gave a Charter, or allowed rights of
some kind to his Welsh subjects. The ancient part of its wall is
entirely distinguishable from what has since been built upon it.
Thence we set out to walk along the embankment, although the sky looked
very threatening. The wind, however, was so strong, and had such a full
sweep at us, on the top of the bank, that we decided on taking a path
that led from it across the moor. But we soon had cause to repent of
this; for, which way soever we turned, we found ourselves cut off by a
ditch or a little stream; so that here we were, fairly astray on Rhyddlan
moor, the old battle-field of the Saxons and Britons, and across which, I
suppose, the fiddlers and mountebanks had marched to the relief of the
Earl of Chester. Anon, too, it began to shower; and it was only after
various leaps and scramblings that we made our way to a large farm-house,
and took shelter under a cart-shed. The back of the house to which we
gained access was very dirty and ill-kept; some dirty children peeped at
us as we approached, and nobody had the civility to ask us in; so we took
advantage of the first cessation of the shower to resume our way. We
were shortly overtaken by a very intelligent-looking and civil man, who
seemed to have come from Rhyddlan, and said he was going to Rhyl. We
followed his guidance over stiles and along hedge-row paths which we
never could have threaded rightly by ourselves.
By and by our kind guide had to stop at an intermediate farm; but he gave
us full directions how to proceed, and we went on till it began to shower
again pretty briskly, and we took refuge in a little bit of old stone
cottage, which, small as it was, had a greater antiquity than any mansion
in America.
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