The rivers of Great Britain, descriptive, historical, pictorical; rivers of the south and west coasts . sk passes on, skuting JJwlch, aHi: TJsK.] CniCKHOWELL; THE WELL OF ST. CENAU. 153 a mountain over which the main road runs, offering glimpses on one hand of thevalley of the Wye, and on the other of the valley of the Usk. Presently, ourstream passes by the meagre remains of Diiias Castle, which had the honour ofbeing stormed by Alfred the Greats daughter, Ethelfleda, and taken too, althoughgarrisoned at the time by three-and-thirty valiant AVelsh women; for the menwere all fighting far afiol
The rivers of Great Britain, descriptive, historical, pictorical; rivers of the south and west coasts . sk passes on, skuting JJwlch, aHi: TJsK.] CniCKHOWELL; THE WELL OF ST. CENAU. 153 a mountain over which the main road runs, offering glimpses on one hand of thevalley of the Wye, and on the other of the valley of the Usk. Presently, ourstream passes by the meagre remains of Diiias Castle, which had the honour ofbeing stormed by Alfred the Greats daughter, Ethelfleda, and taken too, althoughgarrisoned at the time by three-and-thirty valiant AVelsh women; for the menwere all fighting far afiold. Through a lovely valley the Usk reaches its secondtown of consequence —Crickhowell. This preatietounlet stondith as in avalley upon Wisk, Lelandsays; and, indeed, its situa-tion on the north-east bankof the river is way one looks,the scenery is charming inits attractiveness and richin the romantic and thejjicturesque. Close to theAbergavenny road standthe ruins of what once musthave been a castle of veryconsiderable dimensions,which covered as much aseiffht acres of Tli;; \\-ALL AT [p. l^i). Even in the days of Elizabeth this castle was nothing more than a ruin. No great distance fromCrickhowell is the AVell of St. Cenau, eagerly sought for by the newly-married,for to drink its waters first was to secure command of the house for life :— You drank of the well, I warrant, betimes, He to the countryman said ;But the countryman smiled as the stranger spoke, And sheepishly shook his head. I hastend as soon as the wedding was done, And left my wife in the porch;But, i faith, she had been wiser than me, For she took a bottle to church. Farther down stream is Llangattoc Park, with its roomy cave, known as EglwysFaen, the stone church; and beyond is Llangwryney, where Richard, Earl ofClare, passing through the wood, preceded by pipers, was set upon by the Welshand murdered. Here the Gwryney joins the Usk, which, flowing through scenerythat has
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Keywords: ., boo, bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, bookidriversofgreatbr00lond
