The beautiful valley, with its picturesque scenery, expands somewhat as
the Wye approaches its junction with the river Monnow and flows through
a succession of green meadows. Here, between the two rivers on a low
spur, a prolongation of their bordering hills, stands Monmouth, its
ancient suburbs spreading across the Monnow. From the market-place, the
chief street of the town leads down to these suburbs, crossing over an
old-time bridge. The town has its church and the ruins of a priory,
while perched on a cliff overlooking the Monnow is its castle,
displaying rather extensive but not very attractive remains. John of
Monmouth is said to have built this castle in the reign of Henry III.
Here also lived at one time John of Gaunt and his son, Harry Hereford,
who afterwards became Henry IV., and the latter's son, Harry Monmouth,
was born in this old castle, growing up to become the wild "Prince Hal,"
and afterwards the victor at Agincourt. They still show a narrow window,
with remains of tracery, as marking the room in which he first saw the
light. Thus has "Prince Hal" become the patron of Monmouth, and his
statue stands in front of the town-hall, representing the king in full
armor, and inscribed, "Henry V., born at Monmouth August 9, 1387," but
it is not regarded as remarkable for its artistic finish. The remains
of the old priory are utilized for a school. It was founded by the
Benedictines in the reign of Henry I., and in it lived Geoffrey of
Monmouth, a familiar author in days when books were few. He was Bishop
of St. Asaph's in the year 1152, and wrote his _History of the Britons_,
wherein he combined all the fables of the time so ingeniously with the
truth that they became alike history. Out of his imagination grew the
tale of the "Round Table" and its knights.
[Illustration: MONMOUTH BRIDGE.]
[Illustration: GATE ON MONMOUTH BRIDGE.]
Upon the old bridge crossing the Monnow stands an ancient gate-house,
constructed in the style that prevailed in the thirteenth century, but
it is doubtful if this was a military work, its probable use being the
collection of tolls on the produce brought into the town. It is pierced
with postern arches for the foot-passengers, and still retains the place
for its portcullis. All around the Monmouth market-place are the old
houses where the celebrated Monmouth caps were made that were so popular
in old times, and of which Fluellen spoke when he told Henry V., "If
Your Majesty is remembered of it, the Welshmen did good service in a
garden where leeks did grow, wearing leeks in their Monmouth caps."
Monmouth is not a large town, having but six thousand inhabitants, but
it takes a mayor, four aldermen, two bailiffs, and twelve councillors to
govern them, and its massive county-jail is a solid warning to all
evil-doers. From the summit of the lofty Kymin Hill, rising seven
hundred feet on the eastern side of the town, there is a grand panorama
over the valley of the Wye. This hill is surmounted by a pavilion and
temple, built in 1800 to record the naval victories of England in the
American wars. Farther down the valley was the home of the late Lord
Raglan, and here are the ruins of Raglan Castle, built in the fifteenth
century. For ten weeks in the Civil War the venerable Marquis of
Worcester held this castle against Fairfax's siege, but the redoubtable
old hero, who was aged eighty-four, ultimately had to surrender.
[Illustration: RAGLAN CASTLE.]