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Title: The Visitor's Hand-Book for Holyhead
Author: Jackson, Thomas Wright
Language: English
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HOLYHEAD***
Transcribed from the 1853 Smith and Sons edition by David Price, email
ccx074@pglaf.org
THE VISITOR’S
HAND-BOOK FOR HOLYHEAD,
COMPRISING
A HISTORY OF THE TOWN,
THE
Antiquities and Sublime Scenery
OF
THE MOUNTAIN,
WITH A FULL DESCRIPTION OF THE
WONDERS OF SOUTH STACK AND THE GIGANTIC
NEW HARBOUR:
ALSO, INFORMATION RESPECTING THE STEAM PACKETS,
RAILWAYS, &c., AND OTHER OBJECTS OF INTEREST
IN
THE TOWN AND NEIGHBOURHOOD.
BY THOMAS JACKSON, R.M.,
AUTHOR OF TOURIST’S GUIDE TO BRITANNIA BRIDGE, TOURIST’S
GUIDE TO DUBLIN, &c.
* * * * *
LONDON:
PUBLISHED BY SMITH AND SONS, 136, STRAND, AND MAY BE
HAD THROUGH THE MEDIUM OF ALL BOOKSELLERS
THROUGHOUT THE KINGDOM.
1853.
* * * * *
INDEX.
Page.
Holyhead 5
The Church 10
Church Walls 10
The Filial Request 11
Population 14
Distances of places from Holyhead 14
Post Office 14
Delivery of Letters 14
Agents 15
Banks 15
Ancient Customs 15
Holyhead Pier 18
Grand Triumphal Arch 19
Holyhead Lighthouse 20
Captain Skinner’s Monument 21
Skerries Lighthouse 22
South Stack by Land 23
South Stack Lighthouse 23
South Stack by Water 25
South Stack Sea-birds 29
Reflections on the Three Lighthouses 32
A Stroll to the Mountain Telegraph 34
The Tourist’s Pic Nic 37
The Signal Telegraph 37
Prospect from the Telegraph 38
A Ramble to the Mountain Head 40
Roman Watch Tower and Wall 41
Capel Lochwyd 42
Ancient Coins Found 43
Reflections on Leaving the Mountain 43
The New Harbour 45
Chester and Holyhead Railway 53
Steam Packets 55
Hotels 56
Trips by Sea 57
Penrhos Park 58
Lady Stanley’s Hospitality to Shipwrecked Sailors 58
Capel Towyn—Interesting Paper by the Hon. W. O. Stanley 59
Cromlechi—Druidical Altars 62
Ancient Stones of Memorial 67
Boundary Stones 69
PREFACE.
Since the opening of the Chester and Holyhead Railway, thousands of
persons have availed themselves of the opportunity, thus afforded, of
visiting this extreme western point of the Principality. And though the
claims of business are weighty and urgent, still, many will secure a few
days in some of the summer months, for the purpose of repairing, in some
measure, the physical and mental waste of a year’s toil. Such persons,
having arrived at the spot where they purpose making a short stay, are
desirous to know how the brief season may be at once profitably spent.
Hence, the numerous inquiries made by many of the visitors to Holyhead,
as to whether there were any objects worthy of notice in the town and
neighbourhood, led the writer to infer that a small Hand-book, containing
the desired information, was a _desideratum_. He has, therefore, made
the attempt to supply the deficiency, by communicating all necessary
detail of such objects of interest as the Tourist may become acquainted
with in the space of a short time, at a very reasonable outlay, and he
trusts the following sketches will be found to afford some hints and
observations, not altogether useless to those who may have the good
fortune to visit this romantic locality.
In the compilation of the present Guide, the writer has consulted most of
the best authors on North Wales, and has availed himself of that
assistance, without which the work would not have appeared in its present
dress. The writer makes no apology for the religious sentences,
occasionally interwoven in the following pages, for he is fully persuaded
that no excursionist can _really_ enjoy a ramble amid the beauties of
creation, unless he looks “through nature up to nature’s God.”
In conclusion, the compiler has only to add, that if the reader derives
any information, pleasure, or profit, from the perusal of the work, he
shall think the time occupied in writing it by no means uselessly
employed.
T. J.
Holyhead, 1853.
N.B.—In the event of a second edition of this work being called for, the
compiler would feel greatly obliged to any person who would furnish him
with any additional information respecting any of the objects named in
this Hand-book.
HOLYHEAD.
And thou, Holyhead!—thy time-honoured name,
Shall henceforth flutter on the wings of fame.
To trace a mighty river to its source, has ever been considered a sublime
and interesting employment. It is pleasing to ascend its course from the
point where it opens into the ocean, and becomes an inlet of wealth to an
empire, till we arrive at the spot where it bubbles up a spring just
sufficient to irrigate the meadows of a neighbouring farm, and to
observe, as it receives the confluence of tributary waters, how it
diffuses its benefits to the tribes that dwell upon its banks. Still
more engaging is the task to trace the history of flourishing cities and
thriving towns. The rise and progress of Holyhead, from an obscure and
mean condition to one of increasing prosperity, is full of interest. Its
early history appears to have had but little attention, and perhaps
deservedly, from the insignificancy of the object. In giving a succinct
account of it, the writer finds himself somewhat perplexed, in
consequence of the very scanty materials with which he is furnished. The
historical guide-stones placed along the march of time are few and far
between. There are centuries in which the footprints of its history are
scarcely traceable. Roll back the tide of time, and you will find
Holyhead a small fishing village, where
A band of fishers chose their humble seat;
Contented labour bless’d the fair retreat:
Inured to hardship, patient, bold, and rude,
They brav’d the billows for precarious food;
Their straggling huts were ranged along the shore,
Their nets and little boats, their only store.
_When_ and by _whom_ the Isle of Holyhead was first peopled is involved
in obscurity; to us in this age, this part of its history is a profound
secret; all that is, therefore, said on that subject must be mere
conjecture. Antiquarians and historians have exercised their ingenuity
with respect to the origin of the name of the town. On this subject
there are various opinions. It was regarded as peculiarly sacred, in
consequence of its being the place of interment of pious people, and
thence called Holy Island. Some suppose the place was called Holy-head,
from the great number of chapels or places of religious worship that were
in it. Others assert that its most ancient name was _Llan y Gwyddel_;
and they say that the word _Llan_ probably signifies the Irishman’s beach
or shore, and not church, as generally accepted, for the shore is called
in this parish, and no where else in Wales, _Llan y Mor_, instead of
_Glan y Mor_; and in support of this supposition, our histories make
frequent mention of the Irish rovers landing here, and of their
incursions into several parts of the Island of Mona, or Anglesey, and
also raising some rude fortifications to protect their shipping. At the
present time there are places near Holyhead called _Porth y Gwyddyl_,
(Irishman’s port); _Pentre Gwyddyl_, (Irishman’s village, or hamlet);
_Cytiau’r Gwyddelod_, (Irishman’s cottages.)
Again it is conjectured, that Holyhead, like most Welsh towns, dates its
origin from an early Saint; and there are also the usual stories of
miraculous arrivals, especially as relates to one St. Fraid, (Bride) an
Irish Saintess, who, it is said, sailed from Ireland on a sod of green
turf, which, on her landing, became a firm hillock, and upon which she
built her chapel. And one of the old Bards founds the name of the Island
as springing from this mysterious lady, which he chronicles in the
following couplet:—
Swift o’er the sea the floating island fled,
While glorious rays illum’d her HOLY HEAD.
But its most usual Welsh name is _Caer Cybi_, (Fort of Cybi,) so called
from St. Cybi. History records the following account of this singular
and extraordinary personage.—Holyhead was the residence of a British
Saint, named Corincus, or Cybi, son of Solomon, Duke of Cornwall; who, it
is said, about the middle of the fourth century, after having lived a
very religious life for 20 years, went over to France, to Hilary, Bishop
of Poictiers; and finding favour with the Bishop, was ordained by him,
and officiated as his assistant until the Bishop’s death. He then
returned to his native place; but on account of tribulation in the
country, and some painful occurrences in the circumstances of his family,
he left home again, and arrived at St. David’s, and ultimately crossed
over to Ireland; and after residing there four years, returned and
settled in Holyhead. A Prince in Anglesey, out of compassion to him, in
consequence of his low pecuniary circumstances, gave him a castle, which
was in the neighbourhood. Cybi founded a small monastery within the
castle walls, and the establishment was called Côr Cybi, in allusion to
the monastery, or Caer Cybi, in reference to the castle walls. Mr.
Pennant presumes that the name of the town has originated from the castle
walls, the remains of which are still to be seen. Mr. Morris says, that
Caer Cybi, lived at the time of the dissolution of the Roman Empire in
Britain, and was contemporary, and on great friendship with Seiriol, an
eminent Saint, of Priestholme, or Ynys Seiriol, (Seiriol’s Island,) near
Beaumaris. St. Cybi, observes Tanner, flourished about A.D. 380, and
founded a small monastery in Holyhead. In the beginning of the 15th
century, the Irish fleet invaded Anglesey; and after committing some
depredations, returned to Ireland, taking with them the shrine of St.
Cybi, which trophy they deposited among the relics in Christ’s church.
Whether this town took its name from the Irish, who very early resided
here,—or from its number of chapels,—or from the interment of the
pious,—or from the legend of St. Bride,—or from the Saint who dwelt
within its ancient fort,—is surely now of very little consequence.
About A.D. 389, the Irish, under the command of Serigi, (the Rover,)
landed in Anglesey; and having defeated the natives, took possession of
the Island. On this invasion, _Caswallon-Llaw-Hir_, (or the longhanded)
Prince of Wales, came to the relief of Mona; and having routed the enemy,
pursued them to Holyhead, where their fleet lay; here they fought a
second battle, in which Caswallon slew Serigi, the Irish commander, with
his own hand. It is said that in this action the tribe of Caswallon put
the fetters of their horses upon their own legs, by two and two, to shew
their determination was,
Their country, parents, children, save,
Or fill one great and glorious grave!
The few records we have concerning Caswallon-Llaw-Hir, delineate the
great man and the hero. He was the eldest son of Einion Yrth, sovereign
of North Wales. The Triads record him with Rhiwallon son of Urier, and
Belyn, as the chiefs of the three golden-banded tribes. In consequence
of the signal bravery of the people of Caswallon, in the great battle of
Holyhead, their leader obtained a privilege of wearing the golden bands,
which denoted that no other power had jurisdiction there except the voice
of the national diet, assembled on extraordinary occasions. After this
conquest, a chapel was erected, within the fortification of Holyhead,
over Serigi, called _Eglwys y Bedd_, i.e., the church of the grave. This
church was afterwards endowed with distinct revenues from those of the
Collegiate Church, as appears by the College leases; it was called in the
British manuscript, _Capel Llan y Gwyddel_, or the Chapel of the
Irishman. At length it fell into ruin, and remained disused for ages;
and was ultimately removed, in order to render the way to the church more
commodious. In digging, the workmen found a stone coffin, or chest,
under an arch in the north side of the chancel, with human bones of a
prodigious size. Serigi was canonized by his countrymen, and had in this
chapel a shrine, which seems to have been held in exceedingly high
repute, for several very wonderful qualities and cures; but according to
an old Irish chronicle, it was carried off by some Irish rovers, and
deposited in the Cathedral of Christ Church, Dublin; from whence, they
were removed with many others, after the reformation, to — a place not
far from Dublin, where the relics that could be preserved from that
universal destruction are still kept.
A religious house is said to have been erected here by Prince _Maelgwyn
Gwynedd_, in the latter part of the 6th century. Maelgwyn Gwynedd
endowed the See of Bangor with lands and franchises; he also built or
repaired Shrewsbury, and the Castle of Harlech; also the Priory of
Penmon; and was the patron of Taliesin, the Post Laureate, and prince of
the celebrated Bards. A castle, now in ruins, over against the town of
Conway, was originally erected by him; he was contempory with Prince
Arthur:—
In Arthur’s days, of ancient date,
When Cambria’s chiefs elected
Her Maelgwyn to the regal seat,
Were Harlech’s towers erected.
History says he died of the yellow fever, which then desolated the
country, in the church of Llanrhos, which gave rise to an adage,—
The sleep of Maelgwyn in the church of Llanrhos.
Holyhead being a landing place for the enemy, was often the scene of
violent encounters, between the Welsh on the one side, and the Irish,
Picts, Danes, and Saxons on the other.
In A.D. 914, the men of Dublin destroyed Holyhead and ravaged the Isle of
Anglesey.
In A.D. 958, Abloic, King of Ireland, burnt Holyhead, and spoiled the
country.
The house for canons regular, called the College, appears to have been
founded by _Hwfa ap Cynddelw_, lord of Llys Llifon, and one of the
fifteen tribes of North Wales, a contemporary with Owen Gwynedd, who
began his reign in 1137. This college was granted by James I. to Francis
Morris, and Francis Phillips. It afterwards became the property of Rice
Gwynne, Esq., who, in the year 1640, transferred the tithes to Jesus
College, Oxford, for the maintenance of two Scholars, and two Fellows;
since that time, the parish has been served by a Curate, nominated by the
College. The Rev. Charles Williams, B.D., is the present Incumbent.
The head of this institute, formerly one of the three Spiritual Lords of
Anglesey, was usually denominated _Penclas_, or _Pencolas_. The Rev. Mr.
Evans considers it to have been _Pencais_, or chief judge in
ecclesiastical matters. But from the inscription on the exergue of the
ancient seal belonging to the Chapter, “_Sigillum Rectoris et capitali
Ecclesia de Caer Gybi_;” it appears that his customary title was that of
_Rector_. He was styled in a subsequent period _Provost_; for Edward
III. bestowed the Provostship of “his free Chapel, Caer Cybi, on his
Chaplain, Thomas de London,” for which the King, in 1351, dispensed with
his services to himself. The original number of Canons is uncertain. By
an inquisition made in 1553, twelve persons, styled Prependaries, were
found on the pension list, receiving an annual allowance of twenty
shillings each. Prior to the dissolution, the Provost had an income of
thirty-nine marks, (£26); one Chaplain, a stipend of thirteen marks, (£8
13s. 4d.); and two others, each a moiety of the latter sum. The
estimate, therefore, made in the time of Henry VIII., of its annual
revenue, as amounting to £24, must have been an under valuation.
In 1745, the materials of _Capel Llan y Gwyddel_, or the Irishman’s
Chapel, were used for the purpose of building a Public School, by Edward
Wynn, L.L.D., of Bodewryd, in this county, who gave by bond, dated Nov.
25th, 1748, the sum of £120 for the endowment of it; the interest thereof
to be paid annually, on the 24th of November, to the Schoolmaster, for
teaching six poor boys of the town to read and write.
THE CHURCH
Is a handsome, embattled, cruciform structure, consisting of a chancel,
nave, ailes, and transept, with a square tower, surmounted by a low flat
kind of spire. The present edifice, exclusive of the chancel, appears to
have been rebuilt, in the time of Edward III., and the latter was
repaired in the beginning of the last century. The inside of the
entrance porch, and the external part of the south end of the transept,
are decorated with rude, but curious carvings. On the latter are the
figures of a dragon, a man leading a bear, and other grotesque
representations. On the pediments and embattlements are cherubic heads;
and one or two figures in supplicating posture. The exterior carvings,
in consequence of being executed on soft stone, and exposed to the sea,
are almost mouldered away; under the porch, however, where sheltered from
the weather, they are much more perfect. There is the following
inscription, in Gothic characters, on the north side of the
Church,—“_Sancte Kybi_; _ora pro nobis_.” “During the last century (says
the Rev. John Price, in his account of Holyhead) the natives showed the
print of Kybi’s foot in a rock by the east end of the chancel, till it
was destroyed by the Rev. Mr. Ellis, Fellow of Jesus College, Oxford,
then Curate of this place.”
Long be our Father’s temple ours;
Woe to the hand by which it falls;
A thousand spirits watch its towers;
A cloud of angels guard its walls.
And be their shield by us possessed;
Lord, rear around thy blest abode
The buttress of a holy breast,
The rampart of a present God.
THE CHURCH WALLS
Are considered a very perfect specimen of Roman architecture. The form
is parallelogram, about 220 feet long, and about 130 broad; three of its
sides consist of massive walls, 6 feet thick, and 17 in height; the
fourth is open to the harbour, having only a low parapet laid on the
precipitous cliffs. At the north-east angle is a circular bastion tower;
and along the walls are two rows of circular holes, four inches in
diameter, having the inside smoothly plastered. The cement, mixed with
coarse pebbles, is extremely hard, and this, in conjunction with other
circumstances, exhibits ancient marks of Roman masonry. The Church,
altogether, will repay the time spent in its examination.
THE FILIAL REQUEST.
Beloved Holyhead, farewell!
Every object around thee is dear;
Thy promontory, and meadows, and dell,
Where I wandered for many a year.
But oft has the ocean’s blue wave
Flowed lately, commixt with my tears;
Since my Mother was laid in her grave,
Where yon hallowed turret appears.
Oh! Sexton remember the spot,
And lay me beside her cold bed
Whenever this body is brought
To sleep in belov’d Holyhead.
Holyhead is a place of great antiquity, situated at the western extremity
of Anglesey, upon an island, or more properly a peninsula, which at high
water becomes insulated, but still it forms part of the county of
Anglesey. It is a seaport, market town, (market on Saturday) and
contributory borough. About three miles from the town the Stanley
Embankment crosses the sands, and an arm of the sea, connecting the Isle
of Holyhead with the main land of Anglesey. This vast embankment is
three quarters of a mile in length, and on an average 28 feet in height,
with a bridge of one arch 19 feet span, under which the tide, compressed
into a narrow compass, ebbs and flows with great force and velocity.
Here ocean rushes from her wide domains,
With distant roar salutes the sandy plains;
Now slow, serene, the placid currents creep,
Then backwards roll terrific to the deep.
Though Holyhead is not of large pretensions, and cannot fairly claim the
picturesque scenery of some parts of the Principality, yet its history is
pregnant with interest. There is an air of the nautical about the place,
and, though near to some of the most uncultivated parts of Wales, it
appears to possess an ideality of its own, and one differing materially
from that of the surrounding country. It has been but little noticed by
some excursionists, who have favoured the public, through the medium of
the press, with the result of their wanderings; although they have
written largely and excellently on the Principality, they have scarcely
thought it worth their notice to pay a passing tribute to this ancient
place. Indeed, the Island of Anglesey, which has to be traversed in
order to reach it, is flat and uninteresting. This circumstance, has,
doubtless, had the effect of deterring many persons from visiting this
place, and contemplating the grand marine views around it.
Mr. Walpole, whose splendid work appeared in 1784, makes the following
remark on Holyhead:—“The village consists of a straggling confused heap
of thatched houses built on rocks.” The Rev. R. Warner, who wrote his
interesting and learned work on North Wales, in 1798, merely observes,
“The parish of Holyhead reckons a population of about 2000.” Mr.
