The Wye and Its Associations

Fall of the Wye-Black Mountain-Course of the river-Builth-Peculiarity of the scenery-Ap

a wreath of grey smoke flying backward on the wind, from the brow of the steep which forms the side of the valley; and we speculated within ourselves as to whether this was the ensign of some unlawful still. It proved, however, to be the foam of a little

mpletely saturated by torrents of rain that had fallen during the night. Just after this, and nearly three miles from the inn, the Wye suddenly burst into the valley from the left, and rushing beneath a bridge, flung itself into the little river. The latter, conscious that although its volume was grea

he river, notwithstanding its receiving here another accession, was still insignificant. By degrees, however, as we proceeded, the hills became closer, and the massiveness of their forms lent a certain degree of grandeur to the scene. These again disappeared; and the hills returned: and the Wye as before ra

ottom of the valley, or been uncovered in their original beds by the action of the water. Here opens (in our judgment) the first of the numer

place; and at three miles nearer, the vista is terminated by the little chu

intersecting each other at right angles. The name, which is in full Rhaiadyr Pwy, means the Fall of the Wye, but is no longer applicable, the cataract having been almost levelled in 1780, when the bridge was erected. From this bridge the view of the river is exceedingly fine, as will be seen by the annexed engraving; a

The stream rushes the whole way through a singularly rocky and winding bed, bound in by lofty and fantastic banks, and these by hills, naked or wooded, barren or fertile, of every variety of form. One of the most remarkable of the latter is the Black Mountain, which is posted directly in front, and fills up the valley, as if

, rejoining the river at will, he finds the series of views continued-sometimes grand, sometimes beautiful, sometimes picturesque, sometimes absolute gems of pastoral repose. The river increases visibly before our eyes; and at length, when near Builth, it rolls along, still foaming, still brawling, but in a stream

h; and at the latter town, at this season of the year-although it is still early in October-the traveller will find no means of communication

conceal the remains of a castle supposed to date from the eleventh century. All, however, is conjecture as regards this castle, which was a small fortress, with a keep of forty yards in circumference, surrounded by a ditch, and defended towards the south by two trenches. It was repaired in 1209, by Gilbert, Earl of Gloucester; after the death of Llewellin, it became an Englis

as surprised by the English, and escaped so narrowly, that he had only just time to pass the drawbridge of Builth, before his pursuers came up. The English, however, succeeded in cutting him off from his army, by getting betwee

e in its woods and hills, and of trout, salmon, and grayling in its streams is another inducement, and probably the cause of the good health of its visitor

formerly the site of a city; and, as in Ireland, Brittany, and other places where a similar tradition prevails, they still see the towers of old "'neath

But here, where Nature is the builder, these masses of architecture are of rough, disjointed stones, hoary with age, and sometimes overgrown with moss and lichens. On the right bank where we stood, a small house is built just above the road, as if to enjoy the picture; and, a little further on, another of more aristocratic pretensions. A view, including a portion of the

of stone, as precise as if ruled by the square, and cut with the chisel. They stood exactly horizontal with the ground, and the upper was of smaller proportions than the lower. No other rock o

assing the seventh milestone, the valley spreads out into a wide plain bounded by an amphitheatre of hills; and as we proceed, numerous villas peeping through the trees, show that we have now left entirely behind us the peculiarities of Welsh

t at last he found it difficult to believe in them. Tradition relates that the castle was built in one night by the celebrated Maud de Saint Wallery, alias Maud de Hain, alias Moll Walbee. "She built (say the gossips)," as we find in Jones's Brecknock, "the castle of Hay in one night: the stones for which she carried in her apron. While she was thus employed, a small pebble, of about nine feet l

amidst which it runs brawling and foaming; and, generally speaking, it depends upon itself, and upon the nature of its own bed for the picturesque, the hills around forming only the back ground. We shall see, as we get on, the

uty of its banks are its chief praise. The river itself has no other merit than that of a winding surface of smooth water. But here, added to the same decoration from its banks, the Wye itself assumes a more beautiful character; pouring over shelving rocks, and forming itself into eddies and cascades, which a solemn parading stream through a flat channel cannot