Breakfast—The Freckled Maid—Llan uwch Llyn—The Landlady—Llewarch
Hen—Conversions to the Church.
Awaking occasionally in the night I heard much storm and rain. The
following morning it was gloomy and lowering. As it was Sunday I
determined to pass the day at Bala, and accordingly took my prayer-book
out of my satchel, and also my single white shirt, which I put on.
Having dressed myself I went to the coffee-room and sat down to
breakfast. What a breakfast! pot of hare; ditto of trout; pot of
prepared shrimps; dish of plain shrimps; tin of sardines; beautiful
beef-steak; eggs, muffin; large loaf, and butter, not forgetting capital
tea. There’s a breakfast for you!
As the little freckled maid was removing the breakfast things I asked her
how old she was.
“Eighteen, sir, last Candlemas,” said the freckled maid.
“Are your parents alive?”
“My mother is, sir, but my father is dead.”
“What was your father?”
“He was an Irishman, sir! and boots to this inn.”
“Is your mother Irish?”
“No, sir, she is of this place; my father married her shortly after he
came here.”
“Of what religion are you?”
“Church, sir, church.”
“Was your father of the church?”
“Not always, sir; he was once what is called a Cartholic. He turned to
the church after he came here.”
“A’n’t there a great many Methodists in Bala?”
“Plenty, sir, plenty.”
“How came your father not to go over to the Methodists instead of the
church?”
“’Cause he didn’t like them, sir; he used to say they were a trumpery,
cheating set; that they wouldn’t swear, but would lie through a
three-inch board.”
“I suppose your mother is a churchwoman?”
“She is now, sir; but before she knew my father she was a Methodist.”
“Of what religion is the master of the house?”
“Church, sir, church; so is all the family.”
“Who is the clergyman of the place?”
“Mr. Pugh, sir!”
“Is he a good preacher?”
“Capital, sir! and so is each of his curates; he and they are convarting
the Methodists left and right.”
“I should like to hear him.”
“Well, sir! that you can do. My master, who is going to church
presently, will be happy to accommodate you in his pew.”
I went to the church with the landlord, a tall gentlemanly man of the
name of Jones—O that eternal name of Jones! Rain was falling fast, and
we were glad to hold up our umbrellas. We did not go to the church at
Bala, at which there was no service that morning, but to that of a little
village close by, on the side of the lake, the living of which is
incorporated with that of Bala. The church stands low down by the lake
at the bottom of a little nook. Its name, which is Llan uwch Llyn, is
descriptive of its position, signifying the Church above the Lake. It is
a long, low, ancient edifice, standing north-east by south-west. The
village is just above it on a rising ground, behind which are lofty hills
pleasantly dotted with groves, trees and houses. The interior of the
edifice has a somewhat dilapidated appearance. The service was in Welsh.
The clergyman was about forty years of age, and had a highly-intelligent
look. His voice was remarkably clear and distinct. He preached an
excellent practical sermon, text 14th chapter 22nd verse of Luke, about
sending out servants to invite people to the supper. After the sermon
there was a gathering for the poor.
As I returned to the inn I had a good deal of conversation with the
landlord on religious subjects. He told me that the Church of England,
which for a long time had been a down-trodden Church in Wales, had of
late begun to raise its head, and chiefly owing to the zeal and activity
of its present ministers; that the former ministers of the Church were
good men but had not energy enough to suit the times in which they lived;
that the present ministers fought the Methodist preachers with their own
weapon, namely extemporary preaching, and beat them, winning shoals from
their congregations. He seemed to think that the time was not far
distant when the Anglican Church would be the popular as well as the
established church of Wales.
Finding myself rather dull in the inn I went out again notwithstanding
that it rained. I ascended the toman or mound which I had visited on a
former occasion. Nothing could be more desolate and dreary than the
scene around. The woods were stript of their verdure and the hills were
half shrouded in mist. How unlike was this scene to the smiling,
glorious prospect which had greeted my eyes a few months before. The
rain coming down with redoubled violence I was soon glad to descend and
regain the inn.
Shortly before dinner I was visited by the landlady, a fine tall woman of
about fifty with considerable remains of beauty in her countenance. She
came to ask me if I was comfortable. I told her that it was my own fault
if I was not. We were soon in very friendly discourse. I asked her her
maiden name.
“Owen,” said she laughing, “which after my present name of Jones is the
most common name in Wales.”
