CONCERNING THE PLEASANTNESS AND FERTILITY OF WALES
AS the southern part of Wales near Cardiganshire, but particularly
Pembrokeshire, is much pleasanter, on account of its plains and
sea-coast, so North Wales is better defended by nature, is more
productive of men distinguished for bodily strength, and more fertile in
the nature of its soil; for, as the mountains of Eryri (Snowdon) could
supply pasturage for all the herds of cattle in Wales, if collected
together, so could the Isle of Mona (Anglesey) provide a requisite
quantity of corn for all the inhabitants: on which account there is an
old British proverb, “_Mon mam Cymbry_,” that is, “Mona is the mother of
Wales.” Merionyth, and the land of Conan, is the rudest and least
cultivated region, and the least accessible. The natives of that part of
Wales excel in the use of long lances, as those of Monmouthshire are
distinguished for their management of the bow. It is to be observed,
that the British language is more delicate and richer in North Wales,
that country being less intermixed with foreigners. Many, however,
assert that the language of Cardiganshire, in South Wales, placed as it
were in the middle and heart of Cambria, is the most refined.
The people of Cornwall and the Armoricans speak a language similar to
that of the Britons; and from its origin and near resemblance, it is
intelligible to the Welsh in many instances, and almost in all; and
although less delicate and methodical, yet it approaches, as I judge,
more to the ancient British idiom. As in the southern parts of England,
and particularly in Devonshire, the English language seems less
agreeable, yet it bears more marks of antiquity (the northern parts being
much corrupted by the irruptions of the Danes and Norwegians), and
adheres more strictly to the original language and ancient mode of
speaking; a positive proof of which may be deduced from all the English
works of Bede, Rhabanus, and king Alfred, being written according to this
idiom.