bridge across the Irfon, in a dingle now called Cwm Llewellyn, on the Breconshire side of the Wye, about three miles westward of Builth. The crafty reversal of the horse's shoes by the traitorous blacksmith Madoc-goch-min-mawr, occurred during this period. The fidelity of the garrison of Builth was suspected, and as events proved, very justly so. The garrison, probably overawed by the proximity of the stronger party under Mortimer and Gifford, whose intentions were to surprise Llewellyn at Aberedw by crossing the river Wye at Cafan Twm Bach, refused assistance, whereupon Llewellyn rode towards his retainers at Cwm Llewellyn dingle, where, after a confused onslaught, his dead body was found, which, after decapitation, was buried at Cefn-y-bedd-Llewellyn, "the ridge of Llewellyn's grave," in Breconshire, at the intersection of two roads three miles westward of Builth. The Rev. Thomas Thomas, in his very valuable Memoirs of Owen Glendower, says, p. 14, that Helias Walwyn, a native of these parts, pointed out to the English a ford below the bridge. The Welsh, attacked both in front and rear, gave way, the remainder of the English passed over the bridge, and when this information reached Llewellyn, he calmly replied, "he would not stir from thence though the whole power of England was on the other side of the river." In the same work on page 15 he records the tradition that the eventful journey with the reversed horse's shoes occurred in the attempt to proceed from Aberedw Castle to confer with the lords of Llandovery, and that being betrayed by the blacksmith, he was pursued and killed in a field about two miles above Buallt, or Builth, and six from his own castle. The account, recorded somewhat fully in Transactions 1866, page 230, states that Llewellyn destroyed the bridge at Builth. Roscoe, in his South Wales, p. 83, admitting the discrepancy of historians, gives a version of the story which, he says, is supported by the authority of an ancient manuscript document. Rather than make confusion worse confounded by adding another version of our own interpretation of the various conflicting statements, we should feel a deep debt of gratitude to anyone who would inform us to what ancient manuscript Roscoe refers, or, better still, amongst what archives it is deposited, and we would, if we could obtain access to it, promise to publish that authority for the benefit of readers of history which Roscoe has omitted.

Before leaving this historic neighbourhood, it must be noticed that Wordsworth writes concerning his principal character in Peter Bell, that "the countenance, gait, and figure of Peter were taken from a wild rover with whom I walked from Builth, on the river Wye downwards, as far as the town of Hay. He told me strange stories."-See the introduction to Peter Bell in the posthumous edition, 1857, of Knight's Life of Wordsworth.

From Llewellyn's Cave the members, separating into parties, radiated in different directions. The majority preferred the invigorating walk over the open country of Llandeilo Hill, diverging either to Llandeilo-graban Church, thence to the summit of Garth Hill, 1,065 feet high; others walked to the pool called Bwch-llyn; some found the Aberedw Rocks and the river scenery the most attractive ground. Wherever they may have gone, it was observed that a sort of centripetal attraction brought the whole party assembled together shortly before six o'clock at a comfortable hostelry called the Boat Inn, prettily situated on the

Wye, opposite Cafan-Twm-Bach, only three minutes walking distance from Erwood railway station.

Concerning Llandeilo-graban Church, with the remark that the churchyard with its two venerable yew trees deserved a more extended examination of some of its quaint monumental records, we give the following details furnished by Mr. Robert Clarke :-This is another building of the usual Welsh type, consisting of a nave, a chancel, divided from it by a tall pointed arch, a tower at the west end, and a porch on the south side. On the west side of the porch is a singular walledup recess, and in an angle a holy water stoup remains in the wall. The interior is in a sad condition requiring repairs. The roof is ribbed in oak, with carved bosses in the nave, on some of which the colouring remains very well preserved, at the intersections, and plastered between. The font, an octagonal bowl upon a square shaft, is ancient. The screen, described in Rev. Jonathan Williams's History of Radnorshire, has entirely disappeared, only a couple of perpendicular pinnacles remaining, in an inverted position in the pulpit. The descent from Llandeilograban Church to Erwood Station, distant one mile, is along the western side of the gorge occupied by the brook called Nant Henllan. But if Garth Hill is to be visited the brook must be crossed by the bridge, near which, upon the left, is an old quarry. This quarry, representing a vertical exposure of twelve to fifteen feet, escaped the observation of the geologists. Its horizontal beds, furnishing blocks ten to twelve inches high, were composed of a better description of stone than the laminated upper tile stones of the Ludlow series so frequently met with in this locality, being such stone as would apparently be readily dressed for angles and quoins, or, as Mr. Robert Clarke expresses it, may be termed in building work a good block stone.

