GLAMORGANSHIRE, a maritime county in South Wales, is bounded on the north by Cacrmarthenshire and Brecknockshire ; on the south by Merionethshire ; on the east by Monmouthshire, from which it is separated by the river II umsey ; and on the south and west by the Bristol Channel. The greater part of its seacoast swells into a semicircular sweep; but the west extremity is formed into a narrow beak, between the open channel and an arm run ning round the coast of Caermarthen. The county mea sures from east to west 48 miles ; from north to south, at the broadest part, 26 miles : its circumference is 125 miles. It contains 822 square miles, or 526,680 acres.
There is in it one city, Landa IT; one county town, Cardiff; ten hunclrecls, viz. Caerfilly, Cowhridge, Dinas Powis, Rib ber, Langwelack, Miskin, Neath, Newcastle, Op,rmo•e, and Swansea ; eight market towns, and 118 parishes. It re turns two members to parliament, one for the county, and one for Cardiff, and is in the province of Canterbury ; three parts of it are in the diocese of Landaff, the remaining part in the diocese of St David's. There arc in it two deane ries, Landau and Cowbridge; and it pays one part of the land-tax. The north part of the county is very mountain ous and barren ; thinly inhabited, and serving chiefly for the feeding of cattle and sheep. It this part various rivers take their rise, which run to the south through vales, gra dually enlarging; thus forming a middle district tolerably adapted for cultivation, and at last terminating in the great level or vale of Glamorgan. This is a tract extending along the sea-coast to the distance of eight or ten miles inland, the most fertile part in Wales, rich in corn and pasture, and well furnished with coals, lead, iron, and limestone : it is open, but not a dead flat : it has an undulated surface, on a dry substratum of limestone. The land is inclosed with good hedges, mostly hawthorn. To the north and north east, the vale is well sheltered by mountains. To the south, it has the dry, rocky shores of the Bristol channel, without any fens. Another district of Glamorganshire, deserving particular notice, is what is termed Gowerland : it is a tract of country bounded by the Neath and Loughor rivers. Its circuit is between 40 and 50 miles ; in point of landscape, it is inferior to most other parts of the county ; but the ori gin and habits of the people, and its antiquities and curiosi ties, render it highly worthy of attentive examination. It
abounds in many places with deep pits. The cast side is remarkably fruitful and well cultivated. The south-west is inhabited by the successors of a colony of Flemings, pro bably planted there at the same period that the Flemings were settled in Pembrokeshire. They do not understand the Welsh language ; but are distinguished by their dialect and provincial dress, and rarely intermarry with the Welsh. They wear what is called a whittle, made of fine wool, dyed scarlet, nearly a yard square, with a fringe at bottom. This garment is thrown across the shoulders, and fastened with a pin or broach ; anciently it was fastened with the prickle of the black thorn, which is still used by some of the old women.
The climate of the higher parts of Glamorganshire is of course rather severe ; but in the lower districts it is un commonly mild, so that myrtles, magnolias, and other ten der exotics, grow luxuriantly in the open air.
The principal rivers are the Lower Taafe, which rises in the mountains that separate Glamorganshire from Breck nockshire, and traversing a wild district towards the south, falls into the Bay of Glamorgan, near Swansea. The Neath, a much more considerable river than the former, rises in the same mountains, more to the eastward ; de scending from these with great rapidity, it forms a deep valley, through which it flows to the south-west to Neath, where it meets the tide ; and after several windings in the marsh below that town, falls into the Bay of Swansea. The Avon, the Ogmore, and the Ewenny, are three small rivers which cross the vale of Glamorgan, each falling succes sively into Glamorgan Bay. The Taafe rises within the limits of Brecknockshire, considerably to the eastward of the source of the Neath ; soon after passing Merthyr Tyd vil, it precipitates itself into the deep abyss of a vale, forc ing its way with great fury between mountains and woods, till, not far from Caerfilly, it is crossed by the wonderful structure of the Pont-y-Pryd—a stone bridge of a single arch, supposed one of the widest, constructed of masonry, in the world : this bridge springs froM rock to rock, with indescribable lightness and beauty. Several miles lower, the Taafe emerges into a spacious and well-inhabited plain, in which Landuriand Cardiff are situated : flowing through their bridges, it meets the tide, and traverses a broad marsh to fall into the sea, opposite to the high rock of Pennarth.