some time fellow of All Souls College Oxford, who died in the year 1776, deserves a place here, not from its eccentricity, so much as its recording an example of an express direction against interment within the walls of the church, which ought to be generally followed : In conformity to ancient usage; And as he scorned flattering of others God be merciful to me a sinner. MOLD CASTLE. From the church-yard a lofty mount called the Bailey Hill, was pointed out to me as the site of the castle*. Of the building there are not not now, I believe, the smallest remains. The hill was planted on its summit, and round the bottom, with larches, firs, and other evergreenst. "At the north end of Byly streate, appere ditches and hilles, yn token of an auncient castel, or building there. It is now called Mont Brenebyly." Leland's Itin. v. 35. This castle appears to have been, founded during the reign of William Rufus, by Robert Montalt, the son of the high steward of Chester. From him the place received its name of Mont Alt, or De Monte Alto. MAES GARMON. About a mile west of Mold, and not far from Rhual, the seat of the Griffiths, is a place which to this day retains the name of Maes Garmon, The Field of Garmon, or Germanus. On this spot, in Easter week 448, was fought the celebrated battle between the joint forces of thé Picts and Scots against the Britons, headed by the bishops Germanus and Lupus, who had about two years before been sent into this kingdom. Previously to the engagement, Germanus instructed the soldiers to attend to the word given them by the priests on the field of battle, and In the year 1144 it was seized and demolished by Owen Gwynedd, prince of Wales, and in little more than a century it appears to have several times changed owners. At length in 1267, Griffith ap Gwenwynwyn wrested it from the hands of the English, and again destroyed it. It was soon rebuilt, and restored to the barons of Montalt.-In 1327, the last baron having no issue, conveyed it to Isabel, the queen of Edward II., for life, with remainder to John of Eltham, a younger brother of Edward III. But on his death, without issue, it reverted with his possessions to the crown. The lordship became some time afterwards the property of the Stanley family. The earls of Derby possessed it till the execution of James, after which it was purchased, along with the manor of Hope, by some persons whose names I have not been able to learn, who enjoyed them till the Restoration. At the conclusion of the civil wars, the earl of Derby agreed to pay eleven thousand pounds for these manors; but afterwards retracting, the king ordered the former purchasers to be confirmed in their possession. The Derby family, however, by some means regained the manor of Hope, but that of Mold was lost to them for ever*. *Pennant, i. 426. to repeat it with energy through the whole army. When the forces were prepared for the critical onset, that was to decide the important fate of the day, Germanus pronounced aloud ALLELUIA! The priests repeated it thrice, and it was afterwards taken up by the voices of the whole army, till even the hills reverberated the sound. The enemy, confounded, affrighted, and trembling, fled on every side. The Britons pursued, and left few alive to relate the dismal story. Most of them fell by the sword, but many threw themselves into the adjoining river, and perished in the flood*. This victory has been called by all the historians Victoria Alleluiatica.-A pyramidal stone column, erected on the spot in 1736 by Nathaniel Griffith, Esq. of Rhual to commemorate the event in the following inscription. Ad annum CCCCXX Saxones Pictique bellum adversus Hostibus fusis sine sanguine; *The river is at present so very shallow, that it would scarcely drown a dog: this battle might have taken place during an overflowing of the water in consequence of heavy rains. The date of this battle seems to have been mistaken both by Mr. Griffith and Mr. Pennant, who each fix it in the year 420. Matthew of Westminster, from whose work the preceding account is extracted, says expressly that it took place in 448, and that Germanus and Lupus did not arrive in this kingdom till about two years before this time*. He mentions nothing of the Saxons having any share in the business; nor indeed does it appear very probable that they should, since their army was not introduced by Vortigern till the following year. What has been said, that the Saxons here engaged might have been such as came over on some predatory excursion, prior to the invitation of Vortigern, can have little validity when such evidence both direct and circumstantial is to be adduced to the contrary. The arrival of the Saxons prior to that period, seems however of much less importance in the proof than the arrival of the bishops, for they evidently were not in the kingdom till twenty six years after the generally supposed time of the event. *Matt. West. 152-154. In Rymer, i. 443, it is said to have taken place about the year 447. Vale of Clwyd.-Llanrhaiadr.-Church.-Epitaph.-The Well at Llanrhaiadr.—Ruthin.-Church.-Castle. FROM ROM Mold I went again to Denbigh, in order to pursue a regular track through the remainder of North Wales to Shrewsbury, which was the place I had fixed as the termination of my pedestrian ramble, and from whence I intended to take coach immediately to London. I was highly delighted with my walk along the vale of Clwyd, from Denbigh to Ruthin. The views all the way were of the elegant, rich, and here picturesque vale, bounded by the distant Clwyddian hills. The day was peculiarly favourable to this kind of scenery; it was dark and hot, and the rolling clouds that hung heavily in the atmosphere, tinged the mountains with their sombre shade, which gave an indescribable richness to the scenes. LLANRHAIADR. I arrived at Llanrhaiadr, The Village of the Cataract*, which is situated on a small eminence in the midst of this fertile vale. 2 *This is the literal translation of the Welsh word: whence the name can have been derived I know not, as there is、 nos cataract near the place. |