dirty lanes
branched off on either side, passed throngs of savage-looking people
talking clamorously, shrank from addressing any of them, and finally,
undirected, found myself before the Castle Inn at Merthyr Tydvil.

CHAPTER CIV

Iron and Coal--The Martyred Princess--Cyfartha Fawr--Diabolical
Structure.

Merthyr Tydvil is situated in a broad valley through which roll the
waters of the Taf. It was till late an inconsiderable village, but is at
present the greatest mining place in Britain, and may be called with much
propriety the capital of the iron and coal.

It bears the name of Merthyr Tydvil, which signifies the Martyr Tydvil,
because in the old time a Christian British princess was slain in the
locality which it occupies. Tydvil was the daughter of Brychan, Prince
of Brecon, surnamed Brycheiniawg, or the Breconian, who flourished in the
fifth century and was a contemporary of Hengist. He was a man full of
Christian zeal, and a great preacher of the Gospel, and gave his
children, of which he had many, both male and female, by various wives,
an education which he hoped would not only make them Christians, but
enable them to preach the Gospel to their countrymen. They proved
themselves worthy of his care, all of them without one exception becoming
exemplary Christians, and useful preachers. In his latter days he
retired to a hermitage in Glamorganshire near the Taf, and passed his
time in devotion, receiving occasionally visits from his children. Once,
when he and several of them, amongst whom was Tydvil, were engaged in
prayer, a band of heathen Saxons rushed in upon them and slew Tydvil with
three of her brothers. Ever since that time the place has borne the name
of Martyr Tydvil. {21}

The Taf, which runs to the south of Merthyr, comes down from Breconshire,
and enters the Bristol Channel at Cardiff, a place the name of which in
English is the city on the Taf. It is one of the most beautiful of
rivers, but is not navigable on account of its numerous shallows. The
only service which it renders to commerce is feeding a canal which
extends from Merthyr to Cardiff. It is surprising how similar many of
the Welsh rivers are in name: Taf, Tawey, Towey, Teivi, and Duffy differ
but very little in sound. Taf and Teivi have both the same meaning,
namely a tendency to spread out. The other names, though probably
expressive of the properties or peculiarities of the streams to which
they respectively be