The South Wales coast from Chepstow to Aberystwyth . s builder. TheCastle saw some fighting at various times. InStephens reign the sons of Caradoc ab Iestynattacked the town and its Norman castle, men andcastellan, and defeated them, according to Welshtradition, with frightful slaughter, three thousandfalling in the battle. One wonders if they chose amarket-day for the attack—a favourite time forcastle surprises. The next overtaking was whenMorgan Gam and Llewelyn ab Iorwerth, retalia-ting for Norman wrongs elsewhere, burnt theCastle and sacked the town, marching west fromKenfig. Neath obtaine
The South Wales coast from Chepstow to Aberystwyth . s builder. TheCastle saw some fighting at various times. InStephens reign the sons of Caradoc ab Iestynattacked the town and its Norman castle, men andcastellan, and defeated them, according to Welshtradition, with frightful slaughter, three thousandfalling in the battle. One wonders if they chose amarket-day for the attack—a favourite time forcastle surprises. The next overtaking was whenMorgan Gam and Llewelyn ab Iorwerth, retalia-ting for Norman wrongs elsewhere, burnt theCastle and sacked the town, marching west fromKenfig. Neath obtained, through the interest ofthe De Spencers, a new charter from Edward II.,who, as Henry of Knighton and others havealready told us, passed through the town on hislast unhappy Welsh journey, to be taken at Llan-trisant. The copper, tin, iron, and chemical worksthat give the town its modern industrial effect—and its smoke, alas !—date back to the eighteenthcentury. The Corporation Seal shows a castlewith two meaner buildings on either side, pro-. Photo by] [Williams & Curmick, Newport, : THE OLD CHURCH. To face p. 149. THE VALE OF NEATH 149 phetic, as one supposes, of its factories and foundrysheds. The river Neath ( afon Nedd ) is tidal beyondthe town, and navigable for the smaller kind ofcraft. At low water there were several fords inuse before the river was bridged ; and very unsafethe lower ones were, if we can judge by Gerald deBarris most exact account of how he and theArchbishop crossed this water in their role ofspiritual knights-errant. They were on their wayfrom Margam, and had a Welsh prince, Morgan apCaradog, for guide; and made the passage at theriver-mouth, where, because of the quicksands,says Gerald, this is the most dangerous water tocross in all the South country. One of his pack-horses sank in the sand, and was hardly saved,and then only at the cost of some damage to thisintrepid book-mans precious books. As for Geraldand the Archbishop, they gav
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, bookpublisherlondontfisherunwin
