The Description of Wales | Page 7

being its
patron. It contains five cantreds, and the fourth part of another, namely,
Senghennyd.
In North Wales, between Anglesey and the Eryri mountains, is the see
of Bangor, under the patronage of Daniel, the abbot; it contains about
nine cantreds.
In North Wales also is the poor little cathedral of Llan-Elwy, or St.
Asaph, containing about six cantreds, to which Powys is subject.

CHAPTER V

Of the two mountains from which the noble rivers which divide Wales
spring
Wales is divided and distinguished by noble rivers, which derive their
source from two ranges of mountains, the Ellennith, in South Wales,
which the English call Moruge, as being the heads of moors, or bogs;
and Eryri, in North Wales, which they call Snowdon, or mountains of
snow; the latter of which are said to be of so great an extent, that if all
the herds in Wales were collected together, they would supply them
with pasture for a considerable time. Upon them are two lakes, one of
which has a floating island; and the other contains fish having only one
eye, as we have related in our Itinerary.
We must also here remark, that at two places in Scotland, one on the
eastern, and the other on the western ocean, the sea-fish called mulvelli
(mullets) have only the right eye.
The noble river Severn takes its rise from the Ellennith mountains, and
flowing by the castles of Shrewsbury and Bridgenorth, through the city
of Worcester, and that of Gloucester, celebrated for its iron
manufactories, falls into the sea a few miles from the latter place, and
gives its name to the Severn Sea. This river was for many years the
boundary between Cambria and Loegria, or Wales and England; it was
called in British Hafren, from the daughter of Locrinus, who was
drowned in it by her step-mother; the aspirate being changed, according
to the Latin idiom, into S, as is usual in words derived from the Greek,
it was termed Sarina, as hal becomes SAL; hemi, SEMI; hepta,
SEPTEM.
The river Wye rises in the same mountains of Ellennith, and flows by
the castles of Hay and Clifford, through the city of Hereford, by the
castles of Wilton and Goodrich, through the forest of Dean, abounding
with iron and deer, and proceeds to Strigul castle, below which it
empties itself into the sea, and forms in modern times the boundary
between England and Wales. The Usk does not derive its origin from
these mountains, but from those of Cantref Bachan; it flows by the
castle of Brecheinoc, or Aberhodni, that is, the fall of the river Hodni
into the Usk (for Aber, in the British language, signifies every place
where two rivers unite their streams); by the castles of Abergevenni and
Usk, through the ancient city of Legions, and discharges itself into the
Severn Sea, not far from Newport.

The river Remni flows towards the sea from the mountains of
Brecheinoc, having passed the castle and bridge of Remni. From the
same range of mountains springs the Taf, which pursues its course to
the episcopal see of Landaf (to which it gives its name), and falls into
the sea below the castle of Caerdyf. The river Avon rushes impetuously
from the mountains of Glamorgan, between the celebrated Cistercian
monasteries of Margan and Neth; and the river Neth, descending from
the mountains of Brecheinoc, unites itself with the sea, at no great
distance from the castle of Neth; each of these rivers forming a long
tract of dangerous quicksands. From the same mountains of Brecheinoc
the river Tawe flows down to Abertawe, called in English Swainsey.
The Lochor joins the sea near the castle of the same name; and the
Wendraeth has its confluence near Cydweli. The Tywy, another noble
river, rises in the Ellennith mountains, and separating the Cantref Mawr
from the Cantref Bachan, passes by the castle of Llanymddyfri, and the
royal palace and castle of Dinevor, strongly situated in the deep
recesses of its woods, by the noble castle of Caermarddin, where
Merlin was found, and from whom the city received its name, and runs
into the sea near the castle of Lhanstephan. The river Taf rises in the
Presseleu mountains, not far from the monastery of Whitland, and
passing by the castle of St. Clare, falls into the sea near Abercorran and
Talacharn. From the same mountains flow the rivers Cleddeu,
encompassing the province of Daugleddeu, and giving it their name
one passes by the castle of Lahaden, and the other by Haverford, to the
sea; and in the British language they bear the name of Daugleddeu, or
two swords.
The noble river Teivi springs from the Ellennith mountains, in the
upper part of the Cantref Mawr and Caerdigan, not far from the
pastures and excellent monastery