Bingley, in his instructive volume, gives us some half-dozen lines on the
place; but Mr. Aiken, and several others have not so much as named it.
From what they had heard and read, they concluded that the insignificant
village possessed but few events at all worthy of being recorded, and
those few not of the most interesting nature. They, therefore, refused
To strike their harps amid the cheerless gloom.
Such was Holyhead a few years ago. At that time there was no harbour for
her vessels, but what the rude hand of Nature had formed—no lighthouse
streaming in the midnight gloom—no telegraph to announce to distant
parties what vessels heaved in sight—no railway train gliding swiftly and
smoothly along the iron-road—no joyous excursionists pouring in by
thousands, paying their respects to the natives, beneath the shining of a
Summer’s sun—no coachman with his sounding horn—no spirit for commercial
enterprise—no Bible Society—no Missionary Society—no schools to “teach
the young idea how to shoot”—no Saving’s Bank—no Libraries—no Mechanic’s
Institute. It could not boast, like other towns, of advance in trade, or
commercial prosperity. It had rather to hang its harp upon the willows,
and wonder why all the mighty advantages that Nature had lavished on its
transcendently lovely Bay, had been so long comparatively overlooked.
The present century rose on Holyhead like a sun in smiles. Her growth to
importance has taken place within the last half century; the time of her
visitation had dawned, her set time was come; the tide of her future
prosperity sprung auspiciously; the sympathies of England were turned
towards her—the wealth of England was expended on her—and the experience,
science, industry, and enterprise of England were put forth on her
behalf. The erection of South Stack Lighthouse in 1808, the commencement
of the Pier, with its Harbour, Graving Dock, and Lighthouse in 1810, the
Government establishment, and the completion of the great Parliamentary
road, gave a commercial impulse to the place, and materially contributed
to attract and support a thriving population.
The commencement of the Breakwater, or New Harbour, and the Chester and
Holyhead Railway, sounded the tocsin aloud for the advancement of
Holyhead; and the advantage was taken by the spirited inhabitants in a
manner which did them credit. Within the last four years, in particular,
it has rapidly increased in extent and improved in appearance: streets
and public edifices, large and well built, seem to have started into
existence as by the enchantment of some mighty magician; almost
everything is new, and everything wonderfully improved, affording ample
accommodation of every kind for the numerous visitors who may do
themselves the honour of reposing within its precincts. The town is
rapidly rising to that respectability and celebrity to which the
salubrity of its air, its rich and varied prospects, by land and sea, so
justly entitle it; but like most other places in a transition state, it
exhibits a motley mixture of old and new houses. The important
conveyances, vehicles to all parts of the country, the railway, and
steamers, to and from Ireland daily, bestow on it a charm which it is in
vain to look for in any other spot in the Principality.
There are places of worship, exclusive of the parish Church, for
Independents, Baptists, Calvinistic and Wesleyan Methodists. There are
two Public Schools, conducted respectively upon the National and British
plan; and an Infant School, under the auspices of the Independents. The
British School was erected in 1848, on land given by the late Lord
Stanley, of Alderley, and the Hon. W. O. Stanley, of Penrhos. A
Mechanics’ Institute has been established—a new Church and Cemetery are
in contemplation—a Gas Company is formed—accommodations for bathing are
“looming in the future.” Indeed, although the writer is not a prophet,
nor the son of a prophet, yet he will venture to divine that, a few years
hence, there will be a convenient Market-place—water will be brought to
every roan’s door—gas, one of the greatest _desiderata_ in the march of
improvement, will illumine our streets, and other improvements necessary
and desirable for the sanitary condition of the town, will follow in the
wake, and Holyhead will be raised to that position which she is designed
to occupy.
We trust the sun of Holyhead’s hope has at length arisen; may it be the
beginning of a bright and prosperous day, not only in a commercial point
of view, but in a moral aspect, for with increasing shipping, trade,
population, &c., will Christian responsibility increase also; and
benevolent efforts to meet the multiplied demand, we trust, will not be
found wanting.
POPULATION OF HOLYHEAD.
The parish of Holyhead contained, in 1841, 3,868; in 1851, 8,665; houses,
1,800. The population is now (1853) nearly 9,000, and 1,850 houses.
DISTANCES OF PLACES.
Holyhead is distant from London 263 miles—Chester, 85—Bangor,
25—Britannia Bridge, 23—Beaumaris, 27—Carnarvon, 33—Kingstown (Ireland),
63.
POST OFFICE.
Mr. W. B. Jones, _Postmaster_.
DELIVERY OF LETTERS.
Letters from London, and all parts of England, arrive every morning at
half-past Six. Delivery commences at eight. Letters from Ireland arrive
every evening about Six p.m., and are delivered the same evening.
DESPATCH OF LETTERS.
Letters to London, and all parts of England, are despatched at Seven,
every evening: Box closes at Six. Letters to Ireland are despatched at
One, a.m., and Six, a.m.
AGENTS.
_City of Dublin Co.’s Mail Packet Office_.—_Superintendent_—Commander C.
Fraser, R.N.
_Harbour Master_—Lieut. J. Lascelles, R.N.
_Admiralty Office_—Commander M. Skinner, R.N.
_Custom’s Office_—Mr. Lennox.
_Woods and Forests_—J. Provis, Esq., C.E.
_Chester and Holyhead Railway Steam Packet Office_—Mr. William Storey,
Clerk.
_Stamp Office_—Mr. H. G. Hughes, Druggist, Distributor.
_New Harbour Stores’ Keeper_—Mr. N. F. Woolmer.
_Chester and Holyhead Steam Packet Office_.—_Superintendent_—Capt. Hirst.
BANKS.
_North and South Wales Bank_, _Stanley-street_ (draws on the London and
Westminster Bank)—Mr. Robert Roberts, Manager.
_National Provincial Bank_ (_Branch_), _Boston-street_ (draws on Hanbury,
Taylors, and Lloyd, London)—Mr. Edward Hughes, Manager.
ANCIENT CUSTOMS.—EGG TAKING, FROM THE CLIFFS OF HOLYHEAD.
The eggs of many of the birds named in another page were formerly sought
after as delicious food, and considered as a great treat to the
epicurean. The price procured for them was a sufficient inducement for
the poor to follow the adventurous trade of egg-taking; but in this, as
in the pearl fishery on the coasts of Persia, the gains bear no tolerable
proportion to the danger incurred. Until the dangerous practice was
prohibited, men were employed in collecting them in the following manner.
The adventurers having furnished themselves with every necessary
implement for the business, while the sun afforded assistance by his
beams, entered on the terrific undertaking. Two—for this was a trade in
which co-partnership was absolutely necessary—took a station; and he
whose turn it happened to be, or whose superior agility rendered it
eligible, prepared for the rupestrian expedition. A strong stake was
driven into the ground, at some distance from the edge of the cliff, to
which a rope, of sufficient length to reach the lowest haunts of the
birds, was affixed. Fastening the other end round his middle, taking the
coil on his arm, and laying hold with both his hands, he threw himself
over the brow of the cliff, placing his feet against its sides, and
carefully shifting his hands, he gradually descended till he came to the
abode of the birds; then putting his hand into the hole, while suspending
himself with the other, he took possession of its contents, carefully
placing the eggs in a basket slung at his back for the purpose. Having
despoiled all the nests within his extent of rope, he ascended by the
same means to the edge of the cliff, where his partner, whose duty
hitherto was to guard the stake, crawling on hands and knees, afforded
him assistance in doubling the cliff, which otherwise he would be unable
to do. Dangerous occupation! A slip of the foot, or the hand, would in
an instant be fatal to both. Instances have occurred where the weight of
the one overcoming the strength of the other, both have been precipitated
down the craggy steep, and their mangled carcases buried in the ocean.
To a stranger and bystander, this occupation appeared more dangerous than
it really was; in persons habituated to bodily difficulty, the nervous
system became gradually braced, and the solids attained that state of
rigidity which banished irritability; while the mind, accustomed to
scenes of danger, lost that timidity which frequently led to the dreadful
disaster. To the person whose heart palpitates at the near approach to
such heights, it must appear a presumptuous venture, and daily instances
of its fatality might be expected; but facts demonstrate the contrary,
and serve to prove how much we are the creatures of habit, and to what an
extent difficulty and danger may be made subordinate to art and
perseverance. A sight of this perilous employment would remind the
beholder of that fine description—
— How fearful
And dizzy ’tis to cast one’s eyes so low!
The crows and choughs, that wing the midnight air,
Shew scarce so gross as beetles. Half-way down
Hangs one who gathers samphire;—dreadful trade.
SHALL I GET MARRIED THIS MONTH?
During the last century a singular custom was observed at _Capel
Lochwyd_, on the celebration of the annual wakes at Holyhead. This
joyous festival then continued a fortnight and a day,—commencing the
Sunday before the 25th of July, and ending the second Sunday after. On
each of the three Sundays of the wakes, all the inhabitants of the town
and neighbourhood, old and young, repaired to the chapel, which is
situated on a very high part of the mountain, on the west side, close to
a cleft, or ravine, that leads down, or rather led down, to the sea
shore, (as the pass is now partly obstructed by loose stones); the old to
be spectators, and the young, of both sexes that were or thought that
they were marriageable, to be actors. On the shore, just above high
water-mark, there is a well of most delicious water, called Ffynon (well)
of Lochwyd,—having fine gravel at the bottom; and the custom was, for the
lasses and lads to take a mouthful of the water, and fill both their
hands with the gravel from the bottom of the well, and then endeavour to
ascend the ravine (which must at all times have been very difficult,) to
the chapel. Whoever succeeded, without spilling a drop of the water or
dropping a single pebble, in arriving at the chapel, and casting the
water and gravel on the altar, was esteemed certain of being married
before the moon had attained its greatest age. The distance between the
well and the chapel is about a quarter of a mile; and those who had been
unfortunate in either spilling the water or dropping the gravel, were
obliged to return; and, to defeat the endeavour of others to ascend, they
used all their wit, resorting to grimace and buffoonery to excite
laughter in those they met; by which means, very few ever reached the
desired goal with the freight they started with from the well. And even,
some of those who were successful, I opine, would have another difficulty
to grapple with, perhaps greater than that of carrying water and pebbles
from the well to the chapel, viz., that of obtaining a suitable
“help-mate” in so short a time. As this ceremony took place only on the
Sundays of the wakes, it was called “Suliau y Creiriau,” (Sabbaths of the
Relics.) The altar disappeared many years ago, and there is scarcely a
vestige of the chapel left.
DANCING MATCH.
During the week-days of the wakes at Holyhead, as many musicians were
collected together as could be found in and around the town; and one of
them played till he was tired, when he was relieved by a fresh one; so
that there was music without cessation. To this music twenty young women
danced till they were tired; and who ever held out the longest gained the
prize of a complete suit of apparel; if it was not decided in one day,
the whole twenty commenced again on the following day, and so on to the
end of the wakes. This prize, like the “Suliau y Creiriau,” was left
sometimes undecided, as the girls would dance till they fainted, rather
than acknowledge a defeat. There was an old woman living in this parish
in 1826, and who was then nearly a hundred years of age, who, in her
youth, assisted in the performance of both the above customs. These
barbarous usages were suppressed by a pious Curate of Holyhead, of the
name of Ellis, about the year 1748.
HOLYHEAD PIER—OLD HARBOUR.
The first stone of this great national work was laid in the month of
August, 1810. The Pier extends from the small island called _Ynys
Halen_, or _Salt Island_, in an east-south-east direction into the sea;
and is about 1000 feet in length. On the south side it is faced with a
perpendicular wall of cut stone; near the east end a spur projects 60
feet at right angles with the wall, so as to afford shelter from the east
winds. The back of the Pier, or part towards the sea, is on an inclined
plane from the top of the parapet, and is built with large rough stones
placed edge-ways, as close together as possible, and wedged with smaller
ones, so that the sea has no power over it. A morning or evening walk on
the parapet, which is used as a promenade, is strongly recommended; it
will have a tendency to enliven the spirits, and brace the nerves. On
the south side of the Harbour is a fine Graving Dock, admirably
constructed, and one of the first in England. The Dock gates are
protected by a spur projecting from Turkey Shore to the northward 330
feet, on the east side of the gates. The whole of the above improvements
were effected for about £130,000—the Graving Dock about £12,000.
Formerly the road to the Pier was through the town; but Government
constructed a new road on the margin of the Pool or Basin, which covers
an area of fifty or sixty acres, and is filled with water at high tide,
but dry at low water.
The anchorage ground outside the Harbour having been so much raked by use
that the anchors would not hold, several vessels were in consequence
lost. In 1831, a very strong chain of 300 feet in length was laid down
across the entrance; so that when a vessel now drags her anchor before
the gale, she drives forward until she grapples the chain. This plan has
been the means of saving a number of vessels, and none have been on shore
since it was adopted. On the Pier there is a large capstan of great
power, for the use of the Government Packets and other vessels. Many
large ships, by the aid of a plentiful supply of warps, have been brought
into the Harbour during heavy gales, evidently snatched from destruction
by the prompt assistance thus rendered. A LIFE BOAT reposes on a frame
furnished with wheels, in order that it may be moved at an instant’s
notice; a gratifying proof that the cause of humanity is not suffered to
slumber.
GRAND TRIUMPHAL ARCH.
The Triumphal Arch was erected to commemorate the arrival of His Majesty
George IV. On the 7th of August, 1821, His Majesty landed at Holyhead,
on his passage to Ireland; an event which forms an epoch in the history
of the Principality, and of Anglesey in particular. Upwards of six
centuries had elapsed since a British Monarch was seen in Wales; but his
Majesty’s visit was under circumstances widely different from those which
attended the visit of the first English King. This auspicious day had
been anxiously expected by the natives of Holyhead for some time
previously; and preparations for His Majesty’s reception had been made
with enthusiastic loyalty by every class of people. On the appearance of
the Royal Yacht, about half past four in the evening, a signal was made
from the top of Holyhead Mountain; but the tide being contrary, and the
wind light, the yacht and attendant squadron could not approach the bay
until 12 o’clock, when they anchored directly opposite the town, which
was immediately illuminated. On the following day, His Majesty landed on
the shores of Cambria, and was enthusiastically greeted by the cheers of
thousands. The confidence which His Majesty felt in the attachment of
the loyal and patriotic _Cambro-Britons_ is strongly evinced in the
circumstance, that this was the first time of his being abroad without a
military escort. After remaining a short time on the Pier, His Majesty
and suite proceeded in three of the Marquis of Anglesey’s carriages to
Plas Newydd. On His Majesty’s return to Holyhead, he was received at the
entrance of the town with similar attention and marks of respect as were
evinced on his landing; and he was conducted to his barge amidst the
reiterated cheers of the assembled multitude. The squadron immediately
manned their yards, royal salutes were fired, and the town was again
illuminated. Being detained in the bay by boisterous weather, the King
left the Yacht, and embarked in the Steam Packet _Lightning_, commanded
by the unfortunate Captain Skinner, (see page 21,) and proceeded to the
shores of Ireland.
As the visits of Monarchs are “few and far between,” such an event was
not to be lightly passed over. A public meeting was held on the 9th of
August, and a general subscription was resolved to be entered into, for
the purpose of erecting a Triumphal Arch, commemorative of the landing of
His Majesty. On Wednesday, the 7th of August, 1822, the foundation stone
was laid, with every circumstance that was calculated to produce an
impressive effect. On the 6th of August, 1824, this elegant monument of
loyalty was opened. It is a chaste and beautiful structure, in the Doric
style, formed of Mona marble. It consists of four handsome pillars,
twenty feet high, which are placed two on either side of a carriage-way,
fourteen feet wide. Outside of the pillars, and of the same height, are
two rectangular pillars, twelve feet by three feet six inches, leaving a
footpath on each side of the carriage-way of five feet. The whole is
surmounted with a bold and projecting cornice, and covered over by three
diminishing tiers of masonry, forming a platform. Over the carriage-way,
on either side, are empannelled inscriptions, in Welsh and Latin,
commemorative of the event.
HOLYHEAD LIGHT-HOUSE.
The Light-house at the end of the Pier is one of the finest pieces of
masonry in the kingdom—it is a master-piece of the kind, and is proof
against the most violent storms and hurricanes by which it can be
assailed. It is built of Moelfre stone, a kind of marble, inside as well
as outside, on an inverted arch, and without any other timber than what
was necessary for the door cases and window frames. It consists of three
stories, or landing places, the ceilings of which are groined, and the
gloves are of smooth stone. The floors are of rough polished stones.
Its base is six feet above high water mark, and is protected from the sea
by a strong glacis. The tower, which is circular, is thirty-three feet
in height to the gallery, and the lantern, which is ten feet higher, is
lighted with twenty brilliant lights of gas, having reflectors plated
with silver, and displaying a strong white light in every direction,
which being at an elevation of fifty feet above the level of the sea,
affords a safe guide to vessels approaching the Harbour. There is a
lamp, with reflector, placed opposite an aperture, twenty feet below the
lantern, shewing a red light. This is not seen by vessels until they
have cleared all rocks outside, when it at once appears, and the vessel
alters her course, and runs for the Pier-head with confidence. In thick
weather the packets are guided by signal guns and bells, which are so
well arranged that sometimes the Pier Light-house has been the first
object seen after crossing the channel from Ireland.
MONUMENT TO CAPTAIN SKINNER.
There’s a Divinity that shapes our ends,
Rough-hew them as we will.
This gallant officer, formerly commander of a post-office packet on the
Holyhead station, lost his life, in 1833, by being washed overboard in an
almost unaccountable manner, while standing on his own vessel speaking to
one of his sailors, who was carried away by the same wave with his
captain, and both ultimately disappeared. It is said the weather was not
very boisterous, and that the accident was one of the most extraordinary
ever known in the annals of naval experience.
The obelisk monument, erected by public subscription, to the memory of
the estimable and noble-spirited officer, is now to be seen on the rocks
south of the harbour. He was generally respected, and his loss greatly
regretted by his numerous friends. Surely no one can visit this
generous, humane, and affecting tribute of regard, without reflecting on
the solemn and sudden visitations of an inscrutable Providence, as
exemplified in the untimely end of the brave and benevolent Capt.
Skinner.
THE CAPTAIN’S GRAVE.
No sculptured slab of marble rare
The Captain’s grave discloses;
No flattering strain of praise records
Where his pale corse reposes;
No weeping kindred o’er his bier
With praises laud the brave;
No floweret gemmed with memory’s tear
Proclaims the Captain’s grave.
Wrapped in a shroud of pale sea flowers,
Deep in a rocky grot,
The clay-cold form lies silently,
Where man disturbeth not.
No solemn train of funeral pomp,
He died as died the brave;
The fond hope of a hardy crew
Rests calm below the wave.
SKERRIES LIGHT-HOUSE.
