rman conqueror of Glamorgan. It was afterwards
strongly fortified, and here the unfortunate Robert, son of William the
Conqueror, was imprisoned for twenty-eight years by his brother Henry
I., his eyes being put out for his greater security. The tower where he
was confined still stands alongside the entrance gateway, and during his
long captivity we are told that he soothed his weariness by becoming a
poet. The ancient keep remains standing on its circular mound, but the
castle has been restored and modernized by the Marquis of Bute, who
occasionally resides there, and has given it a fine western front
flanked by a massive octagonal tower. The moat is filled up, and, with
the acclivities of the ramparts, is made a public walk and garden. In
the valley of the Taff, a short distance from Cardiff, is the famous
"Rocking Stone," standing on the western brink of a hill called
Coed-pen-maen, or the "Wood of the Stone Summit." It was anciently a
Druids' altar, and with a surface of about one hundred square feet is
only two to three feet thick, so that it contains about two hundred and
fifty cubic feet of stone. It is the rough argillaceous sandstone that
accompanies the coal-measures in this part of Wales, and a moderate
force gives it quite a rocking motion, which can be easily continued
with one hand. It stands nearly in equilibrium upon a pivotal rock
beneath. Two miles from Cardiff is the ancient and straggling village of
Llandaff, which was the seat of the earliest Christian bishopric in
Wales, having been founded in the fourth century. Its cathedral, for a
long time dilapidated, has within a few years been thoroughly restored.
All the valleys in the hilly region tributary to Cardiff are full of
coal and iron, the mining and smelting of which have made enormous
fortunes for their owners and developed a vast industry there within the
present century. About nine miles north of Cardiff is Caerphilly Castle,
which has the most remarkable leaning tower in Britain, it being more
inclined from the perpendicular than any other that is known. It is
about eighty feet high, and leans over a distance of eleven feet. It
rests only on a part of its southern side, and maintains its position
chiefly through the strength of the cement. This castle was built by the
De Clares in the reign of Henry III., and large additions were made to
it by Hugh Despenser, who garrisoned it for Edward II. in order to check
the Welsh. It is a large concentric