old pile. It is a picture worth recalling to the imagination-that of the sturdy moralist, attended by Paoli and the Thrale, exploring with unchecked amazement the "mighty ruin," as he styles it,-mounting the Eagle Tower, and carefully numbering, as he mounts, the "one hundred and sixty-nine steps, each of ten inches," by which it is ascended,-listening, too, all the while with respectful heed to the explanations of "one Troughton, an intelligent and loquacious wanderer," who, though on half-pay, has donned his uniform as lieutenant of the navy, that he may the more fitly do the honours to such a visitor.* Britons, was seated at least half a mile inland. The present Carnarvon was founded by the conqueror of Wales, who, in 1286, caused walls to be constructed around the town that was growing into existence under the shadow of the castle which he had built a year or two before. Carnarvon was the first town in Wales to which Edward I. granted a charter of incorporation: it bears date, September, 1286. It is therefore an old town; and yet in itself-apart, that is, from the walls and the castle-it has preserved little of its antique character. Straight streets and plain houses are all it can show, and these are not particularly interesting to a stranger. In its way, however, it is an important The external walls of the castle form an irregular place, being the second if not the first town for extent oblong, and enclose an area of three acres. Originally and population in North Wales. At the census of it was surrounded by a moat, but that has been long 1811, the inhabitants of Carnarvon numbered 7,356: | filled in, and is now not even traceable. The walls but that number must be taken with some allowance; are nine or ten feet thick; and within their thickness, for that is the census of the parish, which, as is usual as at Beaumaris, runs a gallery or covered-way, which in Wales, is much more extensive than the town; is at intervals pierced with loop-holes for the discharge a circumstance that somewhat "extenuates the popu- of arrows. The castle walls were connected with those lousness," as Gibbon said of ancient Rome. Carnarvon of the town; and strong outworks were thrown forward has considerable trade. The shipping of slates is to strengthen the fortifications. The approaches to largely carried on; the slate-wharfs under the castle, the castle were by two grand entrances; there was to which the slates are brought by railway direct from also a small postern, which led from the Eagle Tower the quarries, are generally an active scene, and afford by a flight of stairs to the strand. Along the walls a lively contrast to the old castle, which frowns grimly are many stout and lofty towers-hexagonal, octagonal, above. and pentagonal, with tall light turrets rising above them. Many of these towers, with their turrets, appear to be tolerably perfect, till you see them close at hand. Altogether the old ruin looks best at a distance. From the Strait, where you can take in the whole building. at a glance, it has yet a tolerably complete and very noble aspect. The recent repairs add somewhat, no doubt, to the perfectness of its appearance. The red bands which relieve the gray stone, of which it is mainly built, add somewhat more. From the opposite side of the Seiont, the grand Eagle Tower rising boldly from the water appears very striking. (Cut, No. 12.) Enter the gates, however, and the desolation is at once perceived. Only the walls and the towers remain. Both the buildings of state and the apartments for ordinary use are destroyed, or only exist as a few crumbling ruins. The towers and the grand entrances alone are left to attest the magnificence, as the walls declare the extent of the edifice. Some of the towers are mere shells; the stairs have long been destroyed, but the case has, in consequence, generally escaped with less. mutilation. In the Eagle Tower, however, the stairs. remain, and the summit may be ascended. There is a splendid prospect from it of the country around: moreover, the general plan of the castle, and the town walls, may thence be readily comprehended. This is called the Eagle Tower, from a carved figure of an eagle that once was fixed upon it,-if Pennant may be believed, a real Roman eagle, brought from the ancient Segontium; but the fact may be doubted. There were also other eagles on the battlements. The fragments are are now quite indistinguishable. Tradition asserts It was in 1283 that Edward I. commenced the erection of the castle of Carnarvon, the largest and fairest of all his Welsh castles; but, though it was soon, perhaps, completed for all military purposes, it was many years before the more ornamental parts were finished. Only the year after the commencement of the works, the wife of Edward gave birth, within the walls of Carnarvon Castle, to the son who succeeded him-the first prince of Wales-the miserable Edward II. In 1294, the Welsh, under Madoc, seized and burnt the town; and having forced the castle to surrender, put the whole of the garrison to death. Twice (in 1402 and 1403) did the "renowned Glendower" besiege Carnarvon; but both times without success, though on the last occasion he had the aid of some French auxiliaries. It is not worth while to notice how often it changed masters during the war of the roses in the war between Charles I. and the Parliament, it was three or four times assaulted by the two parties, and thrice taken. It was dismantled in 1660, by order of Charles II. Fallen as is Carnarvon Castle from its high estate, it is yet magnificent in its decay. Among the ruined castles of our land it holds a high rank. Whether for size or grandeur, few can compare with it. "I did not think there had been such buildings," wrote Johnson, in his 'Diary,' on the day of his visit to Carnarvon: "it surpassed my ideas:" and few who survey it for the first time will wonder at the unusually warm terms in which he speaks of "the stupendous magnitude and strength of this edifice." One is half inclined to fancy, One is half inclined to fancy, by the way, that this visit of Johnson to it is not the