The Skerries are a group of bare or half covered rocks, eight or ten in
number, about nine miles from Holyhead, and two miles from the northern
extremity of the Isle of Anglesey. It is called in Welsh, _Ynys y
Moelrhoniaid_, or the _Isle of Seals_, from the great number of seals
seen about it. It is inhabited by a few poor sheep, and a numerous
colony of rabbits. The length of the Island is about a quarter of a
mile; it is greatly indented at the sides, and at high water is even
divided into a number of smaller insulated rocks. In fine weather it has
a most dreary appearance, and in high winds the breaking of the sea
against its rugged base, and the immense clouds of foam which darken the
air, render the ocean inexpressibly awful and terrific. A bay light, to
mark the situation of a cluster of dangerous rocks at the north entrance
of Holyhead, was first placed here in 1730, for the convenience of ships
navigating between the ports of Liverpool, Bristol, and Ireland. The
present Light-house was erected, and the first _oil_-light exhibited, in
1804. Before that time coals were used, of which a great fire was kept
burning in the conical grate, which appears on the summit of the front
peak of the rock. The light from this beacon may be seen 25 or 30 miles
off, and is of infinite service to navigation; for, prior to its
erection, scarce a winter passed here without shipwrecks, and nearly
always accompanied with loss of lives, for the surge beats against it
with incredible fury. Fish sport about the sides of this island in
amazing multitudes; they are principally the colefish, the whiting,
pollocks, and the cod-fish. The beautiful corasses, &c., are caught
here. Puffins resort to this place in great plenty; they come in a
surprising manner, all in a flock in one night, and, when their season
arrives, depart in the same manner. Those who love the bold and awful
rather than the calm scenes of nature, will do well to visit this island.
SOUTH STACK—BY LAND.
On SOUTH STACK rock what glories feast our eyes,
Entrance our senses and our souls surprise!
To paint each scene no colours can be found,
Romantic beauties crowd the enchanted ground.
South Stack may be visited either by land or water; cars and boats may be
hired at a moderate charge. The way by land is the mountain road, as far
as a farm called _Glan yr Afon_, (river side) and then across the
mountain to the heights directly opposite.
THE LIGHT-HOUSE
Is erected on an island, or rather the summit of an isolated rock, from
which it takes its name, situated at the south west point of Holyhead
mountain, and about four miles from the town. This splendid structure
was commenced in the month of August, 1808; and the light was first
exhibited on the night of the 9th of February, 1809, and is of essential
service in facilitating the access to the Holyhead Harbour. It was built
at the sole expense of the Corporation of Trinity House, London. The
light is a revolving one, displaying a full-faced light every two
minutes, which, in clear weather, is distinctly visible at a distance of
ten leagues. The frame that is attached to the pivot on which the Argand
lamps is fixed is triangular, having seven brilliant lamps and powerful
reflectors on each side or face. The different lamps which illuminate by
night have behind them large brass reflectors, lined with silver, and
kept in a state of unsullied brilliance. The angles of the triangle,
being all acute, the light cannot be seen when any of them points towards
an object which is more than a league distant. This affords to mariners
the means of distinguishing it from the Skerries Light, distant from the
South Stack about nine miles. A moveable red light is also placed for
the use of the government packets.
The elevation of the summit of the rock on which the Lighthouse is
erected, is 140 feet above the level of the sea at high water mark; the
height of the tower, from the base to the gallery, is 60 feet, and the
lantern is 12 feet from the gallery, making the total elevation of the
light 212 feet above high water mark, and is visible over the whole of
Carnarvon Bay. The whole of this establishment was under the able
superintendence of Captain H. Evans, who first pointed out the necessity
of erecting a light on this spot, and whose name is imperishably
connected with Holyhead and its vicinity.
From the summit of the cliff, from which the island and Lighthouse appear
but diminutive objects, a zig-zag flight of steps, 365 in number, (as
many steps as there are days in the year) are cut in the side of the
mountain, secured by a parapet, so as to afford an easy descent to the
nearest part of the rock on a level with the island. The descent to the
suspension bridge, which spans the sound below, affords a variety of
interesting views. Each winding in the face of the rock gives a change
of scenery terrific and sublime. In the summer months the sea-fowl are
very numerous, thousands will be seen hovering round the huge rocks and
caverns of which the coast is composed, and contribute much to impress
the minds of visitors with a due sense of the grandeur and sublimity of
the scene. After a few turnings, and expressions of surprise, in
reference to the romantic scenery, the numerous birds wheeling in every
direction, and their plaintive cry—the bridge will be attained. Once
upon a time, before the suspended bridge was there, ferry-boats made an
occasional passage to the Light-house, but the rough seas caused by the
strong tides, about the Head, rendered the communication by boat very
precarious. In order to obviate the danger, a passage was contrived by
means of two ropes thrown across the gulf, along which the individual was
drawn in a box or cradle, five feet in length, by the assistance of
pullies affixed at each end, his body hanging down, and the bellowing
ocean raging below to swallow him, if the tackling did not hold him
secure. This plan was superseded by a bridge of ropes, which was used
some years after, and although considered perfectly safe and convenient,
was by no means agreeable to the affrighted Tourist, but it seldom
happened that it became an obstacle in the way of those who wished to
visit the Light-house. The present Suspension Bridge which connects the
South Stack rock with the Head, was formed in 1827. It is over a chasm
110 feet in width, and built on the same principle as the Menai Bridge,
two chain cables passing across, firmly fixed in the rocks on either
side, and carried over two massive stone pillars erected for the purpose.
The chain supports the platform of timber five feet wide, and 70 feet
above high-water mark. The crossing of the bridge to some will be a
little trying to the nerves. The thunders of the rolling flood below are
enough to make the heart tremble, particularly when the wind blows
briskly. The fairer portion of visitors, in virtue of the balloon-like
construction of their attire, will more particularly court the notice of
rude Boreas, and ere they can successfully battle with this bold and
ungallant deity, they must exercise their ingenuity, and reef sails as
well as circumstances will admit; they then, as boldly as any lord of the
creation, face the warring element, and arrive safely upon the opposite
crag.
Having reached the Light-house, and ascended its steep and rocky stairs,
the steps of which number 80, you may gaze, from the summit, on the
wilderness of waters around; observe the myriads of gulls and guillemots,
standing on the edge of the rocks, or flying about in all directions; see
the Telegraph, and gaze upon the ever-varying ocean, enlivened by
numerous vessels passing up or down the channel. On returning, a little
exertion will be required to scale the towering acclivity, but the labour
is not felt between the bracing effects of the atmosphere, and the
excitement. An occasional moment’s pause, for breathing purposes, will
afford the visitor a fine opportunity for inhaling the balmy and
invigorating air; and I would advise the visitor to draw long breaths for
the pleasure of it.
Previous to the erection of this Light-house, scores of vessels had, from
time to time, been on shore at the back of the Head, in many of which
instances all on board had perished; but since its erection it has been
the means of saving from destruction several valuable lives, and many
hundred thousand pounds’ worth of property.
SOUTH STACK—BY WATER.
Rocks,
Which raise their crested heads into the clouds,
Piled in sublimity, create a scene
More grand, more soothing to the pensive soul
Than Rome with all its splendour.
Almost at all hours of the day the service of steady and experienced
watermen may be engaged at the Harbour. The little pinnace, with its
white sail, will soon be ready to convey you on your cruise. I scarcely
need remark, that in order to enjoy the trip, the atmosphere must be
clear and the weather calm. The Tourists having taken their seats in
their snug boat, will no sooner have given the well-known signal, “all
right,” than the stout seamen will take to their oars, with long and
strong pulls, and in a few minutes they will find themselves smoothly
gliding on the crystal flood, across the beautiful and spacious Bay; and
should the boatmen be in merry mood, they may enliven the scene by
singing
MY NATIVE BAY.
My Native Bay is calm and bright,
As ere it was of yore,
When, in the days of hope and love,
I stood upon its shore;
The sky is glowing, soft, and blue,
As once in youth it smiled,
When summer seas and summer skies
Were always bright and mild.
The sky—how oft hath darkness dwelt
Since then upon its breast;
The sea—how oft have tempests broke
Its gentle dream of rest!
So oft hath darker wo come o’er
Calm self-enjoying thought;
And passion’s storms a wilder scene
Within my bosom wrought.
Now, after years of absence, passed
In wretchedness and pain,
I come and find those seas and skies
All calm and bright again.
The darkness and the storm from both
Have trackless passed away;
And gentle as in youth, once more
Thou seem’st my Native Bay.
Oh that, like thee, when toil is over
And all my griefs are past,
This ravaged bosom might subside
To peace and joy at last!
And while it lay all calm like thee,
In pure unruffled sleep,
Oh! might a Heaven as bright as this
Be mirrored in its deep.
On the left is the New Harbour, to the right the Skerries Light-house,
before you St. George’s Channel. As you draw near the rocks you gain a
full and varied view of the scene. In wildness and grandeur of aspect no
place, assuredly, can surpass this portion of the Anglesey coast. Here
nature exhibits her rude outline in the most sublime and magnificent
scenery.
Let us go round,
And let the sail be slack, the course be slow,
That at our leisure, as we coast along,
We may contemplate, and from every scene
Receive its influence.
As you advance, the grand promontory, with its towering precipitous
cliffs—its crags, fretted by decay and storm—its magnificent caverned
rocks, and bleak indented sides, appear to the utmost advantage. The
effect, as you draw nearer and nearer within the verge of these
tremendous caverns, is truly appalling; at last, when you come under the
black shadows of the super-ambient rocks, and approach the dismal chasms,
and hear the wild plaintive cry of the sea-birds, wheeling above your
heads, it is impossible not to feel sensations equally unexpected and
solemn. Grand receding arches of different shapes, supported by gigantic
pillars of rock, formed by the incessant action of the waves, which, in
stormy weather, roll with terrific violence against this high rocky
coast, and exhibit a strange magnificence—a wild and savage beauty,
mingle with a dread repose which continues to haunt the imagination even
after quitting the scene. The singular and fantastic shapes and
positions of these rocky formations, either primitive or time-worn,
pinnacled or projecting, running off in bold escapement, or shelving into
sheet-like floors of granite—sometimes yawning in chasms too deep for the
light of summer’s sun to reach, or rounded into Amphitheatres that might
have formed the council hall of a race of giants, gleaming in the hues of
grey, green, and purple, lying in ribbon streaks, or mingled in rich
combination—all, all, lies immediately before you. The largest of these
caverns is peculiarly worth attention; it has received the vulgar
appellation of the _Parliament House_, from the frequent visits of water
parties to see this wonderful cavern; it being only accessible by boats,
and that at half ebb-tide. It is entered through a noble arch about 70
feet high, and consists of a series of receding arches, supported by
massive and lofty pillars of rock, displaying an interior of picturesque
and sublime grandeur. It is a magnificent instance of the effects of the
sea, in producing beautiful or fantastic forms from the soluble parts of
stratified rocks, more especially where calcareous substances are
prevalent in their composition. Not far from this cavern the face edges
to the sea slightly divided, resembling a facade of slender columns,
descending from an elevation of 250 feet perpendicular to the sea. The
whole promontory is chloride schist, in strata of about six feet. Seated
among these rocks, or whirling in circles above and around you, are
various sea-fowls which seek these solitary abodes. You cannot look upon
them without an interest seldom inspired by the tamer species; whether
curlews, gulls, razorbills, guillimots, cormorants, or herons, there is
something wild and eccentric in their habits and appearance, which
produces ideas of solitude and freedom; for we feel that they are not our
slaves, but commoners of nature. Occasionally may be seen on one of the
loftiest rocks a peregrine falcon, in high repute when falconry was in
fashion—one of those feudal warriors who has survived his fame, no longer
the companion of courts and courtly halls.
Indeed, there are few objects more interesting than the appearance of the
South Stack, when approaching it by water—the Light-house towering, 212
feet above the level of the sea—the sound of life and industry—mingled
with the lashing of the sea, and the cry of innumerable birds, are
altogether of so unwonted a character, that if you were transported to
the antipodes you would not feel more unfeigned surprise.
“The traveller,” (observes Dr. Stanley, late Bishop of Norwich) “by day,
in his passage up or down the Channel, near the eastern shores, must have
observed a white tower, posted like a sentinel, on the brow of a low
hammock, apparently forming a projecting ledge from the seaward base of
Caer Gybi, or the Mountain of Holyhead. On approaching still nearer, he
will perceive that this hammock, is, in fact, an island, torn from the
main mass, but connected therewith by a link, at a distance resembling
the gauze-work of a gossamer, which in its fall, had accidentally caught
upon the corresponding projections of the disjointed rocks. Let him look
a little longer, and he will now and then detect minute objects to and
fro, and come to the obvious conclusion that this aerial pathway is
neither more nor less than a connecting ladder of accommodation formed by
the hand of man. The speck by night, the white tower by day, with its
hammock and fairy bridge, comprise what is called South Stack, and, taken
together it forms a prominent feature in the bold, romantic scenery of
this iron-bound coast, and combines so many objects worthy of notice,
natural and artificial, that be the observer what he may, poet,
philosopher, or naturalist, he will find wherewithal to excite his
curiosity, and reward his labour, in visiting a _spot which has not many
rivals in its kind in the wide world_.”
The Tourist by this time will be convinced that the description given in
these pages is not over-coloured, not chimerical; for I am fully
persuaded, that no one can visit this magnificent scenery without wishing
for a vocabulary varied and rich as the Alpine aspect before him; but
language supplies no expressions that could paint the effect of the whole
assemblage upon his mind. A painter might here use his pencil with
effect, and a poet indulge himself in his sublimities. But what are high
and impending rocks—what are the giant heavings of an angry ocean—and
what the proudest summit of the Andes, when placed in the scale of such
interminable vastness as the creating, balancing, and peopling of
innumerable globes? In contemplating systems so infinite, who can
forbear exclaiming—What a mole-hill is our earth, and how insignificant
are we who creep so proudly on her surface.
SOUTH STACK SEA-BIRDS.
More fleet, on nimble-wing, the gull
Sweeps booming by, intent to cull
Voracious, from the billow’s breast,
Marked far away, his destined feast;
Behold him now deep plunging dip
His sunny pinions sable tip
In the green wave; now lightly skim
With whirling flight the water’s brim,
Wave in the blue sky his silver sail
Aloft, and frolic in the gale,
Or sink again his breast to lave,
And float upon the foaming wave;
Oft o’er his form your eyes may roam,
Not know him from the feathery foam,
Nor ’mid the rolling waves, your ear
On yelling blast, his clamour hear.
Though but a small number amongst the many who direct their steps to
South Stack may have turned their attention to ornithology, yet none
visit this romantic spot without expressing their unqualified admiration
in reference to the thousands of sea-birds which perform their rapid
circumlocutions in every direction, filling the air with their shrill
screaming voices. Presuming, therefore, that a few remarks on the
natural history of these aquatic tribes may not be deemed uninteresting,
we give the following information concerning some of them.
We would, however, first observe, that we cannot complain of want of
music on the sea-shore, for wind and wave make there a constant melody;
but we rarely listen, when near the sea, to the voice of a singing-bird;
such birds are uttering their joy far away over the corn fields, or among
the leafy boughs of the deep green woodland, or in the stillness of the
meadow, or among the water sedges. But if the voices of our sea-birds
are not in themselves musical, they please us by their association with
the rude and wild scenes around us, and by their fitness for their
haunts. Of little use to the sea-bird would be the sweet clear tones of
the nightingale or the lark. Loud as they seem to us when uttered amid
the stillness of the country, they would hardly be heard over the sea,
and would be of small service as a language to the winged creatures whose
homes are rocky precipices, ever dashed against by loud-sounding waves.
To these the screaming hoarse voices of the sea-gulls are far better
attuned, and these are indeed the only utterances which could avail them
amidst the storm.
Nor is this powerful voice of the sea-bird the only fitness for its
haunts which is presented to our minds as we look and listen. Besides
that it possesses, in common with all birds, that wonderful power of
vision, without which it could neither direct its flight with safety, nor
gain any idea of distance or motion, it has immense strength of wing; and
such species as the sea-gulls, which are destined to live on water rather
than land, have small legs and feet; while such as are made like the
curlew, to roam the marshes, have long legs, adapted for walking and
wading in among them.
SEA GULLS.
No bird is better known, on most parts of our coast, than the common
gull, which is in some places called the winter-mew. Active and restless
as it may seem on the wing, it has, when in repose, little that would
remind us of the frequent comparison, “blithe as a bird.” We sometimes
see it in gardens near the coast, with clipped wings, wandering in
solitude over the paths with dejected and melancholy air, as if pining
for its native sea and its companions. When free, its manners seem
almost agitated as it darts eagerly on its prey, swallowing it so
impetuously that it sometimes seizes the hook and bait which the
fisherman has put out to take the fish, and thus wounds itself and
becomes a captive. Buffon calls the clamorous and voracious gulls the
vultures of the sea; they not only feed on fish, molluscous and other
living animals, but seize on dead and putrid matter of every description,
either floating on the waters or spread on the shore. Gulls do not dive
into the water for food, but they dip now and then to seize it. They
have been found by voyagers in all latitudes, and are very numerous in
northern regions, where the carcases of whales and of large fish offer
them an abundant store of nourishment. Hard and tough as their flesh is,
yet it may be eaten; and the eggs, which are placed in large nests made
of grass and sea-weeds, are very good. The gull comes to South Stack in
April or May, and leaves in September.
THE GUILLEMOT.
Much of that loud, wild screaming which resounds among the cliffs, and
which sometimes rises shrill and hoarse, even above the wildest roar of
the sea, is made by some of those birds which look like the diver, and
which can also both swim and dive exceedingly well. The common guillemot
is commonly called the foolish guillemot, or foolish Willie, or wild
Willie; though why it should be deemed inferior to other sea-birds in
sense is not very apparent, as it seems to surpass many of them in this
respect. It may be that when on shore the bird has an awkward
appearance, as the legs are placed so far back beneath the body that they
walk badly, and their wings are so short and narrow that they can
scarcely flutter. Let our bird, however, but get upon the face of the
waters, and we shall see it swim with grace and ease, while the very
position of its legs, which renders it a bad walker, is suited to
facilitate its diving. It dives very low, and the wings aid its progress
as it rises to the surface when some tempting fish, or marine insect,
induces it to urge onwards with great rapidity. It is by means of these
short wings, too, that the guillemots clear the projecting ledges of
rocks and cliffs, and jump from point to point, till they reach those
high, and to us inaccessible, spots where they often build. Its single
egg is placed on the bare rock. The guillemot visits South Stack about
the month of April, and by the month of September, both old and young,
leave the rocks, and make their dwellings, both by night and by day, on
that wide world of waters for which they are so admirably fitted.
Amidst the flashing and feathery foam
The common guillemot finds a home;
A home, if such a place can be
For her who lives on the wide, wide sea.
The migratory movement of birds may be regarded as one of the most
wonderful impulses possessed by animals, and it supplies an apt
illustration of the Prophet’s view, when he reproached the chosen nation
of God for their neglect of appointed duty. “Yea, the stork in the
heaven knoweth her appointed time; and the turtle, and the crane, and the
swallow, observe the time of their coming: but my people know not the
judgment of the Lord.”—_Jer._ viii. 7.
