Welsh pedigree of queen Victoria--A poet's flattery--Castles of
Monmouthshire--Geoffrey of Monmouth--Henry of Monmouth--The
Kymin--Subsidiary tour--Sir David Gam--White Castle--Scenfrith--The
Castle spectres--Grosmont--Lanthony Abbey.
"Monmouthshire," as has been well observed, "though now an English
county, may be justly considered the connecting link between England and
Wales, as it unites the scenery, manners, and language of both." In
ancient times, it was a debatable land of another kind, when Romans,
Saxons, and Normans, strove by turns against the aboriginal Britons.
During the Roman invasion it was a part of the territory of the Silures,
who inhabited the eastern division of South Wales, and were one of the
three great Welsh tribes; but in the conflict of the Saxons, Gwent (its
British name) played the most distinguished part of all, under its
sovereign Utha Pendragon and the renowned king Arthur. To Gwent,
moreover, if chronicles say true, we are indebted for our present
sovereign lady, who is descended collaterally from its princes. Merrich,
the son of Ithel, king or prince of Gwent, died without issue male,
leaving one daughter, Morvyth, who espoused Gwno, great grandson to Rees
ap Theodore, prince of South Wales, and lineal ancestor of Sir Owen
Tudor, grandfather of Henry VII. "So that it appears," say the Secret
Memoirs of Monmouthshire, "that the kings of Scotland and England are
originally descended from Morvyth, this Gwentonian prince's daughter, and
heir to Meyrick, last king of Gwent, who, according to several authentic
British pedigrees, was lineally descended from Cadwalladar, the last king
of Britain, and as our historians do testify, did prognosticate, fifteen
hundred years past, that the heirs descended of his loins should be
restored again to the kingdom of Britain, which was partly accomplished
in king Henry VII., and more by the accession of James I. to the British
throne, but wholly fulfilled in the happy union of all Britain by the
glorious queen Anne; whom God long preserved of his great goodness, and
the succession of the Protestant line."
We know not what value may be attached to this illustrious ancestry by
Queen Victoria; but her predecessor, Queen Elizabeth, was fond of tracing
her descent from the ancient kings of her country--a predilection which
the courtly Spenser does not omit to flatter in his Faerie Queene.
"Thy name, O soveraine Queene, thy realme and race,
From this renowned prince derived arre,
Who mightily upheld that royal mace
Which thou now bear'st, to thee descended farre
From mighty kings and couquerors in warre,
Thy fathers and thy grandfathers of old,
Whose noble deeds above the northern starre,
Immortall fame for ever hath enrold;
As in that _old man's booke_ they were in order told."
The _old man_ have referred to is Geoffrey of Monmouth, of whom more
anon.
It is to the Norman invasion that Monmouthshire owes its castles; for the
great barons were not employed by the state, as had been the case with
the Saxons, to conquer the territory, but were invited to enter upon
adventures at their own cost, and for their own gain. The lands they
subdued became their own; they were created lords-barons over them; and
castles speedily bristled up all over the territory to maintain the
authority so acquired. Pennant states the number for Wales at a hundred
and forty-three, of which Monmouthshire, as the frontier region between
the belligerents, had of course the greatest proportion, amounting, it is
said, to at least twenty-five. In these baronial lands, the writs of
ordinary justices of the royal courts were not current. The barons
marchers, as they were called, had recourse to their feudal lord the king
in person; and the same abuses and confusion were the result which we
have noticed in Herefordshire, till Henry VIII. abolished this anomalous
government, divided Wales into twelve shires, and withdrew Monmouthshire
into the list of the English counties. It is interesting to trace the
chain of fortresses thus destined to become, still earlier than in the
natural course of time, a series of ruins. They extend, in this county,
along the banks of the Monnow, the Wye, and the Severn, and from
Grosmont, diagonally, to the banks of the Rumney; while castellated
mansions, such as Raglan, which we shall notice presently (at first only
a rude fortress), arose in all quarters to keep the natives in due
respect.
