“Clouds rest on the hills: spirits fly, and travellers fear.
“Where are our chiefs of old? Where our Kings of mighty name? The
fields of their battle are silent: scarce their mossy tombs remain.”
Returning towards Llangollen by the old road near Chirk Castle, called
Oswestry way, the Berwyn Mountains begin to raise their lofty summits.
{25} These Mountains occupy the eastern side of Merionethshire, and
branch into the counties of Denbigh and Montgomery. Their southern
boundary is the river Tannant; their northern the Dee. Their length from
north to south is about sixteen miles; their breadth from east to west
varying from five to ten miles. {26a} Their highest tops are Cader
Fronwen, or the Whitebreast, and Cader Ferwyn. On the summit of the
former a large quantity of stones, collected from a distance, and brought
here with much labour and difficulty, are cast round a stone pillar,
marking the burial-place of some chief, whose very name is now forgotten.
These Mountains, as I have before said, form the southern side of the
vale of Llangollen; and forming a frontier barrier for this part of North
Wales, they have been the scene of many a bloody contest, and on these
hills the hardy sons of Cambria have successfully opposed the encroaching
armies of their Saxon neighbours. I trust my readers will excuse me if I
relate one of the most interesting events of that kind which took place
on this part of the Berwyn Mountains, and within my prescribed limits.
Henry II. King of England, being exasperated by the repeated predatory
incursions of the Welch, {26b} and by the advantage they took of ravaging
the English territories in his frequent absence, and finding that no
treaties could bind them, resolved on his return from Normandy to lead an
army against Wales; and having assembled a strong body of veteran troops,
selected from all parts of his very extensive dominions in Normandy,
Flanders, Anjou, Gascoine, and England, {27a} and hearing of some daring
inroads made by the North Wales men, he early in the year 1165, put
himself at the head of this chosen army, and set forward for North Wales,
resolving to destroy without mercy every living thing he could meet with.
Having advanced to Croesoswallt, now Oswestry, he encamped there, and
sent forward a body of men to try the passes of the Dyke and Ceiriog, who
being met near Castell Crogen, as has been before stated, were there
defeated, and buried in the Dyke.
It is probable that the victorious Welchmen were a party detached from
the Welch army; for Owen Gwynedd, then Prince of Wales, having heard of
the great preparations made by the King, had very prudently confederated
all the power of the country, and had assembled his forces at Corwen, a
very strong country in Edernion, and there awaited the King’s approach.
He had with him, besides his brother Cadwalader, and all the power of
North Wales, Prince Rhys, with those of South Wales, Owen Cyfeeliog and
Madog Meredith, with the strength of Powis; in short, all the forces the
Welch could muster. {27b}
The King, finding the Welch so strong, and knowing their fickleness,
stayed some time at Oswestry, in expectation that a confederacy so
hastily formed would as suddenly dissolve; but finding them firm and
determined in their adherence, and that his enemies were so near, he
became desirous to bring on an engagement. He therefore moved towards
the Dyke with his whole army, and pushed on a party to the Ceiriog river,
which washes the foot of the Berwyn; giving orders that the banks should
be cleared of the woods, which at that time formed a complete jungle, to
prevent his troops falling into the ambuscade of the enemy.
It would seem the Welch had taken the precaution to guard the passes of
the river; for the King in person, in an attempt to get possession of a
bridge, experienced one of those hair-breadth escapes which some times
decide the fate of kingdoms: {28}—A Welch archer, having marked the
personal exertions of the King, and fired with the hope of freeing his
country, chose a place of concealment, from whence, watching his
opportunity, he discharged an arrow with such deadly aim, that it must
inevitably have slain the King, had not Hubert De St. Clair, Constable of
Colchester, who was in close attendance, and whose name is deservedly
recorded for his devotion to his monarch, seeing the danger, rushed into
the course of the fatal shaft, and received it in his heart; thus
terminating his attachment with his life.
Whilst Henry was thus employing his forces in clearing the banks of
Ceiriog, a party of Welchmen, relying on their knowledge of the country,
and prompted by patriotic zeal, attempted to surprise his vanguard,
consisting chiefly of pikemen, and the flower of the King’s army. This
brought on a very bloody engagement, although not general, which cost the
lives of many brave men on both sides; but the attack having been
commenced without any preconcerted plan, and merely from a sudden
ebullition of desperate daring, Henry’s veterans were victorious, and
making good the passage of the river, advanced up the Berwyn.
