"The verdant spreading lawns," says Mr. Roscoe, "the swelling hills, and rich variety of sylvan views, together with the distant mountains and woods mingling with the sky, at the moment I contemplated them in the soft glow of a summer's eve, shed a benign influence over the mind."

Near Welshpool is the Vale of Cyveiliog; and below the Breiddin hills are the ruins of Strata Marcella (or Ystrad Marchell), a Cistercian Monastery founded by Owen Cyveiliog in 1170. North of the town rises abruptly from the vale, Moel-y-Golfa, Craig Breiddin, and Cefn-y-Castell, the triple summits of a rock, more than 1000 feet in height, on the highest peak of which is erected Rodney's Pillar, to commemorate a victory obtained by that Admiral, in 1782, over the French fleet commanded by the Count de Grasse.

LLANYMYNECH

Is a neat little village, about nine miles from Welshpool, on the main road from that town to Oswestry. It is pleasantly situated on a bank above the Vyrnwy. It is not only very closely connected with North Wales, on account of its situation on its boundary, but it contains one township, CARNEG HWVA, which, although detached from, is yet within the county of Denbigh. The church is dedicated to St. Agatha. In the church is a monument to the memory of the wife and daughter of George Griffiths, Bishop of St. Asaph, who had been rector of this parish whilst canon of that chapter. He was of the house of Penrhyn, Caernarvonshire, and was consecrated to the above see in October, 1660, in reward for his piety and great sufferings in the royal cause. He was ejected from all his preferments by the Parliamentary Committee, yet by his writings defended the Royal Government during the whole of the Usurpation, keeping up the offices and discipline of the Church. In 1662 he concurred with the clergy, in convocation, in preparing the Act of Uniformity, and making certain alterations in the Liturgy there set out; and it is said that the part referring to the office of baptizing those of riper years was his composition. He died Nov. 28, 1666, and was interred in his own cathedral, "his last home" being marked only by a plain stone. An old castle is mentioned in Welsh history as having stood in this parish, but no vestige of it remains except the fosse which

guarded it to the east. It was taken and pillaged in 1162 by the two cousins, Owen Cyveiliog and Owen ab Madog; the latter, however, kept possession of it for twenty-five years, and was eventually slain in it by Gwenwynwyn and Cadwallon, sons of Owen Cyveiliog. Offa's Dyke divides the parish into two nearly equal parts, and continues its course, as some writers suppose, to Basingwerk, in Flintshire. Mr. John Evans, in his able survey of North Wales, discovered, however, that Offa continued his dyke near Treuddin, in Flintshire, and that the fosse terminating at Basingwerk has its beginning at Maesbury, near Oswestry, about one mile below Offa's Dyke, and is called Watt's Dyke. In a hill on the north-west side of the parish is an immense cave, called the Ogo, of which many fairy tales are related by the peasantry. It is supposed to have been an old Roman mine. Human skeletons have been found in it; one had a bracelet of glass beads, like the Druidical rings, or rings called glaire neidr, the ova anguinum of Pliny, around the left wrist; and a battleaxe lay near to it. A golden bracelet was found on another skeleton, and several Roman coins of Antoninus, Faustina, and others.

This is a fine old town, delightfully situated, with a population of about 10,000. It was formerly called Maserfield, and derives its name from Oswald, King of Northumbria. It is within the county of Salop; but, bordering closely on North Wales, it may be looked upon partly as a Welsh town. It stands on higher ground than any other town in Shropshire, being 450 feet above the level of the sea. It was anciently fortified with a wall, about a mile round, and four gates-Black-gate, New-gate, Willow-gate, and Beatrice-gate. The last was a handsome structure, bearing the arms of Fitz-Alan, a lion rampant, and said to have been built by Thomas, Earl of Arundel, in the reign of Henry IV., who bestowed the name on it in honour of his wife, Beatrix, natural daughter of the King of Portugal. The old

