In & Around Swansea

DEDICATION.

"I have considered the days of old, the years of ancient times."—Psalm lxxvii., 5.

TO HIS WORSHIP THE MAYOR OF THE COUNTY BOROUGH OF SWANSEA, ALDERMAN FREDERICK BRADFORD,

AND HIS COLLEAGUES,

THE ALDERMEN AND COMMON COUNCILMEN, AND

FELLOW CITIZENS OF SWANSEA,

I desire to dedicate this small volume, "In and Around Swansea," and trust that its perusal may interest and instruct. It is only fragmentary in its nature, and (D.V.) I hope to add a second volume, which will bring the early history of this town and neighbourhood down to the close of the present century.

I sincerely pray that the inhabitants of this ancient borough may prosper in every way possible, and that the motto of the town, "FLOREAT SWANSEA," may always distinguish its career.

53, Trafalgar Terrace, Swansea,

August, 1896.

E. E. ROWSE.

PREFACE.

A knowledge of the history and traditions of "the land of my fathers" is considered by the most eminent scholars of the day to be one of the essential subjects of modern study.

It is impossible to understand the present ramifications of Society-the many classes and grades composing it-why the poor should outnumber the rich by twenty to one-why the soil of the country belongs to so few territorial owners-why there are two parties in the State, Whig and Tory-why there should be a privileged House of Lords side by side with a representative assembly called the House of Commons-or why the Church of England should be a privileged church side by side with so many free churches-unless a person studies and reads, and reflects upon the thousand and one incidents and episodes which are written in the chronicles of England.

The foundation of all our commercial greatness and national wealth, our political power and prestige, our civil and religious liberties, our laws and institutions, our representative system, and our complex Constitution was undoubtedly laid by our ancestors.

We are, therefore, heirs to a glorious heritage-one which we may well be proud of and appreciate, and one which it is our duty to cherish and uphold if we would enjoy its privileges and its blessings, and one which we should feel solemnly bound to hand over to our children unimpaired, undiminished, and untarnished.

The story, therefore, of how the nation emancipated itself from idolatry and semi-barbaric customs, from parochial and insular preujdices, from autocratic rulers and internecine strife, from feudalism, priestly tyranny, and serfdom, can only be known by a close and thoughtful study of the past.

Directly we begin to unlock the treasures of history we begin to understand the value of these silent records, and read with avidity the deeds and prowess of our sires; and directly we learn that there is an unwritten literature in the legends and folk lore of every village and hamlet—“traditions and legends"—which still linger in the memories and oral sayings of the peasantry, we are on the track of the sources and spring-heads of the very history we wish to study.

Romance can only grow on a soil which has been watered by the tears and blood of old-world champions, whose doughty deeds give colouring matter to all our annals.

The untrained mind must necessarily be unskilled and stunted in its growth. Ignorance always warps and blunts the intellect, and hence the uneducated have no appreciation of the mighty and prolonged struggle in which their fathers were engaged in obtaining civil and religious freedom and just and righteous laws. And seeing that the history of the epochs which have passed into oblivion have left such rich stores of experience and heroic legacies, it would be base ingratitude not to acknowledge the many obligations we owe to our sires.

The history of Cambria is brimful of romantic episodes, and a careful survey of the biographies of its heroes and heroines, its rulers and lawgivers, its high priests and people will amply repay the student for his researches and the time he may spend in quest of this knowledge. . Our young men and maidens" have an exceedingly interesting task before them if they determine upon the acquisition of a knowledge of the buried past.

A systematic study of ancient folk-lore and legend will often cast a bright light upon many historical obscurities, and the following pages have been written to exhibit this truth, and emphasise the value we should attach to folk-lore and tradition.

Lord Macaulay says that "A people who takes no pride in the achievements of remote ancestors

will never achieve anything worthy to be rememberd by remote descendants." The writer has endeavoured to recall some of the episodes of the Silurian nation-a nation who defied the cohorts of Imperial Rome for 25 years-"that old and haughty nation, proud in arms." He has likewise endeavoured to unfold, by deductive reasoning founded upon a few scattered facts and legends, the story of the introduction of Christianity into Britain, and the mighty struggle the new faith had with the strongholds of Druidism and Roman Paganiam, before it could master the prejudices and beliefs of the people.

The lesson taught us by a study of past epochs shows how many are our obligations to our progenitors, and that we can never repay them for the precious heritage they bequeathed to us. Cromwell truly observed, "What are all our histories but God unfolding himself to the nations?" It is the duty, therefore, of every citizen to read attentively the story of his ancestors.

The beautiful sentiments expressed by Whittier-that large-minded Quaker poet of America— should be remembered by all who search after the Light and the Truth :

"We search the world for truth; we cull

The good, the pure, the beautiful

From graven stone and written scroll,

And, weary seekers of the best,

We come back, laden from our quest,

To find that all the sages said

Is in the Book our mothers read."

THE AUTHOR.

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I.

Primeval Condition of the British Islands.-The Severn Watershed and its Inhabitants.-

The Tawe and its Valley.-Advent of Man on the Banks of the Tawe and Usk