Gower,
Again receive me!--Let me greet
Thy "breezy hills, and soft retiring dales"--
Thy hoary ruins, monuments of old--
Thy headlands dark, and rocks stupendous,
That battle with the elements, and fiercely,
Bound old Ocean's empire.
_History of the District of Gower, &c._
The peninsula which forms the western extremity of the county of
Glamorgan is called Gower, derived from the Welsh _Gwyr_. The
circumference of the district is about fifty miles: a slight reference
to the map will explain its peculiar form better than any description we
could give. The northern boundary extended east from the river Nedd, or
Neath (of course including Swansea) to the Loughor, which runs into the
large estuary, called the Burry River, and forms its western boundary,
dividing the counties of Glamorgan and Carmarthen.
The history of Gower is interesting. It may not be out of place,
however, to preface it with an outline of the history of Glamorgan.
This county was conquered by the Romans, who had numerous stations in
different parts, and also in the district of Gower, the traces of which
still exist. Glamorgan is originally supposed to have extended from the
river Tawy to Gloucester Bridge, including, besides the present county,
the whole of Monmouthshire, and portions of the counties of Brecon,
Hereford, and Gloucester. The Welsh princes of Glamorgan commenced
paying tribute to the English in the reign of Edgar,--which was
the cause of endless aggressions and disputes between them and the
independent princes of North Wales, who claimed this right. The county
was made a conquest about the end of the eleventh century, by Sir Robert
Fitzhamon (a relation of Henry I.) whose aid had been first called in by
one of the petty princes of Glamorgan, in some of the intestine feuds
which agitated South Wales. Fitzhamon, after entirely defeating the
Welsh, kept Cardiff Castle and the surrounding district in his own
possession, and divided the rest of the county amongst twelve Norman
knights, his principal followers--between whom and the inhabitants of
the hills there long existed a sort of Guerilla warfare. The Normans
were almost obliged to confine themselves to their castles in
consequence; and the Welsh joined Owen Glendower, when he invaded
Glamorgan, for which they afterwards suffered heavily. It was not till
the reign of Henry VIII. that Wales became tranquillized.
The population of the county of Glamorgan, in 1821, comprised 101,727
persons.
To return to Gower. The first English or Norman conqueror of this
lordship was Henry de Newburgh, Earl of Warwick, who, in the reign
of Henry I. (1099), progressively defeated and drove out the sons of
Caradoc ap Jestyn, the Welsh possessors of Gower; and to secure his
conquest, built the castles of Swansea, Loughor, Llanridian, Penrice,
&c. He is represented, like most of the feudal barons, as ruling with
an iron hand. A few years after this conquest (1108), the peninsula
was settled by a colony of Flemings, who had been obliged to emigrate,
in consequence of a disastrous encroachment of the sea in the Low
Countries. They first landed on the southern coast of England; but, on
account of their lawless conduct, Henry I. drove them into South Wales;
and they principally fixed themselves in Gower, where they became
peaceable subjects; though a great number settled in the peninsula of
Castle Martin, in Pembrokeshire, which bears a striking similarity in
its natural features to Gower. Afterwards they mixed with the English,
preserving their native manners and industry, and involved in disputes
with the Welsh resembling the ancient Border warfare in the North. To
this day the inhabitants of Gower are distinct from the Welsh, and all
speak the English language. We were informed, and it is a remarkable
fact, that in the south-western portion of Gower, some of the
descendants of the original colonists exist, who do not understand
the Welsh language, rarely intermarry with them, and are otherwise
distinguished by their dress and peculiar dialect. These people, who
have thus successively, for more than seven centuries, preserved almost
unmingled the manners of their progenitors, manufacture lace of the
same fabric as that of Flanders. In the reign of Henry II. Thomas de
Newburgh, son of Henry Earl of Warwick, the conqueror of Gower, parted
with the lordship to the crown. King John, in the fourth year of his
reign, granted the "whole land of Gower" to one of his favourites,
William de Braose, created Lord of Gower, "to be held by the service
of one knight's fee" and it continued in his family till the reign
of Edward II. It afterwards passed, by marriage, to Sir Charles
Somerset, an ancestor of the Duke of Beaufort, who now is hereditary
lord paramount of the liberty of seignory of Gower, and possesses
considerable property therein. Gower had distinct privileges, and was
separate from Glamorgan till the reign of Henry VIII., when, by act of
parliament, it was annexed to that county.
Gower is rich in memorials of the olden times, as will appear by the
sequel to the present paper--those strongholds of ancient despotism,
which, by their very ruin, tell of the nothingness of man's power and
ambition. We append the following observations of Mr. Britton, who has
done more to make the study of antiquities popular, it has been truly
observed, than all other antiquaries, past and present, put together.
They do honour to his head and heart. After stating that "the subject is
replete with amusement on all occasions, and intense interest on many,"
the author goes on: "I will venture to entreat my countrymen, whenever
and wherever they have power, to protect the remaining antiquities from
further demolition or defacement. Every castle, abbey, cathedral, fine
church, and old mansion, is a monument and memento of a former age, and
of former persons;--they are so many indexes to memorable events, to
heroes, statesmen, patriots, and philosophers. Architectural antiquities
are objects and evidences of incalculable value and interest; whilst
standing--however mutilated--they are indications of the vicissitudes
and fluctuations of civilized society;--they show man in his domestic
economy, and in his historical relations. The person, therefore, who
protects one fine work of antiquity, is entitled to the applause of
his contemporaries, and of posterity;--he who destroys, or heedlessly
neglects it, deserves the reprobation of the civilized world. As Dr.
Stukely indignantly hung, in graphic effigy, the man who wantonly broke
up the vast and wondrous Celtic Temple of Abury, so every other similar
delinquent should be condemned to the literary gibbet. The miserable
fanatic who fired York Cathedral is properly incarcerated for life, and
thus prevented from doing further public mischief; but there are other
fanatics still roaming at large, and permitted to commit devastations on
cathedrals and other churches--on castles, old mansions, &c." "Such men,
should not be trusted."