King Arthur, mentioned above as prince of Gwent, did not reign at
Monmouth, but at Caerleon; although he is closely associated with the
former place, inasmuch as the gothic room in the priory which we have
pointed out, on the authority of tradition, as the study of Geoffrey of
Monmouth, was in all probability the birthplace of his most heroic
achievements. Geoffrey, in fact, for it is needless to attempt to
conceal the fact from our readers, was an historical romancer rather than
an historian. The groundwork of his celebrated performance was Brut y
Breninodd, or the Chronicle of the Kings of Britain, written by Tyssilio,
or St. Telian, bishop of St. Asaph, in the seventh century; but Geoffrey
owns himself, that he made various additions to his original,
particularly of Merlin's prophecies. After all, however, if we may
venture to express our private opinion on so recondite a subject, it
seems to us that a monkish history, of the seventh century, must have
been reasonably fertile in itself in wonderful incidents and legendary
tales, and that in all probability Geoffrey of Monmouth deserves less
credit as a romancer than he has received from one party, as well as less
credit as an historian than he has received from the other.
However this may be, the work has served as a valuable storehouse for our
poets and romancers. It has even supplied the story of King Lear to
Shakspeare, who deepened the pathos by making Cordelia die before her
father; whereas, in the original story, Lear is restored to his kingdom,
and Cordelia to life. Milton drew from it his fiction of Sabrina in the
Mask of Comus; and in early life he had formed the design of writing an
epic poem on the subject taken up from Geoffrey by Spenser, in the second
book of the Faerie Queene--
"A chronicle of Briton kings,
From Brute to Arthur's reign."
Dryden, also, intended to produce an epic poem on the subject of king
Arthur, but he contented himself with an opera, in which he has sublimely
described the British worthy
"in battle brave,
But still serene in all the stormy war,
Like heaven above the clouds; and after fight
As merciful and kind to vanquished foe
As a forgiving God."
Pope followed, in like manner, with plentiful materials for the pavement
of a certain place--good intentions; but after all, our national history
has been left to the muse of Blackmore. {106}
Geoffrey was born in Monmouth, and is supposed to have been educated in
the monastery, although the room pointed out as his study is evidently of
a more modern date. He became archdeacon of his native town, and in 1152
was consecrated bishop of St. Asaph. This is all that is known of his
history; and his works, with the exception of his great romance adverted
to above, are confined to a treatise on the Holy Sacraments, and some
verses on the enchanter Merlin.
Perhaps a word may not be amiss on the other worthy connected by birth
with the fame and the ruins of Monmouth. Henry V. passed some of his
earliest years in this county; but in his youth was transferred to
Oxford, where he studied under his uncle Cardinal Beaufort, then
chancellor of the university, and where, as Stowe relates, he "delighted
in songs, meeters, and musical instruments." He is thus described by the
chronicler, on the authority of John of Elmham:
"This prince exceeded the meane stature of men, he was beautiful of
visage, his necke long, body long and leane, and his bones small;
neverthelesse he was of great marvellous strength, and passing swift
in running, insomuch that he with two other of his lords, without
hounds, bow, or other engine, would take a wild buck or doe in a
large parke."
Henry is usually treated as a mere warrior; and it is the custom to sneer
at him as such, by those who are unable to judge of the minds of men by
the spirit of the age in which they live. He was remarkable, however,
for more than his military prowess, and exhibited many traits of a truly
great character. Some of these are very agreeably detailed by Mr. Coxe,
who relates also, from Speed, that "every day after dinner, for the space
of an hour, his custom was to lean on a cushion set by his cupboard, and
there he himselfe received petitions of the oppressed, which with great
equitie he did redresse." His sudden change from the wild licentiousness
of his youth is described by his contemporary, Thomas de Elmham, as
having taken place at the bedside of his dying father; and we need not
remark that in that age, the religious feeling he exhibited on the
occasion was not inconsistent with the ferocity of the hero.
