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THE traditions of the Welsh Triads give frequent accounts of monarchs who possessed paramount sovereignty, although the inferior kings exercised their royal dignity in their own particular districts. The supreme monarch, as appears from the concurrent testimony of the most ancient writers upon the Saxon times, ruled the whole island with the assistance of a council formed of the other chiefs. And we find Gwrtheyrn is stated by each to have been the supreme monarch.2 The 64th historical Triad speaks of Arthur as the Pen-tyrn,3 and of Maelgwn the King of Gwynedd as the Pen-hynain,1 and amongst the Britons Gwythern was called the Pen-tyrn, and his supreme power was termed unbenaeth.5 The 25th triad designates the three accomplished Princes of the Isle of Britain with the names of Rhun the son of Maelgwn, Owain, son of Urïen, and Rhuvon. The fair son Dewrath Wiedig this last Prince was held in such high estimation that upon his being killed in battle, the body was ransomed for its weight in gold, and we find the following pleasing couplet written to his memory:

"A white wave bright foaming sprays over a grave,

The tumulus of Rhuvon, the fair chief of Princes."

In the 26th triad, mention is made of the three plebeian Princes in the Isle of Britain, Gurgai, son of Gwrïen in the north; Cadavael son of Cynvedw in North Wales; and Hyvardd the Tall, son of St. Bleiddam, in Glamor

1 Gildas, s. 22, 23. Nennius, c. 38, &c. Bede, p. 52. Flor. Wig. 194.

2 W. Malmsb. p. 9, "Omnes reguli insula Vortigerni substernebantur monarchiæ." 3 Head King. 4 Chief elder.

5 One headship, or monarchy; and see Welsh Archæol. v. 11. p. 3.

[May,

gan. These three Princes flourished in the 6th century, the age of chivalry and bardism amongst the ancient Britons. The power of sovereignty was granted to them solely on account of their virtuous qualities and heroic actions. We also find, in the 29th triad, an account of the three Battle Knights of the sovereign of the Isle of Britain, and upon whom King Arthur composed the following stanza:"These are my three battle Knights, Mael the Tail, and Llys the Bellipotent, And Caradog the Pillar of the Cambrians." They were considered the bravest heroes of all battle knights, and therefore the privileges of royalty were granted them.

In the 61st triad, Dybnwal Moel Mud, "the paramount sovereign, or the sovereign of supreme power, is he who is the most illustrious for his bravery of the kings and princes of the neighbouring country; to him belongs the right of assembling the country and power, and his commands are binding upon all others in the general assembly of the country.'

In the more ancient times, Britain was divided into several independent states; each of which was governed by a king or chief; as soon as the danger of the war threatened, the whole of these little states united to oppose the common enemy; and to effect this brave and glorious purpose, they chose for their superior commander the most valiant of their chiefs; and in the exercise of this conventional system, Cassivellaunus was chosen to oppose the Romans, and King Arthur was elected to oppose the Saxons.

Amongst the ancient Britons there existed a federation of petty sovereignties, which were either elective or hereditary, and over the whole of which there presided a chief of chiefs,' or a king of the country, as the annals declare; but this distinction was wholly elective. The seat of this king was in the ancient municipal town named by the Britons Lon-din,3 or the town of ships.

This place was locally situate within the country Loegrian, and from this cause the Loegrian people possessed greater facility for the attainment of the sovereignty.

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1831.]

Amongst the Anglo-Saxons we frequently find instances of tributary kings. Upon the defeat of the Danes, Alfred, in order to preserve his superior sovereignty, gave the dominion of Mercia to Godrun, ut eas sub fidelitate regis jure hereditario foveret.1

In the year 836,5 when Alfred took possession of London, and established his sovereignty over the Anglo-Saxons, he placed the government of that city under the dominion of Ethelred.

The kings of Man, although merely the heads of a dependent state, were invested with a royal prerogative; they always subscribed themselves by the title of King, received that appellation from their superiors, who always called them the King in Man, and they invariably exercised a right to wear a crown of gold. This latter privilege appears to have been in ancient times considered as an emblem of regal dignity.7

The most prominent instance in which the feudatory title of King has been conferred by a sovereign of England is in the case of Henry Beauchamp last Earl and first Duke of Warwick of his name. This nobleman was, by an authority of Henry the 6th, crowned King of the Isles of Wight, Guernsey, and Jersey.8 Yours, &c.

TEMPLARIUS.

CLIFTON SUSPENSION BRIDge.
(With a Plate.)

AMONGST the various places of resort for the invalid and the lounger, with which our island abounds, Clif. ton, alike from its beauty and salubrity, is deserving of a large portion of the public notice. It is romantically situated on the south and west of a hill on the river Avon, in the hundred of King's Barton, Gloucestershire, about one mile from Bristol. The purity of the air has long obtained for it the name of the English Montpelier. Nothing can be more beautiful of its kind than the scenery on the river be

4 Malmesbury, p. 69. Spelman. 5 Ethelw. 846.

6 Flor. Wig. 322; Sax. Chron. 88. 7 Leland's Itiner. Selden; Tit of Hon. ch. 3; Heylin's Help to Engl. Hist. voc. Warwick.

8 T. Walsing. ap. Camden, Angl. Norm. 350, edit. 1603. MS. Chronicle quoted by Selden, and stated by him to be in the library of Oxford.

