Under this stone lieth,

In this church yard of St. Michael,
A man whose dwelling was

Three miles to the northward.

Another evidence arises from the bodies of oak trees, tolerably entire, having been discovered, at low water, in a long tract of hard loam, far from the present banks of the sea.

BARON HILL.

On an eminence behind the town of Beaumaris stands this charming residence of lord Bulkeley, commanding a most delightful prospect of all the northern mountains of Caernarvonshire, of the bay of Beaumaris, and a great expanse of sea. The house stands in front of the woods, and is esteemed by many tourists an ornament to this corner of Anglesea. It was built originally in the reign of James I., for the reception of Henry, the eldest son of that monarch, when on his way to Ireland. But his untimely death so much affected sir Richard Bulkeley, the owner, that he gave up his original and magnificent plan, and used the part only that was then completed, for his family seat. The house has been enlarged, and greatly improved, by its present worthy possessor. I was sorry (in the year 1802) to observe the effect of the elegant view of the Welsh mountains from the house totally destroyed, by the small square building in front, called a fort. I cannot conceive how gentlemen should

*

* Beaumaris Bay, p. 11.

suffer themselves to be so much misled, as to permit their agents to construct these, singularly called, ornamental buildings. The present is a white, church-like castle, an apparent excrescence evidently useless, and glaringly unnatural. Lord Uxbridge has one of these white ornamental structures on the side of the Menai, opposite to Plâs Newydd: but superior to all that I have ever seen of this description, is that of Mr. Thomas of Coed Halen, which provokingly obtrudes itself into almost every good view of the fine old walls and castle of Caernarvon. If the formation of any of these buildings is to be defended, as I know that of some of them is, on the score of their being land-marks to the mariner, my objection must cease; utility must ever be considered to supersede elegance. But this is not often the case; lord Uxbridge's building is far distant from the sea, and other eminences. near Caernarvon might have been adopted besides the present, standing, as it does, almost close to the castle. A friend of mine remarked, to some observations I had made on this subject, that, in a tour through South Wales, he had almost invariably observed, that the only rage for spoiling the scenes by these monstrosities was where the surrounding country was more than usually beautiful. Near old castles, or monastic remains, he had generally been provoked with a deformed castellated pleasurehouse, or a lately erected ruin, and invariably in the very place from whence of all others it should have been kept away. The ideas of these gentlemen must be nearly on a par with those of Mr. Pocklington, which stimulated him to

improve one of his views by white-washing an oak tree.

About a mile from Beaumaris, near the seat of sir Robert Williams, bart. and not far from the shore, are yet to be seen, in the walls of a barn, the poor remains of the house of Franciscan friars, founded in the thirteenth century, by Llewelyn ap Iorwerth, prince of Wales, called

LLANVAES,

Or The Friars. It is at present principally known as having been the place of interment of Joan, the wife of Llewelyn, and natural daughter of King John. The stone coffin of this princess, though now removed, served, not long ago, as a watering trough for horses. In this church there were also interred, at different times, a son of one of the kings of Denmark, lord Clifford, and many barons and knights who were slain in the Welsh wars.

The church, and some other parts of the buildings, were destroyed soon after the death of Llewelyn, in an insurrection of the Welsh against the English forces; and Henry IV. again nearly destroyed it, on account of the friars having espoused the cause of Owen Glyndwr. His son, Henry V., re-established it, and added a provision for eight friars, of which, however, only two were to be Welshmen. At the dissolution the convent and its possessions were sold: they are at present the property of lord Bulkeley.

PENMON.

Two miles north of Friars is the priory of Penmon, at present consisting of little more than the ruinous refectory, and part of the church. This was a house of Benedictine monks, dedicated to St. Mary, and endowed, if not founded, by Llewelyn ap Iorwerth, before the year 1221. In the twenty-sixth of Henry VIII., the revenues were valued at about forty-eight pounds per annum.

The island of Anglesea is celebrated for some of its rare marine productions, and particularly for the variety of its shells and crabs. The places from whence the latter are principally to be obtained are the rocky coasts about Llanddwyn, Roscolin, Holyhead, and Penmon; and the best times for discovering them are at low water, during the spring tides, which sometimes rise and fall near twenty feet. The mode is to tnrn up the stones, near low-water mark, under which they will be found to lurk, hidden among the sea-weed. The shells are principally taken in the dredges of the oyster-catchers betwixt Beaumaris and the island of Priestholme, and in Red Wharf bay. '

CHAP. XVIII.

VOYAGE FROM

CAERNARVON TO PRIEST

HOLME.

The Straits of Menai.-Charming Sail.-Swelly Rocks.Llandysilio Church, on a small Island in the Menai-Fine View.-Priestholme.-Tradition respecting this IslandExtraordinary Flight of Sea-Fowl.-Puffins.-Account of the Manners and Economy of these Birds.

ONE day, during my residence at Caernarvon, I took the cutter belonging to the hotel, a beautiful little decked vessel, with accommodations for ten or twelve persons, and sailed to the island of Priestholme, off the Anglesea coast, about five miles beyond Beaumaris.

THE MENAI,

As a river, is a remarkably fine piece of water, seldom less than half a mile, and in several places near two miles in width; and, to those persons who are fond of excursions on the water, the sail-from Caernarvon to Beaumaris on a fine day, with a brisk wind, will be found extremely pleasant. At different times of the day the scenery will be found very different; and a cloudy and dense, or a transparent and