The castle makes an admirably ruinous figure on the hill, higher than the
village. I had come hither with the purpose of inspecting it, but as it
began to rain just then, I concluded to get into the omnibus and go to
Ruthin. There was another steep ascent from the commencement of the long
street of Ruthin, till I reached the market-place, which is of nearly
triangular shape, and an exceedingly old-looking place. Houses of stone
or plastered brick; one or two with timber frames; the roofs of an uneven
line, and bulging out or sinking in; the slates moss-grown. Some of them
have two peaks and even three in a row, fronting on the streets, and
there is a stone market-house with a table of regulations. In this
market-place there is said to be a stone on which King Arthur beheaded
one of his enemies; but this I did not see. All these villages were very
lively, as the omnibus drove in; and I rather imagine it was market-day
in each of them,--there being quite a bustle of Welsh people. The old
women came round the omnibus courtesying and intimating their willingness
to receive alms,--witch-like women, such as one sees in pictures or reads
of in romances, and very unlike anything feminine in America. Their
style of dress cannot have changed for centuries. It was quite
unexpected to me to hear Welsh so universally and familiarly spoken.
Everybody spoke it. The omnibus-driver could speak but imperfect
English; there was a jabber of Welsh all through the streets and
market-places; and it flowed out with a freedom quite different from the
way in which they expressed themselves in English.
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