The Itinerary of Archbishop Baldwin through
Wales
by Geraldus Cambrensis
Book II
Chapter III
Of the river Teivi, Cardigan, and
Emelyn
The noble river Teivi flows here, and abounds with the
finest salmon, more than any other river of Wales; it has a
productive fishery near Cilgerran, which is situated on the
summit of a rock, at a place called Canarch Mawr,134
the ancient residence of St. Ludoc, where the river, falling
from a great height, forms a cataract, which the salmon
ascend, by leaping from the bottom to the top of a rock,
which is about the height of the longest spear, and would
appear wonderful, were it not the nature of that species of
fish to leap: hence they have received the name of salmon,
from salio. Their particular manner of leaping (as I have
specified in my Topography of Ireland) is thus: fish of this
kind, naturally swimming against the course of the river
(for as birds fly against the wind, so do fish swim against
the stream), on meeting with any sudden obstacle, bend their
tail towards their mouth, and sometimes, in order to give a
greater power to their leap, they press it with their mouth,
and suddenly freeing themselves from this circular form,
they spring with great force (like a bow let loose) from the
bottom to the top of the leap, to the great astonishment of
the beholders. The church dedicated to St. Ludoc,135
the mill, bridge, salmon leap, an orchard with a delightful
garden, all stand together on a small plot of ground. The
Teivi has another singular particularity, being the only
river in Wales, or even in England, which has
beavers;136
in Scotland they are said to be found in one river, but are
very scarce. I think it not a useless labour, to insert a
few remarks respecting the nature of these animals - the
manner in which they bring their materials from the woods to
the water, and with what skill they connect them in the
construction of their dwellings in the midst of rivers;
their means of defence on the eastern and western sides
against hunters; and also concerning their fish-like
tails.
The beavers, in order to construct their castles in the
middle of rivers, make use of the animals of their own
species instead of carts, who, by a wonderful mode of
carnage, convey the timber from the woods to the rivers.
Some of them, obeying the dictates of nature, receive on
their bellies the logs of wood cut off by their associates,
which they hold tight with their feet, and thus with
transverse pieces placed in their mouths, are drawn along
backwards, with their cargo, by other beavers, who fasten
themselves with their teeth to the raft. The moles use a
similar artifice in clearing out the dirt from the cavities
they form by scraping. In some deep and still corner of the
river, the beavers use such skill in the construction of
their habitations, that not a drop of water can penetrate,
or the force of storms shake them; nor do they fear any
violence but that of mankind, nor even that, unless well
armed. They entwine the branches of willows with other wood,
and different kinds of leaves, to the usual height of the
water, and having made within-side a communication from
floor to floor, they elevate a kind of stage, or scaffold,
from which they may observe and watch the rising of the
waters. In the course of time, their habitations bear the
appearance of a grove of willow trees, rude and natural
without, but artfully constructed within. This animal can
remain in or under water at its pleasure, like the frog or
seal, who shew, by the smoothness or roughness of their
skins, the flux and reflux of the sea. These three animals,
therefore, live indifferently under the water, or in the
air, and have short legs, broad bodies, stubbed tails, and
resemble the mole in their corporal shape. It is worthy of
remark, that the beaver has but four teeth, two above, and
two below, which being broad and sharp, cut like a
carpenter's axe, and as such he uses them. They make
excavations and dry hiding places in the banks near their
dwellings, and when they hear the stroke of the hunter, who
with sharp poles endeavours to penetrate them, they fly as
soon as possible to the defence of their castle, having
first blown out the water from the entrance of the hole, and
rendered it foul and muddy by scraping the earth, in order
thus artfully to elude the stratagems of the well-armed
hunter, who is watching them from the opposite banks of the
river. When the beaver finds he cannot save himself from the
pursuit of the dogs who follow him, that he may ransom his
body by the sacrifice of a part, he throws away that, which
by natural instinct he knows to be the object sought for,
and in the sight of the hunter castrates himself, from which
circumstance he has gained the name of Castor; and if by
chance the dogs should chase an animal which had been
previously castrated, he has the sagacity to run to an
elevated spot, and there lifting up his leg, shews the
hunter that the object of his pursuit is gone. Cicero
speaking of them says, "They ransom themselves by that part
of the body, for which they are chiefly sought." And Juvenal
says,
" - Qui se Eunuchum ipse facit, cupiens evadere
damno Testiculi."
And St. Bernard,
"Prodit enim castor proprio de corpore velox
Reddere quas sequitur hostis avarus opes."
Thus, therefore, in order to preserve his skin, which is
sought after in the west, and the medicinal part of his
body, which is coveted in the east, although he cannot save
himself entirely, yet, by a wonderful instinct and sagacity,
he endeavours to avoid the stratagems of his pursuers. The
beavers have broad, short tails, thick, like the palm of a
hand, which they use as a rudder in swimming; and although
the rest of their body is hairy, this part, like that of
seals, is without hair, and smooth; upon which account, in
Germany and the arctic regions, where beavers abound, great
and religious persons, in times of fasting, eat the tails of
this fish- like animal, as having both the taste and colour
of fish.
We proceeded on our journey from
Cilgerran towards Pont-Stephen,137
leaving Cruc Mawr, i.e. the great hill, near Aberteivi, on
our left hand. On this spot Gruffydd, son of Rhys ap Tewdwr,
soon after the death of king Henry I., by a furious onset
gained a signal victory against the English army, which, by
the murder of the illustrious Richard de Clare, near
Abergevenny (before related), had lost its leader and
chief.138
A tumulus is to be seen on the summit of the aforesaid hill,
and the inhabitants affirm that it will adapt itself to
persons of all stature and that if any armour is left there
entire in the evening, it will be found, according to vulgar
tradition, broken to pieces in the morning.
The Itinerary of Archbishop Baldwin through
Wales
by Geraldus Cambrensis
Chapter II
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