LLYN GWYNANT.
This is one of two fine lakes occupying the beautiful vale between Beddgelert and Dyffryn Mymbre, or Capel Curig. It washes the lowest visible part of Snowdon’s base, and is supplied by a noble cataract issuing from Ffynnon las, [66] one of the pools in the dark recesses of the great mountain. The hills around it, though picturesque and lofty, are not sufficiently broken for sublimity. On the southern extremity of the lake some fragments of a building are still discernible, confidently believed to be the ruins of a chapel erected by Madoc, the son of Owen Gwynedd, who dwelt here previous to his emigration to South America. The vale here contracts, and the grand mountain masses rapidly close in, forming the hollow of “Cwn Llan,” where Snowdon is observed to tower with greater majesty than in any other position. Beneath his darkening front, and encompassed by a noble amphitheatre of mountains, is Plas Gwynant, the truly romantic seat of Mr. Vaudrey. At this precise spot the beauty of the scenery increases wonderfully, and the spectator is lost in an endless variety of rock, and wood, and flood, and mountain. Llanberis Vale may be more sublime, no valley in Wales is equally beautiful. Nor is the accompaniment of lake wanting here. Lyn Dinas now opens to the view, with its dark brown surface and verdant banks. At its extremity rises a remarkable hill commanding the whole vale, whose rough, bold sides are in unison with the surrounding objects. Here are the ramparts of a fortress, which frowned, from its precipices, over the dark waters of the lake, and commanded the narrow avenues of the valley. This is the Dinas Emrys, where
Prophetic Merlyn sat, when to the British king
The changes long to come auspiciously he told.
Here Vortigern retired, disgusted with the treachery of his Saxon allies; and being frustrated in his first essays to raise a fortress, by some invisible hand, consulted all the wise men of the age, who assured him, that his palace would always want stability until sprinkled with the blood of one “without a father born.” In the town of Caermarthen the child Merlin was found, the circumstances of whose life corresponded with the advice of the elders. The harmless boy was ordered to be sacrificed, but his questions so confounded the base advisers of his death, that he obtained both life and liberty. The legend is thus embodied in poetic translation by Drayton:
“To that mighty king, which rashly undertook
A strong walled tower to rear, those earthly spirits that shook
The great foundation still, in dragon’s horrid shape,
That dreaming wizard told, making the mountain gape
With his most powerful charms, to view those caverns deep.
And from the top of Bridd, so high and wondrous steep,
Where Dinas Emrys stood, shew’d where the serpents fought,
The white that tore the red; from whence the prophet wrought
The Briton’s sad decay, then shortly to ensue.”
LLANGOLLEN. [68]
The character of Llangollen Vale is peculiar. The hills on either side are steep and lofty, and descend abruptly, though in verdant lawns, to the channel of the Dee. Although it may be considered to extend a length of ten or twelve miles, yet such is the extraordinary sinuosity of its form, that it hardly admits a prospect of half that extent or distance. The village has partaken largely of the benefits resulting from good public roads, and has progressed with much rapidity. It is more visited by tourists than any other part of the principality. The church, a handsome structure, is dedicated to Saint Collen, and from the cemetery is seen the much admired view of the old bridge across the Dee, with rich accompaniments of wood and rock, and the fine back-ground of Dinas Bran. About four miles from the village the vale expands, and discloses a scene of inexpressible beauty. Here the noble aqueduct of Pont-y-Cysyllte, on a scale so vast as to approach the character of a natural creation, is thrown from mountain to mountain. It extends a length of nine hundred and eighty feet, and is sustained by twenty piers one hundred and sixteen feet in height from the bed of the river Dee, the span of the intervening arches being forty-five feet. At each end are spacious embankments, now clothed with the richest foliage; and the old bridge across the river has not only lent its name to the great work, but has made a sacrifice of its beauty and publicity, being concealed and quite eclipsed by the towering structure above it. The object of its construction, as well as the meritorious exertions of its originators, are fully set forth in the following inscription graven on the central pier:
The Nobility and Gentry of the adjacent counties
having united their efforts with the great commercial
interests of this country, in creating an intercourse and
union between England and Wales, by a navigable
communication of the three rivers, Severn, Dee, and Mersey,
for the mutual benefit of agriculture and trade, caused
the first stone of this Aqueduct of Pont-y-cysyllty to
be laid on the 25th day of July, 1795; when Richard Myddleton,
of Chirk, Esq. M.P. one of the original patrons of the Ellesmere Canal,
was Lord of the Manor, and in the reign of our sovereign George III.
When the equity of the laws and security of property promoted the
general welfare of the nation; while the arts and sciences flourished
by his patronage, and the conduct of civil life was improved by his
example.
This inscription is doubtless true, and conveys a rational moral; but the writer forgot that artists and men of science deserve, as a reward for their great services, at least, the introduction of their names upon such commemorative tables. Mr. Telford furnished the design, and the contract for its erection was fulfilled by Wilson.