"The courses of his youth promis'd it not;
The breath no sooner left his father's body,
But that his wildness, mortified in him,
Seem'd to die too: yea, at that very moment,
Consideration like an angel came,
And whipped the offending Adam out of him;
Leaving his body as a paradise,
To envellop, and contain celestial spirits.
Never was such a sudden scholar made;
Never came reformation in a flood,
With such a heady current, scouring faults;
Nor ever hydra-headed wilfulness,
So soon did lose his seat, and all at once,
As in this king."
Monmouth, as the half-way station between Ross and Chepstow for the
tourists of the Wye, usually claims a large portion of their attention;
and, independently of its historical associations, the delightful walks
in the neighbourhood abundantly repay it. The views from numerous points
are very beautiful; and one more especially, independently of the nearer
parts of the picture, commands on all sides an expanse of country which
seems absolutely unlimited.
"If among these views," says the historical tourist, "one can be selected
surpassing the rest, it is perhaps that from the summit of the Kymin,
which rises from the left bank of the Wye, and is situated partly in
Monmouthshire, and partly in Gloucestershire. On the centre of this
eminence overhanging the river and town, a pavilion has been lately
erected by subscription, to which is carried a walk, gently winding up
the acclivity. . . .
"I shall not attempt to describe the unbounded expanse of country around
and beneath, which embraces an extent of nearly three hundred miles. The
eye, satiated with the distant prospect, reposes at length on the near
views, dwells on the country immediately beneath and around, is attracted
with the pleasing position of Monmouth, here seen to singular advantage,
admires the elegant bend and silvery current of the Monnow, glistening
through meads, in its way to the Wye, and the junction of the two rivers,
which forms an assemblage of beautiful objects.
"The level summit of the Kymin is crowned with a beautiful wood, called
Beaulieu Grove, through which walks are made, terminating in seats,
placed at the edge of abrupt declivities, and presenting in perspective,
through openings in the trees, portions of the unbounded expanse seen
from the pavilion. There are six of these openings, three of which
comprehend perspective views of Monmouth, stretching between the Wye and
the Monnow, in different positions. At one of these seats, placed on a
ledge of impending rocks, I looked down on a hanging wood, clothing the
sides of the declivities, and sloping gradually to the Wye, which sweeps
in a beautiful curve, from Dixon Church to the mouth of the Monnow; the
town appears seated on its banks, and beyond the luxuriant and undulating
swells of Monmouthshire, terminated by the Great and Little Skyrrid, the
Black Mountains, and the Sugar Loaf, in all the variety of sublime and
contrasted forms."
It is not our intention to notice any of the numerous seats and mansions
with which this delightful region abounds; but, leaving the tourist to
make such easy discoveries for himself, we would hint to him that, while
at Monmouth, he has an opportunity, without great expense of time or
labour, of making himself acquainted with many interesting objects which
ought to be considered as adjuncts of the tour of the Wye. Between this
place and the Hay the river describes an irregular semicircle, of which
the Monnow, for about half way, may be said to be the cord; and this
latter stream, as the most important and beautiful tributary of the Wye,
has a claim upon the pilgrim which should not be set aside.
This minor excursion, however, will not be complete without diverging a
little to the left at the outset for the purpose of visiting White
Castle; for this ruin is inseparably associated with the other reliques
of baronial power presented by the route. It is within a short distance
of Landeilo Cresseney on the Abergavenny road, where a farm will be
pointed out to the traveller, called the Park, belonging to the duke of
Beaufort, as the site of Old Court, formerly the residence of the valiant
Sir David Gam, who, before the battle of Agincourt, reported to Henry V.
that there were "enough of the enemy to be killed, enough to run away,
and enough to be taken prisoners." It is said that the children of this
Welsh worthy were so numerous as to form a line extending from his house
to the church. From Gladys, one of these children, the dukes of Beaufort
and earls of Pembroke are descended. The farm alluded to was formerly
the red deer park of Raglan Castle.