church was of great antiquity. The present structure is of more recent origin. The church is a vicarage under the patronage of Earl Powis, who is Lord of the Manor. The interior is spacious and handsome, and has several monuments, both ancient and modern. The tower is square, and there is a fine peal of bells attached to it. A new church, erected on the Salop road, and in which there are a number of free seats, is well attended. An organ, the gift of the Longueville family, has been placed in it. There are chapels in the town for the various denominations of Independents, Baptists, and Wesleyan Methodists. The Free Grammar School, an excellentlyconducted institution, and the National School, are among its educational establishments. Oswestry is governed by a mayor and councillors; and the former office has been filled by most of the noblemen and gentlemen residing in the neighbourhood. The principal market is held on the Wednesday, when crowds of people from the adjacent country attend. Much business is done by the tradesmen on other days in the week, and the town within the last few years has greatly improved, both in its commerce and social position. Inns.-The Wynnstay Arms, the Cross Keys, and the Queen's

Head.

About a mile from the town is the beautiful mansion called PORKINGTON, the seat of William Ormsby Gore, Esq., M.P. It takes its name from a singular entrenchment in a neighbouring field, called Castell Brogyntyn, a fort belonging to Owen Brogyntyn, a natural son of Owen Madoc ab Meredydd, Prince of Powys Vadog. Among the pictures in the house is a portrait of Sir John Owen, of Clenneney, the distinguished partisan of Charles I., and leader of his forces against the Parliamentary troops.

Leaving Oswestry for Llangollen, the tourist can proceed by rail (a branch to the town having been formed by the Shrewsbury and Chester Railway Company) to BRYN KINALT, the mansion and principal residence of Lord Dungannon, M.P. for Durham. It is a fine, stately building, has recently been much improved, and is surrounded by picturesque scenery of rare beauty. The mother of the Duke of Wellington (who was a daughter of Arthur Hill Trevor, Viscount Dungannon) spent much of her time at Bryn Kinalt, in the boyhood

of "the hero of a hundred fights." This house and property descended to the Hills by marriage. Sir John Trevor, Master of the Rolls in the reign of James II., was a descendant of the ancient family of the Trevors, by whom the house was built.

The traveller, after surveying this mansion and its attractive grounds, will soon pass through the Ceiriog Vale, across which a viaduct carries on the Shrewsbury and Chester Railway (as fully described under the head of “Railways”), and also an aqueduct, built by the late Mr. Thomas Telford, the justly-celebrated engineer, conveys the Ellesmere Canal. This structure is carried on ten arches, resting on pyramidal piers of stone, which are sixty-five feet in the centre. Ascending from the valley which this fine piece of architecture spans, the tourist arrives at the village of

The village is situated on the great Holyhead road; and commands, from its elevated position, some of the most delightful views in the Principality. Through the valley of Ceiriog its "historical river" delightfully flows, and separates the adjacent counties of Salop and Denbigh, and, of course, also England and Wales. Roscoe sat upon the stone bridge that crosses the river, and from thence surveyed the natural enchantments around him. The village is neat and clean in appearance, comprising a number of pretty cottages, recently erected, and the church, and the churchyard, which contains several ancient yew-trees, add beauty to the rustic scene. Within the church, which is dedicated to St. Mary, and was formerly an impropriation belonging to the Valle Crucis Abbey, are several monuments in memory of the Myddleton family, and also some chaste and beautiful tablets, recording the demise of various members of the Dungannon family. There is also one to the celebrated Dr. Balcanqual, the favourite of Charles I. In the civil wars he took refuge from the popular fury at Chirk Castle, where he died in 1645. The wellknown Dr. Sacheverell has been said, by some writers, to have been

inducted to this vicarage, and, after a suspension of three years, to have been conducted back, by 5000 of his parishioners, in triumph. This, however, is a mistake, as his name appears only in the list of rectors of Selattyn, a neighbouring parish. It is understood that he

owed his rectorial appointment to a witty story told to Lord Bolingbroke by Dean Swift, whom Sacheverell had begged to intercede for him with the ministry of that day.

Inn.-Chirk Castle Arms.

CHIRK CASTLE is about one mile and a half on the road to the Chirk railway station, and stands in the midst of an extensive park, commanding fine views of the surrounding country from nearly every