REFLECTIONS ON THE THREE LIGHT-HOUSES.
Light-houses, beacons, warning-bells, and the like, are among the most
indispensable adjuncts of maritime conveyance; without them, indeed, it
would be utterly impossible to conduct it with anything like regularity
or safety; and if there be one thing more than another that has given me
pleasure while writing these pages, it is that of recording _three
light-houses_ (viz., South Stack, Skerries, and Holyhead) connected with
the thriving Port of Holyhead. If it would not be deemed too figurative
and fanciful, I should denominate these light-houses—BRILLIANT EYES
LOOKING OUT FOR THE RETURN OF THE WEATHER-BEATEN SONS OF THE OCEAN. What
vast improvements have been made in this, as well as in other departments
of nautical affairs! Humanity, as well as interest, led to the adoption
of light-houses, both as beacons and guides; and it speaks well for the
sympathy and benevolence of Britons that there are on and about the
British coasts upwards of 200 light-houses, which are classed as “harbour
lights” and “general lights.”
The first attempts were rude; common fires, first of wood, and then of
coals, were originally used to furnish light. A coal fire was employed
for this purpose in the Isle of Man for 180 years (as late as the year
1816). Tallow candles succeeded;—candles fastened on wooden rods were
burnt in the Eddystone light-house for 40 years after it was completed by
Smeaton; then came lamps with twisted cotton wicks. The glimmering lamps
of by-gone days have disappeared, and are superseded by Argand lamps,
with lenses and reflecting prisms. The hand of science has extinguished
the faint splendours of the last century, and lighted up midnight suns,
fixing them in their furbished orbits, on elegant structures, high in
aerial heaven, whose reflected rays mingle together, so as to form one
concentrated blaze of light, intense and beautiful, illuminating and
adorning the shore and rock.
One of the most remarkable light-houses in England is the Eddystone,
erected on a solitary rock, opposite the coast of Plymouth: it has
withstood many a terrific tempest, and appears likely to stand firm amid
the elemental wars for years to come. Not unfrequently, at the mouth of
harbours, as at Harwich, two light-houses are erected, one more elevated
than the other; one to guide the vessels in their approach to the coast,
and the other to direct them in their entrance to the harbour.
Not far from the room where I am now writing, break the waves of St.
George’s Channel. I hear the roar—it is, indeed, a stormy night—wild
blows the wind,—
I think of the mariner tossed on the billow,
Afar from the home of his childhood and youth;
No mother to watch o’er his sleep-broken pillow,
No father to counsel—no sister to soothe! {33}
A tide of joy rises in my soul at the thought that, close to my own door,
I can gaze upon two light-houses, one of which is, mid the foaming deep,
presenting a brilliant point of light—a distinct and striking
object—though some nine miles of waters are rolling between us. It is
the _Skerries Light-house_. I love to look at it. Its _constancy_ and
_fixedness_ interest me. No sooner are the last rays of the sun retiring
from land and sea, than the watchful keeper hastens to kindle the beacon.
If to the midnight hour I protract my musings, and cast a glance upon the
sea, there shines the light. If long before the dawn of day I have
arisen to my labours, there it still shines. The week, the month, the
year rolls round, and there is no failure. What deeply interesting facts
are announced by that brilliant light; it is as if an angel of mercy,
with a voice of thunder, stood and announced what part it was of a
dangerous coast to which the mariner was most contiguous, and in which
direction he must look for shoal and breaker. He is kindly told when
there is peril, and when safety. There is language in that radiance
which streams far forth upon the dark, deep sea. Facts of highest moment
are announced by it. The whole surrounding region of shore and sea is
suggested to the sailor by that welcome light. There it stands—a beacon
against danger, and a guide to the desired haven. For the erection and
maintenance of light-houses, a rate is levied on all vessels passing them
within certain limits, this rate varying from one farthing to one penny
per ton for each light so passed.
Let the reader picture to himself the advantage of light-houses, when the
storm is up—when the bright beacons send forth their refulgent beams
through the blackness of tempest, on the dark winter night. Who can say
how many mariners owe their lives to their friendly warnings. The
vessels that are wrecked through want of light-houses are recorded; but
there is no record of the greater number which, no doubt, light-houses
have saved. Melancholy indeed would be the consequences were all the
lighthouses to be extinguished. What would become of our ships and our
sailors? How dreary a scene would be presented,—the hope of the sailor
would be wrecked, and dismal despair would sit on the countenances of the
navigators of the sea. The swift ship approaches—the mariner looks for
the friendly beacon; but it is gone! There is no voice to announce the
presence of peril, and, for want of it, the noble vessel strikes the
rock, and all the horrors of shipwreck ensue. Shine on, thou brilliant
beacon of the perilous path of the mariner! Thou canst not rival the
bright luminary of the sky, but a noble office canst thou do for
seafaring men.
I love the light that streams afar to save
The storm-tossed seaman from the ’whelming wave;
The ocean-beacon and the river-ranger,
That lures from evil, and that warns from danger.
A STROLL TO THE MOUNTAIN TELEGRAPH.
Placed on this mount, what various views delight
The ravished soul, and captivate the sight!
Lo! yonder mountains high o’er mountains rise,
Each higher than the last, the highest strike the skies.
The beauty of rural scenery has engaged the attention and been the theme
of the poet and novelist under every clime and in every nation, from the
arctic regions of the North to the burning tropics of the South. It
arouses the slumbering energies of the mind, pours delight into the
heart, and beguiles the languishing understanding by its smiling,
soothing, refreshing loveliness, and wonderful effect. Where is there a
man so callous who has not felt the vivifying influence of nature, when
the summer’s sun in his meridian glory shoots abroad his dazzling rays
over many a fair and beautiful prospect, animating everything with the
warmth of his genial fire. The view is not bounded by tall houses and
slooping roofs, between which we can only get a bird’s eye view of a
narrow strip of sky, but we see across the fields, and meadows, and
landscape, for many miles, to a distant horizon, where sky, and earth,
and sea seem to meet, strongly reminding one of the following poetic
dash:—
God made the country, and man made the town.
In tracing the beauties of old Cambria through its length and breadth,
but few spots have given a more pleasing idea of its graces than those
seen from the summit of Holyhead Mountain, which is nearly 800 feet above
the level of the sea. Though it cannot boast of the wonders of the
untrodden glaciers of Switzerland, the mighty Alps, the stupendous Andes,
and the Himalaya of other hemispheres, still the mountain partakes
sufficiently of the magnitude to impress the beholder with feelings of
awe and admiration. If not on the largest scale, it can yet boast almost
every variety of the noblest characteristics of mountain scenery, even to
the terrible. Let the visitor make up his mind
To face the breeze and catch its sweetness.
Let him, pointing to the pomp of mountain summit, inspire his companions
in travel by exclaiming
Now for our mountain sport—up yon hill.
The stroll, which is only from two to three miles, will be most
delightful. On reaching the base of the mountain, I may just remind you,
that
To climb steep hills requires slow pace at first.
If you are a lover of nature many objects will attract your attention,
and beguile your moments, as you ascend higher and higher. Do you take a
pleasure in _Botany_? There are the shrub, bush, diversified flowers,
and rare plants, emitting a reviving fragrance; and there is not
A plant, a leaf, a blossom, but contains
A folio volume. You may read, and read,
And read again, and still find something new.
Do you delight in the study of _Ornithology_? There is the lark soaring
high, and pouring forth his lovely notes, and other songsters of the
feathered tribes in varied music warbling their wildest notes; and it is
hardly an unnatural suggestion, that a new laid egg has cleared the
rejoicing throat of the cuckoo that is loudly exulting. Has _Entomology_
any attractions for you? There is the _humble-bee_ pursuing his busy
course, too happy to keep his joy to himself, humming aloud while on the
wing; but suspending his monotonous song, if song it may be called, the
moment he alights upon a flower.—The _butterfly_ of no common kind
fluttering up and down the air with his companion, banquetting on
pleasure in the sunny beams, enjoying its fourth state of existence.
Stand and gaze for a moment on that pretty rainbow-tinted creature; and
as you look, consider the different grades of its
existence,—metamorphosis to its final transformation,—the egg of the
butterfly has one life, and the caterpillar which springs from it has
another, and the chrysalis into which the caterpillar changes has a
third, and the gay butterfly which rises from the chrysalis has a
fourth;—then there is the _gossamer spider_, which has just covered the
bush with its webs in every direction, and while spangling with dew, and
trembling in the breeze, they glitter in the sun-light like some silver
tissue woven with gems; and unnumbered species of insects, of peculiar
kind, may be seen buzzing and flying, creeping and jumping, above,
around, beneath;—
And each, within its little bulk, contains
A heart, which drives the torrents through its veins;
Muscles to move its limbs aright; a brain
And nerves disposed for pleasure and for pain:
Eyes to distinguish; sense whereby they know
What’s good or bad; is, or is not, its foe.
Is the tourist a _Geologist_? Here are unnumbered stones, of different
sizes, shapes, and colours, which Nature appears to have thrown up in one
of her wildest freaks.—Is he an _Antiquarian_? If he will follow the
path chalked out in these pages, he will find materials which will
furnish him with an intellectual repast, before he leaves the mountain.
But more of this anon.
What are these mast-like things just a-head, peeping over the mountain’s
brow? A few more steps, enquiring traveller, and they will answer for
themselves. Another minute, and you will reach the breathing point. The
panoramic view that suddenly opens, after gaining the eminence, baffles
all description. You will feel a thrill of pleasure as you stand and
gaze on the majestic ocean, ruffled by the breeze, giving back the
sun-beam from ten thousand glittering waves, rolling clear and deep,
carrying on her liquid bosom her rich and varied burdens. While,
however, you form a Pic Nic for a few minutes, I will amuse you with the
following apposite poetic effusion:—
THE TOURIST’S PIC NIC.
Now welcome May comes brightly in,
With sunny shower and azure sky;
Come, quit the city’s dust and din
Ere yet the season’s freshness fly.
This is a spot of ancient turf,
The grass is purely fresh and green;
Just within hearing of the surf:
Few lovelier spots than this, I ween,
Both land and sea in prospect fair,
Well have a merry _Pic Nic_ here.
Come woo we nature’s loveliness,
Her landscapes fair, her scenes sublime,
While young and lightsome footsteps press
Fresh odours from the mountain thyme.
’Tis good to be where old and young
In social happiness are met,
And every heart to mirth is strung,
As if life’s sunshine ne’er would set.
The younger folk shall dance and sing,
The older chat of bye-gone times;
Or poet of the party bring
The tribute of some idle rhymes.
Let every one dismiss dull care
And have a happy _Pic Nic_ here.
THE SIGNAL OR SEMAPHORIC TELEGRAPH.
This is a most ingenious invention, for the purpose of carrying on a
communication with distant persons. The line of Telegraphs, or stations
(eleven in number), was established by the Trustees of the Liverpool
Docks; they extend along the coast as far as Liverpool, and are fixed on
commanding heights, at an average distance of a little less than eight
miles apart. A constant look-out is kept during the day at each of these
stations. The rapidity with which a communication is made from Holyhead
mountain to Liverpool, a distance of about 80 miles, is truly
astonishing. A question is sometimes asked at Liverpool, and an answer
received from Holyhead in less than a minute,—on some occasions in 30
seconds. The ordinary intelligence of what ships are in sight, &c., is
generally conveyed in 5 minutes. The Telegraph consists of two vertical
columns. Each of these columns is provided with two pairs of arms,
moveable on pivots, at a sufficient distance from each other to prevent
any confusion in the working. There are thus eight arms, which, when out
of operation or indicating a cipher, or the ciphers required in
expressing hundreds and thousands, are invisible within the mast. Each
arm is capable of three points of elevation, and is worked from below by
means of chains hitched on to levers of a peculiar construction. Any
number, from 1 to 9, is indicated by one or both of the arms being
pointed obliquely or horizontally. This arrangement of motion is
applicable to each of the four pairs of arms; but otherwise, each has a
different arithmetical power, indicating units, tens, hundreds,
thousands; so that the four powers in combination are capable of
exhibiting every number from 1 to 9,999; but in order to extend the
number still further, each mast is provided with an indicator, or board,
working vertically on its summit; these indicators, when not in
operation, being invisible. By this means four series of numbers, from 1
to 9,999, may be obtained, the telegraphic powers being extended to
39,996 signals. Contiguous to this telegraph is one of older date,
connected with the Holyhead Harbour.
THE EXTENSIVE PROSPECT FROM THE MOUNTAIN TELEGRAPH.
By the aid of the excellent telescopes of the Telegraph, all the more
distant objects of attraction can be seen, and with a singular
mellowness. The South Stack Light-house is brought so near, although
about two miles off, as to make the individuality of persons in the
lantern (previously known) easily and amusingly recognisable. Should the
sky be unclouded and the weather propitious, the natural scenery that
presents itself will be surpassingly grand. The view of the vast
Snowdonian amphitheatre of mountains—
So shadowy, so sublime,
breaks like magic upon the eye, extending in one connected Alpine chain
from the Irish Sea to the Bristol Channel, the contour of which is
varied, at irregular intervals, by the numerous diversified peaks
towering above the rest, till they gradually advance to the summit of
Snowdon, and then uniformly declining, till they terminate in the North
horn of Cardigan Bay. The Isle of Anglesey, with her distant little
hills and coasts, spread like a map,
Lies smiling before you;
that time-honoured Isle—a land of chivalry, of exciting incident, of
music and of song, of venerable tradition and marvellous legend—the chief
seat of the ancient Druids—where the Princes of Wales had their Palace
for centuries. There the Picts, the Danes, the Irish, the Saxons, and
other warlike tribes,
All armed in rugged steel unfiled,
pursued their conquests with great ferocity; ravaging the Island with
fire and sword, blood and slaughter, their banners were
Fanned by conquest’s crimson wing,
and the hungry ravens reddened their beaks from the war of men. From
this mountainous throne may also be seen the Isle of Man; Wicklow, the
garden of Ireland; the mountains in the county of Down, near the Bay of
Dundrum; Bardsey Island; the Cumberland hills, and parts of the Highlands
of Scotland: the vast expanding waters of the Carnarvon Bay, St. George’s
Channel, and Holyhead Bay, roll before you. Below you lies the Pier on
Salt Island, with the Light-house on the extremity—the New Harbour, with
its whistling engines, bustling workmen, and prancing horses; contiguous
to which stand the modern mansions erected for the accommodation of those
whose intellectual brains, like a main-spring, keep the stupendous
machinery in operation, and whose engineering mappings and dottings, and
sketchings and plannings, keep this corner of the world wide awake—the
Old Harbour, with its vessels and smaller craft in different stages of
preparation, and packets busily preparing for immediate sail—the modest
Obelisk peeping over the town—the Skerry Rocks—the sea-washed South
Stack, and other objects of interest, open out on every side
perspicuously to the view. The painter would be at a loss upon what
particular spot to fix his eye; turn which way he will, some beauty,
variable and exhaustless, is before him; it is impossible for either the
artist or poet to describe, with a hope of doing anything like justice
to, so picturesque and varied a landscape. The impression is that of
singular wildness and solitude, stretching in a succession of prospects,
fading into distant softening vista, as agreeable to the eye as the
imagination. While standing on this promontory, your thoughts flow
poetically, although you have neither rhythm nor music in your
composition.
Having filled every cell in the lungs with exquisitely pure air, that
comes direct from a “high ethereal source”—air so uncorrupted as to be
met with only far, far from the haunts of men, and the hum of human
cities, we must now bid farewell to this enchanting and enchaining spot,
but the scene will leave an undying impression on the mind.
I love to stand upon the hill,
And gaze on the ocean wide;
See ships of commerce—not of war,
On her bright bosom glide.
But now before our eyes the mirror fades,
Yet our strain’d glance shall linger on the scene.
A RAMBLE TO THE MOUNTAIN HEAD.
O! let us away to yon heights,
Where the Roman encamp’d him of old;
With his train’d bowmen and Knights,
And his banner all burnish’d with gold.
Having reluctantly turned our backs upon the Telegraph, we now direct our
steps to the mountain apex. The road is not macadamized, but a romantic
walk of 30 minutes will scarcely be felt between the bracing effects of
the atmosphere and the excitement; and I feel assured that the
antiquities will amply repay the additional toil. From the summit there
is a commanding view of the Promontory, and you may mark its varying
breadth and inequalities, its storm indented figure, and its broken
fantastic cliffs, abrupt declivities, and deep gorges, as by some
earthquake cleft.
There is, indeed, a charm connected with this mount, before which the
pageant of pomp, and the heralds of emblazonry must bow down. That charm
is
The power of thought, the magic of the mind.
What thoughts crowd upon the mind while standing on this memorable
mountain! What triumphs and defeats have been experienced here. Hope
and despondency, pleasure and pain, have alternately swelled the breasts
of thousands mid these rocks, while watching every movement of an adverse
fleet, or the approach of distant armies. The transactions of bye-gone
centuries pass in review before our eyes—
Pen Caer Gybi stands renown’d,
Proud in song, and known in story;
Where proud Rome in triumph frown’d
O’er the Welsh, who died in glory.
These were the mighty fastnesses to which the ancient Britons had
recourse when overpowered by numbers and military tactics in the plain.
There is no wonder that these “sons of the mountain heroes” so long
successfully withstood the inroads of Roman legions, when such craggy and
adamantine rocks, were the “external circumstances” in their “formation
of character;” and nothing less than the refined expedient of powder and
ball could dislodge them from these rocky fastnesses and natural
barricades; bows and arrows, swords and spears, were only adapted for
milder game, or closer quarters. On this mountain our hardy ancestors
stood and nobly fought, when liberty made her last stand in this kingdom
against the strides of Roman power; their determination was
To leave the battle only on their biers,
“to conquer or to die,” and thousands fell
Without a grave, unknelled, uncoffined, and unknown.
Here we tread
On sacred ground, and press the mingled dust of heroes;
Far, far beneath they sleep, nor does a stone
Or marble column rear its head to show
The spot where now they moulder.
ANTIQUITIES.
There are several remains of military forts in this neighbourhood, whose
appearance indicates them to be of Roman origin. While reviewing them
our thoughts are instinctively carried back to those days when the
stranger tenanted the land—
When o’er this rugged mountain
Rome’s earliest legions past.
Upon the summit of the mountain called _Pen Caer Gybi_ (the Head of
Cybi’s Fort) is a remarkable Roman antiquity, viz.: _Caer Twr_, (Fort
Tower). This circular building was formerly strongly cemented with the
same kind of mortar as the Fort (church walls) of the Town, and supposed
to have been a _Roman Pharos_, or Watch Tower. It had stood and braved
the crushing thunder, vivid lightning, and warring winds and storms, for
perhaps sixteen hundred centuries. But the rude hand of man has marred
it, hoping by so doing to meet with an Australian digging.
