From hence we descend again to the road, pass by Pistill, a little Chapel, annexed to Edern, and soon arrive at Nevin, a small Town, and Contributory Borough to Carnarvon; this place was bestowed on Nigel de Lohareyn, by the Black Prince, in the twelfth year of his Principality, and made a free borough, was allowed a Guild Mercatory with every privilege attendant on other free Boroughs, and all the liberties and Customs granted heretofore to that of Newborough, in Anglesey. He also gave it a grant of two Fairs, annually, and a Market on a Sunday, to which the Inhabitants of the Commot of Dinlleyn, were obliged to resort. Here Edward the First, in 1284, held his triumph on the conquest of Wales, and perhaps to conciliate the affections of his new subjects, in imitation of our Hero Arthur, held a round table, and celebrated it with dance and tournament,
Where throngs of Knights and Barons bold,
In weeds of Peace, high triumphs hold;
With store of Ladies, whose bright eyes
Reign influence, and judge the prize
Of wit or arms, while both contend
To win her grace whom all commend.
The concourse was prodigious, for not only the chief Nobility of England, but numbers from foreign parts graced the festival with their presence. The Gauls, as we are informed, sat at their round tables, to destroy all dispute about precedence; and every Knight had at his back a Squire with his Armour, in waiting. The Market is on Saturday, and the Fairs are holden on the fourth of April, Saturday before Whitsuntide, 25th of August, and 18th of September. The Church is dedicated to St. Mary; it is a discharged Rectory and Vicarage, valued in the King’s Books at £2. 13s. 4d. and is in the patronage of Wynne Finch Griffith, Esq. of Cefn Amwlch. Nevin is situated upon the Irish Channel, and has a small Pier, which is found to be very useful for the Herring Fishery, by which the Inhabitants principally subsist. The Herrings, about the year 1771, were taken here is vast abundance, from Perth Ysgadan, or the Port of Herrings, to Bardsey Island, and all along this coast; the capture amounted usually to the value of about four thousand pounds. These desultory fish, says Mr. Pennant, about the period above-mentioned, appeared in July and went away in October; in earlier times, they came in September and disappeared in November; Dories are also often taken here: the fishermen, till within these last 20 years, were wont to fling them away, on account of their ugly appearance, however they at last discovered that they were accounted a great luxury. Crabs and Lobsters are also taken on this Coast, in great abundance, particularly about Bardsey, and are conveyed to the Liverpool Market. After quitting the small poor town of Nevin, we soon arrive at Porth Dinlleyn, near which is a Dinas, or fortified eminence, which probably gave name not only to this excellent harbour, but also to the Commot in which it is situated. An attempt was made some years ago, by W. A. Madocks, Esq. and some other gentlemen, to establish a regular communication between this place and Ireland, and for that purpose, a new road was made from hence to Tremadoc, and considerable sums of money were expended in erecting a breakwater or pier-head here, building a new Inn, &c. in hopes that Government would be prevailed upon to give this harbour the preference, and bring the Packets here from Holyhead, and consequently that the Mail Coaches would run this road; however, this plan, for some reasons not known to the writer, did not succeed. From hence, Garn Madryn, and Garn Beduan Hills make a very conspicuous appearance, near the former of which is the seat of Parry Jones Parry, Esq. and not far from the latter is the Church and Parish of that name, and the neglected seat of the Wynne’s, ancestors of Lord Newborough. We then pass through the small Village of Edeyrn or Edern; the living is a Rectory, in the gift of the Bishop, valued in the King’s Books at £8. 5s. the Church is dedicated to St. Edern. The distance from hence to Tydweiliog, the next little village, is about three or four miles, this is a small perpetual Curacy, Church dedicated to St. Gwyfen, a female Saint, whose festival is on the 3d of June. Not far distant from hence, on the left of the road, are two old Family Seats; the first is Brynodol, the property of J. Griffith, of Llanfair, Esq. here it seems Mr. Pennant was most hospitably entertained, by his friend the late Hugh Griffith, Esq. (father of the last-mentioned gentleman), when he made the Tour of this part of the County. Brynodol, by advantage of situation on the side of a hill, commands a vast view of a flat woodless tract, the sea, and a noble mass of mountains: The Eifl hills, Garn Boduan, and the huge Garn Madryn rise in the fore-ground, and beyond these soars all Snowdonia, from those Alps which surround the Wyddfa, to