d the
curious; from whom they were as willing to learn what was passing in
politics, literature, and general gossip, as were their visitors desirous
of having a peep within the charmed circle of this mountain solitude.
Their motive for adopting this romantic seclusion is thus stated in
"Steward's Collections and Recollections:"--

"Lady Eleanor Butler and Miss Ponsonby were young ladies of beauty
and rank, who loved each other with so true an affection, that they
could never bear the afflicting idea of a separation, which the
marriage of either might occasion. They therefore resolved on lives
of celibacy, and refusing many handsome offers, and remaining deaf to
the persuasions of their friends, they retired to the beautiful Yale
of Llangollen, to enjoy the happiness of each other's company, that
as their friendship began in infancy, it might be perpetuated through
life. The traveller, in passing by the celebrated abode of these
interesting women, must contemplate with a sigh that excessive
friendship which could tear from the bosom of society two of its
brightest ornaments, to bury them in the depths of seclusion:--

'Full many a gem, of purest ray serene,
The dark unfathom'd caves of ocean bear;
Full many a flower is born to blush unseen,
And waste its sweetness on the desert air.'

"It is on this subject Miss Seward employs her poetical talents, in
her well-known poem of 'Llangollen Vale.'--The following is an
account of these celebrated ladies, extracted from a periodical work
published in the year 1796. 'Miss Butler and Miss Ponsonby are now
retired from the society of men into the wilds (!) of Llangollen in
Wales, where they have resided seventeen years. Miss Butler is of
the Ormond family, and had five offers of marriage, all of which she
rejected. As Miss Ponsonby, her particular friend and companion, was
supposed to have been the bar to her matrimonial union, it was
thought proper to separate them, and Miss Butler was confined. The
two ladies, however, found means to elope together, but being soon
overtaken, were brought back to their respective relations. Many
attempts were again made to draw Miss Butler into marriage, though in
vain; not many weeks after, the ladies eloped again, each having a
small sum with her. The place of their retreat was confided to a
female ser