[A] ANGLESEY (Isle and County of), forms one of the six counties of North Wales, and is situated at the north western extremity of the principality. It is watered on three sides by the Irish sea, and separated on the eastern side from Caernarvonshire, by the serpentine strait of Menai, from three-quarters to half a mile broad. Its form is irregular, being indented with many small bays and creeks, which gave it some maritime importance under its native princes. It has received numerous appellations from the ancient Britons; the most approved of which was Mon, signifying remote, Latinised by the Romans into Mona, the "nurse of Wales," from its fruitfulness; and changed by the Saxons into Angles-ey, or the Englishman's Island. It was the principal establishment of the Druids in Britain, until this island was invaded by the Romans, A.D. 59, under Suetonius Paulinus, who ordered their groves to be cut down, and stationed a garrison to insure obedience. The climate of Anglesey is mild, and the sea-breezes render the weather more temperate here than in the other counties of North Wales, although from the same cause it is less clear: that portion of the island which borders on the Menai, the site of the terrific Druidical groves, is richly wooded. The interior, on the contrary, owing to the great scarcity of fuel, has been rendered nearly devoid of wood; and the greater part of the island possesses little of hill and dale beyond a gentle and undiversified undulation of surface; its general aspect is uninviting and cheerless. The land, however, is good, and under proper management very productive, as respects both tillage and pasturage. About 25,000 head of black cattle (exclusive of sheep and hogs), are annually supplied to the English market, where they are much admired for their flavour and tenderness, occasioned by the short bite of the pasturage on which they feed. Before the erection of the suspension bridge, the passage of the numerous droves of cattle at the five authorized ferries of the Menai, was a very extraordinary sight; they were made to swim over, guided by the drovers in boats. Butter, cheese, hides, tallow, wax, and honey, form also great articles of trade here; throughout the island there are but few manufactures of any importance. The shore abounds in some of the most highly prized marine productions, and is especially celebrated for the variety and beauty of its sea shells. Anglesey is as interesting to the antiquary, as to the natural philosopher. The ancient British vestiges are very numerous; comprising no less than twenty-eight cromlechs, or Druidical altars, together with circles, monumental stones, entrenchments, and other remains of a similar description, both British and Roman, which will receive attention in their proper places; several of the parish churches (of which the whole, seventy-four, stand near the coast), with various monastic remains, also deserve examination on the score of antiquity.