White Castle must have been constructed in the earliest period of the
Norman era, if not before the conquest; and the massive ruins that still
remain attest that it must have kept the country side in awe, as the
abode of one of those fierce barons who were the prototypes of the giants
and dragons of the romancers. This fortress, with those of Scenfrith and
Grosmont on the banks of the Monnow, belonged to Brien Fitz Count, the
Norman conqueror of the tract called Overwent, stretching from the Wye to
Abergavenny; and they were afterwards seized by Henry III., and given by
him to the celebrated Herbert de Burgh. Herbert resigned them anew to
the crown, after being imprisoned and almost famished to death. Henry
granted them to his son Edward Crouchback, and they afterwards fell to
John of Gaunt, in the way we have related of Monmouth Castle, and became
parcel of the duchy of Lancaster.
The ruins stand on the ridge of an eminence, surrounded by a moat. The
walls, which are very massive, describe nearly an oval, and are defended
by six round towers, not dividing the courtine in the usual way, but
altogether extramural, and capable, therefore, of acting as independent
fortresses, even after the inner court had been taken. The principal
entrance was protected by a portcullis and drawbridge, and by an immense
barbican, greatly disproportioned to the size of the castle, on the
opposite site of the moat. The name of the place was Castell Gwyn, White
Castle, or Castell Blanch, all which mean the same thing in British,
Saxon, and Norman.
In the time of James I., it is presented as "ruinous and in decay time
out of mind," and yet, during the reign of his immediate predecessor
Elizabeth, it is described in the Worthines of Wales as "a loftie
princely place."
"Three castles fayre are in a goodly ground,
Grosmont is one, on hill it builded was;
Skenfrith the next, in valley it is found,
The soyle about for pleasure there doth passe;
Whit Castle is the third of worthy fame,
The county there doth bear Whit Castle's name,
A stately seate, a loftie princely place,
Whose beauties give the simple soyle some grace."
Scenfrith is not more than five miles from White Castle, but the access
to it is only fit for pedestrians. The ruin stands on a secluded spot in
the midst of hills, and overlooks the placid Monnow, the passage of which
it was no doubt its duty to guard. It is a small fortress severely
simple, and exhibiting all the marks of high antiquity. There are no
traces of outworks; but the walls are flanked by five circular towers.
About the middle of the area is a round tower, which was the keep or
citadel. Scenfrith seems to have no history peculiarly its own; it was
one of "the three castles," changing hands with them apparently as a
matter of course, and that was enough for its ambition.
The road from Scenfrith to Grosmont leads through Newcastle; but the
remains of the fortress, from which this place derived its name, are
barely discernible, and its history has for ever perished. In the
absence of human associations, however, it is well provided with those of
another kind. The mount, or barrow, under which its fragments are
hidden, is the haunt of spirits; and an oak tree in the neighbourhood is
so completely protected by such means, that an attempt even to lop a
branch is sure to be punished by supernatural power.
The ruins of Grosmont Castle stand on an eminence near the Monnow,
surrounded by a dry moat, with barbican and other outworks. Its pointed
arches declare it by far the youngest of the three sisters. The remains
now left enclose only a small area; but walls and foundations may be
traced, which show that its original size was really considerable, and
this is confirmed by the presence of a spacious apartment, which no doubt
formed the great baronial hall. In the reign of Henry III. it was
invested by Llewellin, and the siege raised by the king; and, on another
occasion, Henry retreated to Grosmont, where his troops were surprised by
the Welsh as they slept in the trenches, and lost five hundred horses,
besides baggage and treasure. The banks of the Monnow, from which the
ruins rise, are precipitous, and tufted with oaks, and the whole scene is
singularly picturesque. The hero of the village tradition is here John
of Kent, or Guent, who built a bridge over the Monnow in a single night,
by means of one of his familiar spirits. Many other stories as wonderful
are related of him by the inhabitants; some say he was a monk, versed in
the black art; others that he was a disciple of Owen Glendowr; and others
that he was the great magician himself.
