Carnarvonshire

“ It is a word in constant use in Carnarvonshire, where it is ironically applied to pretentious men fond of showing themselves off, especially in the matter of clothes. ’D ydi nhw ’n geiri! ‘Aren’t they swells!’ Dyna i ch’i gawr! ‘There’s a fine fellow for you!’ and so also with the feminine cawres. Of course the cawr of standard Welsh is familiar enough in the sense of giant to Carnarvonshire people, so the meaning can be best ascertained in the case of the plural ceiri, which they hardly ever meet with in print ”

“ The area of the ancient county is 361,156 acres, with a population in 1901 of 126,883. The area of the administrative county is 365,986 acres. The inhabitants practically all speak Welsh (slightly differing, especially in Lleyn, from that of Anglesey) . Over 80 is the percentage in Carnarvonshire, as against over 90 for Anglesey. The county is divided into two parliamentary divisions, south (Eifion) and north (Arfon) .
The Carnarvon district of boroughs is formed of Bangor city, Carnarvon, Conway, Criccieth, Nefyn and Pwllheli. ”

“ OWEN, ELLIS (1789–1868) , Welsh antiquary and poet, son of Owen Ellis and Ann Thomas his wife, of Cefnymeusydd, in the parish of Ynys Cynhaiarn, Carnarvonshire, was born on 31 March 1789. He went to school at Penmorfa, and was afterwards sent to Shrewsbury; on returning home he settled at Cefynmeusydd, and on his father's death took charge of the farm. He spent the rest of his life at Cefnymeusydd as a prosperous farmer of much local influence, and died there on 27 Jan. ”

“ It was at Carnarvon Castle, which guards the entrance to “Snowdonia,” that the little Prince was born who was presented by Edward I. to the Welsh chieftains upon a shield as a “Prince of Wales who could not speak a word of English.” And nowadays Carnarvon is, perhaps, the best starting-point from [11] which to take a glimpse of this wild and mountainous district.
Behind us, as we look towards the mountains, lie the Menai Straits, spanned by the fine suspension bridge, so strong and yet so fairy-like with its arches of Anglesey marble, that it has been called a “poem in stone and iron.” ”

“ Consequently, in Cornwall, churches are, as a rule, away from the towns, which latter have grown up about the chieftain’s residence, except in such instances as Padstow and Bodmin, where a religious, monastic settlement formed the nucleus. Camelford, an old borough town, is over two miles from its parish church, Lanteglos, without even a chapel-of-ease in it, an ecclesiastical scandal in the diocese. Callington, the old capital of the municipality of Galewig, is three miles from its church of Southill. ”

“ On the rising of the Buckinghamshire men, under Hampden, when they came to London in 1642 to present ‘seditious petitions’ to both Houses of Parliament, Lord Carnarvon went down into the county, where he owned a large property, to raise troops in conjunction with other Royalists, and used all his influence to advance the King’s cause. He was with Charles at York, and was one of the Peers who signed ‘the Declaration.’ He afterwards joined His Majesty at Nottingham, with a force of a thousand men levied and equipped at his own cost ”

“ And whereas we have received good testimony of the good affections and forward zeale of our loving subjects in the Principality of Wales, particularly in our countie of Carnarvon, and of their readiness to serve us for the preservation of the kingdom in this extremity, which we looke upon as an expression of their great fidelity, and shall remember it to their satisfaction, we shall not doubt of your willingness to give obedience to our present directions thus sent to each of you for what is in your power to perform for the furtherance of the publique safety. ”

“ It contains very fine carved bench-ends and a screen that deserve inspection. The tower of the church is peculiarly beautiful, and the church rises above a grove of the true Cornish elm, growing like poplars, small-leaved.
Carnanton was formerly the dwelling of William Noye, a farmer of Buryan, who was bred as student-at-law in Lincoln's Inn, and afterwards became M. P. for S. Ives in Cornwall, in which capacity he stood for several Parliaments in the beginning of the reign of Charles I., and was one of the boldest and stoutest champions of the rights of Parliament against absolute monarchy. ”

