Many of these customs belong to the military character of the ancient inhabitants, and disappeared with the extinction of the feudal system; white others may still be distinctly traced in the existing state of society. The flannel cota (_crys gwlanen_) is worn by miners during working hours, and by the peasantry of the high districts in the rainy seasons. The females retain the ancient cap, which they now surmount with a hat, in a manner both pleasing and peculiar. Their principal garment consists of a short bed-gown, fastened round the waist with a girdle, in a smart and rather graceful style; and their stockings are after the olden fashion, that is, without feet, and held down by a loop that passes round one of the toes; these however are only worn on working days; entire hose of excellent manufacture succeed them upon holidays and occasions of dress. The _tout ensemble_ of a Welsh peasant girl, while it conveys an idea of primitiveness, and appears wisely calculated to resist a cold and fickle climate, is neat, pleasing, and picturesque, resembling much the costume of the female peasants of the Tyrol. Hospitality has always been classed amongst the characteristics of an ancient Briton, and its genius is acknowledged to hold uninterrupted possession to the present day. Here young Fleance found a secure asylum from the murderous designs of the usurper Macbeth, and here his son, born of a Cambrian princess, dwelt, until a desire to visit the land of his fathers led him to the Scottish court, where he attained the highest tank, and became the ancestor of the royal line of Stuart. The Earl of Richmond (afterwards Henry the Seventh) found a chair at every festive board, and a couch in every hall in Wales, while he was a wanderer, and a fugitive; nor did these kindnesses originate in any inordinate prospect of honour or of gain, most of the gentlemen from Wales, who subsequently fought under his banner, having declined the grateful monarch’s offers of reward. This domestic virtue is still fondly cherished here, and practised with all its pristine beauty. There is less peculiarity in the mode of living than in other circumstances connected with the national character. The peasant seldom partakes of animal food, cattle being reared for the landlord’s benefit exclusively. Oaten bread, milk, cheese, cords, and butter constitute the principal diet of the working classes.