<g>Monmouthshire</g>.
“‘Mongst Hatteril’s lofty hills, that with the clouds are crowned,
The valley <g>Ewias</g> lies immured so steep and round,
As they believe that see the mountains rise so high,
Might think the straggling herds were grazing in the sky;
Which in it such a shape of solitude doth bear,
As Nature at the first appointed it for <g>prayer</g>;
Where in an aged cell, with moss and ivy grown,
In which not to this day the sun hath ever shone;
That reverend British <g>Saint</g>, in zealous ages past,
In contemplation lived, and did so truly fast,
As he did only drink what crystal <g>Hodney</g> yields,
And fed upon the <g>leeks</g> he gathered in the fields.
In memory of whom, in the revolving year,
The <g>Welshmen</g> on his <g>day</g> that sacred <g>herb</g> do wear!”--_Drayton._
[Illustration: S]<g>AINT DAVID</g>, uncle of the renowned King Arthur, and
titular Saint of Wales, was the first who introduced the rites of
Christian worship into these mountain solitudes. Selecting for his
hermitage a spot which had all the characteristics of a rude and
unfrequented wilderness, he built a chapel on the banks of the
Honddy--the stream by which it was watered--and there spent many years
of his life in the exercise of an austere devotion. The reputation of
his sanctity having spread over the surrounding country brought many
pilgrims to his cell; and when at length he was added to the list of
canonized saints, it was still resorted to as a place long consecrated
by the practice of a holy life.
In the reign of William Rufus--as attested by the Abbey records--the
hallowed retreat was thus discovered. Hugh de Laci, a great Norman
baron, having on a hunting excursion followed the deer into this
secluded valley, sat down at the conclusion of the chase to refresh
himself and his attendants. The wildness and beauty of the scenery
around them appeared to have affected their minds with unwonted
impressions; and the accidental visit was thus prolonged for the sake of
the rude but romantic valley which the morning’s adventure had so
unexpectedly thrown open.
[Illustration: _The Nave._