I then proceeded to the terrace, at the south western extremity, which is on the surface of the rock; and the prospect from this spot, interesting at all times, is doubly so by moonlight. The suspension bridge beneath, the ocean on the left, and this fertile valley on the right, with the sparkling Conway meandering through it, compose a scene of unexampled beauty.
In the year 1290, when Edward was engaged in a dispute with the King of France, and was determined to revenge himself upon that potentate, in order to obtain supplies, he made the experiment of taxing his newly acquired Welsh subjects; which they resented by hanging Roger de Pulesdon, who had been appointed to collect the tax; and by defeating the English forces, who attempted to enforce them.
Alarmed at a revolt, which was now rising into importance, and which threatened to wrest from him his new dominions, Edward entered North Wales, to conduct the war in person.
Having proceeded in his march to Conway, he crossed that arm of the sea with a part of his forces, and retiring into the castle with them, awaited the arrival of the remainder. In his passage he lost many waggons, and other carriages, loaded with provisions, which were intercepted by the Welsh, who came down in multitudes from the mountains, and invested the castle, upon the land side, while a sudden rise in the Conway, which prevented his troops from crossing the river and rendering him assistance, made his situation extremely alarming. He was surrounded by water and the enemy, cut off from his army, and threatened with famine.
The good fortune of Edward, however, returned to him in the hour of need. The river subsided, and his forces being able to cross to his relief, the Welsh again retired to the mountains, and the English monarch passed his Christmas holidays without interruption at the castle.
In 1665, the Earl of Conway, under pretence of its being for his majesty’s service, stripped the castle of all its furniture, iron and lead, and shipped them off to Ireland, otherwise it might have remained as firm and entire at the present day, as when it was first erected.
If these Goths were aware of the ignominy they attached to their shields by acts so disgraceful, they might perhaps have permitted beauty and grandeur to remain undefiled by their sacrilegious touch.
The young men still keep up many of the ancient local customs; amongst which, on Nos Calanmai, or, the eve of the first of May, they hang on the houses of their sweethearts bunches of rosemary and ribbons.
At the door of a prude they tie a penglog, or part of a horse’s skeleton. There is likewise a custom preserved called Stocsio. Upon Easter Sunday, a great number of boys and men assemble on Pentwthil, with wands of gorse, to proclaim the laws and regulations which are to be observed upon the following morning. The last married person is sought to perform this office, who, mounted on a heap of stones, issues his mandate, while the rest listen with silent attention. He decrees that all men under sixty years of age are to appear in the street before six o’clock on the following morning; and all under forty, before four; and all under twenty are commanded not to go to bed at all, under penalty of being put into the stocks.
The orator then descends, amidst loud cheering, and the assembled parties separate; the younger branches to form plans of amusement, and the graver to secure their carts, waggons, and wheelbarrows, with chains and locks, to prevent their being seized upon the following day; a very necessary precaution, as every vehicle, unmanacled, or otherwise unsecured, is sure of being pressed before dawn of day into the service of the light-hearted youths, who are not over careful of their neighbour’s property during the uproarious period of their festivity.