Garth Hill, 1,065 feet high, one mile eastward of Erwood Station as the crow flies, the walking distance being much increased by the declivities of the intervening ground, must not be confounded with Garth Hill, about 800 feet high, in Breconshire, one mile south-east of Builth Wells. Those who ascended this conical hill were amply rewarded by the magnificent panorama thence displayed, exhibiting one of the most extensive views of the river Wye that can be found anywhere. On the summit is a small circular ancient encampment, with its entrance upon the east side, contiguous to which upon its south side is another singly entrenched earthwork nearly square in plan. The two carneddau, or cairns, mentioned in the Rev. Jonathan Williams's History of Radnorshire, remain in situ, and are now overgrown with grassy turf.

Craig y-pwll-ddu, the rock of the black pool, is distant, as the crow flies, nearly one mile eastward of Garth Hill. This remoteness, however, is very much extended by the sinuosities of the approaches, and the broken character of the ground. Those who have visited these savage looking rocks inform us that the access to this very romantic waterfall of the river Bachhowey, and the descent to the pool, are more easily and safely made from Boughrood, by the southern side of the river. The river has worn a steep, narrow, and gloomy chasm in the rocks; the remarkable contortions of the Ludlow rocks here, caused by lateral pressure when neighbouring elevations were upheaved by volcanic agency, have not been visited

by the Club since July 18th, 1867, but if the geologists could persuade some of our amateur photographers to accompany them, the Club would easily be persuaded to have a Field-day in so lovely a spot.

Bwch-llyn pool, of which a legend is narrated in Mr. Edmund Cheese's interesting paper on Rhosgoch, in Woolhope Transactions, 1870, page 184, is 1,900 feet in its greatest length, by 900 feet in its greatest width. Those who failed to visit this pool lost the beautiful picture there displayed of acres of yellow lilies in flower. One gentleman narrated that the shore of this pool was the only place where he had ever seen an unfledged snipe; the strange form and ungainly appearance it presented, with its long legs and prominent long beak, made such an impression upon him as to excite his sense of the ludicrous whenever its recollection occurs to his mind. This pool, under the spelling of Boughlinne, is mentioned by Leland in Itinerary, Vol. 5, page 72, he says there is "a Llyinne, in Low Elvel, within a mile of Payne's Castel, by the Church Llanpeder. The Lline is called Boughlline, and is of no great quantity, but is plentiful of pike, and perche, and eles." In fact, Leland seems, in this Itinerary, 1533 to 1540, to have followed the footsteps of Giraldus Cambrensis, who started from Radnor in 1188.

The ninety-eight species of plants met with to-day will be found recorded in Mr. Augustin Ley's "Notes on the Botany of Aberedw and the District." Of geological fossils there were but few found by the Rev. J. D. La Touche, and his son, Mr. Thomas La Touche, of the Indian Geological Survey. Amongst the finds may be named Orthonota amygdalina, Rhynconella nucula, Orthis elegantula, and Chonetes striatella of the Ludlow rocks. For further records of the fossils of this locality see Transactions, 1865, page 134; and for further information about the locality reference should be made to Transactions, 1866, p. 230; 1871, page 4; 1874, page 8; 1879, page 181, and to Records of the Rocks, page 238.

FIRST CONTRIBUTION

ABEREDW,

TOWARDS A FLORA OF

RADNORSHIRE.

By the Rev. AUGUSTIN LEY, M.A.

THE following notes relate chiefly to the lower part of the valley of the Edw, together with the hills which bound it on both sides. A few particulars are also added when anything which was thought of interest is known with regard to the plants of other stations in the immediate neighbourhood; always, however, confining the remarks made to the country lying on the left, or Radnorshire bank of the Wye, and never in any case trespassing on the Breconshire flora.