Upon this mount a tower stands
Well known in days of yore;
When chieftains with their hostile bands,
Shed floods of human gore.
’Tis now in ruins—but a spell
Of grandeur haunts the scene;
While none remain the deeds to tell,
The deeds of blood there seen.
Upon the side of the mountain runs a long dry wall, several feet high in
many places. The peculiar form of the wall exhibits the Roman architect;
and there is no doubt the Romans had here one of their posts, or walled
encampments.
There is a power
And magic in the ruined battlement
For which the palace of the present hour
Must yield, and wait, till ages are its dower.
On the opposite or West side of the mountain, and about ten minutes’ walk
from the Telegraph, on the right hand of the footpath leading to South
Stack, and in a situation awfully romantic, may be seen traces of a
religious house called _Capel Lochwyd_. Here also the hand of man has
effected a greater demolition than the elemental war of many centuries;
the altar and walls have been removed with the hope of finding treasure.
It is worth while to visit this spot were it but to admire the taste
which these hermits of old had in fixing their residence; and the piety,
it may be, which led them to seek a solitary abode so favourable to
devotion. From this spot has ascended the voice of prayer, and the hymn
of praise. I doubt not but the surrounding rocks have witnessed such
acts of self-denial, fervent devotion, and entire consecration to God as
would put many of us, who are making a flaming profession, to the blush.
I should imagine that few could view these remarkable remains of ancient
piety without feeling, in some degree, the sentiment so admirably
expressed by the Poet—
I do love these ancient ruins;
We never tread upon them but we set
Our foot upon some reverend history.
Close to this sacred spot is one of the most extraordinary clefts in the
solid rock ever seen by man. It would well repay the walk of miles to
see it. It was here the Welsh lads and lasses of the last century
descended and ascended, when they tested their fortunes in reference to
the profound hymeneal question named in page 17. My friend who
accompanied me to view these ancient ruins, descended the ravine, but I
preferred remaining in meditative mood. The information, however, which
he gave, on returning, of the scenery of the “lower regions,” created in
my bosom a desire, which I purpose, at some future period, should life be
spared, to gratify. It is a delightful walk from here to South Stack,
which may be accomplished in about half-an-hour. Many Roman coins of the
time of late emperors were found a few years ago in this mountain; also
several coins of Constantine the Great, in a very perfect state, one of
which was presented to the Marquis of Anglesey by Captain H. Evans. In
1835, in removing some old walls at _Ty Mawr_ (Large House) the property
of Lord Stanley of Alderley, were found several spear-heads, axes, and
rings, of bronze, with red amber blades, which, from the form and nature
of the materials, appear to be of Phœnician origin.
It is a pity that ruins of such thrilling interest should have been so
shamefully demolished. As the number of visitors to Holyhead will
increase annually, it is hoped that efforts will be made to restore some
of them, for they will always be objects of attraction.
By this time, I presume, you feel disposed for the “good things” of this
life, and cast a longing look towards your quarters. Of one thing I am
fully persuaded, that you will feel your health better, your spirits
brighter, your appetite keener, your mind expanded, your thoughts
assuming a loftier and yet more refined bearing, from your having visited
Nature in a few of her sublimer abodes.
REFLECTIONS.
While descending the rugged mount, the scenes you have just left behind
may lead to a train of thought somewhat similar to the following. What a
great change has taken place in this Island since the Roman Eagle
fluttered in the breeze, and the conquering legions rent the heavens with
shouts of victory. When the historic lamp disclosed this land, it
presented a race of rude barbarians,
Wild as the untaught Indian brood.
Superstition then triumphed over the minds of the masses. In yon valley
was the sequestered grove devoted to obscure and horrid mysteries—altars
were reared, on which the innocent, as well as the guilty, were doomed to
bleed—the Druid priests performed the horrid murders, and pretended that
they could, by such means, foretel future events, blasphemously asserting
that the attitude in which the victim fell, the writhing agonies of
expiring life, the manner in which the blood flowed, or the convulsions
of the wounds opened, or closed, were indications of futurity—they
conducted gloomy processions, with victims, bound with cords, for
slaughter and sacrifice, filling the air with shrieks of agony and
screams of horror—gross idolatry, savage manners, bloody rites, funeral
pile, echoing whoop—all, all were there!
Wrapped in deep sleep, the ancient Britons lay,
Hugged their vile chains, and dream’d their age away.
Such was Wales, and such was Britain too, before the light of the
Christian Religion shone on her coasts. That heaven-born system, with
its train of imperishable blessings, took its stand amid these wild
regions, and like yon sun in the heavens, diffused her light, extended
her influence, and multiplied her bloodless conquests. She has
organized, humanized, civilized, moralized, and, in many instances,
evangelized the inhabitants. Christianity has expelled idolatry,
restored natural affection, and has conferred, and is conferring,
numerous, most substantial, and positive blessings. And while she has,
on the one hand, discouraged and eradicated those vices which were the
harbingers of a nation’s ruin, she has, on the other, implanted those
principles on which the welfare of nations depend. It is true she has
prepared weapons, but they are not carnal; enlisted soldiers, but their
fight is without “confused noise of warriors, and garments rolled in
blood;” she has erected a standard, but it is the Cross; unfurled a
banner, but its emblem is the dove—the bond of brotherhood; and when
sovereigns, senators, and legislators, are properly influenced by the
pacific principles of the Gospel, war will be known no more; the sun will
no more rise upon an embattled plain, nor set upon a field of blood.
Then the labourer will
Drive his yoked oxen, and with careless steps
Lean o’er the share, and carol as he guides
The obliterating furrow o’er their graves.
Contrasting the present with the past, we feel that other times now bless
our land, and that while peace and joy bound over the mountain tops, we
can with peculiar feelings give utterance to the language of the poet:—
Where once the Roman marshall’d his bold host,
Bristling with swords and spears the rocky heights,
The shepherd leads his flock, and the young lambs
In sporting gambols tread the flowery turf.
NEW HARBOUR.
Here numerous ships security may gain
From raging tempests and the blustering main.
For want of a more extensive area of shelter, and deeper water, great
destruction of shipping has occurred on the rocks outside the Holyhead
Old Harbour by vessels endeavouring to reach the Pier; hence the
necessity of an outer harbour, sufficiently spacious to admit a
man-of-war at all times. This necessity had for many years been deeply
impressed upon the minds of gentlemen of talent and experience. The many
fearful wrecks in the bay tended to produce a conviction that no money,
within a reasonable limit, should be spared for effecting a spacious and
complete harbour. It is an admitted fact that the aspect of entrance to
the present harbour, together with its inefficiency in size, have been
the sole cause of most of the shipwrecks in the bay. The following
melancholy record will serve to shew that it was high time some effort
should be made to save life and property.
Dec. 18th, 1790.—On the north point of Salt Island the _Charlemont_
packet, on her passage from Parkgate to Dublin, was lost, when 110 souls
perished, owing to the want of a sufficient draught in the Old Harbour.
Feb. 5th, 1824.—The _John_, from Cork to Liverpool, was driven on the
rocks at Penrhos, in this bay—13 lives lost. She came under the lee of
the Light-house in the entrance of the harbour, but, owing to its aspect,
could not come into it, consequently was blown off.
Nov. 24th, 1826.—The _Marquis of Wellington_, from Liverpool to Buenos
Ayres, drove on shore out of the Old Harbour upon Brynglas Rocks—16 lost.
This vessel was from 2 o’clock, p.m., until 5 30, p.m., at the entrance
of the Harbour. The captain had actually written to Liverpool that
evening, and sent the letter on shore with the boatman, informing his
owner and friends of his safe arrival at Holyhead; before 12 o’clock all
had perished!
Jan. 14th, 1827.—The _Panthia_, N. Y. packet, bound for Liverpool, was
driven into the bay by the violence of the gale, and in attempting to
make the harbour, went on shore about 300 yards to the eastward of the
South-pier-head. Ship broken up.
April 28th, 1829.—The _Harlequin_, from Palermo to Liverpool, drifted on
the rocks at Turkey Shore, at the entrance of the harbour, and became a
total wreck.
April 28th, 1829.—The _Fame_, from Barbadoes to Liverpool, drifted on the
rocks at Turkey Shore, at the entrance of the harbour, south side.
April 28, 1829, the “Fitia,” from Rotterdam to Liverpool, drifted from
the pier to Pen Manarch, Penrhos Point, and was much damaged. The
captain’s wife was drowned. This vessel approached so near to the north
pier that a pound weight could have been thrown on her deck;
notwithstanding owing to the aspect of the harbour, shipwreck was the
consequence. To this affecting catalogue a long and fearful list might
be added, shewing that a vast amount of life and property has been
lost—lost for ever. But sufficient has been recorded to prove that the
New Harbour, which is now stretching out her welcome wings across the
beautiful Bay of Holyhead, was a _desideratum_.
Holyhead is formed by Nature to become a great trading community. The
bay presents a fine spacious opening, one half sheltered by eternal
rocks, and on each side of its entrance, are brilliant lights to guide
the mariner. It is, moreover, centrally situated in St. George’s
Channel, in the tract of all its trade; and presents the only station
from the Land’s End to the Clyde, on the east side of the channel,
(except Milford,) to which vessels can approach when the tide has
considerably ebbed. No wonder then, that the various commissioners
appointed by Government, consisting of some of the most eminent naval and
civil engineers, should select it as the best place on the coast for an
asylum harbour, and a packet station.
Several plans were proposed for the New Harbour by different eminent
engineers. The first plan proposed was by the late noble spirited and
indefatigably enterprising, Captain H. Evans, Holyhead Harbour Master;
but it enclosed too small an area, and too wide an entrance. J. Walker,
Esq., C.E., to the Admiralty, proposed a plan which was to enclose an
area of 90 acres, and 3,300 feet of breakwater, and 2,500 feet of pier,
at an expense of £400,000. Captain Beechy, R.N., proposed to enclose 176
acres, with 4,500 feet of breakwater, and 3,500 feet of pier, at an
expense of £500,000; and J. M. Rendall, Esq., C.E., of Westminster, (the
constructor of the Docks at Birkenhead, Great Grimsby, and Leith,)
proposed a splendid design, on a very large scale, and adopted by the
Government. It consists of a breakwater of 5,100 feet from Soldier’s
Point eastward, to terminate at the Platter’s Buoy; and a pier of 2,100
feet from _Ynys Halen_, (Salt Island,) with its head resting on the
outward Platter, enclosing an area of 316 acres,—three quarters of a mile
long, and in seven fathoms of water,—making one of the most splendid
refuge harbours and packet stations in the universe; the estimate cost of
which is £700,000.
The Contractors for this gigantic project are Messrs J. and C. Rigby,
London. G. C. Dobson, Esq., C.E., is the Resident Engineer; G. F.
Lyster, Esq., C.E., Assistant Engineer; Mr. J. Radford, General Manager;
and Mr. R. Cousins, Engineer for the Contractors. The works were
commenced in January, 1848; and they have been going on since then as
rapidly as it was possible to proceed. Twelve months were occupied in
laying down rails to the quarries, erecting stages, and making other
necessary preparations for the works; since which, an average of 1,300
men have been employed on the works. The broad gauge has been used for
the railway, by which means the contractors, are enabled to bring larger
pieces of stone than the narrow gauge could accommodate. There are two
quarries used, one called Moelfry Quarry, from which limestone is
produced, and the other is, in fact, the Holyhead Mountain, from the
sides of which the materials for the works are taken. A railway is
formed from the extensive quarry on the side of the mountain to the
Soldier’s Point, and Salt Island. Wooden staging is run out into the
sea; strong long balks or piles are fixed in a vertical position in the
water, resting on the base; these are secured with beams placed
longitudinally so as to form a base for the construction of the railway.
The top of the staging is considerably above high-water mark. The depth
of the sea at low water, on the line of the breakwater, varies from 20 to
40 feet; the tide rising, on an average, to a further height of 17 feet
in spring, and 7 feet in neaps. Along the top of the staging are
railways capable of sustaining the weight of a locomotive engine and a
number of waggons loaded. In the erection of these stages the utmost
care has been evinced by the contractors and engineers to prevent
accident; in order to obtain this object, no expense has been spared; the
machinery and staging being of the best and strongest description. The
work may be described as consisting of two breakwaters, one to the north,
(Soldier’s Point,) and the other to east, (Salt Island.) The quarries
are contiguous to the works, and here a great number of the workmen are
employed; they are, perhaps, the most extensive in the country, and it is
not an hypothesis to say that in no quarries extant is work of such
magnitude and rapidity carried on. Holyhead Mountain, which affords the
source of supply, consists of schistus quartz of so hard a nature that
the tools of the workmen will scarcely touch it, and its edges will cut
glass. The quarrying begun with the foot of the mountain slope, and it
has progressed into the mountain until an elevation of 130 feet
perpendicular has been attained. The scene at the quarries exhibits one
of the most active pictures of industry, from the width of the workings,
and the number of labourers employed.
The huge mountain, towering from 700 to 800 feet above the level of the
sea, expanding its full breast, and showing its fine broad forehead, and
which, comparatively speaking, had slumbered for centuries, is at length
disturbed from its long repose, by “physical force.” A visit to this
scene of industry, which literally swarms with men and horses, is no
small treat. Tramways are laid in every direction, along which waggons
roll to the point where they are required. Locomotive engines of unique
design and requirements are continually at work, pouring their dense
smoke into the air, passing along with amazing velocity to the terminus
of the stage,—
Quick moves the balanced beam, of giant birth,
Wields his large limbs, and nodding shakes the earth.
The clang of the hammer of the blacksmith—the whirl of the wheel of the
grinding mill—the jerking of the punching machine, perforating thick
sheet iron, as easily as a lady would put her needle through
pasteboard—the buz in the engineers’ compartment—the pendulum-like tick,
tick, tick, of the strikers pursuing their monotonous vocations—the
enormous cranes, with their pullies, hooks, and ponderous weights
attached, demonstrating the laws of gravitation—the miners, deep buried
in the bowels of the mountain, the sound of whose strokes, forcibly
reminds one of the fairies of by-gone days—the signal-flags floating in
the breeze, and announcing in telegraphic language, “to all whom it may
concern,” that it is high time to take care of “number one”—the blasting,
which is on a most magnificent scale, report after report, making one
almost feel as if we were in the vicinity of an embattled plain, and
last, though not least, the strong, sleek, well-fed horses, prancing in
their furbished harness—all, all are before you and around you. Nor are
the workmen less striking and peculiar—the ease with which the most
unwieldy hammers are heaved by them attest their prodigious strength and
profound skill—some may be seen, high in the quarry, suspended by ropes,
reminding one of the bye-gone practice of egg-taking from the high cliffs
of the promontory, pushing down the rocks, loosened by the terrible
blasting, shouting to each other as if they gloried in their elevated
position—the engine drivers guiding their iron horses along the stages,
while the sea roars 60 feet beneath them, meeting each other on the up
and down lines, with all the pleasantry of stage-coach men of olden time;
fear is not in their vocabulary; though the yawning gulf is beneath them,
they sing, and smile, and whistle, as they sweep along the trembling
stage, as if seated in their respective cottages, with their playful
wives beside them, and their merry children round them.
But to return—to cut into so hard a rock the contractors have to adopt
the process of blasting, which is carried on upon a magnitude which has
never been equalled. To penetrate the rocks sets of workmen, in twos,
are employed in different parts of the face of the mountain, and these
men drive a heading or gallery into the solid rock, about five feet high
and three wide, for a distance of 30 to 40 feet, which is accomplished
chiefly by blasting. In the extremity of this gallery, which runs first
horizontally, and is then sunk perpendicularly, the powder is placed in a
wood-case or bag, and the hole being tamped or filled up with clay, it is
fired by the galvanic battery. The charges vary from one to five tons of
gunpowder, according to the face of the rock to be acted upon; and the
quantities thrown down varies from six to thirty thousand tons in an
explosion. One of these “headings” or “shots” as they are called, went
off this day (Dec. 7, 1852). Sir Richard Bulkeley, Bart., the Rev. J.
Williams, M. Errington Stanley, Esq., and G. F. Lyster, Esq., were
present on the occasion, and took their station on a bridge to witness
the “shot;” but on seeing the stones roll through the air, they deemed it
prudent to act upon the well known maxim, “retreat is the better part of
valour,” and instantly left their elevated position, and placed
themselves beneath the abutment of the bridge. The writer, who was
present, was a little amused to see such a fine illustration of the first
law of nature—SELF PRESERVATION. As a proof of the fearful extent of
these explosions, I would just observe, that although the bridge on which
the aforesaid gentlemen stood was about 800 yards from the quarry, a
stone fell within a few yards of it. The effect of these blastings on
the rock are sometimes of a curious character, but generally speaking the
rock when thrown down leaves the surface of the cliff smooth and
perpendicular. The stones thrown out are generally large, many of them
weighing twenty tons. Shafts are also sunk from 30 to 40 feet deep. The
quantity of stone taken from the quarries is accurately weighed, and
already about two million tons have been buried in the sea. During the
past year the average deposit has amounted to 3,500 tons per day, and
supposing that there have been 250 full working days, this would give a
deposit for the year of 875,000 tons.
The mode of operation is as follows. The rough breakwater is formed by
rubble-stones, brought from the mountain in waggons peculiarly
constructed for the express purpose (the design of which, I understand,
was furnished by the resident engineer, and proves the versatility of his
genius), and dropped perpendicularly through the staging into the sea,
and is then left to be dealt with by the sea, which arranges the deposit
in a manner best suited to form a consolidated mass; and it is calculated
that, when a sufficient portion of the mountain has been dropped into the
sea, there will be formed a breakwater which will have an average base of
from 400 to 500 feet, and this will gradually slope upwards to about 50
feet on the summit of the breakwater on which the stone pier will be
built. But after all the sea is the great workman. We find the
materials, and it makes the foundation; or as the celebrated French
engineer, Monsieur Cachin, observes, “If man be strong enough to heap
together rocks in the midst of the ocean, the action of the sea alone can
dispose them in the manner most likely to ensure their stability.” This
is now most effectually carried out by this new means of depositing
stones. When a heavy sea comes on, it breaks over the ridges of
rubble-rocks, which are interspersed amongst the timber of the staging,
and gradually lowers them, carrying away ridge after ridge, until that
which was far above the water is completely submerged; and the sea acting
upon these stones gradually solidifies the mass, which binds itself into
the clayey bottom of the harbour, and the whole becomes tenaciously
cemented to the ground. And this process will go on until the deposit
shall have formed a place sufficiently inclined to sustain the breaking
of the sea without removal.
The slopes, it is understood, will be faced with dressed stone to a
certain extent, similar to the fine specimen of beautiful workmanship,
which has been executed for about 100 yards, at the seaward side of
“Soldier’s Point.”
