Llangollen

“ More villas, more lodging-houses, and many tourists mark the approach to Corwen, a village or townlet that does not favourably impress the stranger fresh from Llangollen. No one could with truth say that the houses of Llangollen are beautiful, but the scenery there makes full atonement: at Corwen the scene is tame, the hills recede, and the Dee flows through a wide valley. Just here, where the town should be especially attractive, it is mean at the best, and at its worst downright ugly. ”

“ Their eyes and gestures eager, sharp, and quick.”
About five miles west of Llangollen, upon the road to Corwen, and on the south side of the Dee, the way being enriched by such varied and enchanting scenery as will amply repay the traveller of taste for the fatigue of the excursion, is Glyn Dyfrdwy, once the property and residence of that famous chieftain Owen Glyndwr, whose birth Shakspeare says marked him extraordinary. ”

“ The Viceroys of the p. 7sister kingdom, as well as the nobility, seem to regard Llangollen as a favourite resting-place, in passing from one country to the other.
Mountains and hills enclose the town on every side. On the south, the Berwyn Mountains raise their lofty heads. On the north, Castell Dinas Bran, vulgarly called Crow Castle, seated on its conical summit, frowns over the town in ruined grandeur, and is backed with the vast and wonderful range of lime-stone, which forms a ridge stratum super stratum, and is called the Eglwyseg Rocks. ”

“ At the foot of the crag on which Dinas Bran is perched lies Llangollen—a little town that owes its charm entirely to its position. Only a few miles away, in Shropshire, an ugly house is an exception: in Wales it is unfortunately the rule. A town or village that is really pretty in itself, apart from its surroundings, is almost unknown. ”

“ Most persons who take any interest in the scenery or topography of North Wales, have either seen or read of that singular p. 2residence, Plas Newydd, at Llangollen, for so many years the home of Lady Eleanor Butler and Miss Ponsonby.
About the year 1778, these ladies, impelled by a desire to lead a secluded life of celibacy, forsook the gay and fashionable circles in which they had moved; and in their search for a fitting spot, on which to pass their days together in devoted friendship to each other, and in acts of benevolence and charity to their neighbours, they visited Llangollen. ”

“ The ride from Wrexham to Llangollen is remarkable for the sublimity and awful grandeur of the prospects; the most prominent feature in the landscape is a high and stupendous chain of mountains, sometimes swelling into the clouds, or gently shelving into the vallies, around which they form a wide amphitheatre ”

“ The poor of Llangollen have much reason to pray that period may be far distant; for the benevolence of these retired ladies is extensive and discriminate; and it may justly be said there is not a poor deserving object in this little town, who does not participate in their bounty. I shall conclude with a brief notice of their residence. ”

“ Many (probably more than eight thousand) people were stationed all around us, from the tops of the mountains to the banks of the Dee, and were cheering and exulting, with intervals of silent astonishment. All within sight or hearing were expressing their sense of the general happiness. The whole valley of Llangollen might be said to laugh and sing.”
The following inscription is on the Aqueduct upon the side of the pier next to the south side of the river ”

“ At Llangollen are linen and woollen manufactures, and near are collieries, lime and iron works. Brewing, malting and slate-quarrying are also carried on. Within the parish, an aqueduct carries the Ellesmere canal across the Dee. ”

“ Such retired gentlemen’s servants, or such publicans either, as honest A—, are not every day to be found. His grounds, principally laid out by his own hands, exhibited an infinity of taste, and his house, into which I looked, was a perfect picture of neatness. Any tourist visiting Llangollen for a short period could do no better than take up his abode at the hostelry of honest A—.
CHAPTER LVI Ringing of Bells—Battle of Alma—The Brown Jug—Ale of Llangollen—Reverses. ”

“ Only the lovely vale and the encircling mountainous hills render Llangollen endurable. One forgets the mean houses in the 186beauty of the scenery. Dividing the place in half, the Dee flows noisily over a bed of rocky slabs and under that old bridge once regarded as one of the wonders of Wales. Engineering wonders are so plentiful nowadays that the mind, supersaturated with them, and the eye, accustomed to works on a gigantic scale, refuse to marvel at anything more. ”

