around farm buildings and cottages, the holly shows a luxuriance which is perfectly delightful, its red berries and deep sheeny green standing forth in bolder relief in contrast with the general barrenness of the region. Not far from Llanbadarn-tref-Eglwys the landscape begins to soften and put on its better clothing. The land slopes down towards the pretty Arth, which reaches the sea some two miles north of Aberaeron. We pass by Monachdy, the ancient seat of the Gwynnes-an unassuming but elegant mansion, surrounded by some beautiful groves of fir and other timber.

Returning in our survey to the Vale of Aeron, when passing Ty-glyn, already noticed, we leave on the left the mansion of Tymawr, now occupied by W. C. M. Abadam, Esq. (see Abadam). In the same neighbourhood is the village of Cilcennin, whose great house, Plás Cilcenin, was in the seventeenth century of considerable note, the property and residence of Harry Vaughan, sheriff for the county in the time of Cromwell. Near at hand are the barrows, probably places of ancient sepulture, called Tri-chrug Acron, the three cairns of Aeron.

Further down in the direction of Aberaeron the beautiful valley grows wider, and it possible more and more rich in its meads and luxuriant in its vegetation. In this part is the parish church of Llan-uwchaeron, and in its close vicinity the mansion of Llanaeron, situated in as choice a spot as could well be desired for the planting of a happy home. It stands on gently rising ground in the midst of the valley; the hill behind is clothed with thick masses of trees, which are seen to accompany the river as far as the sinuosities of the valley allow the eye to reach, and the whole aspect of the landscape on every hand is completely delightful.

To a townsman, a visit to a place like the Vale of Aeron, so quiet, fragrant, and fair, is not so much like a journey from London to Wales as from earth to Elysium. A new

set of emotions are awakened, the poetic side of nature receives life, and a man feels himself to be different as well as the scenes which surround him. It is then that the pure joy of communion with Nature in her fairer moods is felt, and while experiencing higher and more refined emotions than perhaps were intended to be described in Robin Hood's ballad,—

"In somer when the shawes be sheyn,

And leves be large and long,
Hit is full merye in feyne foreste

To here the foulys song;

To see the dere draw to the dale

And leve the hilles hee,

And shadow hem in the leves grene,

Under the grene wode tree,"

the mind is able better than in the murky and noisy city to understand the pleasures of free forest life, and yields assent to Longfellow's words,

"Your voiceless lips, O flowers, are living preachers;

Each cup a pulpit, every leaf a book,
Supplying to the fancy numerous teachers
From loveliest nook.

"Neath cloistered boughs each floral bell that swingeth,

And tolls its perfume on the passing air,
Makes Sabbath in the fields, and ever ringeth
A call to prayer."

The Teivi, which may be called the great boundary stream of Cardiganshire, for half its length has a quiet run among quiet and uninteresting scenes. Taking its rise from a small lake, Llyn Teifi, situated in the wild and bleak mountains to the north of Tregaron, called in Giraldus's time (twelfth century) the "Mountains of Ellenith," which form the watershed for Cardiganshire on one side, and for the Claerwen and tributaries of the Elan, in Radnorshire, on the other, it passes by the celebrated abbey of Ystradflur (again to be noticed in our section on Antiquities), Tregaron, Llanddewi Brefi, Lampeter, first through moorland and morass, which present above Strata Florida and Tregaron, as wild and inhospitable a ountry as the imagination can well portray, and then through a valley which by degrees grows in fertility and beauty, until at Llandyssul it fairly plunges into the midst of scenes of the richest verdure, which rise at times into picturesque magnificence, and continue to delight the eye to the very end of the river's course below Cardigan.

Of Llyn Teivi, the source of this river, Leland has this account:-" Of all the pooles none stondeth in so rokky and stony soile as Tyve doth, that hath withyn hym many stonis. The ground al about Tyve, and a great mile towards Stratfler, is horrible with the sighte of bare stonis as Creg-eryri [Snowdon] mountains, &c. Llyn Tyve is in cumpase a 3 quarters of a mile, being 2 m. be E. from Stratfler. It is fedde fro hyer places with a little broket, and issueth out again by a smaulle gut. Ther is in it veri good trouttes and elys, and no other fisch. Tyve (river) runith from the hedde stil, almost plane West, untille he touchith within a 6 m. of Cuirmardin, and thense turnith towards the N." These measurements, &c., are the fruit of loose guessing. Of lakes in the neighbourhood of Llyn Teivi there are several, and like it, good for trout. The cheerless appearance of the mountain is compensated, says

one tourist and angler, by the excellent sport the pools afford. On leaving Llyn Teivi, a walk

of a few minutes will bring you to the top of the mountain, and at once in view of four more lakes, each within a few yards of the other, all containing trout.

