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CHAPTER II.

CONWAY CASTLE.

EDWARD THE FIRST CONQUERS WALES.

HE ruined towers and turrets of Conway
Castle stand on the left side of the river

of the same name, as it flows into the Irish Sea, forming a boundary between Denbigh and Caernarvonshire.

This

It was built in 1284 by Edward the First of England, and he and the gentle Queen Eleanor inhabited it after the conquest of Wales. castle, the boast of North Wales, although now a complete ruin, still exteriorly appears almost untouched by time, the walls being of great thickness, and the architecture of the whole building peculiarly beautiful, as it stands up in majestic dignity above the broad river, which widens out to the opposite shore below the castle.

The Conway is one of the largest rivers in North Wales, and flows through some of its finest scenery.

The river springs from a little lake called Llyn Conway, which, lying amid hills, rocks, and swamps, owns no other inhabitants than the wild sea gulls, who build their nests on the numerous small islands in the water.

From this wild spot the river Conway wends its way through a mountainous district, joins other rivers as it runs its course, and then widens out into a considerable body of water, once famous for the pearls which are sometimes even now found at its mouth. These British pearls were chiefly found in the pearl mussel (Mya magaritifera), a shell-fish met with in large beds of sand, and adhering to other bodies by long silky beards.

The Romans were attracted to the conquest of Wales by hearing of the Conway pearls, which they eagerly sought for, and valued highly when found.

Julius Cæsar presented a breastplate adorned with British pearls to one of the heathen shrines at Rome; and as late as the time of Charles II., Queen Katharine of Braganza accepted a fine speci

men from Sir Richard Wynne of Gwydir; and I believe it is still in existence among our English crown jewels.

The Conway is thirty miles in extent. It abounds with trout, and, besides its pearls, has another curious distinction, that is those little native boats called 'coracles,' said to be almost the most ancient kind of boat extant, as they were mentioned by Herodotus and Strabo, and Julius Cæsar employed them in Spain. In form they resemble an oblong tub, except that one end is more pointed than the other, while a plank placed across its middle makes a seat for the rower.

The reason that they are built in this peculiar shape is obvious. On shallow rivers, such as the Conway, the Severn, and the Wye, every here and there the water is checked in its course by beds of low, shallow rocks, which would make the course of an ordinary boat wholly impossible.

When a Welsh fisherman meets with such an obstacle, the extreme lightness of the coracle enables him to carry his bark on his back till the rocks are passed. In the same way he takes it home at night, as a coracle very seldom weighs more than twenty

to thirty pounds. They are not made of wood like our modern river or sea-side boats, but are constructed of wicker-work, covered over with skins or strong canvas, which are coated with pitch. In length they vary from four to five feet, and four feet wide.

I have often watched a little coracle wending its way down another Welsh river, the Wye, and wondered at the swiftness and ease with which the salmon-fishermen on that river seemed to navigate and manage these curious little vessels. Another evening we shall probably have to refer to them, as I promised you to include Raglan Castle among our castles. To return now, however, to Conway. The castle stands on the verge of a precipitous rock, commanding a view of the road to Snowdon and Anglesey. On the land side was the moat, crossed by the drawbridge, whilst steps cut roughly in the rocky sides of the precipice, but well defended, led down to the river's brink. Eight battlemented towers rose gracefully above the long, extensive walls, each surmounted, or crowned as it were, by a slender watch-tower, from which one can imagine (when we recall that Conway Castle was built by

Edward I., as a stronghold to fortify this part of Wales from sudden attacks from the Welsh) the sentinel's eye diligently watching the roads below the fortress.

You all know the history of Edward I. presenting his infant son to the Welsh nobles, who petitioned him to give them a native prince as governor. But as the period before that time is not so well known to you, I have chosen Conway Castle for our subject this evening, principally to introduce you to a few details of that wild and peculiarly brave Welsh race, whom we cannot help sympathizing with, when we read in history of their fruitless struggles for independence.

Firstly, however, to continue our description of this celebrated castle. There were two towers at the entrance the King's and the Queen's Towers. In the latter is said to have been Eleanor's oratory, the roof of which is still entire, although its beautiful painted windows no longer exist.

The architecture of these towers is most massive; and yet, such was the skill of the architect, that, when viewed from the opposite shores, the effect is all grace and lightness. The Conway chain sus

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