The vale of Clwyd still retains the character of luxuriant fertility. About two miles from hence, in our way to RUTHIN, “Denbigh, fair empress of the vale,” with its tottering towers, formed a most beautiful landscape; whilst the neat little hamlet of Whitchurch peeped from among the pomp of groves. At the small village of St. Fynnon St. Dyfnog, this curious inscription over a door, “Near this place, within a vault, There is such liquor fix’d, You’ll say that water, hops, and malt, Were never better mix’d;” invited the “weary-way wanderer” to partake of the _good things_ within. This inclined us to be better acquainted with the author of this _extraordinary_ stanza; and we entreated the landlord to be our director to the much-esteemed well of St. Dyfnog. Passing through the church-yard, and from thence through the passage of an alms-house, we reached a plantation of trees, with a broad gravel walk, almost concealed from day’s garish light by the thick foliage. This brought us to the fountain, enclosed in an angular wall, which forms a bath of considerable size; and so —“far retired Among the windings of a woody vale, By solitude and deep surrounding shades, But more by bashful modesty, conceal’d,” that the “lovely young Lavinia” might here plunge into the flood, secure from the intrusion of Palemon. Many wonderful qualities are attributed to this fountain; but it is more particularly celebrated for the cure of the rheumatism; the water has no peculiar taste. We returned by a subterraneous path under the road, which led to the pleasure grounds adjoining the seat of Major Wylyn. Several seats were beautifully dispersed on each side of the vale; among which Lord Bagot’s and Lord Kirkwall’s formed the most prominent features in the landscape. Ruthin is a large neat town, only divided from the parish of Llanruth by a strong stone bridge: the church, which is beautifully situated, is a handsome modern edifice: and the site of the old chapel is now converted into a bowling-green. Owen Glendwr, as an act of revenge on Lord Grey, plundered the town in the year 1400, during a fair, and then retired among the mountains. In the last century, the loyalists fortified the castle, and sustained a long siege in the year 1646.