BALA LAKE-THE VALE OF TWRCH Above that poole, and so beneath that flood, 207 Are salmons caught, and many a fish full good, And neere that poole you shall no whiting see. The overflowings of this pool are at times very dreadful. These, however, seldom take place, except when the winds, rushing from the hollows of the mountains at the upper end, drive the waters suddenly along. In stormy weather sometimes a great part of the vale of Edeirnion will be overflowed. By the united force of the winds and mountain torrents, the water towards the bottom of the pool has been known to rise six or eight feet in perpendicular height; on the contrary, in calm and settled weather it is always very smooth. There have been some instances, in severe winters, of its being entirely frozen over; and when covered with snow, it has been mistaken by travellers for an extensive plain. EXCURSION ROUND BALA LAKE. In this excursion, which is about ten miles in length, the tourist should cross the bridge over the Dee, and proceed along the eastern bank of the pool. From near the church of Llangower a pleasing vale is seen to open on the opposite side, bounded by mountains, and closed at the end by one of the Arrenigs. Passing the head of the pool somewhat more than half a mile, there is a road which leads to Llanwchllyn, the Church above the Lake, and crosses THE VALE OF TWRCH. Nature is here seen in all her majesty; but as Lord Lyttleton observed of the Berwyn mountains, "it is the majesty of a tyrant frowning over the ruins and desolation of a country." There are no marks of habitation or culture, and heath, moss, lichens and a few grasses seem to be the only vegetation. The surrounding mountains are as rude as description can paint, the most prominent of these is Arran Benllyn, which here presents merely a series of naked crags and precipices. PHENOMENON CALLED DAEAR-DOR, Not far from hence is a piece of land of considerable extent, nearly covered with masses of broken rocks. These were all brought down in the summer of 1781, by what the inhabitants of the mountains called Daear-Dor, a breaking of the earth. The Daear-Dor is a dislodgement, by means of water, of a vast quantity of the surface of the ground, or, as in the present instance, of a considerable part of some of the rocks among the higher mountains. An unusual volume of water descending suddenly from the clouds, becomes lodged in some confined situation; by degrees it penetrates the earth which it loosens, and the whole mass is swept along before the torrent till it meets with resistance in some of the vales below, where it is deposited. The accident near Llanwchllyn happened after a violent storm of thunder. The banks of the Twrch were overflowed, and the torrent carried every thing before it that was not actually imbedded in the rock. Seventeen cottages, ten cows, and a vast number of sheep, besides the soil of all the meadows and corn-fields along its course, were overwhelmed and destroyed. This meadow, in which the river deposited its chief contents, was rendered totally unfit for cultivation. The dimensions of some of the pieces of rock borne down by the fury of the torrent are very great. Two of the stones, each nearly twenty feet in length, eight broad, and six deep, came in contract, and by the collision one of them was split. Eight other stones, about half this size, were carried nearly 900 yards beyond. Five bridges were swept away; and had not the inhabitants of Llanwchllyn providentially received timely alarm they would all have been destroyed. On the summit of a high and craggy rock, at some distance from the road, and about a mile from Llanwchllyn, are the remains of CASTELL CORN DOCHON, an ancient British fort. It was of a somewhat oval form, and had a square tower, and also an oblong tower with its extremity rounded. On the west side of the head of the pool is an eminence called CAER GAI. There was on this spot a fort that belonged to Cai Hir ap Cynyr, or, as Spencer has called him, Timon: he was the foster-father of King Arthur, who during his youth resided here. The Romans are supposed to have had a fortress on this spot, and many of their coins have been dug up in the neighbourhood. This place of defence was doubtless constructed to guard the pass through the mountains. THE RIVER DEE. The source of the Dee is under one side of Arran Benllyn, the high mountain at the head of Bala pool. Its name is thought to have been derived from the Welsh word Devy, which signifies something divine. Some centuries ago it was held in superstitious veneration by the inhabitants of the country. History informs us, that when the Britons, drawn up in battle array on its banks, prepared to engage with their Saxon foes, it was their custom first to kiss the earth, and then for every soldier to drink a small quantity of the water. The name is certainly not derived, as many have supposed, from Dû, black; for, except when tinged by the torrents from the mountain morasses, its waters are perfectly bright and transparent. In Spencer's description P of Caer Gai, the colour of the Dee is considered very dif ferent from black: "Lowe in a valley green, Under the foot of Rawran, mossie o'er, From whence the river Dee, as silver clene, His tumbling billows rolls with gentle roar." Giraldus Cambrensis informs us very gravely, that the river Dee runs through Bala lake, and is discharged at the bridge near the town, without their waters becoming mixed. He doubtless means to say that the river might be traced by its appearance from one end of the lake to the other. Giraldus believed every thing that the inhabitants chose to impose upon him. CHAPTER XXIII. BALA TO RUTHIN. (23 Miles by the shortest Road.) The Vale of Edeirnion-Llanfawr-The Welsh Bard Llywarch Hen-Llanderfel-St. Derfel Gadarn-Execution of Friar Forest, and singular Completion of a Prophecy-The Village of Cynwyd-Rhaiadr Cynwyd-Ruthin-Ruthin Castle-History of the Town and Castle. THE distance from Corwen to Bala, along the usual road, is rather more than 11 miles; but there is another about 13 miles in length, that for some miles accompanies the Dee, and extends along the vale of Edeirnion. From its very low situation but few opportunities are afforded of seeing the elegancies of the vale; but whenever the road passes over an eminence, there is much to admire. Proceeding by the former of these two roads, at the distance of one mile from Bala, is LLANFAWR, the Great Village, the supposed place of interment of THE WELSH BARD LLYWARCH HEN, Who flourished in the seventh century. He was nearly allied to the Welsh princes, and with his bardic character united that of a warrior. His whole life was spent in a series of vicissitudes and misfortunes, and he died about the year 670, at the great age of 150 years. Somewhat more than a century ago an inscription was found upon the wall, |