I had had an idea
that Welsh was spoken rather as a freak and in fun than as a native
language; it was so strange to find another language the people's actual
and earnest medium of thought within so short a distance of England. But
English is scarcely more known to the body of the Welsh people than to
the peasantry of France. However, they sometimes pretend to ignorance,
when they might speak it fairly enough.
I took luncheon at the hotel where the omnibus stopped, and then went to
search out the castle. It appears to have been once extensive, but the
remains of it are now very few, except a part of the external wall.
Whatever other portion may still exist, has been built into a modern
castellated mansion, which has risen within the wide circuit of the
fortress,--a handsome and spacious edifice of red freestone, with a high
tower, on which a flag was flying. The grounds were well laid out in
walks, and really I think the site of the castle could not have been
turned to better account. I am getting tired of antiquity. It is
certainly less interesting in the long run than novelty; and so I was
well content with the fresh, warm, red hue of the modern house, and the
unworn outline of its walls, and its cheerful, large windows; and was
willing that the old ivy-grown ruins should exist now only to contrast
with the modernisms. These ancient walls, by the by, are of immense
thickness. There is a passage through the interior of a portion of them,
the width from this interior passage to the outer one being fifteen feet
on one side, and I know not how much on the other.
Pages:
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144