From the Earls of Warren the Castell Dinas Bran passed to the Arundel [107] and other families. In 1390, Myfanuy Fechan, a descendant of the house of Tudor, resided there, and was celebrated for her beauty in a long ode by Howel Ap Einion Lygliw, a celebrated bard of that time. The Castle was probably then held under the Earls of Arundel. It is now the property of Mrs. Myddelton Biddulph, of Chirk Castle. The period of its destruction is as completely unknown as the time of its foundation. Eagles and hawks in abundance used to breed, as some now do, in the neighbouring rocky ridge of the Eglwyseg, and
“Along the narrow valley you might see
The wild deer sporting on the meadow ground,
And here and there a solitary tree,
Or mossy stone, or rock with woodbine crown’d.
Oft did the cliffs reverberate the sound
Of parted fragments tumbling from on high,
And from the summit of that craggy mound
The perching eagle oft was heard to cry,
Or on resounding wing to shoot athwart the sky.”
The view from the Castle is not so extensive as might be expected from its elevation, being bounded, except towards the east, by more lofty mountains; yet the scenery is most truly grand and magnificent. According to the plan laid down in the beginning of this work, I leave my readers to their own observations; only informing them that the house which makes a distinguished figure to the westward is Dinbrin Hall, the residence of Richard Jones, Esq.
Descending on the west side of the hill, and proceeding on the old way to the Abbey Crucis, stands a neat house, called the Twr, i.e. Tower, which I conjecture, for I can obtain no written document on the subject, to have been a look-out or watch-tower belonging to the Castle; especially as it is placed on the side most easy of access. Some additions have been made to the Tower, and it is now a comfortable farm-house, inhabited by a very respectable lady, of the name of Price. It has been a square building, built of hewn stone, as evinced by the massive walls which now surround the old part converted into a parlour, and by an old spiral stone stair at the back of the room.
The old way from the Castle to the Abbey has been much intersected and crossed, especially by the branch of the Ellesmere Canal, and by roads made to recently erected retreats and farms; among which I must not, however, reckon the road to
Llantysilio,
Which is a place of great antiquity. It belonged of old time to the ancient family of the Cuppers of the North, [110] so called even in the time of King Henry II.; and by the marriage of a daughter of that family with a Mr. Jones, of Llanbothian, in Montgomeryshire, it became the heritage of the late possessor of that name, and is now inhabited by Major Harrison, who resides in the Hall, a large brick building, bearing a strong affinity to Trevor Hall in antiquity of erection. It is situated in a pleasant valley, watered by the river Dee, over which it enjoys a fine prospect.
The Church of Llantysilio is dedicated to a Welch saint, from whom the township takes its name. He was Prince of Powis, and was called St. Tysilio. It is a neat little edifice, with a very pleasant church-yard, and contains nothing very ancient in the monumental way; but there are around it many very venerable yew trees, with their wide spreading sombre foliage. I had the curiosity to measure one, and found it above twenty feet in girth. The inside of the Church is, like its neighbour at Llangollen, indebted for some of its decorations to the Abbey Crucis, which seems after its dissolution to have been considered as lawful plunder; and this circumstance in some measure accounts for its so speedy dilapidation. English service is performed in the Church of Llantysilio on the third Sunday in every month.
Vale Crucis
ABBEY.
“How many hearts have here grown cold,
That sleep these mouldering stones among!
How many beads have here been told!
How many matins here been sung!
But here no more soft music floats,
No holy anthems chanted now;
All hush’d, except the ring-dove’s notes,
Low murmuring from yon beachen bough.”