The Making of William Edwards; or, The Story of the Bridge of Beauty

Indeed, since his day, to meet the increasing traffic, a canal has been cut from Cardiff northward, and the very course of the River Taff diverted, changing the character of the district I have attempted to describe as it was in my hero's day. More recently a railroad to meet the ever-growing demands of ironmasters, colliery owners, and others, has been constructed, still further changing the face of the country, now bristling with iron and tin works. A new bridge has, moreover, been thrown across the river, somewhat higher up the stream, a bridge more in accord with modern requirements, and which has in a measure superseded high-pitched Pont-y-Pridd; but the beautiful old bridge is still standing, a picturesque monument to the memory of its persevering and pious builder, and a reminder to this self-sufficient generation, so proud of its own grand doings, that, but for William Edwards and his bridges and furnaces, progress in South Wales might have slumbered a generation or more.

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1

Pronounced Egloois-ilian.

2

Cwrw da, good ale. The w has the sound of oo; thus cooroo.

3

Rhys, pronounced Rees.

4

Fach, equivalent to the English dear.

5

Ales, pronounced Alis; in English, Alice.

6

Or, Eglwys-elian.

7

Culm, the dust of hard coal, used for fuel when mixed with clay and peat.

8

Duffle, made both in scarlet and grey, was a very thick, close-grained woollen cloth, its upper surface covered with pin-head curly knots. It was almost waterproof.

9

Linsey-woolsey, a mixture of linen and woollen, is still in use.

10

This was the old method of drawing coal and pitmen to the surface, until superseded by machinery. Wells and mills were similarly worked. And still horses are so employed to draw up yachts on the sea-shore, the rope passing round a block.

11

An oblong board about ten inches long by eight wide, on which the alphabets and simple syllables were painted. It was furnished with a handle. In many cases the letters were printed and covered with a transparent slice of horn. It was then called a hornbook.

12

God-penny – a deposit.

13

An oval wicker boat covered with hide, with only a single seat, as used by the ancient Britons, and by the Welsh far into the present century.

14

Dowlas, a coarse kind of linen.

15

Psalm xcv. 7, 8.

16

The largest is nine feet in diameter.