the most remote in the County of Merioneth. The other is Cefnamwlch, now the property of Wynne Finch Griffith, Esq. and many years ago the occasional residence of John Griffith, of Voelas, Esq. a gentleman whose family, as well as that of Brynnodol, claim descent from the Princes of Wales. From Tudweiliog to Aberdaron the distance is about eight miles, over the Common of Rhôs Hirwen, and a flat uninteresting Country; during this latter part of the journey, the road passes within a short distance of several small Churches, such as Penllech and Llan Gwnadle on the right; and Meyllteyrn and Bryncroes on the left: near this extremity of the Promontory, are also the ruins of several little Chapels, such as Eglwys Fair, Capel Anelog, Capel Odo, Capel Bodferyn, Capel Cwm Dylif, &c. which proves that this part of the main land (as well as the Island of Bardsey) was the retreat of numerous recluses and devotees, in ancient times.—At Llan Gwnadl (alias Gwynhoydyl) is the following inscription: S. GWYNHOYDYL IACIT HIC 750: & HÆC ÆDES ÆDIFICATA &c. On the sea coast are several small Creeks, useful to the fishermen, who find in them during the Herring fishery, a safe retreat from storms; the names of some of which we shall here introduce Porth Towyn, Porth Colman, Porth Gwylan, Porth Ysgadan, Porth Cadlan, (or Cadfan), Porth Llywennan, Porth Orion, Porth Iago, Porth Feryn, Porth Neudwy, (or Meudwy) Porth Samddai, &c. At a place called Hen Fonwent, not far from the ruins of an old town, Tre Dindywydd, in the parish of Bryn croes, several earthen pots and urns were discovered some years ago, containing ashes and human bones; and near Ty Engion, an old stone altar was found, called Cerrig Inco, and another near Monachdy, in the same Parish; and a stone Coffin, (Cistfaen) on Ty mawr Farm, near the same place. There are also several British encampments in this neighbourhood, viz. Castell Caeron, on Mynydd y Rhiw mountain; Castell Odo, on Mynydd Ystum; and two on Mynydd Cilan, in the parish of Llan Engan. Several eminences bear the name of Pen yr Orsedd, i.e. the Throne, or Seat of Judicature, two of these are not far distant from Nevin; and near Cefnamwlch is a Cromlech, called Coetan Arthur. The following wells may also be mentioned as remarkable, on account of their bearing the names of British Saints; viz. Ffynnon Saint, Ffynnon Ddurdan, Ffynnon Cefn Llaethfaen, Ffynnon Eliw, in the Parish of Rhiw; Ffynnon Garmon, in Aberdaron, and Ffynnon Lleuddad, in Bryncroes.
Aberdaron is a small fishing Village, situated on a sandy Bay, at the extremity of the Promontory of Lleyn (Langanum Promontorium); the mouth of the Bay is protected by two little Islands, called Ynys Gwylan; it takes its name from the rivulet Daron, which here empties itself into the sea; the inhabitants are mostly fishermen. The Church, which consists of two aisles, supported by four handsome pillars, is dedicated to St. Hoywyn; it was a sanctuary, and much frequented by pilgrims; Leland says it was called Llan Engan Frenin, (Fanum Niniani Reguli), but it is very probable, that the transcribers of his work must have made a mistake, as Llan Engan is seven or eight miles distant, on the road to Pwllhely, and where there is a very curious inscription on the Steeple, copied and explained by Mr. Rowlands. The Rectorial Tithes belong to St. John’s College, Cambridge; the Vicarage is in the patronage of the Bishop. This and Porth Meudwy, (a small Creek near it) were the places where Devotees, in former times, usually embarked for Bardsey (Enlli), and the curious stranger, who may wish to visit that Island, can easily procure a boat here, but before he sets sail he should examine the ruins of St. Mary’s Chapel (Capel Fair), and also our Lady’s Cave and Well, (Ogof Mair a Ffynnon Fair,) the former is situated in a small plain, between two hills, Uwch Mynydd a Mynydd y Gwyddel, and the latter not far distant, nearly at the foot of a dreadful precipice called Maen Melyn, and from which, no doubt, this Commot (Cwmmwd-maen) takes its name. There is a most hazardous and circuitous path, down to the Cave and Well, along which Devotees frequently descended in former days, and even at the present time many are induced to visit the spot from curiosity. Maen Melyn is a yellow rock, streaked with white veins, in the middle of a black precipice, and at a distance has much the appearance of a large dog or leopard. In the dark ages of Popish Superstition it was supposed that if a person could descend by this path, and bring up a mouthful of water from the well, his wish would be certainly fulfilled; the Cape, at the end of the Promontory is called Penyccil, and the ridge of hills Braich y pwll. This Chapel was placed here, in all probability, to give the seamen an opportunity of invoking the tutelar Saint for protection through this dangerous Sound.
