CAERMARTHEN

CAERMARTHEN, or CARMARTHEN (Welsh Caerfyrddin), the capital of the county of the same name, a market and borough town 183 miles north by west from London, beautifully situated in the vale of the Tow. The river is navigable up to the town, and there is a considerable export trade carried on in tin-plates, cast-iron, slates, timber, and agricultural produce. Owing to the disgracefully neglected state of the river, only vessels of moderate draught can enter; and indeed, masters of vessels have generally an objection to freights for this port. It is now probable, since the South Wales railway has been opened, that the shipping trade of Caermarthen will fall into a state of decay.

The streets are generally narrow, but the houses are well built, and altogether the town has the appearance of a place of considerable importance. The church of St Peter's is a venerable edifice, and contains some curious monuments,

among which is that of the celebrated Sir Rhys ap Thomas and his lady. Sir Richard Steele is also buried here. There is another church belonging to the Establishment called St David's, a plain structure. There are two Baptist, two Wesleyan, two Independent, one Unitarian, and two Calvinistic Methodist chapels. There is a large and well conducted training college here for Welsh teachers; and there are two grammar-schools on public foundations. There are also two infirmaries, and a literary and scientific institution, the lectures at which are well attended. The town also possesses a county-hall and a handsome new music-hall. The county gaol is built on the site of the very ancient castle. There is a granite obelisk erected to the memory of Sir Thomas Picton, and a bronze statue to General Nott, who were both natives of the town.

Caernarvon has figured as an important place from the earliest period. It was the Maridunum of the Romans, and is supposed to have derived its present name from Caer, a fortified place, and Myddin, the British name of the celebrated wizard Merlin, who was a native of the place. It gives the title of Marquis to the Duke of Leeds.

The corporation consists of a mayor, 6 aldermen, and 18 councillors. It returned a member to parliament for itself from 1536 to the period of the Reform act. Since that time it has been associated with Llanelli in returning one member; constituency in 1832, 684; in 1852, 849. The political influence is chiefly in the hands of Earl Cawdor. The assessed taxes yield annually £2192, and the annual value of real property paying income-tax is £55,250. There are markets on Wednesdays and Saturdays, and several fairs in the course of the year. The quarter sessions and assizes are held here. Pop. in 1851 10,524; inhabited houses 1800.

CAERNARVON or CAERNARVONSHIRE (Welsh Caern-arfon), a maritime county of North Wales, is bounded on the north by Beaumaris Bay; on the east by Denbigh; on the S.E. by part of Merioneth; on the S.W. by Cardigan Bay, and on the west by the Irish Sea and the Menai Straits. There are two small detached portions of the county on the north coast of Denbighshire; one of these forms the Great Ormes Head; and the other is a few miles further east. The greatest length of this county is from N.E. to S.W., and, exclusive of the detached portions, it measures about 53 miles; its greatest breadth from S.W. to N.E. is about 23 miles. Nearly one-half of its whole length forms a peninsula varying from five to nine miles in width, projecting in a S.W. direction into the Irish Sea, and forming Cardigan bay on the south, and Caernarvon bay on the north. This county possesses an area of 579 square miles, or 370,273 acres, and is thus the ninth largest of the Welsh counties. Arfon was the original name of this district, and from this, and Caer—a fortified place—the present name is derived.

The lower Silurian and Cambrian beds may be termed the basis of the geological features of this county; but they are so completely penetrated in every direction by intrusive igneous rocks, that there is hardly a square mile of surface in the whole county free from their presence. These consist chiefly of compact felspar, felspathic traps, greenstone, and quartz phyllites. On the west, along the shore of the Menai Straits, there is a narrow belt of carboniferous limestone; of this the Great Ormes Head is also composed; and on the western side of the peninsular part of the county is a broad band of chlorite and mica schist. Caernarvon is rich in mineral treasures; for besides lead and copper lodes, its numerous slate quarries are amongst the most valuable mineral properties in the united kingdom, and yield princely incomes to the fortunate possessors, besides furnishing employment to many thousands of workmen. It is calculated that the workmen and their families who are supported by the slate quarries of Col Pennant alone number fully 12,000 people.