In the mean time, the Welch Princes had advanced with their army from
Corwen, and had taken a strong position on the frontier ridge. A
fieldwork and entrenchment are still visible on the Mountain, over
Llangollen, and was probably the station of part of the Welch forces,
under Owen Gwynedd and his allies. Henry, finding his formidable enemy
thus advantageously posted on the crown of the hill, did not deem it
prudent to attack him in this position, and therefore encamped his forces
on the lower part of the Mountain. {29}
In this manner the two armies lay menacing each other; the Welch
carefully improving every opportunity of annoyance, and from their lofty
and advantageous situation watching every movement of the King’s forces.
Henry used every means in his power to induce them to quit their camp,
and attack him, but in vain: while the Welch, by means of their irregular
adherents, cut off all supplies from the English, and reduced them to the
greatest straits and distress; added to which, the rain now fell in
torrents, and pouring down the sides of the Mountain, rendered the
English station so soft and slippery that they were obliged to retreat,
with great loss in men, horses, and warlike stores, leaving the Welch
masters of the field.
The Welchmen, as might naturally be expected, exultingly celebrated this
triumph; while Henry, baffled and disgraced, and with all his threats
unperformed, gave way to rage, and added savage cruelty to his disgrace.
He at this time held as hostages Rhys and Cadwallon, the two sons of Owen
Gwynedd; and also Cynric and Meredith, the two sons of Rhys Ap Gryffyth,
of South Wales; as likewise the sons and daughters of other Welch Lords.
{30} In the savage fierceness of his rage, he ordered the eyes of these
innocent victims to be pulled out, and the ears of the young gentlewomen
to be stuffed.
From this digression, for which, as pointing out the places where these
historical facts happened, I hope my readers will pardon me, I now return
to the Oswestry old way, which runs near Chirk Castle.
Not more than sixty years ago, this used to be the public high road to
Oswestry, although the capacious and excellent road which now skirts the
Mountains’ base would almost induce one to think it impossible. A very
respectable and old inhabitant of Llangollen informs me, that before the
road was altered and improved, some of the family from Chirk Castle used
to visit Llangollen once a year in the family coach. On the appointed
day, which was generally known beforehand, all the inhabitants were on
the alert; and no sooner was the rumble of the ponderous wheels heard on
the stones, than young and old, sick and lame, poured out of their
dwellings to see the wonderful phenomenon; and during the few hours of
its stay in the town, it attracted as much attention as a show of wild
beasts at a country fair. On its return to the Castle, the young men of
the village contended for the honour of assisting it to get up the hill
again; and this was the only vehicle of the kind seen once a year in
Llangollen, where now the most splendid and elegant carriages, from the
gig to the state-coach, roll along, amid these stupendous rocks and
mountains, upon roads as smooth, as level, and as good, as any in the
kingdom.
The Oswestry old way is not now much frequented, but it continues from
Chirk Castle along the top of the Mountain. Many roads intersect it, but
the old road is very distinguishable. By the side of the way, rise two
copious springs, called Ffynnon Arthur.
From the eminence the view is most extensively delightful, and amply
repays the trouble and fatigue of the walk up the Mountain. The curious
Aqueduct of Pontcysyllte forms a very pleasing and prominent feature in
the foreground of the landscape.
As you approach the descent on the side of the hill, the stone pedestal
of a cross or pillar stands among the gorse on the left hand side of the
road, but the shaft is not to be found. Trees, planted three in a clump,
mark the road at short distances, and lead to the cultivated and
inhabited part of the declivity. {32a} Proceeding to the extreme foot of
the Mountain, on the junction of the Oswestry road stood, until these few
months, another stone pillar, or cross, {32b} called Croes y Beddau; and
upon it was rudely cut “_Oswestry Way_.” This inscription is of more
recent execution than the pillar, although it is also very antique.
I conjecture these stones were erected as land-marks, and guides to the
traveller. An ancient way from this point proceeded to the river Dee,
which was then crossed by a wooden bridge. On the north side of the
river, nearly opposite the place where the wooden bridge stood, was
another similar pillar, called Croes Gwen Hwyfr. It stood on the road to
Wrexham, and has been removed only a few years. From Croes Gwen Hwyfr,
an old road proceeds to Castell Dinas Bran, by the Llanddyn, once the
residence of the Owens of Porkington, but now converted into a
farm-house. Through that farm the road passed in a zigzag direction to
Castell Dinas Bran, and the old road is still traceable, although in some
places quite lost.
Before I attempt to give an account of the ancient castle, I must beg my
reader’s attendance to the Aqueduct, which claimed notice in the view
from the top of the Berwyn Mountains.