The present effective staff consists of eight locomotive engines, running
on five lines of railway on the breakwater; a fixed engine for grinding,
fifty horses, and 1,300 men; and the stores embrace all things requisite
for conducting the work in a self-supporting manner. This mass of mind
and matter is able every day to accomplish a removal into the sea of
4,000 tons weight of the mountain, and so the work proceeds.
The works are being carried on by the spirited contractors with the
utmost expedition compatible with good workmanship. The present extent
of the north breakwater is 3,700 feet, which leaves about 1,400 feet to
be constructed. The east pier extends 1,000 feet, which is about half
its intended length. {51} Attention has also been directed to the
permanent wall of the great breakwater on the harbour side, with a view
to find quay accommodation for vessels to discharge, and for steamers to
take in coals. About 800 feet of this walling is now being levelled for
the quay, on which cranes, &c., are to be placed immediately, and a
connection may ultimately be made with the railway.
When the work will be ended is a wide question. It is said the
Contractors are under an engagement to finish their work by the close of
1855. The works are certainly progressing satisfactorily, and on the
part of the Contractors there is a desire to urge them forward as rapidly
as it is possible to proceed. It is a work which all desire to see
accomplished and in use at as early a moment as the works can be safely
and scientifically completed.
The public mind exults in these vast undertakings, “vain man would”
now-a-days not only “be wise,” but he would be _powerful_, and he
delights, not merely in soliciting the aid of Nature, but in “attacking”
it. When the whole undertaking is completed, protected by batteries, and
ornamented with light-houses, observatories, and telegraphs, and adorned
with promenades, and a Sailors’ Chapel, it will present a very
interesting illustration of the success with which intellect and
perseverance and enterprise have been crowned; and will be indicative not
only of the wealth of the nation, but a proof of the mental over the
physical world, worthy of Britain in the nineteenth century.
The words of the immortal Shakespeare, put into the mouth of one of his
heroines, may, with a slight alteration, be applied to the New Harbour:—
— This same blessed (Milford) Holyhead, and, by the way
Tell me how Wales was made so happy as
To inherit such a haven.
For certain purposes, such as shelter, the harbour will become
progressively available. Great benefit has been derived from the works,
even in their present imperfect state. Hundreds of vessels have already
taken shelter under the breakwater; the writer has counted as many as
forty vessels at one time anchored in the Harbour; and the time is not
far distant, when the spacious and beautiful haven will afford a refuge
to ships of all sizes. When the foaming surges rave, and the billows
roar—when the storm-cloud broods, and the thunder-storms crash—when
hurricane howls music, on the wild wide sea, and the big waves roll the
chorus; when the shattered vessel is driven the mock of ocean, and the
sport of winds, her tars will anchor here, and, safely moored, will tell
their wonders over.—
Safe from the wind and tide
The mighty vessels will triumphant ride.
The works may be seen by visitors, subject to certain regulations, by
seeking a pass at the Engineer’s Office, near the works, in the obtaining
of which there is no difficulty.
CHESTER AND HOLYHEAD RAILWAY.
Railways have given an impetus to our country’s civilization. They are
the veins and arteries by means of which the circulation of the social
body is carried on. Remote places are, by this means, virtually brought
near to each other; and thus, while intelligence is diffused, an impulse
is given to commerce, each of which advantages most powerfully affects
the conditions of the people. The benefits of cheap and quick
communication to a great commercial state are too evident to require to
be enlarged upon. Time and money are thus importantly saved, and a rapid
and economical transit of goods, by lessening their costs, enable the
humblest to partake of comforts which were formerly considered as
luxuries only for the rich.
Amongst the railway enterprises in this kingdom, the Chester and Holyhead
line must be considered as possessing peculiar claims to public
attention. The stupendous character of the work—the difficulties which
had to be overcome, and the vast sum invested in the undertaking, place
this line in the foremost rank amongst the splendid achievements of our
days; indeed we may justly consider it the masterpiece of the human
intellect, and the wonder of the nineteenth century. In its course, it
divides broad estuaries, it penetrates the bowels of the loftiest hills,
forming an iron-road where the foot of man had never trod, and the
hardiest rocks have succumbed to the irresistible energy of human actions
and scientific skill—it crosses the important navigable river at Conway,
and the Menai Straits, by means of immense iron-tubes, at such an
elevation as not to impede the progress of the largest vessels. It
presents an extraordinary display of enterprise and wealth; so large an
accumulation of the conquests of energy, and the constituent elements of
riches, it may be safely said, was never before collected in the same
compass. The whole line is a noble exemplification of art subjugating
and triumphing over the opposition of natural difficulties. Its
completion formed an epoch in the history and application of mechanical
power. If only a few years ago it had been said that people could pass
over the Menai Straits, without inconvenience and without danger, at the
rate of from 30 to 40 miles per hour, the tale would have been treated as
one of those visionary stories, which in former days were the amusements
of the nursery.
Holyhead is the terminus of this extraordinary line—a line of great value
to this place, effecting as it has done a rapid communication between
this port and the eastern part of the county, as well as the
manufacturing districts of Cheshire, Lancashire, and the North; while,
uniting with other lines, a connexion is opened up with the Metropolis.
RAILWAY STATION.
The Holyhead Station is an extensive and commodious one, connected with
which are Refreshment Rooms, with Waiting and Dressing Rooms attached,
Telegraph Office and a well furnished Book Room, the whole fitted up on a
most splendid scale, well arranged and in excellent order, and
plentifully supplied with luxurious food. A table d’hote at the
Refreshment Rooms on the arrival of the mail and express packets from
Ireland, conducted by Mrs. Hibbert, late of Wolverton. In Mr.
Massinberd, manager of the Railway Station, the traveller will meet with
a gentleman anxious to give every information which even the most
timorous and querulous may require to further his views, or quell his
fears. The Railway Company have also erected a large cattle and luggage
station on the pier. A new line of railroad has been constructed along
the margin of the _traeth_, or sandy estuary, which forms the Harbour,
extending nearly a mile from the Station to the Pier. Arrangements for
the transit of goods and live stock between Ireland and England have been
made. A steamer leaves the North Wall, Dublin, every evening; but the
period has been so short that no opportunity has been afforded to
ascertain its success; there is, however, every prospect of the traffic
becoming a very important feature in the developement of this line, and
certain to be productive of a large additional revenue to the company.
There are many distinguished men in the railway world, who have been
accustomed for many years to look _afore_ and _aft_, who do not despair
of seeing the Chester and Holyhead one of the most profitable, as it is
one of the best officered, lines of railway in the kingdom; but we think
that the government should take upon itself to cover the vast outlay
which it caused in the erection of that wonder of the world, the
Britannia Tubular Bridge—a NATIONAL CONVENIENCE.
It has been a cause of regret to thousands that the proposals for the
erection of the Hotel in Britannia Park, the grounds of which are in
rapid progress towards completion, have not been taken up with that
warmth and spirit, which the zeal and penetration of S. M. Peto, Esq.,
M.P., Chairman of the Chester and Holyhead Railway Company, led him to
consider desirable. It is to be hoped, however, that the vast
expenditure already incurred will not be thrown away, and the property
suffered again to become almost a waste, affording as it does the most
beautiful prospects, and the most healthy and convenient positions in the
neighbourhood, to which multitudes of wealthy families, carrying on
business in the crowded cities of England, would be glad to retire, could
sufficient accommodation be secured to them. In conclusion, we would
respectfully urge upon the shareholders not to sacrifice their interests
in an undertaking whose prospects are of a most cheering character, in
parting with their shares at present prices.
General Manager for the Line, J. O. Binger, Esq., Chester.—Resident
Engineer, H. Lee, Esq., C.E., Bangor.
DEPARTURE OF TRAINS.
Mail Train, 2 a.m., and 7 p.m. Express, 2 40 p.m. For the Ordinary
Trains see Time Table.
STEAM PACKETS.
Ploughing the seas
’Gainst wind, and tide, and elemental strife.
HOLYHEAD derives its chief prosperity and consequence from being the
Station of the Government Packets, which convey the London and other
English mails to and from Ireland, to which it lies exactly opposite, and
is the shortest and safest passage across St. George’s Channel; and now
that the Railway is completed through to Chester, a new interest is
awakened, and hopes entertained that the port will become one of the
first importance to this remote peninsular of the kingdom. In addition
to Her Majesty’s packets, there are regular steam vessels, in connection
with the Railway Company, that sail from the harbour daily. These are
splendid first class and fast sailing steam-ships; the fittings-up are of
superior character, excellent tables are kept, stewards and stewardesses
are most attentive, the crew are steady, sober, and experienced sailors,
the commanders are true seamen, assiduous in the discharge of their
highly responsible and arduous professional duties, civil and easy in
address, intelligent in conversation, and most desirous to secure, by the
best attention, the comfort and convenience of their passengers—these
form an aggregate of all possible auxiliaries to the enjoyment of a swift
and pleasant run of 4½ hours, which lands you on the Irish shores. These
superb steamers dart boldly forward, like some ocean bird upon its wing,
on their trip across the channel. There is something almost startling in
looking intensely on that strange unconscious power which produces
results of living motion, with a beauty, majesty, and rapidity of action,
without any approach to violence or hurry; it is at such moments that the
light of modern science appears almost too dazzling to the human eye. It
is said that between Holyhead and Dublin no packet has been lost since
the days of Queen Elizabeth. In 1652, a weekly postal communication was
established between Dublin and England, by packet to Holyhead.
STEAM-PACKETS TO AND FROM IRELAND.
_Departure_.
_Mail Packets_—Every night, 1 o’clock. Morning, 6.
_Express_, _Company’s Packets_—Every evening, 6 o’clock (Sunday
excepted).
_Luggage and Cattle Packet_—Every evening.
_Windermere_—To Liverpool, calling at Amlwch, every Thursday.
_Arrivals_.
_Mail Packets_—Every night, 12 30. Evening, 6.
_Express_, _Company’s Packets_—2 o’clock, p.m., (Sunday excepted). A
Railway Train leaves Holyhead soon after the arrival of the Mail and
Express Packets.
_Luggage and Cattle Packet_—Every morning.
_Windermere_—From Liverpool, every Wednesday.
HOTELS.
The “Royal Hotel” is conducted by Mr. and Mrs. Hibbert, and the “Castle
Hotel” by Mr. and Mrs. Mc Vittie. At these hotels there is every comfort
and convenience, whether for the invalid in hopes of renovated health, or
the tourist delighting in creature comforts. They are replete with every
requisite for the accommodation of visitors, and afford every inducement
to persons desirous, by quietness, to enjoy a relaxation from the cares
of business and the bustle of populous districts. Cleanliness, prompt
attention, combined with moderate charges, are the characteristics of
these establishments, and render them pleasant places for a short stay.
The Royal Hotel, which is contiguous to the Station, has undergone
thorough alteration, and every care has been taken to adopt all modern
improvements, with a view of securing to travellers and families every
accommodation which a first-class hotel can afford. It is fitted up in a
style of elegance which renders it one of the most complete
establishments of the kind in the kingdom, and in every way suited for
visitors of the highest grade of society; it is fit to accommodate
Royalty itself, and we opine the day is not far distant when it will be
honoured with such illustrious guests. It is presided over by Mrs.
Hibbert, late of Wolverton Station, whose unwearied exertions are
employed to secure her inmates, as far as possible, all that can be
desired. Here are hot, cold, and shower baths; carriages, cars,
post-horses, &c. Omnibuses to and from the Railway Station and
Steam-packets, for the convenience of parties frequenting this hotel,
_gratis_.
TRIPS BY SEA.
Many persons resort to aquatic excursions for health, recreation, and the
gratification of a poetic taste; and we are happy to say that there are
few places that afford better opportunities for trips by sea than
Holyhead. Should the visitor desire a short voyage, he may be gratified;
three or four miles will land him at _Trefadog_ (Madog’s House), or
_Penrhyn_ (The Cape), on the opposite shore. Or he may have a nine miles
sail to the Skerries, or Island of Seals, and thus give the good man of
the rocks a proof that the sons of the soil cast a wishful look towards
his solitary abode by day, as well as the sons of the ocean by night. Or
he may have a four miles cruise to South Stack, glide by the New Harbour,
and gaze upon the sublime grandeur of the bold promontory. (See page
45.) Should the tourist, however, wish to achieve such nautical wonders
as to lose sight of his own dear land, and to be able to say to his
friends on returning—“I have crossed the seas!” his wish may be fully
realized. Walk to the Pier, tread the deck of one of our splendid
steamers, and in 4½ hours you will be landed on the shores of Ireland,
and inhale the bracing air of the far-famed Emerald Isle.
PENRHOS PARK.
This handsome mansion (about two miles from Holyhead) is embosomed in the
wood, and is the residence of the Hon. Wm. Owen Stanley, M.P. for the
city of Chester. The principal entrance faces the sea, of which it
commands a very extensive view. About a quarter of a mile east of
Penrhos is Penrhyn, a cliff projecting into the sea, which has been the
residence of the family of Owen for many centuries, who were descended
from one of the five sons of Hwfa ap Cynddelw, Lord of Llifon in 1157,
now represented by Lord Edisbury and the Hon. W. O. Stanley, sons of the
late Lord Stanley, of Alderley. Hwfa was contemporary with Owen Gwynedd,
one of the most celebrated princes of North Wales, who on more than one
occasion gave battle and completely routed the English army, under the
personal command of Henry II. Hwfa founded one of the fifteen royal
tribes of Wales; and his five sons inherited his princely property,
extending from Aberffraw to Holyhead, and including a great part of the
Island of Anglesey.
LADY STANLEY’S HOSPITALITY TO SHIPWRECKED SAILORS.
During the tremendous gales from the north, in January and February,
1802, the _Die Liebe_, a Dutch galliot, bound from Rotterdam to Ireland,
and the _Brothers_, of Liverpool, were wrecked near Penrhos, the first at
midnight, where the unfortunate sufferers found all the comfort and
attention which beneficence, united to influence, can so happily bestow,
under the hospitable roof of the late Lady Stanley.
Mr. Richard Llwyd, in his “Lines addressed to the Thrush, in the Garden
at Penrhos,” alludes to this melancholy catastrophe,
A happier day, dear chorister, is thine,
A grave unhaunted by the tread of fear;
A little forest, free from kites and crime,
When music only meets thy listening ear,—
Save when the Demon of the boisterous North
Rushed through the gloom of night with sullen roar,
Led from destruction’s den the Furies forth,
To roll his dying victims on the shore.
’Twas thine amid the raging of the storm,
To see thy Stanley disappoint the grave;
Tread the dread beach in Charity’s mild form,
And bid her Penrhos ope’ its doors to save.
And thine as playful in these flow’ry glades,
To hear the prayer ascend to Mercy’s throne,
To hear from strangers, shelter’d in these shades,
The grateful blessings breath’d in tongues {59} unknown.
ST. BRIDE’S, OR TOWYN CHAPEL; AND THE ANCIENT TUMULUS.
Here friends and foes
Lie close, unmindful of their former feuds.
The name of _barrows_ is given to the artificial hills which were in
ancient times very generally constructed to commemorate the mighty dead.
Such hills are usually formed of earth, but sometimes of heaped stones.
In the latter form, they are almost exclusively confined to Scotland, and
are there called _cairns_. Barrows are found in almost every country,
from America to the steppes of Tartary, and probably exhibit the
earliest, and assuredly the grandest species of honorary burial; a humble
relic of which we still retain in the mounds of earth over the graves of
our churchyards. Assuming that the barrow indicates, in the matter of
sepulture, the first step of man from the merely savage state, it does
not seem to have been forsaken for monuments of greater art and delicacy
until such further advances in civilization had been made as might be
indicated to a careful inquirer by the alteration in the form or
structure of the _tumulus_ itself, and still more by the contents which
might be disinterred; for it was in all, except perhaps the very earliest
instances, customary to bury with the dead their weapons, their
ornaments, and other articles of value. In the barrows of the earliest
period we might expect to find no more than the bones of the uncoffined
and unurned barbarian with his arrow heads of flint; while those of a
later period would furnish stone and earthen coffins, urns of metal and
earthenware, spears, swords, shields, bracelets, beads, mirrors, combs,
and even coins and cloths,—articles which are actually found in some
_tumuli_, and most of them in those of this country.
The cairns, or carnedd, heaps of stones, are frequently mentioned in
Scripture, and in every instance, when not accompanied with a pillar, we
find them raised with the same object, namely, to cover the remains of
those who died in crime, and whose memories it was intended to dishonour.
Such were the heaps of stones raised over the remains of Achan, Absalom,
and the King of Ai. Joshua vii. 25, 26—viii. 25. 2 Sam. xviii. 17 In
Syria and Palestine it is still usual for one who passes such a heap to
throw a stone on it, in order to express his detestation of the infamy
commemorated, as well as to contribute to the maintenance or increase the
size of the monument. In Scotland, too, in some parts, it was formerly,
and perhaps still is common for a person to say to the offender, “Never
mind, I shall throw a stone over your cairn yet.”
There are numerous cairns in Wales, many of which still bear distinctive
names, such as _Carn Vadryn_ and _Carn Hendwll_. Allusion to these is
made in the works of the earliest bards; for instance, Taliesin
observes:—
Carawg will purchase
Wales abounding with _canerddau_.
It is said that in Druidic times the cairn was a species of monument
awarded only to persons of distinction. The following passage on the
subject occurs in the life of Gruffydd ab Cynan:—“Now the mountain on
which the battle was fought, is called by the people of the country the
_carn_ mountain, that is to say, the mountain of the _carnedd_; for in
that place there is an immense _carnedd_ of stones, under which was
buried a _champion_ in primitive ages of antiquity.” The cairn was of
gradual growth, inasmuch as it was the custom for every passer by to
fling an additional stone upon the common heap, out of reverence to the
memory of the person who was interred underneath.
We are told however that when the practice of burying in churchyards
became general, the cairn was condemned as fit only for great criminals.
Hence the expression, “_carn or dy wyneb_” (may a cairn be upon thy
face), when one wishes ill to another man. In this case travellers cast
their stones out of detestation. Owing, therefore, to such a change of
popular feeling in regard to the cairn, it would now be impossible, from
its mere outward appearance, to conjecture the character of the person
whom it covers. Moreover, the size would vary, not only according to the
honour or disgrace with which the deceased was in his lifetime regarded,
but also according to the situation of the grave itself, whether it was
near a public road or not. It may be, however, that the position of the
body, or form of the _cistvaen_ (stone chest), or some other interior
arrangement, would prove a clue to the solution of this question.
Many of the cairns in this country have been opened, and generally found
to contain undoubted evidence of human interment; and where this was not
the case, their absence may be very reasonably accounted for by the
supposition that the body was burned (as in the case of Achan), and the
stones heaped over the ashes.
Upwards of one hundred years ago, Sir Nicholas Bailey opened a _carnedd_
at Plas Newydd, Anglesey. Supposing the mound a mere heap of rubbish, he
began to level it; but when the workmen had opened the entrance into the
large ruin, he ordered them to discontinue their operations, as it seemed
to contain nothing but bones.