Caernarvon is the most mountainous of all the Welsh counties, and its mountains are the grandest of any in the British islands south of the Forth. The Snowdon range fills up the whole of the centre of the county; and, with its lofty summits rising to the height of between three and four thousand feet, throws an air of grandeur and sublimity over the scenery, which is of the most romantic and beautiful description. The summit of Snowdon itself is 3571 feet above the level of the sea, and it is surrounded by a phalanx of giants, many of them but little lower than itself. Among the more important of these, within the county, are the Glyder Fawr, 3300 feet; the Glyder Bach, 3000 feet; the Moel Siabod, 2878 feet; Moel Hebog, 2584 feet; Aran, 2473 feet; Craig Goch, 2350 feet; Carnedd Dafydd, 3427 feet; and Carnedd Llewelyn, 2460 feet in height. The upper part of the mountain is generally enveloped in clouds. The rocks of which the Snowdonian range is composed are for the most part of a very bold and rugged description, which adds to the impressiveness of their immense masses.

Some of the valleys are characterized by the extreme of wild and rugged grandeur, being walled in by naked rocks, and traversed by foaming torrents dashing through them with angry roar and race-horse speed; while others are marked by soft and smiling beauty. Among the former may be mentioned the gorge at Pont Aberglaslyn, while Nant Gwynant with its placid lake and verdant meadows will serve as an illustration of the latter. The vales of Beddgelert and Llanberis, the former at the southern, and the latter at the northern base of Snowdon, have a world-wide reputation for beauty; and the vale of the Conway from Llanrwst to Conway is a noble piece of scenery, backed as it is on its southern border by the Snowdon range.

The only river of importance in the county is the Conway (Welsh Conwy). It rises in Llyn Conwy, in the S.E. corner of the county; and after separating Caernarvon from Denbigh, in a nearly due north course of about 30 miles, falls into the sea at Conway. It is a tidal river, and navigable for about 10 miles from Conway. The Seint, a small stream, rises in Snowdon, and falls into the sea at Caernarvon.

The lakes are very numerous, and some of them are of considerable size. The more important are the lakes of Llanberis, to the north of Snowdon; Llyn Ogwen to the north of the Glyder Fawr; Llyn Cwlyd, and Llyn Eiggau, both to the north of Capel Careg; Llyn Llydau on Snowdon; Llyn Cwellyn to the east, and Llyn Gwynant to the west of that mountain; Llyniau Nant y Clef near Llanllyfyn; and Llyn Conwy, already referred to.

The climate is cold and severe during the winter, except in the peninsular part of the county and on the sea-coast, where it is very mild. The arable land occupies not more than one-fortieth part of the whole surface; and this is mostly in the vale of Conway, or in the neighbourhood of the sea. A small quantity of wheat is raised; but the principal cultivated crops are barley, oats, and here. The alluvial deposit in some of the valleys forms a rich and fertile soil, which is chiefly employed as meadow land. Dairy and sheep-farming form the chief employment of the agricultural population; and on the hills great numbers of diminutive ponies are reared, which at two years old find a steady sale in the English market. Agriculture is in a very backward state; and the farmers are a very poor ignorant race of men, without capital or energy, but very industrious and saving; often living more penuriously than the poorest day labourer. The farm buildings and cottages throughout the greater part of the county are of a very wretched description.

A railway has lately been opened from Bangor to Caernarvon along the coast, and there are admirable private railways worked by locomotive power laid down through the

Caernarvon. mountains from the slate quarries to the ports of shipment, at each of which—Bangor, Port Dinorwic, Caernarvon, and Portmadoc—a prodigious amount of shipping is employed, in transporting the slates to different parts of the kingdom, to the continent of Europe, and to America. This county boasts of possessing some of the grandest works of scientific skill in existence—the Menai and Conway suspension bridges, constructed by the celebrated Telford as parts of the Great Holyhead road from London; and the famous tubular bridges constructed by Mr Robert Stephenson for carrying the Chester and Holyhead railway over the estuary of the Conway and the Menai Straits.