GENT. MAG. May, 1831.

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low the Hot Well; whether it is viewed from the summit, or the foot of the rocks, the eye is equally delighted. On each side of the river rise magnificent rocks, now towering in all the rude grandeur of sterile nature, and now clothed with the most beautiful woods and trees. Those rocks immediately below the Hot Well, on the Clifton side, are called Saint Vincent's, from a chapel, which tradition says was erected on the highest of them, and dedicated to that saint. This rock is mostly of a brownish marble, very hard and close grained; when sawed into slabs, it shows beautiful veins of white, yellow, grey, and sometimes red; and it is capable of receiving a polish equal to that of any foreign marble. It has occasionally been employed for chimney-pieces, tables, &c. but it is chiefly used for making lime; for which purpose it is the best stone in England, both for strength and whiteness; this occasions a great demand from all quarters; and the proximity of the river affords every facility for its removal, which takes place every year, in great quantities; a number of quarry men being constantly employed in blowing up the rocks with gunpowder. Of late this business has been carried to a still greater extent; as they have been employed in widening and improving the towing path (on the Clifton side of the river), into a road as far as the new Hot-Well Spring. Between the different strata of these rocks, it is that the once so famous "Bristol stones" are found. They are hexagonal crystals, of sufficient hardness to cut glass, and are mostly pellucid and colourless.

Clifton has of late years become one of the most fashionable places of resort in the kingdom; and its populalation has consequently been on the increase. The spirit of improvement has also kept pace with the local advantages of the place. The difficulty of communication, however, between the counties of Gloucester and Somerset, which are divided by the river Avon, has long been seriously felt. The navigation of the river, as well as the rocky and precipitous nature of the coast, has rendered the erection of a stone bridge impracticable. At length, however, some spirited individuals determined on the establishment of a

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company for the erection of a CHAIN SUSPENSION BRIDGE Over the Avon from Clifton Down. (See Plate II.) In the prospectus then issued, it was stated, that from the mouth of the Avon to the iron bridge across the new course thereof at Bedminster, a distance of nearly nine miles, there was no passage for carriages of any description; but from Clifton and the western side of Bristol, and from the roads branching from them to Gloucester and South Wales, by means of the intended Bridge, a direct communication would be opened with a very extensive and populous district of country, on the Somersetshire side of the river, bordering on the Bristol Channel. Similar facilities would also be communicated to the country in the line of the Ashton turnpike road, by means of a branch road from the Bridge proposed to be formed, into such turnpike road near the bottom of Rownham Hill. A committee was appointed to carry this important project into execution, and in due time an Act of Parliament was obtained for the purpose. The first object of the trustees thereby constituted, was to obtain from a select number of the most eminent engineers, suitable plans for a Bridge of such a character as should meet the views of the public, and at the same time should not, in regard to expense, exceed the limits which they might reasonably hope to be enabled to compass. From the best investigation they were enabled to make, it did not appear to them that the undertaking could be effected at a cost much below 50,000l. (and there was reason to think it might even exceed that amount) upon any plan in which due regard should be paid to the two main objects in a work of this nature, namely,-solidity and strength of materials, and grandeur of design. In the difficult task which they had afterwards to discharge, of making a selection from the several plans furnished, being unwilling to depend altogether on their own judgment, they had recourse to the assistance of Davies Gilbert, esq. M.P. and late President of the Royal Society, whose valuable aid in the consideration of the designs they requested. The deference paid to his judgment by a Committee of the House of Commons, by their adoption, on his suggestion, of some important altera

[May,

tions in the plan of the Menai Bridge -the distinguished place which he holds among men of science-and the particular attention which he was known to have given to the subject of Suspension Bridges-pointed him out as an authority the most eminent and unexceptionable. About the middle of March last he visited Clifton and Bristol for the purpose, and after several days devoted to an inspection of the spot, and to a very laborious and minute examination of the various plans, and many conferences with the trustees on the subject, the final result was, the unanimous adoption by them, under his sanction, of the design submitted by Mr. Brunel, jun. It adopts for the base of the supporting tower, on the Clifton side, the boldest and most prominently beautiful of the whole range of St. Vincent's Cliffs. From a lofty mass of perpendicular rock, which rises to the height of 230 feet above high water mark, projecting towards the edge of the river, and offering a natural and substantial pier for the purpose, the Bridge will be carried to a pier or abutment, which is proposed to be formed on the rock on the opposite side of the river. By means of this artificial abutment, the distance between the two points of suspension will be reduced to 630 feet.

An iron bridge suspended amongst such stupendous rocks, would in itself appear little more than a fairy web, thrown across the gulph; but this effect will be relieved, and a high degree of architectural beauty, as well as grandeur, imparted to the work, by giving to the towers erected for the support of the chains at each end, the form and proportions of Egyptian gateways, taken from the beautiful examples found in the ruins of Tentyra. Of the various forms there presented, the most elegant have been chosen as the model; and that this style of architecture, from its grandeur and simplicity, is peculiarly suited to rocky situations, is proved by the effect of the Temple of the Island of Philæ, which is a barren rock of the most broken and romantic outline.

Mr. Brunel has been for a long time engaged in making the most minute and accurate inquiries into the expense of the undertaking in all its details; and from his estimates, and the investigations made by the trus