(_Continued from page 312._)
The grounds of Penrice Castle, which stretch to the sea-shore, and on
which art has embellished scenery possessing capabilities of a high
order--are exceedingly picturesque and extensive. Penrice bears marks
of having been a Roman station. Henry de Newburgh, Earl of Warwick,
here defeated the Welsh prince, Rhys, which decided the fate of Gower.
He was beheaded after the battle, whence the Welsh name, Pen-Rhys. On
the field of battle the victor erected Penrice Castle, which is now
certainly a striking ruin. On the coast near Penrice is the village
and ruins of the Castle of Oxwich, now a barn--_sic transit!_
The afternoon was waxing apace--we had lost time in attending to our
horses, for ostler there was none--and in musing amongst the simply
decorated graves in the humble churchyard;[9] after discussing with
great relish our repast of eggs and bacon, and Welsh ale, the best the
village afforded, (by the way, we shall not readily forget the fluster
of our Welsh hostess when we talked of dining on our arrival at the
little hostelrie) we then rode down to the sea-shore, intending to
cross the sandy beach of Oxwich, which extends several miles, on our
return to the Gower Inn. The tide flows with great rapidity on this
coast, and it had already advanced to the foot of a stupendous
headland, which juts into the beach about half way. We waded our
horses through the surf--but how can we do justice to the splendour of
the scenery around us. The alternations of stern and savage
beauty--the gigantic masses of "fantastic cliffs," and caverns, that
have stood the combat of the mighty Atlantic for countless ages?
Oxwich is almost unknown to the traveller, and there are few coast
scenes in these islands that surpass it in beauty. We lingered long on
the shore. There is a perpetual "jabble" against the cliffs on this
coast--and we have seldom met with a soul save an aged and solitary
fisherwoman--a study for a Bonington--pursuing her precarious calling
of crab or shrimp fishing, or of pulling lobsters from their retreats
in the savage cliffs.
[9] See _Mirror_, vol. xvi. p. 253.
A holy peace,
Pervades this _sea-shore solitude_--The world
And all who love that world, are far away.
N.T. CARRINGTON.
It was getting dusk when we ascended from the shore, on our way
homewards, past the wild--the truly shattered, and desolate ruins of
Pennard Castle; which bear, we think, decided marks of having been
erected long prior to the Norman era. The country people tell you its
origin was supernatural; and some writers ascribe it to that great
castle-builder, Henry de Newburgh. Pennard stands in a situation of
extreme beauty, and deeply rivets the attention:
"The stones have voices, and the walls do live,
It is the House of Memory!"
MATAIRE.
Our favourite mare and her companion were in high spirits, (horses are
generally so on returning) exhilarated by the rapid motion; and our
hearts elate with the "songs of spring," we returned home on as sweet
an April evening as ever blessed man.
Another interesting excursion maybe made to Cefyn-bryn, the most
elevated hill in the district, about twelve miles from Swansea. The
road to Western Gower is carried over it; the summit is level, and a
carriage may be driven in safety for a couple of miles to the southern
point; which commands, on a clear day, in one direction, a vast and
unbounded view of the Bristol Channel, the whitened houses of
Ilfracombe, with the hills of Devon and Somerset, Lundy Island, and
the scenery of Swansea Bay. And on the reverse of the picture, almost
the whole peninsula of Gower, the extensive estuary of the Burry
River, and part of the beautiful expanse of the County and Bay of
Carmarthen, is spread out like a map before you. King Arthur's Stone,
an immense rock of _lapis molaris_, twenty tons weight, supported by a
circle of others--the remains of Druidism--invites the attention of
the antiquary, on the north-west point of Cefyn-bryn. We may here
remark that this district, especially the coast, offers a rich harvest
to the geologist. The general substratum of the peninsula is limestone
and marble, bounded to the north by an immense iron and coalfield. The
limestone stratum is continually "cropping out" in the interior, and
of course it can be worked at a trifling expense. This may account for
the general healthiness of the district. Though rain in consequence of
the western exposure, falls frequently, and sometimes with great
violence, yet it speedily runs off, leaving none of the bad effects
which would be produced in a tenacious soil. Marble of valuable
quality is worked at Oystermouth.
But we must hasten to close our Notes on Gower--_to proceed with our
circuit of the coast:--West from Oxwich is Porteyron_, where there is
an extensive lobster and oyster fishery, near which is Landewy Castle.
There is a wonderful precipice here. Further west we come to the
village of Rossilly, near the Worms-Head, the termination of a range
of rocks, which form the western point of the peninsula, being
connected with it by a low isthmus. It extends more than a mile into
the ocean, and at half-flood becomes an island. The name arose by
mariners comparing it to a worm with its head erect, between the Nass
Point and St. Gower's Head, in Pembrokeshire. The scenery here is
deeply interesting. This wild and desolate coast has proved fatal to
numberless ships; the recent erection of the light-house on Caldy
Island, near Tenby, on the opposite point of Carmarthen Bay, has,
however, been most important. Several Indiamen have been wrecked here,
and about fifty years since, a quantity of Spanish dollars, date 1625,
were found amongst the sand, when the tide had receded unusually far,
supposed to be part of the cargo of the "Scanderoon galley" lost on
this coast nearly two centuries ago. This would do for the "Vigo Bay
Company." We proceed along the western shore of Carmarthen Bay, till
we pass Whitford Point, a singular _peninsula of sand_, covered with
reeds, which stands the fury of the tide, forming one side of the wide
estuary of Barry, along the coast of which we pass a Roman encampment
at Llanmadoc--the striking Castle of Llanridian, and other ruins, as
we return eastward to Swansea; till we arrive at the village--we
forget ourselves, the _Borough_ of Castell Llwchyr, or Loughor, the
_Leucarum_ of Antoninus, and the fifth Roman station on the _Via
Julia._ It is seven miles from Swansea. Upon a mount, the supposed
work of the Romans, is a square tower, the remains of a castle built
by Henry, Earl of Warwick. Three miles to the east are two Roman
encampments; many Roman coins have been found at Loughor, from whence
there is a ferry to the Carmarthenshire side opposite, which is
fordable at low water. There is a large colliery here. It is a
delightful sail from this village down the Burry River to Whitford
Point, or round the coast to Worms-Head.