BRECKNOCKSHIRE, a county of South Wales. bounded by Radnor on the north, the counties of Cardi gan and Caermarthen on the west, Herefordshire and Monmouthshire on the east, and by Monmouthshire and Glamorganshire on the south. It is said to derive its name from Breean, famous in legendary story, who succeeded to it about the commencement of the fifth Century. This county is about 35 miles in length, 30 in breadth, and 100 in circumference ; containing 512,000 acres of land, 232,000 of which are in a state of cultivation ; and 185,600 are waste, and unfit for cul ture. It is divided into the six hundreds of Biulth, Crickhowcl, Devynnock, Merthyr, Penkelly, and Tal garth : Its market towns, are Brecknock, Biulth, Crick howel, hay ; it has 62 parishes, containing 6315 houses, and 31,633 inhabitants ; of whom, 14,346 were returned in 1802, as being employed in agriculture, and 4204 in various trades and manufactures.
Sublimity and beauty are strikingly combined in the general scenery of this country. Its mountains, rising in rugged majesty, are separated from each other by cultivated vales ; or by glades, whose winding rivers are overhung on either side with the rich and varied ver dure of extensive and lofty woods. " Between Slans pyddad and Penpont," says an intelligent tourist, " the scenery is truly enchanting. The Uske, frequently vis ible from the road, flows on the right amidst oaks of the most vivid green, which feather down the hills from the bottom to the very summit. All the rudeness of na ture, and the asperities of surface, arc concealed ; while, for the space of about a mile, every combination of wood, water, and figure of ground, as viewed from the road, unites to constitute the highest perfection of landscape. In majesty and sublimity, the banks of the Wye infi nitely surpass this ; but in point of beauty, we had seen nothing comparable to this scene." Beyond Penpont, however, the scenery loses much of its interest. The country becomes more uniform and dull in its aspect ; the soil degenerates ; and the hills have nothing attrac tive in their form or appearance, except that they admit of cultivation, which, though it increases their value, diminishes their picturesque effect. The principal mountain in this county is the Vann, or Brecknock Bea con, which is reckoned the loftiest in South Wales. The most important of its rivers, next to the ye, which forms a natural boundary between this county and Radnor, is the Uske, rising from the Black Moun tain, and flowing through a fine valley towards the town of Brecknock.
The system of agriculture pursued in Brecknock shire, is nearly the same as that observed in the conti guous county of Hereford ; and the whole district abounds in all the necessary articles of subsistence. Its chief commodities are corn, cattle, fish, and otter's fur, besides woollen cloth, and stockings. Near the bor ders of GlAnorganshire, which abound with coal and iron ore, several forges and iron founderies have lately been established.
This county appears to have been governed by native princes till the reign of William Rufus, when Bernard de Newmark invaded it with a large body of English and Normans, and reduced it to subjection. To secure his new conquest, he built castles in various parts of it, and the government of them to his principal officers. IVIth the same view, lie married Nest, grand daughter of one of the native princes, whose revenge ful spirit involved her lord in endless trouble, and who was so abandoned as to cause her son to be disinherited, by swearing falsely to Henry I., that he was the fruit of an unlawful amour. The lordship progressively passed to Milo Earl of Hereford, and his sons ; to Humphrey do Bohune ; to Philip Bruse ; to Thomas Plantagenet, sixth son of Edward Il l ; and afterwards to the duke dom of Buckingham, till an attainder vested it in the crown. At the Restoration, James Butler, afterwards duke of Ormond, was created earl of Brecknock.
Besides the antiquities already mentioned in our ac count of the town of Brecknock, there is a causeway running nearly at right angles with the isker, and lead ing probably to the great Roman camp in the neigh bourhood. Another Roman road has been discovered near the bridge of Capel Rhyd y Briw, and another along the top of unfrequented mountains. In a field near Brecknock there has also been discovered a Ro man hypocaust.
This county is represented by one member in parlia ment. See Pennant's Tour in !Vales ; Malkin's Scenery, Antiquities, and Biography of South IVales ; Evan's Cambrian Itinerary ; Letters describing a Tour in South frales, by a Pedestrian Traveller ; Itinerary of Are/ibis/Jolt Baldwin t hrough Wales, A. D. 1108, by Gi raldus de Barri, illustrated with Views, Annotations, &c. by Sir Colt Hoare, Bart. 2 vols. 4to. London, 1806 ; and An Original Tour in Wales, in the fourth volume of Philip's Modern Voyages and Travels. (k)