VIII

THROUGH BEAUTIFUL WALES


Of no part of our tour does a pleasanter memory linger than of the five
or six hundred miles on the highways of Wales. The weather was glorious
and no section of Britain surpassed the Welsh landscapes in beauty. A
succession of green hills, in places impressive enough to be styled
mountains, sloping away into wooded valleys, with here and there a
quaint village, a ruined castle or abbey, or an imposing country mansion
breaking on the view--all combined to make our journey through Wales one
of our most pleasing experiences. Historic spots are not far apart,
especially on the border, where for centuries these brave people fought
English invaders--and with wonderful success, considering the greatly
superior number of the aggressors. I have already written of Ludlow and
Shrewsbury on the north, but scarcely less attractive--and quite as
important in early days--are the fine old towns of Hereford and Monmouth
on the southern border.

We were everywhere favorably impressed with the Welsh people as being
thrifty and intelligent. The roadside drinking-houses were not so
numerous as in England, for the Welsh are evidently more temperate in
this regard than their neighbors. My observation in this particular is
borne out by an English writer well qualified to judge. He says: "There
is, of a truth, very little drinking now in rural Wales. The farming
classes appear to be extremely sober. Even the village parliament, which
in England discusses the nation's affairs in the village public house,