“ Apart therefore from the romantic recollections, with which the singular history of the “Ladies of Llangollen” has invested this fair spot of earth, it presents to the tourist certain attractions, which the reflective explorer of the lovely vallies of the Dee should not neglect. We heard from some of the older inhabitants several anecdotes of the benevolence and charity of the departed “Ladies,” whose memory is most affectionately cherished in the neighbourhood. ”

“ O, how sweetly their voice mingled with the low rush of the river, at the bottom of the perllan. I subsequently found that the bells of Llangollen were celebrated for their sweetness. Their merit indeed has even been admitted by an enemy; for a poet of the Calvinistic-Methodist persuasion, one who calls himself Einion Du, in a very beautiful ode, commencing with—
“Tangnefedd i Llangollen,”
says that in no part of the world do bells call people so sweetly to church as those of Llangollen town. ”

“ In the churchyard is a monument to the two fashionable ladies who at an early age tired of the vanities of this world, and lived in complete seclusion at Plas Newydd, a house just beyond the village, famed for its old oak.
Valle Crucis Abbey, which can be reached either by walking along the canal from Llangollen, or by train to Berwyn, lies in a beautiful wooded valley surrounded by some of the best scenery in the neighbourhood of Llangollen. A little to the east, a very picturesque view of the ruins, which are the finest of their kind in Wales, may be obtained over a quiet pool of water. ”

“ The celebrated ladies of Llangollen were Lady Eleanor Butler, sister of John, seventeenth Earl of Ormonde, who had retired from society about twenty years previously with her friend Sarah, daughter of Chambre Brabazon Ponsonby, a cousin of the Earl of Bessborough. They took a cottage at Plasnewydd in the Vale of Llangollen, where they lived for half a century, and were visited by most of the celebrities of the time. About two years before this date Anna Seward wrote her poem of "Llangollen Vale" in their honour. ”

“ If eccentricity may rightly be considered a proper passport to fame, then the Ladies of Llangollen are justly celebrated, but if the extraordinary mental obliquity that shaped their wasted lives be looked upon pathologically, the consideration they received in their time and the tolerant interest in them in later years must seem highly mischievous.
194When the Ladies first came to Llangollen, the place was but a village on the post-road to Holyhead. The newly established mail-coaches went a different route, and only one inn—the “Hand”—existed for the accommodation of travellers. ”

“ I think it necessary, however, to impress upon the minds of tourists that the Llangollen Road Station (which is a mile beyond Chirk) is unquestionably the key upon this side of the country to the very heart of the finest scenery in Wales, and that from thence he can obtain public conveyances which run daily to Capel Curig, Snowdon, Bala, Barmouth, Dolgelley, and a hundred other enchanting places in the Principality. ”

“ Their friendship gradually grew stronger with their years, so that at seventeen they mutually engaged never to sacrifice their liberty, or to part from each other. From that moment they formed the design of withdrawing from the world, and of settling for good in some sequestered retreat. Having heard of the charming scenery of Wales, they secretly absconded from their friends for the purpose of fixing upon their future residence. They visited Llangollen, and there, on the summit of a mountain, they found a little detached cottage, with the situation of which they were delighted. ”

“ Not more than sixty years ago, this used to be the public high road to Oswestry, although the capacious p. 31and excellent road which now skirts the Mountains’ base would almost induce one to think it impossible. A very respectable and old inhabitant of Llangollen informs me, that before the road was altered and improved, some of the family from Chirk Castle used to visit Llangollen once a year in the family coach. On the appointed day, which was generally known beforehand, all the inhabitants were on the alert ”

“ The valley of the Dee, of which the Llangollen district forms part, is called in the British tongue Glyndyfrdwy—that is, the valley of the Dwy or Dee. The celebrated Welsh chieftain, generally known as Owen Glendower, was surnamed after this valley, the whole of which belonged to him, and in which he had two or three places of strength, though his general abode was a castle in Sycharth, a valley to the south-east of the Berwyn, and distant about twelve miles from Llangollen. ”