The principal towns are Conway (Welsh Aberconwy), Bangor, Caernarvon, Pwllheli, Criccieth, and Tremadoc, all on the coast. The county returns one member to parliament, and has done so since 1536. The political influence is chiefly in the hands of the Marquis of Anglesey and Mr Douglas Pennant—the owner of the Bangor slate quarries. Constituency in 1852, 1913. The average gross rental of the county is 8s. 7d. per acre; and the annual value of real property paying income-tax is L.251,044.

The population of the county, by the last census, was 87,870; giving an average of 151 persons to a square mile, or 4.2 acres to each person. Of the total number, 42,978 were males, and 44,892 females. The number of inhabited houses was 18,005; uninhabited, 590; building, 132; giving an average of 31 inhabited houses to a square mile, and 4.9 persons to a house. The following table gives the census returns for the last 50 years:—

It is calculated that about a fourth part of the whole population are in the condition of labourers, servants, &c. About 12 per cent. live by agriculture, and about 7 per cent. by trade; while upwards of 2000 persons possess independent means, and about 400 follow professions.

In 1847 the total number of the children of the working classes at day-schools within the county was 5867. The total number of schools was 79, of which 47 were Church or National, with 3994 scholars; 5 British and Foreign, with 695 scholars; 5 other denominations, with 378 scholars; 1 Workhouse, with 36 scholars; and 21 Adventure, with 764 scholars. It appears that the average annual income of each teacher from all sources was L.33, 2s. 9d. The total number of Sunday-schools was 236, with 26,763 scholars; of these, 16 were Church of England, with 1455 scholars; 17 Baptist, with 1174 scholars; 131 Calvinistic Methodist, with 18,071 scholars; 49 Independent, with 3998 scholars; and 24 Wesleyan Methodist, with 2065 scholars. In 200 of these schools instruction was given in the Welsh language only; 6 in the English language only; and in 24 in both tongues; in 6 not ascertained. Nearly the whole population use the Welsh language habitually, and their manners and customs are for the most part purely Welsh.

CAERNARVON or CARNARVON (Caernarfon), the capital of the county of the above name, a market and borough town, 210 miles N.W. from London, pleasantly situated on the eastern shore of Caernarvon Bay, in the Irish Sea, at the mouth of the Seoint. There are some handsome streets, and many of the houses are large, well-built, and excellent. This town has long been famous for the celebrated castle of Edward I., in which Edward II. was born, as arranged by his astute father, in the hope of attaching the turbulent Welsh chieftains to a prince born in their own land. This splendid pile is situated at the S.W. corner of the town, close on the beach, and although entirely unroofed, possesses

a grand and imposing appearance. A considerable portion of the town wall near the castle is still entire. The parish church is nearly half a mile from the town. In the town itself there is a chapel of ease, and several large and commodious dissenting chapels. There are also a town and county hall, a training college for teachers, and handsome schools. The town also possesses assembly rooms and a theatre.

The borough has formed part of a district which has returned a member to parliament since 1536. The Reform bill added Bangor to the district, which still returns one member. The contributing boroughs are Caernarvon, Conway, Criccieth, Pwllheli, Bangor, and Nevin. Constituency in 1852, 861. The political influence is in the hands of Colonel Douglas Pennant and Mr Ashton Smith. The assessed taxes yield annually L.2498. The annual value of real property paying income-tax is L.36,503. Pop. in 1851, 8674. Inhabited houses 1723. There is a weekly market on Saturdays, and four fairs in the course of the year. The quarter sessions and assizes are held here. There is a considerable trade carried on in slates. The coasting trade, shipbuilding, and fisheries, also employ a considerable number of the inhabitants.