_Myself_.--I beg your pardon! They were horrible times--times in which
there were monks and friars and graven images, which people kissed and
worshipped and sang pennillion to. Better pay three pounds an acre and
live on crusts and water in the present enlightened days than pay two
shillings an acre and sit down to beef and ale three times a day in the
old superstitious times.

_Farmer_.--Well, I scarcely know what to say to that.

_Myself_.--What do you call that high hill on the other side of the
river?

_Farmer_.--I call that hill Bunk Pen Bannedd.

_Myself_.--Is the source of the Teivi far from here?

_Farmer_.--The head of the Teivi is about two miles from here high up in
the hills.

_Myself_.--What kind of place is the head of the Teivi?

_Farmer_.--The head of the Teivi is a small lake about fifty yards long
and twenty across.

_Myself_.--Where does the Teivi run to?

_Farmer_.--The Teivi runs to the sea, which it enters at a place which
the Cumri call Aber Teivi and the Saxons Cardigan.

_Myself_.--Don't you call Cardiganshire Shire Aber Teivi?

_Farmer_.--We do.

_Myself_.--Are there many gleisiaid in the Teivi?

_Farmer_.--Plenty, and salmons too--that is, farther down. The best
place for salmon and gleisiaid is a place, a great way down the stream,
called Dinas Emlyn.

_Myself_.--Do you know an animal called Llostlydan?

_Farmer_.--No, I do not know that beast.

_Myself_.--There used to be many in the Teivi.

_Farmer_.--What kind of beast is the Llostlydan?

_Myself_.--A beast with a broad tail, on which account the old Cumri did
call him Llostlydan. Clever beast he was; made himself house of wood in
middle of the river, with two doors, so that when hunter came upon him he
might have good chance of escape. Hunter often after him, because he had
skin good to make hat.

_Farmer_.--Ha, I wish I could catch that beast now in Teivi.

_Myself_.--Why so?

_Farmer_.--Because I want hat. Would make myself hat of his skin.

_Myself_.--Oh, you could not make yourself a hat even if you had the
skin.

_Farmer_.--Why not? Shot coney in Bunk Pen Banedd; made myself cap of
his skin. So why not make hat of skin of broadtail, should I catch him
in Teivi?

_Myself_.--How far is it to Tregaron?

_Farmer_.--'Tis ten miles from here, and eight from the Rhyd Fendigaid.

_Myself_.--Must I go back to Rhyd Fendigaid to get to Tregaron?

_Farmer_.--You must.

_Myself_.--Then I must be going,