The mound or tumulus on which the remains of _Capel y Towyn_ (see page 6)
stand, is evidently the cemetery of a vast number of persons. Some years
ago, a coffin was discovered containing a skull, and the other principal
bones of the human frame, quite perfect. Four or five other coffins were
also found, all of which contained bones, in a good state of
preservation. The coffins were constructed of rough stones, having
sides, ends, lids, but no bottoms. The dates of these burials are not
correctly determined, but they are of considerable antiquity.
A very interesting paper relative to this place, written by the Hon. W.
O. Stanley, M.P. for the city of Chester, was read at the Archæological
Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, in August, 1846, from which we
make the following extract:—
“This ancient chapel is on the old London road, about two and a half
miles from Holyhead, situated close to the sea. Here is a great
mound, about 30 feet in height, being 750 in circumference at the
base. On the summit of this mound are seen the foundation walls of a
small chapel, which has given the name _Towyn y Capel_ (the Bay of
the Chapel) to the beautiful inlet upon the shore. This mound is
composed of sea sand, and contains a great number of graves, arranged
in four or five tiers, one above another, at intervals of about three
or four feet. The bodies were laid invariably with the feet
converging towards the centre of the mound, the head being towards
the outer side. It appears that no similar instance of interment in
graves formed indiscriminately, as it regards the point of the
compass towards which the feet of the corpse were laid, has yet been
noticed.”
CROMLECHS, OR DRUIDICAL ALTARS.
Who raised the wondrous pile? I asked and sighed,
And paused for a reply; but none replied.
Time passed me by, and answered with a frown,
Whoever raised it I will pull it down.
There is perhaps no subject on which antiquarians have more employed
their learning and industry, on which their theories have been so
fruitful, or their discussions so endless, as on the origin and history
of those ancient stones generally denominated Druidical. But, who were
the founders—when were they founded—and what was the immediate object of
their foundation, are questions which at this period we cannot fully
answer. At the same time the undoubted antiquity of these remains, the
tolerably accurate glimpses of their original condition which the
antiquarian writers afford us, and the very mystery in which they are
enveloped, altogether make their study peculiarly attractive. But more
than all this, there is one fact connected with these antique monuments,
which renders them of very high interest indeed, and that is, their
dispersion over every part of the world, bearing evidently a common
impress of the ideas and habits of their founders, even in places so
remote from each other as to make it appear impossible that there should
have been any mutual intercourse in those ancient times. Monuments of
large and rude stones, disposed in the forms known respectively in our
country by the names of circles, cromlechs, kistvaens, and stones erect,
are found extensively dispersed through Great Britain, Ireland, Jersey,
Guernsey, Denmark, Sweden, France, Germany, Netherlands, Portugal, Malta,
Gaza, Phœnicia, Malabar, Bombay, and other parts of India, Palestine,
Persia, Northern Africa, North America, and in the Islands of the Indian
Archipelago, and of the South Sea. What conclusions then can we draw
from these phenomena, but that those common ideas and habits of which we
have spoken must have existed prior to the dispersion of the great family
of man, of which the Scriptures tell us? If the identity of the
monuments known as Druidical in this country with those existing in
Palestine and other parts mentioned in the sacred writings be
acknowledged, this important result follows:—that whilst, on the one
hand, “the form of existing monuments illustrates the form of those
mentioned in Scripture;” on the other, “the uses of those described in
Scripture illustrates the uses of those now existing.” The Sacred
Scriptures furnish us with many indications as to the use of the altar
and circle of stones. (Gen. xx. 24, 25, Josh. v. 5–7, 1 Sam. vii. 16,
17–x. 8.)
The general opinion is that the cromlechs were altars on which the
priests offered their dreadful sacrifices. On this subject Cæsar has the
following remarks:—“The whole nation of the Gauls, (whom Cæsar describes
as imitators of those of Britain, and as deriving from the latter their
customs) is much addicted to religious observances, and on that account,
those who are attacked by any of the more serious diseases, and who are
in danger of warfare, either offer human sacrifice or make a vow that
they will offer them, and they employ the Druids to officiate at their
sacrifices; for they consider that the favour of the immortal gods cannot
be conciliated, unless the life of one man be offered up for that of
another; they have sacrifices of the same kind appointed on behalf of the
state.” To which we may add, that Tacitus, in his account of the Roman
attack on the Isle of Anglesey, the then great stronghold of the British
Druids, states—that “they held it right to smear their altars with the
blood of their captives.” It is a striking corroboration of the theory
that the cromlechs were the altars on which these dreadful sacrifices
were performed, to find that in this very Isle of Anglesey are yet
existing about thirty, among which are some of the largest and most
magnificent our country possesses. It is well known that, at a very
early period, this Island was the great school of Druidism—the chosen
retreat and asylum of the Druidical Priests. No wonder, therefore, that
travellers are particularly struck with the great absence of trees,
having naturally enough supposed that the former scene of Druidical
superstition, the horrors of which were carried on in the dark recesses
of consecrated groves, would not be so bare and destitute of timber. Nor
did Anglesey always wear this naked appearance. Classical authors tell
us it formerly had its venerable woods and shady groves, and the ancient
British appellation _Ynys Dywyll_, or the Shady Island, intimates the
same fact; and bodies of trees are constantly met with in the pits from
which the inhabitants get their peat.
Having made these remarks we shall now direct the attention of the
tourist to the
TREFIGNETH CROMLECHI.
About a mile and a half from Holyhead, at Trefigneth (a house on the
quagmire) farm, may be seen some relics of Druidical superstition, and
remarkable monuments of the rude art of the Ancient Britons. They are
what antiquarians call _cromlechi_. Two derivations have been given for
the word cromlech: the one, “an inclining stone,” from the British word
_crwm_, bowed, and _llech_, a broad, flat stone; and the other, “a
devoted stone or altar,” from the Hebrew _cœrœm-luach_,—the first part
expressing the appearance of the upper or principal stone of the
cromlech; the second, the horrible use to which, there is good reason to
believe, it was put. The stones referred to are called by the Welsh, at
this time, _Llechen Trevigneth_, i.e., Trevigneth flat stones; and the
field they are in, _Cae’r Llechen_, flat stone field.
The writer visited these cromlechs on the 18th of February, 1853, and,
assisted by a friend, measured some of the huge, unshapely stones. The
western cromlech consists of 5 stones, four of which were undoubtedly
uprights, but have fallen from their proper situation, and the table
stone, with its flat face, reposes upon them. This superincumbent stone
measures 12 feet long, including the piece broken off at the eastern
end—it is 6 feet wide, and in some parts about 2 feet in diameter. One
of the four stones is 10 feet long, by 4 wide, and about 10 feet in
circumference. At the western end of this cromlech are three stones, but
for what purpose they were originally used, I wot not.
The eastern cromlech consists of 8 stones, two of which are standing; one
perpendicularly, the other in an oblique position—following the example
of its companions, which have long since bowed beneath the weight or
pressure of centuries;—these are 6 feet long, one of which is about 10
feet in circumference, the other 8. There is one reposing
longitudinally, measuring 10 feet long, and 6 feet in circumference. The
other three are of smaller dimensions. There are two table or
superincumbent stones, one of which measures 10 feet long, by 6 wide; the
other, 6 feet long, by 5 wide. When first constructed, this cromlech
would have admitted a tall man to stand upright in it.
When I first approached these ruins, I felt that I was treading the
sacred ground of ancient Britons; a longing to comprehend their origin
came over me—a yearning to make out the dark enigma that for ages had
puzzled the learned and the wise. While walking round these ancient
relics, I felt somewhat astonished and bewildered. Awe, amazement, and
solemnity, were as a load on my spirit, pressing heavily. I wished to
know, but I was ignorant; I wished to admire, but I was awestruck.
Ages seem present; shadowy, giant forms,
And fantasies that throng the heated brain,
Are fluttering to and fro; unhallowed rites,
Obscene and cruel, and unearthly shapes,
Start into being.
Many remains have I gazed on with solemn feelings; but never do I
remember such arresting, mysterious solemnity being excited within me by
mouldering castle, abbey, church, or priory, as that which then oppressed
me. It is strange, but these stones seem embued with the spirit of
by-gone ages. There they are, monuments of antiquity—huge, grand,
wonderful, incomprehensible! They over-awe you as they stand, gloomily
questioning, as it were, your right to approach so near their sacred
enclosure.
With these relics we cannot but associate the Druidical priests, who were
the principal actors on all public occasions. The finger of time has
long ceased to keep a calendar of their moments, or of their actions, and
their dust has for ages mingled with the clods of the valley! Yet, here
they once performed their idolatrous worship, and were held in great
veneration by the people. Imagination takes the place of memory, and,
influenced by the appalling gloom that pervades the spot, conjures up
shapes of human victims reeking in sacrifice, while Druidic priests in
their long white garments, the tiara, or sacred crown, their temples
enwreathed with chaplets of oak-leaves, the magic wand in their hand, and
on their heads a serpent’s egg, as an ensign of their order, and thus
attired we see them going forth to sacrifice, sullen, cruel, implacable,
standing round the crimson-stained altar, shrouded with superstition,
mystery, and death.
The durability or antiquity of these extraordinary relics is calculated
to excite emotions of astonishment and awe in the mind:—
These ancient stones, o’ergrown with bearded moss,
And by the melancholy skill of time
Moulded to beauty, charms the bosom more
Than the palaces of princes.
They must have weathered out more than 2000 years. It was about A.D. 60,
and during the reign of Nero, the Roman Emperor, when _Suetonius
Paulinus_, a distinguished Roman general, entered Anglesey, and cut down
the groves, sacred to Druidic superstition, and placed a garrison among
the conquered. And in A.D. 79, Titus Vespasian, the Roman Emperor, sent
_Julius Agricola_, a general not less renowned for his military talents
than for his wisdom and humanity; he arrived in Mona, or Anglesey, and
permanently secured the various triumphs of the Romans. Thus the bloody
rites of superstition, the most powerful that ever enchained the human
mind, and after it had long established a boundless tyranny upon the
ruins of human reason, was abolished throughout the island.
Their sacred Isle with solemn woods were crown’d,
Their woods are gone, dismantled lies the ground
Of holy Druids, once the reverend shrine.
It is therefore, obvious, that these cromlechs were erected long before
the fatal slaughter by Suetonius; and it is nearly 1800 years since he
gave a death-blow to the system.
This must be a deeply interesting spot to visit, at a time when the
summer’s sun smiles on every object. As has been observed it was
_winter_ when the writer visited the cromlechs; but even then the
prospect was grand. Standing here you have a most commanding view in
every direction, comprising, sea and land, mountain and plain, lake and
river. The towering mountains of Carnarvonshire, like another world,
ethereal, brilliant, transparent as crystal, appeared in the distance
covered with snow, and presented a resemblance to the Alps; far above the
rest, Snowdon lifted its patriarchal head so loftily, as if it meant not
only to threaten, but to thrust it into the sky. The sun, hastening
towards the western skies, threw his parting rays upon this Alpine range
of mountains, gilding them so magnificently, that the writer and his
accompanying friend were led to exclaim, “Winter has its beauties as well
as summer.”
ANCIENT STONES OF MEMORIAL.
Stones or pillars were the earliest records of all great or highly
interesting events. Covenants, important treaties or victories, the
deaths of distinguished persons, or dearly beloved friends, the settled
boundaries of estates, were all recorded in this simple, but for the
time, no doubt, sufficient manner. The first historical notice bearing
directly upon the subject is the scriptural mention of a stone set up by
Jacob to commemorate his vision. (Gen. xxviii. 18.) The size of this
stone was necessarily small, like perhaps, those ancient stones dispersed
about our own country, three or four feet high, and whose history lies
too far back even for the reach of tradition. We may also mention the
stone set up by Joshua, under the oak of Shechem, a little before his
death, when he made the Israelites once more solemnly renew their
covenant with God. (Josh. xxiv. 26.) In the First Book of Samuel, chap.
vi. 15, 18, a stone of great magnitude is referred to, and which was
previously well known as the great stone of Abel. The solemn treaty of
peace concluded between Jacob and Laban was marked by the erection of a
rude pillar. (Gen. xxxi. 45.)
The custom of setting up large stones to commemorate victories, we find,
from the sacred writings, was also in use among the Hebrews. The
Ebenezer, or “stone of help,” set up by Samuel, is an instance of this
nature. (1 Sam. vii. 12.) In the British Isles the custom appears to
have been not only common, but to have continued down to a late period.
Thus we find Malcolm, son of Kenneth, King of Scots, commemorating his
victory over the Danes in this mode in 1008. Near Newbridge, in the
county of Cork, Ireland, are three large stones set edgeways towards each
other, which are said, by an incontrovertible tradition, to refer to a
battle fought on the spot between Brian Boiruma, King of Munster, and the
O’Mahonies of Carbery, assisted by the Danes, most of whom were slain.
With regard to sepulchral stones, we may observe, that when cases
occurred with the Hebrews, that it became necessary to inter
distinguished persons at a distance from the resting-places of their
fathers, the rude pillar was then set up to mark the place. It was under
circumstances of this nature that Jacob set up a stone over his beloved
Rachel. (Gen. xxxv. 20.)—Among some of the nations of antiquity, the
custom was very general; the Greeks, for instance, had for ages no other
funeral monuments than a rough unhewn stone, set upon the top of a
tumulus. In the “Iliad” we find Paris, whilst in the act of using the
bow against the enemy, bending behind the pillar placed on the tumulus
that contained the ashes of Ilus, the son of Dardanus, the ancient king
of Troy. Minutely corresponding with this monument is the one at Castle
More, near Tullagh, Ireland. It consists of a tumulus 30 feet in
perpendicular height, with a square stone on the top, about 5 feet in
height. We have one positive and interesting case on record of the
erection of a vast monument of this kind. Harold, the son of Gormon,
employed his whole army to draw a stone of enormous size from the shores
of Jutland, to be placed over the grave of his mother. We may observe
that our own churchyards, to this day, present but a modification of the
usages we have described—in the mound and headstone we still see the
tumulus and pillar of ancient times. To this origin, doubtless, may be
referred many, if not all, of the large stones isolated from Druidical
remains, and dispersed in different parts of the county.
The _maen hir_, or long stone, is very common in this Island. There is
nothing, however, in its name which would indicate its original use, or
the object for which it was raised, unless, indeed, we give the word
_hir_, the sense of longing or regret, as being the root of _hiraeth_; in
that case it might imply that the stone was a memorial of the dead.
There is no doubt that, in some instances, it was used as a monument to
point out the grave of a particular person.
Thus an extract from an old document is inserted by Mr. Price in his
“Hanes Cymru,” (History of Wales) to the following effect:—“The _Meini
Hirion_ (long stones) of _Maes Mawr_ (of the Great Plain.) There is a
spot on the mountain between Yale and Ystrad Alun, above Rhyd-y-Gyfartha,
called the Great Plain, where occurred the battle between Meilyr ab — and
Beli ab Benlli Gawr, and where Beli was slain; and Meirion erected two
stones, one at each end of the grave, which remained until the last forty
years. It was then that a “tasteless” person, owner of the piece of
land, which had been enclosed, where the grave and stones were, came and
pulled up the stones, and placed them over the pipe of a lime-kiln.
There, in consequence of the intense heat and great weight, they broke.
Whereupon he burnt them into lime in the kiln, though they had been there
for many hundred years; and a bad end happened unto him who had thus
defaced the grave of the deceased soldier, about which the bard, in the
“Stanzas of the Graves,” sang this triplet:—
Whose is the grave in the Great Plain?
Proud was his hand on the weapon of war—
It is the grave of Beli the son of Benlli Gawr!”
There are several of these monumental stones in the immediate
neighbourhood of Holyhead, and though their history is unknown, I have
not a doubt on my mind but they were originally erected as _memorial
stones_, to point out the grave of some distinguished person or persons,
or as monuments to commemorate some signal victory.
About a mile from Holyhead, on the way to Trefigneth cromlechi, on the
right hand, in a field called _Cae’r Garreg_ (stone field), stands a
memorial stone, 8 feet long, and 10 feet in circumference at the base,
tapering to about 5 feet. On leaving this stone, and just before you
reach Trefigneth, opposite a cow-shed, under the left-hand wall, a _cist
faen_, or stone coffin, was found some time ago, containing a human
skeleton. About half a mile further, near _Trefarthur_ (the abode of
Arthur), in a field on the right hand, called _Caynyodd_, are two stones,
one erect, about 5 feet in length, and 13 in circumference, and the
other, reposing on the ground, nearly 8 feet long.
About a mile and a half to the west of Holyhead, at _Plas_ farm, in the
occupation of O. Owen, Esq., are two large stones. The western one is 10
feet long, 6½ feet in circumference, tapering to about 4 feet. The
northern stone is 10 feet long, 6½ feet in circumference, tapering to
about 5 feet.
BOUNDARY STONES.
The use of stones erect, for marking boundaries, must be very ancient;
perhaps, indeed, this was one of the earliest purposes to which such rude
monuments were applied. An interesting notice of this custom is given in
the “Iliad,” where Homer, speaking of the great stone thrown by Minerva
at Mars, says, as King renders the passage, that “she retreating, seized
in her strong hand a stone lying in the field—black, rough, and
vast—which men in former times had placed as a boundary of cultivated
land.” How long and how effectually this custom existed, Olaus Magnaus,
archbishop of Upsal and metropolitan of Sweden, speaking of his own
parts, about the middle of the seventeenth century, bears testimony with
justifiable pride:—“There are also high stones, by the aspect and
signature whereof the ancient possessions of provinces, governments,
forts, communities of noble and country men, are suffered to continue to
every man in peace, without laws, suits, or arbitration, giving an
example to other nations, that among these nations there is more right to
be found in these stones that are boundaries than elsewhere in the large
volumes of laws, where men think themselves to be more learned and
civil.”
Stringent laws were given by Moses to the Jewish nation in reference to
these boundary marks. “Thou shalt not remove thy neighbour’s landmark,
which they of old time have set in thine inheritance.” (Deut. xix. 14.)
“Remove not the ancient landmark which thy fathers have set.” (Prov.
xxii. 28.) Job complained that some in his day removed the landmarks
(chap, xxiv. ver. 2). Every one will remember the fearful denunciation
in the book of Deuteronomy,—“Cursed be he that removeth his neighbour’s
landmark. And all the people shall say, Amen,” (chap, xxvii. ver. 17).
In Hosea we have the following strong language, which shews in what light
Jehovah viewed this sin:—“The princes of Judah were like them that remove
the bound: therefore will I pour out my wrath upon them like water,”
(chap. v. ver. 10).
