On the very summit of the high Promontory of Ormshead, or Gogarth, is situated the small Church of Llandudno, dedicated to St. Tudno, whose rocking stone (Maen sigl or Cryd-Tudno) is not very far distant. On the Western side of this Mountain is a tremendous precipice, over-hanging the sea, and these rocks are frequented in the summer season by great numbers of birds of passage; the Gulls occupy the lowest range, above them are the Razor-bills and Guillemots, over these croak the Corvorants, and the Herons possess the uppermost projections and ledges of this stupendous rock; the Peregrine Falcon also builds his nest in these impending crags. In the days of Falconry these birds were considered so excellent, that the great minister BURLEIGH, sent a letter of thanks to an ancestor of Sir Thomas MOSTYN’S, for a present of a cast of Hawks from this place. The British name of this hill, _Gogarth_, seems to be derived from ogo, or gogo, a Cave, and Garth, a Promontory, for there are several caves under this rock, and particularly one very large, inaccessible except by water; not far from it are the ruins of an old Palace, belonging to the Bishops of Bangor; there is also a farm house near the spot, known by the above name, Gogarth. Mr. Pennant says, (but upon what authority is not known) that this tract of Land was an appendage of the Abbey of Conway. The Castle of Deganwy, or Dingonwy, called by the English, Ganoe, and afterwards, by the fault of transcribers, corrupted into Gannock, was celebrated in the wars, between the two nations; the small remains of it are on two hills, not far from the shore of the river, nearly opposite the Town of Conway, but nearer to the sea; there is a house a little below it, which still bears the name, and was lately inhabited by Lord Kirkwall; the walls of the old Castle surrounded these two rocks, and on the summit of one of them is the vestige of a round Tower;—In all probability this, as well as most Welsh Castles, was originally constructed of _timber_, as it is asserted in our Histories, that it was destroyed by lightning, in the year 810, {12}—the founder of it is not known. It was afterwards rebuilt, and was for some time in the possession of the Earls of Chester, when it was again destroyed by Llewelyn the Great;—Randle de Blondeville then repaired it, and King John encamped under its walls in the year 1211, and was reduced to great distress by the skill and prudence of Llewelyn, who contrived to cut off his supplies. Henry III. suffered still greater calamities near this place, in the year 1245, at which time John de Grey, of Wilton, was Constable; one of his courtiers most pathetically describes their miseries. At length Diganwy was in 1260 totally dismantled by our last Prince, Llewelyn ap Gryffydd.