LLANEDWEN-MOEL Y DON.

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From the Anglesey coast, near the Tal y Moel ferryhouse, the town of Caernarvon, with the straits of Menai in front, and the high grand mountains in the back ground, are strikingly beautiful.

About 3 miles from Tal y Moel is

LLANEDWEN,

A village now celebrated principally from its having been the place of interment of Henry Rowlands, the learned author of "Mona Antiqua restaurata," who died in the year 1723. A black slab, near the south end of the church, contains a Latin inscription to his memory: this was his own composition, but it is now nearly obliterated.

The Welsh people have a strange tradition, that the body of a woman sixteen feet long, lies buried across the path leading to the south door of the church.

The place where the Roman general, Suetonius Paulinus, first landed when he invaded this island, is not far from Llanedwen. About 200 yards from the Menai there is a field yet called Maes Mawr Gâd, The Field of the great Army; and at a little distance eastward, just on the shore, a place still retains the name of Rheidd, or The Chief Men's Post. In this parish is

MOEL Y DON,

The Hill of the Wave, celebrated as being the place where, in the year 1282, part of the English army experienced from the Welsh a severe defeat, attended with great slaughter. Edward I. had led out his men to contend with the Welsh soldiers in the open plains, but, on their retiring to the mountains, he did not dare an attack in their fastnesses. He therefore sent over a party into Anglesey, and ordered them to encamp on the bank of the Menai, near Moel y Don, at the same time giving directions for a bridge of

boats, of width sufficient for sixty men to march abreast, to be built across the straits. He retired to Conway Castle with the remainder of his army, and the workmen proceeded in their operations. The bridge was so far finished, that part of it only wanted boarding over, when, at the ebb of the tide, several of the English nobility, and about 300 soldiers, rashly crossed it, and remained on the opposite side till the tide had cut off their access to the bridge. The Welsh soon received information of this circumstance, and, descending like a torrent from the mountains, rushed with such fury upon the affrighted Englishmen, that every one of them, except Sir William Latimer, was either put to death by the sword, or perished in the water. The historians inform us that, besides the common soldiers, the Welsh slew in this encounter thirteen knights, and seventeen young gentlemen, probably officers commanding in the English army.

PLAS NEWYDD,

The New Mansion, is the seat of the Marquis of Anglesey. The house is an elegant building. It stands upon the bank of the Menai, is almost surrounded by woods, and commands from the front windows a beautiful and extensive prospect of those British Alps, the mountains of Caernarvonshire.

On Craig y Dinas, a rock near the house, stands the Anglesey column, erected to commemorate the exploits of the noble Marquis. Its height from the base is 100 feet, and the summit of the hill on which it is built rises 260 feet above the level of the sea.

At a little distance are some Druidical remains, a large and a small Cromlech, which stand close together. The former of these is about thirteen feet long and twelve broad. The upper stone, which in some parts is about four feet in

thickness, formerly rested on five upright supporters; but, some years ago, after some heavy rain, the one at the back suddenly split and fell down, since which another has been detached, so that it is now supported by three only. Of these one is five, one three, and one three and a half feet high. To the narrow end of this Cromlech the smaller one joins, the upper stone of which is six feet square, and rests upon three supporters.

Cromlechs seem to have been originally designed to serve the purposes of sepulchral monuments, and not of altars, as some antiquarians contend, for bones have been found under several of them in Cornwall and other parts of England, and their height from the ground, and the porous substance of which many of them are formed, ill calculated to endure the action of fire, argue strongly against their use as altars; besides if they were used as such, they must have been connected with Druidical worship, and yet we find nations of the Teutonic race, among whom were no Druids, possessing Cromlechs. From these it is most probable that our present altar tombs originated, which are but more diminutive and elegantly formed Cromlechs.

The following is a list of 28 Cromlechs, which are yet to be found in the island of Anglesey :

recess.

Llanfihangel Yneibrol.

Llanallgo.

Llandone.

Llanidan.

At a little distance from the Cromlechs at Plas Newydd is a tumulus of considerable size. Upon it rests a large flat stone, beneath which is a low entrance into a subterraneous The sides are formed by flat upright stones, one of which, opposite to the entrance, is said to close the passage into a vault considerably larger than this. This place was first exposed in the time of Sir Nicholas Bailey, about 100 years ago; but, when the workmen had opened the entrance into the larger recess, he ordered them to discontinue their operations, as it seemed to contain nothing but bones.

On the old Holyhead road, nearly equi-distant from Bangor and Holyhead, is situated

GWYNDY,

The Wine House.-About the reign of Edward the Fourth, and for some years subsequent to that period, the gentlemen of Wales frequently invited their friends, in large parties, to exercise in wrestling, tournaments and other feats of activity; but as these meetings, in consequence of the numbers invited, were usually attended with great expense,

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they were always held in the house of some neighbouring tenant, who was supplied with wine from his lord's cellar, and this was sold to the visitors, and his master received the profit. These houses were denominated Gwyndu, or wine-houses, and from this circumstance the present place had its name.

AMLWCH,

Near the Lake,* is a market-town, containing 6285 inhabitants, about a mile from the Parys mountain. The church dedicated to Elaeth, a saint of the British calendar, is a neat modern structure. The town itself is a black and dismal place, owing to the scoria of the metal, of which all the roads are formed. On the exterior of the town the country is a scene of barrenness and desolation. The sulphureous fumes from the mine have entirely destroyed the vegetation for a considerable space around, and little else than earth and rock are to be seen even within a short distance of Amlwch. On the Parys mountain there is not even a single moss or lichen to be found.

PARYS COPPER MINES.

These far-famed mines are now but the wreck of what they formerly were; the veins of ore being so nearly exhausted, that not more than 300 persons are employed in working them. These mines some few years back afforded a vast income to the proprietors, but now they are a source of very little profit, the receipts scarcely more than covering the disbursements. Workmen are now trying to discover other veins, but of this the superintendent seemed to entertain very slight hopes.

The loch or lake, from which the town has its name, was situated betwixt the church and the port. It has long been drained, and is now in a state of cultivation.