leading from Llanvair to Llanycrwys, are most conspicuous. These, and another called Fair Carnau, consist of heaps of large stones, in all probability the graves of warlike chiefs who fell near the spot. Other great stones, placed on adjacent mountains, have most likely been erected in commemoration of a victory. Near the road leading to Llanyerwys are the remains of a Druidical structure: several of the huge stones formerly belonging to it lie scattered around. Two ancient intrenchments, one circular, the other oval, lie in the vicinity, with numerous carneddau. Few districts present more of interest for the research and reflection of the antiquary than the now dreary and almost untrodden wilds of South Cardigan; formerly-as the gigantic remains of other days fully attest-the scenes of priestly power, royal magnificence, and all the "pomp and circumstance" of dazzling, desolating war.

CHAPTER III.

WELSH COTTAGES-WEDDINGS-SUPERSTITIONS

MINES.

Though poor the peasant's hut, his feasts though small,
He finds his little lot the lot of all;

Sees no contiguous palace rear its head,

To shame the meanness of his humble shed;

No costly lord the sumptuous banquet deal,

To make him loathe his vegetable meal.-GOLDSMITH.

If this were an age of black-art and gramoury, instead of enlightenment and steam, and the wandering traveller likely to be whisked from place to place by the powers of enchantment instead of the more straightforward aid of railroads and stage-coaches, we might well imagine the amazement of some economical, orderly English farmer, on being suddenly introduced to the scenes of wild, uncultivated mountain-land, which the rambler in Wales is ever familiar with. not even the change in the general aspect of the country would astonish him so much as the squalid misery and dirt of the cottages, or rather cabins, of the peasantry. They may be placed on an equality with the worst specimens of Irish habitations, at least very many of them.

But

In the districts of Cardiganshire, the dark slate rock of the mountains furnishes a good material for the walls

of these hovels, and of such they are mostly built, with apertures of the smallest possible dimensions for windows, which may or may not be supplied with a pane or two of green glass; but if they are, they are permanently fastened up, an opening window not being found in a cot of this degree; and the accumulation of dirt renders them nearly useless in admitting light. The floor, either mud or rough slate pavement, is generally the abiding-place of as many pigs, ducks, and sheep-dogs as the owners possess, all lying at ease, or walking freely in and out;-pigs and children, be it understood, partaking the comfort of the hearth, and nestling in affectionate companionship among the heaps of unswept ashes that lie around the turf fire,—the smoke from which always declines going up the chimney, when there is one; for these things, deemed necessary with us, are here quite matters of taste, some cabins being decorated with low wattle appendage to the gable, while others have only a hole in that quarter, which serves to let in the wind and rain, without letting out the smoke, which invariably makes its exit by the door; and in passing through a "village" of these cottages, the vapour from opposite doors rises into an aërial archway, beneath which the uninitiated traveller coughs and grumbles along. The wattled chimneys I have mentioned, are sometimes truly ludicrous in their position; no doubt they are originally as erect as the rest of the building, but their general condition is such as to remind one of opera-dancers, striving to preserve their equilibrium in most extraordinary deviations from the perpendicular. Sometimes, fairly twisted round by the wind, they stick in the roof by one peg of the

basket-work, and look very like a pirouette; at others they may be seen lifted from their proper place, and seeming in the act of a coupé; and so happily are things managed, that opposite or next-door neighbours nod and set to each other with all the friendliness imaginable, seeming ready to change sides the first opportunity. Yet, amid all this filth, and, as we consider, misery, the female part of the cottagers are as spruce in their national costume on Sundays and holidays, and as proud of their assortment of crockery-ware, of which an unnecessary number of jugs forms an indispensable part, as if surrounded with all the more substantial comforts of life. To look at the habitations, one would marvel how a clean mob-cap, or a decent coat, could belong to people so apparently lost to all notion of comfort and neatness. Their cheerfulness and content under privations that would not be endured by an English labourer, while it surprises, almost provokes us, as seeming to place a formidable bar in the way of future improvement. Flummery, buttermilk, and coarse barley bread, form much of their food; I have often seen the labourers of respectable farmers dining out of a bowl of flummery (a sour jelly made from oat-husks), with such thankful content, as made the remembered fare of an English farm kitchen seem absolutely sumptuous by the contrast; and I have sometimes thought that a temporary residence among these cheerful, hard-feeding mountaineers might be a salutary lesson to some of the croaking consumers of beef, bacon, pudding, and ale, in England. Far be it for me to assert, that abstinence from the last-mentioned indulgence forms a general part of the South Cambrian

character; I would that I could say so with truth, but the ancestral beverage of cwrw is a thing anciently and well beloved.

Weddings, generally the scenes of much mirth and wassailing among the rustic population, are here accompanied by some singular customs, which, though not so universally practised as in former years, deserve mention, as they are far from becoming obsolete. The bidding, as it is termed, takes place about a week before the day of ceremony, the bans having been published as in England. The bidder, or official inviter of the guests, goes from house to house with his wand of peeled willow, garlanded with ribbons, and standing in the middle of the floor, repeats a long lesson with great formality, enumerating the various preparations, and requesting the attendance of the family he has called upon. The following is an old form of invitation, read by the bidder in Llanbadarn, some years since, literally translated:-"The intention of the bidder is this: with kindness and amity, with decency and liberality, for Einion Owain and Llio Elys, he invites you to come with your good-will on the plate; bring current money; a shilling, or two, or three, or four, or five; with cheese and butter. We invite the husband and wife, and children, and men-servants, from the greatest to the least. Come there early; you shall have victuals freely, and drink cheap, stools to sit on, and fish if we can catch them; but if not, hold us excusable, and they will attend on you when you call on them, in return."

Saturday is fixed as the day of marriage, and Friday is allotted to bring home the furniture of the woman,