General Books publication date: 2009 Original publication date: 1859 Original Publisher: R. Mason Subjects: Wales, South Radnorshire (Wales) Notes: This is a black and white OCR reprint of the original. It has no illustrations and there may be typos or missing text. When you buy the General Books edition of this book you get free trial access to Million-Books.com where you can select from more than a million books for free. Excerpt: They neither erected temples nor carved images. Their acts of devotion were performed in the face of the sun, being taught to consider that grand luminary, for its great benefits to mankind, as a proper representative of the deity; and were either on the tops of mountains, or on open plains, whereon were erected for the purpose plain and unchiselled stones or altars. On every one of these was kindled a large fire; which, from the beneficial influence of light and heat, in producing and maturing the fruits of the earth, the surrounding votaries were instructed to regard as an emblem of the deity;
for, observed the Druid,
as God fills all space, so does heat pervade all things. The amount of the population of the district under consideration, during the remote period in which it constituted a part of ancient Siluria, it is impossible at this day to ascertain. Undoubtedly, it participated in the prolific increase which characterized all the other districts of the island in ancient times. To this increase the division of the great landed properties, and the equal distribution of inheritances, effected and secured by the law or custom of gavelkind, must have greatly contributed; and hence Boadicea was enabled to bring into the field an army of 300,000 fighting men. Section 3. – The Ancient Divisions of this District. These have been different at different times. Long prior, as well as subsequent, to the Roman invasion of Britain, it constituted a part of the renowned kingdom of Essyllwg, a word which signifies an open country…