“They were both one and the same originally,” said I, “Owen and Jones
both mean John.”
She too was a staunch member of the Church of England, which she said was
the only true church. She spoke in terms of high respect and admiration
of her minister, and said that a new church was being built, the old one
not being large enough to accommodate the numbers who thronged to hear
him.
I had a noble goose for dinner to which I did ample justice. About four
o’clock the weather having cleared up I took a stroll. It was a
beautiful evening, though rain clouds still hovered about. I wandered to
the northern end of Llyn Tegid which I had passed in the preceding
evening. The wind was blowing from the south, and tiny waves were
beating against the shore which consisted of small brown pebbles. The
lake has certainly not its name, which signifies Lake of Beauty, for
nothing. It is a beautiful sheet of water, and beautifully situated. It
is oblong and about six miles in length. On all sides, except to the
north, it is bounded by hills. Those at the southern end are very lofty;
the tallest of which is Arran, which lifts its head to the clouds like a
huge loaf. As I wandered on the strand I thought of a certain British
prince and poet, who in the very old time sought a refuge in the vicinity
of the lake from the rage of the Saxons. His name was Llewarch Hen, of
whom I will now say a few words.
Llewarch Hen, or Llewarch the Aged, was born about the commencement of
the sixth and died about the middle of the seventh century, having
attained to the prodigious age of one hundred and forty or fifty years,
which is perhaps the lot of about forty individuals in the course of a
millenium. If he was remarkable for the number of his years he was no
less so for the number of his misfortunes. He was one of the princes of
the Cumbrian Britons; but Cumbria was invaded by the Saxons, and a scene
of horrid war ensued. Llewarch and his sons, of whom he had twenty-four,
put themselves at the head of their forces, and in conjunction with the
other Cumbrian princes made a brave but fruitless opposition to the
invaders. Most of his sons were slain, and he himself with the remainder
sought shelter in Powys in the hall of Cynddylan its prince. But the
Saxon bills and bows found their way to Powys too. Cynddylan was slain,
and with him the last of the sons of Llewarch, who, reft of his
protector, retired to a hut by the side of the lake of Bala, where he
lived the life of a recluse and composed elegies on his sons and
slaughtered friends, and on his old age, all of which abound with so much
simplicity and pathos that the heart of him must be hard indeed who can
read them unmoved. Whilst a prince he was revered for his wisdom and
equity, and he is said in one of the historical triads to have been one
of the three consulting warriors of Arthur.
In the evening I attended service in the old church at Bala. The
interior of the edifice was remarkably plain; no ornament of any kind was
distinguishable; the congregation was overflowing, amongst whom I
observed the innkeeper and his wife, the little freckled maid and the
boots. The entire service was in Welsh. Next to the pew in which I sat
was one filled with young singing women, all of whom seemed to have
voices of wonderful power. The prayers were read by a strapping young
curate at least six feet high. The sermon was preached by the rector,
and was a continuation of the one which I had heard him preach in the
morning. It was a very comforting discourse, as the preacher clearly
proved that every sinner will be pardoned who comes to Jesus. I was
particularly struck with one part. The preacher said that Jesus’ arms
being stretched out upon the cross was emblematic of his surprising love
and his willingness to receive anybody. The service concluded with the
noble anthem Teyrnasa Jesu Mawr, “May Mighty Jesus reign!”
The service over I returned to the parlour of the inn. There I sat for a
long time lone and solitary, staring at the fire in the grate. I was the
only guest in the house; a great silence prevailed both within and
without; sometimes five minutes elapsed without my hearing a sound, and
then perhaps the silence would be broken by a footstep at a distance in
the street—at length finding myself yawning I determined to go to bed.
The freckled maid, as she lighted me to my room, inquired how I liked the
sermon. “Very much,” said I. “Ah,” said she, “did I not tell you that
Mr. Pugh was a capital preacher?” She then asked me how I liked the
singing of the gals who sat in the next pew to mine. I told her that I
liked it exceedingly. “Ah!” said she, “them gals have the best voices in
Bala. They were once Methody gals, and sang in the chapels, but were
convarted, and are now as good Church as myself. Them gals have been the
cause of a great many convarsions, for all the young fellows of their
acquaintance amongst the Methodists—”
“Follow them to church,” said I, “and in time become converted. That’s a
thing of course. If the Church gets the girls she is quite sure of the
fellows.”