The “_maen terfyn_,” i.e., the boundary stone of the Ancient Britons, is
considered to be very common in this Island, the removal of which was
punishable with death. _Maen terfyn_ was not to be removed, according to
the laws of Dyvnwal Moelmud, under pain of death:—“There are three
stones, which if any man remove, he shall be indicted as a thief: the
_boundary stone_; _maen gwyn_ (sacred stone), of the convention, and the
guide stone; and he that destroys them shall forfeit his life (or be
guilty of capital offence).” In reference to this stone another triad
remarks:—“It is ordered and established, for the purpose of preventing
the uncertainty of a claim, that the Bards shall keep an orderly record
of pedigrees, nobility, and inheritances. For the same purpose also is
the memorial of the back-fire stones, the _maen terfyn_ (boundary stone),
and the horse-block, that he that removes them offers an insult to the
Court and the Judges.” These passages will forcibly remind our readers
of the penalty in the law of Moses above quoted. Whenever we hear of
ancestral domains terminating here and there at some particular stones of
notoriety, as is frequently the case, we may fairly presume that such
stones are some of the old _meini terfyn_ (boundary stones) of the Welsh
laws.
On the right hand of the road, in a corner of the field before you reach
Plas farm, is a stone measuring 4 feet high, by 5 wide, and about 12 feet
in circumference. I consider this stone a perfect relic of what our
ancestors denominated _maen terfyn_, or the boundary stone.
And now, courteous reader, farewell! may you enjoy your visit to this
interesting locality: but it is high time that the writer of these pages
fixed his boundary mark.—FINIS.
* * * * *
* * * * *
ERRATUM.
Omitted in the list of Agents, page 15,—_Chester and Holyhead Steam
Packet Office_.—_Superintendent_—Capt. Hirst. {71}
* * * * *
* * * * *
PRINTED BY A. R. MARTIN, AT THE ‘NORTH WALES CHRONICLE,’
GENERAL PRINTING OFFICE AND STATIONERY ESTABLISHMENT,
CAXTON HOUSE, BANGOR.
* * * * *
ADVERTISEMENTS.
THOMAS ROBERTS,
BRITANNIA BRIDGE
REFRESHMENT ROOMS.
The above Rooms are pleasantly situated at the West end of the celebrated
BRITANNIA PARK, in full view of the Great TUBULAR BRIDGE, and two
minutes’ walk from the Railway Station. Parties desirous of viewing the
beauties of the MENAI STRAITS, the romantic appearance of the SNOWDONIAN
range, and the wonderful works of art in the neighbourhood, may at these
Rooms obtain every accommodation at reasonable charges.
BREAKFASTS, DINNERS, TEAS, ETC.
ON THE SHORTEST NOTICE,
WINES AND SPIRITS
OF FIRST-RATE QUALITY,
WELL-AIRED BEDS,
EXCELLENT
BATHING ACCOMMODATION,
Boats always in readiness; Steamers to and from Liverpool daily; Trains
to Chester and Holyhead and the intermediate Stations, several times a
day.
* * * * *
THE NEW LONDON HOUSE,
MARKET STREET, HOLYHEAD.
PROPRIETOR,
ROBERT EVANS.
* * * * *
ESTABLISHED FOR THE SALE OF THE BEST
DESCRIPTION OF
DRAPERY GOODS,
AT MODERATE CHARGES.
The early production of novelties, the style of the Goods, combined with
moderate charges, have gained for this Establishment such extensive
patronage, that the proprietor is enabled to sell a better article at a
lower price than is generally charged. All Goods marked in plain
figures. Mourning to any extent executed on the shortest possible
notice.
* * * * *
BONNET, SHAWL, CLOAK, FUR AND FANCY
ROOMS, UP STAIRS.
* * * * *
BANGOR, NORTH WALES.
THOMAS NAYLOR’S
BRITISH HOTEL,
COMMERCIAL HOUSE AND REFRESHMENT ROOMS,
(TWO MINUTES WALK FROM THE RAILWAY STATION.)
In returning his thanks for the decided preference and support which this
Establishment has received since its opening, the Proprietor takes this
opportunity of respectfully announcing to his numerous Patrons and the
Public, that he has recently added considerably to the extent of his
accommodation, and begs to assure them that he is determined to use the
most unremitting attention to make his Hotel as comfortable as possible
to all those who may favor him with their patronage.
* * * * *
CLEANLY AND WELL-AIRED BED ROOMS,
COMMODIOUS COFFEE ROOMS,
AND
PRIVATE ROOMS FOR FAMILIES,
_Fitted up with every attention to comfort and cleanliness_.
NB.—CARS AT THE STATION FROM THE BRITISH HOTEL TO WAIT
THE ARRIVAL OF EVERY TRAIN.
* * * * *
HEALTH FOR A SHILLING!
HOLLOWAY’S PILLS.
A DANGEROUS LIVER COMPLAINT AND SPASMS IN THE STOMACH EFFECTUALLY CURED.
_Copy of a Letter from Mr. Bostock_, _Druggist_, _of Ashton under Lyne_,
_dated July_ 31, 1852.
To Professor Holloway,
Dear Sir,—I have much pleasure in handing to you a testimonial of the
efficiency of your Medicines. A person in this neighbourhood with whom I
am well acquainted was afflicted for a long time with violent spasmodic
pains in the stomach and liver, arising from frequent colds, smells of
paint, and the effects of a stooping position which he was obliged to
assume in his business. The spasms were of an alarming character, and
frequently left him in a weak and debilitated condition. At length he
heard of the salutary effects of your invaluable Pills, and was induced
to give them a trial. The first dose gave him considerable relief, and
by following them up in accordance with your directions, they have acted
so wonderfully in cleansing the liver and stomach, and strengthening the
digestive organs that he has been restored to the enjoyment of good
health.
I remain, dear Sir, your’s faithfully,
(Signed) WILLIAM BOSTOCK.
_The celebrated Pills are wonderfully efficacious in the following
complaints_
Ague Dropsy Jaundice Secondary
Symptoms
Asthma Dysentery Liver
Complaints Tic Doulourex
Bilious Erysipelas
Complaint Lumbago Tumours
Female
Blotches on the Irregularities Piles Ulcers
Skin
Fevers of all Rheumatism Venereal
Bowel kinds Affections
Complaints Retention of
Fits Urine Worms of all
Colics kinds
Gout Scrofula, or
Constipation of King’s Evil Weakness, from
the Bowels Head-ache whatever cause
Sore Throats
Consumption Indigestion &c., &c.
Stone and
Debility Inflammation Gravel
Sold at the Establishment of Professor HOLLOWAY, 244, Strand, (near
Temple Bar,) London, and by all respectable Druggists and Dealers in
Medicines throughout the Civilized World, at the following prices:—1s.
l½d., 2s. 9d., 4s. 6d., 11s., 22s. and 33s. each Box.
☞ There is a considerable saving by taking the larger sizes.
N.B.—Directions for the guidance of patients in every disorder are
affixed to each Box.
* * * * *
SOLD AT HOLYHEAD, BANGOR, AND CARNARVON,
BY ALL THE MEDICINE VENDORS,
THE
CELEBRATED CAMBRIAN MEDICINE!!
_A Preventive and Cure for all Disorders Resulting from a Disordered_
_State of the Stomach and Liver_, _and Impurity of the Blood_.
PATRONIZED BY THE
FACULTY, NOBILITY, CLERGY, AND PUBLIC AT LARGE.
PREPARED FROM THE ORIGINAL PRESCRIPTION OF THAT EMINENT
PHYSICIAN (THE ABERNETHY OF WALES),
W. LL. ROBERTS, M.D., OAKLAND.
The practical trial of the above Professor for _Half a Century_, with the
more general test of THIRTEEN YEARS by the afflicted public, has now
established the reputation of these Pills. Containing no Mercury, but
composed of the most rare and expensive Vegetable preparations of the
British Pharmacopœia, combined with a valuable SNOWDONIAN HERB, forming a
mild, laxative, tonic remedy, admitted by those who have tried them to be
superior to all other similar preparations.
OPINION THE MEDICAL FACULTY.
_Extract of a letter from B. Travers_, _F.R.S._, _Surgeon Extraordinary
to the Queen_, _Surgeon in Ordinary to H.R.H. Prince Albert_, _&c._,
_&c._
“SIR,—The Combination of the Ingredients of the PILLS is so familiar to
medical men, that I can scarcely think their efficacy a matter of
question.
London.
Yours obediently,
B. TRAVERS.”
_A Copy of Certificate from R. Williams_, _Esq._, _M.R.C.S._, _and
L.S.A._, _Tre’ Madoc_.
“I beg to testify that I consider JONES’S APERIENT AND ANTIBILIOUS PILLS
_a very good Aperient_. I have frequently recommended them, and am happy
to bear testimony to their efficacy as a _valuable Purgative_, and their
_safety of administration_.
R. WILLIAMS.”
_Testimonial of W. Vaughan Jones_, _Esq._, _M.R.C.S._, _and L.S.A._,
_Surgeon to the Festiniog Hospital_.
“Sir,—I consider your APERIENT AND ANTIBILIOUS PILLS an excellent
medicinal combination for those who suffer from the various disorders
arising from inactivity of the Liver, and habitual Constipation.
Yours, &c.
W. V. JONES.”
OUT OF THE THOUSANDS OF TESTIMONIALS READ THE FOLLOWING:—
_Extract of a letter from Griffith Roberts_, _sailor_, _No._ 4,
_Derby-street_, _Liverpool_.
SIR,—I cannot think myself doing my duty towards my brother seamen,
without relating to you (and trust that you will inform the public) the
following facts:—I was always taken ill when sailing abroad. I used to
be attacked with great pain in my stomach and bowels: but last time I
went to sea I took a lot of your CAMBRIAN PILLS with me, and to the
astonishment of all on board I enjoyed perfect health during my voyage to
Calcutta and back, while all the other hands were suffering dreadful
illness.
Your humble Servant,
GRIFFITH ROBERTS.
EXTRAORDINARY CURE OF FITS AND WORMS.
Newry-street, Holyhead, Dec. 11, 1852.
_To the Proprietor of the Cambrian Pills_.
SIR,—Allow me to address you on a very important subject, that of my
former illness and wonderful recovery, the details of which I wish to the
whole world may be made known:—For the last fifteen years I have been
troubled with great pain in my stomach and intestines, sour belchings,
flatulence, pain in the head, lowness of spirits with general
emancipation of body, and frequent fits attacked me of late, I used to
throw my meals up as soon as eaten. Having consulted many Doctors, and
tried all remedies in reach to no purpose, until one day I was
recommended to try a Box of the Tremadoc Pills. Having continued to take
them for some time, I felt much better; after taking a dose of Pills in
going to bed one night, I felt towards morning a rumbling noise and a
queer sensation in the intestines, I got up and took another dose, and
wonderful to relate, in a few hours, _I parted with a Worm measuring
nearly_ 12 _feet_!! and ever since I am a healthy man; this occured about
three months from this date.
I remain yours obediently,
DAVID HUGHES, Provision Dealer.
Witness, Lewis Hughes.
*** All these parties may be applied to for the correctness of their
Testimonies. And for further confirmation of the extraordinary virtues
of this valuable medicine, apply to any of the Agents, who can point out
instances, in their own immediate neighbourhoods, of its beneficial
effects.
CAUTION.—The high repute and extensive sale of these Pills throughout the
kingdom have induced some unprincipled persons to imitate them, therefore
purchasers should observe the following particulars.—_That the genuine
Pills are in a turned wood Box_, _wrapped up in Green Paper_, _sealed
with the Proprietor’s Seal_, _and bearing the Signature of_ “Robert Isaac
Jones,” _on the Government Stamp_.
* * * * *
SOLD WHOLESALE BY APPOINTMENT BY
Barclay and Sons, Farrington-street; Sutton and Co., Bowchurch-yard;
Hannay and Co., Oxford-street, London; Mander and Weaver, Wolverhampton;
Evans, Sons, and Co., Lord-street; Jones, Hall, and Co., Redcross-street,
Liverpool; Butler, Sackville-street, Dublin; Raimes and Co., Edinburgh
and Liverpool; T. and A. Warren, Redcliff-street, Bristol; and at the
Cambrian Pill Depôt, Tre’ Madoc, North Wales. Retailed by all
respectable Medicine Vendors in every town in the United Kingdom, in
Boxes at 1s. l½d., 2s. 6d., and 4s. 6d. each, _great saving in procuring
either of the large Boxes_.
☞ Should any one fail to obtain the Pills in his own neighbourhood, if
fourteen Postage Stamps for the 1s. 1½d. box, 33 for the 2s. 6d., or 60
for the 4s. 6d. be posted to the Cambrian Pill Depôt, Tre’ Madoc, North
Wales, the Pills will be sent per return post, free.
N.B.—DIRECTIONS ARE GIVEN WITH EACH BOX OF PILLS.
* * * * *
British College of Health, New Road, London.
CURE OF FISTULA, AND OTHER COMPLAINTS, WITHOUT
CUTTING, BY MORISON’S PILLS.
To MESSRS. MORISON.
January 12th, 1853.
GENTLEMEN,—I feel great pleasure in making a public acknowledgment of the
good I have received from your valuable medicines. I have been afflicted
from childhood with severe attacks of bilious complaint, every five or
six weeks; I have suffered dreadfully from spasms, scarce ever free from
them little or much: I have suffered from bad legs for these last twenty
years. I have dreaded the approach of winter, for they would be then
covered with scaly bleeding running sores from the knees to the ankles: I
have been afflicted for these last ten years with rheumatism with
repeated attacks of lumbago; I have been troubled from a child with great
quantities of worms, and for these last five years I have suffered from a
fistula, which gradually increasing, caused great pain and lowness of
spirits, so I continued up to September 1851; when my afflictions
increased—I was seized with severe griping pains in the bowels, for which
by taking large doses of medicines and drugs, would relieve me for a few
days, then they would return more violent. Worms made their way through
the wound of the fistula in abundance. Four months I endured dreadful
pains in the chest. I felt as if I were bound round with an iron bar. I
felt dreadful pains across the back and shoulders, my neck became stiff,
my eyes bloodshot; there appeared a heavy weight on my head, with a
hissing noise like a steam engine, my arms seemed filled with streams of
boiling water; I had every advice within my reach. I had blisters and
mustard plasters to my chest in abundance; I had Doctors and medicines of
every description, but all to no use, I gave myself up for lost; the last
doctor told me my liver was dreadfully affected, and if I did not take
care, I would have the yellow jaundice, and that the wound proceeded from
the liver; he did me no good, there was no hope but the hospital, but I
dreaded the knife. A friend at last persuaded me to try MORISON’S PILLS,
but I was so prejudiced against them, I ridiculed the very idea, but try
them I did, glad to catch at any thing, and thank God I did; they made me
very bad at first, but I persevered, beginning with five of No. 2,
increasing one each night up to nine. I found relief, they stopped the
violence of the fistula, they relieved the pains in my chest, and brought
from me frightful quantities of worms. I then bought some No. 1’s of Mr.
Lofts, No. 1, Park-place, Mile End-road, and took them alternately,
increasing the doses up to 12, and they were the cause of my passing five
pieces of thick skinny substance, the size of the palms of the hand. I
commenced taking the pills January 1852. In May the lumbago attacked me
violently, in June my legs broke out worse; I increased the doses 16 each
night, they soon got well, but there was a pain under the ribs of the
right side—something appeared to be gathering there, it got bigger and
heavier, till it appeared to be as big as a pint bason. I decreased the
doses to 18, it got worse; I increased the noses to 20, my whole back
seemed inflamed, in three hours after, I took 10 more, something gave a
sudden snap, I was sick for the first time since the commencement,
upwards and downwards came from me several pints of slime, blood, and
corruption, &c.—the pills had done their work, and I was healed; since
that time I have had a few flying pains. I have gradually decreased the
doses down to the present time. I am restored to health and strength. I
feel 10 years younger, and I thank the Almighty God in putting within my
reach your most valuable medicines; since I began to take your pills, I
have been exposed to all weathers, working in a market garden, and I have
been laid up for illness but one day through the whole time.
I remain yours most gratefully,
14, Devons-road, Bromley, Middlesex.
Geo. Holden, aged 45.
CAUTION.—Notice is hereby given, that no Chemist or Druggist is
authorized to sell Morison’s Medicines. They are only to be had of the
appointed Agents, (who are all practical Hygeists) one of whom may be
found in every principal town in the United Kingdom, and in almost every
part of the world. See that the words “MORISON’S UNIVERSAL MEDICINES”
are engraved in the Government Stamp, in white letters upon a red ground,
without which none can be genuine.
_Agents for the Sale of Morison’s Pills_. _Wales_ (_North_.)
Bangor: Mr. W. Shone, Stationer; Barmouth: Mr. Ellis Jones, Grocer;
Brynmaur: Mr. D. Stephens; Buckley Mountain: Mr. Thos. Lockwood;
Carnarvon: Mrs. Jones; Hawarden: P. Jones; Llanidloes: R. Brown, Grocer;
Llangollen: Mr. E. Jones, Grocer; Newtown: Mr. D. Thomas, Stationer;
Towyn: Mr. Hugh Lloyd, Grocer; Welshpool: Mr. D. Morgan do.; Wrexham: Mr.
T. Paynter, Stationer.
* * * * *
JUST PUBLISHED, PRICE SIXPENCE,
THE
TOURIST’S GUIDE
TO DUBLIN:
DESCRIBING THE PRINCIPAL OBJECTS OF INTEREST,
WHICH MAY
BE VISITED BY THE TOURIST
IN THE SPACE OF A SHORT TIME,
AND AT A VERY REASONABLE OUTLAY,
TO WHICH IS PREFIXED
REMARKS ON THE OCEAN, &c.
* * * * *
* * * * *
By THOMAS JACKSON, R.M.
* * * * *
SOLD AT THE RAILWAY STATIONS, AND BY THE BOOKSELLERS
IN HOLYHEAD, BANGOR, AND CARNARVON.
FOOTNOTES.
{33} It is a most melancholy coincidence that the very night, and about
the same hour, these lines were penned (Dec. 24th, 1852), a vessel, name
unknown, was wrecked, not far from my dwelling—the whole crew lost!
Contracted must be the mind, and cold the heart, that can find nothing in
these sad catastrophes to awaken its feelings. How many brave crews
leave their respective ports, never to return! And, alas! how many of
these, departing from under our eye, to appear at the bar of God, cast
back upon us, from the shores of that untried world, upbraiding looks,
because we cared not for their souls.
{51} On Saturday, Feb. 26, 1853, this locality was visited with a most
terrific gale of wind from the North West, which, during the time it
lasted, was the most violent that has been in the recollection of the
oldest inhabitant. The sea raged with immense fury, and carried away
many hundred feet of the staging, both at the Soldier’s Point and Salt
Island, strewing immense balks of timber along the shore, all round the
bay in every direction. But amid all this destruction, occasioned by
“elemental strife,” the RENDALL BREAKWATER, that is, the deposited
stones, defied the mountain wave, and became the more solidified by the
mighty seas which swept over it.
{59} The crew of the first vessel consisted of people of various
nations; and some of them continued a considerable time at Penrhos.
{71} The erratum has been applied in this eBook.—DP.
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