Two gla.s.ses of whiskey-and-water were presently brought, and the landlord and I drank to each other"s health.
"Is this a sheep district?" said I, after a pause of a minute or two.
"Yes, sir!" said the landlord; "it may to a certain extent be called a sheep district."
"I suppose the Southdown and Norfolk breeds would not do for these here parts," said I with a regular Norfolk whine.
"No, sir! I don"t think they would exactly," said the landlord, staring at me. "Do you know anything about sheep?"
"Plenty, plenty," said I; "quite as much indeed as about Welsh words and poetry." Then in a yet more whining tone than before, I said, "Do you think that a body with money in his pocket could hire a comfortable sheep farm hereabouts?"
"O sir!" said the landlord in a furious tone, "you have come to look out for a farm, I see, and to outbid us poor Welshmen; it is on that account you have studied Welsh; but, sir, I would have you know-"
"Come," said I, "don"t be afraid; I wouldn"t have all the farms in your country, provided you would tie them in a string and offer them to me.
If I talked about a farm it was because I am in the habit of talking about everything, being versed in all matters, do you see, or affecting to be so, which comes much to the same thing. My real business in this neighbourhood is to see the Devil"s Bridge and the scenery about it."
"Very good, sir!" said the landlord; "I thought so at first. A great many English go to see the Devil"s Bridge and the scenery near it, though I really don"t know why, for there is nothing so very particular in either. We have a bridge here too quite as good as the Devil"s Bridge; and as for scenery, I"ll back the scenery about this house against anything of the kind in the neighbourhood of the Devil"s Bridge. Yet everybody goes to the Devil"s Bridge and n.o.body comes here."
"You might easily bring everybody here," said I, "if you would but employ your talent. You should celebrate the wonders of your neighbourhood in cowydds, and you would soon have plenty of visitors; but you don"t want them, you know, and prefer to be without them."
The landlord looked at me for a moment, then taking a sip of his whiskey-and-water, he turned to the man with whom he had previously been talking, and recommenced the discourse about sheep. I made no doubt, however, that I was a restraint upon them; they frequently glanced at me, and soon fell to whispering. At last both got up and left the room; the landlord finishing his gla.s.s of whiskey-and-water before he went away.
"So you are going to the Devil"s Bridge, sir!" said an elderly man, dressed in a grey coat with a broad-brimmed hat, who sat on the settle smoking a pipe in company with another elderly man with a leather hat, with whom I had heard him discourse, sometimes in Welsh, sometimes in English, the Welsh which he spoke being rather broken.
"Yes!" said I, "I am going to have a sight of the bridge and the neighbouring scenery."
"Well, sir, I don"t think you will be disappointed, for both are wonderful."
"Are you a Welshman?" said I.
"No, sir! I am not; I am an Englishman from Durham, which is the best county in England."
"So it is," said I; "for some things, at any rate. For example, where do you find such beef as in Durham?"
"Ah, where indeed, sir? I have always said that neither the Devonshire nor the Lincolnshire beef is to be named in the same day with that of Durham."
"Well," said I, "what business do you follow in these parts? I suppose you farm?"
"No, sir! I do not; I am what they call a mining captain."
"I suppose that gentleman," said I, motioning to the man in the leather hat, "is not from Durham?"
"No, sir, he is not; he is from the neighbourhood."
"And does he follow mining?"
"No, sir, he does not; he carries about the letters."
"Is your mine near this place?" said I.
"Not very, sir; it is nearer the Devil"s Bridge."
"Why is the bridge called the Devil"s Bridge?" said I.
"Because, sir, "tis said that the Devil built it in the old time, though that I can hardly believe, for the Devil, do ye see, delights in nothing but mischief, and it is not likely that such being the case he would have built a thing which must have been of wonderful service to people by enabling them to pa.s.s in safety over a dreadful gulf."
"I have heard," said the old postman with the leather hat, "that the Devil had no hand in de work at all, but that it was built by a Mynach, or monk, on which account de river over which de bridge is built is called Afon y Mynach-dat is de Monk"s River."
"Did you ever hear," said I, "of three creatures who lived a long time ago near the Devil"s Bridge called the Plant de Bat?"
"Ah, master!" said the old postman, "I do see that you have been in these parts before; had you not you would not know of the Plant de Bat."
"No," said I, "I have never been here before; but I heard of them when I was a boy from a c.u.mro who taught me Welsh, and had lived for some time in these parts. Well, what do they say here about the Plant de Bat? for he who mentioned them to me could give me no further information about them than that they were horrid creatures who lived in a cave near the Devil"s Bridge several hundred years ago."
