KILGARRAN CASTLE-KENARTH. 181 and beloved for his pleasante natural conceiptes." The scene of Warton's poem of King Arthur's Grave, is laid in the Castle of Kilgarran, where it is supposed to have been sung by one of the Welsh bards to Henry II, on the occasion of a high festival, before that monarch sailed on his expedition to Ireland, to suppress the rebellion of the King of Connaught. "Stately the feast, and high the cheer; Girt with many an armed peer, And canopied with golden pall, And warlike splendour, Henry sate." Two or three miles from Kilgarran is the pleasant village of Kenarth, near which there is a romantic fall of the Teivy, forming a salmon leap, over a ledge of rocks of considerable height. From the bridge, over the noisy stream, is an interesting though secluded panoramic view, comprising the river, a picturesque water-mill, and the church and village of Kenarth. The bold, dark foreground beautifully reflects itself in the shining waters. The gently swelling hills, gradually receding from the sight, mingle their blue summits with the sky. The richly variegated rocks, the quiet green paths winding along the river, the clamorous water-fowl wheeling about in restless eddies, the retreats of peaceful seclusion, all combine to give to this scene, when beheld in the fading light, features of wildness and beauty which cannot fail to produce a delightful impression on the mind. Evening was beginning to spread her misty veil over the scene, as the Wanderer entered the little town of Newcastle Emlyn, intending to proceed onwards the following morning, and make Carmarthen his temporary home for a few days. Newcastle Emlyn is so connected with the borough of Adpar, in Cardiganshire, that they are usually considered as one town. They stand on either side of the Teivy; Newcastle on the south, Adpar on the north bank; and bending with the river, form an irregular street about one mile in length. Newcastle had a Roman origin, as old Camden supposes, and was anciently called Dinas Emlyn, or the city of Emlyn; but took its more recent name from the new castle, built by Sir Rhys ap Thomas, upon the site of the old fortress.* It was evening, as I said, when, following the course of the Teivy, I entered this sequestered little place, occupying, as it does, only one of its delightful banks, and looking with friendly regard upon its opposite neighbour, the borough. The sun had sunk below the horizon with a splendour that belongs to the monarch of day. His career through the blue vault had been like that of "a bridegroom coming out of his chamber," and the retinue of clouds, "in thousand liveries dight,” that had attended him to his setting, clustered in masses of all forms, at the parting line, bathed in the gorgeous hues of his farewell greeting. Softly they seemed to dissolve into rivers of light, studded with amber islands, or parted by bright headlands of amethyst and jasper. As the hour advanced, the blue of the sky became changed to deepening grey, and fleecy fragments rolled off from the shifting clouds, and were wafted gently and silently, like phantom vessels, to the * A singular piece of treachery and retribution occurred in connection with this place. During a truce between King Henry of England and Llewelyn, Prince of Wales, commissioners were appointed to meet at Emlyn, to negociate a peace. Patrick de Canton, the King's lieutenant, while on his journey thither, "learning that his own followers were more numerous than those of the Welsh deputies, laid a plan for their destruction, and attacked them with great violence while they were wholly unsuspicious of hostilities, and unprepared for defence. Several of their men were slain, and the cheiftains themselves escaped with great difficulty. David, the Prince's brother, who was at the conference, immediately raised the country, and overtaking Patrick on his return, slew both him and the greater part of his attendants." |