At Grosmont the line of the Monnow turns away to the west, towards its
source among the Black Mountains; but the traveller who eschews more
fatigue than is necessary will take the route by Craig-gate and
Crickhowell, and so get into a road which will lead him along the Honddy,
a tributary of the Monnow, to the magnificent ruins of Lanthony Abbey,
the furthest object we propose to him in this subsidiary tour.
"Here it was, stranger, that the patron saint
Of Cambria passed his age of penitence--
A solitary man; and here he made
His hermitage; the roots his food, his drink
Of Honddy's mountain-stream. Perchance thy youth
Has read with eager wonder how the knight
Of Wales, in Ormandine's enchanted bowers,
Slept the long sleep: and if that in thy veins
Flows the pure blood of Britain, sure that blood
Has flowed with quicker impulse at the tale
Of Dafydd's deeds, when through the press of war
His gallant comrades followed his green crest
To conquests. Stranger! Hatterel's mountain heights,
And this fair vale of Cwias, and the stream
Of Honddy, to thine after thoughts will rise
More grateful, thus associate with the name
Of Dafydd and the deeds of other days."
"After catching a transient view of the Honddy," says archdeacon Coxe,
"winding through a deep glen, at the foot of hills overspread with wood
and sprinkled with white cottages, we proceeded along a hollow way, which
deepened as we advanced, and was scarcely broad enough to admit the
carriage. In this road, which, with more propriety might be termed a
ditch, we heard the roar of the torrent beneath, but seldom enjoyed a
view of the circumjacent scenery. We passed under a bridge thrown across
the chasm, to preserve the communication with the fields on each side:
this bridge was framed of the trunks of trees, and secured with side
rails, to prevent the tottering passenger from falling in the abyss
beneath. It brought to my recollection several bridges of similar
construction, which I observed in Norway, which are likewise occasionally
used as aqueducts, for the purposes of irrigation. Emerging from this
gloomy way, we were struck with the romantic village of Cwnyoy, on the
opposite bank of the Honddy, hanging on the sides of the abrupt cliff,
under a perpendicular rock, broken into enormous fissures. We continued
for some way between the torrent and the Gaer, and again plunged into a
hollow road, where we were enclosed, and saw nothing but the overhanging
hedgerows. . . . The abbey was built like a cathedral, in the shape of
Roman crosses, and though of small dimensions, was well proportioned.
The length, from the western door to the eastern extremity, is 210 feet;
and the breadth, including two aisles, 50; the length of the transept,
from north to south, 100. It was constructed soon after the introduction
of the Gothic architecture, and before the disuse of the Norman, and is a
regular composition of both styles. The whole roof, excepting a small
fragment of the north aisle, is fallen down, and the building is
extremely dilapidated. The nave alone exhibits a complete specimen of
the original plan, and is separated on each side by the two aisles, by
eight pointed arches, resting on piers of the simplest construction,
which are divided from the upper tier of Norman arches by a straight band
of _fascia_. From the small fragment in the northern aisle, the roofs
seem to have been vaulted and engroined, and the springing columns, by
which it was supported, are still visible on the wall. Four bold arches,
in the centre of the church, supported a square tower, two sides of which
only remain. The ornamental arch in the eastern window, which appears in
the engraving of Mr. Wyndham's Tour, and in that published by Hearne, has
now fallen. The only vestiges of the choir are a part of the south wall,
with a Norman door, that led into the side aisle, and the east end of the
south wall; a bold Norman arch, leading from the transept into the
southern aisle of the choir, still exists. The walls of the southern
aisle are wholly dilapidated; and the side view of the two ranges of
Gothic arches, stretching along the nave, is singularly picturesque; the
outside wall of the northern aisle is entire, excepting a small portion
of the western extremity; the windows of this part are wholly Norman, and
make a grand appearance. In a word, the western side is most elegant;
the northern side is most entire; the southern the most picturesque; the
eastern the most magnificent."
The abbey originated in a small chapel, built here as a hermitage by St.
David, the titular saint of Wales; but for the account of its foundation
and history, we must refer the reader to Mr. Coxe's Tour, Dugdale's
Monasticon, or the History of Gloucestershire.