had much the appearance of a Grecian villa. The walls
were of resplendent whiteness, and the windows, which were numerous,
shone with beautiful gilding. Such was modern Hafod, a strange contrast,
no doubt, to the hunting lodge of old.

After gazing at this house of eccentric taste for about a quarter of an
hour, sometimes with admiration, sometimes with a strong disposition to
laugh, I followed the road, which led past the house in nearly a
southerly direction. Presently the valley became more narrow, and
continued narrowing till there was little more room than was required for
the road and the river, which ran deep below it on the left-hand side.
Presently I came to a gate, the boundary in the direction in which I was
going of the Hafod domain.

Here, when about to leave Hafod, I shall devote a few lines to a
remarkable man whose name should be ever associated with the place.
Edward Lhuyd was born in the vicinity of Hafod about the period of the
Restoration. His father was a clergyman, who after giving him an
excellent education at home sent him to Oxford, at which seat of learning
he obtained an honourable degree, officiated for several years as tutor,
and was eventually made custodiary of the Ashmolean Museum. From his
early youth he devoted himself with indefatigable zeal to the acquisition
of learning. He was fond of natural history and British antiquities, but
his favourite pursuit, and that in which he principally distinguished
himself, was the study of the Celtic dialects; and it is but doing
justice to his memory to say, that he was not only the best Celtic
scholar of his time, but that no one has arisen since worthy to be
considered his equal in Celtic erudition. Partly at the expense of the
university, partly at that of various powerful individuals who patronized
him, he travelled through Ireland, the Western Highlands, Wales, Cornwall
and Armorica, for the purpose of collecting Celtic manuscripts. He was
particularly successful in Ireland and Wales. Several of the most
precious Irish manuscripts in Oxford, and also in the Chandos Library,
were of Lhuyd's collection, and to him the old hall at Hafod was chiefly
indebted for its treasures of ancient British literature. Shortly after
returning to Oxford from his Celtic wanderings he sat down to the
composition of a grand work in three parts, under the title of
Archaeologia Britannica, which he had long projected. The first was to
be devoted to the