{71} The shores of Milford-haven abound with lime-stone; which, affording a rich manure (with coals and culm), is conveyed by water over a great portion of the country. In the shores of the haven also, near its junction with the open sea, are many veins of copper ore, some of which are conjectured to be very rich; but none have been explored with perseverance. {72} Lord Kensington described to me a very picturesque ruin called Benton cattle, situated upon the borders of Milford-haven near the arm of Lawrenny. This ruin I had not an opportunity of seeing, nor do I remember having read of it in any of the descriptions of Wales. {73} I asked one of these young women, with the utmost seriousness and civility, at least with all that I was master of, what they made use of to render their teeth so uncommonly white; when the arch hussy waggishly replied, “Only a little nice white sand, and a scrubbing-brush, Sir.” {81} From Haverfordwest, a turnpike road extends to Caermarthen, 33 miles distant. About nine miles from Haverford, and one to the left of the road, is Lawhaden castle, picturesquely seated on a bold eminence, overlooking an extensive country. This castle was the principal seat of the Bishops of St. David’s; but in the year 1616 Bishop Milborne obtained leave to dismantle it, the lead and other expensive materials having been purloined by his holy predecessors. Narbeth, a small irregular town built on a hill about 11 miles on the road, has some inconsiderable ruins of a castle erected by Sir Andrew Perrot, whose ancestor came over at the Conquest. The road, pawing through St. Clare, a pleasing village, continues onward without any particular attraction. {84} Aber, in Welch, signifies the mouth of a river: hence Abertivy, Aberystwith, &c. {85} Powell, in his History of Wales, says, that it was rebuilt before the year 1176; when Rhys, Prince of South Wales, made therein a great entertainment at Christmas, at which were present many hundreds of the English, Norman, and Irish nobility. Among other things for their entertainment, he caused all the bards throughout Wales to come thither; and seating them round the hall, they had to contend with each other in rhyme: such as excelled, were promised great rewards and rich presents. The North Wales bards were acknowledged victors in poetry, and Prince Rhys’s own servants the ablest musicians. {91} The equilibrium is now destroyed. {92} See p. 29. {94} Camden says, it often holds its tail between its teeth, to render its springs more immediate. {98} Near Penrhyn a British gold coin was found, of about equal weight with a guinea, a little hollowed on one side, and different from any of the coinage of the Romans, or their successors: whence, and from other instances, it is inferred, that the Britons had gold and silver coin before the arrival of the Romans. In the church-yard is a large rough-hewn stone, bearing an inscription that has not yet been interpreted.