The notes represent chiefly the fruit of a four days' visit (from the 10th to the 14th May) in the spring of 1886, at which period, however, many of the plants were too little advanced to be studied with advantage; two short visits in June and August, 1890; and two or three flying visits lying between 1886 and 1890. One or two records of earlier years are introduced. On none of these occasions, except that in 1886, was more than an hour or two spent in the neighbourhood. These visits included one long walk from Aberedw as far up the stream as Cregrina and Glascwm Hill, two or three visits to Llanbwchllyn pool and hills lying between it and Aberedw, with several walks along the interesting banks of the Wye near Erwood station, and between this point and Aberedw. The fragmentary character of the opportunities thus utilised must be my apology for the fragmentary information which I have placed together in these notes. They must strictly be regarded as a contribution towards a Flora of the district, and by no means can they claim to be anything more. It is hoped that others, with larger opportunities, may undertake similar work for some of the many river basins of Brecon and Radnor shires, especially those which belong to the system of the Wye, in which the Woolhope Club can claim an especial interest. All such local work would, moreover, contribute towards a Flora of Radnorshire, which is at present a desideratum.

The Edw is one of the smaller affluents of the Wye, draining that part of the centre of Radnorshire which lies between Radnor Forest on the east and the larger Ithon Valley on the west. Its upper part is rather flat, but for the lower six miles of its course the valley becomes narrow and deeper. This narrow part begins shortly above Cregrina Church and hamlet, and continues down to its junction with the Wye at Aberedw. The valley and hills which bound it in this lower part support what must be termed on the whole a decidedly poor vegetation, both phanerogamic and cryptogamic. The sides of the hills bounding the river valley are steep, and the valley is very narrow-averaging not more than three-quarters of a mile across from brow to brow of the hills. These steep hillsides are mostly cultivated and enclosed, but with small woods on the steeper portions, and occasionally open ground descending to the river bank. Immediately before its junction with the Wye the valley becomes still narrower, and the

hills higher, forming a small wooded, rocky, and tortuous gorge, through which the streamlet winds, to lose itself in the larger Wye. This gorge affords by far the most interesting ground for the naturalist in the neighbourhood, and has become a favourite resort for pic-nicers since the railway has been made, and a railway station established at Aberedw. On the north side lies the little village, with its interesting old Church, and too faint and obliterated remains of the old castle. The gorge on this side rises with a nearly bare perpendicular rock of about 150 feet. On the south side the gorge forms a curve of steep, rocky hill rising to 250 or 300 feet. The bosom of this curve is filled with old wood, which seems clearly a remnant of the aboriginal forest of the country. The hill rising to the south behind this gorge is singularly broken and rocky, the individual rocks and their ranges forming curious castle-like tiers and towers, bare or crowned with stunted bushes.

The hills do not generally rise much above 1,000 feet, Llandeilo and Glascwin hills being the highest in the neighbourhood. The latter will probably be nearly 2,000 feet; and from its summit a very extensive view is gained, comprising what we may-with the help of a little imagination—call the whole of the Wye Valley: Plynlimmon being distinctly traceable in the N.N. W., and the Forest of Dean group of hills in the distant S. E. I do not know another point from which so wide a panorama of the Wye is gained. The tops of the hills are flattish, and support a very poor vegetation; they are mostly formed of dry short turf. Ling appears in beds at a very few spots (Llandeilo and Glascwm hills). There is no bog or peat, except to a small extent at the Mawn pools, Glascwm. The pieces of water, if one may dignify them with such a name, are mere small pools, with no interest, and supporting no vegetation except of the lowest orders. The small cwms or dingles in the hill sides are generally poor and not deep, though tolerably rocky. The portion of Llandeilo hill rising immediately above the Wye is the most rocky and interesting of the group, and here several of the less common Grimmias should be discovered.

One exception must be made, when speaking of the poorness of the pieces of water, in Llanbwchllyn Pool: an imposing lakelet lying in lower ground, immediately to the S. E. of Llandeilo hill, of a mile long by more than broad. This pleasing pool has flat marshy banks, which support a large Grass and Sedge vegetation. It lies in a wild sequestered spot, with no houses or cultivation beyond a single small farm near. It is well worth a naturalist's visit, be he ornithologist, entomologist, or botanist.

The banks of the Wye hardly come within the scope of this paper. We mention them, however, because mention will be made in the following notes of a few plants which inhabit them. This district of the Wye, from the Three Cocks to Builth, is of exceptional interest, and deserves a separate paper, which should take in the Breconshire as well as the Radnorshire banks.

The large handsome lake-side Meadow Rue occurs on the banks of the Wye near Erwood. The pretty Water Crowfoot, which forms so bright an ornament of the Wye in Herefordshire, is absent in this district. The large Spearwort, the largest of the British species, is to be found at Llanbwchllyn Pool; here also, and