Dolwyddelan Castle,
Said to have been built about the year 500. It is situated on a high rock, inaccessible on one side, and consists of two square towers, one 40 feet by 25, the other 31 feet by 20, and a court in the middle. This old ruin, entirely enclosed by mountains, built probably by some of the princes of North Wales, though its original founder and the time of its erection are unknown. Iorwerth Drwyndwn made this castle his residence, and his son, Llywelyn the Great, is said to have been born at this place. It was a fortress of considerable importance to the Welsh, but a few decaying relics now serve to mark the site of its former power and grandeur. Recent investigations render it probable that this was the last stronghold in North Wales that held out against Edward the First. In the royal roll of expenditure of that period, appear items of payments to an earl, a knight, and a squire, for bringing news to the Queen, at Rhuddlan, where the army of reserve was stationed whilst Edward was pursuing his successes in the Snowdonian mountains, of the reduction of this fortress; and the date corresponds with the close of the resistance and capture of David, the brother of Llywelyn. The village of Dolwyddelan stands within about a mile of the castle, and consists of only a few small cottages.
Three miles and a half from Capel Curig, on the left of the road toward Bettws, is the celebrated cataract of
Rhaiadr-y-Wennol,
(Or the Waterfall of the Swallow.) The scenery around this truly beautiful and picturesque fall, formed by the little river Llugwy, is truly grand; the water at the top is in one body, but soon becomes broken into many streams, dashing impetuously over large masses of rock, which impede its progress, down a rugged chasm of sixty feet wide at the broadest part, The high banks of the ravine are wooded, the trees hanging beautifully over the torrent, and the ground is richly carpetted with mosses and various wild flowers. From the upper part of the wood, near the head of the fall, there is a very good view of the descending flood; a path from the high road leads to the fall, and a little wicket gate has been placed in the wall on the road side, for the convenience of visitors who may wish to obtain a view of this sublime scene, which, although contiguous to the road, is so obscured in the wood, that the traveller will almost certainly pass it unawares, unless he makes timely enquiry: it may, however, be discovered by a summer-house which has lately been built on the top of a mountain directly over the fall.
About four miles from Capel Curig, on the Bangor road, is situated
Lake Ogwen,
From whence issues the river Ogwen. This lake is well stocked with excellent trout of a peculiar colour and flavour, surpassing in these respects all fish found in the Caernarvonshire lakes; they are of a bright yellow cast in the water, though when eaten they have a fine salmon colour; they are easily taken with the fly. The surplus water of this lake discharges itself at the western end, through a chasm in the rocks, tumbling in three noble cataracts down a height of about one hundred feet, called the Falls of Benglog, which are concentrated into a bed in the luxuriant and beautifully green meadows of
Nant Ffrancon,
(Or the Beaver’s Hollow), so called from having been the resort of those animals. This is a romantic and tremendous glen, destitute of wood, and even of cultivation, except the narrow slip of a meadow which lies along its bottom. The fantastic piles of rocks which compose its sides, rise abruptly from their base, and stretch their barren points into the clouds. The Holyhead and London road passes through the whole extent.