Welsh Journals

Ancient British Road. 375 throws no light whatever on the history of this place, but the best accounts of it now extant are those of Inigo Jones, and Dr. Stukeley. The road we are tracing thence continued through Enford, Hen-fordd, or the old road to the Devizes, or the divided streets, or divided roads, where it divided itself into three different branches; one of these led westward, another towards South Wales, and the third to North Wales. Here it may be right to observe, before we proceed further, that the ancient Curabri or Cymri, for the sake of water and other necessaries of life, and to avoid mountains, fixed their roads, as well as their habitations, in vales and bottoms, as appears from the names of ancient places both in Gaul and Britain ; and, whenever they had to traverse a deep river, and there were no materials to be had on the spot for erecting bridges, they ex¬ tended the water by widening the channel, and laid therein pebbles and gravel, which made the bed still shallower, and afforded them a good firm passage, as appears by many such fords, which, as well as their ancient names, have remained to this day. When they came to a morass, they constructed a Sam, or causeway of timber, brushwood, earth, and gravel. To continue this road further towards Anglesey, we take it up again near Calne, at a place called Cumerford, or the Cumbri road, situate on the Avon, or river which runs by Bath to Bristol. It continues its course with this river by a third Malford, to Malmsbury, near which it entered Gloucestershire, and went on to Dursley, or the low or little water. After crossing the Severn, it ran along another smaller river, through the forest of Dean to Welsh Birkford, (Welsh Bickror,) on the Wye, and so along the Wye by Watford, or Wales' road, Ross, Rhos, or the morass, and Hew-Caple to Mordeford, Mawrfordd, or the great road, where it crossed the Wye, and continued its course on to Hereford, Hir-fordd, the long road, or, as it is still called in Welsh, Henfordd, the old road; running thence through the middle of Herefordshire, it followed the course of the Wye by Monington, or the mining-town By ford, Winforton, or Min- forton, the town on the road side, and Rhaiadr Gwy, the Wye- fords, in Radnorshire, to its source at the hill of Plynlimon, in Montgomeryshire, probably a place of worship of the Mon Druids. This being a great mining country, the road seems to be divided here into several branches, as over Sam Halen, or the salt-causeway, at Llanbadarn Odyn, in Cardiganshire; another, by Dinas Mywthy, in Merionethshire, through Rhyd'r Halen, or the salt-ford over Sarn, or Fordd'r Halen, or the salt road or causeway at Michneant, by Festiniog to Aberglaslyn, in Caernarvonshire. It afterwards followed the river Glaslyn by Kemeys to its source on Snowdon mountain, from whence it passed along the river Segont to Caersegont, since called Caer-