“ Each man not an actual servant, whether he were gentleman or small yeoman, lived apart upon his property or holding. If we eliminate the present towns, the country must have been in most parts almost as thickly populated as it is now. A valuable survival, known as the Record of Carnarvon, a sort of local doomsday book, dating from the thirteenth century, may be seen to-day, and it gives very detailed information as to the persons, manors, and freeholds of that country, and some idea of how well peopled for the times was even the wildest part of wild Wales. ”

“ Carnarvon is a pretty little town, situated in the bottom of a bay, and might be a place of good trade, if the country afforded a consumption.
The sea flows quite round from Bangor to Carnarvon Bay, which separates Anglesea from the rest of Wales, and makes it an island. Beaumaris, the capital of the island, hath been a flourishing town; there are still two very good streets, and the remains of a very large castle. The Lord Bulkeley hath a noble ancient seat planted with trees on the side of the hill above the town, from whence one hath a fine prospect of the bay and adjacent country ”

“ Carnac, a seaside fishing-village in the Bay of Quibéron, in the dep. of Morbihan, France, with interesting historical records, particularly Celtic, many of them undecipherable by the antiquary.
Carnarvon, a maritime county in N. Wales, with the highest mountains and grandest scenery in the Principality, and a capital of the same name on the Menai Strait, with the noble ruins of a castle, in which Edward II., the first Prince of Wales, was born.
Carnarvon, Henry Howard, Earl of, Conservative statesman; held office under Lord Derby and Disraeli; was a good classical scholar ”

“ In the autumn of 1885 it was doubtful what course the Irish Nationalists would take. It was generally understood that Lord Carnarvon, who had been made viceroy of Ireland, had been in communication with Parnell; that Lord Salisbury was aware of the interviews Home Rule. which had taken place; and it was whispered that Lord Carnarvon was in favour of granting some sort of administrative autonomy to Ireland. Whatever opinion Lord Carnarvon may have formed—and his precise view is uncertain—a greater man than he had suddenly arrived at a similar conclusion. ”

“ May it please your Royal Majesty to understand that Robert Parys, the deputy constable of Carnarvon Castle, has apprized us through a woman, because there was no man who dared to come—for neither man nor woman dare carry letters on account of the rebels of Wales,—that "Oweyn de Glyndour," with the French and all his other power, is preparing to assault the town and castle of Carnarvon, and to begin this enterprize with engines, sowes [3] and ladders of great length; and in the town and castle there are not in all more than twenty-eight fighting men, which is too small a force ”

“ There was only one thing in Wales which profoundly satisfied the great Doctor and that was its castles, Harlech and Conway, and Carnarvon Castle most of all. Almost every Welsh town has its historical traditions of importance, but Carnarvon, the city of the Prince of Wales, even more than others. There Elen, the Great Welsh road-maker, was sought and won by the Emperor Maximus. Of that little city, once the Roman city of Segontium, there is a description in the “Mabinogion,” the classic of Welsh literature and one of the classics of the world. ”

“ The manors of Millaton and Carnadon Prior belong to the Duchy of Cornwall; the latter had belonged to the Priory of Launceston, and is one of the manors given in exchange by King Henry the Eighth for the honour of Wallingford.
On the waste of this manor stands the lofty hill usually called Carraton Downs, supposed, with the exception of Brown Willy (which is elevated 1368 feet above the sea) to be the highest land in Cornwall. Here King Charles the First drew up his forces on the 2d of August, 1644, and was joined by Prince Maurice. ”

“ Nothing is more common than for two persons to take different views of an hour's conversation in which they alone participated, and their differences may not materially reflect on their veracity. It seems clear that Carnarvon had no distinct scheme in mind when he met Mr. Parnell, but he was inclined to ‘some limited form of self-government not in any way independent of imperial control, such as might satisfy real local requirements and to some extent national aspirations.’ So much he subsequently stated in the House of Lords he would gladly see achieved (10 June 1886) . ”

“ Edward I. bestowed on Carnarvon its first Royal Charter, and made it a free Borough: among other privileges, none of the Burgesses could be convicted of any crime committed between the Rivers Conway and Dyfi, unless by a Jury of their own Townsmen. The representative of the place is elected by its Burgesses, and those of Conway, Pwllheli, and Crickaeth; the right of voting is in every one, resident, or non-resident, admitted to their Freedom. ”