least pleasing association connected with the grand See 'Boswell's Johnson,' v., p. 208, ed. 1835. that in this tower Edward II. was born; and a small rude room is pointed out as his birth-place: but it is certain that this tower was erected several years after his birth. A room in another tower is shown as that in which the stout-hearted William Prynne-the persecuted alike of churchman and independent, of Laud and of Cromwell-was imprisoned till the number of sympathizers who resorted to Carnarvon in order to catch sight of him caused his removal to a less accessible spot. The grand entrances are the most perfect portions of the castle. The King's Gate, on the northern side, with its barbicans and portcullises, must once have been of great strength: over the doorway is a seated figure of the mighty founder-too much defaced now, however, to be at all decypherable. The Queen's Gate, on the eastern side, is chiefly remarkable for its extraordinary height and apparently inaccessible situation. It is not easy to see where the roadway could have gone, even when the moat was undrained and the drawbridge was standing. Probably there were considerable outworks, a long inclined road, and a steep flight of steps. As was said, it is the interior that proclaims the work of the destroyer. Gloomy, desolate, and solitary, are the broken walls and mouldering fragments; harsh-voiced ravens are the only occupants; ruin, in its sternest form, broods over all. Strangely irksome and depressing is it to wander alone about the crumbling pile: you hasten to the mountains for relief from the crowd of sombre phantasies that seize hold upon you. The stranger who is of an antiquarian turn will, however, hardly leave the neighbourhood of Carnarvon without visiting the site of Segontium,-according to local imagination, or tradition, the birthplace of Constantine the Great, and the burial-place of his father, and also the theatre of other memorable circumstances. These are wild fancies, but Segontium was unquestionably a rather important Roman station. The road to Llanbeblig traverses the site. Some fragments of a wall, and rather extensive remains of a fort, are the visible relics of the Roman station; but underground, the relics are more numerous. At the depth of a few feet occur foundations of buildings, broken pottery, ashes, and so forth; while numerous coins, personal ornaments (some of them of gold), and other Roman remains, have, at various times, been exhumed. An account of the more important discoveries may be seen in the Archæologia Cambrensis,' the repository of much valuable information concerning the antiquities of the principality. The name of the old town is preserved in that of the river which flows at the base of the hill -the Seiont. SNOWDONIA. There are excellent mountain rambles within easy reach from Carnarvon; but it is better to quit the town, and go at once to some quiet mountain home for a few days, or weeks, if practicable,-and thence explore at leisure the heights and the fastnesses of Snowdonia. Llanberris is almost always made a rest ing-place and a centre of exploration by tourists, for whom a couple of good hotels-one of large and another of smaller size--are provided. Thither let us turn our steps. The road from Carnarvon to Llanberris is of increasing grandeur; and when the lower lake is reached, a magnificent prospect bursts on the eye. Lofty hills are on either hand, a broad sheet of water, black with the shadows of the neighbouring crags and fells, stretches at your feet, and a grand array of huge mountains rise up and encompass the head of the lake. These are the Snowdon mountains; but the patriarch himself is not seen from the road. A good view of him, as well as of the juniors that surround him, is obtained from the bridge at the foot of the lake; but a far finer prospect, embracing, perhaps, the finest view of Snowdon, with the Llanberris lakes and Dolbadern Castle, can be had from the slopes beyond, on the north side of the lake. Thence was taken the sketch from which the steel engraving was made. In continuing along the road to Llanberris, the tourist will not fail to halt on the eminence called Cwm-y-clo, from which another of the more celebrated of the views of the lakes and mountains is obtained. On Cwm-y-clo was a British fortress; and in the days when roads were not it must have been a commanding one. The Vale of Llanberris is of some half-dozen miles length, and nowhere of very great breadth. The Seiont flows through it--a wild streamlet, gliding quickly but quietly in its channel, or foaming over the rocks which impede its way; till where the valley opens the little river expands into a couple of lakes, which, at some distant day, have doubtless formed but one: they are now divided from each other by a narrow neck of land. The upper lake, Llyn Peris, is less than a mile in length; the lower, Llyn Padern, is nearly a mile and a half long; neither is, in any part, half a mile wide. On the northern side are steep slate rocks, which are the roots of the Glydyr Fawr mountains, while on the south are the lower slopes of the Snowdon giants. The village of Llanberris-a rude rustic gathering of cottages-is at the upper end of the valley; nestled there, in a most romantic (but rather uncomfortable) situation, near the mouth of the Cwm-Glas, the famous Pass of Llanberris. The tourists' resting-place is a mile or so lower, by Dolbadern Castle. And a thoroughly enjoyable resting-place it is. Commend us, after all, to a good inn, on the evening (or even morning) of a stiff mountain ramble. A rough hostel and rude fare are what a hardy tourist ought to be able not merely to endure, but to enjoy ; but when he can have a snug home, an ample repast, and perhaps meet a pleasant and social stranger or two-and we have met such assembled here at the same time from Kent and Cornwall, from Warwick and Wexford, from Germany and from America, if he is not ready then to make the most of the passing hour, take his ease in his inn, and felicitate himself on his good fortune, he is a very poor traveller, if not a very dull fellow. |
