Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 16.djvu/49

Rh M E K M E K 39 Rhaiadr-y-Glyn near Corwen, Rhaiadr Du, and Pistyll Cain, the latter 150 feet high. The lakes are very numerous, but small, the largest being Bala Lake, or Pirn- blemere (in Welsh, Llyn Tegid, fair lake), 4 miles long by 1 broad, and Llyn Mwyngil (lake in a sweet nook) in the vale of Talyllyn. Both are much frequented by anglers. On account of frequent indentations the coast-line is about 100 miles long. Sandy beaches intervene between the rocky shores. Frequent shoals and sandbanks render navigation very dangerous. There are only two harbours of importance, Barmouth and Aberdovey. A mountain tract of the county 15 miles from north to south by 10 from east to west, stretching from the coast inland, is of the Cambrian age, composed of grits, quartzose, and slates, and comprising the Merionethshire anticlinal. This tract is enclosed on the north, east, and south by the Menevian, Lingula, Tremadoc, and Arenig beds, which are pierced by numerous dykes and intrusive masses, mostly greenstone. Rhobell-fawr is one of the greatest igneous masses in the whole area of the Lingula beds. The Arenig beds are interstratified Avith and overlaid by accumulations of volcanic ashes, felspathic traps, or lava flows, which form the rugged heights of Cader Idris, the Arans, the Arenigs, Manod, and Moel-wyn ; and these are in turn overlaid by the Llandeilo and Bala beds, the latter includ ing the Bala limestone. Extensive slate quarries are worked near Festiniog, mostly underground, in strata of the Llandeilo age, giving employment to about 4000 men. Gold, lead, copper, and manganese have been obtained in various places. Climate and Agriculture. The climate varies much with the elevation, in some places being bleak and cold, and in others re markably equable and genial. At Aberdovey it is proverbially mild, and the myrtle grows in the open air. All attempts to intro duce fruits have proved abortive in most parts of the county. The soil is generally thin and poor, with fertile tracts in the valleys. A great portion of the moss has been reclaimed within late years. According to the agricultural returns for 1882, there were 154,406 acres, or considerably less than half the total area, under cultiva tion. Of this as much as 119,133 acres were permanent pasture, and 13,755 under rotation grasses. Of the 17,312 acres under corn crops, 11,232 were under oats and 4807 under barley. Potatoes occupied 2392 acres, and turnips only 1496 acres. The area under woods extended to 15,049 acres. The total number of horses in 1882 was 6088. A breed of ponies is peculiar to this county and Montgomeryshire. The rearing of horned cattle and dairy^farming are largely carried on, but the number of cattle (37,643) is considerably under the average of Wales generally. On the other hand the number of sheep in 1882 was 400,553, a larger number than in any other county of Wales, and much beyond the general average in the principality. They are a small hardy breed, which grow heavy fleeces. Goats frequent the loftier crags. According to the latest return the number of proprietors was 1695, possessing 303,374 acres, with a gross annual value of 183,253. Of the owners 1044, or 62 percent., possessed less than 1 acre, the average extent of the properties being 189 acres, and the average value per acre a little over 12s. There were ten proprietors who possessed over 5000 acres, viz., Sir W. W. Wynn, 20,295 ; R. J. L. Price, 17,718; T. P. Lloyd, 16,975; Mrs Kirkby, 13,410; Hon. C. H. Wynn, 10,504 ; A. J. G. Corbet, 9347 ; Sir E. Buckley, 8738; W. E. Oakeley, 6018; W. 0. Gore, 5497; and R. M. Rickards, 5701. Manufactures. Woollen goods are manufactured in various places, especially at Dolgelly. They are principally coarse druggets, kerseymeres, and flannels. The knitting of stockings was a great industry at the close of last century, the value of the sales at Bala being estimated at from 17,000 to 19,000 annually. Railways. The Cambrian Railway skirts the coast from Port- madoc to Aberdovey. At Barmouth Junction a branch of the same crosses to Dolgelly, where it is joined by a branch of the Great Western Railway. Another branch of the Great Western unites Bala and Festiniog, and the latter place has railway connexion both with Llandudno Junction and with Portmadoc. Administration and Population. Merionethshire comprises five hundreds and thirty-three civil parishes. It has one court of quarter sessions, and the number of petty sessional divisions is six. Ecclesi