Wild Wales: The People, Language, & SceneryBorrow, George
General
Wild Wales: The People, Language, & Scenery
Borrow, George
Borrow, George, 1803-1881 -- Travel -- Wales; Wales -- Description and travel
To view this place which, though in English called Chirk Castle, is
styled in Welsh Castell y Waen, or the Castle of the Meadow, we started
on foot about ten o’clock of a fine bright morning, attended by John
Jones. There are two roads from Llangollen to Chirk, one the low or post
road, and the other leading over the Berwyn. We chose the latter. We
passed by the Yew cottage, which I have described on a former occasion,
and began to ascend the mountain, making towards its north-eastern
corner. The road at first was easy enough, but higher up became very
steep, and somewhat appalling, being cut out of the side of the hill
which shelves precipitously down towards the valley of the Dee. Near the
top of the mountain were three lofty beech trees, growing on the very
verge of the precipice. Here the road for about twenty yards is fenced
on its dangerous side by a wall, parts of which are built between the
stems of the trees. Just beyond the wall a truly noble prospect
presented itself to our eyes. To the north were bold hills, their sides
and skirts adorned with numerous woods and white farmhouses; a thousand
feet below us was the Dee, and its wondrous Pont y Cysultau. John Jones
said that if certain mists did not intervene we might descry “the sea of
Liverpool;” and perhaps the only thing wanting to make the prospect
complete was that sea of Liverpool. We were, however, quite satisfied
with what we saw, and turning round the corner of the hill, reached its
top, where for a considerable distance there is level ground, and where,
though at a great altitude, we found ourselves in a fair and fertile
region, and amidst a scene of busy rural life. We saw fields and
inclosures, and here and there corn-stacks, some made, and others not yet
completed, about which people were employed, and waggons and horses
moving. Passing over the top of the hill, we began to descend the
southern side, which was far less steep than the one we had lately
surmounted. After a little way the road descended through a wood, which
John Jones told us was the beginning of the “Park of Biddulph.”
“There is plenty of game in this wood,” said he; “pheasant cocks and
pheasant hens, to say nothing of hares and coneys; and in the midst of it
there is a space sown with a particular kind of corn for the support of
the pheasant hens and pheasant cocks, which in the shooting-season afford
pleasant sport for Biddulph and his friends.”
Near the foot of the descent, just where the road made a turn to the
east, we passed by a building which stood amidst trees, with a pond and
barns near it.
“This,” said John Jones, “is the house where the bailiff lives, who farms
and buys and sells for Biddulph, and fattens the beeves and swine, and
the geese, ducks, and other poultry which Biddulph consumes at his
table.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account