Transcribed from the 1847 Thomas Catherall edition by David Price, email ccx074@pglaf.org. We would like to thank Llangollen Library, Denbighshire, for allowing access to the copy from which this transcription was made. THE "LADIES OF LLANGOLLEN," AS SKETCHED BY MANY HANDS; WITH NOTICES OF OTHER OBJECTS OF INTEREST IN "THAT SWEETEST OF VALES." BY JOHN HICKLIN, EDITOR OF THE "CHESTER COURANT," AUTHOR OF THE "HISTORY OF CHESTER CATHEDRAL," ETC. ETC. CHESTER: THOMAS CATHERALL, EASTGATE ROW; LONDON: WHITTAKER & CO.; ACKERMANN & CO., STRAND; DUBLIN: T. CRANFIELD. MDCCCXLVII. TO MISS LOLLY AND MISS ANDREW, THE PROPRIETORS AND OCCUPIERS OF PLAS NEWYDD. THE FAMED RETREAT OF "The Ladies of Llangollen," THE FOLLOWING PAGES ARE MOST RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED, BY THEIR OBEDIENT SERVANT, THE PUBLISHER. THE LADIES OF LLANGOLLEN. From the early age of Cambrian history, when the peerless beauty of the high-born Myfanwy Fechan awoke the passion and the poesy of her admiring bard, Howel ap Einion Llygliw, down to the modern days of the more humble, but not less renowned maiden, "Sweet Jenny Jones;" Llangollen, "that sweetest of vales," seems to have been associated with recollections of tender and romantic interest. Our narrative, however, albeit it relates to the Ladies of Llangollen, refers not to whispered vows and moonlight serenades between gallant chiefs and damsels of noble birth; nor to sentimental tales of love in a cottage; but it is rather devoted to the records of a friendship, whose incidents and eccentricities have engaged the attention of many eminent _literati_ and tourists. Most persons who take any interest in the scenery or topography of North Wales, have either seen or read of that singular residence, Plas Newydd, at Llangollen, for so many years the home of Lady Eleanor Butler and Miss Ponsonby.