astically it is partly in the diocese of Bangor, partly in that of St Asaph. The county returns one member to parliament. There is no municipal or parliamentary borough. The towns returned in 1881 as urban sanitary districts are Bala (1653), Barmouth (1512), Dolgelly (2457), Festiniog (11,272), and Towyn (3363). Since 1801 the population has nearly doubled. From 29, 506 in that year it had increased in 1851 to 38,963, in 1871 to 46,598, and in 1881 to 54,793, of whom 27,576 were males, and 27,217 females. History and Antiquities. Originally Merioneth belonged to the territory of the Ordovices, and under the Romans it was included in Britannia Secunda. There are many Celtic, Roman, and medi aeval remains. Caer Drewyn on the Dee, near Corwen, was a British camp. There are numerous cromlechs in various parts of the county, especially near the sea-coast. The Via Occidcntalis of the Romans passed through Merioneth from south to north, and at Tomen- y-Mur was joined by a branch of the South Watling Street, the Castell Tomen-y-Mur being supposed to be identical with the Roman station of Heriri Mons. The immense ruin of Castel-y- Bere was originally one of the largest castles in Wales, but lias not been occupied since the time of Edward I. During the Wars of the Roses the castle of Harlech, still a fine ruin, was held by the Lancastrians, and was the last in Wales to surrender. Of ecclesi astical remains the most important is Cymmer Abbey, founded by the Cistercians in 1198, a very fine ruin containing architecture of various periods from Norman to Perpendicular. There are numer ous interesting old churches. MERLIN. See FALCON. MERMAIDS AND MERMEN, in the popular mythology of England and Scotland, are a class of beings more or less completely akin to man, who have their dwelling in the sea, but are capable of living on land and of entering into social relations with men and women. 1 They are easily identified, at least in some of their most important aspects, with the Old German Meriminni or Meerfrau, the Icelandic Hafgufa, Margygr, and Marmennill (mod. Marbendill), the Danish Hafmand or Maremind, the Irish Merrow or Merruach, the Marie-Morgan of Brittany and the Morforwyn of Wales ; 2 and they have various points of resemblance to the vodyany or water-sprite and the rusalka or stream-fairy of Russian mythology. The typical mermaid (who is much more frequently described than the merman) has the head and body of a woman, usually of exceeding loveliness, but below the waist is fashioned like a fish with scales and fins. Her hair is long and beautiful, and she is often represented, like the Russian rusalka, as combing it with one hand while in the other she holds a looking-glass. At other times, like the rusalka, she is seen engaged in the more prosaic occupation of washing or beating clothes ; but this, as, for example, in Hugh Miller s terrible Loch Slin legend, is a sign of some impending calamity. For a time at least a mermaid may become to all appearance an ordi nary human being ; and from a very striking Irish legend (&quot;The Overflowing of Lough Neagh and Liban the Mer maid,&quot; in Joyce s Old Celtic Romances) it is evident that a human being may also for a time be transformed into a mermaid. The mermaid legends, both English and other, may be grouped as follows. A. A mermaid or mermaids either voluntarily or under convulsion reveal things that are about to happen. Thus the two mermaids (merewip) Hadeburc and Sigelint, in the Nibelungenlied, disclose his future course to the hero Hagen, who, having got possession of their garments, which they had left on the shore, compels them to pay ransom in this way. According to Resenius, a mermaid appeared to a peasant of Samsoe, foretold the birth of a prince, and moralized on the evils of intem- 1 The name mermaid is compounded of the A.-S. mere, a lake, and mcegd, a maid; but, though mere ivif occurs in Beowulf, mere-maid does not appear till the Middle English period (Chaucer, Romaunt of the Rose, &c. ). In Cornwall the fishermen say merry-maids and merry- men. The connexion with the sea rather than with inland waters appears to be of later origin. &quot;The Mermaid of Martin Meer &quot; (Roby s Traditions of Lancashire, vol. ii.) is an example of the older force of the word; and such &quot; meer-women &quot; are known to the country-folk in various parts of England (e.g., at Newport in Shrop shire, where the town is some day to be drowned by the woman s agency). 2 See Rhys, &quot; Welsh Fairy Tales,&quot; in Y Cymmrodor, 1881, 1882.