“ And not feel the crush;”
but the site is not well chosen for developing the many charming prospects which the vale of Llangollen affords; and, indeed, the entire arrangements, both of dwelling and pleasure grounds, seem to be suggestive rather of another poetical maxim in great favour with anchorites and recluses—“Retire, the world shut out.” We cannot agree with Miss Seward, who describes this hermitage as “a retreat which breathes all the witchery of genius, taste, and sentiment.” It is rather fantastical than tasteful, and savours more of eccentricity than sentiment. ”

“ The Castle stands, as hath before been shown, immediately above and on the north side of Llangollen, on a conical mountain, about six hundred yards above the level of the river Dee; [45] and is built on the summit of the hill, which probably was leveled to procure materials, as the building occupies the whole flat. It seems to have been about one hundred yards in length, by fifty yards wide. The present remains are almost without form: they are built of the silicious stone of the mountain, set in a coarse mortar or grout, which is grown as hard as the stone itself. ”

“ He was Prince of Powis, and was called St. Tysilio. It is a neat little edifice, with a very pleasant church-yard, and contains nothing very ancient in the monumental way; but there are around it many very venerable yew trees, with their, wide spreading sombre foliage. I had the curiosity to measure one, and found it above twenty feet in girth. The inside of the Church is, like its neighbour at Llangollen, indebted for some of its decorations to the Abbey Crucis, which seems after its dissolution to have been considered as lawful plunder ”

“ And [Pg 74] it is this very quality of gentle wildness that gives such charm to the little Glen of the Cross, which joins the larger valley of the Dee just above Llangollen, and is reached by way of the old stone bridge that was the first of its kind in Wales.
When, in a few minutes, we see the gable of Valle Crucis Abbey below us on the right, we leave our car by the roadside. We leave, indeed, the whole world behind us as we pass through the heavy door by which there was once no returning. ”

“ The vale of Llanrwst is peculiarly beautiful and fertile. In this vale is the celebrated bridge of Inigo Jones; but what is a much more delightful circumstance, the inhabitants of the vale are the most beautiful race of people I have ever beheld; and I am much astonished that this never seems to have struck the Welsh tourists. The vale of Llangollen is very fine, and not the least interesting object in it, I can assure you, is Davidson's famous aqueduct [Pont-Cysylltau] , which is already reckoned among the wonders of Wales. ”

“ They wandered about Wales for some months, and finally they came to Pen-y-Maes, Llangollen, a small cottage, with kitchen, sitting-room, and two bed-rooms; they took a lease of this cottage, and added to it from time to time, changing its name to Plas Newydd.
The valley of the River Dee somewhat resembles the scenery of the County Wicklow in its combination of rushing water and waving woods. But the house in which the ladies lived for fifty years is quite unique—nothing like it can be seen anywhere. The porch is supported by two carved oak bed-posts of Charles I.'s time, black with age. ”

“ A large brick mansion, presents itself. It is situated on a rising ground, on the north side of the Wrexham road; and was once the residence of John Trevor, Bishop of St. Asaph, who in the year 1346, caused a stone bridge to be built over the Dee, at Llangollen, which is accounted one of the wonders of Wales. ”

“ A younger, but middle-aged man, whose vivacity, combined with Welch mutton and ale, quite raised my spirits. Hearing from Mr. D—— with what enthusiasm I had admired the scenery of Llangollen, he volunteered to hand me in at the coach window, a note of every remarkable place we should approach during the rest of the journey; adding, "I know the road pretty well, having traversed it at least twice a year for sixteen years, passing to and from my Irish home." ”

“ VALLE CRUCIS ABBEY
(admission 6d.) lies two miles by road from Llangollen. Founded by the above-named Griffith in A.D. 1200, it is necessarily in the Early English style, and dog-tooth ornamentation may be discovered in the west end. The beautiful ruin appeals to artist and antiquary alike, and is considered the most picturesque in Wales. A little way off to the north is Eliseg's Pillar, a most astonishing early monument put up by Concenn ap Cadell ap Brochmail to the memory of his great-grandfather, Eliseg, who lived as far back as the beginning of the seventh century. ”