of the little and great Traeths, stretching to the sea,-the distant Castles of Cricaeth and Harlech, and those bold embankments, which bear witness to the genius and courage-worthy the present age of their enterprising founder. Thousands of acres have thus been reclaimed from the waters, a safe communication formed between the counties of Caernarvon and Merioneth across the estuary of Traeth Mawr, formerly the grave of so many unfortunate wayfarers. Tremadoc deservedly bears the name of its founder. In the vicinity rise the noble mansions of Tan yr Allt and Morva Lodge, the work also of the same enlightened individual. The former discovers great architectural taste, and, being elevated on a lofty rock overlooking the town, surrounded by flourishing plantations, presents a picturesque appearance.

The late W. A. Madocks, Esq., was the enterprising gentleman who has so greatly improved this district. In 1800 he recovered nearly two thousand acres from the sea; and a few years afterwards constructed the large embankment over the Traeth Mawr. About seven thousand acres more were subsequently secured from the encroachment of the tides, five thousand of which are now cultivated. In 1821, Mr. Madocks was instrumental in procuring an Act of Parliament for improving the bay, in which vessels of two or three hundred tons burthen now ride in safety. Port Madoc is one mile from the town, whence great quantities of slates, copper ore, &c. are shipped.

Turning my steps towards Cricaeth, I next stopped for a few hours at the village of Penmorfa, so notorious of old for the rival families which perpetually disturbed its vicinity. Not a few of the adventures of these lords of the soil are worth repeating, if only to awaken the people of the present day to a sense of the great advantages, and infinite superiority of position, which they enjoy, compared with their less civilized predecessors.

One of the Merediths at a place not a mile from Penmorfa, was brought up by a foster-father of the same name. The adopted son married a sister of Howell ap Rhys, but, in conse

quence of his attachment to his new father, between whose family and that of Howell there had long subsisted a bitter feud, he succeeded to it as a sort of heirloom which he could not shake off. For his first wife, Howell had taken a sister of Jevan, which tended to allay the quarrel; but on her death he became united to a woman of a very opposite temper, whose ungovernable passions roused the slumbering embers of discord into a consuming flame. Rejected love had rendered Jevan the object of her implacable hate; and at such a period, and in so wild a country, a woman scorned' was no despicable foe; she scrupled not to have recourse to assassination, and to render her own husband the instrument of her revenge. Several attempts were made upon Jevan's life; and his friends were so closely beset, that they never appeared abroad unarmed. But the Howells, tracking their steps with a scent as sure as the bloodhound's, got information that they were about to meet a large party of friends at a village a few miles distant, to hold a festival of various games and feats of arms. Their way lay through a lonely pass, favourable for the purpose of the pursuers. With a strong party, the assassins lay in ambush, to await the coming of their victims. One of the more resolute was directed, in the heat of the affray, to single out the tallest and most handsome, and getting behind, to fell him with a blow of his axe to the earth. You will easily know him,' said Howell, 'by his superior stature; but look before you strike, for he has a foster-brother, Robin ap Jnco, a little close-set fellow, who is ever at his elbow. Now mind this man, for he is a perfect little devil, always on the look out for his brother's safety.' The morning came. Jevan, attended by his wife and several friends, set out; but the former having gone a mile, and perceiving no signs of danger, returned. She had not gone far when Howell and his party sprang from their concealment, eager to fall upon her husband. Suspecting their design, she threw herself in the way, and intreated Howell to have compassion on him. Finding her prayers in vain, she seized his horse's reins; and being flung off, is said to have caught hold of the

6

animal's tail to arrest his speed, and suffered herself to be dragged along, still imploring the wretch's mercy.

On rushed the assassins till they overtook and fell with relentless swords upon their adversaries; though on foot, Jevan and his friends sustained the onset gallantly. Marking his man, the assassin crept gradually behind and aimed, as he thought, a deadly blow at his head; but little Robin was at hand, and, ere the blow fell, stretched the villain upon the ground. Back to back they repulsed the attack of the horse; and Howell at last cried out that it was time to be gone, since Robin ap Jnco was still alive and on the alert. Though the vengeance of Howell's wife was thus foiled, she did not wholly relinquish her wicked designs. Unfortunately in those savage times only the wretch who actually struck the blow, and who was termed Llawrudd, or Red-hand, was held guilty of murder, and the confederates easily made their escape. As Jevan was returning by moonlight near Traeth Mawr, an arrow, evidently directed from an adjacent hill-side, glanced past his head. He stopped; ordered his followers to aim towards the wooded copse, whence the shaft appeared to have been sent, and upon proceeding towards the spot, they discovered, pierced by one of their random arrows, another adherent of the lawless men who had planned the murder. But public enemies as they were, it was remarked that these Red-hands were always held in particular regard by the heads of the family by whom they were commissioned. Thus Howell, having ascertained that Jevan and his friends were preparing to attend the assizes at Caernarvon, sent to a famous outlaw, David ap Jenkin, his relative, requesting of him the small favour of storming Jevan's house in his absence, and seizing all his foeman's Red-hands, to hang them up in a row before the door. David was too polite to decline the invitation; and being a man of approved valour, holding midnight assassination in contempt, he made his attack early in the morning. Roused by the alarum, the inmates summoned the concealed outlaws of their clan to their assistance; and to set the example, Jevan's wife, who had stuck so fast to the horse's tail,