'There is no district in South which abounds so much in picturesque and romantic views. Before the traveller can reach them, indeed, it is often necessary to pass over some very bleak and dreary ground. But he is amply repaid for this, by the interesting scenery which he is sure to meet with. It is on a pretty large scale, and in very fine style, exhibiting the grand and the beautiful, both singly and in combination. A very particular and excellent description of its more striking parts, is to be found in the work of Alalkin, referred to at the end of this article.
Though the people understand English better than they appear to do, the language of Cardiganshire is almost wholly Welsh. As the judges are English, the intervention of an interpreter becomes necessary: this circumstance occasions great inconvenience, and some cry absurd and unfair decisions. The inhabitants, how ever, do not suffer much from this cause in a religious point of view ; because the church services are almost universally performed in Welsh, so that none but the genteel part of the congregation are prevented from deriving benefit. The dialect which is spoken in this county, comes nearer than that in any other to the modern literary or written dialect.
The inhabitants of this part of Wales are peculiarly simple in their manners ; they get but small wages for their labour ; their mode of living is extremely coarse ; their mud-walled cottages, (for they have no good stone for building, and no lime,) are ugly without, and squalid within ; their internal intercourse, and their communica tion with other places, are very rare ; they are seldom known to emigrate from the narrow spot of their nativity ; and, like most other people in their circumstances, they are much given to hospitality.
The Bay of Cardigan, which bounds the west side of this county, abounds in various kinds of fish. There are cod, whitings, herrings, he. In catching these, a great number of people find employment in the proper seasons. The monk-fish, otherwise called the angel fish, is also found here in plenty, and sometimes so large as to weigh 160 pounds. It is said that blue sharks, of a monstrous size, have been sometimes seen ; but from the description given of the fish, this is probably a mis take. In the river Tivy, very fine salmon are caught ;
and in the various streams which water this county, all the common fresh water fish are to be met with.
The only manufactures of any consequence in this county, are the iron and tin works, which where establish ed in the neighbourhood of Cardigan, about 50 years ago, and which are still carried On to a considerable ex tent. From the want of good harbours, the maritime trade of Cardiganshire is comparatively trifling. The chief exports are iron; tin, black cattle, pigs, salt butter, barley, and oats. At the large fairs, of which there are several, a good deal of business is transacted in the staple commodities of the county. Rhosvair, in particular, a place near the source of the Tivy, is celebrated for its fairs of sheep and black cattle. A great proportion of the wool is spun and manufactured by the inhabitants for their own use. The rest, more especially the coarser part of it, is mostly sent to the English market.
Cardiganshire is, at an average, about 40 miles in length, and 20 in breadth. It contains 726 square miles, or 464,640 acres, of which about 145,000 are in pas turage, about 100,000 in a course of tillage, and the rest in waste, plantations, he. It is divided into five hun dreds, viz. Gencurglyn, Ilar, Moyddyn, Pennarth, and Troedyroyr ; has five market-towns, viz. Aberystwith, Cardigan, Llanbadarnvawr, Llanbeder, and Tregaron ; contains 77 parishes, and sends one member to parlia ment. It lies in the province of Canterbury, and diocese of St David's, and is included in the North Wales cir cuit. In 1801, the number of houses in it was 9040, and of inhabitants 42,956 ; of these, 20,408 were males, and 22,548 females ; 2896 were employed in trade and manu factures, and 16,511 in agricultural pursuits. In 1811, the population was 50,260. In 1806, it paid 175,2131. of property-tax ; and, in 1803, it paid one part of the land-tax, and 10,1671. of poor's-rate. See the Descrip tion of England and Wales, vol. i. p. 282 ; A Tour in Wales, f.:c. in the Summer of 1805, in Phillips' Collection, vol. iv. ; Agricultural Survey of Cardiganshire ; and Malkin's Scenery, Antiquities, &c. cf South Wales, vol. ii. (1)