rfully by the fiery odes, in which he incited the Welsh to rise
against the English."

"Indeed!" said she; "well, I am sorry to say that I never heard of him."

"Are you Welsh?" said I.

"I am," she replied.

"Did you ever hear of Thomas Edwards?"

"Oh, yes," said she; "I have frequently heard of him."

"How odd," said I, "that the name of a great poet should be unknown in
the very place where he is buried, whilst that of one certainly not his
superior, should be well known in that same place, though he is not
buried there."

"Perhaps," said she, "the reason is that the poet, whom you mentioned,
wrote in the old measures and language which few people now understand,
whilst Thomas Edwards wrote in common verse and in the language of the
present day."

"I daresay it is so," said I.

From the church she led us to other parts of the ruin--at first she had
spoken to us rather cross and loftily, but she now became kind and
communicative. She said that she resided near the ruins, which she was
permitted to show, that she lived alone, and wished to be alone; there
was something singular about her, and I believe that she had a history of
her own. After showing us the ruins she conducted us to a cottage in
which she lived; it stood behind the ruins by a fish-pond, in a beautiful
and romantic place enough; she said that in the winter she went away, but
to what place she did not say. She asked us whether we came walking, and
on our telling her that we did, she said that she would point out to us a
near way home. She then pointed to a path up a hill, telling us we must
follow it. After making her a present we bade her farewell, and passing
through a meadow crossed a brook by a rustic bridge, formed of the stem
of a tree, and ascending the hill by the path which she had pointed out,
we went through a cornfield or two on its top, and at last found
ourselves on the Llangollen road, after a most beautiful walk.

CHAPTER XIV

Expedition to Ruthyn--The Column--Slate Quarries--The
Gwyddelod--Nocturnal Adventure.

Nothing worthy of commemoration took place during the two following days,
save that myself and family took an evening walk on the Wednesday up the
side of the Berwyn, for the purpose of botanizing, in which we were
attended by John Jones. There, amongst other plants, we found a curious
moss which our good friend said was called in Welsh, Corn Carw, or deer's
horn, and which he said the deer were very f