In the fair country a little above Lampeter, to the right of the course of the Teivi, is situated Derry Ormond, commanding an extensive view of mountain and vale. In the neighbourhood of Lampeter are also Glandenys, the seat of William Jones, Esq. (see Jones, Glandenys), and Falcondale, the seat of J. Battersby Harford, Esq. (see Harford, Falcondale), with numerous other residences of less note. As will be seen under the head of "Old and Extinct Families," this part of the county has been long distinguished for men prominent in station and in public life, some of whose mansions still remain, while the very sites of others are undistinguishable.

The town of Lampeter differs in little from other small country towns, except in the possession of an institution for the education of the clergy of the Established Church, open also for the reception of lay students, without respect to ecclesiastical relations. St. David's College was established some fifty years ago with the especial design of improving the educational tone of the Welsh clergy. For some years the Rev. Eliezer Williams had conducted a school of his own at Lampeter, of which town he was vicar, and had been sanctioned by the bishop of the diocese to train young men for the Church. "His plan was, after having for the first five years led candidates for holy orders through several of the classics, and through a course of general literature, to direct them to the study of theology. It was his special solicitude not only that they should acquire a habit of expressing their ideas upon paper with facility, but that they should devote a portion of their time to the study of rhetoric, and to a graceful and effective elocution in their native tongue."

It was now projected to convert this school into a more formal college. In order to accomplish this end a fund was formed, towards which each incumbent contributed a tenth or

one year's income from his benefice. As a beginning the bishop himself put down the sum of £120, a proportionate part of the revenue of his see, and ultimately his Majesty George IV., the English universities, the lords of the manor, and various other benevolent persons, contributed with great liberality towards the undertaking. Thus was the project conceived of founding the noble institution which has since been designated St. David's College. Mr. Williams died in 1820. In the year 1823 the foundation stone was laid by the venerable Bishop (Burgess) of St. David's. (See Works of Rev. Eliezer Williams, ed. by his son, Rev. St. George A. Williams, pp. 88, &c.)

The college calendar informs us that the college was incorporated by royal charter in A.D. 1828, and empowered to grant upon examination the degree of Bachelor in Theology to certificated members having been five years in priest's orders. The institution has gone on progressing in usefulness, from time to time extending its plan of study to meet the requirements of the age. A new charter, with further privileges, was a few years ago obtained, together with a large augmentation to the funds. It has now a staff of six professors; the Principal is the Very Rev. Llewelyn Lewellin, M.A., D.C.L., Dean of St. David's, and the Vice-Principal the Rev. J. J. Stewart Perowne, B.D. For many years the Vice-Principal was the late learned and acute Dr. Rowland Williams.

In ancient times the Church in the see of St. David's enjoyed relatively more educational advantages than she does at present. A monastic seminary or college existed at St. David's. In later times a college flourished at Abergwili, which Henry VIII. transferred to Brecknock, part of whose funds came back to assist Lampeter. A great school existed for ages at Llanddewi Brefi, between Lampeter and Tregaron. Considering the smallness of the population in those days, and the almost total rudeness of the people, there is reason to believe that the clergy, relatively to their flocks, and the standard of intelligence surrounding them, were better educated than the clergy of any denomination in Wales can be said to be in our day. St. David's College, however, is largely instrumental in improving the tone of ministerial education in Wales.

On the right bank of the Teivi, below Llanybyther, on a slope commanding a noble view of the Carmarthenshire hills towards Llansawel, and of the Teivi valley, is Highmead (see Evans, Highmead); and on the same estate is the ancient seat of Llanfechan, of late, by a process of supposed improvement, modified into Lanvaughan. "Llan-fechan " has a meaning, and, moreover, in that precise form is the venerable name by which through many generations the home of the Lloyds-maternal ancestors of the present proprietor-has been known (see also Lloyd, Gilfachwen, and Lloyd, Waunifor), while "Lanvaughan" is both an absurdity and a parvenu. The Highmead estate extends to a considerable distance on both sides of the Teivi, which flows at the bottom of the park. The property was inherited by Major Evans after his great-uncle. The present mansion, which has recently been enlarged and modernized, was built in 1777 by his great-uncle, Major Herbert Evans, Sheriff of Cardiganshire in 1782, near the house of Lowmead (used by his father, John Evans, Esq., of Glantowy, as a hunting lodge), on part of the Llanfechan estate, which is now, like the Abernant and Rhydybont property, united to Highmead. The proprietor is preparing for the wealth of future generations, as well as the ornamentation of his estate, by extensive tree-planting. Llanfechan has been allowed to fall into a dilapidated condition, but is to be restored. The Ogham Stone seen in the grounds will be further noticed under " Antiquities.”

On the same side or the Teivi are the mansions of Bwlchbychan, Alltyrodyn, Waunifor, Llanfair, and, a little beyond Llandyssil, Gilfachwen. Llandyssil, half village, half town,

comes in the way to Newcastle Emlyn, both surrounded by delightful scenery, and both partly in Cardiganshire and partly in Carmarthenshire. The castle, which was called New

castle in Emlyn, was

built, in the reign of Henry VII., by Sir Rhys ap Thomas, of Dinefawr (Dynevor), who made it one of his chief residences. The situation is highly picturesque and