The Wye and Its Associations

astical remains-Benedictine priory-Church of St. Mary-Church of St. T

upposing it to have so tame, or at least so quiet a site. From one point, its spire is seen passing through a deep and mysterious wood; from another, it hangs perched on a precipitous ri

. Henry V. was born here in 1387, and from this circumstance is styled Henry of Monmouth. This prince enlarged the duchy of Lancaster with his maternal inheritance, and obtained an act of parliament that all grants of offices and estates should pass under the seal of the duchy. Henry VI. and VII. possessed the castle of Monmouth, as part of the duchy, by right of inheritance; but between these reigns it was given by Edward IV. to Lord Herbert, afterwards earl of Pembroke. Although the duchy, however, continued in the crown, the castle, together with other possessions in Monmouthshire, was alienated, and became private property, but at what period does not clearly appear. In the reign of Elizabeth, it is ascertained, by different grants, to have bee

ntastic spirit, can be believed. "The marchioness of Worcester," says the author of the Secret Memoirs of Monmouthshire, "was ordered by her grandfather, the late duke of Bea

time," says Gilpin, "are often ludicrous. Monmouth Castle was formerly the palace of a king, and the birthplace of a mighty prince; it is now converted into a yard for fattening ducks." The ruins, however, must have been concealed from his view by the stables and other outhouses that had risen from the fragments, so as

, and another adjoining which had been used, even within the memory of some of the inhabitants, for the assizes. The latter was sixty-three feet in length and f

of Monmouth is thus des

and seem to be of the age of Henry III. The walls of this part are not less than ten feet in thickness. About fifty years ago, a considerable part of the southern wall fell down with a tremendous crash, which alarmed the whole town, leaving a breach not less than forty feet i

in a private house built within the ancient site. They were from six to ten feet, formed

ry I. The ruins are small, but interesting; and not the less so from containing an apartment distinguished by a rich gothic bay window, pointed out by tradition as the study of that mysterious personage, Geoffry of Monmouth. The church of the priory stood on the site of the present parish church of St. Mary, of which the tower and the lower part of the spire are the only remains of the original. This spire, which is "lofty, and light, and small," is t

es not apply, however, to the entire building, the western window, and some other mor?eaux, displaying the ornamented Gothic of a late period. The antiquity of the building, it should

mains entire. Both bridge and gate bear evidence of very high antiquity, and were probably erected by the Saxons as a barrier against the Welsh. The town was farther fortified by a wall and moat, of which th

is surrounded. The navigation of the Wye is its principal support, for at the present day at least it has no manufactories, although celebrated in that of its own Henry for caps. "If your majestie is re

that time being wrought, beaten, and thickened, by the hands and feet of men, till those mills, as they eased many of their labour, outed more of their livelihood. Capping anciently set fifteen distinct callings on work, as they are reckoned up in the statute: 1. carders, 2. spinners; 3. knitters; 4. parters of wool; 5. forfers; 6. thickeners; 7. dressers; 8. walkers; 9. dyers; 10. battelers; 11. shearers; 12. pressers;

so that the 39th of Queen Elizabeth this statute was repealed; yea, the cap, accounted by the Romans an emblem of liberty, is esteemed by the English (falconers and hunters excepted

ion of a great plague happening in this town, the trade was some years since removed hence to Beaudley, in Worcestershire, yet so that they are called Monmouth caps unto this

king's ancestors and progenitors eight gallons of ale at every brewing, in the name of Castlecoule, during the time the king, or his heirs, were dwelling in the said town, should now pay in lieu ther

sale for his Welsh cottons, that in a very short time he realised a handsome fortune. He founded a school in his native place, allowing fifty pounds a year to the master, and a hundred pounds salary to a lecturer, together with an almshouse for twenty poor people, each having two rooms and a garden, and two shillings and sixpence a week. It is said, however, by other authorities, that Jones was a native of