“ But I must not forget my excursion to Caernarvon, through these straits, which resemble so much the picturesque rivers of my own land. Many objects of interest enlivened the trip; but when, at last, the old walls of Caernarvon Castle rose before my sight, in all their feudal grandeur and historic dignity, I felt like one inspired with rapture, though not the less impressed with a sense of something awful and august. ”

“ Caernarvon is an ancient borough town, a favourite watering place, and enjoys the benefit of a considerable export trade in slates of the best quality, besides the supply of the interior with wines, coal, earthenware, &c. It is surrounded by walls, the space enclosed resembling the form of a harp, the royal castle being the head or termination of the upright arm, and a fine, broad, marine terrace outside it, now constitutes the chief promenade of inhabitants and visiters. The local position of Caernarvon is extremely beautiful,—the town walls, and long terrace are washed by the sea in front ”

“ CARNARVON, EARLDOM OF. The earldom of Carnarvon was created in 1628 for Robert Dormer, Baron Dormer of Wyng (c. 1610–1643) , who was killed at the first battle of Newbury whilst fighting for Charles I., and it became extinct on the death of his son Charles, the 2nd earl, in 1709. From 1714 to 1789 it was held by the family of Brydges, dukes of Chandos and marquesses of Carnarvon, and in 1793 Henry Herbert, Baron Porchester (1741–1811) , was created earl of Carnarvon.
His great-grandson, Henry Howard Molyneux Herbert, 4th earl of Carnarvon (1831–1890) , was born on the 24th of June 1831. ”

“ But Carnarvon, now at this date, January, 1404, was as a matter of fact in a lamentable condition as regards defenders. The garrison had declined to less than thirty men, and there are letters in Sir Henry Ellis’s collection showing the desperate state to which this and other castles were reduced. It seems at the first sight incredible that such a handful of men could hold so great a fortress against serious attacks. The walls and defences of Carnarvon Castle are to-day much what they were in the times of Glyndwr. ”

“ Persons who may be induced to examine this interesting part of the County, would do well to hire ponies at Carnarvon, and set off after an early breakfast; they would then be able to return by three or four o’clock. The first part of the journey, for two miles and a half, is along the Pwllheli road; about that distance, (a few yards beyond a small bridge) the turn on the left must be taken, afterwards p. 100the Slate Carts (of which the stranger will meet with a great number) will be a sufficient direction. ”

“ The visitors who travel through the valley during the holiday month of August are English and Welsh tourists on the coaches driving over Llanberis Pass, said to be the highest coach drive in the world, and going to Carnarvon, the ancient Roman city of Segontium, fourteen miles distant from Beddgelert.
In the last hundred years the village has harboured many a distinguished man who, giving thanks for his undiscovered seclusion, has come and gone unknown. ”

“ Pwllheli is the principal Town in this part of the County, and the Magazine of Goods which supplies all this tract; it lies near the sea shore, and has a tolerable harbour for vessels of about 60 tons: Leland styles it “statio optima Carinis.” The entrance is by a high rock, called Carreg y Wimbill, (the Gimlet,) which is near a mile from land, to which it is joined by a range of sand hills. This place, as well as Nevin, was made a free Borough, by the Black Prince, by Charter, dated the 12th year of his Principality, at Carnarvon, p. ”

“ A sheep-track—for no other visible path will render guidance along the moor—leads on to Kilmarth Tor, from the brow of which lofty crag the eye can embrace the expanse of the two seas which are the boundaries of Cornwall on the right and left. There, too, looms in the distance rocky Carradon, with the valley of the Hurlers at its foot. These tall shapes of granite, grim and grotesque, were once, as local legends say, nine bold upstanding Cornish men who disdained the Sabbath-day ”

“ From this rich and animating display of nature’s p. 40works, we must now (as faithful pioneers through the County of Carnarvon) turn our eyes to the works of Art in this neighbourhood; the first that presents itself is the great Post Road, from Shrewsbury to Holyhead, which has been lately much altered, and in many places in this vicinity entirely diverted from the old line. ”