Welsh Journals

ON the arrival of Wynn and Southey at Llangedwin in the autumn of 1801, they found a letter offering Southey the post of private secretary to the Chancellor of the Exchequer for Ireland. He was obliged to depart in all haste for Keswick in order to pre- pare for going to Ireland. Sunday, October 11th, therefore found him Through Cestrian pastures rolls his tamer stream.1 His boat dropped down the river, but was soon becalmed. There was not a heaving, not even a ripple or a wrinkle on the water. Very slowly they advanced, and on an evening of perfect tranquillity saw the mountains of Caernarvon- shire before them and the sun setting behind Anglesey. A reminiscence of this occurs in Part I., Section I., of Madoc," where the hero on his return gazes towards his native land The sun goes down. Far off his light is on the naked crags Of Penmanmawr, and Arvon's ancient hills And the last glory lingers yet awhile, Crowning old Snowdon's venerable head, That rose amid his mountains. Now the ship Drew nigh where Mona, the dark island, stretched Her shore along the ocean's lighter line. There through the mist and twilight, many a fire Up-flaming, streamed upon the level sea Red lines of lengthening light, that, far away Rising and falling, flashed athwart the waves. By sunrise next morning they were in sight of Holyhead, but a headwind sprang up and they were forced to tack and retack all day. Finally they took shelter in Beaumaris Bay and waited for the midnight tide. By this time all was quiet again and they proceeded on their voyage. With characteristic fickleness the weather again changed, and at two in the morning a hard gale was blowing, which carried the ship through the race of Holyhead and on towards Ireland. Southey's experience of Wales on his tour with Wynn had left an indelible mark upon him. He once said that his travels were always under- taken in the anticipation of remembrance. Cer- tainly on this occasion his anticipations were ful- filled. Two years later he told Wynn that while he had not seen enough of Wales, not a single thing of what he had seen was lost, and he could call up the whole succession of rocks, streams and mountains with life-like vividness. Mean- while he began to toy with the idea of settling 1 Madoc," Part II, Section 18. SOUTHEY AND WALES_III by Herbert G. Wright LATER VISITS. where holy Dee down in Wales. Even before his tour in 1801, he had longed for a home on the south side of some Welsh mountain, where he might learn to converse in Welsh and achieve something for posterity, and in 1802 he wrote to Wynn twice in this sense. He thought that he could learn Welsh from the servant and the church service, or that his little daughter would grow up as his interpreter. If only Wynn had been domesticated at Llangedwin, Southey would have wished for a cottage in sight of the grove above the house. It is hardly surprising therefore to find that in September, 1802, Southey again set out for a walking tour in South Wales. One of his objects was doubtless to secure more local colour for Madoc." For this purpose he visited Dinevor, keenly expectant and eager to write a description on the spot. But he was sadly dis- appointed, for after the more striking scenery of North Wales, it seemed so insignificant that he did not compose a line. Dinevor was a mighty pretty nobleman's seat-but for the castle of a Welsh Prince Dolbadarn is the place." Conse- quently in Madoc Southey contented himself with just hinting at the mere English scenery of Dinevor to contrast it with the glens and mountains of the north. Madoc is pictured as he walks in dejection at eventide by the banks of the Towy The dry leaves rustled to the wind, and fell And floated on the stream; there was no voice, Save of the mournful rooks, that overhead Winged their long line for fragrance of sweet flowers, Only the odour of the autumnal leaves All sights and sounds of sadness and the place To that despondent mood was ministrant Among the hills of Gwyneth, and its wilds And mountain glens, perforce he cherished still The hope of mountain liberty they braced And knit the heart and arm of hardihood; But here, in these green meads, by these low slopes And hanging groves, attempered to the scene, His spirit yielded. There is perhaps another echo of this tour in Southey's poem, A Tale of Paraguay." Canto III, stanza 31, contains an allusion to the fishermen on the Towy, which may be a reminis- cence or a combination of recollections and of information derived from his reading. We see how the Jesuit Dobrizhoffer and his Indian attendants sought to cross the Empalado in their rude craft: