainly frequented by fisher-folk and seafaring men engaged in the coasting trade.
Encompassed by sheltering uplands, the narrow vale of the Gwaen has a singularly mild and equable climate, which fosters a wealth of luxuriant vegetation. ”

“ The place was given up to plunder, and for three days Aberdeen became a scene of horror and revolting licence, as it had been from an attack of Montrose four years before, when fighting on the other side. The approach of Argyll compelled the pillagers to fly into Banffshire, and, following the banks of the Spey, he crossed the hills of Badenoch, and, after a series of wild adventures in Athol, Angus, and Forfar, he was met by the Covenanters at Fyvie Castle, and compelled to retreat into the mountains. ”

“ The Glamorgan canal has also a branch (made in 1811) running from Abercynon to Aberdare. From being, at the beginning of the 19th century, a mere village in an agricultural district, the place grew rapidly in population owing to the abundance of its coal and iron ore, and the population of the whole parish (which was only 1486 in 1801) increased tenfold during the first half of the century. Ironworks were established at Llwydcoed and Abernant in 1799 and 1800 respectively, followed by others at Gadlys and Aberaman in 1827 and 1847. ”

“ One point about Aberdovey is that the distant Welsh mountains in part break this horizon line pleasantly.
I was glad to get back to Machynlleth, for it made no pretence of being anything but a quiet little country town at which the traveller might take his ease. I spent the evening seated in the porch of "mine inn" a-chatting with "mine host," having also an eye to the people on the road, and so to the life and the humours of the place. With the help of the landlord to tell me who was who, as far as he knew, and what part each one played on the town's stage, I was entertained enough. ”

“ The Dyfi, here a mile broad, is crossed by a ferry to Borth sands, whence a road leads to Aberystwyth. The submerged “bells of Aberdovey” (since Seithennin “the drunkard” caused the formation of Cardigan Bay) are famous in a Welsh song. Aberdovey is a health and bathing resort. ”

“ Few besides the farm people of Abergann use the right-of-way path, and unlikely any of them being on it at that hour. It is only from habit they retire to the more secluded spot under the elm, hallowed to them by many a sweet remembrance.
They sit down side by side; and close, for his arm is around her waist. How unlike the lovers in the painted pavilion at Llangorren! Here there is neither concealment of thought nor restraint of speech—no time given to circumlocution—none wasted in silence. There is none to spare, as she has told him at the moment of meeting. ”

“ There is no city in Scotland which seems to me to have more personality, a more distinct personality, than Aberdeen. It is plainly a self-sufficient city, and both in politics and in religion it thinks for itself, mindless if its thinking is not that of the rest of the kingdom. ”