The Convent at Bardsey (Enlli) was one of the most ancient religious Institutions in North Wales, for Eineon Frenin, one of the Regnli of the County is said, in conjunction with Emyr Llydaw, to have founded a College in that Island, about the middle of the 9th Century, and Lleudad (Landatus) is generally supposed to have been the first Abbot. Dufrig, (Dubritius) Archbishop of Caerleon, is represented in our Welsh Annals to have resigned in favour of St. David’s, and to have retired to Bardsey, where he died about the year 612, from which circumstance, it is evident that there must have been a religious establishment here prior to that period. It seems likely to have been a seat of the Culdees, or Colidei, the first religious recluses of Great Britain, who sought Islands and desert places, in which they might in security worship the true God. It was certainly resorted to in very early times, for we are assured, from undoubted authority, that it flourished as a Convent in the days of Cadvan, King of Britain, who was coeval with Dubritius, it was an Abbey, dedicated to St. Mary, and in the Sebright MSS. a petition is recorded, says Mr. Pennant, from the Abbot to Edward II. in which he sets forth the injuries he had received from the Sheriff of Carnarvon, who had extorted from him 68s. 6d. contrary to his Deed of ffeoffment, on which the King directed Roger de Mortimer, Justiciary of Wales, to make enquiry into the matter, who reported that the Abbot held his Lands, in the County of Carnarvon, in puram et perpetuam elemosynam, without any service or secular acknowledgment; and further, that David, Lord of Lleyn, and brother to the last Prince of Wales, had exacted the same sum, as did his Pencynydd, or Master of his Dogs, possibly under pretence of maintaining them; the King therefore, by his special favor, and by advice of his Council, does for ever remit the said sum and all arrears, and directs that no one in future, either on his account or that of his heirs, ever should molest the Convent. The slaughter of the Monks, at Bangor Iscoed, about the year 607, is supposed to have contributed to the population of this Island, for not only the brethren who escaped, but numbers of other pious Britons fled hither, to avoid the rage of the Saxons.
There is a most curious, though superstitious document, still extant, written in Latin, in which it is asserted, that in consequence of the prayers of Holy Lleudad (Sanctus Laudatus) one of the first Abbots, and in consideration of the good and pious lives of the first Members of this Convent, the Almighty granted them the strange and uncommon privilege of departing out of this mortal life by seniority, so that like grapes in the vintage, (as it is there expressed) the most ripe (i.e. the eldest) was cut down first; and that this continued to be the case for many years, until these once Holy Brethren became again degenerated, and relapsed into various sins and vices, so that the Almighty was incensed against them, and summoned them hence, like the rest of mankind, without any respect to age or seniority.—This may serve as a specimen of the numerous tales and legends, invented by these and other idle and bigotted Monks.
This small Island, according to the Welsh History, afforded asylum, during life, to twenty thousand reputed Saints, and, after death, graves to as many of their bodies; well therefore might it be called Insula Sanctorum, Isle of Saints; but, with Dr. Fuller, it must be observed, that it would be much easier to find graves in Bardsey, for so many Saints, than Saints for so many graves.—Nine hundred of these Devotees are said to have fled hither from the Massacre of the Monks, at Bangor Iscoed, in Flintshire.
The following are the names of some of the first Abbots, and reputed Saints, who are said to have been buried there:
1. Lleudad, (Laudatus) the first Abbot.
2. Dufrig, (Dubricius) once Arch Bishop of Caerlleon ar Wysg, or Llandaf.