"Well, master," said the old postman, thrusting his forefinger twice or thrice into the bowl of his pipe, "I will tell you what they says here about the Plant de Bat. In de old time two, three hundred year ago, a man lived somewhere about here called Bat, or Bartholomew; this man had three children, two boys and one girl, who, because their father"s name was Bat, were generally called Plant de Bat, or Bat"s children. Very wicked children they were from their cradle, giving their father and mother much trouble and uneasiness; no good in any one of them, neither in the boys nor the girl. Now the boys, once when they were rambling idly about, lighted by chance upon a cave near the Devil"s Bridge. Very strange cave it was, with just one little hole at top to go in by. So the boys said to one another, "Nice cave this for thief to live in.
Suppose we come here when we are a little more big and turn thief ourselves." Well, they waited till they were a little more big, and then leaving their father"s house they came to de cave and turned thief, lying snug there all day, and going out at night to rob upon the roads. Well, there was soon much talk in the country about the robberies which were being committed, and people often went out in search of de thieves, but all in vain; and no wonder, for they were in a cave very hard to light upon, having as I said before merely one little hole at top to go in by.
So Bat"s boys went on swimmingly for a long time, lying snug in cave by day and going out at night to rob, letting no one know where they were but their sister, who was as bad as themselves, and used to come to them and bring them food, and stay with them for weeks, and sometimes go out and rob with them. But as de pitcher which goes often to de well comes home broke at last, so it happened with Bat"s children. After robbing people upon the roads by night many a long year and never being found out, they at last met one great gentleman upon the roads by night, and not only robbed but killed him, leaving his body all cut and gashed near to Devil"s Bridge. That job was the ruin of Plant de Bat, for the great gentleman"s friends gathered together and hunted after his murderers with dogs, and at length came to the cave, and going in found it stocked with riches, and the Plant de Bat sitting upon the riches, not only the boys but the girl also. So they took out the riches and the Plant de Bat, and the riches they did give to churches and spyttys, and the Plant de Bat they did execute, hanging the boys and burning the girl. That, master, is what they says in dese parts about the Plant de Bat."
"Thank you!" said I. "Is the cave yet to be seen?"
"O yes! it is yet to be seen, or part of it, for it is not now what it was, having been partly flung open to hinder other thieves from nestling in it. It is on the bank of the river Mynach, just before it joins the Rheidol. Many gentlefolk in de summer go to see the Plant de Bat"s cave."
"Are you sure?" said I, "that Plant de Bat means Bat"s children?"
"I am not sure, master; I merely says what I have heard other people say.
I believe some says that it means the wicked children, or the Devil"s children. And now, master, we may as well have done with them, for should you question me through the whole night I could tell you nothing more about the Plant de Bat."
After a little farther discourse, chiefly about sheep and the weather, I retired to the parlour, where the fire was now burning brightly; seating myself before it, I remained for a considerable time staring at the embers and thinking over the events of the day. At length I rang the bell and begged to be shown to my chamber, where I soon sank to sleep, lulled by the pattering of rain against the window and the sound of a neighbouring cascade.
CHAPTER Lx.x.xIII
Wild Scenery-Awful Chasm-John Greaves-Durham County-Queen Philippa-The Two Aldens-Welsh Wife-The n.o.blest Business-The Welsh and the Salve-The Lad John.
A rainy and boisterous night was succeeded by a bright and beautiful morning. I arose, and having ordered breakfast, went forth to see what kind of country I had got into. I found myself amongst wild, strange-looking hills, not, however, of any particular height. The house, which seemed to front the east, stood on the side of a hill on a wide platform ab.u.t.ting on a deep and awful chasm, at the bottom of which chafed and foamed the Rheidol. This river enters the valley of Pont Erwyd from the north-west, then makes a variety of snake-like turns, and at last bears away to the south-east just below the inn. The banks are sheer walls from sixty to a hundred feet high, and the bed of the river has all the appearance of a volcanic rent. A brook running from the south past the inn, tumbles into the chasm at an angle, and forms the cascade whose sound had lulled me to sleep the preceding night.
After breakfasting, I paid my bill, and set out for the Devil"s Bridge without seeing anything more of that remarkable personage in whom were united landlord, farmer, poet, and mighty fine gentleman-the master of the house. I soon reached the bottom of the valley, where are a few houses, and the bridge from which the place takes its name, Pont Erwyd signifying the Bridge of Erwyd. As I was looking over the bridge near which are two or three small waterfalls, an elderly man in a grey coat, followed by a young lad and dog, came down the road which I had myself just descended.
"Good day, sir," said he, stopping, when he came upon the bridge. "I suppose you are bound my road?"
"Ah," said I, recognising the old mining captain with whom I had talked in the kitchen the night before, "is it you? I am glad to see you. Yes!
I am bound your way, provided you are going to the Devil"s Bridge."
"Then, sir, we can go together, for I am bound to my mine, which lies only a little way t"other side of the Devil"s Bridge."