and Mid-Wales, a good part of Western England, and a glimpse of
Scotland and Ireland. The vision faded all too quickly, but it was
worth walking thirty-three or thirty-four miles, as I did that day,
for even a briefer view than that.

Referring to Llyn Coblynau this interesting writer says--

Only from Glaslyn would the description in _Aylwin_ of y Wyddfa
standing out against the sky 'as narrow and as steep as the sides of
an acorn' be correct, but from the north and north-west sides of
Glaslyn this answers with quite curious exactness to the appearance
of the mountain. We must suppose the action of the story to have
taken place before the revival of the copper-mining industry on
Snowdon.

With regard, however, to the question here raised, I can save myself
all trouble by simply quoting the admirable remarks of _Sion o
Ddyli_ in the same number of _Notes and Queries:_--

None of us are very likely to succeed in placing this llyn, because
the author of _Aylwin_, taking a privilege of romance often
taken by Sir Walter Scott before him, probably changed the
landmarks in idealising the scene and adapting it to his story. It
may be, indeed, that the Welsh name given to the llyn in the book
is merely a rough translation of the gipsies' name for it, the
'Knockers' being gnomes or goblins of the mine; hence 'Coblynau'
equals goblins. If so, the name itself can give us no clue unless
we are lucky enough to secure the last of the Welsh gipsies for a
guide. In any case, the only point from which to explore Snowdon
for the small llyn, or perhaps llyns (of which Llyn Coblynau is a