WELSH POOL QUAY,
about three miles from that place. Several vessels were lying here, which carry on a constant traffic with Worcester, and the towns situated on the banks of this noble river. Before our entrée into Pool, Powis castle appeared on an eminence, immediately rising behind the town, and beautifully backed by a large plantation of trees.
Welsh Pool derives its name from a black pool in its neighbourhood, (its Welsh appellation signifying a quagmire or pool), and is one of the five boroughs in Montgomeryshire, which jointly send a member to Parliament. The town is by no means neat: it stands on a low hill, and consists of one principal street, in which are situated the new county hall and market-places. The Severn is navigable within three quarters of a mile of this town, which is computed at not less than two hundred miles from its junction with the British channel. It is the great market for the Welsh flannel, called gwart, or webb, prepared in many parts of Merionethshire, and generally used for soldiers’ clothes. This trade, however, has of late been very inconsiderable.
Powis castle (anciently called Poole Castle) the seat of Lord Clive, lies to the right, about one mile from Pool, on the ridge of a rock, retaining a mixture of castle and mansion. Here Lucien Buonaparte lived several years. It is built of red stone, and originally contained within its walls two castles: the entrance is between two round towers. There are several family portraits in a long gallery, measuring one hundred and seventeen feet by twenty. The gardens still retain that stiff formality so much in vogue many years ago; but the curious water-works, in imitation of the wretched taste of St. Germains en Laye, are now destroyed. The prospect from the castle is very extensive, comprehending a view of Welsh Pool, Vale, and Freiddin Hills. From hence to